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OLD LANDMARKS 



OF 



Canton and Stark County. Ohio 



EDITED AND COMPILED BY 



JOHN DANNBR 

TO WHICH IS APPENDED 

A Comprehensive Compendium of Local Biography — Memoirs of Representative 
Men AND Women of the County, whose Works of Merit 

HAVE made their NaMES IMPERISHABLE. 



ILLUSTRATED 



LOGANSPORT, INDIANA: 

B. F. BowEN, Publisher. 
1904. 



dP 






IC 



PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. 



TN i)l.icinf; tlie " OKI Laiulniarks of Canton and Stark County " before the citizens, the pub- 
lisher can conscientiously claim that he has carried out in full every promise made in the 
Prospectus. He points with pride to the elegance of the binding of the volume, ami to the 
beauty of its typofjraphy, to the su])i'riority of the paper on which the work is printed, and the 
truthfulness dei^icted by its portraits and tlu' hif^h class of art in \\lii( h they are finished. The 
series of reminiscent articlis from the jiens of Mr. John Danner and Dr. I^ewis Slusser is a 
valuable collection and will prove not only of interest to the present generation, l)ut of 
inestimable worth to fultne historians, being the result of years of patient toil and deep 
research. Every biograjjlucal sketch in this volume has been submitted to the party interested 
for appro\'al and correction, and therefore an\' error of fact, if there be any, is solely due to 
the person for whom the sketch was prepared. 

The publisher would here avail himself of the opportunity to thank the citizens of Stark 
count}' for the uniform kindness with which they have regarded this undertaking and for their 
many services rendered in assisting in the gaining of necessary information. Confident that 
our efforts to please will fully meet the approbation of the public, we are. 

Respectfully, 

H. F. BOWEN, Publisher. 



INDEX. 



OLD LANDMARKS. 









PAGE 






PAGE 


Early Stark County History 


. .Lew 


Slusser 


17 


NimishiUentown — Contest for the 






Canton Township 

Canton 






32 
34 




Slusser 


U?. 


Early Newspaper Press of Stark 




Massillon 






37 
39 


County 

The Stark County Democrat 




144 


Lexington Township 






145 


Alliance 






41 


First Circulating Library in Canton.. 
Early Banking in- Canton 


it 


147 


Plain Township . . . .' 


. . Lew 


Slusser 


43 


t> 


147 


Perry Township 






49 


Early History of the County Court. . 


it ■ 


148 


Marlborough Township 






53 


A Once Prominent Family of Canton. 


it 


149 


Bethlehem Township 






59 


Old-Time Hotels of Canton John 


Danner 


151 


Paris Township 


. .Lew 


Slusser 


' 65 


Tanning Business in Early Days 


it 


153 


Nimishillen Township 

Sandy Township 




1. 


69 

72 


Canton in the War of 1812 


ti 


154 


Canton'.'- First Fire Engine 


156 


Pike Township 






77 


What Railroads Have Done For Can- 






Tuscarawas Township 


. .Lew 


Slusser 


82 


ton Lew 


Slusser 


158 


Washington Township 






87 


Canton's First Mayor John Danner 


160 


Osnaburgh Township 

Lawrence Township 


. .Lew 


Slusser 


94 

100 


Canton's Oldest Hotel 


It 


161 


An Old-Time Hotel Man of Canton. . 


163 


Sugar Creek Township 






106 


One Hundred Years Ago 

Old One-Hundred-Mile Warehouse.. 


a 


164 


Jackson Township 






107 


it 


166 


Lake Township 

The Old Court House 


.John 


Danner 


109 
112 


Land Values Then and Now 


If 

it 


167 


Buildings Now and Seventy Years Ago 


168 


The Second County Jail 




" 


113 


A Pioneer Enterprise 


It 


169 


The Canton Postoffice 




Slusser 


115 
116 


A Weil-Known Manufactory ■. 

A Bit of Industrial History 


It 


171 


Postoffice of Canton's Early Days . . 
Stark County in the Mexican War. . 


.John 


^^?, 


>j 


117 


Another Old Corner in Canton 


l» 


175 


Indians in Stark County 


..Lew 


Slusser 


119 


The Old Winterhalter Corner 


It 


176 


Early Measures for Safety 




>' 


122 


Old Home of a Famous Family 

Another Old Corner in Canton 

Two Weil-Known Corners in Canton 


)l 


177 








123 
125 


J) 
a 


179 


Away Back in 1840 




180 






Danner 


126 
128 


The Kimball and Stidger Homes.... 
Old Saxton Residence and its History 


it 
It 


183 


Hotels of Olden Times 


. .John 


183 


Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too 




" 


129 


The Old Eagle Hotel 


it 


185 


Canals of Stark County 




" 


131 


Old Farmers and Mechanics Block. . 


•■ 


186 


Early Physicians of the Countv.... 




" 


132 


Danner Homestead and Other Earlv 






Early Fourth of July Celebrations. 




" 


134 


Buildings 


ji 


188 


Early Flouring Mills 




»f 


136 

138 


Old Landmarks on Present High 
School Block 


it 




Early Potteries in Canton 




190 


Only Public Execution in Stark 






The Christmas and Shorb Homesteads 


it 


192 


County 


.. 


M 


140 


Dewalt Hotel and Other Landmarks . . 


it 


193 


]Meyer"s Lake in the Olden Days... 




J) 


141 


The Old Lind Homestead 


It 


195 



lO 



INDEX. 





PAGE 




PAGE 


The Old Kaufman House John Danner 197 


The Old Kimball Building John Danner 


221 


The Old Fogic Homestead 


198 


The Old Dunbar Homestead 


223 


The Same Old Square ' 


199 


A Veteran Hotel Man 


224 


Interestincr Data * 


201 


A Pioneer Family " 

One of Our Earliest Families " 

The Bockius Family 


226 


Peter Herbruck Homestead ' 


203 
205 


228 


The Old Public Square ' 


230 


Jacob Myer's Life Work ' 


207 


Early Lutheran and Reformed 




The Smith Homestead ' 


208 


Churches 


231 


Residence and Shop of Jacob Biicher, 




St. John's Church, Roman Catholic. . " 


233 


in Canton ' 


210 
212 


Earliest Presbyterian Church " 

Methodist Episcopal Church in Canton " 


23.5 


Old Home of the Belden Family ' 


238 


Evolution of a Canton Corner ' 


213 


The Baptist Church 


240 


The Hazlett Property 


214 


The Disciples Church " 


242 


The Old Begges Building 


216 


The United Brethren Church " 


243 


The Old Shorb Corner ' 


217 
219 


Forest Trees of Stark County Lew Slusser 

Our Representatives in Congress " 


24.5 


The Old Haas Homestead 


246 


The Lemmoii Homestead ' 


220 







INDBX. 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 



Adrian, Franz 000 

Alliangh, John W HO!) 

Albert, Thomas B 418 

Albrecht. Fred 12G3 

Albrccht, G. Louis I'SOl 

Aldinger, Henry 1417 

Alexander, Lawrence 1310 

Alexander, West L 326 

Allen, John C 752 

Allen, Ira M 388 

Allnian, Carroll B •■i4!) 

Anderson, John B 533 

Anderson, Samuel M 1145 

Anderson, Wilbur C 901 

Andrews, Walter 820 

Anthony, Harmon 1204 

Armstrong, Charles A 674 

Arnold, J. F 1007 

Arter, David A., M. D 278 

Ashbroolv, Armstrong 900 

Aultinan, Cornelius 1424 

Aungst, Maurice E 368 

AurcdcnUi Joseph J 534 

B. 

Bachtcl, Corwin D. .. r,20 

Bachtel, Moses A 600 

liair, Hiram 593 

Baker, William O., M. D.... 707 

Ball, Joseph M 437 

Ball, Milton 902 

Ballard, Asa W 787 

Baltzly, Alpheus 1162 

Banker, John 1455 

Barber, Marshall C 1293 

Barchfeld, August 5,^1 

Barnett, John M 1447 



PAGE 

Barnett, Robert F 834 

Barr, Peter H 815 

Bash, Jacob 1090 

Bates, David 1359 

Bates, Oliver C 1404 

Bauer, Milton M l-lf<.'> 

Baughman, David H 101)3 

Beatty, Wallen M 1174 

Beans, Aaron B 1211 

Bechercr, Samuel 899 

Bclding, Thomas C 1219 

Berger, Wilson C 5"6 

Beriiower, Philip J 786 

Bessler, Louis 1267 

Betz. John E 1223 

Betz, Leonard 484 

Biechele, Edward A 1246 

Bidwell, Thomas J 759 

Bixler, Israel 998 

Blanchard, Lewis D., D. V. S 967 

Blank, John P HIS 

Blank, William 959 

Blantz, A. F 1206 

Blcckcr, William M 980 

Blum, Herman C 472 

Boettlcr, Charles A OM 

Bordner, Arthur H Oil 

Boughman, Daniel 856 

Bow, Charles C 1028 

Bowman, Albert T., V. S..., 764 

Bowman, Henry 1107 

Bowman, Jonathan 1306 

Bowman, Newton K 526 

Boycr, Arthur S 575 

Brachcr, John 507 

Bradley, Robert D 1075 

Bremer, Clayton F 1079 

Brcwbaker, Rev. C. W., D. D. 275 

Brooks, James A 903 

Brown, Charles 991 



PACE 

J!rown, Rev. George W 1001 

F.r\ibaker, Martin 995 

Brumbaugh, Oliver 1039 

Bucher, John R 883 

Buckius, John 336 

Bulley, Reginald H 789 

Burger, Jacob 1387 

Burnheinicr, James C 1316 

Burwell, Henry C 1238 

Butler, George W 572 

C. 

Caldwell, Matthew 762 

Calerdine, Edwin 1139 

Calhoun, Franklin P., M. D.. . 801 

Cahnelat, Joseph 515 

Camp, Daniel HIO 

Carlson, Charles T 970 

( arnahan, John E 363 

Carnahan, Roy R 463 

Carnes, James W 1207 

C"arson, John J 389 

Case, Frank E 1129 

Cassidy, Robert A 557 

Catlin, Marcus M., M. D 456 

Chamberlain, Henry H., M. D.1169 

Christian, Richard A 792 

Church, Rev. Charles N 427 

Clapper, Hczekiah 1286 

Clapper, William 1284 

Clark, Alexander B 1220 

Clark, John F 312 

Clark, William H 312 

Clark, William W.,Jr 1217 

Clay, Moses 1048 

Cloud, Albert W.....' 598 

Cocklin, Levi A 582 

Cogan, Jay M ...1154 

Coleman, Joseph 1086 



12 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Conrad, John 587 

Conrad, Lewis 1 356 

Cook, George Hi^G 

Cook, Henry 951 

Cook, Mrs. Mary A 1160 

Cooper, Homer F 1164 

Corey, Varian S "-99 

Cornell, John C "85 

Correll, Edwin S "'6 

Cornell, Josiah 848 

Cox, Melville B 573 

Craine, John W 1205 

Crane, Charles A., M. D 1015 

Crawford, John M., M. D....1117 
Crawford, Capt. Richard B. .. 4S1 

Crocker, Lorenzo 1487 

Crowl, Frank H 1398 

Crowl, Thomas T 1395 

Culp, Thomas S 1220 

Cummins, John 652 

Cunningham, Richard 1405 

Currie, James F ^38 

Currie, Thomas H 957 

D. 

Dager. Isaac N 1301 

DaHinden, Frank, M. D 383 

DaHinden, John 335 

Dannemiller, Augustus 491 

Dannciiiiller, Benedict 1458 

Danner, David 1116 

Danner, John 274 

Daum, Lewis L 1280 

Davis, William D., M. D 853 

Day, William L 1256 

Day, William R 304 

DeFord, William 1124 

DeHoff, Daniel W .• 1254 

Deidrick, James C 1350 

Dennis, Alvin T 831 

Deuble, George 841 

Deuhle, Martin 873. 

DeVcUx. Samuel F 1006 

Devine, John C 939 

Dewalt, Charles N 1277 

DeWees, John B 1502 

Dittenhafer, Harvey R 390 

Doll, Benjamin 1149 

Doll, Eli D 1114 

Donat, Azariah C 1482 

Donat, John A 1454 

Dougherty, Charles A 1352 

Dougherty, James E., M. D..1376 

Dougherty, L. E., M. D 14S3 

Duff, Charles P 1191 



P.\GE 

D.umont, Louis 1333 

Dunbar, George, Sr 1288 

Dupont, Jacob 1074 

E. 

Early, Edward E 807 

Eberly, Josiah B 1173 

Eisenhauer, Adam 497 

Elbel, Gustavus 1193 

Eller, James H 1467 

Ellett, Albert F 743 

F.llett, Walter M 375 

Ellison, Robert S 754 

Elsass, Philip 1210 

Elson, Augustus R 1180 

Elson, John R 1166 

Elson, Richard R 1173 

Eschlinian, Jonas 1131 

Fshelman, Benjamin M 1324 

Esselburne, Rev. E. E 858 

E^sick, Hiram H 1378 

Essig, John A 1120 

F.step, Benjamin .\ 741 

Etling, Jefferson C 629 

Evans, Rev. Amos 676 

Evans, George D 1353 

Everhjfrd, H. H 1480 

Everhard, Mrs. Caroline J. ^L1472 
E.'cline, Clarence E., I\L D. . . .1005 
Eynon, Alfred C 1285 

F. 

F:dis. Rev. Joseph F 638 

Farber, John F 968 

Farber, Philip 984 

Farvick, Frank C 756 

Faulk, Henry W., >L D 979 

Faust, Prof. B. F 662 

Fawcett. Jacob P 1063 

Fetrow, Benjamin F 1072 

Fetters, Benjamin 1457 

Fife. Harry E 540 

Findley, William 1133 

Firestone, Henry N 760 

Fisher, Capt. Marcus A 981 

Flickinger, Lauren E., AL D...1023 

F"ogg, William K '. 435 

Folk, Edward S.. i\L D 469 

Folk, Henry 1029 

Folk. John D 1038 

Folk. Joseph 1370 

Foulks, John M 3360 

Foulks, Wallace S., M. D 960 

Foust, Rev. O. P 465 



P.\GE 

Francis, .Anthony 918 

Frank, John D 1307 

Frankham, William 623 

Frederick, Chas. B., D. V. S.. 983 

Frederick, Jacob W 1436 

Frey, John L 692 

G. 

Garaux, August 530 

Garaux, Henry L 529 

Garaux, Louis 530 

Gardner, Rev. Charles H 1413 

Gavin, Frank W., M. D 1053 

Gehman, David 671 

Gehman, Michael 699 

Gehman, Rufus W 695 

Gerber, David E 624 

Giessen, Otto T 792 

Gilson. William W 749 

Glass, William M 924 

Goetz, Irvin O 1487 

Goshorn, Isaac 1000 

Goudy, Alfred C, M. D 1215 

Graber, Christian E 1053 

Graham, Hon. John 371 

Grant, Johnson 1418 

Greer, Clarence S 1196 

Greer, Richard E 1184 

Greer, William H USD 

Gregory, Samuel 1258 

Gresser, Anthony 498 

Groom, Mrs. Mary E 1377 

Gschwend, Paul 1190 

H. 

Haag, Henry 541 

Haak. Joseph 583 

Hahn, Eugene W 298 

Haines, Charles F 810 

Haines, Harry W S06 

Hall. Rev. John A., D. D 3045 

Hambleton, Mark 405 

Hamilton, Robert B 1202 

Hammond, David 1349 

Hanley, Rev. John C 655 

Harbert, Ray F 547 

Harmon, Daniel 637 

Hart, Alvin W 1510 

Hart, William L 730 

Harter, George D 328 

Harter, Henry W 325 

Harter, Isaac, Sr 944 

Harter, Joseph S 1080 

Harter, Michael D 1096 



INDEX. 



13 



PAGE 

Hnrtzell, Frederic S 518S 

Hartzell, Josiah 1043 

Hasler, Montreville H 551 

Hassoldt, William 817 

Hawk, Williams 339 

Hawkins, Johnson H 1438 

Hay, Adam 1244 

Hay, Austin A 1235 

Haymaker, Edward L 930 

' Haynam, Curtis L 1385 

Haynam, Daniel H 1381 

Haynam, Elmer E 1386 

Haynam, Frank L 1386 

Haynam, Henry 1380 

Haynam, Henry W 1384 

Haynam, Levi 138'3 

Haynam, Thomas C 1379 

Haynam, Tobias M 13S3 

Heckman, Frederick 1479 

Heggem, Charles O 1240 

Heisa, Henry 1135 

Hemperly, David 1021 

Hemperly, John 1031 

Herbruck, Rev. Emil P 339 

Herbnick, Rev. Peter 357 

Hershberger, Eli 1025 

Hess, Jeremiah W 654 

Hexamer, Jacob J 917 

Higley, Joseph L 1328 

Hill, Arthur J.. M. D 1091 

Hildenbiddle, Jacob 1O66 

Hildenbitle, Henry 1431 

Hilles, Arthur T 824 

Hilles, Charles H 928 

Hillgreen, Lane & Co 509 

HilIhou?e, Albert S i>46 

Himebaugli, Elias 1483 

Hiner, Prof. Cicero L 1018 

Hines, George W 1476 

Hinton, David 95S 

Hodgdon, Sewell L 821 

Hoffman, Frank 1430 

Hoffman. William H 3435 

Hogan. Martin J 1138 

Holm, George 569 

Holl, Clayton 0S8 

Holl, John H 934 

Holloway, Nathan 385, 

Holtz, Michael J 1506 

Homeopathy in Stark County. 1104 

Hoover, William H 416 

Hoppes. Preston 1471 

Horst, Amos M 1292 

Horst, David B 1010 

Horst, Jonas B 1012 

Hossler, Henry W. . .' 636 

I 

'1 



PAGE 

Hostetter Family 1396 

Housel, Peter 536 

Howenstine, Jacob M 1474 

Howen.stine, John S ''^^ 

Howells, Hon. Anthony 396 

Huber, Ulrich 808 

Hug, Casimir K 546 

Hughes, Denver C 492 

Hurraw, A. & Son 837 

Hursh, Elmer A 1402 

L 

Irwin, William 1369 

Isler, Frederick T 630 

Ite, Charles 564 

J. 

Jarvis, Charles E 1148 

Jerome. Elliott M 1157 

Johns, John E 448 

Johns, William 464 

Johnson, Levi W 727 

Johnson, Simon 403 

Jones, Prof. Edmund A 1304 

Jones, Prof. Frank 860 

Jones, Rev. J. Harrison 308 

Jones. Hon. John P 1445 

Juilliard. George A 1251 

K. 

- Kagey, Jacob ^^\ 

Kasrey. John B 1489 

Kahler. J. Frank. M. D 915 

Kaley, Arthur K 288 

Kaufman. Herman S 1462 

Kaufman, Capt. Peter R 926 

Keim, Henry D "00 

Keim, John "10 

Keim, Jonas M ■..10.52 

Keim, Rev. Josiah 1061 

Keith. Smith 1407 

Keith, S. T.. M. D 283 

Keith, Thomas B 1401 

Keller, Rev. Frederick I486 

Kelley, George A., M. D 941 

Keplinger. Charles W 415 

Kcplinger, Edward D 460 

Keplinger, Warren E 462 

Kettering, Henry 716 

Kiddey, John S 790 

KilHan. Lorenzo M 543' 

King Family 738 

King, Miss IMary 596 

Kirk, Prof. John W 798 



PAGE 

Kitt, Absalom 394 

Klorer, Herman 508 

Kloss, Jacob, Jr 923 

Klotz, Jacob 702 

Knight, Charles H 1107 

Knight, George F 592 

Knobloch, Adam 828 

Knoll, George 616 

Knoll, Jacob 619 

Knoll, Wesley 847 

Koons, Louis A 1087 

Kopp, Anton 913 

Krall, John H 650 

Krause. John 674 

Kreighbaum, John 644 

Krichbaum, Charles 765 

Krider, Charles A HOO 

Krider, Jerome J 548 

Krumlauf, John H 1239 

Kuebele, Leonard 384 

Kuebler, Rev. Jacob F 990 

Kuneman, Jacob 550 

Kurtz, William R 1172 

L. . 

Laiblin. Charles F 986 

Lang, Charles F 842 

Lantz, James C 525 

Lash. Andrew J -942 

Laughlin, Samuel O- 796 

Lawrence, J. R 1152 

Leas, Leonard M 1317 

Lcggett, George H 1189 

Levers, David "A 1020 

Lewis, John v., M. D 343 

Liechty, John A 499 

Lind, JohnH 797 

Lind. Lewis M 579 

Lindemann, Frederick J 718 

Little, William H 294 

Loichot, Louis A .1498 

Lonas, Samuel F 952 

Lotz, Adam 1315 

Loutzenhiser, Peter V 1343 

Love, Alexander B 723 

Lowe, Walter G., M. D 1249 

Loyd, Charles C 805 

Lupher, James C. 1227 

Lutz, John J 1134 

Lutz, Josiah A 1419 

Lynch, William A 1224 

Lytle, H. W..... 632 

M. 
McCall, Thomas 773 



14 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

McCIymonds, J. Walter 1392 

McClymonds Public Library. 1232 

McConnell, John L 734 

McConnell, Joseph H 722 

McCormick, Edward G.,M.D..1444 

McCrea, Hugh D 1322 

McDonald, George E 1147 

McDowell, Horace G 408 

McFadden, Jacob E 513 

McFarland, William H 660 

McFarren, Malvern E 1011 

McKinley, William 265 

INTcLain, Percy L 1351 

McQuate, Theodore €., M. D.1341 

McWhinney, John 1236 

MacKenzie, William 523 

Manchester, William C., M. D 732 

Manly, Patrick L 1232 

Marchand, Jacob F., M. D 1044 

Marchand, Joseph 1143 

Markling, Jacob 1062 

Marshall, Mahlon G 771 

Marshall, William W 810 

Martin, Charles 1136 

Martin, Inipertus 667 

Martin, James M 949 

Martin, William P 784 

Martin, William H 568 

Mase, Amos B 1252 

Mathie, William J 589 

Matthews, John R 1329 

Matti, John 518 

Matz, Jacob 1366 

Maxheimer, William 1077 

Meiser, George M 1233 

Melbourne, George F. S 910 

Melbourne, John S 488 

Melbourne. William E .")2l 

Melcher, William J S77 

Melchior, Peter 558 

Merley, AdamJ 615 

Metzger, Clarkson W 712 

Metzger, E. L., D. V. S 691 

Metzger, John 1050 

Meyer, Andrew 641 

Meyer, Edward J 1469 

Meyer, Joseph A 971 

Meyer, Joseph 480 

Miday, Louis J 1499 

Miller, Eli 656 

Miller, Emanuel 591 

Miller, Henry 1321 

Miller, Rev. Hiram 440 

Miller, Jonathan D 1047 

Miller, Joseph, Jr 590 

Miller, Samuel R 1035 



PAGE 

Miller, T. Clarke, M. D 1069 

Miller, Thomas J 758 

Milligan, Henry C 1108 

Milligan, Rev. O. Brown 352 

Mock. John F 1013 

Moffitt, Nathan E 1112 

Mong, John H 1243 

Mong, Philip 1245 

Monnot, John E 1496 

Montgomery, Alice M 914 

Morgan, Edwin 750 

Morgan, Thomas R., Sr 423 

Morgan, William H 422 

Motts, David 1262 

Motts, Michael 1309 

Muskopf, Jacob 1186 

Myers, Friend E 439 

Myers, John W 1119 

Myers, William 1071 

Myers, William G 965 

N. 

Narwold, Charles F 1319 

Nau, Rev. Frederick C 686 

Nave, Lester L 911 

Ney, Valentine L 770 

Nighman, Thaddcus C 875 

Nimon, Adam 692 

Norris, Charles E 925 

Numan, Zadock 1271 

O. 

Oberliii, Arthur C 904 

Oberlin, Charles D 1030 

Oberlin, Isaiah 1065 

Oberlin, Jacob L 1492 

Oberlin, Joseph 920 

Oberlin, Michael W 1335 

Oberlin, Otto E 1034 

Oldham, Albert A 1171 

Oyster, Joseph 618 

Oyster, Joseph S 531 

Owen, David N 800 

P. 

Parker, Clarence J 303 

P,atterson. Walter W 830 

Paxson, Theodore P 897 

Phillips. Theodore J 612 

Phillips. Adam 781 

Pickens, Ephraim 1428 

Piero. William J 528 

Pierson, Joseph A 646 



PAGE 

Pollock, Hon. Robert A 1446 

Pomerene, Atlee 1298 

Pontius, Andrew 544 

Pontius, Maria G., M. D 1102 

Post, Silas B., M. D 381 

Powell, Thomas 846 

Poyser, Miss Grace 855 

Poyser, John R 286 

Poyser, William J 779 

Prince, Mary J 863 

Putman, John C. F 455 

Putman, Timothy C 369 

R. 

Raber, John E 893 

Rader, Rev. Merit M 1036 

Raeber, John 777 

Raff. Benjamin F 487 

Raff. Edward S 1192 

Raff, Hon. George W 322 

Raff, Norman C 1467 

Rank, George 1311 

Raynolds, Madison 282 

Raynolds, William F 341 

Ream, Charles W 976 

Reed, Francis M 514 

Reed, Joseph L., M. D. . < . . . . 963 

Reed, T. J., M. D 1123 

Reed, William M 747 

Reese, Andrew 1408 

Reese, Norman 1217 

Reeves, George 332 

Reeves. Washington R 826 

Reiner, Simon 690 

Reinhold, Capt. Urias R 377 

Renkert, Harry S 524 

Renick, Jonathan 783 

Renner, Charles 719 

Renz, Herman F 763 

Reynolds, Benjamin F 853 

Richter, John G. A 601 

Ricks, Augustus J 1355 

Ricks, William F 1355 

Ricker, Albert B., A. M.,D. D. 430 

Ringer, Samuel 581 

Rizer, Alfred L, M. D 974 

Roach, John A., M. D ' 511 

Robertson, James H 359 

Robinson, James A 1259 

Roesle, Gotlieb C 881 

Rogers, D. E 409 

Rohrer, David H 994 

Roper, Mrs. Leila S 803 

Ross, Aaron W 505 

Roth, Charles R 542 



INDEX. 



15 



PAGE 

Soth, Henry F 832 

Ruff, Prof. Walter S 868 

Ruflin, Anthony A 1443 

Rupp, Henry A 504 

Russell, Nahum S 1272 

s. 

Sarver, John M 372 

Saxton, James A 1320 

Saxton, Joseph S 1464 

Schaefer, Louis 120S 

Scharles, Peter 880 

Schell, Stephen 1067 

Schellhase, John A 413 

Scheu, Elmer E 871 

Schillis:, Joseph 973 

Schilling, John P., M. D 290 

Schiltz, Clarence F., M. D...1140 

Schlabach, Charles H 471 

Schmachtenberger, Alvin . .. .1367 

Schmuck, Reason A 703 

Schmucker, Rev. George M. .. 681 

Schory, Henry 1399 

Schott, Joseph 684 

Schrantz, John 1477 

Schroyer, John T 977 

Schuckers, J. Melville 1106 

Schuffell, Harry M., M. D. .1440 

Schuffenecker, August 780 

Schumacher, Frank E 1490 

Schumacher, William F 835 

Schuster, John W 1105 

Schwartz, Daniel 1248 

Schweitzer, Conrad 348 

Scott, Edward 503 

Scranton, Maj. E. E 724 

Sefert, Christian 1357 

Sefong;, Samuel, Sr 698 

Sell, Samuel 412 

Senger, JNIartin 1009 

Shaffer, Adam 597 

Shaffer, Andrew J 1426 

Shaffer, David B 843 

Shaffer, Henry 1433 

Shaffer, Joseph 1415 

Shanafelt, Harrison H 452 

Shanafelt, Washington B 447 

Sharer, J. H 300 

Shaub, Jacob N 534 

Shaw, Charles A 996 

Shearer, Jeremiah E 1290 

Shearer, John 1497 

Sheets, John H 594 

Sheets, Samuel C 595 

Sherer, Marion 705 



PAGE 

Sherer, Philip 688 

Sherlock, Henry E 1142 

Sherlock, William E 1156 

Sherrick, Hon. Johnson 1478 

Sherrick, John H 453 

Shimp, Hon. John 459 

Shively, Seraphim 353 

Shoof, John 948 

Shoof, William 303 

Shorb, Adam 851 

Shreiner, Edward M 1130 

Shriver, Reuben W 519 

Shumaker, Jacob 696 

Sickafoose, Christopher C. . . .1024 

Sickafoose, George L 604 

Sigrist, Frederick H 812 

Silver, Charles 909 

Skinner, Robert P 1353 

Slusser, Harvey H 827 

Slusser, Lewis, M. D 344 

Smith, A. W 1114 

Smith, Benjamin F 560 

Smith, Eli 582 

Smith, Franklin D., M. D 1491 

Smith, Hiram 1330 

Smith, Levi 621 

Smith, Maurice, M. D 879 

Snider, David 1326 

Snyder, Frederick H 1495 

Snyder, Jacob B 1331 

Snyder, Jacob J 1281 

Snyder, John J 1268 

Snyder, J. Royal 500 

Snyder, Henry H 1144 

Snyder, Thomas F 757 

Snyder, William H 1283 

Sommer, David S 870 

Sommerville, William T 1372 

Sonnhalter, Philip 400 

Souder, Rev. G. H 1493 

Southworth, Mortimer M 1336 

Speelman, Mrs. Elizabeth 628 

Spitler, John F 1302 

Sponseller, David 1449 

Sponseller, David W 1451 

Sponseller, John H 1256 

Sprankle, John H 1305 

Stahl, Henry 849 

Standke, Hugo 1346 

Stands, Charles M 1229 

State Hospital for Insane 1200 

Steele, John L 1098 

Steele, William C, M. D 650 

Steele, William, M. D 1261 

Steese, Charles 331 

Steese, Isaac, M. D 346 



PAGE 

Stein, Jolm L 854 

Steinmetz, George 1453 

Stewart, John M 1194 

Stidger, General George 450 

Stiehl, Leon P. W 895 

Stimmel, John 1270 

Stimmel, John W 561 

St. Joseph's Church, Maximo. 1413 

Stokey, Prof. Charles F 866 

Stolzenbach, William L 1295 

Stonebrook, Hal B., D. D. S. .1221 

Stoner, Aaron J 1137 

Stoner, Henry 1095 

Stoner, John L 768 

Stoner, Levi A 649 

Strassner, Rev. Frederick 432 

Streb, Edwin D 819 

Stuart, William 1287 

Studer, Charles E 299 

Summer, Joseph B 1050 

Summers, Sylvanus 989 

Swallen, Christopher T 1410 

Swallen, Henry R 1374 

T. 

Taylor, George G 1423 

Taylor, Millard F 1296 

Taylor, Thomas J 1159 

Taylor, Walter S., M. D 1412 

Teeters, Jesse W 745 

Thomas, Henry W 538 

Tinkler, Charles E 502 

Todd, Joseph L, M. D 1230 

Tolerton, Howard D 417 

Tolerton, Israel G 406 

Transue, Oliver F 742 

Transue, Frank 444 

Treesh, Joel 567 

Treiber, Rev. Clement H 1264 

Tressel, Leonard R 933 

Trout, Mrs. Caroline 553 

Trubey, Alvah P., D. D. S. ...1250 

Tschantz, D. L 736 

Turner, Rev. William E 1040 

Tyler, Dominic 478 

U. 

Underbill, James W 1507 

Unkefer, Franklin 1364 

Upham, Charles C 954 

V. 

VanDyne, David L 1373 



i6 



INDEX. 



PACE 

VanVoorliis, Abraham 1278 

Vesseriat, Joseph L 1414 

Vignos, Major A 838 

Volzer, Christian 665 

Volzer, Emanuel G 715 

Volzer, Joseph A 603 

Volzer, William 501 

W. 

Wade, Madison W 1213 

Wagner, William 1325 

Walker, Chauncey A., M. D. .1348 

Walker, Eli 1070 

Walker, James F. T 720 

Walker, Otis U 584 

Wallace, George H 888 

Wallace, John S 613 

Wallace, Dr. Perkins 1488 

Walser, John W 1058 

Ward, Uriah C 1187 

Warsheler, William 634 

Warstler, John L 1084 

Warwick, Hon. John G 360 

Warwick, W. K. L 362 



P.\GE 

Watts, Henry M 894 

Webb, George N 897 

Weber, Henry E 1339 

Weimer, David 1391 

Welker, Perry W., M. D 907 

Welch, Samuel H 1032 

Welshimer, Rev. Pearl H 679 

Werle, Michael 1388 

Werntz, William O 1151 

Werts, Henry W 751 

Wertz, William P 1027 

Weybrecht, John T 1055 

Whiting, Harriet K 318 

Whiting, Julius, Jr 314 

Whiting, Julius, Sr 317 

Whiting, Lorenzo M., M. D... 320 

Wikidal, Martin 728 

Wilhelm, Fred 302 

Williams, T. F 1203 

Williard, Bernouili J. G 1420 

Willis, John 296 

Wilson, Capt. Thomas 905 

Wise, Basil E 627 

Wise. Judge Henry A 1299 

Wise, Peter C 625 



PAGE 

Wise, William H 626 

Wolf, Thomas S 1242 

Woods, George €., D. D. S..1155 
Worrall, Charles L., M. D... 813 

Wyandt, Rev. Jacob D 420 

Wyman, Prof. J. M 885 

Y. 

Yant, Howard W 80S 

Varger, Franklin R 1198 

Yarger, John E 801 

Yoder, Andrew 1449 

Yoder, Samuel 1452 

Yohe, Prof. George W 475 

Yost, John G 431 

Young, Alfred P 1475 

Young, William E 1163 

Z. 

Zettler, John B 921 

Zimmer, Frank A 1121 

Zollars, David 319 

Zumber, J. J 1146 




STARK COUNTY COURT HOUSE. 



OLD LANDMARKS 

OK 

CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



EARLY STARK COUNTY HISTORY. 

By Lew Slusser. 

It is believed Vjy tiiose who make an- 
thropology a study, that a race of people occu- 
pied and claimed title to the soil of Ohio ante- 
rior to the Indian. They are known as Mound 
Builders, taking their name from the mounds 
built by them in ditTerent parts of the state. 
From discoveries made in the exploration of 
their works, the opinion has been formed that 
many centuries must ha\e elapsed between the 
time of the occupancy by the Mound Builders 
and the appearance of the earliest of the In- 
dian tribes. There is much speculation as to 
the status of their improvement — their ap- 
proach to civiHzation. All agree that they were 
in advance of the Indians, that they had at- 
tained a hig'her ])lane of knowledge, that 
they were a numerous people, lived 
under a strong goxernment, had mili- 
tary skill, a knowledge of metals, cul- 
tivated the soil — in short, had made con- 
siderable progress in the direction of civiliza- 
tion. The causes leading to their extinction 
are yet to be le irned. There are mounds lo- 
cated in different parts of Stark county, in 



the townships of Bethlehem, Lawrence, Lake 
and Canton, but they have ne\-er been thor- 
oughly explored to determine whether they are 
the creation of a prehistoric race or of later- 
day Indians. The most notable mound is at 
Congress Lake. 

Coming to a time of recorded history, it 
may be stated that by a treaty — agreed upon 
at Fort Mcintosh (Beaver, Pennsylvania) in 
J 785, between tlie commissioners appointed 
by the go\'ernment and the Indian tribes then 
occupying western Ohio, known as Delawares, 
W^yandots, Ottawas and Chippewas, the latter 
relinquished all their right and title to the same, 
and agreed witli the commissioners that their 
eastern boundary should be from the mouth of 
the Cuyahoga river up to the portage, from the 
Cuyahoga to the Tuscarawas river, thence 
down the Tuscarawas river to the forks, near 
FT. Laurens, a few miles south of Boli\ar, 
thence west to the portage l)etween the Miami 
and Maumee ri\ers. 

The first white man known to have made 
his appearance in this section of our state was 
La Salle, a French explorer, who in 1670, ac- 
companied by a few heroic followers, passed 
from Lake Erie to the Alleghenv ri\-er. The 



i8 



ULU LANDMARKS 



next was Colonel Bouquet, who, as an officer of 
the British army, with live hundred regulars and 
about a thousand volunteers, made an expedi- 
tion from Fort Pitt west as far as the Tuscara- 
^vas river. The object was to intimidate the 
Avarlike Indian tribes and inlluence them to 
more peaceful conduct. It is not, however, the 
nature of the average Indian to be peacefully 
inclined. They were continually making en- 
croachments upon the nearest white settlers 
then living east of the Ohio river, in Pennsyl- 
vania and Virginia, stealing stock and carrying 
off prisoners. As a measure of protection to 
these people the general government authorized 
the formation of scouting parties, known as 
"scouts" or "spies,"' whose duty it was to recon- 
noiter the country beyond the Ohio and as far 
west as the Tuscarawas river. These scouting 
parties were made up of men inured to hard- 
shii)s and accustomed to the privations and ex- 
posure incident to border life. Many of them 
had encountered Indians before and knew by 
experience their habits and mode of warfare. 
They recei\ed from the government monthly 
pay and ammunition, furnishing their own 
anns. It was their duty, on the discovery of 
any sign of Indians, to return immediately and 
give the alarm, that the frontier settlers might 
adopt measures for their own protection, either 
by collecting the families in a fort, or fortifying 
their own homes, as circumstances would 
admit. 

There was a company of five, all of whom 
afterward became citizens of Stark county — 
James Downing, Sr., John Cuppy, Isaac Miller, 
George Foulk and Thomas Dillon. Dillon and 
Foulk had buth 1)een captured by the Indians 
Avben young, lived with them many years and 
knew their habits and customs. Downing was 
captain of the company. 

On the occasion of the encc^unter we are 
about to relate, the party left their place of 
rendezvous for a scout, in April. 1793. They 
crossed the Ohio ri\er at the mouth of Yellow 



creek, followed up the north branch to near 
its source, then directed their course west to 
the head waters of Sandy. After reconnoitering 
this section of country for miles around without 
discovering any signs of Indians, they came 
to the conclusion that there were none about. 
Up to this time they had not discharged a gun, 
from fear of being discovered. The rations 
with which they had supplied themselves on 
starting were nearly exhausted and they con- 
cluded it would be safe to kill some game. 
Downing shot a deer, and another of the party 
a turkey. This was on the morning of the 
fourth day out, between Little Sandy and In- 
dian Run. As they had not yet taken break- 
fast, they concluded to prepare the meal. Miller 
was kindling a fire; Foulk was cleaning the 
turkey preparatory to roasting. Downing was 
in the act of bending down a sapling upon which 
he intended to hang his deer, that he would be 
better able to skin it: Cuppy was sitting at the 
root of a tree with his gun on his lap. exam- 
ining the lock. A party of Indians, numbering 
eighteen or twenty of the Ottawa ami \\'yandot 
tribes, heard the firing and detected the locality 
of the scouts. They divided their force into 
two parties with the purpose of approaching 
them from dififerent courses, one of which was 
from a direction the scouts would be most likely 
to take in an effort to escape. W'iiile Cuppy 
was engaged with his gun, be happened to look 
up and saw in the distance an Indian moving 
about peering through the underbrush. He im- 
mediately sprang to his feet and gave the alarm. 
As soon as the Indian saw he was discovered, 
he turned and ran, and as he did so Cupi)y 
fired at him, but without effect. Miller and 
Foulk snatched uj) their guns and gave chase. 
The ground was sparsely timbered. Miller was 
in the advance, when Foulk called to him to 
halt, as he knew just as soon as the Indian 
reached a more heavily timliered piece of 
ground he would stop behind a tree and shoot 
Miller as he approached. Thereupon Miller 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



19 



turned aljout and lie and Foulk started for tlie 
place the\- had left. ]\Iean\vhile the othtr party 
of Indians, numbering six or eight, made their 
appearance in another direction. They were 
bold and demonstrative. Downing said to 
Cuppy and Dillcjn : "Let us stand together and 
defend ourselves to the last." "No," replied 
DiJIon, "each one for himself," and suiting the 
action to the sentiment, started on a fun. Down- 
ing and Cupp}' kept together and mo\ed cau- 
tiously along the high ground or upper bench 
towards the forks of Sandy. As the Indians 
pressed upon them too closely, they would turn 
and raise their guns as though they intended to 
shoot. Then, the Indians would jump around, 
throw up their hands and run upon their hands 
and knees, evidently for the purpose of di- 
verting the aim of the whites. By degrees they 
became bolder and advanced closer, when 
Downing, taking advantage of a good oppor- 
tunity, shot the nearest, which had the effect of 
keeping the others at a greater distance. Soon 
after Downing and Cuppy caught up with Dil- 
lon, who appeared much exhausted as though 
about to fall. Dillon begged for "God's sake" 
that they would help him. and as Downing 
turned and saw his face he discovered that he 
was choking with his necktie. Dillon, in his 
haste to loosen it and to assist his breathing, 
pulled the Avrong end and made it tighter. 
Downing cut the neckerchief with his Ijelt 
knife, thereby releasing him, when Dillmi 
immediately took a fresh start and was 
soon out of sight. Downing and Cuppy 
were both past middle age and some- 
what fleshy. They both had run until nearly 
exhausted and knew they coidd not hold out 
much longer. Downing said to Cuppy. "'I 
can't go any farther — I'll stand and fight under 
this thorn bush, if I die," and stand he did. At 
the same time Cuppy got behind a tree, and 
both awaited the approach of the savages, de- 
termined to make the best resistance they were 
able. They had not long to wait, for soon the 



Indians were seen approaching. Downing re- 
.served his fire until the foremost Indian came 
with close range, then, taking deliberate aim, 
fired and brought him down. The others re- 
turned a volley which cut the bushes around 
Downing and Cuppy, but did not strike either. 
Miller and Foulk, hearing the firing, hastened 
in the direction from wdience it came, and before 
aware of it were among the Indians. Miller 
espied one of unusual size with a silver half- 
moon hanging on his breast. He was in the act 
of loading his gun, and just as Miller was 
drawing a bead on him the chief saw him, gave 
a yell and sprang behind a tree. Miller 
soon discovered that he was so surrounded that 
it would be impossible to protect himself behind 
a tree, thereupon he determined upon flight as 
the only hope of safety for his scalp. Quick as 
thought he sprang from the upper bank and 
ran across the bottom or swamp toward the 
north branch of the stream. The Indians left 
Downing and Cuppy, threw down their guns, 
drew their tomahawks, gave the scalp yell and 
gave chase after Miller. At one time they were 
so near he recognized a tall warrior known 
among the whites as Tom Jilleway. After Mil- 
ler crossed Little Sandy, and was in an open 
plain, he thought, as he afterwards expressed it, 
"now legs for it." He always considered him- 
self swift on foot, and put in his best efforts 
for about a mile and a half until he reached the 
high lands or ridge, when he stopped to look 
back and listen. He could neither hear nor see 
anything of the Indians. After resting a short 
time, he concluded to return to the place where 
they were first surprised, in the hope of finding 
the rest of the company. As they were not there 
and the day was far advanced, he decided upon 
making for the company's place of rendezvous 
on the east side of the Ohio river. He contin- 
ued to travel as long as he could see his way 
until he reached "S'ellow Creek. Here, under a 
fallen tree that lay upon the ground, he made a 
lied of leaves upon which he slept soundly 



20 



OLD LAXDMARKS 



amid the howling of wolves and the screeching 
of wild cats. Xext day he crossed the Ohio at 
the mouth of Yellow- creek and reached the 
place of rendezvous, where he found Downing, 
Cuppy and Dillon safe and unhurt, except that 
Downing's face was much swollen and his eyes 
bloodshot from exertion. 

In the evening of the next day Foulk made 
his appearance, and reported that when the In- 
dians started after Miller he hid himself in the 
brush. When they got out of sight he crossed 
over a branch of the Sandy, the same that is 
now called Indian Run from this identical tight, 
and secreted himself on a hill where he could 
overlook the plains south without being ob- 
ser\'ed. He could see the Indians in camp not 
a mile distant, and from their performance was 
satisfied from his knowledge of their ceremo- 
nies that two ot their number had been killed. 
In discussing the matter, the company were of 
the opinion that they made a fortunate escape. 

The next day (jeneral W'ax'ne and his staff, 
in a barge, with his troops in ninety-five flat 
boats, came down the river on their way to 
Camp Washington, afterward Cincinnati. As 
they came in sight, the scouts discharged their 
guns as a salute. General Wayne had his barge 
run ashore, and on learning they were govern- 
ment scouts, signalled a boat containing sharp- 
shooters to land. He had a target set up and 
a trial of skill was had between his sharpshoot- 
ers and the scouts, in which the sharpshooters 
came out second best. General Wayne compli- 
mented the scouts, saying : "My bra\e fellows, 
you are d — d fine shots." and treated them to 
brandy. A portion of the ground over which 
the contest occurred is now in Carroll county, 
but was formerly a part of Stark. 

When Ohio ^vas admitted to the Union as 
a state, in 1802. it was divided into eleven 
counties. Stark was included in Jefferson. In 
the organization of Columbiana county in 1803 
it included Stark. At that time Rudolph Bair. 
better known as "Rudy" Bair, lived in Colum- 



biana county. He was a meml • of the first 
constitutional convention, and upon its adop- 
tion was elected as a member of the legislature. 
As he afterward became a prominent citizen of 
Stark county, it is not improper to allude to his 
career as a legislator. He was a man of more 
than ordinary ability, inclined to talk, and at 
home regarded as a Sir Oracle. There was a 
bill before the house to reorganize the state mi- 
litia. Rudy had given close attention to the 
discussion and got himself considerably worked 
up at what he considered an innovation upon 
the old custom of conducting the militia train- 
ings. He felt it his duty to protest against this 
new measure, and is reported to have delivered 
himself as follows: "Mr. Speaker, I'm op- 
posed to dis ting of bringing organs into de mi- 
litia. I dinks de fife and de drum good enough 
for anybody." Other speeches of similar char- 
acter are attributed to him. Whether true or 
false, we have had representatixes in the legis- 
lature since who reflected less credit upon their 
constituency than Rudy Bair. 

James F. Leonard was the first white man 
who located upon land within the present boun- 
dary of .Stark county. He was born in Frank- 
lin county, Penu-syhania, in 1779, improved the 
best opportunities then afforded at his home 
for obtaining an education, and when of age 
engaged with a sur\e}'or, remaining with him 
until he had acquired a practical knowledge of 
the business. About that time the lands of 
eastern and southern Ohio were being surveyed 
by the go\-ernment and brought into market, a 
land office ha\ing been established in Chilli- 
cothe. The few who had explored the coun- 
try returned with some wonderful accounts of 
the quality of the soil, value of the timber, the 
excellent springs of water, the lay of the land, 
and other attractions, so that everybody became 
excited and made it the common subject of dis- 
cussion. It was the same old story, began with 
the first settlers upon the shores of the At- 
lantic, which will not end until every vestige of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



21 



the public l?t"d to the Pacitic is pre-empted. 
Leonard was of those who caught the fever and 
he determined to go west. In 1802 he was clerk 
in the land office in Chillicothe and remained 
there about a year. Meanwhile an office was 
established in Steubenville, and on 1804 he 
came to Steubenville and obtained a like posi- 
tion in the office at that place. 

The original survey of lands in this district 
was in sections of four miles square. To select 
and enter a less quantity required the services 
of a surveyor; as Leonard observed this want 
he decided to locate himself in the district where 
land was being sought, as he could make it 
more profitable than his employment as clerk. 
As he would require assistance, he engaged 
James and Henry Barber to accompany him. 
They were brothers and originally from Vir- 
ginia. It was in the month of March, 1805, 
that the three men started from Steubenville. 
Their outfit consisted of blankets, salt pork and 
flour, cooking utensils, two axes, surveying in- 
struments, with some other articles, packed 
upon two horses. Each of the party carried a 
rifle and ammunition. They walked and rode 
by turns. The route was by an Indian trail to 
a crossing on Sandy, thence through the un- 
broken forest up the Nimishillen to where the 
prospective county seat of the new county, yet 
in embryo, would be likely located. 

A ;;pring was sought for and found on the 
northeast quarter of section 3, and here the 
party improvised a rude shelter of saplings, set- 
ting up forks and cross pieces and covering with 
bark. With this they managed to get along for 
several months, until able to construct a log 
cabin. In a few weeks Leonard returned to 
Steuben\-ille, entered the c|uarter upon which he 
was a squatter, advertised himself as a surveyor 
and land jobber, offering his services to per- 
sons in search of land in the new country. On the 
occasion of a visit to the land office in June fol- 
lowing, he met James Culberson, also from 
Franklin countv, Pennsvlvania. He was of a 



good family, but had acquired habits of dissi- 
pation, and in a fit of desperation left a wife 
and three children determined to expatriate 
himself, or rather bury himself with some In- 
dian tribe of the west. He asked for employ- 
ment of Leonard, who engaged him, and to- 
gether they came to the camp, where Culberson 
did such work as Leonard directed. The woods 
abounded in game, and it was no trouble to 
secure all the meat they wanted. Flour and 
salt were the most difficult articles to procure, 
as they had to be packed from the settlement 
east. Bear, deer and wild turkeys were plenty, 
and so were wolves and rattle snakes. 

Up to this period the only land lying in 
Canton township known to have been pur- 
chased from the government were in sectiotis 
2, 3 and 10, by Nicholas Firestone and Charles 
Long, lying immediately east of the city. These 
pieces were entered in the fall of 1804. Whether 
either of the party had seen the land previous 
to entry is unknown. 

The following incident was related to the 
writer by Leonard as having occurred at the 
spring: A stranger from the east in search of 
land arrived at the station on Saturday even- 
ing. Leonard had gone to Steubenville to enter 
several tracts he had surx-eyed for parties, leav- 
ing the camp in charge of the two Barbers and 
Culberson. On Sunday the stranger engaged 
the meii to pilot him around the country, as far 
as was safe to venture from camp. He had 
three hundred and thirty-eight dollars in silver 
done up in a twilled bag, in which he had car- 
ried his bacon and bread, which, before start- 
ing, he deposited for safe keeping in a hollow- 
log, covering the hole with moss. Returning 
late in the evening, he concluded not to lift the 
money until next morning. When he went for 
it Monday morning, lo and behold, it was gone, 
bag and all. The man was distracted, took on 
terribly, and as there was a camp of Indians by, 
he charged them with the theft. Unable to 
obtain a clue to his lost money, he started home 



22 



OLD LANDMARKS 



with a heavy heart. On his way he met Leon- 
ard, to whom he related his great loss, and his 
belief that the Indians were the thieves. Leon- 
ard assured him that the Indians had not dis- 
turbed his money — tiiat the wolves were the 
thieves, and he had no doubt but that some 
day the money would be found. About four 
months afterward three men from Pennsylvania 
were looking around in search of desirable land, 
when one of the espied a portion of the twilled 
bag. Having heard from the guide the story 
of the lost money, the company immediately in- 
stituted a search and very soon picked up nearly 
all the lost coin. .\ few pieces are still lying 
in the accumulated leaves of the virgin soil, 
within hearing distance of the busy hum of 
the city. 

Tn October, 1803, Culberson made a visit 
to an Indian trading post, located at the nioutii 
of Sandy. They kept whisky and Culberson 
was led into his old habit, became intoxicated, 
and from exi)osure while at the post, and on 
his return to the station contracted a severe 
cold, which resulted in an attack of pneumonia. 
The men in cami) could do but little for him 
except administer warm drink. He lingered 
about two weeks and died. He was buried at 
the root of an oak tree and the grave marked 
with stones. There were present at the inter- 
ment, besides Leonard, Hugh Cunningham. 
Henry Friday, James and Henry Barber. 

It will not be considered out of place to re- 
late, in connection with this event, that the 
writer in 1855 published a more minute ac- 
count of the death and burial of the first white 
man in Stark county, in which the idea was 
suggested to the county commissioners of 
erecting over the grave a suitable monument, 
giving the name and date of death. This arti- 
cle was copied into other papers west, and final- 
ly met the eye of a son of Culberson, who at 
that time was a judge in Iowa. From him 
the writer received a letter containing the fol- 
lowincr extracts : 



'T have just seen a communication from 
you, giving an account of James Culberson, i 
who I am satisfied was my father. He was 
the youngest son of my grandfather, and, as U 
I have been informed, was much indulged. 1 
Near the close of the Revolutionary war there 
was a body of horse troops raised, of which 
he became a member, and during his connec- 
tion with that service the foundation of the 
habit of drinking was laid, which finally ruined 1 
him. * * In my youth I took a trip to what 
was then called the west, and happened in Steu- 
benville when the proprietors of Canton were 
al)out making a sale of town lots. There were 
a number of persons going to the sale from 
Steubenxillc, and I went with them, intending 
to see the spot where my father was laid, but 
could find no person wIkj could give me any 
information." 

Canton was located by Bezalcel Wells, in 
the fall of 1805, the ground surveyed ami a 
[jlat made in the winter following. Early in 
the spring of 1806 lots were sold and se\-eral 
cabins erected. ' Leonard bought the lot at the 
southwest corner of Seventh and Market, upon 
which he erected the same year a brick house. 
The house has a history which may be given in 
detail hereafter. Leonard was married to 
Sarah Earlier June 6, 1806, which was the first 
marriage ceremony performed in the county, 
and this previous to its organization. Leon- 
ard subsequently moved into Plain township, 
anil ihcn tn Jackson, in the organization of both 
of which he participated. Afterwards he re- 
moved into Summit county, and from thence 
into Cuyahoga, where he died at an advanced 
age. James and William Barber each Iniilt a 
cabin on section 16 in the fall of 1805. and 
brought out their families the following spring. 
James Crawford, also from Virginia, settled on 
the southwest quarter of section 15. 

Among those who selected and entered land 
in Canton township in 1805 were David Bach- 
tel. Jacob Aultman, the Bairs, Philip Schlosser 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



23 



(since anglicized to Slusserj and William E\v- 
ing. These men, after completing their selec- 
tions of land, returned to their homes east, but 
engaged Ruby Bair, who was of their number, 
to go to the land office in Steubenville and make 
the necessary entries and payments. So far 
as can be ascertained at this day, no white per- 
son remained in Stark county during the winter 
of 1805-6, except Leonard and the men in his 
employ. If there was any family they were 
located in Sandy township. 

David Bechtel was from Maryland, came 
to Columbiana county in 1803 and lived near 
New Lisbon. In the fall of 1806 he came 
out to his land with a hireling, put up a cabin, 
cleared and fenced three acres and sowed it 
in wheat; went back to Columbiana county, re- 
mained there during the winter, married and 
returned with his wife to his new iiome in the 
•spring of 1807, where he remained until his 
death, in J 833. Mr. Bechtel was among the 
lir.>;t settlers who succeeded in raising fruit. 
Mis orchard was located upon high ground, 
where it was less likely to be injured by frost. 
He was fond of hunting, wore a hunting shirt 
edged with fringes, and always carried his 
rifle when from home, even at funerals. He also 
had with him a long knife attached to a belt at 
his side. One night the dogs treed three bears 
near his cabin and kept them up till morning, 
when he shot them. He once had an encounter 
with a buck, which would probably have been 
his last, l)ut for his trusty knife. He supposed 
he had shot the buck, as sinuiltaneously with 
the crack of the rifle the buck fell, and when 
Bechtel came up the animal lay apparently 
dead, not mo\ing a muscle. Bachtel drew his 
knife for the purpose of cutting his throat, 
and as he took hold of an antler to turn the 
head the buck suddenly sprung upon his feet 
and made for him, ran a prong of his antler 
Ihrou.gh his left hand, pinning him to an oak. 
when he soon would liave disabled him, had not 
Bechtel, by a superhuman effort, plunged the 



knife into the chest of the buck, causing him 
to relax, whereupon he followed up his advan- 
tage and soon despatched him. The bullet had 
only grazed the top of the skull, producing 
temporary concussion. Besides the game he 
killed, he was a successful trapper, catching 
otter and other fur animals in the Nimishillen. 

There was an Indian burial ground, or 
mound, upon the farm of Bechtel. Relics, 
such as arrow-heads, stone hatchets and other 
implements of stone and iron, have been found. 
A dwelling that stood upon the place many 
years ago was said to have been disturbed at 
night by the spirit of dead Indians buried un- 
derneath. Bechtel had no love for the Indians 
who prowled around the neighborhood. There 
was one in particular who was in the habit of 
displaying" a string of human tongues and 
boasting that he had taken them from pale 
faces. On an occasion of this kind, in the 
presence of Bechtel, they both left the com- 
pany about the same time, and that Indian was 
never seen afterward. It was said Bechtel 
helped him on his journey to the Spirit Land. 
Mr. Bachtel was strong in his convictions of 
right and duty, belonged to the Jacksonian 
school of politics, was a kind neighbor and an 
honest man. He served several terms as coun- 
ty commissioner. 

Jacob Aultman was from Westmoreland 
county, Pennsylvania. He came in 1806 with 
his family, consisting of wife and three chil- 
dren, — Christian, J'lcol) and Mary. Christiar» 
had a roving disposition, followed the river 
and died in the South. Jacob died in Osna- 
burgh, and Mary, who married Jonathan Hol- 
den (now anglicized Hohvick), died in 1861. 
Mr. Aultman had poor health, being an almost 
constant sufferer from derangement of the 
li\er. He consulted every physician within 
reach, but, receiving no benefit, was finally in- 
duced to go to his native home in Pennsyl- 
vania and put -himself under the treatment of 
a physician there. It seems there was no help 



24 



OLD LANDMARKS 



for him, as he grew worse and died. Mr. 
Aultman was a quiet, unassuming man, Ijut 
much respected for his strict integrity. 

It is claimed that the first schocjl taught in 
the county was in a log structure erected in 
1807 for that purpose. John Harris was the 
first teacher, the same one who in after years 
was a prominent and influential member of the 
Canton bar. The next teacher employed w-as 
Christopher Bair. The school books in use at 
that day were DilKvorth's Speller, Bible and 
Testament for readers and Gough's Arithmetic, 
which, in calculations of money, treated ex- 
clusi\ely of pounds, shillings and pence. There 
was no geography or grammar taught. 

The first "barring out" of which we have 
any account occurred at this school building 
some years later. The teacher was John Cris- 
well. a tall, raw-boned man, who prided him- 
self in his ability to govern a school. It was 
the day before Christmas, and the larger boys 
concluded they must have a treat, and that the 
master must furnish the liquor. Whiskey was 
the only drink known at that day. It was 
arranged to commence at noon, when the teach- 
er would be out of the building, as was his cus- 
tom, and that before commencing the younger 
scholars should be sent home. Among the 
boys prominent in the mo\ement were the 
Reams, Aultmans, Latimcrs, Bairs, Sherricks 
and Trumps. As soon as the younger scholars 
left the balance collected in the room and barred 
the doors. The opening in the logs, which were 
covered w^ith greased paper and intended for 
windows, were too small to admit the body of 
a man. Thus fortified, they awaited the return 
of the teacher, nor had they long to wait. 
Criswell soon made his appearance and, finding 
the door barred, immediately took in the situa- 
tion and became w-rathful. He demanded, in 
a peremptory tone, that they open the door. 
He was told by one of the leaders the condi- 
tions of surrender — that he furnish a quart of 
whiskev and dismiss the school. This he re- 



fused, and threatened dire vengeance if they 
persisted in their rebellion. Finding his efforts 
unavailing, he mounted the roof and began 
•tearing off the clapboards. At this he was 
compelled to desist, as every time he inserted 
his fingers to loosen a board they were ready 
to strike his hand. He undertook to come 
down the chimney, but was repulsed by fire 
and smoke. By this time he became desper- 
ate, and, descending from the roof with 
vengeance depicted in his countenance, he 
procured a heavy fence rail and, using it as 
a battering ram, succeeded finally in break- 
ing in the door. The teacher having carried 
the day, was in condition to dictate terms of 
amnesty. Nothing short of severe chastise- 
ment would satisfy him. for the infliction of 
which the boys never forgave him. The 
attendance of the school after this occurrence 
waned. The larger scholars were insul)ordinate 
and several refused to attend. The "barring- 
out" was an event long rememl>ered in the 
neighborhood. 

William Ewing, from Allegheny county, 
Pennsylvania, located on the southeast c|uar- 
ter of section 2. He erected a cabin in the 
fall of 1805 and came in the spring of 1806 
with his wife and five children. All the goods 
he had, and some furniture which he pur- 
chased at Beaver, were packed on horseback. 
For the first several years, in common with 
other early settlers, he was subjected to very 
serious trials and great hardships. It was 
difficult to raise money to pay taxes and pur- 
chase such necessaries of life as could not be 
dispensed with and which they could not 
themselves manufacture. Ewing was prob- 
ablv the most successful hunter that ever lived 
in the county. He would kill on an average 
of seventy or eighty deer during a season, be- 
sides numerous bear, wolves and wild cats. 
He made it a source of revenue. The sur- 
plus meat he would sell to emigrants, and the 
skins he tanned for clothing and shoes, or 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



rather moccasins. He and his boys wore bnck 
skin until sheep could be raised, which was 
not for some years, as the wolves \\ere so de- 
structive. Buckskin pants and moccasins were 
in common use at that day. Females wore 
linsey, nor did they give much attention to 
fashion. For the first several years the family 
were bad off for bread stuff. They would 
pound corn in hominy blocks, or grate it, sift 
it through a dried deer skin, pierced with holes, 
and bake it on a board before the fire. 

There was a wonderful eclipse of the sun 
in June, 1811, of which the people of the west 
had no previous intimation. Evving and his 
sons were in the field hoeing corn at the time. 
It became so dark that the stars were plainly 
visible, and chickens went to roost. The fam- 
ilv gathered together in fear of an impending 
catastrophe. Judge Sowers, then an appren- 
tice to the carpenter trade, with other work- 
men, were shingling the Kaufman house, cor- 
ner of Ninth and Market. All hands thought 
the day of judgment had come and precipi- 
tately left the roof. 

Stofle Bair opened the southwest quarter 
of section i. He sold it in 181 1 for eleven 
dollars an acre, to Wendell Holben, from 
Adams county, Pennsylvania. Bair, im- 
mediately after selling, purchased in Sandy, 
remained there a few years, again sold, bought 
in W'ayne county, removed there and died. 

Ebenezer Shaw entered the east half of sec- 
tion 14, improved it up to 1815, when he sold 
to John Sherrick. 

Dishonesty was practiced among govern- 
ment officials in early times, as well as at the 
present day. ^^' hen Robert Latimer called at 
the land office to pay the first installment on 
his quarter section, Dickenson, then clerk in 
the ofiice, made inquiry in reference to the 
quality of certain lands in his locality ; among 
the rest, the quarter section now owned by 
John H. Brenner. On learning that it was 



good land, he marked it "entered," which was 
in violation of law, no one having any official 
connection with the office being allowed to 
purchase. Not long afterward, David Carter 
made his appearance at the land office and 
signified his desire to enter that identical quar- 
ter. He was informed by Dickenson that it 
was already entered, but that he had the dis- 
posal of it. .\fter negotiation the land was 
sold to Carter for four dollars an acre, cash 
down, just double the government price, Dick- 
enson pocketing three hundred and twenty 
dollars. A deed was given, but no patent was 
ever issued. 

One of the earliest stations in the county 
was that erected l)y Butler Wells and Daniel 
L. McClure, surveyors from Steubenville, 
upon the land of Bezaleel Wells, about two 
miles northwest of Canton, at what was then 
known as the "Large Spring," the same that 
is now upon the land of the late Andrew Mey- 
er, deceased. These men brought with them 
a few laboring hands for the purpose of open- 
ing a farm, which was one of the first attempts 
of the whites to cultivate the soil of our coun- 
ty. Those two stations were the principal 
stopping places at that time for emigrants 
who came west to select land, there being none 
in market further west than the Tuscarawas 
river. The land office was kept in Steuben- 
ville, and the price of land was two dollars per 
acre. 

Notwithstanding the county alxiunded with 
Indians, who were more or less feared by the 
whites, there were quite a number who came 
west with a view of purchasing lands for im- 
mediate homes. .A land office was established 
in Canton as early as May, 1808, for the sale 
of lands west of the Tuscarawas river, which 
came into market that spring, extending 
through the west part of Stark, a part of 
Holmes, Wayne county and to the west line of 
Richland county. John Sloane was ap]5ointed 



26 



OLD LANDMARKS 



receiver, and James Gibson register. This 
office \\as removed to Wooster (within the 
district) about the year 1817. 

The first store in the county was estabhshed 
at Osnaburgh in 1806 by James Campbell, and 
tlie first in Canton in the spring of 1807, ^y 
Abraham Kroft. It was kept in a back build- 
ing on the lot later occupied by the family 
of the late William Fogle. The front door 
led to the kitchen (which was dining and bed- 
room also), and from thence one had to enter 
the store. His stock of goods was small, con- 
sisting only of such articles as were needed by 
early settlers. Lii.xuries of all kinds were not 
indulged in. 

}ily earliest recollection of Canton extends 
back to the fall of 1806. There were at that 
time some half dozen houses built or in process 
of completion, but two only were occupied. 
The first physician in the county was Dr. An- 
drew Rappee, \vho came in 1808. Previous 
to that time the inhabitants were thrown upon 
their own resources in time of sickness ; when 
medicine was needed they usually obtained it 
from their gardens, fields or woods. .\ few 
understood bleeding, which, in connection 
with the domestic remedies in use, seemed to 
answer all diseases then prevailing. Indeed, 
the habits of the people of that day rendered 
the.n much less liable to sickness than those of 
the present. 

The first grist mill in the county was built 
by Philip Slusser on the site later occupied by 
Jacob Rowland, one mile east of Canton, and 
was .';tarted in September. 1807. Previous to 
this the settlers had to bring their meal and 
flour from the older settlements. Some, who 
lived principally on game and fish, used hand 
mills and hominy blocks to grind the little 
corn they raised in 1805. A mill was erected 
the same falf by John Nichols upon the site 
later occupied by Browning's mill. The first 
saw-mill and corn cracker was erected and put 
in operation in 1806. where Trump's mill lat- 



er stood, by Abraham \'an Metre, but it was 
washed away the following winter. The first 
public worship was held in Reed's barn, by 
Father Slough. In the winter season it was 
held in private houses. The first church built 
in Canton was in the spring of 1S14, by mem- 
bers of the Lutheran and German Reformed 
persuasions, upon the lot later occupied by the 
Presbyterian church. It was never finished, 
and was removed for other purposes. The 
first school opened in the county was some 
miles north of Canton, in the neighborhood 
of James Gaff, lisq., and kept by Abraham 
Stevens, in 1S07: the same fall a log-cabin 
school house was erected on the court house 
lot and a school taught therein by Andrew 
Johnson. John Plarris. Esq., also taught a 
school a few miles east of Canton that winter. 
The first l;oard of county commissioners was 
elected in 180S and was composed of John 
Bower, James Latyimer and John Nichols. 
First sheriff, Joseph McGuggin. William 
Henry was the first representative, elected in 
18 14. From the best of my recollections, 
the following were the only persons living in 
or about Canton in the fall of 1806 and spring 
of 1807, viz: Garret Crusen, the first tavern 
keeper; on the lot Thomas Patton later owned 
he had a log cabin about eighteen feet square, 
used as bar, dining, sitting room and kitchen, 
with two small shed-roof additions, one a bed- 
roon> the other a cellar ; John Matthews, the 
first butcher, on the lot owned by Dr. Estep; 
John Bauer, the first blacksmith, on W^ikidall's 
lot. This is all that lived in Canton at that 
time. 

The following, if not all, compose the 
greater portion of the families then living in 
Stark county, viz: William Capes. Henry 
Friday. Valentine Weaver. David Bachtel, 
Jacob Shoeneberger, Moses Andrews. James 
Brandon, Henry Louzenheiser. Michael Reed, 
Henry Shull. William and James \\'illiams, 
Tohn. Jacob and .\ndrew Xighman. Philip 




CITY HALL, CANTON. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



27 



Ream, George Wertenberger, Abraham Rank, 
John and Henry Barber. Wilham Hill, James 
Downing, Jacob Kitt, John SIuss, Leonard 
Mowen, James Price, Peter Mottice, Jacob 
Aultman, George Poe, Peter Slusser, Freder- 
ick Oberlin, George and S. Baer, John, Jacob 
and Valentine Yant, Dr. Carter, W. Ewing, 
James Leeper, J. Nailor, J. Hartman, Jacob 
Shively, Michael Miller, John Guntz, G. Zan- 
er. ^lichael Flora, J. and D. Mathias, Jacob 
Shidler, John and David Eby, Jacob, Christian 
and George Warstler. Thomas Hartford, 
George Miller, Robert and Thomas Lattimer, 
David Grabill. James F. Leonard. Philip 
Slnsser and Jacob Loutzenlieiser (the latter 
elected the first justice of the peace in 1806) 
and James Gafi'. 

It has frequently been a subject of inquiry 
whether there were not in the early settlement 
of this county some remarkable incidents or 
noted adventure growing out of our inter- 
course with the Indians. It so happens that 
there were none worthy of record. The In- 
dians who occupied this portion of the state 
were peaceable and well disposed. In their 
intercourse with the whites they were usually 
affable and kind, seldom, if ever, exhibiting 
any of those traits which often characterized 
their conduct in other sections of the west, 
and which so frequently led to sanguinary 
conflicts. The only difficulty of which I have 
any knowledge (and that is hearsay) was a 
skirmish in the fall of 1805, near where the 
town of Minerva is now located, which re- 
sulted in the death of several persons. The 
cause which led to the fight and the particular 
results are better known by James Downing, 
Esq., of Sandy township, whose father bore 
a conspicuous part in the affair. 

In June. 1807, there was a great freshet. 
The Nimishillen was swollen far beyond its 
banks. I have never seen it so high since. 
It thundered and rained without intermission 
for two davs and nights. My father's cabin 



stood between the creek and the race, and 
had about four feet of water upon the floor. 
It was about the same depth over the entire 
bottom on the west of the stream. Every- 
thing in the cabin was removed to the loft, ex- 
cept a large pounding table and a barrel of 
whiskey, the latter then an article of common 
use. It was considered unsafe to attempt 
crossing \\\k creek for several days. After it 
had fallen several feet, a man by the name of 
Brown, an acquaintance of the hands working 
at the mill, arrived from some settlement east 
of us, on his way to Canton to purchase some 
tools, and requested to be taken over the creek. 
Mr. Fishel and son, now living in Carroll 
county, crossed over witli him in safety, but 
in recrossing with Brown, after sunset, they 
were carried down where the current was 
rapid, struck a log and were capsized. John 
Fishel swam to the eastern bank; his father 
was carried by the force of the current upon 
the western bank: Brown was drowned. His 
body was recovered several days afterward 
about fifty rods down the stream. The mill- 
wrights made a coftin and we buried him one 
hundred rods below the mill, upon a high 
bank of the stream ; it was inferred that he 
was in some way disabled in being thrown 
against the log, or he might have saved him- 
self. He was the second white person buried 
in the county. 

The first body interred in the public bury- 
ing ground in Canton was the wife of John 
Matthews, the butcher, mentioned heretofore: 
she died in the spring of 1808 in childbed, and 
her oft'spring was the first white child born 
within the limits of the town. John Bouer, 
the blacksmith, died in June the same year, and 
was the second person buried there. He com- 
menced ta\ern keeping on Wikidal's lot. 
Provisions were scarce those days, and to sup- 
ply his table he ex'posed himself by fishing at 
night, caught a severe cold, took fever and 
died. 



28 



OLD LANDMARKS 



At the time of locating Canton tliere was, 
nortlieast of the town, upon the land later 
owned by David Sliriver and others, a large 
pond, covering from twenty to twenty-five 
acres of land, supplied from Shriver's and oth- 
er springs. That pond was a great place of 
resoi't on Sundays for the boys, to fish in the 
summer and skate in the winter. As it was 
thought to occasion sickness during the sum- 
mer season, it was drawn off in 1815 or 1816, 
by virtue of an act of the legislature, and not 
a vestige of it is seen. 

In the fall of 1807 John Shorb brought the 
second store that was opened in Canton ; it 
was kept in a small room of the brick house, 
southwest corner of the Diamond, later occu- 
]>ied as a grocery by Mr. Oberlin. In the 
following spring Mr. Shorb closed his store 
and removed to a building he had erected,. 
and then just under roof, upon the lot later 
occupied by the Eagle tavern. As ^Ir. 
Shorb left Samuel Coulter moved into the 
house and opened a tavern, sign of the 
Green Tree, and that summer erected the 
frame building attached to it, and in the 
winter dug a well ; the town hart from 
1805 up to this time but one well. It was 
generally believed then that stone for walling 
could not be found here. Mr. Coulter's house 
was the principal place of resort. The bar- 
room was also used as the dining and sitting 
room, with a shanty for a kitchen. A ladder 
led to the second story, which, too, was in one 
room. Here the first singing school was 
started, but as getting up and down was diffi- 
cult, the ladies refused to attend, and it soon 
ceased. A debating club was then formed, 
which was well attended, and here our friend, 
John Harris, first appeared on the stage as 
a public speaker. 

A postoffice was established in the winter 
of 1808. and Mr. Coulter appointed postmas- 
ter: a mail once a week, on horseback from 
New Li'ibon. was received, and then went no 



further west. Before this the only mode of 
receiving letters or papers was by travellers 
coming out to enter land. 

In the fall of 1808 Philip Dewalt came 
to Canton, and moved into the log building of 
Mr. Shorb, who removed to the farm adjoin- 
ing town, later owned by Adam Shorb. In 
the \Vinter Mr. Dewalt opened a tavern, sign 
of the Spread Eagle. Several of the first 
courts were held in the upper story of this 
house. Next they were held in Mr. Coulter's 
back building, which, having a secure cellar, 
was used as the first jail. In 1812 they were 
held in the brick, west of the public offices lat- 
er occupied by (iotthold, erected in 181 1 by 
George Stidger. They were continued here 
until the commissioners erected a log jail and 
court house on the lot now occupied by Mr. 
\\'ernet, and within the recollection cf many 
still living here. In the spring of 1808 Mr. 
Stidger came to Canton and started the first 
hattershop, and shortl)- afterward a tavern. 
James Campbell removed his store from Os- 
naburgh to Canton, and in the fall was elected 
major of the militia, over the entire county, 
then containing four companies; ^^'illiam 
Raynolds was adjutant, and in the fall of 
i8og John Sloane was elected colonel. In the 
fall of 1807 the people met in Canton and 
elected the first company officers, viz : Thom- 
as Hurford, cajjtain ; James Drennan and 
Daniel L. McClure, lieutenants. In the fall 
of 1809 John Sterling came, and in the winter 
bought a store; William Fogle came in the 
spring of i8to with a store; Jacob Slusser 
erected and commenced a tavern the same 
year, in the house now known as Begge's; 
James Hazlett came with a store in 181 1. We 
now considered Canton cjuite a town ; fi\-e or six 
taverns, w-ith as many stores, various mechan- 
ics of the most needful kind, and quite an 
active social population. 

Prices of all kinds of important merchan- . 
dise were high ; salt from eight to ten dollars 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



29 



per barrel, and when the roads were bad, three 
to four dollars per bushel, or fourteen or fif- 
teen cents per pound; nails, twenty-five cents; 
window glass, eight by ten, twelve and one- 
half cents per fight, and fifteen dollars to 
eigliteen dollars a box ; coffee, forty-eight and 
fift}- cents a pound, though rye was commonly 
used except on special occasions. Produce 
of all kinds was cheap, there being no market 
or demand, save for home consumption. Then 
the customs of the people were more sim- 
ple, and in the same proportion more happy. 
^luch time was spent in hvmting horses and 
cattle, helping each other build cabins, roll 
logs and open roads, etc. 

The first town in the county was in the 
northeast part, on what was then called the 
Thomas road. A town was laid out on land 
owned by James ]\[oftlt and brothers, by Dan- 
iel L. ]\IcClure, surveyor, and named Nimi- 
shillenfown, but, being too far from the center 
to contend for the county seat, it did not im- 
prove and was soon vacated. The promi- 
nent idea in new counties then was and now is 
til obtain the county seat. The next town 
was Osnaburgh. Emigrants flocked to it in 
confident expectation that it would be the suc- 
cessful town, it being on the Great Western 
road and possessing what was regarded at that 
time great natural advantages. Soon after- 
ward Canton was located. The situation and 
name were quite a favorite with some influ- 
ential persons then in the neighborhood. Lots 
were first sold in the fall of 1805, and in the 
following summer there was another public 
.sale. At this time Osnaburgh had three times 
as many inhabitants as Canton, a store, tavern, 
tan yard, hatter-shop, and several families be- 
sides ; though the dwellings, as is usual in newly 
settled countries, were but cabins. Osnaburgh 
would, in all probability, had been made the 
county seat, had the proprietor, James Leeper, 
been a sober, enterprising man — but such he 
was not. Bezaleel \\"ells. the proprietor of 



Canton, on the contrary, was a worthy and in- 
fluential man, and had been a venerated mem- 
ber of the convention which formed the con- 
stitution of Ohio, but before his death be- 
came embaiTassed by an extensive woolen 
manufactory. At the same time he had a 
number of good and competent men in his 
employ that gave him character with stran- 
gers. On th.e location of the count}" seat Mr. 
\\'ens donated to the county one hundred and 
fifty lots, which yielded on the sale about five 
thousand dollars. 

The objections urged against locating the 
county seat at Canton were that building ma- 
terial, particularly timber and stone, were too 
far off, and that it was so intolerably cold in 
the open plains that no one could live there 
in the winter. Such was the common opin- 
ion of many, so ignorant were they of the 
nature of plain lands. Had there been a vote 
taken at the time the result would have been 
two to one in favor of Osnaburgh. The 
establishment of the county seat at Canton 
ga\e an impetus to the increase of population 
and improvement of the place that has ever 
since kept pace with the wants of the county. 
Timber was found abundant, and stone, which 
at first was thought scarce, was also found in 
abundance and of good quality. 

In connection with the subject of early 
births in, and professional men, etc., of Can- 
ton, I should have mentioned that Mrs. Allen, 
wife of James Allen, Esq., and daughter of 
(jen. Stidger, was the third child born in Can- 
ton. I might also mention that Roswell M. 
Mason was the first lawyer who located in 
Canton; he came in iSu. The seoind was 
Jeremiah H. Hallack. who came the next year 
and was afterward our president judge. Dr. 
Thomas Hartford, later of Pittsburg, located in 
the place about the same time. Then it was 
not uncommon for physicians to ride twenty 
and twenty-five miles to see a patient. Anthony 
W'evre. Lutheran, was the first nn'nister who 



30 



OLD LANDMARKS 



resided in Canton. He came in 1814. We had 
visiting ministers of various denominations 
some years earlier. Jn the spring of 181 5 the 
Ohio Repository was estabhshed. 

Kendall was the ne.\t town located in the 
county, being founded in 181 1 by Thomas 
Rotch, a man of considerable wealth from 
Connecticut, with a number of mechanics in 
his employ. The town started with bright 
prospects, and for several years flourished 
vigorously. Thomas Rotch purchased of the 
government a large tract of plain and wood 
land in that vicinity and imported the first 
Merino sheep into the county. In 1815 he 
erected a woolen factory, which seemed to do 
well, but suspended operations at his death, in 
1824, the machinery then being sold, and the 
building was afterward demolished. The 
death of T. Rotch. the projection of the Ohio 
Canal, with the location of Massillon, with its 
advantages, not only conspired to retard the 
growth of Kendall, but contributed to its de- 
cline. In 1S12 or 18 [3 James Duncan and 
May hew Folger located at Kendall, and the 
next year the former bought and commenced 
improving the beautiful Estremadura farm. 
It was there 1 first saw a strong plow, at- 
tached to the fore wheels of a wagon and 
drawn by several yoke of oxen, breaking up a 
one-hundred-acre field, tearing up brush and 
sapling root"? of plain land. Mayhew Folger, 
after the location of Massillon, remo\ed to 
that town, and died not long afterward. 
James Duncan survived him, and no man ever 
labored harder for the prosperity of that re- 
gion than he. Both were intelligent, enter- 
prising and worthy men. 

Most of the plain lands lying between 
Canton and Kendall were not entered until af- 
ter 181 1. They were considered unproductive, 
having no timber. But the reason of this was 
that the prairie tires, as they were called, 
yearly passed over them, destroying the 
growth but producing fine grass and straw- 



berries in abundance. Since the fires have 
been kept out they are producing fine young 
timber. John Meyers, Esq., purchased some 
plain lands near Canton, had them cleared and 
stocked with common and Merino sheep, and 
about the same time Mr. Rotch brought his to 
Kendall and was among the first to prove 
the value of these lands for farming pur- 
poses. 

Of the improvements in the Sandy \'al- 
ley, the particulars of locating the town of 
Pekin (then in Stark) and Waynesburgh, I 
know but little, save by hearsay, other tlian 
that they were located about the same time or 
later than Kendall. There early existed a 
jealousy between the inhabitants of that sec- 
tion and those residing at and near the county 
seat, which on parade days exhibited itself in 
broils and fights, and as a consequence there 
was not much intercourse. The origin of this 
I never could ascertain, the trading and mill- 
ing of the Sandy settlements being done prin- 
cipally at Xew Lisbon and Yellow Creek Salt- 
works. 

Just before and immediately after the last 
war with Great Britain the county settled fast. 
People in the east received high prices for 
their land, and there seemed to be quite a 
mania fur this portion of the west, it being then 
considered the western border of civilizaton. 
As the land in the county west of the Tus- 
carawas river had not been offered for sale 
until 1 80S, the year following emigrants i)e- 
gan settling upon it, and they were generally 
of a more wealthy class than those in the east- 
ern part. The northwest portion was the last 
improN'ed, and good land could be had in that 
part, at go\ernment prices, years after all in 
the balance of the county had been taken up. 
The reason, no douln, was this : Indians kept 
roving over the county up to the time of Hull's 
surrender in 1812. They usually came from 
and returned by that direction, and some fear 
of them still existed among the whites, but 



CANTON AND STARK COUNT!', OHIO. 



31 



after thc\" linall_\' left the land was bought up 
and settled. 

Those who have been reared in an old set- 
tled country can form but a faint idea of the 
privations and hardshijis incident to the open- 
ing of a new country ; and yet, with all the 
hardships to which they were exposed, there 
was a feeling growing out of circumstances 
incident thereto, that not only rendered their 
situation tolerable, but agreeable. If a cabin 
was to be raised, a log rolling to come off or a 
new road to be opened, the willing hearts and 
strong hands of the men and boys from all the 
region round alx)ut made the job easy. That 
selfishness and exclusiveness so characteristic 
of old places was unknown. A comniunitv of 
feeling and interest existed ; a help-one-another 
spirit that made humanity god-like in the 
woods. E^•ery newcomer was welcome, and 
all with alacrity lent a helping hand to install 
their neighbor family in this wild forest home. 

Old Alolly Stark has been somewhat con- 
tracted in her original dimensions. Three and 
a third townships were taken from the south- 
east and two from the northwest. It now 
contains but sixteen and two-thirds townships. 
The soil is suitable for all kinds of products 
cultivated in this latitude, and in ordinary sea- 
sons furnishes a great abundance of all articles 
of comfort and the means of support to a dens- 
er population than any other territory of the 
same extent in the state, and its products ex- 
ported will compare with those of any other 
county. 

Among the early settlers of our county 
there were a few who had served in the war 
of the Revolution, and when party lines were 
closely drawn, in the days of Jackson and 
Adams, and each party had their Fourth of 
July celebration, great efforts were made by 
both to secure the attendance of these patriots. 
The roll of Revolutionary sires, so far as I 
have lieen able to collect them, is as follows: 
William Capes, Coni'ad Henning, Moses Nel- 



son, Christopher Burgert, Martin Houser and 
Benj. Page. John Klippart, who came to the 
county in 1807, was called a "Hessian," wdiich 
appellation he always denied, and his grand- 
son, John H. klippart, secretary of our State 
Agricultural Society, writes me that his grand- 
father enlisted in Europe under Lafayette. 
On his way over the vessel was driven by ad- 
verse winds into Nova Scotia, where he was 
made a prisoner of war by the British; after- 
ward exchanged, he was assigned to the Penn- 
sylvania troops, and was present under Wash- 
ington at Yorktown at the surrender of Corn- 
wallis. Casper Gephart and Henry Friday, 
who were here before Klippart, were Hessians, 
without a doubt. 

The first minister of the gospel located here 
was Anthony Weyrc, who came in 1814. He 
was a Lutheran. Joshua Beer, Presbyterian, 
who lived in Sandy Valley, preached here at 
stated periods several years after. Religious 
services were held in private dwellings or 
barns in cold weather, and in the summer in 
the open air under the spreadhig branches of 
the trees, where, seated on rough benches 
hastily prepared for the occasion, the pioneer 
settlers listened attentixely to the welcome 
messages of the traveling preacher, who was 
either an independent missionary or sent on 
a missionary tour by the body to which he 
belonged. Regular circuits were established 
by the Methodists as early as 1810. 

The first lawyer located in the county was 
Roxwell M. Mason, who came in 181 1. The 
next year came Jeremiah H. Hallick, after- 
wards circuit judge of the district. James 
W. Lathrop came in 1816, and about the same 
time John Harris opened a law office. Or- 
lando Metcalf was here in 1820. As in all 
new counties, there were lawyers who at times 
regularly traveled the circut. Among those 
from a distance, who practiced at the Stark 
county bar. were Andrew W. Loomis, John 
C. Wright. John M. Goodenow and Benja- 



32 



OLD LANDMARKS 



mill Tappen, afterwards L nited States sen- 
atiir. 

In tlie practice of the healing art Dr. An- 
(h-e\v Rappee, who came in 1808, from Eu- 
rope, was the first. In 181 4 Thomas Bonfield 
came from Baltimore, and soon afterward his 
brotlier, Jolm came. Dr. Hartford, Dr. Je- 
row, Dr. Brevsacher, and Dr. Gardner were 
all resident physicians before 1820. Dr. Wat- 
son came at an early day and settled in Dal- 
ton, Wayne county, and on the completion of 
the Ohio canal he removed to Massillon. The 
improvements in the practice of medicine have 
kept pace with the progress of the times. Cal- 
omel and jalap, Peru\ian bark and boneset 
tea, bleeding and blistering have given way to 
more refined and equally efificacious modes of 
treatment. We have a type of disease and con- 
stitution difterent from that of our forefathers, 
requiring a modified course of treatment. 

In the culinary department the women of 
today have much the advantage over our 
grandmothers. Instead of an open fire-place, 
with a crane upon which to hang pots and ket- 
tles, and Inn-n their faces in raking out coals 
for tlie dutch oven, we have parlor cooks and 
star ranges, that don't darken the complexion 
of our fair daughters. How the girl of that 
period compared with this can best be demon- 
strated Ijy a few examples. Valentine Weav- 
er's three eldest children were girls, and in 
opening his farm these three girls did the 
work of three men. Magdalene could do quite 
as much work in the way of ploughing, reap- 
ing or mowing as most men. She did the 
work iA a man in clearing land, could cut 
down ;is many trees, split as many rails and do 
as much grubbing as the next man. 



CANTON TOW^NSHIP. 

Canton township is bounded Ijy Plain, Os- 
nal)urg. Pike and I'errv townships on the j 



north, east, south and west, respectively. It 
is laid out regularly, being six miles scjuare 
and containing thirty-six square miles. The 
surface features are varied, in the northeast- 
ern portion being rolling and inclined to te 
hilly ; in the northwestern it is almost a level 
plain ; south of the central section line it be- 
comes more and more hilly, until in the south- 
eastern and southwestern portions it is very 
rough and hilly, this being particularly the 
case along the Nimishillen creek. The soil 
compares for fertility with any portion of the 
county, ranking among the first for the raising 
of all kinds of grain. Most of the hilly por- 
tions of the township and the valleys enclosed 
by them are clay lands, though interspersed 
by some gravel and sand hills. Underneath 
lie coal strata of sufScient thickness to be 
profitably worked. The climate is generally 
good, neither too excessively cold in winter nor 
too hot in summer, neither, on the average, 
too wet nor too dry. The earliest settlements 
in the township were near the present site of 
the city of Canton. The first man who came 
into Canton township with a definite purpose 
of remaining and making settlement was 
James F. Leonard, who had been connected 
with the land office, which prior to 1805 had 
been lucated at Steubenville. Jefferson county. 
In company with James and Henry Barber, he, 
in March of the abo\e year, established a sta- 
tion just northeast of the present city. They 
were progressive and far-sighted and took 
considerable pains to induce others to come to 
this locality for permanent location, showing 
them suitable lands, and, when necessary, sur- 
veying and measuring for them. During 1805 
many settlers from Maryland and Peimsyl- 
\-ania came to this section, located lands and 
did some clearing. l)Ut nearly all of them re- 
turned to their eastern homes to spentl the 
winter. Scon after Leonard made his loca- 
tion he induced a personal friend. James Cul- 
berson, to come here and make location, but 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



33 



the latter was soon afterward attacked with 
inflammation of the lungs, and died on the 
sth of October, 1805, his being the first death 
of a white person in the township. Shortly 
after the establishment of Leonard's station 
aiiolhcr was established by Butler Wells and 
Daniel jNIcClure, about two miles northwest of 
Cant(.in, near what is now known as Meyer's 
Lake. In consequence of the wisdom of the 
liication of these first stations they became the 
points to which emigrants came in their search 
for homes. In July, 1806, Mr. Leonard was 
united in marriage with a daughter of James 
Ilarbcr, this having been the first marriage in 
the township. 

In the autumn of 1805 Leonard surveyed 
and ])latted the original Canton, and in the 
following }ear, at the first public sale of lots, 
he purchased a lot on the southwest corner of 
what is now Se\-enth and Market streets. On 
this lot he erected a brick building, which oc- 
cupied the spot until 1879, when it gave place' 
to a larger and more imposing structure. 
yVmong those who selected and located land 
in Canton township in the year 1805 were 
Da \- ill Bechtel. Jacob Aultman, the Baer fam- 
ily, I'hilip Schlosser (afterward written Sluss- 
er) and William Ewing. Bechtel came from 
Maryland to Columbiana county in 1803 ; in 
J 805 he located his land in Canton township, 
and in the fall of 1806 he came back with a 
hireil man, built iiimself a log cabin, cleared 
three acres of land and sowed it with wheat. 
He then retvirned to Columbiana count\-, mar- 
ried, and the young ci-)uple removed tii their 
new home in the spring of 1807. Here he 
lived until liis death, in the .spring of 1833. 
I'hilip .Slusser came from Pennsylvania to 
Stark county in 1805 and chose a quarter sec- 
tion of land directly east of Canton, having 
the same entered in the land office at Stent )en- 
\inc. He was l-orn in the upper Rhine coun- 
try of Germany, and was a man of decided, 
u])rig1it character. He was one of the. first 
2. 



commissioners of Stark county and was held in 
high regard by all who knew him. His death 
occurred in 182S. He was the father of the 
late Dr. Lewis Slusser, so well known through- 
out this county and honored by all who knevv 
him. 

In those early days wolves and bears were 
plentiful all ovev this part of the country, 
ready for any prey to which they could gain 
.".ccess. It was no uncommon event for the 
settlers to be aroused from their midnight 
slumbers by the cries of distress from their 
domestic animals, who were being frightened 
or attacked by their wild foes. The follow- 
ing account of an experience of some early 
traxelers through this section of country will 
throw some light on the condition of things at 
that time: "In 1802 Messrs. Slingluff and 
Deardorft, in their western trip, arrived at a 
point near Canton, on their way to Tuscara- 
was county, and encamped on the banks of 
Meyer's Lake. They were weary and much 
exhausted from the want of rest and sustain- 
ing food. But with all their fatigue and suf- 
fering, they were charmed and refreshed by 
the prospect presented before and all aI)out 
them. The lake lay immediately before them, 
and on its rippling surface, fanned by the gen- 
tle breezes of the evening, the rays of the 
setting sun were reflected in a thousand forms 
of beauty and splendor. The banks were 
decked with flowers of different colors and of 
the fairest hues, while evergreens of the deep- 
est green enlivened the scene. Wild fowl, in 
countless numbers, were sailing gayly over the 
water or feeding along the banks. Their 
bright plumage and graceful movements gave 
a sense of peace and security to our weary 
travelers, and they went on cheerfully, and 
with the prospect of quiet slumbers and an un- 
disturbed rest before them, to prepare their 
fru,gal meal and an encampment for the night. 
* * * * They did sleep a little while, 
but, suddenly awakened, they heard the dismal 



34 



OLD LANDMARKS 



howl of scores of barking wolves about tlieir 
camp. Tlie glaring, fiery eyes of the fierce, 
blood-thirsty animals seemed pressing towards 
them from all directions. There was no safe- 
ty but in precipitate flight. Their horses, as 
wearv hut n.;w excited as their riders, were 
near at hand, and were quickly saddled and 
mounted. It was several miles to the cabin 
of the nearest settler, and it soon became a 
race for life. For a short distance they rode 
along the lake, the wolves falling back before 
them; then, suddenly turning their horses, they 
rode rapidly in an opposite direction, lioth 
horses and riders by this time fully alive to the 
horror of the situation. The wolves, for a 
few minutes foiled, became even more furious 
than before, and soon followed on their track, 
in constantly increasing numbers. * * * 
Soon they reached an opening n the woods; 
the light fr<jm the log fire of the settler was 
seen in the distance. Ten minutes more and 
they would l)e sa\ed from every danger for the 
night. Suddenly a huge black wolf sprang 
at the flank of Deardorf¥"s horse and was only 
compelled to relinc|uish his hold by the free 
application to Deardorff's heavy whip, but at 
the verv moment of deliverance his horse 
stumbled, fell and threw him over his head in 
the verv midst of the excited animals. But 
for his companion. Slingluff. he would, with 
his horse, liave been torn in pieces and de- 
voured within a very few minutes. Seeing 
the situation, and appreciating the danger of 
his friend and companion. Slingluft'. with re- 
markable presence of mind. (|uickly wheeled 
liis horse around and commenced uttering a 
series of yells and screeches, even more un- 
earthlv than those of the infuriated lieasts 
them.selves. They were momentarily checked 
in the very moment of tlieir triumph. Dear- 
dorff. in the meantime. (|uickly remounted, 
and before the wolves recovered from their 
astonisliniem and confusion fmni Slingluft s 



ruse, both reached the settler's clearing and 
were safe." 

The first school iiouse in Stark county was 
erected on section 12. Canton township. It 
was built of round logs and was .seven feet 
high, with the usual clapljoartl roof and 
puncheon floor. Small holes cut in the walls 
and covered with greased paper served in lieu 
of windows. The first teacher in this school 
was John Harris, who afterwarfl attained to 
considerable prominence as a lawyer in Can- 
ton. The educational history of Canton town- 
ship has kqjt pace fully with that of other sec- 
tions of the county, and today her citizens take 
a justifiable pride in her record in this respect. 
In matters religious she has not been l)ack- 
ward. her populace having always been a law- 
abiding and moral people, her churches well 
attended and stningly supported, and the pnl- 
])its filled with men of ability and sterling 
worth. Much of the history of this townshi]) 
is closely entwined with that of the city of 
Canton and will be found at length in other 
sections of this volume. 



CANTON. 



Canton, the county seat, is centrally located 
and is the largest town in the county. In 1830 
the census gave her a population of 2.603; in 
i,%o it was 4.041; in 1870. 8.660; in 1880 
it had reached 12.25S; in 1890 the population 
was 26.160. By a census taken in igoo the 
population was a little over 37.000. 

Since Canton got the Pittsburg, l-'ort 
Wayne & Chicago Railway, in 1851. her busi- 
ness progress has been constant and her i)opu- 
lation gaining. CJne manufacturing establish- 
ment seemed to induce another, and public 
spirit has been a notalile feature of her citizens, 
while her beauty of situation and rich country 



C.^XTOX AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



35 



arciund ha\e nil had their inHuence in inducing 
IteDpIc til locate. 

L'antun manufactories are much di\-ersi- 
fied, and many of them extensive and impor- 
tant: in fact, much noted far and near. The 
chief clerk in the patent office says more pat- 
ent claims are filed annually in that office from 
Canton than from any other city of its size 
in the country. Canton has several establish- 
ments maiuifacturiug- each its own special pat- 
ent and made onl_\- here. One or more of these 
has the world for a. market, as, for example, 
Danner's revolving book-cases. Canton's in- 
\cnti\e genius and mechanical skill are in- 
dubitalil}' established. The cliief business of 
Canton's ]Kjpulation is working in the sliops, 
and lience it is when comes a stagnation or 
colla])se in trade it seriously affects her peo- 
ple: but all localities are liable to ups and 
downs. 

But let us look at Canton as she is. Her 
main streets and a\enues are broad and welt- 
paved, and the electric cars run regularly from 
tlie public sfjuare to the outskirts, and west to 
Massillon. eight miles, thence to Navarre and 
to New Philadelphia; and from the public 
square to Cle\eland, Akron, Alliance. Green- 
town. New Berlin and other smaller stations. 
The ])ostoffice about ten years ago was re- 
moved into the new stone building erected by 
the general government at a cost of one hun- 
dred thousand dollars. Canton's own city 
building, a three-story edifice, contains the 
city offices. ])olice court-room and police head- 
quarters, city council chamber and assembly 
hall. C;uiton owns her own water works, the 
main supply of water being obtained from 
thirty or more artesian wells. In case of 
need the water of the west creek may ])e util- 
ized. The value of the works is i)ut at three 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The city 
has an efficient paid fire department, and her 
sewer system is a grand success, officials from 
distant cities freciuentlv visitin"- to examine it. 



Canton's streets are lighted with electricity, 
gas and the sun-vapor s}-stem, and many busi- 
ness houses and other establishments use the 
electric light. 

The Aultman City Hospital was erected by 
the heirs of the late C. Aultman, Mr. and Mrs. 
D. Harter (Mr. Harter since deceased). The 
hospital Avas given to the city, but is kept up 
by donation. Besides her church edifices, 
numbering thirty or more, and several of them 
worthy of any city. Canton has, in addition, a 
fine and costly structure in the Young Men's 
Christian Association building.' Two legacies 
for the poor of Canton, amounting to some 
forty thousand dollars, give an annual interest 
of about three thousand dollars for poor re- 
lief. Canton has two national banks and eight 
other banking houses, besides home and loan 
associations. 

The cit\' public school buildings are (if the 
best. Besides the fine high school building, 
there are twelve brick structures and several 
frames, giving over one hundred rooms. The 
school library is by no means neglected. 
Americans realize "the world belongs to the 
young," and hence see that the rising genera- 
tion is provided with instruction in the useful 
branches, with oppc>rtunitv for more. 

The pian of organization is similar to that 
of the best schools in the state. The board of 
education consists of six members, elected at 
large for a term of twt) years, three members 
retiring annually. 

The course of study co\ers a period of 
twelve years, the last four of which constitute 
the high school work. There are four courses 
in the high school — the classical. English. 
business and manual training courses — each 
requiring four years. It is the purpose of the 
bcjard of education to enrich the work of the 
schools, not .so much by the addition of numer- 
ous branches of study. l)ut by making the 

ines. and bv 



work thijrough along essentia 

'Jic gi\-ing of such work in science, nature 



36 



OLD LANDMARKS 



study and the like, in the lower grades, as cir- 
cumstances and the proficiency of the schools 
will justify. 

Ciraduates of the high school are prepared 
for admission to the best colleges in the whole 
country, and representatives of the school are 
found in many of such institutions. They 
are also prominent in political, social, religious 
and professional circles. 

Like other growing towns, Canton has a 
city debt. Her public property, however, 
water works system, school buildings and sites, 
sewer system, city buildngs, parks, etc., are 
valued at over one million five hundred thou- 
sand dollars. Her cheap fuel and general 
abundance of soil productions make Canton 
one of the cheapest places to live in. Her' 
city afifairs are managed with prudence, and, 
comparing her taxes with similar cites 
throughout Ohio, her rates on taxation are 
Ijelow the average. The Pittsburg, Fort 
Wayne & Chicago line of railway is Canton's 
great east and west route. Canton has two 
successful business colleges in operation, 
which .'ire well sustained. It is as a manu- 
facturing town that Canton has increased and 
prospered and become not unknow^n abroad. 
Visitors to Canton usually go away favorably 
impressed. 

The late John Saxton, who started the Re- 
pository in 1815, in a sketch of his career, 
written about 1870. said Canton in 181 5 was 
a town of about three hundred people, and 
it would be difticult for a person of this gen- 
eration to imagine the forljidding aspect of 
this region in 1815. The business affairs of 
the county, which had been prostrated by the 
war, were made yet worse by the irredeema- 
ble and worse than worthless currency of the 
period. Mr. Saxton chronicled the final over- 
throw of both Napoleons (Waterloo and Se- 
dan), though a period of fifty-five years had 
elapsed between them. 

The following are Cantim's chief indus- 



tries : The Aultman Company, Bucher & 
(libbs Plow Company, Jos. Dicks Agricultural 
Works, C. Ite Manufacturing Company, F. 
E. Kohler Company, V. L. Xey Company, W. 
H. Shaffer & Company, Best Street Light 
Company, Canton Saw Company, J. Keller 
F.lectric Works, Cleveland Axle Manufactur- 
ing Company, Timken Roller Bearing Axle 
Company, Canton Brewing Company, C. V. 
Sommer & Eros., C. D. Monnot & Sons, Can- 
ton Bill Posting Company, Canton Boiler 
Works, John Danner Manufacturing Com- 
pany, Canton Malleable Iron Company, Elbel 
Company, Stark Brewing Company, Canton 
Hollov>' Block Company, Canton Pressed 
Brick Company, Metropolitan Paving Brick 
Company, Bonnot Company, Canton Bridge 
Company, Canton I~'lant American Bridge 
Company, Canton Broom Company, Stark 
Brush & Broom Company, W. Barber & Sons, 
Canton Buggy Company, Jacon Motter & 
Sons, Canton Pole & Shaft Company. Cle\'e- 
land-Canton Spring Company, Southern Gum 
Company, National Wringer & Manufactur- ^ 
ing Company, Artificial Ice and Storage Com- 
pany, Canton Surgical and Dental Chair Com- 
pany, A. P. Gould Company, I'he Harvard 
Company, H. B.' White Manufacturing Com- 
pany. Canton Engraving Company, Automatic 
Fountain & Disinfecting Comjiany, National 
Fire Proofing Company, Universal Machine 
Works, Goughnour Electric Cotnpany. Can- 
ton Light, Heat & Power Company, Central 
Electric Works, Pan-Electric Company, Car- 
nahan Stamping & Enameling Company, 
Knight Manufacturing Company, Nichols En- 
graving Company, J. H. McLain Com])any, 
Benskin Manufacturing Company, Canton 
Fillet Company, Canton Feed Company, Can- 
ton Foundry & Machine Company, Canton 
Roll & Machine Company, Novelty Iron Com- 
pany. Canton Gas, Light & Coke Company, 
East Ohio Gas Company. Canton Natural Gas 
.Sii])plv Company, Canton Incandescent Light 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



37 



Company, Sun \'apor I.iglit Company, Eu- 
reka Light Company, Gibbs Manufacturing- 
Company, Canton Ice Company, Diamond 
Light Company, Canton Insulator & Clay 
Company, American Sheet Steel Company, 
Columliia Iron & Wire Works, Diebold Safe 
& Lock Compan}', Canton Ladder Company, 
Champion Lawn Rake Company, Bachtel Lum- 
ber Company, Canton Lumber Company, Bern- 
ower Manufacturing C^ompany, Jos. Weaver & 
Sons, Ohio Steam Pump Company, Canton 
Supply Company, Canton LTpholstering Com- 
ppny^ Cleveland Provision Company, Ohio 
Mica Company, Cantonora Mining & Develop- 
ment Company, Gold Hill Mining Company, 
]\Iexican- American Mining & Development 
Company, La Tisnada Mining Company, 
Miller Pasteurizing Company, Canton-Hancock 
Oil iSr Gas Company, Co-operative Oil & Gas 
Company, Ohio Consolidated Oil & Cias Com- 
j)any. Goheen Manufacturing Company, Can- 
ton Plating Works, Canton Pump Company, 
Structural Steel Car Company, Alexander 
Agency Company, Canton Steel Rooting Com- 
pany, Kanneburg Roofing & Ceiling Company, 
Canton Rubber Company, Gilliam Manu- 
facturing Company, Knight Manufacturing- 
Company, Biechele Soap Company, United 
Steel Company, V'era Cruz Development Com- 
pany, Electric Cleanser Company, Hampden 
\\'atch Com.pany, Deuber Watch Case Com- 
pan\-. .Spangler Roofing Company, Canton 
Rug Manufacturing Company, Wagener 
Pump Company, American Mine Door Com- 
pany, Lhiited Plate Company. 



MASSILLON. 

One of the noted and prosperous towns 
of Ohio is Massillon. It was laid out in the 
winter of 1825-^*, after the location of the 
Ohici canal, and soon became the important 



business center of several counties. During 
the building of the canal it was a sort of head- 
quarters, the village of Kendall, now the 
fourth ward of Massillon, having had then an 
existence of ten or twelve years, and had as 
denizens enterprising men, several of whom 
became prominent in Massillon and county af- 
fairs. After the completion of the canal Mas- 
sillon bounded forward, and for long years 
was one of the most acti\e and glorious busi- 
ness towns in the country. Massillon soon 
became known as the "Wheat City," and well 
deserved the cognomen. It was a daily sight, 
at certain seasons of the year, to see wagons 
loaded with wheat, or other grain, coming 
from the east and west and other directions 
by hundreds to this town, and returning with 
money and goods. These, indeed, were the 
days of Massillon's greatest prosperity. The 
canal gave water con^•eyance that connected 
, this region with the outside world, and prod- 
ucts had a ready sale at good prices, as a rule. 
A year or more before the canal was finished 
a citizen of Massillon sold one hundred bar- 
rels of flour at two dollars a barrel. Land 
soon began to advance also; one thousand 
acres of the fine plain land, south of Massillon, 
a couple of miles of more, were sold in 1824 
at four dollars and a quarter an acre. 

Many of the settlers of Kendall and the 
neighborhood were from New England; sev- 
eral of them had followed the sea as shipmas- 
ters, but the war of 1812 haxing ruined Amer- 
ican commerce, navigation was too perilous, 
and they came to "lovely Ohio." Kendall 
had her woolen factory, saw and grist mills, 
and other businesses, and besides was a center 
of active thought before Massillon made a 
start. 

Massillon's puljlic schools have ever stood 
high, and her superintendents have been among 
the most accomplished educators of the state. 
Only in this way does the man stupid become 
the man inspired, getting out of the torpid into 



;s8 



OLD LAKDMARKS 



the observing, percc-n mg and reHecting state. 
The citizens of .Nhissilion liavc always taken a 
deep interest in the cau.se of popular educa- 
tion. The management of the schools has 
been remarkably free from all political and 
sectarian influences. .\il money necessary tc> 
place the schols in the very front rank has been 
cheerfully raised. The schools were organized 
in October, 1848, witli Hon. Lcjrin Andrews 
as superintendent and a corps of six teachers. 
The old I'nion schoul building was erected in 
1847-48. and was one of the first of its kind 
in the state. It served its purposes well for 
thirty years and was removed in 1879, as soon 
as the new high school building was com- 
pleted. There are now seven school build- 
ing.s conveniently distributed throughout the 
city, comfortably furnished and well supplied 
with modern appliances for school work. The 
estimated \alue of school property is one hun- 
dred and sixty-five tlunisand dollars. 

In the ■■Encyclop;edia Brittanica" Massil- 
lon is thus sketched : "Massillon, a city of the 
IJnited States, in Stark county, Ohio, is situ- 
ated on the Tuscarawas, a head stream of the 
Muskingum : communicates with Lake Erie by 
the Ohio canal, and forms an important junc- 
tion for various lines of railway. It is well 
known for its coal mines and white sandstone 
quarries, and it al.S(j contains blast furnaces, 
rolling mills, machine shops, flouring mills 
and extensive establishments for the manufac- 
ture of agricultural implements, glass and 
paper." Her sandstone (|uarries. for building 
purposes, have also been a source of wealth, 
great ([uantities being shii)ped to other towns. 
In 183J, while some men were ditching a 
swamp south of the village, they dug up two 
tusks of a mammoth, each being eleven feet 
in length and twenty-two inches in circumfer- 
ence at the larger end. Indian relics have also 
been found in the neighborhood, as. indeed,^ 
they have been in other parts of the county. 
For beauty of natural surroundings Massillon 



is unsurpassed. "I would not have the iiills 
around Massillon leveled if I could." said 
James Duncan, when some one objected to the 
hills. "The day will come when those hills 
will be covered with fine residences overlook- 
ing the city, to which the hills will add but 
beauty, and Massillon will be celebrated for its 
beauty." And Mr. Duncan was right, but 
even he little dreamed of the wealth in these 
hills, and the >'aluable strata of coal and stone 
of the first quality near Ijy and round about. 

In the early 'fifties came railroad communi- 
cation through the county, and materially 
changed conditions and opportunities, and for 
a time Massillon was hardly herself: but in due 
time her native enterprise found other avenues, 
and coal and manufactures and other de\-elop- 
ments again brought business and |)rosperit\', 
which continue with the usual variations that 
affect all localities. A mile or more south of 
the city the state has erected ajiospital for the 
insane The electric street car communica- 
tion with Canton, eight miles distant, is a great 
convenience to both towns. Her own street 
car line extends to the hospital groimds and 
the cenieter\'. The first bridge over the Tus- 
carawas there was a toll bridge, which nuis- 
ance the people endured not long, for soon 
there was ;i free Ijridge constructed. The 
stone structure now there was erected fifty 
years ago by tiie county. Besides the Fort 
\\'ayne railway, M;;ssillon has the Cleveland, 
Lorain & Wheeling and the Wheeling & Lake 
Erie lines. A branch road through h'ulton to 
Clinton to connect with the Cleveland, Akron 
& Columbus Railroad is not much used. 

Th.e following are the most important in- 
dustries: \\'arthorst Stone Quarry. Brown 
Lumber Company, Elm Run Coal Company, 
Massillon Bridge Company, Massillon City 
Coal Company, Massillon & Cleveland Coal 
Company. Millport Coal Company. Massillon 
Thresher & Engine Company. Massillon Light. 
Heat & P(3wer Company. Massillon Loan & 



CAXTOX AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



39 



Ruildiug C'Hiipan)', Alassillon Taper Com- 
pany. Massillon Savings & Banking Company, 
Massillon Stoneware Company. Massillon 
^^'ate^ Supply Company, Michale-Goslien 
Coal Company, Rogers Boiler Works, Mer- 
chants' National Bank, Olson Foundry & Ma- 
chine Company. People's Building & Loan 
Com]:)any. Ridgway-Bnrton Company. Russell 
& Co., Somerdale Coal Company, Union Na- 
tion;d Bank. L'pi)er Pigeon Run Coal Com- 
pany. W'ainwriglu Coal Company. Warwick 
Coal Company, Roseman Foundry. Reed & 
Com])any's Class Works, W. R. Harrison & 
Ctmipan)-, Massillon Stone & Fire Brick Com- 
pany. Artificial Ice Company, J. C. Corns Iron 
Company, Hess, Snyder & Company, Conrad, 
Dangler & Brown (lumber). Meuser Piano 
Company. Warwick & Justus' Mills, J. F. Po- 
cock Milling Company, West Side Milling 
Company, Massillon Street Railway Company, 
Massillon J'rewing Company, Farmers' Tele- 
phone Company, i-'irst National Bank, Howell's 
Manutact'.u'ing Company, Independent Pnb- 
liNliing Company, Linden Coal Company. 



LFXlXCrON TOWNSHIP. 

Among the iirst settlers of Lexington 
township were .Amos Holloway, Zaccheus 
Stanton. Xath.ui (Ja-skill. John Grant, David 
Berry and Jesse Feltz, who were attached to 
the Quaker faith, and who came here in 1805 
and 1806. Holloway and Gaskill were the 
joint proprietors of the village of Lexington. 
The first roads in the township were the one 
leading from Deerfield to Canton, running 
diagonally across the township, and the other 
was from Salem, intersecting the first at the 
village of Lexington. The first jjostoffice 
was on the first of these routes, three-cpiarters 
of a mile west of the town, and established in 
1811. .\t this time a weeklv mail arrived at 



the station, being first carried on horseback 
by Jndeth ]<'arnam. The first child born in 
the townshiii was a daughter born to Timothy 
and Alice (jrevvall, while the first marriage 
was a daughter of A^braham and Tabitha 
U'ileman to Vv'illiam Beeder. 

.\t that time the soil of Lexington town- 
ship was consitlered to be comi)aratively worth- 
less, though since then it has developed to be 
the richest land in the county, peculiarly 
adapted to the raising of wheat. However, the 
Mahoning at that time was a large river, its 
many tributaries from the dense forests yield- 
ing to it an e\er-constant supply. The early 
settlers were impressed with the opinon that 
the Alahoning was na\igable and in due time 
would l)ecome a considerable highway of com- 
merce, and this (ipinion had much to do with 
the first settlers locating upon its banks. The 
stream is now but a ri\ulet. though still con- 
taining some si)lendid varieties of fish. The 
first house ni the town of Lexington and the 
first with a shingle roof in the township was 
erected in 1808 by Amos Holloway. 'and in 
'this building the first store was conducted by 
Gideon Hughes. The enter))rise not [jruving 
as lucrative as the owner had anticipated the 
stock was removed and the building sul)se(iuent- 
ly used as the first house for the asseml)Iage 
of jniblic worship b\- the societv of Friends, 
being at the same time, or during the intervals 
between "meetings, used as a school room. It 
was a subscription school, conducted in har- 
mony with the views of the Friends, and the 
first teacher was Daniel A'otaw. 

Prior to 1812 Indians were numerous in 
Lexington townshij). The forests were alive 
with game and the streams were well filled 
with fish, and as it is a well known fact that 
the red man throng and linger where game 
abounds they were naturally loth to give up 
this paradise, h'rom the earliest settlement of 
the townshi]) until the war the conduct of the 
Indians towaril the whites was very ])acific, 



40 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tliere l^eing no savage brutality on their part 
in the township to record. Another feature 
whicli attracted the Indians to Lexington 
townshi]) was the large groves of sugar trees 
peculiar to the township, from which they ob- 
tained their supply of sweets. The chief en- 
campment of the tribe found in this county 
was four miles south of New Philadelphia. 
However in 1813 the savage warwhoop was 
raised against the whites, many of whom left 
the township through fear; but Commodore 
Perry's quietus against the unnatural and bar- 
barous coalition formed by England against 
Americans was far-reaching in its effect and 
the Indians withdrew to new or unoccupied 
hunting grounds, so that after 181 3 only an 
occasional Indian was seen in the township. 

The first grist-mill in Lexington township 
was south of the town of Lexington, and was 
built by Aaron Stratton. Subsequently a saw- 
mill was built in conjunction. This mill was 
located on the bank of Mahoning river. The 
next mill built in the township was erected by 
Byran T'.lliott, on Deer creek, about a mile 
west of Limaville, and in 1818 a grist and 
sawmill of some greater pretensions was built 
on the Mahoning river at Williamsport by 
Johnson & Pennock. The first sawed lumber 
commanded a value equal to twenty-five cents 
per hundred feet from 1815 to 1820. Prior to 
18] 2 there was no necessity for sawed lumber 
in the township. Tlie floors of the cabins were 
made of ])uncheons, their roofs were covered 
with clapboards, rived from straight-grained 
oak timber, their sides of round logs, their 
doors of hea\'y clapboards and swung on 
wooden hinges ; their window consisted of a 
couple of feet cut from one of the side logs and 
the hole covered with greased pajjcr. The 
chimney and fireplace was a magnificent aft'air, 
the latter often occupying the entire end of the 
cabin, and the base of it was built of "nigger- 
head" stones or "bog-ore" and the balance of 



the chimney above the contact of the fire was 
built on the outside of the cabin, of cross-sticks 
and tempered clay. These cabins were of one 
room, and were one story high and a "loft." 
The furniture consisted of a rude table and 
stools of primitive style. In some cases there 
were two doors in the same cabin directly op- 
posite and in such cases logs ten feet long and 
eighteen inches in diameter were drawn by a 
horse into the cabin antl then rolled into the 
capacious fireplace. A few green logs of this 
size, when fairly ablaze, would bid defiance to 
the most rigorous weather. The form of 
architecture just descriljed was improved upon 
and was follrnxed b\' what is termed the 
hewed log house. The logs were flattened on 
both sides, the joists were hewed, the flooring 
sawed, and the buildings were mostly two stor- 
ies high. The roofs were made of rived, and 
often shaved, oak siiingles, fastened to the 
sheeting with nails, costing twenty-five cents 
per pound. The windows, which were gener- 
ally few in number, consisted of a four-light 
sash window, made to hold eight-by-ten glass ; 
the crevices between the logs were filled by 
juggles, and then neatly plastered on the in- 
side and outside with well-tempered yellow 
clay. The outside ponderous chimney of the 
round-log cabin was moved to the inside of the 
hewed log house. "The differences being so 
great between the surroundings of life in Lex- 
ington township then and what they are today, 
many might conclude that those old veterans 
of pioneer life had deprivations and hardships 
without any interims of pleasure. Such a 
conclusion is very wide of the mark ; they had 
their recreations and festivals. The brain 
power and moral tension for wealth was not 
so great then, and more frequenti)' relaxed 
than it is today. * * * The pioneers, 
outside of superior social enjoyment common 
among the early .settlers, enjoyed a delirious 
pleasure when, with their sinewy arms, they 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



41 



grappled witli tlie ferocious bear. Thev felt a 
wild enjoyment when the lleeting stag fell 
dead in his lightning com'se, through the 
agency of their unerring rifles. This exhilar- 
ating and nianl}- sport may be startling to the 
pampered, effeminate sons of luxury. Those 
iron-armed, resolute settlers may have been un- 
learned in books, but they were wise and en- 
nobled from an admitted converse \\\i\\ nature, 
when her grandeur was undefaced bv man's 
spoiling art." 

The town of Lexington was platted and 
surveyed in 1807, and was named after that 
historic event which inaugurated the Ameri- 
can war for independence. Williamsport was 
not laid out for twenty years thereafter, and 
then was suburban to Lexington. Freedom 
followed in twenty-one years and Mount Un- 
ion in twenty-three years. As near as can 
be ascertained, the first Methodist society was 
formed in the \illage of Lexington in 1819, 
and consisted of six members, under the leader- 
ship of Thomas Wood. In the autumn of 
that year Lexington became a regular preach- 
ing place, being connected with what was 
called Mahoning circuit, with Calvin Ruttor 
arid John Stewart pastors. The society at 
first worshipped in private dwellings and later 
in a schoolhouse. but in 1827 the [Methodists 
of the township erected a hou.se devoted to re- 
ligious worship. Other denominations have 
gained strong foothold in the township and 
Alliance now contains some of the strongest 
congregations in the state of Ohio, the ^leth- 
odist church being particularly strong. In all 
respects Lexington township is the equal of an\' 
other in the county. Her people have always 
evinced a spirit of enterprise and progress and 
the position she now holds among her sister 
townships is due largely to the industr\- and 
perseverance of the ancestors. In no part of 
Stark county has the march of civilization left 
plainer or broader traces than in this section. 



ALLIANCE. 

Alliance, in the northeastern part of the 
county, is a flourishing and active city of 8,974 
inhabitants. It is eighteen miles from the coun- 
ty seat, and commands an extensive trade in the 
counties of Stark, Columbiana, Portage and 
Carroll. It was laid out in 1851 at the junc- 
tion of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago 
Railroad with the Cleveland & Pittsburg Rail- 
road. It is fifty-seven miles southeast of Cleve- 
land, and eighty-two miles west of Pittsburg. 
The Lake Erie, iVlliance & Southern and the 
Alliance & Northern railroads also give the 
town other connections northward and south- 
ward, and are a great help in bringing trade. 
It was incorporated as a village in 1854. It has 
three banks, two newspapers, daily and weekly, 
a goodly number of churches, and machine 
shops and mills. 

For long years Alliance was more of a 
railway center than now, as of late more 
trains are run through, and hence there is not 
so much changing of locomotives and repair- 
ing required there. Even yet, however, there 
are several hundred railroad employes kept 
busy, and all this is an important factor for 
Alliance and her prosperity. Machine shops, 
factories and mills have also been a feature 
in the history of Alliance, and the Morgan En- 
gineering Works are celebrated as being one 
of the best of the kind in the country. This 
establishment has done, of late years, much 
heavy work for the United States go\-ernment, 
the latest being a complicated carriage for a 
monster gun for one of the war vessels. 

Besides twelve churches, the city has fine 
public school buildngs, wth a corps of capa- 
ble teachers, and a school system second to 
none in the county. The Alliance public 
schools have an enviable record for good dis- 
cipline and thorough instruction. Many of 
their pupils have gone out to live useful lives. 



42 



OLD LASDMARKS 



transact successtui Ijusiiiess. and rellect credit 
upon tlie sclionls in wliicli they were eilucated. 
During tlie past five years more tlian one-tliird 
of tlie graduates of the liigh school have at- 
tended the various departments of Mount Un- 
ion College, while many ha\'e gone to other in- 
stitutions. Those who have not entered higher 
institutions of learning have entered upon use- 
ful and profitable industries and occupations. 

The course of study in the grades below the 
high school is practical, up-to-date, and as far 
advanced as any in the state. The high school 
has two solid three-year courses — Latin and 
science. These are sufficiently comprehensive 
to give those contemplating them a very good 
start in life. 

The six brick huildngs are well fitted with 
the necessary appliances for good work. Good 
janitors take care of the buildings and grounds, 
and competent teachers attend to the intel- 
lectual and niorcd culture of the children. In 
one respect, at least, the schools of .\lliance 
probably differ from those of other cities of 
the same or larger size: that is. in having such 
a large proportion of male teachers. Each 
building has a man as principal, and in the 
entire corps of thirty-six instructors eleven are 
men. 

Alount I'nion College is also located here, 
two miles from the railway crossing, and is 
connected with the town by electric cars. This 
institution has been, and is yet. largely attended, 
and it has exerted a wholesome educational and 
moral infleunce. The Museum of Art and 
Science is of great value and is of great attrac- 
tion. Mount L nion College is the onlv insti- 
tution of its kind in the country. The institu- 
tion has done much towards building up Alli- 
ance, drawing people there for educational pur- 
poses, and. of course, a go(«l class of substantial 
people 

The citizens of Alliance are distinguished 
for their enteriirise and public s])irit. .\11 this is 
evidenced in electric lit;ht plants, thai furnish 



light to the citizens and power for the street " 
cars : her ga.s works also are first-class : her Me- 
morial hail, the first story of which is iKCupied I 
by the postoftice, is a creditable edifice, and 
her well-paved streets speak for themselves and | 
the town. 

(_)ne of the most notable structures in Alli- 
ance is the \ia(luct, near the railway crossing. 
It was built by the railway companies and the 
county at a cost of al)out twentv-live thonsand 
dollars, of which tlie count\- paid seventeen 
thousand dollars. It is some twehe iiundred 
feet in length, including the approaches, the 
bridge ])art bein.g about half the length. This 
part extends oxer the Fort \\'a\ne and Cle\e- 
land (Jt I'ittsburg railways. This structure be- 
came more and more a necessity as population 
and business increased. 

Within the limits of .\lliance are embraced 
the earl\- \-illages of I'reedom and W'illiamsport 
on the north on opposite sides of the Mahoning 
river, and Mount L'nion on the south, .\lliance 
has no com])eting town on the east nearer than 
Salem, fourteen miles distant, and none on the 
west nearer than Canton, eighteen miles distant. 
It will be seen the town is fax'orably located for 
trade, and the fine stores and other establish- 
ments gi\'e evidence of business. The l)locks, 
dwellings .and other edifices also indicate thrift. 

The following are the most imiiortant in- 
dustries : Morgan Engineering Company. The 
American Steel Casting Company, .\lhance 
Rank Comjianv, .\lliance Building Company, 
-Mliance Fertilizer Company, Alliance & North- 
ern Railroad Com])any, .Mliance I'ant Com- 
pan\-. Alliance Street Railway Com])any, Alli- 
ance Water Works Companv, City Savings 
Bank, Co-Operative Coal Com])any, h'irst Na- 
tional Bank, Industrial Building and Loan 
Coini)an_\-. Lake T'>ie. Alliance iv Southern 
Railway. Mutual Light Company. Mutual Real 
Estate Improvement Association. Ohio Na- 
tional Building and Loan Company. Pleasant 
\'alley Coal Conipruiy. Re\iew Publishing 



CAXTOX AXD STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



43 



Company. \'eteran Memurial Association, 
Reeves Boiler Works, J. T. Weybreclit's Sons, 
Transue tK* Williams, B. F. Mercer Pump Man- 
,ufactor\-. Springer Bros. Lumber Company, 
Ceorge X. Yant Planing Mill. Leader Publish- 
ing Cr)m])any. 



PLAIN TOWXSHIP. 

By Lew Slvsskr 

The first man who settled in Plain township 
was Henry Friday. He was a Hessian, taken 
prisoner at the battle of Trenton and iiamlcd. 
There was at that time a strong reproach at- 
tached to a Hessian. It was not only l)ecause 
they sold themsehes to an unrighteous cause, 
but it was generally beliex'ed they brought with 
them to this country the Hessian fly, which has 
so ravaged tiie wheat crop for many years. 
It was. if possible, to get rid of the prejudice 
against him that b'riday determined to leave 
Pennsylvania and seek a home in the wilds of 
the west. He had a wife and three children. 
^^'ith an old horse and rickety cart, in which 
were packed his "traps and calamities," he 
worked his wa\' over the .Mleghanies, through 
Pittsburgh (then about one-third the present 
size of Canton), by the scattered settlements 
along Beaver and across an unbroken wilder- 
ness to the southeast quarter of section 30, 
where he "squatted." This was early in the 
summer of 1805. He cleared a small patch, 
w liich he planted in corn and potatoes, and un- 
til the crop matured the family lived upon wild 
meat and berries. His special business was 
that of a well digger, an.d until he obtained 
employment in this line he would cut grass in 
w hat was then known as the "Wild Meadows," 
located in the southwestern section of the town- 
ship, for which he found ready sale to emi- 
grants. ■Though a man of some natural abilitv. 



he was of low instincts, inclined to tlrink. and 
horribly profane. He must ha\-e lixxd like a 
digger Indian, for it is said that in a year in 
v.-hich the locusts appeared he had a pie made 
of them, wliich he ate. and in speaking of it 
would remark: "Es its der beshta poy es mer 
moclie kon." Friday remained in the township 
fi\-e or si.\ years, then bought a piece of lanil 
in Jackson township, upon which he moved and 
there died. He was the chief man in procuring 
signers to a petition to the comity commission- 
ers for a road from Canton to Cliippewa. which 
in after years was known as "I'ridav's road." 

Hugh Cunningham, an Irishman, came the 
same summer and settled on the northeastern 
(|uarter of section 34, which he had previouslv 
purchased of the goverinnent. These two fam- 
ilies were the only white inhabitants in 
the township during the winter of 1803-6. 
Mrs. Cunningham was confined in the summer 
of 1806 with a female child, whicli was the 
first birth in the townshi]). The child lived but 
a few days. Cunningham sold out in 181 i and 
removed to "Killbuck Bottoms" in Wayne 
county. When the war of 1812 broke out. he 
became alarmed from fear of an attack l)v the 
Indians, and hastily abandoning his improve- 
ment, returned with his family to his brother. 
David Cunm'ngham. then a citizen of Plain 
township. \\'hen the draft followed, he became 
so terror stricken that to escape it he shot him- 
self in the foot. 

(ieorge Harter left Center county. Penn- 
sylvania, in 1803. with a family of seven for 
Ohio. On the way out they heard so manv 
horrible stories about tlie iuflian atrncities that 
when they reached Beaver, where Mr. Harter 
had an uncle living, Mrs. Harter was bitterly 
o]5[)osed to going farther. As the uncle had a 
vacant cabin on his place, it was decided that 
the family remain a year at Beaver. Mean- 
while, George Harter and his brother John, 
Henr)- Afyers and George Wertenlierger came 
out to Stark coimt\', made selections of land. 



44 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and eacli built a cabin, Geurge Harter on sec- 
tion 178, John Harter on section 10, Henry 
Myers in Lake township and Wertenberger in 
Nimishillen. They assisted each other in the 
construction of the cabins, and on their com- 
pletion all returned to Beaver. 

Early in the spring of 1806 the family of 
George Harter started from Beaver in a six- 
horse wagon for their new home in Ohio. A 
daughter, then in her ninth }'ear, later Mrs. 
Jehu Grubb. had in after years a very distinct 
recollection of the journey out; of seeing the 
men at work digging the race for Slusser's 
mill, as they crossed Nimishillen: of her great 
disappointment at the size of Canton, expecting 
to see it as large as Pittsburg-, when it contained 
only three cabins, all told. From Canton to 
their new home, a distance o"f four miles, 
a roatl had to be cut, most oi the 
way through an unloroken forest. They 
brought with them from Beaver two cows and 
a sow with eight pigs. The sow was kept in 
a pen for a short tinie, and then a bell was put 
on her and she was let run to hunt her fond. 
She bad not gone far from the cabin w ben the 
family heard her squeal. Suspecting the 
trou1)le, ]\Jr. Hnrter snatched up his rifle, which 
was always kept loaded, and made haste toward 
the locality from Axbence the sound crmie, on his 
way, ramming down a second bullet. He had 
not proceeded far when he discovered a huge 
bear draging the sow by the back of the neck 
through the bushes. The sound of his ap- 
proach attracted the attention of the bear, who 
dropped the sow and stood up on his hind 
legs and looked directly at Harter. He took 
deliberate aim at the chest of the bear and fired. 
The bear fell o\-er, but Harter was suspicious 
that he might not be dead, and knowing that it 
would be dangerou.« to come within his reach 
if he was only wounded, he reloaded his rifle, 
and approaching the animal within a few rods, 
took deliberate aim and gave him another shot 
in the head, when the bear turned over, gave a 



feeble kick and was dead. The family were 
much annoyed by bears and wol\-es. They car- 
ried off all of the eight pigs but two, and these 
were saved by being kept closely housed. Har- 
ter constructed a trap in which he caught a 
num])er of bears and wolves, and once a turkey 
buzzard. \\'hen a wolf was entrapped there 
was such an incessant howling that the house- 
hold could have but little sleep the balance of 
the night. 

The first year Mr. Harter came he raised 
a few acres of corn, some potatoes and garden 
truck. The seed was brought from Beaver. 
During the summer they would cut bay in the 
Wild Meadows, after standing in the water 
knee deep; drag it out to dry ground, and when 
]iroperly cured stack it up, and in the winter 
take it home on sleds. 

Jacob IxiUtzenheiser. with a wife and six 
children from Westmoreland county. Pennsyl- 
\ania. came in May. 1806. They brought all 
their worldly goods in a cart drawn by two 
horses, hitched tandem, and on two pack horses. 
The use of packsaddles for the transportation 
of goods was very common at that day. Two 
axemen led the way much of the distance from 
Beaver, cutting a road through the woods. On 
their arrival in Plain township they stopped 
with Hugh Cu.nningJiam until a shelter was 
constructed for the family on the southeast 
quarter of section 34. In the fall of that year 
a daughter was born to Mrs. Loutzenheiser, 
named Sarah, \\ho married John Wea\'er. Fa- 
ther Loutzenheiser died in 18 10. The .same 
year, Aberham Van ]\Ieter, with means fur- 
nished by Wells, the owner of the land, erected 
a sawmill, with chopping stones attached, on 
the west branch of the Nimishillen. There was 
a sort of bolting arrangement connected with 
it, which was turned by hand. This was the 
first superstructure of the kind in the county. 
The next summer there came a great freshet 
and swept it away, and it was not rebuilt. 

The tide of immigration from Pennsylvania 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



45 



to Ohio was quite strong in 1806. During that 
year there settled in Plain township, beside 
those already mentioned, Valentine Weaver, 
Peter Dickerhoof and George Bossier, who 
were brothers-in-law; Jacob Shinnaberger, 
George Hantz, George Miller, Simon Essig, 
Henry Warner, John and David Eby, Concord 
Rufifner, Christopher Palmer, George, Jacob 
and Christian Werstler, and their father, Hen- 
ry Werstler. who was a widower and made 
his home with his sons. He entered sections 
13 and 14 and the patent deed, bearing date 
October 8, T805, with the bold autograph of 
Thomas Jefferson, then president of the United 
States, is still in existence. The question has 
often been asked why our pioneer settlers made 
choice of land in the rough, heavily timbered 
parts, rather than in the plains. Por many years 
after the land was in market those in search of 
homes would pass the plains and select, in pref- 
erence, timbered lands west of the Tuscarawas 
river. It was on account of springs of running 
water, which were considered a great acquisi- 
tion and were much souglit after; besides, tim- 
ber for rails, building and fuel was regarded 
a sine qua non : so much so, that an investment 
in prairie or plain land would have been consid- 
ered very foolish. When Andrew Meyer pur- 
chased, in 1816, the large tract of plain land 
northwest of Canton it was freely commented 
upon as an injudicious investment. Since under 
cultivation, the differaice in favor of plains 
land in the yield of staple products is univer- 
sally conceded. 

The lands entered by Weaver and Hantz 
in sections 28 and 19 were notoriously rough, 
heavily timbered and rocky. The work of clear- 
ing was very laborious. Weaver came with 
seven children, the three eldest lieing girls. 
The}- had to do the ■work of men and proved 
themselves equal to the anergency. They felled 
trees, cut saw logs, split rails made fences, 
plowed, sowed, reaped and threshed. Nancy mar- 
ried Philip Slusser; Elizabeth Jacob Essig, and 



Magdalena, Henry Miller. Nancy died early 
without oiTspring, but the other two lived to a 
good old age, and each reared a large family. 
Betsy Dickerhoof, daughter of Peter Dicker- 
hoof, his eldest born, was also one of the mus- 
cular women of the day. In opening the road 
now between Berlin aiid Greentown, it is said 
she cut down more trees than any man em- 
ployed on the work. It is said she took a con- 
tract to clear ten acres of ground for her broth- 
er-in-law, John Wise, and completed ihe con- 
tract satisfactorily. 

There was a portion of the Eby tract in sec- 
tion 24 .sparsely timbered — had evidently been 
a swale. A large area was soon made ready 
for planting, and after a crop of corn was cut 
up was sown in wheat. The yield was large 
and as the influx of emigrants created a de- 
mand foi- bread-stuff the surplus was readily 
sold. It proved to be what is called "sick 
wheat." Every one who ate of the bread made 
of the flour of this wheat was taken imme- 
diately after with sickness of the stomach and 
excessive \omiting. As soon as the stomach 
was emptied they were relieved and no serious 
consequences followed. Stock of no kind would 
eat the wheat, nor would dogs touch the bread. 
Subsequently crops were alike tainted, but not 
to so great an extent, and finally it disap- 
peared. 

The Ebys came from W^ashington coumy, 
Pennsylvania, were both single and kept "bach- 
elors' hall," spending their first winter at their 
home in Pennsylvania. One bright Sabbath 
morning Da\id I'.bv heard a distant soi' * 

chopping. Satislietl that it was not an 
and curious to know who was his ne: 
bor, he started on the hunt, taking witl. 
axe with which to blaze the trees, that \ 
be able to find his way back. He '' 
about a mile when he came upoi 
Metz, father of Dr. Metz, who ha' 
tract of clearing on land owned 
Werstlers. Pie had a rude sh 



46 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Mild was doing liis own liousekeeping-. After 
an excliange of salutations, Metz prop<jsed 
tliat they make a call upon their next nearest 
neighbor. Aberiiam Bair, another bachelor, 
who had commenced clearing on the southeast 
(juarter of section lo, and who was living in 
the same style. To this Eby readily assented, 
and on their arrival at the cabin of Bair, they 
found him in 'led. They soon had him out. and 
together these three men spent most of the 
Sunday. Imagine the subjects of con\ersation 
that interested those men at that time! 

In a few years afterward. Aberham Bair 
n^arried Elizabeth Harter. daughter of George 
Harter, of \\hom an incident is related worthy 
of being commemorated. She was not yet fif- 
xn when her father sent her to Slusser"s mill 
vith a grist of two bags of wheat, one contain- 
ng three bushels and the other two and one- 
lalf. She rode on the smaller bag and the 
i.rger one was carried on a packsaddle on an- 
jther horse which she led. The grist was not 
doiie until late in the day, and after passing 
through Canton on her return home, she (juick- 
ened her pace in order that she might reach 
home before dark, as a portion of the route 
was only a bridle path and when she could 
not see her way it would be next to impossible 
to prevent the o\ erhanging branches of the trees 
from raking oft the bag from the horse she 
le('. She had not proceeded far at this in- 
creased speed, when the horse she led, being a 
racker, threw off his bag. Here was a di- 
lemma. Several miles from home, darkness fast 
ai>n--nching. ruid no helj) near. She undertook 
e the l)ag. She could get it on her 
, but had not strength sufiicient to 
over tlie horse. She worked at it until 
xhausted. then in utter despair ga\-e it 
\as about lo return to Canton, when 
''•icker came along and replacetl it. .\s 
dark lie advised her not to under- 
me that night, but stop at his 
■ did. Her mother was much 



distressed at her absence, and thinking she was 
lost in the woods, blew the horn half the 
night in order to direct her. She returned 
wUh the grist early in the morning, to the de- 
light of the whole family. During the first 
year after her inarriage it was her custom im- 
mediately after breakfast to set her dishes aside, 
go with her husband to the clearing and assist 
him in rolling logs and burning brush. At noon 
she would set a cold lunch, using the breakfast 
dishes unwashed. .\.fter dinner they were again 
set aside, and she would return to the "new 
ground" and work until dark. Supper was 
prepared by the light of the fire, using the 
same unwashed pewter dishes, and after the 
evening meal the ilish washing was done for the 
day. No one who was ever acquainted with 
her would for a moment believe that this habit 
arose from a want of cleanliness or neatness. 
.\t that time more important work occujjied 
her time. 

.Abram Ste\ens hatl enlisted with Aaron 
Burr in his expedition to the southwest, and 
embarked with a company from Pittsburgh on 
a flat l)oat down the Ohio ri\er for the place 
of rendezvous. He became dissatisfied with the 
prospects ahead and at Steubenville abantlon- 
ed the enterprise. Working his way eaiSt, he 
came to Canton in the fall of 1807, and was 
induced to take up a school for the settlers of 
Plain. A log structure was erected on the fanu 
of James Gaff, northwest quarter of section 
34. and in the winter following the first school 
in the township was taught. AuKjng the schol- 
ars were several grown-up \dung men. It wjs 
a custom with them to carry their rifies to and 
from school as a means of protection, as well 
as to kill game. 

.Among those who came in 1807. and be- 
fore the war of 1S12. were James (jafif. Da\id 
Brady, Adam Rodocker. Leonard W'illiman, 
Samuel Bair, John Holtz. George Beard, James 
Harry, Valentine Speelman, Jacob Hosier, Ja- 
cob Sell. Peter Tro.xel, George Williams, 



CANTO X AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



47 



George Adam Rex, Henn- Exerhard, Jacob Es- 
sig, Jelni Grubb, Tenry Baclitel and otliers 
whose name have iKjt yet been ascertained. 

Plaijl township was organized in 1809. The 
first election was held on the first Monday in 
April, at the house of George Harter. The of- 
fiicers elected, had jurisdction ox-er Jackson. 
Lawrence, as far as Tuscarawas river, Frank- 
lin and Green, now a part of Summit county. 
These townships were yet without ci\il organ- 
ization. The first volume of the township rec- 
ord has been lost or mislaid, and it cannot be 
ascertained who were tiie first officers elected, 
but it is known tiiat the first justices were 
James Ga.fi and George Wyke; Abraham Van 
Meter, clerk ; Jacob \\'arsheler, treasurer, and 
Henry Friday, constable. There was consid- 
erable Irouljle to get a second constable. Sev- 
eral different persons were elected or appointed, 
but rather than serve paid the fine of two dol- 
lars. At lengih John Eby acceirted, and during 
his term of office but one summons was .ser\ed. 
While Stark county was yet under the juris- 
diction of Columbiana it was divided into two 
townships. Canton and Lake. James F. Leon- 
ard and Loutzenheizer were commissioned 

as justices of the peace. At the same time, 
David Bachtel was constable. The first mar- 
riage in the township was Catharine Harter to 
David Clay in 1810. 

Three soldiers of the Revolution ended their 
days in P'lain. John Keefer, uncle of Solomon 
Sell, enlisted in Pennsylvania, participated in 
the battles of Princeton, Brandywine, German- 
town and Mommouth, died in 1834, and is 
Iniried at Zion church. Moses Xelson died 
about 1840. and is buried in the Weaver grave- 
yard. Christopher Burget died at the infirm- 
ary. The following residents of Plain were sol- 
diers in the war of 1S12 : David Shook, Jacob 
Essig, Adam Essig, Abraham B:iir. John Siiin- 
naberger. John Holtz and Jehu Grubb. Jacob 
,vssig was the last to answer the roll call on 
-rth. 



The first mill in the township was built by 
George Adam Rex in 181 1. A few years after- 
ward, it was purchased by John Shorl) f(ir hh 
son-in-law . Paid Ryder. Ryder died and the 
widow married Jacob Hostetter, who ran the 
mill for a number of years. The mills of Henr\- 
Everhard, David Wise, Conrad Ruf¥er and 
John Trump were all built betw-een 1812-14. 

A store was started at the Rex mill at an 
early day by Abraham Holm and his son Jacob, 
who did the business. It proved a failure pe- 
cuniarily. The first tan yard in the township 
was carried on by Holm on the southwest quar- 
ter of section 10. 

The predominant religious faith of the early 
settlers was Lutheran and German Reformed. 
A joint organization of the twi) denominations 
was formed in 18 14. and a log church erected 
on ground donated Ijy Henry \Varstler, from 
which it took the name of Henry churcii. Henry 
Warstler was taken sick and died while the 
building was being rai.sed and was the third 
person buried on that ground. \';i - iSiie<'', 
man afterward gave one-half a<~^ ■Lmc much 
to the church. The first burial who owned a 
tached to the church was a ^.ih Bull, from 
Swinehart in 1808. Religious .servi- j -■ inch 
ternately held by Rev. Benjamin liui gVcuid- 
man Reformed, and Rev. Anthony Widying in 
cran. For the go\ernment of the two ed to 
a constitution was framed June 24, 18141 de- 
signed by members of both denominainson 
The following are the .signatures to the oAh in 
document, all written in German : C'lracter 
Warstler, George W'ertenberger, \\g to 
Holtz. Jacob Warstler, Peter Tro.xel.AI man 
Miller, Christopher Hennig, Xichcirable and 
der. Christian Beard, John H enterprise 
Schneider. Mathias Bovver. Mic'is probably 
John Ringer. John Holm, John E'locaied here 
Stickler, George Smith, Conrad.smouth, New 
tonius Weyer, Christian ^isiness. sailing- 
Werner, Adam Essig. Jacot He ownerl 
Jacob Essig. Michael Holtz. Jr.. <jie town n:i ' 

\vn of M 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Ienr\- W'arstler, Jacob Lour, George Grease- 
in ir, I'liilip Hollenbach, Adam Schmith. These 
signers have all passed away, but the descend- 
ants of many of them still remain here. After 
the erection of Snyder's church, live miles 
north, many of the Reformed members left. 

The proprietor of New Berlin, the only 
town in the township, was John Hower. The 
plat was surveyed by Samuel Beachtel, Feb- 
ruary 18, 183 1. An addition was laid out in 
1836 by Peter Shick and William Grim. A 
postoffice was established soon after the town 
was laid out, anil Alathias Sherrick appointed 
postmaster. He started the first tavCTn. Peter 
Schick had the first store, which was in 1838. 

Before the completion of the Ohio canal 
there was no market fur produce short of Cleve- 
land. The price of wheat would scarcely pay 
the cost of hauling". Solomon Sell had a lot of 
his wheat ground into tlour and took a load 
to Cleveland, for which he obtained one barrel 
•f salt an'l ■ side of sole leather. With the 
'' ' ' lid better, receiving in addition 

iDunt of salt and leather, one 
*-'■ This dollar in money was the 

.^■ghborhood for some time after, 
"his time Jacoli Homman, who lived 
not sec iQ_ had several hundred bushels 
the loft of his cabin. He was break- 
• ■ ., preparatory to sowing it in wheat on 
'^*'-" sultry day in June. The ground was 
*'and stony and it was with difficulty he 
eep the point o:' the plow to its place. 
1 then a root would strike him on the 
1 aggravate his perturbed feelings. After 
T "-s' thumping among the stumps and 
mckuled it wouldn't pay, so he de- 
litched his horses, put them in the 
't into the hou.se. Mrs. Homman 
vool. He sat down, gathered 
' I comn"ienced picking it without 
' Surpriseil at his strange con- 
red why he was not at his work. 
'^e promptly replied : "W'arum 



sut ich mich ploga by dara grossa hits? Hob 
ich net ma as dri hunnert bushel vatza now 
ufm spicher, os ich nix defor greaga con? Was 
soil ich mit maner du?" He put out no wheat 
that year. His neighbor, George Hantz, pur- 
sued the same course one season, when he had 
sufficient on hand to last him over the year. 

The history of the township would be in- 
complete without mention being made of Jacob 
Gaskins, a colored man, generally known 
among the settlers as "Schwartz Jake." He 
was born in Shenandoah valley, \'irginia, of 
sla\c parents, but manumitted at the age of 
twenty-one, and came to Plain township in 
1 81 7. He commenced an improvement on a 
section of land belonging to John Haines, of 
which he had a lease of five years. At the ex- 
l)iration of that time, with what he made and 
the sale of a little property owned in Pennsyl- 
vania, he purchased twenty-five acres. Without 
any capital except the natural endowment of 
industry and economy, he accumulated a large 
property, and although he confided too much 
in the representations of white men, in going 
security and making unprofitable investments, 
his estate at his decease was valued at over 
twenty thousand dollars. He had great muscular 
power and the tales told of his feats of strength 
are truly marvelous. He was always an impor- 
tant adjunct at "raisings" and "huskings." At 
the time of his coming into the state there was a 
law in force requiring black men to give a bond 
with apjjrovecl security for good behavior and 
that he would not become a county charge. His 
bondsman was Jacob Funk, a church member 
and a man of peace. At a "raising" Jacob S. 
Palmer, a stout man and somewhat given to dis- 
play of physical strength, undertook to make 
a butt of Gaskins. The latter finally lost his 
temper and appealed to his bondsman, who was 
jjresent. to give him permission to thrash 
Palmer. Tliis l)eing refused. Palmer became 
overbearing. Meanwhile hunk left the ground 
when Gaskins. unable to hear it longer, picke 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



49 



Palmer up as he would a child and threw hun 
over a stake-and-rider fence. Palmer subsided 
and the negro was never afterward molested. 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 

Perry township and Massillon have long 
been prominent in this section, and in all tliat 
merits attention are not falling away in any 
respect. At a niceiing of the county commis- 
sioners December 7, 1813, it was ordered that 
township 10, range 9, be known as Perry, no 
doubt in honor of the hero of the hour, Oliver 
Hazard Perry, who commanded the American 
fleet on Lake Erie and had gained the victory 
over the British fleet on the loth of September 
previous. An election was also ordered for 
the selection of township officers, on the last 
Saturday of February, 1814, at the house of 
Samuel Patton in Kendall. The election was no 
doubt held, but the names of those elected are 
not given in any history of Stark county. 

Among the residents of the southern part of 
the township at this time were such familiar 
names as Bahney, Wagoner, Stump, Jacoby, 
Shorb, McCaughy. Miller, Ritten ; and in Ken- 
dall and the immediate neighborhood were 
William Henry, Thomas Rotch, Coffen, Skin- 
ner, Wales, Chidester, Bowman, Chapman, Al- 
len and Captain Mayhew Folger, who kept one 
of the hotels in Massillon. The village of 
Kendal], now the fourth ward of Massillon, 
was laid out in 181 1, by Thomas Rotch, one of 
the most prominent of the early settlers. He 
and his wife were Quakers or Friends, from 
Massachusetts. Arvine Wales and Charles K. 
Skinner came with Mr. and Mrs. Rotch, and 
they utilized the Sippo creek, liy building a 
woolen factory and a sawmill. No doubt these 
establishments were useful in their day. The 
war of 1812-14 with Great Britain interfered 
with the settlement of Ohio and for a time par- 
alyzed business. 



A weaver named Moses McCammon 
worked in the Rotch factory for several years, 
about 1820, till lie removed to his farm in 
Wayne county, where he died some years ago 
at an advanced age. Mr. McCammon was 
Scotch-Irish and was something of a poet. For 
several years, some forty years ago, some of 
his poems were published in the Stark County 
Democrat. They were mostly in the Scottish 
dialect and some of them were quite creditable. 
On publishing the flrst poem he sent, he was 
highly pleased and so wTOte, saying it was the 
first instance where one of his Scottish produc- 
tions had been correctly published. He visited 
the editor of the paper once, remaining over 
Sunday. On indulging in a dish of ice cream 
in the evening, the old man, then over 
seventy, said he had never tasted the 
article before. Mr. Rotch died in 1823, 
aged seventy-six years, and his widow sur- 
vived him less than two years, leaving a be- 
quest that founded the well-known institution, 
the Charity Rotch School, that has done much 
good. One of the early settlers who owned a 
farm near Massillon, was Hezekiah Bull, from 
Hartford, Connecticut. Mr. Bull was a stanch 
follower of Jefferson, as were a son and grand- 
son also. All have departed, the first dying in 
1820, and the family afterwards removed to 
Loudonville, where lived and died the two de- 
scendants referred to. The son and grandson 
served in the legislature of Ohio, both in 
the senate. They were men of character 
and both men of reading. In referring to 
Perry township and Massillon, the man 
of all others who deserves honorable and 
prominent mention for business enterprise 
and energy in the early days is probably 
Captain James Duncan. He located here 
in 1 81 4. having come from Portsmouth, New 
Hampshire, where he had done business, sailing 
a vessel in the merchant service. He owned 
the Estramadura farm, south of the town, and 
the land now occupied by the town of Massil- 



50 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Ion, which was laid out in 1825-26. Mr. Dun- 
can soon had a tiouring-niill, sawmill and dis- 
tillery in operation, and about 1820 loaded a 
flat boat with flour, whiskey, potatoes, bacon, 
etc., and when the river was at flood the loaded 
boat started from near where the stone bridge 
now is and reached Cincinnati in safety, where 
he made a good sale. This success induced 
other similar trips, all, however, less profitable. 
Mr. Duncan also had a dry goods store, and 
was a member of the firm of C. K. Skinner & 
Company, in a woolen manufactory. In Jan- 
uary, 1826, at the brick residence of Mr. Dun- 
can, the only one at that time in the place, were 
let forty-four sections of the Ohio canal, ex- 
tending from Summit lake to just below Mas- 
sillon. Mr. Duncan's influence had much to 
do in having the canal located on the east of 
the river, and he it was who named the town 
Massillon, after the celebrated French pulpit 
orator who died in 1742. 

The first orchard planted in Perry township 
was on the south side of the Canton and Mas- 
sillon road, on the Daum farm, and it is said 
was planted by Jonathan Chapman, better 
known as Johnny Appleseed, a nickname given 
him from his going through the country and 
inquiring at each house for apple seeds in order 
to plant orchards. In the latter years of his 
life he was a resident of Richmond county. One 
of the episodes in the history of Perry town- 
ship was the Kendall community, organized in 
1826. The purpose was social reform, on the 
plan of the celebrated Robert Owen. This 
community bought of the Rotch estate, in 1830, 
two thousand one hundred and thirteen acres 
of land, improved and unimproved, for twenty 
thousand dollars. The original meml:)ers were 
residents of Stark and Portage counties, and 
were joined by some two dozen others, in 1827, 
from the state of New York. The community 
socn dissolved, as times were hard, employment 
scarce, and they were unable to meet their pay- 



ments for the land. Robert Owen was truly 
a philanthropist, and under his management of 
co-operation and benevolence at New Lanark, 
in Scotland, his plan proved a great success. 
He encouraged education and good habits in 
old and young ; had the company build comfort- 
able buildings for their eniployes, convenient 
to the factory, provided library and lecture 
rooms, and aided materially in educating the 
children, dried up by this means all the drink- 
ing shops in New Lanark, and so promoted 
the comfort and happiness of the two or three 
thousand inhabitants of the place. His plan 
extended to giving to every employe an interest 
in the business, so that, after giving a low in- 
terest to the capital, a sliare of the residue was 
laid aside for the benefit of the workmen, in 
case of depression or stagnation of business. 
Under such management the establishment at 
New Lanark was the most prosperous of any 
in Great Britain. 

Robert Owen was a philanthropist, and his 
theory was that ''man is the creature of cir- 
cumstances over which he has no control what- 
ever; that he cannot say who shall be his pa- 
rents, what his country, iiis politics or his re- 
ligious creed; and, therefore, his character is 
formed for him, not by him; that property is 
very unequally divided, and the tendency is to 
make the rich richer and the poor poorer; that 
those who produced the wealth enjoyed but lit- 
tle of it, and that those that produced nothing 
had too much for their own good; that the 
producing classes, if properly educated, could 
ea.<^ily .«hape things so as to secure to each !iis 
proper share." After the completion of the 
canal the development of this region moved on 
with rapid strides, and many well remember 
the long strings of farm wagons loaded with 
wheat that used to crowd the streets of Massil- 
lon. These came from far and near. 

No records of Perry township prior to 1825 
are extant, and hence it cannot be stated who 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



5' 



served as township officers. The development 
of the township from 1820 to 1830 was phe- 
nomenal. The Ohio canal was made, being- 
opened to Massillon in 1828. About this time 
Massillon was started, anil made rapid prog- 
ress, soon becoming an important business 
point, especially in buying wheat. This again 
brought dealers in goods and uihtv things, as 
well as shops, and of course, population. The 
township generally profited by this activity and 
enterprise, and the excellent land soon advanced 
in value. They tell of a jjioneer named Metcalf, 
who came in 1810, but after a few years sold 
out and left, saying : "'This country is too 
thickly settled ; i must go where I cannot see 
the smoke of my neighbor's chimney, nor hear 
his dog bark." 

Among the early settlers were those who 
were experts with the rifle and were fond of 
hunting. Four Castleman brothers were dis- 
tinguished in this line, and many deer, bears 
and wolves and other animals they brought 
down. One of them killed the last wolf, north 
of Massillon. To show the low price of land. 
Robert H. Folger, Esq., relates that his father, 
Captain ^Mayhew Folger, in 1824, sold one 
thousand acres of "plain" land south of Massil- 
lon for four dollars and twenty-five cents an 
acre, and took his pay in cloth made at Steuben- 
ville, in Dickinson & Wells" factory, the former 
being the purchaser. Doctor William Gardner 
seems to have been the first physician, 1814, 
coming from the state of New York. He after- 
wards located in Canton, and died in 1833. 
About the close of the war of 181 2, provisions 
were scarce, and Charles K. Skinner and two 
other men built a boat and brought several 
loads of corn from Coshocton, which sold read- 
ily for two dollars a bushel. On one of their 
trips, when coming up, their boat struck on the 
Cedar Ripple, below where Massillon now is, 
and they came near losing boat and cargo. The 
first religious society west of Canton, 181 3, was 



the Society of Friends, at Kendall. Their 
monthly meeting was at Marlboro; quarterly 
meetings at Salem, and yearly meeting at 
Mount Pleasant, Jefferson county. The lead- 
ing citizens thereabouts were members, and 
their influence was all for good. Their meet- 
ing house was also used for a school. Follow- 
ing them soon were the Methodists. The circuit 
at first, November, 18 10, extended frorn Co- 
shocton to New Portage along the Tuscaraw^as 
river. The first return, November, 181 1, was 
seventy-seven members, but they increased from 
year to year. The Ohio conference was formed 
in 1812; prior to that Ohio belonged to the 
western conference. The Presbyterian people 
did not organize a church until after Massillon 
was begun. A postoffice was established at 
Kendall soon after the village was laid out, by 
Thomas Rotch, in 181 1, and he was appointed 
postmaster. At his death, in 1823, Matthew 
Macy succeeded and continued till 1829, when 
it was discontinued, as Massillon was the point. 
In this then new country tanneries were numer- 
ous, and there was one at Kendall, carried on 
by Thomas Williams. Of course other me- 
chanical pursuits were represented, even to the 
man who made the spinning-wheel, which was 
an important necessity. At first there was a 
ferry at Massillon over the Tuscarawas river, 
but soon a toll-bridge was built. Judge W'illiam 
Henry being the principal owner. The Judge 
had a store on the west side of the river, in his 
brick house, in which his family also lived. 
.\fter the war of 1812 the emigration w^est was 
great, for Wayne as well as Stark was being 
settled. People became tired of paying toll, and 
at last a free bridge was built at another part 
of the river. A while after its erection an at- 
tempt was made to destroy it l)y cutting away 
its principal supports at the east end, Ijut it was 
repaired and served the public for many years 
until a new bridge was built on Main street, as 
it now runs. 



52 



OLD LANDMARKS 



The first justice of the peace was Francis 
Smith, who followed blacksmithing. His suc- 
cessor was Captain Nathaniel Ray, who had 
been a seafaring man, and who, after some 
vears, returned to Nantucket, and to the sea. 
Other settlers were from New England and had 
been seafaring men, among them Captain May- 
hew Folger and James Duncan. Thomas Rotch, 
William Henry and Gilbertharp Earle had 
their stores, the last gentleman living for a time 
at Canton. He was from New Jersey. Social 
intercourse was cultivated by these people and 
their congenial neighbors, and it may be known 
that schools and education were not neglected. 
Tiie first school in Perry township is said to 
have been taught by William Mott, and he was 
soon followed by Cyrus Spink, who afterwards 
became a prominent citizen of Wooster and 
served in congress. Esquire Folger tells of a 
teacher who on consulting his father. Captain 
Folger, at Kendall, was given pen and ink and 
paper and told to draw up a subscription paper, 
and he, the captain, would subscribe. About 
half the words being misspelled, the captain 
called his attention thereto, when the teacher 
coolly replied, "Spelling isn't very essential." In 
1825 the general assembly passed a school law 
imposing a tax of one-half of one mill on the 
property of the state, for the support of schools. 
One of the active supporters of the act was the 
lawyer member from Stark, James W. Lathrop. 
\\"hen running for re-election this was brought 
against him, but did not defeat himi though iiis 
majority was reduced. Some of the people 
said: "'People don't want so much learning." 
While serving as a member in 1828, Mr. La- 
throp took ill and died in Columbus, where his 
remains rested until in 1873, when Samuel C. 
Bowman, a member of the house, offered and 
got a resolution through the' general assembly 
to have the remains brought to Canton, and this 
was accordingly done, Ellis N. Johnson, col- 
league of Mr. Bowman, Arvine C. Wales, of 
the senate, and Fred Blenkner, third assistant 



sergeant-at-arms of the house, acting as the 
cominittee in charge. 

Let it be remembered that only since the 
union school system was adopted have our pub- 
lic schools fully commanded and held the field. 
Prior to this select schools and academies and 
seminaries were quite common, for there was a 
necessity for such schools. The public schools 
were not kept over three or four months a year 
for a long time. Then a three months summer 
school by a female came to be the fashion, till 
now, for many years past, we have, throughout 
the state, eight to ten months' schooling. In 
fact, the system has been systematized and has 
become a calling and a profession. In this 
respect Ohio is one of the states of the world. 
Thomas Rotch, it is claimed, is entitled to the 
distinction of being the first to bring Spanish 
Merino sheep into this part of the state. They 
were driven from Hartford. Connecticut. 
Shortly afterward William R. Dickinson and 
Bezaleel Wells, of Steubenville, had a flock 
of these sheep in Perry township .also. Mr. 
Dickinson owned the Estramadura farm, a mile 
or so south of Massillon. and about 1820, in a 
covered cart, sent his celebrated ram "Bolivar" 
to Baltimore under the care of his shepherd, 
and at the exhibition of fine-wooled sheep from 
all parts of the United States Perry township 
took the prize. 

The letting of the work of the Ohio canal 
took place in 1826, and this was an era in the 
history of Perry township, and indeed in this 
region. The work began at once, and it ga\e 
employment to the farmers and their teams 
and caused money to circulate. It must not be 
forgotten that there was great stagnation of 
business and scarcity of money for a time after 
the war of 1812. and also alxjut 1821 to 1824. 

Richville is a village laid out by John Hauk 
in 1836, south of the center of the township, 
on the road running from Canton to Navarre, 
.some six miles from the former. It never 
came to lie mucl; of a \-illage : a score or two of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



53 



houses, and a church and school house, with a 
useful shop or two tor local wants, made up the 
hamlet. Perry township has furnished some 
worthy citizens for official positions. David 
\\'elker, who lived on his farm lying between 
ilassillon and Richville, was appointed asso- 
ciate common pleas judge by the legislature 
some time in the 'thirties. Thomas Blackbiu'n, 
who resided in Massillon, was for many years 
a justice of the peace, and was elected to the 
legislature as a Jackson Democrat in 1828. 
The Stumps were among the early settlers, their 
farms being near Richville. Levi, whose fa- 
ther Frederick settled there in the early days, 
was born in 1825. Frederick Stump entered 
his land at Steubenville in 1806, and removed 
his family upon it in April, 1808, when there 
were but three families in the township. In- 
dians were plenty, but peaceable, and wild ani- 
mals not a few. Mr. Stump's first barrel of 
flour cost eighteen dollars, and the first barrel 
of salt twenty-two dollars, and both were 
brought up the Muskingum and Tuscarawas in 
canoes. Mr. Stump thijught times were better 
when he could take a four-horse load of wheat 
to Cle\'eland and trade it for one side of sole 
leather and a barrel of salt "even up." Levi 
Stump was one of the first horticulturists in 
the country, and a most intelligent and success- 
ful fruit, grape and berry grower. He was one 
of the leading men in organizing the Stark 
County Horticultural Society. He died years 
ago. aged about sixty years. 

On the Estramadura place south of Massil- 
lon, the state has erected insane as)'lum build- 
ings, which accommodate over six hundred pa- 
tients. No more beautiful site could have been 
selected. 

Th.e Tuscarawas rix-er runs through the 
township, ranging about one mile from the west 
line. Though not far from its source in Sum- 
mit, the soutlieastern part of Medina county, 
especially at times. The south part of Sum- 
mit, the southeraslern part of Medina county. 



and the northeastern part of Wayne, beside the 
western part of Stark, all contribute to swell 
its waters. In additon to this considerable area, 
the river in its course south keeps increasing its 
volume by branch streams of some size, so that, 
with the Walhonding at Coshocton, it makes 
a large river of the Muskingum, navigable to 
Zanesville, some thirty miles below, for steam- 
boats. 

Like the other townships of Stark county, 
Perry is provided with suitable school build- 
ings, numbering nine outside of Massillon. 

Perry township is on the west side of the 
county, within one township of the Waxne 
county line. Jackson on the north; Canton 
east; Bethlehem south, and Tuscarawas town- 
ship west, are Perry's surroundings. 



MARLBORO TOWNSHIP. 

Marlboro township includes an area of 
thirty-six square miles of territory in the north- 
eastern part of Stark county, with boundaries 
as follows : Lexington township on the east. 
Lake on the west, Nimishillen on the south, and 
the county of Portage on the north. Unlike 
many sections of the county, this township is 
comparatively level, indeed quite flat in tlje 
northeastern and southeastern parts, and when 
first seen by white men the surface was largely 
covered by water, a fact which interfered \-ery 
materially with its development. The marshes 
and swamps which exerywhere abounded were 
not regarded with favor by the homeseeker, 
and many years elapsed ere they were cleared 
of the dense growth, drained and fitted for til- 
lage. Extensive drainage systems were in due 
season inaugurated and carried to successful 
completion, and in this way many hundred 
acres of valuable land were reclaimed, the soil 
of these redeemed portions being deep, rich and 
at this time by far the most producti\-e in the 



54 



OLD LANDMARKS 



township. The townsliip it situated on the 
Ohio water shed, a portion of its \\<Uer flow- 
ing northward into Lake Erie, and another 
portion tending a sonthwesterlj- direction to 
the Ohio river. The only stream of any im- 
portance is Deer creek, which flows throngh 
the northern part, although in early times, be- 
fore artificial drainage was resorted to, there 
were a number of tributaries of this creek, 
which during certain seasons of the year becatne 
raging torrents, overflowing the country for 
many miles on either side. Some of the swamps 
in the northern part of the township are drained 
by irregular inlets of Congress lake, while the 
greater jjortion of tiie southern part is drained 
by Ximishillin creek. Until sluices were dug 
through varif'.us parts of the townsliij) there 
was not sufficient drainage for successful cul- 
tivation, but where this enterprise was accom- 
l)lished the lands contiguous thereto were large- 
ly purchased and iniprmed. the soil, as already 
indicated, being of a su])erior quality and well 
adapted to all the grain, fruit and vegetable 
crops grown in this latitude. Notwithstanding 
all the labor expended in reclaiming the lands 
of this township, there are still considerable 
areas difficult to till, though of recent years 
many attempts have been made, with more or 
less fortunate results, to reduce these \o\\ 
grounds to cultivation. 

Marlboro was originallv included in Lex- 
ington townshi]^. ibe two being created as a ci\il 
division in 1816, at the March term <>f the com- 
missioners' court. In June, 1821. the town- 
ship of Lexington was divided and the twen- 
tieth civil townshi]) created froiu the western 
part and named Marlboro, election of officers 
for the same having been held on August 25 
of the ensuing year. Some doubts as to the 
legality of the order of 1821, creating ^L'lrl- 
boro, liaving subse(|uentlv arisen, the board of 
commissioners, in ]\ larch, 1828, ordered that 
the twentieth original sur\'eyed townshij) in the 
seventh ransfe be stricken off and divided from 



township 10, in range 6, and that said township 
be reorganized under lliQ name i>f Marlboro, 
and an election be held at the same place as 
before. Since 1823 no further changes in the 
boundaries of Marlboro have been made, and 
from that day to the present it has remained as 
described in tiic initial paragraph of this arti- 
cle. 

The original price of land in what is now 
Marlboro township was fixed by the govern- 
ment at tv.-o dollars ])er acre, but later was 
reduced to one and a ((uarter dollars, the change 
giving rise to considerable confusinn and no 
little trouble. The lirst entries were made in 
1810, during which time the following per- 
sons obtained ])atents for lands in \-arious 
])arts of the township, namely: S. D. Cape, 
Peter Baum, D. Markley, Mahlon W'ileman. R. 
P.eeson, John Bro^\■n, Da\id Brown, W. Cope- 
land, P. Baum. J. Enlow, J. Snyder, B. Hanna, 
Da\'id. Jolmsiin, .\1, Houser. J. Heiser. \\ illiam 
Hover, Nathan Haycock, Philip Hollingbaugh, 
C. Hoover, Abraham Harmony, Jacob Mcln- 
tifer, C. Karkley. John Miller, James McGier, 
Christian Palmer, Idiiali Price, C. I'"<iutz. .\. 
Wileman, Jacob W'ileman and Samuel Winger, 
some of whom nio\ed to these lands and made 
improvements, the majority, bo\ve\er. liaxing 
been mere residents, who niade entries largely 
for the ]>'.n-pose of speculation. Settlers came 
in from time to time, some staying for only 
a brief period, others remaining and becoming 
])ermanent residents, .\ccording to the most 
reliable information obtained there were living 
within the present bouufls of the township, as 
earlv as ]8.?o, the following land holders, and 
their families: Jerub Baldwin, \\". Beeson, 
Conrad Brombaugb, W. Cozens, James Ens- 
low, Elisha Everett. C Houser. Nancy Harpe- 
ly. Amos Holloway. P. Hollobaugh. E. John- 
son, [osejih Brown, Peter Baum, John Brown, 
Da\id Brown, Isaac Elliott, Timothy (iruell. 
Daniel Houser. W. Hoover, John I lamlin. Na- 
than Havcock, Martin Houser and others 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



55 



wliose names liave been forgotten. From that 
time on the influx of settlers was more rapid, 
the following having made their appearance 
during the next eight or ten years, to wit: 
William Pennock, Iware Scate, Martin Brant- 
ingham, I\I. \'auglm, John Hardy, R. B. Wells, 
S. Welsli, J. Shaw, Robert Hamilton, Xathan 
Price, Amos Coates, Abraham Troxweil, John 
Lyman, Thomas Crockett, J. Taylor, A. Nis- 
wonger, H. Niswonger, Jacob Harper. E. 
Brooke, W. Hatclier, Peter Lilly, David Thom- 
as. PL Siiaffer, Samuel \\ eary. John Shillen- 
barger. Kohn Wliilestone, Ninirod Smith. J. 
Replogle. Jonathan Nees, Jacob Xees. iNl. 
Young. D. Kieser. Jacob Lnmel. Eh Shri- 
ver. Mr. Logue, A. Shri\er. Paulus, Mr. Roda- 
bush, the Seagley family, Joel Blair, W. All- 
man, (.'hristian Beard and otiiers whose arrival 
antedates perliaps tlie year 1830. 

The first jiermanent settler appears to lia\e 
been ]Mahon W ileman, who came as early as 
1805. and located in section 1. his father ac- 
companying him and remaining until the 
spring of the following year. W'ileman erected 
a small log cabin in which he lived alone during 
the year 1895-6. clearing the meanwhile a 
respectable portion of his land and living the 
contented life of a pioneer. Physicalh- he was 
a man of heroic mold and undaunted courage. 
though peaceable in his relations with his 
neighbors who came in later. ha\ing 
been a member of the S(icietv of hriends 
and noted for his piety and good works. 
He was joined in the spring of 1806 by his 
father. Abraham Wileman and family, the lat- 
ter settling in section _\^. wliere his death sub- 
sequently occurred at the advanced age of nine- 
ty-nine years, perhaps the oldest man that e\'er 
lived in the township. The Wilemans were 
true types of the strong, daring pioneers of the 
period in whicli they lived, both being noted 
hunters, and their adventures if narrated in de- 
tail would make a \olume of thrilling interest. 
Tlic\' were also pronounced in their opjiosition 



to human slaver}- and during the days of the 
"underground railway" their houses afforded a 
safe refuge to many rvuia\yay bondmen, whom 
they assisted on the way to freedom across the 
Canadian borders. 

It is generally conceded that the second per- 
manent resident of Marlboro was a man by 
the name of Timothy Gruel, who settled as early 
as the spring of 1807, in section 24, wdiere, with 
the assistance of the ^^'ilemans, he built a rude 
log cabin, into which his family was at once 
UKned. in August following the family's ar- 
rival Mrs. Gruel gave birth to a daughter, Eliz- 
abeth, the hrst white child born within the pres- 
ent limits of the township. 

During the Avar of 1812, and for several 
}ears thereafter, settlers came in rapidly and it 
was not long until the best land in the town- 
shi]) was taken ui). Others who had previously 
entered choice lands held them in hopes of oli- 
taining good prices and in this way retarded 
to a considerable extent the development of 
the country, not finding at once ready pur- 
chasers, as they had anticipated. In due time, 
however, these lands were disposed of and im- 
proxed, and with the continued influx of pop- 
ulation pioneer conditions changed, industries 
of \arious kinds suitable to the necessities of 
the people sprang up in different parts of the 
country, and an era of prosperity, prophetic of 
the advanced civilization of the present day, 
was inaugurated. 

The pioneer was the peculiar product of the 
country and age in which he lived, and his ex- 
periences were strikingly similar in all parts of 
the great west, his vicissitudes and hardships 
particularly fitting him for the w'ork of laying 
the deep and firm foundation upon wdiich their 
descendants and successors ha\'e so successfully 
I)uilded and upon which the present ])rosperity 
of the commonwealth rests. 

It was thought in an early day that rich de- 
posits of lead existed in many parts of the town- 
ship, and a number of parties from time to time 



56 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tried to locate it, but all their attempts proved 
futile. How the report originated is not known, 
but that it was widely circulated and gained cre- 
dence, even among conservative people, is one 
of the strange facts for which it is exceedingly 
difficult to account. It is said that squirrels be- 
came so numerous in Stark county during the 
years 1824-5 as to become a pest, in consequence 
of which .systematic hunts were instituted to 
effect their destruction. In one of these hunts 
nearly two thousand of the little animals were 
killed, a good natured rivalry having existed 
among the hunters as to who could produce 
the greatest number of scalps at the close of the 
day, one party, a Mr. Grant, of Lexington, 
carrying off the palm with over two hundred to 
his credit. For a number of years the pioneers 
of Marlboro were obliged to go long distances 
to procure flour and meal and what few gro- 
ceries they needed, these trips being invariably 
made on horseback and covering a period of 
from two days to a week. In the meantime 
perhaps the family would l)e without bread, 
and it was no uncommon thing for the house- 
hold to be minus the staff of life for weeks at 
a time, especially of winter seasons, when it 
was well nigh impossible to travel through the 
deep forests in the absence of roads. vVikl 
game, however, was plentiful and easily pro- 
cured, but even the choicest of these meals 
would pall upon the appetite, when eaten with- 
out bread or some kind) of vegetables, which too 
frequently were unknown during the seasons 
of extreme hardship. In due time, however, 
mills were erected near at hand, but not in this 
tov\-nship. The lirst grist mill in Marlboro was 
built al)Out 1846 by Pete Barlow & Company. 
It was a two-and-a -half-story structure, about 
forty by sixty feet in area, and for a numlier 
of years was operated day and niglit in order 
to supply the constant demand for its product. 
It was supplied with good machinery, made an 
excellent grade of flour, did both custom and 
merchant work, and was in successful operation 



for about twenty years. Later a second flour- 
ing-mill was started in Marlboro, but being an 
inferior affair, it soon ceased operation for lack 
of patronage. 

As early, perhaps, as the year 181 6 Abra- 
ham Wileman built a sawmill on his farm in 
section 23 which doubtless was the first industry 
of the kind in the township. It stood near a 
small creek, which supplied the motive power, 
and the machinery was of the most primitive 
pattern ; nevertheless it was highly prized by 
the early settlers for many miles around and 
for a number of years furnished them what 
lumber they needed. The second industry of 
this kind was erected a little later by William 
Pennock, and about the year 1825 Benjamin 
Elliott built a sawmill a short distance west 
of the village of Marlboro, both being well pa- 
tronized in their day. 

Exum Johnston, about 1825. or i)erhai)s a 
year or two later, located a small lumlier mill 
one and a half miles northeast of Marlboro, 
which did a profitable business while in opera- 
tion, and about 1830 one Elisha Butler built 
a sawmill on the old Whittaker farm, the grow- 
ing demand for lumber ju.stifying these enter- 
])rises. Another mill for the manufacture of 
lumber was built near Marlboro in the early 
'thirties by Jacob Wirtz, which, like those al- 
ready alluded to, answered well the purposes 
for which intended and no doubt returned the 
proprietor a respectable revenue. Jacob Wood 
owned and operated a mill north of the village 
in an early day. as did also Joseph Taylor .and 
Cliarles Shiron, and a Mr. Keiser engaged in 
the manufacture of lumber a little later in the 
western part of the township. Still later anotlier 
lumber mill was built in the western part by 
a Mr. Eby, \\ho operated it for some years 
with encouraging success, and in 1843 a steam 
mill was built in the town of Marllxiro by All- 
man & Ellison, who did a large and lucrative 
business, the enterprise having been one of the 
largest and most important of the kind in 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



57 



the county at that time. Other lumber mills 
have l5een run from time to time by different 
parties, among the leading being those op- 
erated by Lewis & Waistler, at New Baltimore, 
Pennock & Mason, D. Harmony & Company 
and others, the majority successful in the main 
and creditable to the neighborhood in which 
situated. 

Another industry worthy of note was a 
distillery erected in the western part of the 
township in 1820 by Jacob Nees. It was a 
primitive aft'air, intended to supply a unisersal 
demand which at that time prevailed not only 
in that neighborhood, but throughout the en- 
tire state of Ohio It was supplied with one 
small copper still, and the output amounting to 
ril)out twenty gallons of rather inferior quality 
of whiskey per day, was largely purchased and 
consumed by the people of the locality. After 
twelve years, during certain seasons of which 
it was not in operation, the distillery fell into 
disuse and was abandoned. Later Jacob Hoag 
built a distillery on a more extensive scale than 
the former, its capacity amounting to about one 
Ijarrel of whiskey per day; the less said about 
the quality the better for the reputation of the 
proprietor. It was in operation about ten years, 
then fell into disuse and since its existence ter- 
minated no other attempts have been made to 
manufacture whiskey in the township of Marl- 

I >')VO. 

The history of the village of New Balti- 
more dates from 1831, on August 26th of which 
year it was surveyed by John Whitacre, county 
survev<ir, for Levi Haines, proprietor. The 
original plat, consisting of eighteen lots, lies 
in the west half, northeast quarter of section 
4, but to this several additions have since been 
made. The first merchant was Samuel Hatch- 
er, who engaged in business in 1832, and in ad- 
dition to selling goods, also opened a tavern, 
\\hich appears to have been well patronized 
by the traveling public. Taylor & Warner were 
engaged in general merchandizing for some 



years, as was also Asa Raw son, the latter a 
justice of the peace. Among others were 
Hatcher & Ellison, John Criss, Ellison & Shaw, 
Band & Capple, Jacob Bair and Abner Taylor 
& Son. An a.shery was built in the village about 
1846 by a firm known as Prouty & Company, 
and continued in operation about four years, 
during which time a large quantity of potash 
was manufactured and shipped to the different 
markets of the country. Some time in the late 
'thirties, or early in the 'forties, one Thomas 
Burns began the manufacture of hats at this 
point. He obtained wool from the neighboring 
farmers and is said to have made an excellent 
quality of headgear, but whether or not he 
realized liberal financial rewards from his en- 
terprise is not known. Among the early indus- 
tries of the village was a harness and saddlery 
shop conducted by Benjamin Curstetter, an- 
other being a small foundry, the name of the 
proprietor unknown. A. T. Cole afterwards 
purchased the latter property, and it has been 
in possession of himself and family until the 
present time. There have been manufactured at 
the foundry plowshares, grates and many other 
articles, the enterprise in the main being suc- 
cessful and adding much to the character of the 
place as an important industrial cen- 
ter. Other industries flourished in the vil- 
lage from time to time, a number of reputa- 
ble physicians have practiced their professions 
here, churches and schools have been well sup- 
ported, and the population, though small, has 
always been distinguished for intelligence, 
thrift and high mo'ral character. 

The land upon which the thriving town of 
Marlborough stands was originally owned by 
Moses Pennock, William Pennock, Denny 
Johnson and Samuel Ellison. In November, 
1827, these gentlemen secured the services of 
a surveyor who laid out the original plat, con- 
sisting of twenty-four lots, six of which were 
on the land of each proprietor, an open space 
1)eing left for a public square. A number of ad- 



58 



OLD LANDMARKS 



(litions li<n\e been matle t<i this ])lat, the village 
now ir.clu<liii!4" about two hundred and lifty lots. 

\\ illi;'.ni Pennock's residence, erected before 
the \illage was i)latted, was the first biu'lding; 
on the present town site, the second being that 
of William Paxon ; William Gruel built the 
third, and the improvements of Israel White 
and James Shinn were, perhaps, the fourth and 
fifth. The first store, opened by Mr. Paxon 
with a general stock of goods, representing a 
capital of about fifteen hundred dollars, was 
well patronized and he continued business eight 
or ten years with marked success. About the 
year 1834 a second store was started by Caleb 
.\twater. who a little later sold out to James 
Shinn, by whom the establishment was con- 
ducted until 1S44. when financial reverses 
forced him out of business. 

The first industry of any importance in 
Marlborough was a foundry built in 1850 by 
.\mos Walton & Company. The structure was 
frame, the main part two stories high, thirty 
by fifty feet in rear, with several additional 
moulding rooms, and the whole supplied with 
the best machinery and appliances at that time 
])rocurable. The company made a specialty of 
steam engines, to be used in saw and grist- 
mills, turning out during the first few years 
twelve or fifteen a year, the demand for this 
product far exceeding the supply. The enter- 
])rise was conducted with encouraging success 
for about eight or ten years, the engines being 
shipped to all parts of Ohio, also to other states. 

A second foundry for the manufacture of 
engines was started about 1855 by Mitchener 
& Dntton. l)ul after running one year was de- 
stroyed by fire and never rebuilt. Prior to 
i860 the Doering brothers erected a wooden- 
ware factory, which was in operation three or 
four years, the ])rinci])al outjjut being shovel 
liandles. fork handles, hoe handles and 
like articles, large (|uanties of which were 
made and sliipi^ed to the different i};iar- 
kets. A. C. Sti\cr. aljout the vear 



1871, engaged in the manufacturing of 
carriages, building a factory which turned out 
as high as one hundred vehicles a year. The 
business lasted for some time, but by reason 
of too much competition was finally discontin- 
ued and the building devoted to other purposes. 
One of the earliest of Marlborough's industrial 
enterprises, an establishment for the carding 
of wool and cloth pressing, was started by 
Moses Pennock shortly after the platting of 
the town, and continued !))• him for about 
twenty-four years, when it was purchased by 
Peter and George Wise, who in turn disposed 
of it to Eli Hoo\er. The last named proprie- 
tor, after operating it a short time at a loss, 
discontinued the business, and no attemi)t was 
ever made to revi\e it. George Beggs built 
a distillery near the town a mimber of years 
ago. and for some time manufactured grape 
w'ine and apple jack, which gained a high re))- 
utation. 

In 1874 Barley. Taylor & Crocker began a 
general fruit-packing business in Marlborou.gh, 
which rapidly grew into an enterprise of large 
and far-reaching magnitude. Two thousand 
and four hunrlred cans were packed the first 
year, but within a comparatively short time 
this number increased to an annual out])ut of 
o\er two hundred and fifty thousand, in addi- 
tion to wliich the com])an_v also canned maple 
syrup in large <|uantities during tlie spring sea- 
sons. A branch canner\- was subsequently es- 
tablished at New Baltimore, and also one at 
Timaville. 

It is generall\- conceded that the first school 
in this town,^li.ip was taught in the Quaker set- 
tlement, west of the village of Marlborough, but 
at what date is not kn<jw^n. though it must have 
been as early as 1820. The building in which 
this and subse(|uent terms were taught was a 
rude log structure, which disap])eared alx^ut 
the year i8_'^i. Another earlv school building 
stood about a i|uarter mile south of Baltimore, 
and a third in the southeast corner of the town- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



59 



ship. Schools were also taught in jjrivate 
dwellings, all by subscription, and a number 
of years elapsed before a general system of pub- 
lic education was adopted and good buildings 
erected in the different districts. The first 
school in the town of Marlborough was taught 
about 1832 in a building used for the two-fold 
purpose of education and religious worship. 
Later this house was replaced b\' a frame build- 
ing, which in due course of time was aban- 
tloned and a large, low frame structure built. 
About fifty-eight years ago a select school or 
seminary was started in the \iilage. by William 
McClain. who with two or three assistants con- 
ducted the institution for a miml)er of years 
with a large measure of success. Levi llains 
was one of the first teachers in the village, 
Init liy reason of illness he did not finish the 
term, being succeeded by Mrs. Emily Roseter. 
Excellent schools are now maintained thrnugh- 
out the township, and a system of grading db- 
tains, which has made the educational system 
of Marlborough one of the best in the county. 
The pioneers of Marlboro tciwnship 
were a religions people and churches of dift'er- 
ent names and orders were estal)lished in differ- 
ent parts of the country in an early day. The 
Society of Friends built a house of worship 
east of Marlborough prior to 1820. a log struc- 
ture in which the congregation continued to 
assemble at regular intervals until aliout the 
year 1840, when by reason of the division of the 
church into the Orthodox and Hicksite 
branches, the local society decided to separate. 
Phis action delayed for a luimber of rears 
the erection of a new liouse of worship, but a 
substantial structure was finallv built. Soon 
after the Otiakers' first church was built, the 
(iernian Lutheran and ( lermau Reformers 
erected a log structure to which they gave the 
name of St. Peter's church, and which was used 
by the two denominations until about the year 
1876, when another edifice was constructed. 
Prior to 1845 '"-^^^ Methodists held jjublic wor- 



ship in school houses and private dwellings, 
but in or about that year they built a neat 
temple of worship in Marllwrough. The Chris- 
tians or Disciples' ciiurch. in the town, was 
erected at a later date, and the L'nited Brethren 
many years ago organized a society and built 
a house in the southern part of the township, 
known as the "Chapel."' The township has 
lieen well supplied with churches since the ear- 
liest settlement, and today a number of de- 
nominations are re]iresented, all in llourishing 
condition, with creditable houses of worship. 



BETHLEHEM TOWNSHH'. 

The Indian cajjital of Tuscarawas at tlie 
old Lidian crossing place, above b'ort Laurens, 
the ])ost mission, and Calhoun's trading house, 
have already been described and their history 
given as far as known, in other articles, and 
need not here be repeated. Those places were 
all located at and near the mouth of Sandy, 
and included in the original boundaries of 
Bethlehem township. 

Richard Carter, a Quaker briend. and 
Joshua Comly, a brother-in-law of Carter, set- 
tled at the mouth of Sandy at an early day. 
Elizabeth Hines, whose maiden name was Zins- 
ser, stated in later years that the Musser family 
came to Laurenville, opposite to Fort Laurens, 
in 1807, and that Richard Carter was then liv- 
ing at the mouth of Sandy. Carter was a 
bachelor, and his two sisters, Sally and Maria 
Carter, two pleasant young ladies, kept house 
for him. A trading house had been built upon 
the ground previously occupied by ?klr. Post's 
mission, liy John i'"leming, a nuilatto from 
Canada, and a man named Armstrong, who had 
been captured when he was but fourteen years 
of age by the Indians, and grew up to man- 
hood among them, ac(|uiring their tastes, habits 
and modes of life. His father found him and 



6o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tried to pir'suade him to return with him to 
his home m western Pennsylvania, hut it was 
in vain, his nature having been entirely recast 
in the Indian mould. He said he would not 
work, and returned to the Indians. Richard 
Carter got possession of the trading house after 
Fleming left and kept up a brisk trade with tlie 
Indians. The friendly treatment of W'illiam 
Penn and his Quaker friends had so far won 
the confidence of the Indian tribes generally 
that they \vere classed as a distinct race. 
Beaver Plat said, "When an Irishman fills my 
powder horn he fills it about half full ; an Amer- 
ican fills it a little higher ; but a Quaker fills it 
up full." The same generous and Christian 
treatment would have secured the same confi- 
dence to the Irishman and the Amer- 
ican. But the country has reaped the 
harvest of a bad seeding with the In- 
dians. Richard Carter went to \Vheel- 
ing for supplies and left Elizabeth Cline 
(then Musser), aged fifteen, and her brother 
in charge of the trading house. The young- 
fellow was fond of the hunt and left his sister 
two days alone with the Indians. She said she 
was not afraid unless they got fire w-ater, but 
an Indian came along who was on. a "bust," 
took a butcher knife, cut the string of the win- 
dow shutter and proceeded to throw out the 
furs and skins, and completely emptied the post. 
Mrs. Cline knew there was no use to oppose 
him, but a squaw came along and persuaded 
the Indian away, and returned and put things 
to rights. 

Mrs. Comly, the wife of Joshua Comly, 
took the fever at the mouth of Sandy and died. 
She left her heart-stricken husband with the 
care of four .small children. This was perhaps 
the first death among the settlers. Mrs. Comly 
was buried on the Stump farm. Mrs. Elizabeth 
Cline (then Musser") kept house for Mr. Comly 
imtil he was able to make further provisions. 

The great flood of 181.5 is still remembered. 
It took place in the month of June. Varter's 



house stood by the house of John P. Bordner. 
A canoe had been tied at the bank of the river 
and the water had risen during the night so a~ 
to leave only the untied end of the canoe upon 
the surface. Abraham Vant and his father, 
Philip Yant, managed, by swimming and div- 
ing, to untie the canoe and run it on the porch 
of the house. The inmates had retreated to the 
second story and they were carried out and 
taken to another house until the flood abated. 
Richard Carter owned over five hundred acres 
of land and traded the land to George Brant- 
ingham, another Quaker friend from England, 
for city property in Philadelphia, Pennsylva- 
nia, and removed there about 18 16. 

The village of Bethlehem was laid out by 
Jonathan \\'. Condy in 1806. Mr. Condy and 
Alartin Brinton. a brother-in-law, were lawyers 
from the city of Philadelphia. They located 
large tracts of land in Bethlehem township. 
Mr. Condy was accompanied by the Rev. Rich- 
ard S. Goe. Religiously they had embraced the 
tenets of Emanuel Swedenhorg. Their project 
was to establish a religious society, moulded 
after the Moravian Society at Bethlehem, Penn- 
sylvania, after which the town was named. Mr. 
Condy w^as a man of enterprise and integrity : 
he built a sawmill on the stream east of the vil- 
lage, and contracted the building of a grist 
mill ; the latter, however, was abandoned. He 
erected a store house on the northwest corner 
of Market and Second street, which was oc- 
cupied by James Clingle. This was the first 
dry-goods store in the village. It was after- 
wards occupied by Mr. Goe as a store, and was 
torn down many years since. For various rea- 
sons Mr. Condy's expectations were not real- 
ized. He returned to Philadelphia until after 
the location of the Ohio canal, when he came 
to see his landed interests. On riding across 
a corduroy bridge, his horse w^as attacked by 
a yellow. jacket and became frantic, throwing 
Mr. Condy. breaking his left shoulder and oth- 
erwise seriously injuring him. From these in- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



6i 



juries he died a short time afterward and was 
buried in August, 1827. 

Prior to 1815 Bethlehem and Pike were in- 
ckided in Canton township, but in 181 5 and 
1816 Pii<e and Bethlehem held elections jointly, 
as elsewhere referred to in the sketch on Pike. 
Bethlehem township was incorporated on 
the I2th of December, 1816, and an election 
held in April. 1817. Baltzer Koonts was the 
first justice of the peace. The first couple mar- 
ried in the township was Aquila Carr and his 
w'ife Nelly, whose maiden name is forgotten, 
the ceremony being performed by 'Squire 
Koonts. Adam Grounds, the father of Jacob 
Grounds, came to Bethlehem in 1806 or 1807. 
The first three barrels of salt were brought 
into the township by Mr. Carr, who brought it 
up the Cuyahoga river in a canoe, hauled the 
canoe across the portage south of Akron to the 
Tuscarawas, and floated it down to Bethlehem. 
He sold one barrel to Godfrey Huff at the 
mouth of Oneley creek. Mr. Grounds got one 
barrel, and the other he secreted in the 
woods to keep the Indians from finding it. 
The salt was sold at twenty-fi\-e dollars per 
barrel. Init Mr. Carr said he would haul no 
more at that price. 

Jacob Grounds taught the first school at 
Bethleliem, and was clerk of the first election 
held at Canton. James Gafif made the ballot 
box, for which he i"eceived fifty cents. 

The first public house for entertainment 
was kept by Jolm Shalter, on the southwest cor- 
ner of Market and Third streets. The first en- 
tries of land were made by Brinton and Condy, 
Richard Carter, Nicholas Stump, Ebenezer All- 
man, Harman Vandorston, Mathia.s Shepler, 
Charles Linerode and others. 

After the location of the Ohio canal, Na- 
varre was laid out by James Duncan. Raffens- 
perger and Chapman afterwards laid out Roch- 
ester. These three villages have since been in- 
corporated under the name of Navarre. It be- 
came a place of immense trade in wheat and 



dry goods. The principal merchants were Dan- 
iel and Harman Alman, Hill & Company, John 
Chapman & Rafifensperger, Charles Poe & 
Company, Wirt & Burgent. The lead- 
ing export was wheat, which, before the 
opening of the Ohio canal, did not bring thirty 
cents in cash. For some years this sudden im- 
pulse of trade went on in a torrent, results quite 
satisfactory Avere realized, and handsome for- 
tunes made. Its infiuence upon the country 
was seen and felt in the enhanced value of real 
estate, the taste of buildings and all kinds of 
improvements. This season of prosperity was 
followed by the stringency and reverses of 1837 
to 1840. Fortunes that had been gathered in the 
years of prosperity were more quickly swept 
away. And the failures in the mercantile cir- 
cles were as common then as at the present. 
Trade, like the ocean, seems to be the subject 
to ebbs and flows. Much of the money made 
in wheat raising remained in the hands of the 
purchaser. All the original firms largely en- 
gaged in the produce trade failed, but the farm- 
ers did not. They jogged on, slowly and more 
surely, some wiser than before. Every genera- 
tion learns this truth : that dealing in large sums 
begets recklessness and extravagance. Quickly 
made is quickly spent. 

Soon after Navarre was laid out. James 
Duncan built a mill and connected with it a 
store. The Ohio canal supplied the water pow- 
er, procured from the state. The mill did a 
prosperous business and was a great advantage 
to the place and surrounding country. Soon 
after Rochester was laid out. James Sproul 
built a steam mill. 

Among the early settlers none were more 
conspicuous than Mathias Shepler, Nicolas 
Stump and Ebenezer Allman. Mr. Shepler was 
born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, 
November 11, 1790. His first wife was Eliz- 
abeth Retan. He came to Bethlehem township 
in an early day, was for many years a justice 
of the peace, and several times a member of the 



62 



OLD LANDMARKS 



legislature, both tiie iioiise and senate, serxed 
one term in congress and tilled various minor 
offices, in all of which stations he retained the 
confidence of the people as a moral, upriglit 
man. and faithfully discharged the various du- 
ties assigned him. Mr. Shepler was married 
three times; his first wife died while yet young. 
He was then married to Elizabeth Bechtel, who 
died in 1837. His last marriage was with Sarah 
Linerade. the widow of Otho Linerade. and 
daughter of John Sherman. Mr. Shepler died 
in April, 1863, a member of the United Breth- 
ren church, and his remains were interred in 
the Sheplar burying ground, on the farm 
where he formerly resided. 

Nicholas and Frederick Stump came from 
Chambersburg, l-'ranklin C()unty, Pennsylvania, 
in 1808. Most of the goods belonging to Nich- 
olas were lost crossing the Nimishillen. Fred- 
erick Stump settled in Perry township, on the 
farm later occupied by his son, Levi Stump. 
Nicholas Stump settled on the northwest quar- 
ter of section 10, later owned by Henry Myers. 
Nicholas Stump was elected se\eral terms to 
the office of county commissioner. 

Ebenezer Allman came from Bentleysville, 
Washington county, Pennsylvania, in i860. 
His sons, George and William, were out a year 
previous; they settled on the northeast quarter 
of section 4, later occupied by Mrs. Eve All- 
man, a daughter of Frederick Stump and the 
widow of Barney Allman. Carroll Allman was 
killed by the falling of a tree, in his seven- 
teenth year, and was the first death in the fam- 
ily. Jane was married to George Klingle, the 
first dry goods merchant in Bethlehem ; Sarah, 
another daughter, was married to Jerry Stuts. 
The family consisted of seven sons and two 
daughters. Ebenezer Allman died in 1828, 
aged sixty-four: Agnes, bis wife, died in i83(), 
aged sixty-six. 

The first house of worship in the town- 
ship was the German Entheran log church in 
the northeast part of the village. This was 



built al)Out 1810. Jacob Grounds was appoint- 
ed in putting up the building. The next was 
the Salem church, known as the Sherman 
church, built and occupied jointly by the Lu- 
theran and (Jcrman Reformed tlenominations. 
Rev. iAnthony W'ezer, of Canton, was the Lu- 
theran pastor of both these churches. Rev. 
Benjamin Foust was the pastor of the German 
[Reformed society. Salem church was built in 
1 81 8. Rev. Wezer served the congregation for 
many years. Eventually the house, a large 
two-story log building, was sold and torn down. 
The Lutherans built a neat frame church in 
1 87 1. Previous to the building of Salem church. 
Mr. W'ezer held religious services at the house 
of John Sherman, who donated the ground 
for the church and the burying ground. L'pon 
one of these occasions the writer, then a five- 
year-old, attended with his parents, mixing in 
the crowd. After the services he was separa- 
ted from his mother and ran around crying. 
Mary Bachtel, then a young lady, afterward 
the AVidow Grove, spoke quite soothingly \.o 
him. took him l)y the hand, and found his 
mother. This was a trivial circumstance, \et 
a real act of kindness I shall ne\er forget. 

The first Methodist society was organized 
by Rev. Walter Athey and Curtiss Goddard. at 
the bouse of Ebenezer Allman in 181 5. Mr. 
Allman was leader of the class. The members 
of the society were Ebenezer .\llman. Agnes 
Allman, Abraham and Mary Phillips, Mrs. 
Elizabeth Sheplar, wife of Mathias Sheplar, 
Samuel and Sophia Miller, Captain John and 
Ellen Brown. John Alexander and Henr\- Co- 
der. Regular preaching was continued at the 
house of Mr. .oilman until 1835. when the 
church was built in Bethlehem. John Brown 
was not satisfied as a member of the Methodist 
church, and in after years he connecetd him- 
self with the Catholics, and died in that faith. 
He is Ijuried in the Catholic burying ground at 
Navarre. 

Abraham 'N'ant came from Alleghenv coun- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



63 



ty, Pennsylvania, to Betlilehem township in 
the fall of 1812. He stopped at the house of 
Nicholas Stump, who went w'ith him and 
showed him the northeast and southeast quar- 
ters of section 24, then vacant. He went to 
Steuhenville and located the one quarter, re- 
turned to his home, seven miles from Pittsburg, 
near the Monongahela river, worked at the 
shoe bench until the spring of 1814, when he 
came out and located the other quarter. He 
built a shant}', or camp, of butternut poles, 
stayed three months, and cleared a held, plant- 
ing it in garden vegetables, corn and potatoes. 
While at work in the wild woods his supplies 
of bread were procured from the settlers, the 
wild turkey supplied him w'ith eggs, and his 
rifle abundantly supplied him with venison and 
turkey. He returned in July and started for 
his new home about the first of September, ar- 
ri\ing at the cabin cm the 19th of September, 
] 8 1 4. 

The family consisted of Philip Yant, Sr., 
Philip Yant, Jr., Abraham and Catherine Yant 
and Abraham's three children, Anthony, Mag- 
dalene and a baby sixteen months old. The 
moving party were on the road two weeks 
with wagon anil horses. The sea.son was re- 
markably wet. The little hut, which had a fire 
l)lace in the projecting corner, contained room 
for kitchen purpo.ses, a bed, and the dear old 
"trundle bed." The rest of the family slept 
in the covered wagon. A cabin house was soon 
jnit up with the log-fire chimney, puncheon floor 
and clapboard roof. The farm in its natural 
state was heavily timbered with oak trees of 
immense size on the hill slopes and the bottoms 
were covered with sugar maple, beech and hick- 
ory. It was hard labor and a slow process 
to clear up a farm, but by perseverance, work- 
ing late and early, an eight or ten-?cre field 
was added to the opening. Labor w^is clieap 
and the best of choppers could be hired for 
eight or ten dollars per month. 

The sugar season afforded the greatest en- 



joyment and the hardest labor of any part of 
the year. While camping out and running the 
sugar camp, day and night was full of fun and 
excitement, through slush, snow and rain. The 
exposure was not considered dangerous. Half 
a dozen different camps within a neighboring 
distance of each other afforded a vast amount of 
social enjoyment for the young folks. The log 
cabin pioneers, with all their hardships and 
simple, rough fare, were more healthy and en- 
joyed social life to a greater degree than falls 
to the lot of their refined and weakly descend- 
ants. 

Abraham Yant became a minister of the 
German Baptist denomination. The last few 
years of his life were spent in the gospel min- 
istry. He died in January, 1842, aged si.xty- 
one years, while his widow, Catherine Yant, 
survived him many years. 

Game was abundant, deer being so numer- 
ous that they were hardly ever out of sight for 
a da}'. Bears were not so plenty, but they were 
frec|uently met with. On one occasion John 
Swank \\e<:t through the woods to George 
Kuhn"s, and on the way treed four cub bears 
on a dogwood sapling. He made strings of 
some tow he bad in his pOcket, climbed the 
sapling and secured the cubs by tying two to- 
gether. \Vben lie came to the ground the noi.se 
of the cubs attracted the mother, whij rushed 
at him with her jaws wide open. He droppeil 
the cubs on the side of a large fallen tree and 
jum])ed upon it. The bear came up on the op- 
[josite side, but did not attack him. He broke 
off a dead limb and frightened her off, and 
after following her a short distance, he re- 
turned and caught the cubs, made his escape 
and brought them Jiome. Swank ])arted with 
two of the cubs and kept two. They grew 
finely : the bears and a pet pig slept in the shel- 
ter of a hollow sycamore that had been sawed 
oft' and placed for the purpose. One rainy 
night, after washing day, when a grapevine full 
of clothes had been left out. the bears put their 



64 



OLD LANDMARKS 



natural instinct to work, and, taking llie ck:)thes, 
proceeded to the woods and climbed a large 
red-oak tree, the top of wliich parted into three 
branches, where they made a nest of clothes 
and laid snugly down. After many conjectures 
and a protracted search, the white clothes were 
seen and soon the whole mystery was solved. 
The question was, how to get the clothes. This 
could only be done by chopping the tree. \Vhen 
the bears became sensible of the situation, they 
coolly ran out on a limb, rolled up in a ball, 
dropped to the ground and scampered off home. 
They afforded abundance of amusement, and in 
our evening visits they would \vaylay us in the 
dark; in the chase the hindmost was sure to be 
caught by the foot in the paws of the bears; 
fright and screams availed nothing, but we 
were never hurt. Abraham Kant had a large 
strong, active greyhound, whose name was 
Beaver. Swank's children came on an evening 
visit, one of the bears accompanying them. 
Beaver was frantic with rage at the bear, but 
would not take hold of him. The bear took up 
a tall sugar tree, sat among its branches and 
growled. When the children left he came down 
and took to the fence, and the dog followed, 
making a fearful noise and threatening mortal 
combat, but would not come in leach of the 
bear's paws. 

George Brantingham, a Quaker b'riencl, his 
wife Phcebe, and Sarah Bolton, an unmarried 
sister of Mrs. Brantingham, with four chil- 
dren, came to the mouth of Sandy in the spring 
of 1816. Mr. Brantingham traded city prop- 
erty in Philadelphia to Richard Carter for a 
tract of land, and settled upon it. The Brant- 
ingham children were Joseph, Hannah, George 
and Sarah. The children, like their father. 
were full of life, and soon exchanged their city 
ways for the more free and active enjoyments 
of the backwoods. The Yant and Brantingham 
families became much attached to each other, 
and were life-long friends, notwithstanding 
their different relis'ious views. When Abraham 



Yant would kneel m family prayer, George 
Brantingham would sit in reverence, with his 
iiat on, and worship God in spirit. 

In 1819 Mr. Brantingham laid out the town 
of Calcutta, had a sale of lots, and Ixiilt a ware- 
house on the bank of the river. Several flat 
bottom boats were loaded here for the southern 
trade, the cargoes consisting of flour, whiskey, 
bacon and pottery ware, the latter being manu- 
factured at Canton. A store was also estab- 
lished and continued for several years by Fred- 
erick C. Phersich, a German. 

Calcutta was considered the head of navi- 
gation on the Tuscarawas. The river, except 
at a high stage of water, proved to be unsafe 
and a number of shipwrecks, w'ith loss of 
cargo, put an end to the New Orleans trade 
upon the Tuscarawas. The last flat boat that 
passed down the river was about 1822, or a year 
later. As the leading idea of building up a 
town of some conmiercial importance was di- 
rectly connected with this trade, the prospects 
of the future city of Calcutta were abandoned 
with it and the town plat was vacated. 

Thomas and Charity Rotch from Kendall. 
Stark county, frequently stopped at Branting- 
ham's on their visit to the Zoarites, in whose 
welfare they interested themselves great!}'. 
George Brantingham accompanied Thomas 
Rotch to a yearly meeting at ^It. Pleasant. Jef- 
ferson county. Ohio, during which ?ilr. Rc^ich 
took sick and died, and was buried at the Short 
Creek Quaker burying ground. Charity Rotch 
and her husband. Thomas Rotch, were with 
out children. Charity, with the true spirit of 
Christian benevolence and charity, founded the 
Charity Rotch School. She requested Syl- 
vanus Buckius, a tinner, to make a "roach" (a 
fish) to be placed upon the building as a wane, 
so that the name should not be forgotten. There 
was but little need of this, as the "name of the 
righteous shall bean everlasting remembrance." 
The remains of Charity Rotch rest in the old 
burying ground at Kendall, and many a poor 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



65 



orphan lias stood by her humble grave and 
I called her "blessed." 

The want of religious society of their own 
faith rendering the farther stay of the Brant- 
ingham family at the mouth of Sandy unde- 
sirable, the tract of land owned by Mr. Brant- 
ingham was subdivided and sold. The neigh- 
bors tried to reconcile him to stay, stating as 
a reason the fertility of the land, to which he 
replied, "If we live for hog and hominy we need 
not leave, but if we live for something better, we 
had better go." This striking declaration of 
the choice of a good man contains an important 
admonition. There are many, vast numbers, 
. indeed, w ho live only for "hog and hominy." 
Esau lived for hog and hominy, or he would 
not have sold his birthright. Lot was governed 
liy hog and hominy, or he would not have 
pitched his tent toward Sodom. 

In 1 82 1 the Brantingham family removed 
to the vicinity of Salem, Ohio, where George 
Brantingham, Sr., died in 1845, ^.ged seventy- 
five years. Phoebe Brantingham, his wife, died 
in llie spring of 1853, in her eightieth year. 
Sarah Bolton died in the winter of 1864, aged 
eighty-six. Joseph died of cholera in 1833, on 
his way to Minnesota. Captain White lived on 
the Brantingham land, on the east side of Sandy. 
The three boys, Alfred, David N. Whte and 
James White, were schoolmates at Laurens- 
ville. James and Albert lived on farms in Por- 
tage county, Ohio, and learned the printing 
business with John Saxton at Canton. He 
afterwards worked in the office of the Pitts- 
burg Gazettte and liecame its proprietor and 
was also a member of the Pennsylvania legis- 
lature. 



PARIS TOWNSHIP. 



Hy Lew Slusser. 



The man most prominently identified with 

the settlement of Paris township was Rudolph 

4 



Bair. He was born in York county, Pennsyl- 
\-ania, and when grown removed to Colum- 
biana county, then a part of Jefferson, and when 
Ohio was yet a territory. At the call for a con- 
vention in 1802 to frame the state constitution, 
Bair was chosen as one of the delegates. The 
convention completed the work for which they 
had assembled in twenty-nine days, an example 
of industry and faithfulness contrasted with 
the' disposition of many of our officials at the 
present day. Bair was a member of the first 
legislature after the adoption of the constitu- 
tion, which met in Chillicothe on March 8, 
1803. Rudolph Bair, Sr., generally called 
"Rudy" Bair, was a man of more than ordinary 
ability. Though his education was limited, his 
natural Endowments were above the average. 
He had a liberal share of good, common sense, 
a qualification not acquired at college. Such 
confidence had the community in his judgment 
and disposition to do right between man and 
man, that he was a very general referee to set- 
tle questions of difference, and from his deci- 
sion no appeal was taken. He was a member of 
the German Reformed church, and his daily 
life was consistent with his religious profes- 
sions. Though known as a farmer, his busi- 
ness was more particularly that of a land specu- 
lator. To accommodate emigrants of limited 
means he often sold land on lung-time pay- 
ments, and though these were not always met 
when due, he was never known to oppress a 
delinquent. Rudolph Bair died in 1820, and 
is buried in the ground he gave to the town 
of Paris for a cemetery. The walnut slab 
erected to mark his grave has long since gone to 
flecay, and there is now nothing by which a 
stranger could identify the place where he was 
buried. The citizens of Paris, of which vil- 
lage he was a founder, owe it to themselves to 
erect a suitable monument over his resting 
place. 

In the summer of 1806 Rudolph Bair and 
his brother Christopher made a trip on horse- 



66 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Ixick through the eastern porlioii of Stark 
county, witli the view of selecting land to en- 
ter. They contiiietl their explorations along 
each side of what was later known as the State 
road, at that time a mere bridle path. They 
selected a number of quarter sections in Paris 
and Osnaburg townships, which they entered 
in the land ofike at Steubenville. Among the 
number was the south half of section 5. On 
this place Rudolph Bair, Jr., settled in the fall 
of the same year. He built a log cabin, into 
^\•l^ich he moved with all his household goods 
before the floor was laid or the doors hung. 
As a substitute for the latter, a quilt was sus- 
pended from wooden pins. In this rude 
shanty the wife was left alone with her young 
babe several days and nights while her hus- 
Ijand returned to C(jlumbiana for supplies. 
There were Indians camped on the creek a short 
distance below, where the State road crossed 
the creek, but there was no white person nearer 
than Osnaburg. five miles distant. At night 
the wolves came howling around the cabin and 
in order to frighten them ofif Mrs. Bair would 
throw out chunks of lire, which had the effect 
to keep the wolves at a respectable distance. 

In 1808 George Thoman, of Bucks county, 
Pennsylvania, obtained a patent for the north- 
western quarter of section 19, upon which 
he settled the same year. Hife son Jacob, who 
now owns the place, was drafted in the war of 
1 81 2 and sent to Detroit. While there there 
was a call fur \oIunteers to go on a perilous ex- 
pedition to Mackinaw, and he was among the 
first to offer his services. He assisted in build- 
ing the fort at that place, and was with the 
English forces in an engagement August 14, 
1814, under Colonel Colgrove. His immediate 
commander was Major Roller, of Columl)iana 
county. 

In i8o8-() Thomas Deweese, Jasper Daniels. 
John Byers and John Augustine settled in the 
township. The latter was a prominent citizen, 
well known over the county. Deweese opened 



a farm on section 16 and lived there a number 
of years. His son Daniel has freciuently told 
of going to Slusser's mill, on Nimi.shillen creek, 
with a bushel of corn on a bull, and to Yellow 
creek lor a bushel of salt, for which he paid 
eight dollars This same son was drafted in 
the war of 181 2. Thomas Deweese, Jr., w-as 
born in the township in b'ebruary, 1808. The 
cabin in y hich the family then lived was not 
chinked, nor had it any floor except the native 
earth. 

In the spring of 181 1 Conrad Henning, or- 
iginally from Liuicaster, but subsequently from 
Beaver county, Pennsylvania, settled in the 
township. He purchased of Rudy Bair one 
hundred acres of the southwest quarter of sec- 
tion 4, for two hundred dollars. He was the 
first blacksmith, and for several years did all 
the work for the settlers, at the same time open- 
ing up a farm. Mrs. Henning having proxen 
herself efficient in assisting married women 
upon interesting occasions, was constrained to 
take upon herself the duties of a midwife, and 
it is related that she was remarkably successful, 
as she liad. in a practice of thirty-five years, at- 
tended between fi\e and six hundred cases, 
without e\xr calling assistance or having a 
death. 

The first school in the township was opened 
in the winter of 1810-11. in the dwelling of 
Jasper Daniels, father-in-law of Thomas De- 
weese, the teacher. The second school was 
taught by Conrad Henning. in a building ex- 
pressly erected for the purpose, (^n section 4. 
and the first of the kind in the townshi]). It 
was a log structure, with a clapbf«ird r(M>f, the 
ground only ])arliall\" covered with slabs. There 
was no chimney, but for comfort a fire was 
built in one corner and the smoke allowed to 
esca])e through the crevices. Holes were cut 
for windows, and these covered with greasted 
paper, a common substitute for glass. The first 
marriage in the township was John Bair to 
Catherine Henning. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



67 



.\niong' iither eaii_\- settlers may be men- 
tioned Peter Musser, a notorious fighter, Za- 
<;l(jck and John Welker, John and Wilham Mc- 
Jnderfer, Adam Shall, John Thomas, Fulton 
and Scovey, who were brothers-in-law ; Mi- 
cliael Stonehill. George Crowl, Daniel Shively, 
Samuel Neidig, John Cameron, Vance, Pipher, 
Wickart and Jacob Hayman, of whom the story 
is told, that returning home from a "raising," 
he came across a 1)ear that had been wounded 
bv a rifle shot. Armed with an axe, and his 
courage stimulated with whiskey he had drank 
at the raising, he concluded to have a bear as 
a trophy for his wife. Advancing upon him 
with the axe uplifted, intending to cleave the 
skull, his arm was unsteady and the blow in- 
effectual. The bear grappled him, and before 
he C(juld extricate himself, he was severely 
wounded. He concluded to play quits, and 
left the bear to depart in peace. 

The first sawmill in the township was built 
by Rudy Bair in 1812, one-half miles south- 
west of Paris, on Black creek, so named from 
the dark appearance of the water, caused by 
the swamp in which it rose. The mill was. de- 
stroyed by fire, but was rebuilt and afterward 
abandoned. The first grist-mill was erected 
by the same party two years later on the same 
stream about a mile up. It was a two- 
story frame, with two runs of stone. 
On the death of. Bair, the mill passed 
intii the possession of of his son, Daniel, 
and at his death to Benjamin Roop, and 
from him to John P. Myers. The water supply 
failing, this mill was abandoned, and a steam 
mill erected near by. A few years afterward, 
Myers sold the mill to Greiner, who removed 
it to Strasburg. 

A town site was located on the northeast 
quarter of section 8 by Rudy Bair, December 
2 J, 181 3. Tn casting around for a name he 
concluded to call it Paris, as at that time the 
city of Paris. France, was considered the me- 
tropcilis of the world. The town was surveved 



by Daniel L. ^IcClure, July i, 1816, and re- 
corded in the clerk's office September 10 fol- 
lowing. Bair donated two acres of the ground 
to the German Reformed and Lutheran con- 
gregations for church and burial purposes. 
Upon this lot a log building was soon erected 
and used both as a school house and church. 
Among the ministers who preached there were 
Rev. Mahnesmith and Hewett. They were itin- 
erants. The first regular preaching was by 
Wier and Foust from Canton. John Augustine 
taught the first school in the building. The 
first funeral was a child of Robert Stewart. 

The town's location on the State road, at 
that time and for many years afterward, the 
main thoroughfare of travel, gave it consider- 
able prominence. John L'nkefer kept the 
particular ta\'ern, and as he belonged to the 
bonvivant class of landlords and could spin a 
good yarn and furnish a square meal, it gave 
his house and the town a widespread reputa- 
tion. The stages that ran that road changed 
horses and the passengers took their meals 
there which contributed to give it greater no- 
toriety abroad. They had likewise an organ- 
ized military company, and were out at all gen- 
eral musters. They w^ere much praised for 
their fine appearance and excellent discipline. 
John Unkefer was captain, David Unkefer, 
lieutenant, and John Henning, ensign. The 
musicians were Peter Myers, drummer, and 
Samuel Unkefer, fifer. The fir.st village black- 
smith was Michael Keiselman. 

The first store in Paris was opened In* Sam- 
uel Putman. His stock of merchandise was 
quite limited, but the wants of the people of that 
dav were confined to a few necessaries of 
life, as they had not the means to indulge in 
luxuries, had they been attainable. Putman 
sold his stock and good will to Albert Alexan- 
der. Daniel Burgert soon after engaged in the 
Ijusiness and carried on a large trade, dealing 
extensively in horses and cattle. About 1838, 
l'n\in£r business in Steuben\ille, he started for 



68 



OLD LANDMARKS 



that place on horseback. The following morn- 
ing he was found dead in a saw-mill race in 
Jefferson county. The supposition of some 
was that during the night, which was very dark, 
he had mistaken the mill for the bridge and was 
killed in falling off. By others it was believed 
he was robbed and murdered, as it was known 
he frequently carried large sums of money on 
his person. The nxystery was never solved. A 
postoffice was established in the town August 
12, 1822, and Daniel Burget was the first post- 
master appointed. 

The townsb.ip of Paris was organized April 
I. 1S18. At a meeting of the county commis- 
sioners (John Sluss, \Villiam Alban and John 
Saxton) on that day, it was entered as a part of 
their proceedings that "Rudolph Bair presented 
a petition for tlie incorporation of a new town- 
ship by the name of 'Paris,' now a part of Os- 
naburgh, signed by himself and others, and that 
the election of township officers be held on the 
nth inst., at the town of Paris, in said town- 
ship." 

Previous to this time citizens of the town- 
ship Aoted at Osnaburgh. as they were under 
the jurisdiction of that township. At the first 
election Thomas Deweese and Samuel Bosse- 
man were elected justices. Deweese declined 
serving, but Bosseman accepted his commis- 
sion with some distrust of his ability to 
discharge the duties. His first case so "ferhud- 
dled" him he refused to act and threw up his 
commission. As no one could be found willing 
to accept the office. Daniel Burget, a resident 
of Osnaburgh township, agreed to move to 
Paris on condition they would elect him, which 
agreement was complied with. As the early 
records of the township are lost, it is impossi- 
ble to ascertain who the other officers were. 

A very singular circumstance occurred in 
the township many years ago, that should be 
mentioned. Mr. Carr and wife, of Wayne 
county, were traveling in a one-horse buggy 
east, on the State road. It was in the summer 



and on a still day, not a breath of air stirring. 
A short distance beyond the town of Paris, as 
they were passing a dead tree standing beside 
the road, it fell directly across the buggy, crush- 
ing the vehicle and both the occupants to 
the earth, killing them instantly. The horse 
broke away, but was caught by a neighbor who 
happened to be on the road, taken back, and 
the couple found as described. Though yet 
warm, there were no signs of life. A sad end- 
ing of an anticipated pleasure trip. The melan- 
choly event created quite a sensation in the 
neighborhood, and w^as the subject of comment 
and speculation for a long time after. In- 
scrutable are the ways of Providence. 

The first physician of the town and town- 
ship was Dr. Robert Estep, who came from 
Fayette county, Pennsyh'ania, and settled in 
Paris in 181S. He served an apprcnticesliip as 
a silversmith, but soon abandoned that business 
for the study of medicine, for which he exhib- 
ited more than ordinary aptitude. Thrown 
upon his own resources for pecuniary aid. he 
was unable to attend medical lectures, but. like 
the majority of practitioners of that day in the 
west, set up his business without having ob- 
tained the degree of doctor of medicine. He 
very soon acquired a reputation not only as a 
successful practitioner, but as a bold and skill- 
ful operator in surgery. Twice he performed 
the caesarean section, the only physician for 
many years in the county who attempted the 
operation. He left in 1834. removing to Can- 
ton and was succeeded by Dr. Preston. 

There is no record of New Franklin. It 
was laid out by John Unkefer about the >ear 
1 83 1. A postoffice was established in the place 
r'ebrnary 20, 1S3J, and Jesse Shoard a])])Minle(l 
pc^stmaster. 

The proprietor of Robertsville was John 
Robard, who had the town survey.ed and had 
the plat recorded November 23, 1842. A post- 
office was established December i, 1862, and 
Peter Adoli)h made inistmaster. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



69 



Alinerva. a part oi whicli is in Paris town- 
ship, is an old town, but just how old must be 
guessed, as the plat was not recorded until May 
25. 1873, long after the town was located and 
could boast of having quite a population and 
an extensive trade. A postoffice was estab- 
lished February 8, 1828, and John Paul made 

postmaster. 

♦-•-♦ 

NIMISHILLEX TOWNSHIP. 

By Lew Slissek. 

Ximishillen was named after the creek 
\\hich takes its rise in the township. There is a 
tradition that the stream was named from the 
l)lack alder which grew very abundantly along 
the Ijank. the Indian name of which is said to 
he iNIissilla ; prefix to this word ni, which prob- 
abh- meant stream or water, and you have ni- 
missilla. since corrupted into Nimishillen. Col- 
onel Bouquet, a British officer stationed at Fort 
Duquesne (now Pittsburg), in his narrative of 
an expedition through this section in 1764, 
gives the orthography of the stream "nemen 
chelus," from which the present name was evi- 
dently derived. 

The first settler in the township was John 
Bowers, from ^Maryland. He entered the south 
half of section 32 in 1805, and in the following 
spring moved out with his family and com- 
menced an impro\'ement on the east quarter. 
The winter following his son John, then a 
stout boy, was taken sick with a fever. There 
was no physician near and the parents were 
compelled to rely upon their own resources to 
do \\hat they could for his relief. Teas made 
from roots and herbs, reputed sovereign reme- 
dies in fever, were freely administered, but 
without avail. The lad continued to grow 
worse, and in a few days died. It was a terri- 
ble shock to the family. The mother blamed 
it all upon the new country and regretted 
having left their eastern home. The few dis- 
tant neighbors were promptly on hand to con- 
dole \\'ith the afflicted familv and render such 



assistance as was in their power. A rude cof- 
fin was constructed out of an old wagon box 
and the boy buried in the woods, some distance 
from the cabin. A tree was felled across the 
grave to protect it from the wolves. Bowers 
sold this quarter to Bollinger, and bought fifty 
acres of land from Samuel Flickener in Canton 
tov.'nsliip, to which place lie removed, and then 
died and was buried in Osnaburgh. He was 
one of the early county commissioners, and also 
tax collector, when the office was distinct from 
that of treasurer. Fie is yet remembered pass- 
ing from house to house with a cylindrical tin 
liox strapped over his shoulder, which con- 
tained his papers. 

There was an Indian trail running east 
and west, that passed through the township. 
John Thomas, a resident of Columbiana coun- 
ty, with the help granted by the commission- 
ers, had this trail widened, so as to make it 
passable for teams. It was afterward known 
as the "'Thomas road." Penticost & Scott, a 
firm of laiid speculators, laid out a town on 
this road, on the southwest quarter of section 
28 and called it "Nimishillentown." Their 
idea was to make a strike for the county seat. 
Daniel L. McClure, surveyor, made a plat of 
the projected town, giving the streets attracti\e 
names. A square ^vas donated for the court 
house and jail, one for a school and another 
for a church. The proprietors erected a cabin, 
covered it with clapboards, fastening them with 
nails wrought by a blacksmith in New Lisbon. 
In the cabin the two men kept "bachelor's hall" 
and as emigrants came from the east to pur- 
chase land, either for a home or on specidation, 
thev beset them to purchase a lot in the new 
town. Meanwhile Osnaburgh and Canton be- 
gan to loom up as prominent sites in competi- 
tion for the county seat. It soon became evi- 
dent that the contest for the court house was 
between these two towns. A few lots of Nimi- 
shillentown were sold, but no improvement 
made, and the project of a town was aban- 



70 



OLD LANDMARKS 



cloned. The site of Xiniishillentuwn, the first 
paper town of Stark county, is now a cuhivated 
field. 

In 1806 Daniel Mathias, with a wife and 
three children and his father, then a widower. 
came from Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and 
settled on the southeast quarter of section 14. 
Unloading their cooking and farming utensils 
they bivouacked under a tree imtil the men 
erected a cal)in. Jacnh .Mathias. a hmther of 
Daniel, came out at the same time with a wife 
and two children and settled near by. A child 
was born to Mrs. Daniel Mathias in October, 
1806, which was the lirst white child born in 
the township. Indians were accustomed to 
camp along the creek during the season of hunt- 
ing and fishing. They were inofifensive, but, 
like tile tram]) of the present day. \\ere persist- 
ent beggars. The_\- were j^articularly fond of 
whiskey and when once indulged with a taste, 
there was no let up to their importunities for 
more "whisk," as they called it. ]\Iathias 
brought a keg of several gallons with him 
from Pennsylvania. On the occasion of a visit 
from several of the tribe he treated them each 
to a drink. This soon spread among the rest 
and it was no long until he was besieged by 
such numbers that his supply of the stimulant 
was soon exhausted, nor would they accept his 
statement that he had no more until he exhibit- 
ed the empty keg, when they made fruitless ef-. 
forts to squeeze out a few more drops. 

The great eclipse of 181 1 was noteworthy. 
Mrs. Mathias was away from home on that day 
on a visit to a neighbor. On her return home 
it suddenly began to grow dark, although the 
sun had just been shining brightly. It was 
soon so dark that she was unable to see the 
path and she was com])e]]ed to stop until dark- 
ness passed away. She was mucli frightened and 
supposed the workl had come to an end. 

Henry Loutzenhei;^er and John Rui)ert, 

brothers-in-law. from Westmoreland county. 

Penns_\-l\-ania, came out in tlic summer of 1807 



The house was known 
\vas a popular stoj)- 



and, with the help of a hireling, made 
a clearing on the southwest quarter oi 
section 11 and erected a cal)in about twelve 
feet square. Rupert made a clearing upon the 
adjoining quarter and built a cabin the same 
year. I,out7enheizer sold his land a few years 
afterward to Martin Houser, a Revolutionary 
soldier, and bought the quarter upon which 
Ximishillentown had been located. Michael 
Ru])ert, uncle of Plenrv Loutzenheizer. mar- 
ried an Indian squaw, and by her had se\-eral 
children. His brother ]^Iartin and cousin, Mar- 
tin Ilouser, were both taken prisoners during 
tiie I\e\olutionary war bv the Indians while 
driving cattle to the army. In 1822 he built 
a brick house in Louisville, which was the first 
building of brick in the township. Vnv 
many years lie kept tavern here. sign 
Spread Eagle, 
far and near and 
ping place for traxelers. It was one of the 
places in the county at which "general muster" 
was held in early times, while the Revolution- 
ary struggle and the war of 181 2 kept alive the 
martial sjjirit. Da\id Bair, of Paris t(jwnsliip, 
was colonel and Henry Loutzenheizer, major. 
Dr. Robert Estep, of Paris, belonged to the 
staff and on parade occasions was out in full 
dress uniform, brass buttons, epaulets and a 
chapeau with a large white feather tipped w ith 
red. Those were gala davs for old and voung. 
They usually closed with a few fights and a 
dance. Ilenr}- Loutzenheizer was tlie father 
of twenty-fi\-e children, all living at one time, 
the i)roduct of three wives. Notwithstanding 
latter da_\' achiexements, this feat is unri\-aled 
in the history of Stark county. Daniel Brown, 
living on section 25, same township, was the 
father of eighteen children. About the year 
1814 two of them, a boy and a girl, the former 
eight and the latter ten years old, were lost in 
the woods, having been sent by their mother 
toward exening to bring up the cows. I'olJow- 
iug the path leading in the direction where the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



71 



cattle were accustomed to graze, tliey came to 
wliere it forkeil. tiere tlie}' disputed wliicli was 
the right path. It appears both were mistaken, 
as neither led in the direction of the cattle. As 
a consecjuence both children were lost and un- 
al)le to hnd their way home. The cattle returned 
without tliem. The parents becoming alarmed 
at their long absence, started in pursuit. Night 
(ivertaking them, they aroused the neighlwrs 
within reach and everybody that could be spared 
turned out. Through the long and dreary 
night they kept up a din of noises and shouting, 
blowing horns, in hopes of attracting the chil- 
dren, but no response came. It was feared 
that some wild animal, a bear or panther, had 
destroyed them. Daylight came and yet no tid- 
ings. More persons were procured and the 
search continued. About noon the boy was 
found at a cabin in the eastern part of Wash- 
ington township, which place he had reached 
but a short time before. The girl was not found 
until the second day, and when approached was 
in a thicket gathering berries, apparently as un- 
concerned as though she had just left home. 

Nimishillen township was organized in 
iSoQ. The earl}' records are lost, so that it is 
impossible to give a list of the first officers 
elected, but it is believed Daniel ]\Iathias was 
one of the first trustees and Jacob Tom- 
baugh, first constable. The northeast- 
ern part of the township attracted the greater 
part of the settlers, mainly because of the beau- 
tiful timber. It was a comman saying that "the 
poplar an.d chestnut were so, tall you had 
to take a rest to see the top." The locality also 
abounded in ginseng, which was (|uite a source 
of revenue. It was an article of foreign ex- 
port, and in China was said to be worth its 
weight in gold. 

Besides the early settlers already mentioned, 
may be named Mathias Bowers, brother of 
John, George \\''ertenberger, Ulrich Shi\ely, 
John flans, John Thomas, Benjamin Breyfogle, 
Henry Warner, Henrv Sanor, lohn Hilde- 



brand, John Thomas and Robert Huston. A 
son of Ulrich Shively was bitten by a rattle- 
snake and was said to have been cured by the 
application of mud to the bitten part. 

Harrisburgh was the first town in the town- 
ship and was laid out in 1827 by Jacob Harsh. 
The first store in Harrislmrgh and the first in 
the township was started by David W. Rowan 
about the year (832. 

Louisville was located in 1834, by Henry 
Loutzenheizer and Frederick Kaini, joint pro- 
prietors, as the land of each constituted part of 
the plat. It was originally named Lewisville, 
after a son of Loutzenheizer, but on applica- 
tion for a postotfice it was ascertained there 
was already one of that name in the state, and 
at the request of the postoffice department the 
orthography of the name was changed to 
Louisville, which it has i;ince retained. The 
first store in Louisville was started by Kuntz & 
Gorgas, from Osnaburgh. The first physician 
in the township was Dr. John Schilling, who 
came in T837, direct from German}'. The first 
grist-mill was built by John Eby in 181 1 on 
section 31, fuit was aljandoned for lack of wa- 
ter. The first preacher in the neighborhood 
was John Gans, a Tunker. It was the custom 
of his denomination to hold worship in barns. 
Edward Carl, direct from "ould Ireland." set- 
tled in the township in 181 1. He was a tanner 
and an enthusiastic Catholic, and soon gathered 
around him others of the same denomination, 
when they were' accustomed to have worship 
in private houses. The Moftit brothers, James, 
Patrick and Thomas, early settlers of the same, 
creed, were great talkers and exercised (|uite an 
infiuence in the community as compared with 
the staid Pennsylvania German, who had his 
Ijrejudices against any book knowledge beyond 
the Bible and almanac. 

John Bowers was county commissioner 
from 1 819 to 1826, when the pay was from 
twentv dollars to twenty-five dollars a year and 
no perquisites. John Htjover was twice elected 



72 



OLD LANDMARKS 



to the legislature in 1822 and 1823. The legis- 
lature at that time met on the first Monday 
in Dccemher. With a change of underclothing 
in a pair of saddle bags, the member of that 
day would start from home a week before the 
opening of the session. By short stages, and 
carrying a rail through Killbuck bottoms, he 
would reach Columbus in four or five days. 
Once there, he never thought of leaving until 
the close of the session. The style of those 
days \\ ould now be considered a rude state of 
civilization. The home of the early settler was 
a rough log cabin, made with an axe and auger. 
He obtained a scanty subsistence from the earth 
by hard labor. He had few comforts and no 
luxuries. Clothing was made of homemade 
fabrics, colored from the bark of trees, and 
wants were few, yet they lived happily, because 
there were but few failures, and pride and am- 
bition was not then, as now, the ruling pas- 
sion. 



SANDY TOWNSHIP. 

By Lew Slussek. 

The first settlement in what is now Sandy 
township was made by Isaac Van Meter in the 
spring of 1805. He came from Brooke coun- 
ty, A'irginia, with a wife and child, accompan- 
ied l)y his father-in-law, James Downing, Sr., 
who had previously entered the land upon 
which llicy intended making an opening". Their 
outfit, consisting of several cooking utensils, 
a few tools, a little bedding and some provis- 
ions, was carried on pack saddles. On reach- 
ing the land, northeast quarter section 29, they 
made a temporary shelter for Mrs. Van Meter; 
then, clearing away a small piece of ground, 
with the help of several friendly Indians, soon 
had a cabin raised and covered. Their furni- 
ture was such as could be made in the woods 
with an axe and auger. They constructed a 
sort of plough with a wooden mould-board. 



and made home-made "gears" out of bass w^ood 
and hickory bark. After a fashion of that day, 
they broke up several acres of ground and plant- 
ed it in corn and garden vegetables, after 
which l^owning returned to his family in \'ir- 
ginia. At that time there was no w'hite inhab- 
itant nearer than Gideon Jennings, who lived 
four miles soutli, nor was there another neigh- 
Ijor within ten miles. There were a few scat- 
tered families above the forks of the Nimishil- 
len. but the distance was over fifteen miles, too 
far for social intercourse. The winter of 1805- 
6 was passed without the family seeing the face 
of another white person. They had frequent 
"calls" from Indians, then roaming over the 
country, but their visitations were something 
like the "tramp" of the present day, not calcu- 
lated to excite pleasant emotions. 

In the spring of 1806 Downing returned 
with his family, consisting of a wife, three sons. 
James, Hugh and Adam, and a daughter, Sa- 
rah, afterward married to Robert Thomp- 
son. During that summer and until spring, the 
two families lived together. In June Mrs. Van 
Meter \vas confined ; the birth was a boy, and he 
w'as named John, the first born in the tnwnship. 
This' first-born attained manhood, and iiiust 
have been a man of considerable muscular abil- 
ity, as it is \vritten of him by one who knew him 
well, that "he never met a man who could lay 
him on his back, or outrun him in a foot race." 

In the spring of 1807 Van Meter moved 
onto the quarter section upon which Waynes- 
burgh is located. In the fall of 1S08 his son 
James, then about four years old, while in the 
act of climbing over a fence, fell, pulling the 
tiij) rail upon him, and broke his thigh. There 
was no physician nearer than Steubenville, a 
distance of forty miles. A neighbor named 
James Reaves, assisted by several others, ad- 
justed the leg to a natural position, while an 
Indian medicine man ])reparefl a splint of white 
elm bark, freshly pealed, which he bandaged 
on the limb with strip of like material, leaving 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



73 



a space immediately over the fracture for the 
apphcation of stewed herbs, wiiicli an old 
squaw would apply every day, at the same time 
assisting the cure by a powwow. The boy re- 
covered in due time with a fair limb. The fa- 
ther mo\-ed to Richland county in 1815. 

There were undoubtedly persons who set- 
tled in the township in the year 1807, but in our 
researches thus far we have failed to ascertain 
who they were. In 1808 William Thompson, 
from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, set- 
tled on the northeast quarter of section 30. His 
cliildren were Margery, married to John For- 
sythe ; Jane, married to John Reed ; Polly, mar- 
ried to David Griffith; James followed the 
ocean as a sailor and was lost at sea ; John died 
in the war of 1812, and Robert married Sarah 
1 )■ iwning. When father Thompson was about 
making his will, as he had accumulated consid- 
erable property, he told Robert, his only sur- 
vi\ing son, that he intended leaving him all his 
property. Roljert replied that if he did not 
leave a fair share to his sisters, he w-ould never 
touch any portion of it. Thereupon his father 
made an equitable and satisfactory distribution 
among all his children. Such an act of disinter- 
estedness is worthy of note. 

James Hewitt and wife, his brother, John 
Plewitt. a bachelor, and his nephew, John 
Creighton. Jr., from Allegheny county. Penn- 
s}"lvania, came in the same year with Thomp- 
sr)n. and settled on the northeast quarter of sec- 
tion 23. Their first child, named James, was 
born January 30, 1809. William Knotts also 
came that year bringing his family, his half- 
brother. John Van Emmon, and their mother, 
Mrs. \'an Emmon. The only emigrant known 
to ha\-e settled in the township in 1809 was 
Morgan Van Meter, a brother of Isaac. 

The township of Sandy was organized 
]\[arch 6, t8oo. Its jurisdiction extended over 
the T5th and i6th townships in the 6th range — 
Brown. Rose and Harrison in Carroll county. 
The first election was held the first Mondav in 



.\pril, 1 810, at the house of Isaac Van Meter. 
James Hewitt was elected justice of the peace, 
and Morgan Van Meter, constable. The town- 
ship proper had originally less area than the 
law required, being only five miles north to 
south. In the formation of Carroll county, two 
rows of sections were taken from the east side, 
leaving the township about twenty square miles 
instead of thirty-six. For many years the place 
of election was at the house of John E. Pool, 
in what was known as Hambvu'gh. It was re- 
moved to Wayriesburgh about 1825. The fol- 
lowing persons settled in the township in 1810: 
Mathew Mayes, Philip, Henry and George 
Shultz, John and Alexander Cameron, Simon 
Shook, William Welker, David*Silver and Ben- 
jamin Greathouse. When the war of 1812 
broke out the following men went from Sandy 
township: James Downing, Jr., who was 
elected captain of a company, James Reeves, 
Benjamin Miller, Benjamin Greathouse, James 
Carothers, John Creighton, Jr., Henry Shultz, 
John and Robert Thompson and George Shultz. 
George Shultz contracted fever while in the 
army, obtained a furlough and died soon after 
his return home. John Thompson also took the 
fever and died on his way home. He was bur- 
ied at a place then called Slippery Rock. They 
;dl served under General Harrison. 

In 1812 Jonas Baum, with his wife and two 
children, accompanied by his ag'ed father and 
mother, settled on section 15. John Creighton 
came the same year with his two sons, James 
and Robert, and a daughter, Anna. Michael 
Keefer and family came in 181 3 from Somerset 
county, Pennsylvania. The next year there 
came from the same county Daniel Shaeffer, 
Peter Shaefifer, Valentine Rinehart, Henry Gib- 
ler, Thomas Filson and Daniel Bonebreak. 

The first school house in the township was 
built on the Knotts farm in the fall of 1808. It 
was a rude log structure, with a fireplace at 
one end large enough for an ordinary saw log. 
greased paper windows. s]")lit logs for seats — in 



74 



OLD LANDMARKS 



short, in outward adornmeiits and internal ar- 
rauifenients, tlie connter])art of the school house 
III" that day in this region of the country. Will- 
iam Lee taught the first school and John Laugh- 
lin the second. 

The first couple niarrietl in the township 
was I-Iugh Downing and Mary Hibbit. May 13, 
1813. They came to Canton and had the mar- 
riage ceremony performed by Samuel Coulter, 
a justice of the peace. The first death was 
Airs. Y-dw Emniiin, mother of William Knotls. 
She was Iniried on the farm in Xoxember. 1808. 
The place continued to be a public burying 
ground, known as "Ivnotts's Graveyard." The 
first preaching in the settlement was con- 
ducted by Joshila Beer, a Presbyterian minister, 
who came in 181 8 and held worship at the 
h< luse of James Downing, Sr. 

W^aynesburgh was laid out by Joseph I land- 
Ian in 1814. 7'he year previous John Laughlin 
had built a cajjin o\\ the site, a little north of the 
railroad water tank, in which Handlan kept 
a tavern. The same year Handlan sold out to 
Daniel Shaeffer, wiio became proprietor of the 
town. Handlan must have been of a speculat- 
ing turn of mind, for the ne.xt year, in company 
with John C. \\'right and John M. Goodenow. 
he laid out Hamburgh, adjoining Waynes- 
1)urgh, on the opposite side of the street. The 
l)lat numbered one hundred and eight lots, but 
was ne\'er recorded, and as corner lots were not 
in demand, the project was soon abandoned. 

Handlan built a saw-mill in 1816, the first in 
the township, Ijut as the foundation was sandy, 
it gave way before completing the first 
"through'" in the lirst log. Handlan remo\-ed 
til Wheeling in i8i<j. 

The first .school taught in the town <>f 
Waynesburgh was liy John Alexander, the win- 
tre of 1819-20. in a log cabin built by Robert 
Alexander. The first store was kept l)v Joseph 
Tlrmdlan and Barnhart .Mahou in 1816; first 
blacksmith. Job AUertcm. 1816; first tailor, 



Frederick A. Boeg;d. 1819; first shoemaker, 
Henry Pickard. The lirst grist-mill in the town- 
ship was built ])v J(jhn Brcjwn. 

Enoch Ross and his wife r^Iargaret. with 
a family of eight boys and three girls, came 
from Pennsylvania in 1815 and bought the 
Mewitt farm. Ivoss died in 1824, leaving" a 
large family to be provided for, and a balance 
yet due on the farm. Mrs. Ross was a re- 
markable woman and ])rovefl equal to the emer- 
genc\'. She raised her children in the wa\' they 
shoukl go, respected and esteemed b\' all. Se\-- 
eral girls became popular teachers, while two 
boys studied law and practiced in the west. The 
youngest graduated at college, intending to en- 
ter the ministrv. but died before completing his 
stutlies. 

Ixichard Klson was an carl_\- settler. — a 
jolh". rollicking sort of a fellow, fond of fuu. 
and a leader at fights and frolics. He was a 
successful business man, became a large land 
owner, built a grist and sawmill. ga\-e con- 
siderable attention to raising fine-wool sheep, 
was a strong partisan of the Whig stripe, and 
hated a Democrat as the devil does holy water. 

A somewhat noted character at an early day 
was John Marks, as was also his wife, whose 
maiden name was ]\Tary Shultz. Pie ac(|uired 
note for skill and indnslry in felling timber and 
splitting more rails in ;i d;iy than any other man 
in the valley, and she, for her fecundity, ha\-- 
ing had nineteen children in twenty years! Too 
much "usufruct" for Marks, so he decamped 
for parts unknown, and has never been heard 
of since. All the regret Mrs. IMarks expressed 
in h.er grass-widowhood was that her husband 
had left befc^re she had the twentieth. 

Of the later prominent citizens of the town- 
ship may be mentioned Dr. James ^^'elsh. a 
highly, esteemed physician : Jehu Brown, mill- 
wright and Baptist minister; Robert McCall, 
all of these men representing the countv in the 
state legislature: Alpheus Brown, who served 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



75 



five terms as count}- auditor; Roljert N. Mc- 
Call, cotmtv treasurer, and Thomas ]\[cCall, 
auditor. 

Robert K. Gray was one of tlie notaljle men 
of ^^^-lyneslnlrg■j^. There is a bit of romance 
connected A\ith liis ad\ent into the township 
tliat is worth mentioning. Mr. and Mrs. Gray 
came from Ireland and, as the story runs, 
Mrs. Gray was the wife of a titled gentleman 
and (iray was their coachman. The ])lind god 
who ofttimes plays such strange pranks, 
worked his sticks between thehi, and the con- 
sequence was they eloped and came to Amer- 
ica. When he first came into the township he 
undertook to farm and raise siieep, but in this 
he was not successful, and a few years after- 
ward removed to W'aynesburgh and engaged in 
the mercantile business. He soon became pop- 
ular and did an extensive business. For years 
he was the leading merchant of the place, did 
an cxtensi\-e business, and accumulated consid- 
erable wealth. Mrs. Gray kept herself se- 
cluded from society, for the reason, it was said, 
that she did not wish to be questioned in ref- 
erence to her antecedents. She was regarded 
as a woman of more than ordinary intelligence, 
l)ossessing many fine accomplishments. She 
had no children. Several years after the death 
of Gray she married John Whitacre. The un- 
ion was not congenial, and after a year or two 
they separated by mutual consent. 

RECOLLECTIONS OF ANDREW FAULK, JR. 

"^ly father came from New Jersey and set- 
tled in Sandy townshiji in 1815. I was then 
eight years old, and \vell remember many cir- 
cumstances connected with our early experience 
in a new country. My father and brother John 
drove the co\ered wagon in the woods and 
commenced to cut down trees for a cabin. It 
was constructed after the style of cabins of 
that day, except that in place of a door a (|uiU 
was huiig. As soon as the cabin was cm'ered. 



and before the floor was laitl, wc moved in. A 
bedstead was framed into the corner, in which 
I had the best sleep in my life. 

"In the fall of that Vear father bought ten 
a]:)ple trees of Dr. Rappee in Canton, and 
planted them among the timber. Three of 
those trees are still living and bear fruit. We 
had' no cow and mother would go around among 
the neighbors and get all the flax she could to 
spin, to pay for butter and meat. ^.ly uKither's 
spinning wheel made sweeter music than any 
piano now-a-days. She would spin late at 
night lay the light of the fire, and we children 
were lulled to sleep b_\- the hum of the wheel. 
Father was an iron worker and was much of 
the time away from home at work at the forge 
or furnace. ?klany nights we heard the howl- 
ing wolves. One time mother and I went to 
Alexander Camerpn's, about a mile distant, on 
an errand. Returning home, we lost our way. 
Wandering around for some time we came to 
a high hill, on reaching the top of which mother 
was rejoiced to recognize our clearing by ths 
deadened trees. 

"\\'e had two horses that father brought 
fnjni New Jersey. As we were short of feed 
and the means to purchase, they were turned 
into the woods to pasture. There was a bell on 
one by which we could with less dif- 
ficulty find theuL One morning they 
were missing. The bell was nowhere 
to be heard. After several days' fruitless 
search, father came home satisfied they had 
wandered off some distance and had gone east- 
ward. Believing they Avould make for Xew 
Jersev, he concluded to start after them next 
morning. Mother was up bright and early, 
baked him se\eral pone, whicli he carried in a 
wallet oxer his shoulder : taking w hat money 
he h.ad. which was less than a dollar, and the 
two bridles, he started, not knowing but what 
he would have to go half the way to Xew Jer- 
sev. as the horses had sexeral days the start. 
I'^ijllowing their trail, which he couhl do Ijy 



7^ 



OLD LANDMARKS 



their Ijrowsiiig, up hill and clown, across bot- 
toms and streams, he first heard of them in the 
'Knapp settlement," near where Oneida is now 
located. After passing this locality it was evi- 
dent they had become bewildered, as they 
wandered around among the clearings, but still 
making eastward. IJe came up to them not far 
fr.jm Xew Lisbon and was home again after 
an absence of four days. We were all much 
rejoiced to see him return with the horses. 

"I-'ather was not nuich of a hunter, but de- 
pended upon his labor for the support of the 
family. We boys, with the help of our dog, 
would occasionally catch a coon, 'possum or 
ground hog, which we had cooked and would 
eat for a change. \Ve w'ould fry out the fat 
for shoe grease, sometimes getting half a gal- 
lon out of one 'possum. Our first sheep was 
a pet lamb, obtained from Mrs. Philip Shultz. 
\A'e Ijoys taught him how to Initt. One day 
Airs. Yahna came to visit ninther. Just as she 
opened the cabin door the lamb espied her, and 
gave her such an impetus that she went in 
rather unceremoniously. The scene was ludi- 
crous. 

"The first school house in the neighborhood 
was built in 1815, on Alexander Cameron's 
land, section 4. Our first teacher was Alpheus 
Brown, from the state of Maine, the same who 
afterwards became so well and favorably 
known as county auditor. 

"AS' there was no market for farm products 
at that day, father found it difficult to raise 
money sufticient to pay taxes (though they 
were then trifling comi)ared to what they ai"e 
nowl and purchase the few store articles need- 
ed for the famih", such as leather and salt. To 
meet these wants he was oj^liged to work from 
home in the iron works, at Pittsburg, Steuben- 
ville and in latter years at Congress Furnace. 
To illustrate how difficult it was to sell farm 
pro(hicts fnr mone\\ I must relate the circum- 



stance of Cousin John Faulk and I taking eight- 
een dozen eg'gs for mother to Canton to 
sell. The stores wouldn't buy or barter for 
them at any price. We took them to a tavern 
iust west of the court house. The landlord 
picked over them and found two that were rot- 
ten. He looked at us with a lowering brow 
:ind said, 'Boys, if you are not careful you will 
get into trouble,' at which we were much fright- 
ened. .A.fter chafering some time he told us 
he worild give us twenty-five cents for the lot, 
seventeen dozen and ten ! \\'e were glad to take 
the twenty-five cents and leave for fear we 
should get into trouble for offering rotten eggs. 
"Mv first pair of boots were gotten in 
this way ; I was twenty-one years old in July. 
My father gave me from the first of February 
to the middle of March preceding to work for 
myself. I was ambitious to have a Sunday suit of 
store clothes. Upon inquiry, I learned I could 
get employment cutting cord wood at Congress 
b'urnace. I secured a contract at twenty-fi\c 
cents a cord, and board myself, made an agree- 
ment with an aunt (who lived about a mile 
from the chopping ground) to give me my 
lodging and do my cooking, J to furnish raw 
material, which 1 brought from home. In the 
morning I had breakfast before day, took with 
me bread, krout or potatoes and boiled meat 
for dinner, and was at work as soon as it was 
light. I would w^ork regardless of wind or 
weather until dark. My dinner in the basket 
would often be frozen solid, especially the krout 
and bread. I cut and ranked up thirty-two 
cords, for which I received in cash eight dol- 
lars, and I was proud. With this money I 
bought leather and had a jiair of hoots made, 
some cloth, out of which Frederick Boegle 
made me a regular swallow tail coat : imt in cul - 
ting it got the waist up between my shoulders. 
T^icture to yourself a gangling youth with such 
a fit. Iriuimcd out with large brass liuttons.'' 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



77 



PIKE TOWNSHIP. 

Pike township was organized March 6, 
iSiy t'oi" purposes of jurisdiction the sur- 
eyed township west (now .Bethlehem), not 
tiien organized, was attached. The first elec- 
tion for township officers was held the follow- 
ing month, at the house of Henry Bordner, on 
the southwest quarter of section 5. In filling 
the different offices, men were selected from 
both townships. The township was named after 
General Zebulon Montgomery Pike, who was 
killed in the war of 1812, while in command of 
an expedition against York (now Toronto), the 
capital of Upper Canada. 

The first man known to have settled in the 
township was George Young. He was born 
in Maryland, and while yet a boy left home to 
work for himself. He went to Somerset coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, and after remaining there a 
year or two married, at the early age of nine- 
teen. From Somerset he removed with his wife 
to Jefferson county, Ohio. Here he remained 
several vears. working whenever he could ob- 
tain employment, saving his earnings until he 
had suiticient to purchase two horses and a few 
fanning implements. Packing on the horses 
some corn meal and salt, his family clothing 
and stock of farming implements, he started in 
the spring of 1800 to settle upon a piece of land 
he had leased from the owner, who resided in 
Jeffers<,)n county, Mrs. Young, with a young- 
babe, rode one of the horses ; the other horse 
]\Ir. Young led, carrying his trusty rifle, with 
which lie expected to obtain all the meat they 
would want. What a contrast to the facilities 
afforded at the present day for migrating- west. 
After several days of wearisome travel through 
a wilderness country, a portion of the distance 
by an Indian trail, crossing Sandy creek at 
Downing's ford, they reached tlie Sulphur 
spring at the head of Limestone creek, in sec- 
tion 9. Here he constructed a siielter of poles 
and brush, which serx'ed as a protection during 



a storm and a lodging place at night. His near- 
est neighbors were John Nichols, then building 
a mill on the Nimishillen four miles north, and 
John Faber, whose land was in Tuscarawas 
county, adjoining the boundary line of Pike, 
distant five miles. 

For weeks this couple worked together, 
clearing ground and preparing it for crop. At 
night the horses, until they becatne acquainted 
with the locality, were tethered or hobbled, and 
fed upon the luxuriant pea vine and grass with 
which the woods abounded. Having completed 
sowing and planting. Young returned with his 
wife and child to his former hoine in Jefferson 
county, to harvest the wheat crop he had put in 
the year previous, and in which he had an in- 
terest. While engaged in this Mrs. Young ob- 
tained employinent at weaving from the neigh- 
bors, by whi-ch she not only secured board and 
lodging for herself and child, init made some 
money. After the grain was cut, Young dis- 
posed of his share, which afforded him the 
means to purchase a cart and a load of merchan- 
dise, consisting of flour, corn, meal, salt, whis- 
key and tobacco. With this accumulated stock 
Mr. Young felt as proud and independent as 
did ever the millionaire Stewart on the occasion 
of an, importation. Hitching his horses to the 
cart, tandein style, he returned to his home in 
Pike, cutting his way through the woods 
after crossing Sandy. He built a log cabin and 
constructed some rude furniture, sufficient for 
all their wants. In those days a sugar trough 
answered the purpose of a cradle and a dough- 
nut tray. It was a lonely, dreary winter. The 
time was mainly spent in cutting down trees and 
preparing fire wood. It was seldom thej' saw 
the face of white man. Indians were roaming 
over the country and would frequently call for 
something to eat. They were harmless, and yet 
would frequently frighten the women, if they 
happened to be alone. On one occasion Mrs. 
Faber was coming out of their cabin after dark 
with a crock of milk, intending to store it in the 



78 



OLD LANDMARKS 



cave fur the night. Just a,-;: slie upened the cabin 
door, there stood a big Indian, whose appear- 
ance frightened her so that slie let the crock fall 
and made a rapid retreat for the cabin. The In- 
dian laughed heartily at her alarm, walked into 
the crJjin and made himself at h(jme, as was 
their custom. 

On this leased land Mr. Young struggled 
along until i8i i, by which time he had accumu- 
lated sufficient means to enter the northwest 
quarter of section 21, upon which he died. JMr. 
Young was drafted three times during the war 
of 1S12, each time furnishing a substitute. 
While troops were encamped at Canton and 
Wooster he supplied them with beef cattle. For 
many years he had a small store at his house, 
in which he kept and had for sale such staple 
articles as salt, iron, nails, glass, leather and 
other commodities in geu-e'ral demand. 

In common with many other good people of 
that day, especially those of German descent, 
^\r. Young belie\-ed in witches and witchcraft. 
He was left-handed, which he claimed gave him 
supernatural power over this unseen agency. 
He also boasted of having in his possession a 
book, purchased at a high figure from Dr. Fogle 
(one of the early merchants of Canton.) con- 
taining instructions how to control witches. 
Our early hunters, especially those who were 
considered crack marksmen, and participated in 
shooting matches, were inclined to believe in 
the power of certain persons to put what they 
called "a spell" on your rifle, which would ma- 
terially impair its accuracy of shot, never ac- 
knowledging that the fault was in the shooter. 

Ifenry P.ordner and IMiilip Seffert settled 
in the township in 181 r, and both were chosen 
township oiificers at the first election. A daugh- 
ter of Bordner married her cousin, lohn P. 
Bordner, one of the very few men given tc 
sporting who were at the time successful as 
farmers. The same year Johnathan Cable, 
from Somerset county, I'ennsylvania. entered 
and cnnimenccd imprii\-ing the southeast quar- 



ter of section 27. With the help of a hireling, 
he put up a cabin, cleared and plowed five acres, 
which he sowed in wheat. He had lived the 
year previous at Yellow Creek, Jefferson ct )unty, 
and when he came out he brought with him pro- 
vision enough to last him while engaged in the 
work. During inclement nights he lodged in 
the cabin of George Young. Early in the 
spring of 181 2 he moved his family out, then 
consisting of a wife and three children, two 
by a former wife. Mr. Cable had hardh' set- 
tled in his new home when notice was served 
upon him that he was drafted and that by a 
certain day named he must appear in person or 
by substitute, armed with a rifle and necessary 
accouterments, prepared to meet the enemy. 
Here was a trying time; Mrs. Cable with three 
children, the oldest under five, in the woods, 
neighljors few and far apart ; the air full of 
rumors of Indian encroachments and massa- 
cres; the tlmught of being left alone was any 
thing but pleasant to contemplate. But the 
woman was ecpial to the emergency. She de- 
termined, if possible, to hire a substitute. 
With the help of a friend, who sympathized 
with her, she found a substitute for sixty dol- 
lars, which she paid with earnings she had 
saved while they kept tavern on Yellow creek. 
As the man had no gun, she was compelled to 
give up their rifle, which she much regretted, 
as she had early acquired skill in its use, which 
enabled her at any time she wanted fresh meat 
to take (liiwn s(|uirrel or wild turkcw with 
which the woods then abounded. It was a 
common custom with Mrs. Cable during moon- 
light nights after her children were asleep, to 
g(i out into the new ground and assist her hus- 
band to roll logs and burn brush. She could 
split rails, make fence or cut cord wood. In 
the harvest field she made a full hand and con- 
tinued to do so as long as her husljand li\-ed. 
Mr. Cable died in 184S. Mrs. Cable, who 
sur\i\c'(l her husband, was the finest type of 
womanhood in Stark countv. She was tall. 



C.-IXTOX AXD STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



79 



I if fine fdi-ni. walked erect, had a pleasant, in- 
telligent countenance, and even in old age her 
liearing was unimpaired and eyesight good. 

Pitnev Guest came in 1S12, with his fa- 
ther-in-law, Benjamin .Miller. They were 
fnini Xew jersey. Miller served in the war of 
the Re\olution, most of the time under Gen- 
eral Greene. He was wounded in an attack 
made bv Cornwallis m North Carolina, init 
remained in the service until the close of the 
war. He died in 1828, and is buried in San- 
dvville. The two families "squatted" on sec- 
tion 16. They slept in the wagon in which 
they came until a log cabin was built. ]\Ir. 
Guest had learned the shoemaker's trade, and 
he was enabled to procure many of the nec- 
essaries of life by making and mending shoes 
for the early settlers, as there was no other 
member of the craft in the settlement. At that 
time the neighbors would frequently join to- 
gether and load a canoe with such articles as 
they had to spare, float down the Nimishillen, 
Sandy and Tuscarawas to a place known as 
the "station," where parties called traders 
kept whiskey, tobacco, iron, salt, nails, pepper, 
coffee, etc., wliich they would barter for corn, 
flour or anything else that could be disposed 
of to emigrants. The return trip was irksome 
and laliorious and as soon as the roads would 
admit traflic was transferred to Cleveland. In 
the last call for troops in the war of 181 2 Mr. 
Guest was drafted, Init before he was called 
"Ut peace was declared. He lived on section 
iC) about three years: then sold his improve- 
ments for one hundred dollars and entered 
the northeast f|uarter of section 7. .Mr. Guest 
was the first justice of the peace elected in the 
township. He was an ordained minister of the 
Baptist church, and in exercising the functions 
of pri,est and squire did much marrying. He 
was a man of fine appearance, sound judgment 
and more than ordinary intelligence. When 
l)arties came to him for law, it was his invaria- 
ble custom to make an efi^ort to have them 



reconcile their difl:'erences or compromise, 
rather than resort to legal measures. He held 
the office of justice over twenty years, ■ and 
might have held it to the day of his death, had 
he consented. 'Slv. tluest was killed in 1856, 
being- thrown from a wagon in a runaway, 
his head striking a piece of timber with great 
force, fracturing his skull. He was seventy- 
two years of age. His widow died in 1874, 
aged ninety-two. 

John Holm and his father, Michael Holm, 
from Maryland, settled in Pike in 1812. They 
purchased the northwest quarter of section 8, 
from a man named Andrews. On the farm 
was a fine spring of water, where the Indians 
were in the habit of loafing. Arrow heads, 
implements of stone and Indian trinkets have 
been found around the place. 

In 1814 Amos Jenny, a hickory Quaker, 
settled in the lower portion of the township. 
He was a sin"\-eyor Ijy profession, but had an 
eye to business and speculation. He built a 
saw and grist-mill, the first in the township ; 
the latter was quite a primiti\e structure, the 
frame simply four corner posts set in the 
ground, forked at the top for poles to support 
the rafters, and clapboard roof : the sides were 
not weatherboarded. There was a run of stone 
quarried from a rock in the neighborhood, and 
a bolt about the size of a feather renovater. .\1- 
though the flour made at this mill could not l)e 
compared with the fanc}- brands of today, it 
had the good quality of digesting itself. 

Jenny conceixed the idea that the country 
around, with the natural influ.x of population 
likelv to follow, would support a town ; there- 
upon he had surveyed, staked off and platted 
upon paper, in the "third month, twenty-second, 
1815" (quoting his own language, as recorded 
in the office of the county clerk), Sparta, hop- 
ing it would grow and prosper equal to its an- 
cient prototype. It is the only town in the town- 
ship, and although it has not attained the great- 
ness hoped for by its founder, the town has held 



8o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



its own remarkalj])- well, which is more than 
can be said of many other places known in his- 
tory. In the original plat there were but four 
streets, these being designated by the animalish 
names of Wolf, Bear, Buffalo and Elk. A 
postoffice was established in Sparta in 1854, 
and called Pierce, after the then President of 
the United States, and John Graft was ap- 
pointed first postmaster. 

J uther Drury, a Yankee, who left his wife 
because she liked another man too much, came 
to Sparta in 1819, purchased ground and built 
a bloomery (furnacej for the production of 
malleable iron direct from the ore, the first es- 
tablishment of the kind in Ohio. The ore was 
broken up and mixed with charcoal, placed on 
a stone hearth, heat applied, the ore smelted 
and run (iff into blooms, from which it was 
forged by the Ijlacksmith. It is said that during 
several seasons when there was a scarcity of 
corn parties would load their boats with this 
iron, float down the river to Lirichsville (Egyp- 
tas they called it) and trade it for a return 
cargo of corn. 

In 1823 James Hazlett, of Canton, pur- 
chased the bloomery and converted it into a 
forge. Pig iron was taken from Congress Fur- 
nace (located at North Industry) and here 
made into bar iron. 

Abraham Kaiser opened a small store in 
Sparta in 1820. but soon after Hazlett became 
owner of the iron works he sent his brother-in- 
law. John Laird, there with a store, and Kaizer 
closed out. It was about this time the first re- 
ligious demonstrations were made in the town- 
ship. Morgan J. \'an Meter, John Russell, 
Heydon and Amos Jenny commenced a series 
of meetings, which were held by appointment 
at private houses. They were not intended to 
be denominational, but the parties engaged in 
them called themselves Bil)le Christians. A 
number of converts were made. The same body 
afterwards became Disciples, and John Whit- 
acre preached for them. The ^lethodists, un- 



der the leadership of Lupper, Kaizer and Pierce, 
stirred up the waters for a few years before 
and made some converts. The early settlers 
of the Lutheran and German Reformed per- 
suasion were in the habit of meeting at the 
house of Ailani Phillips for worship. As their 
number increased, they united their forces and 
built a log house on section 4, known as ^lelch- 
heimer's church, named after the minister in 
charge, who li\ed near by. The grave yard 
attached to this church was the initial burying 
ground. The first school house in the township 
was built in 1813 on section 13, and the teach- 
er was Adam Jackson. The next, near Sparta, 
had a female teacher. 

John Eaber came into the neighborhood ir, 
1805. with his father. Philip Faber. and bought 
just across the line in Tuscarawas count}', 
what was then called soldiers' land. He bought 
it on time, at two dollars per acre, because he 
had no money to enter government land. The 
quarter in Pike, later owned by John Faber. wa- 
entered by his father, and was somewhat im- 
proved before James occupied it. Faljer s 
nearest neighbors for sexeral years were Hofifs. 
near Zoar. eight miles, and the Worleys. six 
miles east. 

Prier Foster was a well-known early set- 
tler. He was a thoroughbred Ethiopian, and 
the first of the race in Stark county. He was 
married in the "Oberly Corner" Ijy Squire 
Coulter, in 181 1, to Rebecca Butler, a comely 
white girl of good sense but perverted tatse. 
Foster was a hard-working, industrious man, 
of large frame and great physical strength. 
He was a miller by trade and was often heard 
remark that he never saw the horse that djuld 
carry as much at one load as he could. It is 
said that a stranger, passing his house, stopped 
in inquire the road to a certain place. ^Irs. 
Foster was alone and in reply to the inquiry 
said : "My dear will soon be in and he can tell 
you." Presently Foster made his appearance. 
The stranger, in utter astonishment, looked at 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



8i 



the husband and then at the wife, at a loss how- 
to reconcile the incongruity. "Aladam," said 
he, "did I understand you to call that man your 
dear?" "Ves, sir," she replied. "Well, I'll be 
d — d if he don't look to be more like a bear." 
Foster liad a son George, quite black, w ho was 
married to a white girl by Esquire Guest. The 
S(|uire at first declined to perform the ceremony, 
but, after consulting- an attorney in Canton, de- 
cifled to comply with the request of the couple, 
much against his ideas of propriety. Miscege- 
nation is not confined to the southern states. 

Of the early settlers not already named 
may be mentioned Michael Worley, Jacob Mil- 
ler, John Ixichards. Daniel Beachtel, Joseph 
Kell, Jacdb bdora. Michael Apley, John Games, 
Cornelius Ucnline. John Brothers, Hartley 
Williams. b>hn Xcw house. John Berheimer, 
Martiri McKinney. Jacc^b Bowman, Daniel 
Pryan, John Stanetz, the Howenstines, Paint- 
ers, Princes, Keysers and Hemmingers. Isaac 
Skelton w-as well known. He gave considera- 
ble attention to the cultivation of small fruit, 
particularly peaches, and delighted to talk 
about fine horses, especially the Arabian stock. 

Residents of the township enjo3'ed a fair 
measure of health, and were ne\er scourged 
with a malignant epidemic. When the)- needed 
a jihysician they sent to Canton or Sandyville. 
Jn such cases as usualh' bring joy to the house- 
hold Mrs. Henry Becher and Mrs. Philip Fet- 
ters rendered all necessary assistance. An in- 
teresting surgical operation occurred in the fam- 
ily of Da\-id E\ans, which at the time created 
considerable talk in the neighborhood and is 
worth repeating. His .son, a lad about four- 
teen years of age, accidently lodged a peach 
stone in his throat. Every effort by the family 
to dislodge it proved abortive. Alarmed at the 
danger likely to result, Mr. Evans called in 
Dr. Simmons, of Canton, who happened at the 
time to be in a neighboi-ing house \isiting a 
patient. The ddctor. after trying different ex- 
pedients, with no success, concluded to post- 



pone ftirther effort until next morning; iiiean- 
while he would return home and consult the 
books on the subject. He was back early next 
morning and reported to the family, as the re- 
sult of his researches, that the stone rnust be 
brought out and must not go down. Having 
decided to w-ork to this end, he went to Lupher's 
])lacksmith shop close by and had a pair of 
pinchers made. With this rough instrument he 
made repeated eti'orts to grasp the stone, but 
w hen he thought he had it and made traction, 
the instrument would slip off and hurt the boy, 
who began to complain bitterly. The doctor 
finally gave it up and expressed the opinion that 
the stone would only be rem(i\-ed by cutting 
from the outside. This alternative alarmed the 
famil\- and they concluded to send for Dr. Bon- 
field, wdio was their regular family physician. 
To this Dr. .Simmons agreed and a messenger 
was immediately dispatched for Dr. Bonfield. 
Meanw-bile Dr. Simmons left to ^'isit another 
[jatient in the neighborhood, expecting to be 
back in a few hours. Before he returned Dr. 
P.onfield arrived, and at a glance, taking in the 
situation, asked for an umbrella, cut out a 
piece of whalebone, greased it with melted tal- 
low, and in less time than it takes to write this 
paragraph, ))ushed the peach stone dow-n the 
boy's throat, to the great relief of the boy and 
the delight of the bystanders. Dr. Simmons 
returned soon afterward and on learning the 
facts was chagrined and mortified at liis want 
of success. 

The first settled physician in the township 
W'-as Dr. D. L. Gans, who purchased the farm 
formerly owned by John Russell, near Sparta. 
He came out 18.47. 

Jesse Hines, who came to the cnuntx' in 
1823, moved into Pike in 1827, In that day it 
w-as the universal custom to furnish whisky to 
bands who worked in the har\-est field or helped 
at a raising. To attempt either witiiMul this 
adjunct was considered impracticajjle. Fre- 
riuenth- hands indulged in such an excess that 



82 



OLD LANDMARKS 



they were unfit for work. At the last harvest 
Mr. Hines furnished Hquor (1830) he had nine 
men in the field, and they drank nine quart bot- 
tles of whisky by ten A. M., and were then so 
drunk that the}- -were unable tO/Continue work. 
This so disgusted Hines that he determined to 
have his harvest cut in the future without the 
help of whiskey. The neighbors doubted his 
ability to secure the necessary help without this 
inducement. Temperance, as understood at 
the present day, was not then known. The 
whisky bottle was in every household. It was 
kept in all the stores, and supplied to customers 
free of charge, as an incentive to purchase. Not 
im frequently it was handed around among the 
friends on a funeral occasion. Mr. Hines was 
a man of settled con\dctions, and when his mind 
was made up was not easily moved. He de- 
termined liis next harvest should be cut with- 
out the help of whisky. When the time came 
he succeeded, after considerable effort, in en- 
gaging sexeral hands, under promise to furnish 
them a drink, but it should not be intoxicating. 
His "succedaneum" was what is known as 
metheglin. a mixture of molasses, vinegar and 
water. Several of the hands indulged to such 
an excess in this drink that it gave them the 
diarrhoea, and they became so weak that they 
were compelled to lay oft'. Mr. Hines suc- 
ceeded that year in getting off his crop without 
whisky and never afterward would he permit 
its use as a beverage on his place. To him is 
iustly due the credit of being the first practical 
temperance man in Stark county. 

Pike township is sometimes called the 
"Switzerland" of Stark, from a fancied resem- 
blance in miniature to that rough and moun- 
tainous country. Persons who reside in the 
more level portions of the country wonder, as 
they climb the steep hills and descend into the 
low valleys, whatever possessed the early set- 
tlers to select such land when there was so 
much that was level to be had at go\'ernment 
prices. And what is stranger still, that the 



present inhabitants continue to slave their 
horses and themselves, ploughing up and down 
and around the hills, among stumps and stones, 
when the rich prairies of the great West offer 
^uch inducements; but 

" There is a destiny that shapes our ends, 
Rough hew them as we may, " 

and that is the reason why Hannah continues 
to smoke and is content to trudge in the foot- 
steps of her mother and grandmother. But 
there is a mountain of wealth underneath those 
hills notwithstanding the rugged appearance of 
the surface, good crops are raised and the soil 
yields excellent pasturage for sheep. 



TUSCARAWAS TOWNSHIP. 

By Lew Slusser. 

The time of the government survey, place 
and terms of entry, of the land west of the 
Tuscarawas ri\er is given in my history of 
Lawrence township. In the treaty of Fort Mc- 
intosh (1785) the Indians ceeded to our 
government their claim to the land east of the 
Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas. Their title to the 
lands west of those rivers was not extinguished 
until 1805, at the treaty of Fort Industry. The 
fee in the ground co\ered by the channel of 
those rivers is yet in the Indians, a fact not gen- 
erally known. 

In the history of Tuscarawas township, by 
R. H. Folger, Esq., as published in the .'\men- 
can, the following statement appears : "The 
first permanent settlement in the township, tlien 
known as part of the 'New Purchase' was made' 
bv two brothers. John and Robert Warden." 
The vear the Warden brothers settled in the 
"New Purchase" is not given, but in a histori- 
cal article written by Mr. Folger and published 
in the American in March, 1870, he says : "In 
the spring of 1807, the Wardens crossed tlie 
Tuscarawas ri\er and finding a good spring of" 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



83 



water at a place now known as the 'Section,' 
tliev halted and commenced prospecting." Tak- 
ing- the two articles in connection, the reader 
\\ould be led to infer that the Wardens came to 
Tuscarawas township in 1807, and were the 
first to make a permanent settlement. Though 
it may Ije a matter of little importance who was 
the first actual settler of Tuscarawas township, 
yet as our people are becoming interested in 
pioneer matters, it is well to have actual facts, 
so far as they are obtainable. 

In the spring of 1808, soon after the land 
office was opened in Canton for the sale of land 
west of, the Tuscarawas river. Philip Slusser, 
then running a saw and grist-mill on the east 
branch of the Nimishillen, where he had been 
living over two years, entered three quarter sec- 
tions in what is now Tuscarawas township, — 
the east half of section 14 and the southwest 
quarter of section 21. In the fall of the same 
year Peter Slusser, a son to Philip, who had 
married the year before, assisted by his brother 
Philip and his brother-in-law, Henry Augus- 
tine, built a cabin on the lower quarter of sec- 
tion fourteen. This was the first building in the 
township and believed to be the first one on the 
west side of the river within the limits of the 
county. The next spring (1809) he moved out 
\vith his family, cleared about three acres and 
planted it in corn which yielded well. The 
next two cabins were erected by Andrew Au- 
gustine and David- Gafif. 

In the spring of 1809 the following persons 
settled in the neighborhood and made improve- 
ments : Robert and John AVarden. Charles and 
Daniel Hoy, Isaac Poe, Peter Johnson, William 
Henry. John Mason and Edward Otis. In 
1810 came David Bowersmith, Isaac Charlton, 
Robert Rarr, Lewis Rogers, Frederick Oberlin, 
Stephen and Thomas Eldredge, William Byal, 
John Noel. Seth Hunt and the Tottens. Most 
of these came from Pennsylvania, the balance 
from the New England states. 

In this year, on the 5th day of March, by 



order of the county commissioners, all that por- 
tion of Stark county lying west of the Tuscara- 
was river was organized into a separate town- 
ship, and named "Tuskarawas." It will be ob- 
served that the orthography of the township 
and the river from which it takes its name have 
since that day been changed in accordance with 
a modern rule in grammar. For many years 
after its organization the name was frequently 
written and called Tuscaraway. Among the 
settlers about Canton the term "over the river" 
was applied to it, but emigrants from a distance 
usually designated it as "the new purchase." 

Tuscarawas was the first township organ- 
ized west of the river and its original boundaries 
included in part or in whole, Jackson, Lawrence, 
Perry, Bethlehem, Sugar Creek and Franklin, 
now in Summit county. On the formation of 
these several townships portions of its munici- 
pal limits were set off, until reduced to its pres- 
ent limits, which was in 1816. Previous to its 
organization the northern part of the town- 
ship was a part of Plain ; the southern belonged 
to Canton. 

The first election was held on the first Mon- 
day in April, 1810, at the house of William 
Henry, which was located near the river a short 
distance above the stone bridge. The result of 
the election was as follows : Justices of the peace, 
William Henry and Daniel Hoy; trustees, 
Stephen Harris, Daniel Hoy and Peter Slusser ; 
overseers of the poor and supervisors, Henry 
Clapper and Thomas Chapman ; fence viewers, 
Adam Lower and William Crites; house ap- 
praiser, Andrew Augustine; treasurer, William 
Henry ; constable, Stephen Harris ; clerk, Peter 
Johnson. William Raynolds, then county 
clerk, administered the oath of office to the 
township clerk, and by him it was administered 
to the other officers. The place of election was 
removed the next year to the house of Daniel 
Hoy on section t6. It will be observed that 
the duties of several offices were performed by 
one person, the cause of which was not so much 



04 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the scarcity of material as the unwilHngness of 
many to serve for the inadequate compensation 
for services rendered. In the "Book of Orders" 
in the Clerk's Record for 1812, I found one in 
favor of William Henry for eighteen and three- 
fourths cents, "for paper by him found and for 
his services as treasurer of said township." 

The first white child born (May, i8iy) in 
the township was Samuel Slusser. The secontl 
was Amanda Henry, afterwards the wife of 
C. B. Cummins, and it is worthy of note that 
the first county election held in the township 
was going on simultaneously with her l)irth in 
the same house. Grandmother Stoner, who re- 
sided upon the opposite side of the r'wtr. was 
the accoutheur of the neighborhood, and it is 
interesting to hear our pioneer settlers discant 
upon the difiticulties of obtaining help upon 
those interesting occasions. 

The first death west <>f the river, within the 
limits of the county was that of John Ritter, 
who became sick while moving out in the spring 
of 181 1. As there were no house accommoda- 
tiiins, he lay in his wagon and there died. He 
was buried on his place, now Perry township. 
The first death within the present limits of the 
township was a daughter of Joseph Poysor, in 
the sinnmer of 181 1. She was buried in the 
w<iods. on the land later owneil by John Cris- 
man. In the summer of 1813 .Vndrew Au- 
gustine was sick with a fe\-er, and Dr. Hart- 
ford, of Canton, was called to attend him. He 
paid him three visits, and his bill was thirty-six 
dollars. I mention this circumstance by way 
of contrasting the charges for medical services 
at that day with the present. The ability to 
pay then compared with now. makes the con- 
trast still more striking. 

The first settled physician in the township 
was Dr. David Anderson, who came in 1832. 
Previous to his coming the settlers were de- 
pendent upon Canton and I<Iendall for medical 
aid. Drs. Scott and Brooks, residents of the 
latter place, were usually called upon. The first 



season of the prevalence of cholera in the west, 
an emigrant family, in passing through Brooks- 
field, had a child to sicken and die of the dis- 
ease, from which it spread, and some eight- 
een or twenty of the inhabitants of the neigh- 
borhood fell victims. During the rage of the 
epidemic Dr. jMichener, then a resident of Mas- 
sillon, took up temporary quarters in Brook- 
field and rendered efficient aid in relieving those 
who were attacked by the fell destroyer. He 
afterwards purchased a farm near the village 
and remained there in practice a number of 
years. Besides the two physicians named, others 
have come and gone. The first marriage was 
Daniel Hoy to Mary Gouty, solemnized by 
William Henry in 181 1. The second was Wes- 
ley Hatton to Mary Forsythe, the year follow- 
ing. 

The first preachirig in the neighborhood was 
by Edward Otis, a Baptist from one of the 
eastern states. He would frequently hold 
forth at private houses and is represented to 
have been an efl:'ective speaker. The Presby- 
terians were the most numerous of the different 
denominations, and at an early day had stated 
preaching at the house of James Latta. The 
first permanent place of worship was a log 
building erected l)v them in 1812 on section 
if). Rev. James Adams was their first pastor. 
.\ church was organized, and regular services 
continued to be held there until the building 
became dilapidated and the organization broke 
up. The first gra\eyard in the township was 
attached to this building. The Methodist 
Ijrethren commenced holding meetings about 
the same time. They met in private houses, 
generally at \\'illiam Dean's and I'eter John- 
son's. The first regular preacher was Rev. 
Jacob Frey. First public place of worship, 
the brick school house in BrookfieUl. erected 
in 1825 and originally designed to answer the 
dotible purpose of school house and church. 
They continued to occupv this until the erec- 
tion of their new building, in 1843. The first 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



85 



school on the west side of the river was taught 
by Jehiel Fox in the winter of 1812-13. It 
was a night school and had quite a reputation 
as scholars attended it from what would at 
the present day be considered a great distance. 
The first day schools were taught by David 
Lawson and John Boreland. 

The first grist-mill was erected by Lewis 
Kogers on Newman's creek in 181 2. It was 
a tub mill and for several years only did chop- 
ping. Afterwards a bolt was attached, which 
was considered quite an accession, though it 
had to be turned by hand. Previous to the 
completion of this mill the settlers were com- 
pelled to take their grist to the mills on the 
Nimishillen. For a number of years the mill 
of Esquire Rogers did all it had capacity for, 
but the erection of others in the vicinity having 
improved facilities for doing work so curtailed 
its custom that it was finally abandoned and the 
building allowed to decay. 

The first saw-mill was erected in 181 1 by 
William Henry on Sippo creek. It continued 
in operation only a few years, as the supply of 
water was insufficient to make it profitable. 

With the Indians who continued to roam 
o\er the territor)- until the declaration of war, 
the settlers had no difficulty. As long as they 
remained in the settlement they were treated 
with kindness and ofttimes lavish generosity. 
Unsuccessful as they sometimes were in their 
pursuit of game, their demands for food were 
never denied. Apprehensions of injury at 
their hands were seldom entertained. Im- 
mediately upon the breaking out of the war the 
Indians left the neighborhood, yet many of the 
settlers were apprehensive of an attack from 
them. All sorts of reports were afloat as to 
their movements. At one time it was rumored 
that they had collected to the number of eight 
hundred, in the bend of the river, south of 
Bethlehem township, making all preparation 
for an attack upon the defenseless settlers. A 
deputation was sent to Canton to ascertain the 



truth of the report and, if necessary, procure 
aid. Scouts were sent out to reconnoitre, who 
returned and reported no signs of Indians. 
Still, as the frontier was unprotected, the fears 
of the settlers could not ht entirely allayed, and 
for their better protection William Eldrege, 
who had erected a substantial hewed-log house, 
had it converted into a temporary fort, pierced 
in its different sides with two-inch auger holes 
to admit a rifle. In this fortification some 
twenty persons remained until news arrived 
that our army was between them and the 
enemy. 

During the war the following residents of 
the township were drafted and marched out; 
William Eldrege, Ezekiel Otis, Peter Johnson, 
John Warden, Charles Floy and Henry News- 
tetter. Stephen Eldrege, William Henry and 
Frederick Oberlin were also drafted, but hired 
substitutes. William Eldrege was elected en- 
sign and Peter Tohnson lieutenant of the mili- 
tia. Eldrege died of fever at lower Sandusky. 
Cliarles Hoy joined a volunteer company 
raised by Captain Roland, of Columbiana coun- 
ty, and was elected lieutenant. David Hos- 
tetter was elected ensign of the same company. 
!Uit two of the company, Nevvstetter and Otis, 
were engaged in battle with the enemy. It 
was in the attempt to retake Fort Mackinaw 
(Aui;ust 4. 1814), then in possession of the 
British. Major Homes, with a detachment of 
seven hundred men. militia and regulars, made 
an advance, but was repulsed, with a small 
loss. Among the slain was Richard Small- 
wood, of Canton. 

Brookfield, the first village in the town- 
ship, was never laid out, but the land was sold 
by the owner, Jonathan Winter, in half and 
quarter-acre lots to suit purchasers. It was 
first called Slusserstown, from the circum- 
stance of Philip Slusser's building in it a large 
frame house, the first of the kind in the town- 
ship, in which he opened a tavern. Peter 
fohnson, at an earlv dav, had a small store in 



86 



OLD LANDMARKS 



this building, previous to wliich the trading of 
the settlers was principally done in Canton and 
Kendall. Henry and Cummins erected a steam 
mill here in 1831, which was the first steam 
works introduced in the county. 

Greenville was laid out in June, 1829, by 
Jacob Frey. 

The early settlers of Tuscarawas township 
were above the ordinary class of "border ruffi- 
ans." Rarely was their neighborho(.)(l dis- 
turbed by tlie broils or contentions that so fre- 
(juently characterized the settlement of a new 
country. Imbued with a proper sense of char- 
acter, and conscious of their mutual depend- 
ence, they were respectful in their intercourse 
with each other and reciprocal in their accom- 
modations. In politics they were as one man 
in the support of the then existing administra- 
tion, with the single exception of John Mason, 
who was in sentiment a Federalist, nor did he 
have any hesitancy in avowing it. He was bit- 
terly opposed to the war, and although willing 
to rejoice with his neighbors on the receipt of 
intelligence of a victory obtained by our army, 
he would jocularly remark that he could throw 
up his hat with them, but not quite so high. 

Among them, too, were some notable men. 
William Henry occupied a prominent position 
among the early settlers of the ubiquitous west. 
He was the first member sent to the legislature 
from our county, and was soon afterward elect- 
ed to the bench, after which he bore the title 
of Judge. He was an early land jobber and 
one of the original proprietors of Wooster. 

Adam Poe, who was engaged with his 
brother, Andrew, in the celebrated fight with 
Big Foot, died and was buried in this town- 
ship, in 1812. In the particulars of that en- 
counter, given by some writers, he is confound- 
ed with his brother Andrew. It was Adam 
who shot Big Foot, and whenever the subject 
was alluded to in his presence, as it frequentl}' 
was purposely to draw him out, his eyes would 
sparkle, his whole countenance light up, and he 



would recount the circumstances with minute- 
ness and much feeling. 

Daniel Hoy was remarkable for his physi- 
cal strength. According to accounts he was 
without doubt the stoutest man that has ever 
lived in Stark county. His equal was not to 
be found in his day, in the opinion of his co- 
temporaries. He was over six feet in height, 
well proportioned, possessing powerful muscu- 
lar development and activity. It was not un- 
common for him, at raisings and upon other 
occasions, to lift against four and even six 
ordinary men. He was not a fighting man, 
as his very appearance was sufficient to intimi- 
date the stoutest heart who might have ever 
been eager to measure his pugilistic power. He 
was rather inclined to be a peacemaker, and 
frequently prevented fights by threatening to 
chastise both belligerents. On one occasion, at 
a militia training at Kendall, two stout-looking 
men had stripped, chosen their seconds and en- 
tered the ring. He made his way through the 
crowd, stepped fearlessly into the ring, grasped 
each of the combatants, held them at arms' 
length, bumped their heads together and or- 
dered them to desist, upon penalty of severe 
chastisement. The stories told of his feats of 
strength and agility are wonderful. His sis- 
ter, Amanda, who married Andrew Poe, was 
likewise noted for her physical ability. On one 
occasion, while yet single, at a trial of strength 
among a company of young men assembled at 
her father's house, in an attempt to lift nine 
bushels of shelled corn in three bags tied to- 
gether by their mouth, which feat, with diffi- 
culty, could be done by any of them, she de- 
literately raised the bags by her shoulders and 
carried them across the room. It was easy 
for her to shoulder a three-bushel bag of wheat 
and throw it upon a horse, a feat that would 
require at least a pair of strong minded women 
of the present day to perform. Two of her 
sons, Daniel and Adam, entered the Methodist 
ministry. Daniel was a missionary among the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



87 



Iiulian tribes of the northwest, was transferred 
to Texas, and there died. Adam had been 
presiding elder, was connected with the Metho- 
dist Book Concern, and later was associated 
editor of the Western Christian Advocate. 

The Wardens, Eldreges and Harrises were 
all prominent and influential citizens of the 
township. Stephen Harris first settled in what 
is now Lawrence, but removed within the pres- 
ent limits of Tuscarawas in 18 14. In that year 
he set out an orchard, which, it may be stated as 
a remarkable fact, never failed to yield fruit. 
In seasons when peaches were not to be found 
far or near his orchard would yield at least 
half an average crop. 

William Elliott, from York county, Penn- 
sylvania, settled in the township in 1814. He 
was a man of integrity and of reliable judg- 
ment, and was ofttimes called upon to arbi- 
trate matters in dispute, such as naturally arise 
in the settlement of a new country. When 
our country was engaged in war with France, 
in 1798, and congress had given orders to raise 
a land force, and appointed General Washing- 
ton commander-in-chief, Mr. Elliott enrolled 
himself in the army. But the difficulty was 
adjusted upon the waters, without the recjuisi- 
tion of the army. For morality, thrift, gen- 
eral intelligence and the ordinary attributes 
constituting a right community, the settlers of 
Tuscarawas township will compare favorably 
with anv in the countv- 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 

This township., so named in honor oi the 
first President of the United States, lies in 
the eastern part of Stark county, with the fol- 
lowing boundaries : Columbiana county on the 
east, and the townships of Lexington, Paris 
and Nimishillen on the north, south and west, 
respectixely. It is civic township 18. range 



6 of the congressional survey, and contains 
about thirty-six square miles of territory, 
which for agricultural purposes, stock raising 
and all that tends to material prosperity is per- 
haps unexcelled by any like area -in the county 
of Stark. Topographically the township is 
varied, being gently undulating in portions, 
broken in others, but in no part is the land too 
rugged for successful tillage, being in the main 
comparatively level and traversed by a number 
of small streams and water courses which af- 
ford ample drainage. From east to west, 
through the central part, is a ridge separating 
the head waters of Sandy creek from the Ma- 
honing river. This ridge, though irregular 
and severed at intervals, is distinctly defined 
and serves as a water shed, the land to the 
north sloping gradually in that direction and 
sending its waters into Beech creek, the drain- 
ing to the south finding its way into Black 
Plughes and Sandy creeks, the last named one 
of the leading affluents of the Tuscarawas. 
The township was originally covered with a 
dense growth of the usual varieties of timber 
found in this part of the state, — oak, walnut, 
poplar, beech and a variety of other species 
predominating on the broken lands, while elms 
of gigantic size grew on, the lower portions 
and skirted the water courses. The soil, in 
the main a deep black loam resting upon a 
clay subsoil, is rich in all the elements of plant 
food, and, as already indicated, is peculiarly 
adapted to general agriculture, all the grains, 
fruits and vegetables raised in this country be- 
ing of sure growth and prolific returns. 

At this late day it is impossible to ascertain 
with any degree of accuracy who were the first 
white men to locate homes within the present 
limits of Washington township, no record of 
the early settlers having been kept, and but 
little attention being paid to anything concern- 
ing them. It is possible that the first comers 
were "squatters" or hunters, a restless, adven- 
turous class that appeared as the precursors of 



88 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ci\ ilizalimi. and wlio, after remaining a brief 
peril 111. abandoned tlieir temporary improve- 
ments and migrated furtber westward. Tbe 
names of tbese early comers will never be 
known, as tbey left no traces behind by which 
they could be identified or by which the story 
of their strange, simple lives could be 
learned. One of the first permanent settlers 
of whom there is any definite knowledge was a 
man by the name of Ezekiel Marsh, who was 
known to haA'e made a small improvement in 
section 14 prior to the year 1810. ^^l^en seen 
b_\' Ellis N. Johnson, of Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, that year, who made a tour of 
the country, Marsh was living alone in a rude 
log cabin furnished with a large rough chim- 
ney, lighted by a small window consisting of a 
simple pan'e of glass, and supplied with a few 
hand-made articles of furniture of the simplest 
pattern. Around this ])rimitive domicile; he had 
cleared about an acre and a half of ground, 
which, planted in corn, beans, potatoes and 
other \egetables, supplied his few household 
necessities, and. with the abundance of wild 
game with which the forest abounded, fur- 
nished a comfortaljle subsistence. After living 
a few years where he originally settled this in- 
domitable pioneer sold or traded his claim to 
Isaac Tinsman, and, purchasing another piece 
of land in the same locality, improved the same 
to the end of his days. Mr. Marsh was a large 
man w ith the strength of a Samson and abso- 
lutely a stranger to physical fear. Upon one 
occasion, while passing a neighbor's house, he 
heard several frightful screams issuing there- 
from, and, (|uickly entering, found a drunken 
lirute of a husband cruelly beating his wife, 
who, prostrate on the floor, was writhing be- 
neath the l)lows of a heavy oaken cudgel. 
Marsh at once interfered and, seizing the man 
by the shoulder, threw him by main force to 
the opposite side of the room. In the move- 
ment the frenzied man caught uj) a. large 
biUcher knife, and, as soon as free, ])lunged it 



deep into ^larsh's alulomen, inllicling a horri- 
ble wound, from the effect of which he died in 
great torment a few days later. The nnirderer 
was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to 
life imprisonment in the penitentiary. Isaac 
Tinsman improved the old man's farm and 
lived upon it many years. William Shafer was 
an early comer and aijout the time of his arrival 
the Harbster, Stucky and Dickey families came 
to the township, they being joined shortly after- 
wards by a lunnber of substantial pioneers who 
settled in \arious localities and made good im- 
prtnements. Among the early settlers were a 
numlier of thrifty (Jermans, and several 
Quaker families also came in when the 
countr}- was new and took an active 
part in its developnieiu. In the year 
1827 the following men owned land in 
the township, namely, — Samuel Bas.serim.ui, 
John Boyer, Isaac Bonsell, J. Conrad. Henry 
Davis, Michael Dickey. Joseph (irim. John (ial- 
braith, Holland Green, F. Harbster, Charles 
Hambleton, Jesse Hughes, Caleb Johnson, E. 
X. Johnson, Simon Johnson, Jacob Kittsmiller, 
Jacob Klingman, Timothy Kirk, Russell Knees, 
David Miller, John :\Iillison, R. M. Mason, 
John McHenry, Jonathan Pierpont, Silas Rise- 
ly. John Ruse, Jr., Samuel Stucky. John Shi\e- 
ly, Jacob Shively, John Shellenberger, Jacob 
Shideler. Daniel Shideler, William Shaf- 
fer, John Spoon, Jacob Sechrist, Jona- 
than Shappless, John" Towns, Sanuiel Tal- 
bot. John Talbot, John Unkefer. David 
Unkefer. 'i'homas Wickersham and Wil- 
liam Wood, the majority of whom moved to 
their respective claims, improved good farms 
and became permanent residents, the others, 
in a few years, disposing of their holdings at 
figures far in advance of the original price of 
entry. 

The first grist mill in the township was 
built by Ezekiel Marsh and stood on a small 
stream which received its water sujiply trom 
the natural drainage i>t the sum >uniling conn- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



89 



try. A rude dam of brush, stoue and logs was 
built across the stream, and a small race con- 
ducted the water to a great wheel Ijy which the 
machinery was operated. The mill was supplied 
with two sets of buhrs, for the grinding of 
wheat and corn, and the flour and meal, though 
of a course quality, was highly prized by the 
patrons. His enterprise was started about 1820 
and a few j-ears later a mill for the manufact- 
ure of lumber was built on the same dam by 
the same party. Sawing at that time was gen- 
erally on the shares, the proprietor of the mill 
taking half of the lumber as compensation for 
his labor. Both of these mills were well pat- 
ronized, and for nineteen years furnished the 
lumber and breadstutT for a large section of 
country in Washington and other townships. 
Mr. Marsh, with the assistance of his sons, op- 
erated them until his tragic death, after w-hich, 
bv reason of other mills being built in the 
\icinity, they gradually fell into disuse and 
were finally permitted to run down. 

The Hale brothers, of Steubenville. with 
the generous assistance of the citizens of Mt. 
Union, erected a mill at that latter place soon 
after it was laid out, but the enterprise came to 
an untimely end before being operated, the 
building burning to the ground immediately 
after completion. The proprietors at once pro- 
ceeded to erect another mill, wdiich was opera- 
ted under their direction a short time, and then 
sold to Solomon Teegardin, who did ciuite an 
extensive business until it met with the fate of 
its predecessor. Henry Schooley, in an early 
day. came to Salem and, with the encourage- 
ment and financial aid of the citizens of the 
town, built a flouring mill, the first 
in the township operated by steam pow- 
er. Two sets of stones were used at 
first, but the patronage grew so rap- 
idly that it was soon found nesessaiy to in- 
crease the graining capacity. Accordingly the 
old buhrs were removed and four sets of im- 
proved stones supiilied. A fine article of fli^ur 



was made and w'ith the new impro\-ements the 
proprietors began a combined custom and mer- 
chant work. Mr. Schooley disposed of the mill 
some years ago to a man by the name of Bard, 
by whom it was operated until it passed into 
other hands. The flouring mill at Strasburg 
was soon built soon after the railway station 
was located in the village, being a large frame 
structure, furnished with machinery for the 
manufacture of flour by the modern process. 

One of the early industries in Washington 
township, as well as in other parts of the coun- 
ty, was the distillery of ardent spirits, several 
parties having engaged in the business with 
more or less success. One of the first enter- 
prises of the kind in Washington was started 
by George Goodman, about two miles west of 
Mt. Union, his establishment consisting" of a 
single still, with a capacity of something like 
twenty gallons of whiskey per day. Another 
was built about fi\'e miles south of the above 
named village by .Michael Miller, who did a 
flourishing business for some years, making 
on an average of from thirty to thirty-five gal- 
lons per day, a goodly share of which found 
ready sale in the immediate neighborhood. Per- 
haps the largest and most successfully con- 
ducted distillery in the township was the one 
erected by Ezekiel Marsh, a few years after he 
came to the country, and at a time when w his- 
key was a itsual beverage and its manufacture 
considered legitimate and eminently respect- 
able. The building stood .by a spring near the 
proprietor's residence, and the daily output, 
amounting to about one barrel, was noted far 
and wide for its high grade of excellence. In 
order to insure good quality of spirits, it is said 
that he frequently redistilled it. thus adding 
greatly to its purity, strength and high repute. 
The business of manufacturing whiskey by the 
above and other parties continued unabated for 
a number of years, as everybody in the early 
day used the article and no assemblage or fes- 
ti\'e occasion was complete without a generous 



90 



OLD LANDMARKS 



supply of the ardent. It was considered a sure 
remedy for every ill to which poor humanity 
was subject, all the physicians prescribed it. 
and even ministers of the gospel were not ad- 
verse to sharpening their wits by an occasional 
draught from the cup, which never failed to 
arouse their eloquence or to give a keener 
edge to the formidable weapons with which 
they were wont to smite his Satanic majesty, 
"hip and thigli." Tn due time, however, the de- 
moralizing inHuences of the drink habit began 
to dawn upon the minds of the more morally 
and religiously inclined among the people, and 
to create a public sentiment against it to the end 
that at least some of its baleful effects might 
be checked, temperance societies were organ- 
ized in various parts of the country as early 
perhaps as 1838 or 1840. These were the out- 
growth of a great temperance movement inau- 
gurated in some of the eastern states late in the 
'twenties and which continued to spread until 
it reached Ohio. The societies in Washington 
township took form under the leadership of El- 
lis N. Johnson, a gifted speaker, who traversed 
the different settlements, addressing the people 
wherever he could obtain a hearing, his labors 
being very effective in inducing hundreds to 
sign the pledge of total abstinence and lead so- 
ber, industrious li\-es. One of the strongest of 
these organizations was established at Mt. Un- 
ion, where the majority of the populace became 
members, and so great was its influence that 
a number of parties engaged in the manufacture 
and sale of intoxicants abandoned the l)usiness, 
destroyed the distillations and their stock of 
liquors and became ardent and enthusiastic 
advocates of temperance. Mr. Johnson contin-i 
ued the good work for several years, and 
through his earnest and eloquent appeals an 
effective check was put to the habit, the bene- 
ficial influence of his work continuing for a 
long time afterwards. Without following the 
historj' of the mo\ ement an}- further, suffice it 
to state, that from that time to the present the 



citizens of Washington township have been 
noted as much for sobriety as for iiuelligence, 
industry and thrift, a healthy temperance senti- 
ment prevailing, which causes the drink habit 
to be looked upon with disfavor and frowned 
down by all decent and law-abiding people. 

Mt. Union, which lies partly in Washington 
township and partly in Lexington, dates its his- 
tory from August, 1833, when it was laid out 
on land belonging to Richard Fawcett, John 
Hare, E. N. Johnson and Job Johnson, each 
man owning ten of the forty lots of which the 
original plat consisted. The part of the town 
in Washington is located on sections i and 2 
anrl the lots across the line lie in sections 35 
and 36, Lexington township. The farm resi- 
dence of Job Johnson was the only building on 
the present site of the town when the survey 
was made. Shortly after the platting of the vil- 
lage Mr. Johnson erected several other dwell- 
ings, which were offered for sale and in due 
time found purchasers. He also opened a store 
and tavern, both of which appear to have been 
well patronized, and with the advent of me- 
chanics, such as blacksmiths, carpenters, shoe- 
makers and various other kinds of artisans, in- 
dustries sprang up and the town started upon 
an era of prosperit}- that augured well for its 
future. As the greater part of the town lies 
within the adjoining jurisdiction of Lexing- 
ton, the reader is respectfully referred to the 
sketch of the latter township for a more de- 
tailed account of its history and subsequent 
history and subsequent growth. 

Freeburg, lying in the south central part of 
the township on section 28, was surveyed in 
February, 1842, for Isidon Carrillon, proprie- 
tor, and as originally platted consisted of thir- 
ty-eight lots, which that gentleman immediately 
offered for sale. Owing to other and more 
important towns in the vicinity, the growth of 
Strasburg has been slow, nexertheless there 
have been a number of stores at different times, 
also shops of \-arious k-inds and while still a 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



91 



mere hamlet, it served as a local trading point 
of no little importance. 

Strasburg, in the northeastern part of the 
township, is situated in the midst of a fine agri- 
cultural district and furnishes a good trading 
point for a considerable area of territory. Its 
history proper dates from 1842, in August of 
\vhich year Gregory Gross and Jacob Stradier, 
owners of the land on which the town stands, 
l)rocured the services of a surveyor and had a 
plat of thirty lots laid out, the site occupying 
a part of the south half of section 8, t()\vnship 
18. These lots were at once put upon the mar- 
ket, but the sales were slow and considerable 
time elapsed before the town .gave much prom- 
ise of substantial growth. Stores were opened 
from time to time, some successful, some other- 
wise, and, in common with most country vil- 
lages, it soon numbered about the usual com- 
plement of mechanics, with a temporary class 
whose means of support were not visible. In 
the language of another writer, "The proprie- 
tors saw other \illages around them repeat the 
multiplication table, but they with all their 
strivings could never reach the addition. They 
became familiar with the results of subtraction, 
much to the division of their interests. The 
village is subject to fluctuations in population 
and prosperity. It has largely lost all probabili- 
ty of fame and renown, though its ambition is 
mountainous and measureless. It received its 
greatest impetus when the railroad station was 
located there, at which time improvements ad- 
vanced rapidly." Since the advent of the road 
the town has sustained its prestige as a local 
trading point, in addition to which considerable 
grain and live stock are shipped every year. Its 
present business, though limited, is by no 
means insignificant, and the probabilities are 
that Strasburg will always remain a place of no 
little importance to the people of the surround- 
ing country. 

The first schools in Washington township 
were taught in the cabins of the settlers, and 



supported by private subscriptions. Several 
terms were taught prior to the year 1820, but 
unfortunately the names of the early peda- 
gogues ha^e long been forgotten, as no official 
records of the schools were kept and but little 
attention paid to educational matters. It is re- 
liably stated that one of the first men to open 
his house for school purposes was Mr. Marsh 
and that the teacher was a young man from the 
east, who boarded among his pupils and took 
as remuneration for his services whatever the 
patrons saw fit to give. He is said to have been 
well educated, superior as an instructor to the 
majority of the early pedagogues, and that he 
was induced to remain and teach several terms. 
Other schools were taught in abandoned cabins 
throughout the township, and later buildings 
were erected especially for educational pur- 
poses, all of them log and but scantily fur- 
nished. One of the first of these backwoods 
colleges, perhaps the first in the township, was 
erected at Mt. L'nion as early as 1825. 
This was Cjuite an improvement on former 
buildings, as it was a place of religious wor- 
ship and public meetings as well as for 
a school house, and was built out of hewn 
logs. One of the first teachers in this building 
was Job Johnson, after whom came a number 
of others, the majority selected with reference 
to their physical ability to wield the birch, 
rather tlian by reason of their intelligence. Sev- 
eral good buildings were erected prior to 1830, 
but it was not until about the year 1842 that 
the township was divided into districts and the 
schools somewhat systematized. At first these 
districts were quite large, but as population in- 
creased they were subdivided to suit the con- 
veniences of the people and each provided with 
a good building. At this time none of the old 
structures are standing, having long since been 
replaced by buildings of modern design in 
which good schools are maiiU;iined several 
months of the year, teachers being chosen 
not only with reference to scholarship, but pro- 



92 



OLD LANDMARKS 



fessional training as well. It is not too much 
to claim for the educational system of Wash- 
ington township a high standard of excellence, 
as her schools compare favorably with the best 
in the county, all of them being well patronized, 
and the people point to them with pride, as one 
of their most valued and cherished posses- 
sions. 

The Fairmount Children's Home, designed 
for the care and education of orphan children 
in the district, composed of Stark and Colum- 
biana counties, is located in the western part of 
\\'ashington township, four miles south of Alli- 
ance and about one mile west of the Colum- 
biana county line. The farm, which includes 
an area of one hundred and fifty-four acres, 
is favorably located, and the object of the in- 
stitution is to furnish a home and training for 
indigent children of the two counties, under the 
age of sixteen, until suitable homes can be pro- 
vided for them or until they became capable of 
providing for themselves. The institution was 
organized under a law authorizing counties to 
establish children's homes, having been backed 
bv leading citizens of Stark and Columbiana 
counties, with a view of securing fa\-orable 
action by the respective commissioners' courts. 
It was originally intended to include the coun- 
ties of Stark, Columbiana. Mahoning and Por- 
tage, but the latter two subsequently withdrew, 
leaving the district with its present boundaries. 
The movement was inaugurated in 1874, but 
it was not until the following year that it took 
definite shape, the commissioners of the coun- 
ties of Columbiana and Stark signing. May 5, 
1875, the deed for the land, which was pur- 
chased for the sum of thirteen thousand, seven 
hundred and seventy dollars. Plans and spec- 
ifications for the buildin were prepared by H. 
N. Myers, an architect of Cleveland, which be- 
ing adopted, the contract for erecting the same 
was awarded Parkinson & Morrison, of New 
Lisbon, the total cost of the building and fur- 
nishing amounting to about sixt}'-fi\'e thousand 



dollars. The real estate, which represents 
a value of over fifteen thousand dol- 
lars, brings the total cost of the institution 
somewhat in excess of eighty thousand dollars, 
certainly no small sum for the two counties to 
devote to charitable purposes in this particular 
direction. The home consists of a main build- 
ing, several cottages, farm house, !)ake house, 
large boiler house, and good barn, wagon 
house and slaughter house, and the necessary 
outbuildings, all of which are kept in good re- 
pair and excellent sanitary condition. The main 
building is one hundred and eighteen feet long, 
eighty feet in the widest part and three stories 
high, exclusive of basement. The first floor 
is used for offices, reception rooms, store rooms, 
pantries, dining rooms and parlor. The school 
rooms, all large, commodious and well lighted, 
are on the second floor; also the superintend- 
ent's office, the third fioor containing several 
good sized rooms, in addition to two large 
tanks for soft and hard water. In the rear of 
the main liuilding are two cottages, each thirty- 
two bv thirty-nine feet in area, the first floor 
in each containing a nursery and sitting-room 
for the children, a bed room for the nurse and 
cottage matron, also a wash and Ijath room. 
On the second floor of each cottage are two 
dormitories and wardrobes, the cottages be- 
ing connected by a covered passage to the main 
building. The farm house consists of a large 
sitting room, dormitory, bed rooms for the 
children from four to six years old. The home 
was completed in 1876. and dedicated with ap- 
propriate ceremonies. Dr. J- P- Buck being 
elected to take charge of the institution. It 
was opened October 31 of the above year, 
with sixteen children from the Stark County 
Infirmary and before the end of the first year 
this number increased to one hundred and 
eighty-six, about equally divided between the 
two counties. From the opening to the pres- 
ent time hundreds of orphans have found a 
pleasant home within the hospitable walls of the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



93 



institution, and, untler the direction of compe- 
tent teachers, received an intellectual and moral 
training equal to that imparted by the best 
schools of the land, also instruction in the more 
practical attairs of life, preparing them for the 
duties of manhood and wojiianhood. Fairmount 
Home is largely self sustaining", the farm being- 
well cultivated and yielding abundant crops, 
boys doing the greater part cif the labor. The 
older boys work half the day and attend school 
the other half, those from six to ten attending 
regularly during the school hours without va- 
cation. A fine Suntlay school is maintained, 
which all old enough are required to attend, and 
on Sunday ministers of different denominations 
favor the home with sermons, addresses and 
religious instruction. As already indicated, 
practical education is one of the main features 
of the institution, the boys being taught farm- 
ing and various mechanical pursuits, and the 
girls trained in all the duties of housekeeping, 
also in the art of needle W'ork, plain and fancy, 
they, like the boys, working .half of the day 
and attending school the c>ther half. The older 
girls also assist in the kitchen, laundry and din- 
ing rooms, where under competent direction 
they become in due time efficient in all lines of 
household duty. Careful attention is paid to 
the bodily condition of tlie inmates, to the end 
that when old enough to leave the home they 
may go forth into the world symmetrically de- 
\'eloped men and women, mentally, morally 
and physically qualified for life's duties. In 
concluding the article from which the fore- 
going facts are compiled, ]Mr. Hopely says: 
"Fairmount is emphatically a home for those 
Vv-ho otiierwise would be homeless, and it is a 
wise economy for the citizens of Stark and 
Columbiana counties to take these poor, friend- 
less children and provide them good home 
training so that at majority they will be able 
to take care of themsehes, rather than have 
them homeless and hardened criminals or con- 
firmerl paupers. The institution is doing a 



work the \'alue ot which cannot now be esti- 
mated, but must be acknowledged in time to 
come. Were it not for the fostering care of the 
home the majority of its inmates would be sur- 
rounded l)v baleful influences and grow up in 
ignorance." 

Public worship was introduced into Wash- 
ington township contemporaneous with its ear- 
liest settlement, the majorit}' of the pioneers 
having been a moral and religious class of 
]5eople. Ministers of the Baptist church vis- 
ited the sparse settlements as early as 1817, and 
preached f r> im house to liouse, also in groves, 
and were instrumental in winning many souls 
to the higher life. Itinerant Methodist preach- 
ers also appeared in an early day, and with the 
accustomed energy and zeal displayed by rep- 
resentati\es of that denomination everywhere 
gathered the people into congregations, organ- 
ized classes ami did a most effective work in 
moulding the religious sentiment of the differ- 
ent communities. The Friends were not far be- 
hind in introducing the tenets of their faith. 
se\-eral Quaker preachers having settled in the 
tovvnship prior to 1820, while others visited 
the country from time to time and conducted 
iniblic worsh.ip in the homes of the brethren. 
One of the first churches in the township was 
organized by the Baptists at Mt. Union, and fur 
some years the old log house near the grave- 
yard was utilized as a place of worship. Later 
the society erecteel a brick building, one of the 
first edifices of the kind in the to\\nship, com- 
pleting and opening it for public worship about 
the year 1830. .\ small frame building erected 
by the Methodists stood just across the line 
in Lexington township, the lot upon which it 
stood being d<Jnated by Job Johnson. This 
house was built some time in the early 'thirties 
and served the purposes for wliich intended 
many years, a flourishing congregation having 
grown up in that locality. At Strasburg is a 
Catholic church, (he histor_\' of which goes back 
to the early settlement of that part of the 



94 



OLD LANDMARKS 



township, and the United Brethren in later 
years organized a society and built a neat house 
of worship in section ii. The denomination 
known as Albrights have an organization and 
a building in section 22, and for a number of 
years the Methodists have maintained a healthy 
society at Freeburg. Some of the early churches 
liave been disbanded, others have had only a 
precarious existence, while several have been 
in flourishing condition ever since organized. 
There are adequate church facilities at this time 
for the people of the township, the different 
organizations being well supported and pros- 
perous. 

Tt is a well-known fact that several stations 
of the celebrated "underground railroad" were 
established in this township in ante-bellum days 
and many a poor fugitive slave by this means 
was assisted to freedom across the Canadian 
border. The Quakers, who ever regarded in- 
voluntary human servitude with undying an- 
tipathy, are said to have kept the secret sta- 
tions, and to them the runaway bondmen inva- 
riably applied for aid and never in vain. Not 
only did they hide the runaway and at night take 
him on to the next place of concealment, but 
not infrequently they made it decidedly un- 
pleasant for the officers in pursuit of the fugi- 
tive, not a few of whom were compelled to 
quit the locality in a hurry and with scant cere- 
mony. 



OSNABURGH TOWNSHIP. 

By Lew Si-i'sser. 

Osnaburgh township and the town of Os- 
naburgh were located and named before the 
organization of Stark county. The township 
was first surveyed in November, 1801, by 
John Bever, in sections of four miles square, 
subdivided in 1806 by James C. McFarland. It 
was originally a part of Columbiana county, 
and its jurisdiction extended over all that 



part of Starke county now lying east 
of Canton township and extending to 
the present western boundary line of 
Columbiana county. As near as can be as- 
certained from cotemporaneous events, the 
township was organized in the year 1806. The 
records of Columbiana county of that date are 
lost or destroyed, at all events nothing has been 
discovered that would enlighten us from any 
researches made among the archives of that 
county. 

On a beautiful morning in the fall of 1805 
five horsemen migiit have been seen emerging 
from New Lisbon, then a frontier settlement of 
less than a dozen log cabins, wending tiieir way 
westward. They were a party made up to se- 
lect land for future homes. Of the number 
were Jacob Kitt, John Sluss, John Thomas, 
another whose name has been forgotten and a 
surveyor engaged to accompany them as guide, 
and who had field notes and knew what quar- 
ter sections were yet open to entry. The land 
offce was tlien in Steubenville, called at tliat 
time, for short, Steuben, with an accent on the 
last syllalile. As there was no settlement be- 
tween New Lisbon and the Tuscarawas river, 
the extent of the land ofilce district, it was nec- 
es.sary for the explorers to provide tlieniselves 
with rations— brearl and cold meat — in suffi- 
cient quantity to last several days, which could 
easily be packed in their saddlebags, and this, 
with a blanket strapped to the saddle, consti- 
tuted the outfit. The horses could obtain sub- 
sistence by feeding upon grass and wil'i pea 
vine, a succulent growth of which the woods 
then abounded. 'J'he party moved along in sin- 
gle file, following the section line as indicated 
by "blaze" mark? on the trees, until they 
reached range 7, when they turned south. I'ur- 
suing a southwesterly course, they came to a 
spring. Here they all dismounted to take a 
drink and allow their horses to graze. While 
resting and viewing the surroundings, Kitt was 
first to say, "T"l take this quarter." This was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



95 



the southeastern quarter of section i8. At that 
day, for obvious reasons, land that iiad on it a 
good spring of water was preferred. At the 
time Mr. Kitt announced his decision to take 
the piece, the rest of the company, with the es:- 
ception of on.e, agreed by an auchble assent that 
he should ha\e it, and a memorandum was 
made accordingly. The member of the com- 
pany who interposed no objection, but was si- 
lent, is the one whose name we could not pro- 
cure. Continuing their explorations, the next 
place they found that had a spring was the 
south\vest quarter of section 17, and this was 
tirst claimed l)y John Sluss. Again the balance 
of the company said "agreed" except one who 
was silent before. This strange conduct on his 
part excited the suspicions of Mr. Kitt. Rumi- 
nating over the matter during the night, he was 
satisfied the stranger intended to enter the same 
quarter and to frustrate him. Mr. Kitt con- 
cluded to make an excuse in the morning and 
return home, which he did with all haste. Pro- 
viding himself with the necessary funds to 
make the first payment, he proceeded to the land 
office in Steubenville, secured the land, and as 
he was aix)ut leaving the town, whom s'nould 
he meet but tiie very man whose ominous si- 
lence had so tlisturbed him. His suspicions 
were true, as the man acknowledged that he 
vvas after the same tract Mr. Kitt had just en- 
tered. 

Ml-. Sluss. on his retiu-n, secured ]:he place 
he had selected. Both he and Kitt were mar- 
ried and were li\ ing upon land in the neigh- 
borhood of New Lis1x)n. They remained there 
diuMug the svinter of 1806, and came out to- 
gether in the spring. Each had two horses 
and Mr. Kitt a wagon. They joined teams and 
in the wagon botii couples packed all their 
wordly goods. Their route was by the Thomas 
road, then being laid out. the same that passes 
through Freeliurgh and Louisville, the fifst le- 
gal highway in the county. They came to the 
improvement of Philip Slusser. who was then 



building a grist mill and saw mill on the Nimi- 
shillen. '\Vith the help obtained here, and the 
assistance of James F. Leonard, a surveyor, 
who had camped on the west side of the creek, 
the two emigrants cut a way to their new homes 
m Osnaburgh township. Mr. Kitt brought 
a "hireling" with hmi. With his help, poles 
were cut, clapboards rived out, and, within a 
few da)'s a comfortable cabin was erected. The 
door was hung with wooden hinges, and the 
latch so constructed as to open with a string 
from the outside, a style of building quite pop- 
lar in the presidential campaign uf 1840, as 
many of our readers will remember. A small 
opening was made on one side of the cabin, and 
this, covered with oiled paper, answered the 
purpose of a window. A fireplace, connected 
with a chimney outside, made of sticks and clay 
mortar, occupied one end. There was no floor 
other than the ground. A bedstead vvas con- 
structed in one corner of the cabin by framing 
in a side and footboard. The bed tick was filled 
with leaves. Their cooking utensile consisted 
uf a tea kettle, a frying pan and a Dutch oven. 
.A chest answered the purpose of a table, and 
the table furniture was a few knives and forks, 
cui)s and saucers made of yellow earthen- 
ware, and se\eral plain pewter plates. For 
some time Mrs. Kitt kneaded her dough 
in a liucket, afterward in a sugar trough. 
Tl!e\- Ijrought with them a sow and a 
COW". In a short time the sow had a litter of 
eight pigs, and the cow a calf. Although re- 
joiced at this accession, it increased their per- 
plexities. The wolves were attracted by the 
smell of cooking, and to save the young off- 
sjjring at night, it \vas necessary to take them 
into the cabin. 

About six weeks after Mr. Kitt was settled 
in his home he was in the woods one morning, 
when he heard chopping at a distance. Suspect- 
ing there were Indians about, he returned to 
his cabin, procured his rifle and started in the 
direction of the sound. He advanced cautious- 



90 



OLP I.INDM.-IKKS 



l\ , .il\\,i\s kivpiii!^ a lai'i^o tree in r.m,m- l>oi\\oi'n 
Itimsoll ami iho locality ifom wIk-ik-i- ilio siuiiul 
caim\ Appioacluiis;' iioarcr. lu- lUiooti'tl from 
tlu" soiiiul of tlio ohopiiiii!^ that it was not iloiio 
li\ liiillans. l'"ml>oKloiu'il In tins ihscov I'l \ , ho 
advaiK'oil upon tlic company ami fonnd (hem 
to ho Iho l.atimois, James, riiomas aitd Koheit, 
with two hiioil mot\. who weiv cloarini; section 
I ^, V ',uil>in low nship. ,i1huiI a iiiilo ilisiaiii 1 1 oni 
Mf. Kitt's opemn,!;. As a matter ol tact Mr. 
ami Mrs, Ki<t were reji>icoil to loaru they had 
snch close neii;'hhors. 

In line lime Mrs, kill c\pccicil lo ho sick, 
,iml w here to procure professional assistance lor 
th.it interest ini^' occasion was a sore tituihle to 
Mr, Kill, riieic w,is wo doctoi nearer ihan 
\c\\ l.ishon, a dislauce oi lhirl\ miles. To 
semi there was out of the i|nestion, *.'onsnltin},j 
his neiij'hiior Latimer on the suhject, he was re 
lie\ Oil oi .ill .iii\iet\ , w hen loM tli.ii ,\l i s, Slriw , 
his mother in l.iw and a inemher oi his f.miily , 
hail experience in that line and wonld clurrfnlly 
respond when her services wcic necvled. Sep- 
lemher _■". l8(V>. .\l.ir\ Km w.is horn, iho tirsi 
white child horn m Sl.irU connly. She after- 
ward hecame the wife oi losoph Poll, oi Osna- 
hnr.iih, t loorj^o I ,atiiner, son o\ Kohert, the first 
in. lie child, was horn soon after, lie died in 
\shl.iml connly, in the spriiij; of iS^^^. from in- 
jnrios nvoived in falling' fnim a load oi straw. 

( If the pri\,itioiis oi John SInss we ha\e not 
heen ahlo to i,;,ithei amthini.; oi s|Hvi,il interest, 
lie was a tpiiel, nnohtrnsixe m.m. held in hi.^h 
esteem l\v the community, lie was early elected, 
justice of tl\e peace, which otVice he held iov 
many siiooessixe terms, w.is county commis- 
sioner several terms, and a candidate for tite 
lej^islatmo, I'oth he auil his wile attained a 
j>ood old .li^o .Mrs, .Slnss died (irst, .nul when 
Mr, Sluss orderinl the oolViu for her he re 
m.'irked to the undertaktM" that as he should 
need one soon for himself, he would order it at 
the same time, which he accordinjjly did. and 
paiil the price, six dollars, the cost at that da\ 



oi ilie host w.ilnni CvitVin m.ido. At the death 
ol ,Mrs, .Sluss, he made sale, disposevl K^i lit- 
propertv amonj,; his children, four d,iu^hter> 
and iwii sons ,11 id ,ua\o his f,irin io a son -in law . 
wiih whom ho made his home. 1 le died a feu 
years aiioi , 

In onnmor.iiini; the o.iiK settlors of iho 

I tow uship, oiilv those are inchulod wlioc.imehe 
lore the w.it ol iSi.'. ,\nioiij; ihein m.i\ ho 
mentioned James Keeper, \\ illiam X.iilor. John 
."^tndehcclier, a l">nnl<:.\rd preacher, who came 
with all his worldly yiiods packed tipon ;i horse 
and Cow. lacoh rio\el, J.icoh liowors, I'eler 
Met. aho. 1 lenrv ,iiid .\d,iin .^linll, John and 
( ioori^o .Mc'Miiorfer. n.miel llr,i\hill, llenr\ 
Kowm,!!!. lohii (.'riswoll, the Shearers, four 
hrothers, i,icoh, lohii, Adam .iml Henry, IXin- 
iel and John I icliienwalter, the Idoreys and the 
Tamivs. who had some re|nilation as lighters, 
iho Hans. S.ininol W hiio, c ',ispor (ioph.irl, saui 
lo h.ixe heen a 1 iessiau, and others w hose n,iino- 
have pas.sed from recollectivni. 

The town oi Osnahnr^h was laid oni l>\ 
lames Keeper, oi W ,ishimiton county, rcnnsvl- 
vauia. in tSoo, in anticipation of heinj,;- made 
lite cminty se.it y^i the new county, to he soon 
ori;aiii/ed, 1 lo hnih a one story lot;' c.ihin, and 
called it a tavern. Keeper w.is a ilnont t.ilker. 
and as his lunise was a stt^ppiny place iov e\er\ 
one who came out west in search of land, he iu- 
lUteuced many to select homes in the ueiijhhor 
hood, lie also induced nnYhanies to settle in 
Osn.ihur,i.di, I'eim; of a .social disposition, he 
contractetl the hahit of driukinj^'. which event- 
ually weakened his intluence. It has often heen 
remarked th.u hut for Joseph Keeper's habits, 
which impressed strauji^ers unfavorably, ("^s- 
u;ibur_i;h would have acqnirevl such a start 
over lanliMi as to h.ivo nndonhu^llv in.ulo 
it the county seat, (."anion was laivl out 
the next year, ami as l^a.'aKxM Wells, the 
proprietor. w,is ,i m.m of char.icter. the 
inlhience ho oxonod in heh.ilf oi lauton 

more than connteih.dancod the s»\p|H>sed 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



97 



•uhautag'e ul its ii\al town, l-ccpor's habits 
(>!' ilissiiKitiou so iiuTcased ui)oii him thai ho 
t'\oiUuall\' hail an attack oi deliriimi tremens, 
a disease more commonly known as '"snakes in 
the boots." While snAering- w ith an attack of 
tiiis kind, he escaped fi\>m his home in the nij^ht 
time, and was I'mnid next morning;- dead i\ing 
ill a imul |)U(l<lle. lie had e\iilently drowned, 
as his lace was ciMiipleteiy submerged in the 
water, it \\;is said that Mrs. Leqier contractcil 
the same bad li.abit as that of her husband. Shi» 
lued a hard lile — makiui.; her home with a ten- 
ant by ti\e name of Jacob Uhtem, his house took 
lire and she was burned to death. 

The next p«bhc house was kept by William 
N.ailor. Since the organization of the tow nsliip 
it supported no iniblic bouse that lurnisiieil bet- 
ter accomminlations than the one long kept by 
Jacob l\,q)linger. 

The tirst store in the town was openeil on 
1.S07, by John McConnell, Mis stock of goods 
was (|uite limited, contiued to the leading arti- 
cles in dem;md in a new country. McConnell 
liecaiiie loo intimate w ith a daughter of Gephart 
and found it healthy to leave the country. The 
firm of I'ptlegralY iK. Mctiuggins kept a hatter 
shop at an early day. Ihc first grist-mill in 
the tow usliip w as erected by Peter Boyer, about 
iSi.|.. I'hc next was by Daniel Laird, on Lit- 
tle S.indy. Trevious to this settlers bail their 
griiulmg done at Slusser & Nochol's on the 
Niniishillen. The first <a\v mill was elected by 
Abram Bair. 

file lirst tieath in the ttiwnship was Mrs. 
Milligiii, who died in chiklbed. As there was 
nil minister at the funeral, William Hutchin- 
son, a school teacher. olViciated in that capacity, 
fhcre was comparatively little sickness aiuong \ 
the pioneer settlers of the township. Ira WOod 
was the first known doctor who hung out a shin- 
gle, but the year of his advent has not been 
ascertained. 

'file first school in ilic township of which 
we have ,iny account was l.uii^ht Iw John \n 



gustine. ill iSiS. Previous to that time scholars 
went to a school building on the Aultman place, 
in (."anton township. It was during the winter 
of the school taught by Augustine that there 
w as ,1 fall of o\er three feet of snow in one day 
ami the children had to be taken home on horse- 
back. /\. few days afterwarti it rained and 
froze, forming a hard crust upon the snow. 
Many deer were caught by the larger lx)ys, 
among them a large stout buck, which they 
kept in a pen near the school hottse. lie 
altotxled .sjiort for them (.luring recess, but as 
he refused fcmd llicy turned him loose again. 

■fhe Rairs. Rudol[)h, .Stophel and Abraham, 
figtired i)roininently among the lirst settlers. 
kiidolpli, .ir K'lidw as he was commonly called, 
was a member of the first convention that 
formed a st:ite constitution, and afterward rep- 
resented t'olumbiana, then including Stark, in 
the legislature. Uiuly and Stophel were broth- 
ers r.olli entered land in Usnalnirgb township, 
but Uudy settled in what is now Paris township 
(which before that was under the jurisdiction 
of Osnaburgh) ami was an acting justiceof the 
peace, fhe lirst law suit in the county was tried 
before him. fhe particulars, as handed down 
Ihrough several generations, are as follows: 
fbonias and r.osserman traded horses, and as 
f liom.is considered himself cheated in the swap, 
brought suit against l>o.sserman for damages. 
1 lockinsmith, of I'ike, was constable, and sub 
pa'iiaed three wiliu'sses. fhe parlies anil the 
w iluesses were present on the d;iy set for tri.al. 
When the ]);irties met, Rudy brought out a jug 
of whisky .iiid proposed a drink all around. At 
the close of this preliminary indulgence, he sug- 
gested that they settle the case without going to 
trial — th;it e.icli one make his statement, and he 
would gi\e judgment, 'fo this 'fhon-ias ob- 
jected, but after considerable talk and another 
horn, be agreed. ICacb told bis story, when the 
court, after due deliberation, di'cideil that lios- 
sermaii should pa\ fliomas three dollars and 
ilk- coust.iblc's fees, whereupon .all ih";iiik ;igaiu 



98 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and exi)rf.sse(l tliemsehes satisfied. The Squire 
was rejoiced at liis success in settling the case, 
as his docket, which he kept between tlie rafters 
of his cabin, had been carried away by the 
squirrels and he had nothing in which to make 
the entry. The first justice of the peace elected 
in the township was William Nailor, commis- 
sioned ]\Iay I-, 1809. The next was Jacob Ful- 
ton, whose commission dates a few days later. 
John Sluss and John Augustine were the next 
succeeding. 

Indians frequently made their appearance 
among the settlers, but never excited any dis- 
turbance or did any harm. They would often 
call for something to eat, especially if they were 
unsuccessful in their hunts, and never failed to 
carr}' off whatever of the food was left. Their 
camping grounds were west of the Tu.scarawas 
river. 

In the evening frolics that followed the corn 
huskings, tlax puUings and log rollings of that 
day, music on fiddle was furnished liy Henry 
Camp. 

Adam Bair. son of Stopel, had the reputa- 
tion of being the stoutest man in the township, 
though Jacob Shierly, a Dunkard, from Bed- 
ford county, Pennsylvania, was reputed a man 
of great muscular form. He was a large man 
and, as the story went, he was once beset by a 
crowd of seven men, was slapped on the cheek, 
when he turned the other and was struck again. 
This he said was according to scripture, and he 
would now defend himself. He turned upon 
the crowd and vanquished the se\en. jiiling 
them up on top of each other. 

The first marriage of which we have any 
account was mixed up with a bit of romance. 
There were Mr. and Mrs. Andrew living in 
Osnaburg, who had two children. Andrew was 
a drunken loafer and would do nothing for the 
support of his family, Airs. Andrew being com- 
pelled to work out. She was a good spinner, 
and went from house to house, taking her chil- 
dren with her. earning about a dollar a week, 



besides board for herself and children. A man 
by the name of Ihry, a German, proposed to 
marry her and was accepted, although she was 
not di\orced from Andrew. Mr. Kitt brought 
the couple to Canton, and they were married by 
Esquire Coulter. They lived together three 
years, when Ihry died, leaving his wife a com- 
fortable homestead. 

It was the custom after the close of the war 
of 1812, under a law of the state, to hold annual 
military training, or general muster, as it was 
called, for the purpose of drill and inspection. 
Those were in the days of the old flint-lock and 
the powder horn. The usual places for the 
troops to assemble were Canton, Kendall (now 
fourth ward of Missillon), Loutzenheiser's 
(now Louisville) and Osnaburgh. It was an 
occasion that drew together young and old, 
male and female, for many miles around. The 
scenes and incidents of the day, the parade, 
sham-battle, personal encounter, the evening 
"strauss." furnished subject matter for fireside 
talk long afterward. By common consent, sec- 
tional disputes were then revived. Each party 
had his friends or backers on hand and a fight 
was generally the result. Very often others be- 
came in\ol'ed, and more fights followed. It 
was on an occasion of this kind, at an "Osna- 
burgh muster," that the most noted hand-to- 
hand fight took place that ever occurred in the 
county. It was between Jacob Sherrick and 
Richard Elson. The particulars of the figlit 
are gathered from persons who were eye wit- 
nesses. There had been a little brush the win- 
ter previous between John Sherrick, brother of 
Jacob, and Elson, at a singing school, near the 
present site of Mapleton. It seemed to be un- 
derstood that the fight would be renewed and 
fought out at the next Osnaburgh muster. Both 
parties came prepared, but for some reason Ja- 
cob Sherrick. though younger than John, and 
not considered so stout, took the place of John 
in the fight. .'\t the close of the parade the par- 
ties came together, and the preliminaries were 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



99 



soon settled. It was agreed that they go into 
an inclosed lot with their seconds only. Sher- 
rick was backed by John Beam, and Elson by 
John Creighton. Sherrick was about twenty- 
two years of age, five feet ten inches in height 
antl one hundred and sixty pounds in weight, 
muscles well developed, but without experience 
as a tighter. Elson was judged to be twenty- 
eight and taller than Sherrick, without cum- 
liroiis llesh ; he had been a raftsman on the Mis- 
sissippi, accustomed to Ixjuts, and rather liked it. 
Principals and seconds stripped themselves of 
all wearing apparel except their pants and shoes. 
Flson was the first to enter the lot, and as he 
did so mounted a stump, flapped his arms and 
gave a crow. Sherrick followed immediately 
after, approached the stump and held out his 
head as a challenge for Elson to strike. The 
latter stepped down from the stump, and for a 
few seconds the principals eyed each other, 
while the seconds of each stood a few- 
steps to the rear. While the crowd of 
spectators looked on in breathless sus- 
pense, they could not but admire the appearance 
and bearing of the men. Cautiously they ad- 
vanced toward each other, and when within 
striking distance the fight commenced. As the 
blows struck the sound could be distinctly heard 
l)y persons outside the crowd, who were unable 
to see the combatants. After repeated blows 
Sherrick closed in upon Elson and- threw him. 
When they fell the multitude could no longer 
be restrained, but sinudtaneously broke down 
the fence and crowded around the belligerents. 
The efforts of the seconds to beat them l)ack 
were futile. The fight continued on the ground, 
first one then the other seeming to have advan- 
tage, until lx)th were completely exhausted. 
They were finally separated by the friends, 
neither acknowledging himself defeated, the 
\ ictory being claimed by friends of both. There 
was considerable speculation for years after as 
to probability of there being another meeting 
between them to settle the championship, but i; 



was never brought aljout. This engagement is 
considered the most stubbornly contested fight 
that ever occurred in this count)-. 

I'here were volunteers and drafted men 
from the township in the war of 1812. 
The names of many have passed into oblivion. 
Of those still remembered were Peter McCone, 
Peter Moretz. Edward Strickland, Adam, Ja- 
cob and Joseph A.nderson. Joseph was killed 
at the battle of Tippecanoe. Jacob Kitt was 
drafted, but he hired Richard Byles as his sub- 
stitute. 

The history of Osnaburgh would be incom- 
plete without n-iention being made of Christian 
Kountz, the successful merchant, whose traits 
of character have left an impress that will not 
soon be erased. Though not a very early set- 
tler, yet his name is prominently identified with 
the town and township. Mr. Kountz was born 
in Saxony, where he had learned the trade of a 
lace weaver. He came to this country when 
a voung man, idid on landing in Xew York all 
the money he had was three kreutzer, about two 
cents in our money. He immediately sought 
work. Unable to procure employrnent at his 
trade, he engaged in labor — any thing that of- 
fered. Ha\'ing accumulated a few dollars, he 
was induced by a fellow- countryman to engage 
in peddling. With his limited means he com- 
menced with a small bundle of notions; then 
with a pack which he carried upon his back, and 
finally he made a raise to a horse and wagon. 
He ])rospered, and in the course of time was ad- 
vised bv a Pittsburgh merchant, with whom he 
dealt, to settle in some town and open a store. 
He located in Osnaburgh about the year 1825. 
He was a man of strict integrity, would never 
himself, nor permit any employee to, take ad- 
\antage of or deceive a customer. His word 
was as good as his bond. He reared his family 
to habits of industry and economy, accumulated 
a handsome fortune, and died in 1866, aged 
seventy. 



lOO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP. 



By Lew Slussek. 



That portion of Stark county embraced in 
the present limits of Lawrence township was 
laid off by the commissioners of the county at 
their session in December, 1815. Prior to that 
time the territory west of Tuscarawas river was 
included in Tuscarawas township, and that ly- 
ing east of the river belonged to Jackson — for- 
inerly a part of C^anton township. The land 
east of the river was in market upon the estab- 
lishment of a land office in Steubenville in 
iSoi, but, for reasons which will be mentioned 
hereafter, it was not entered, or at least not set- 
tled, for some years after improvements were 
made upon the west side. 

The lands west of the river were surveyed 
in the spring of 1807 by John H. Larwell, and 
were in market upon the establishment of the 
land office in Canton in May, 1808. Before be- 
ing opened to public entry, they were offered for 
thirty days in quarter sections at auction. Only 
two quarter sections lying within the limits of 
Lawrence township, were purchased at the auc- 
tion sale. The terms of entry were two dollars 
per acre — one-fourth down and the balance in 
three alternate annual payments without inter- 
est. There was no tax upon the land until the 
fifth year, and if the whole purchase price of the 
land was not paid at the expiration of that time 
it was forfeited to the government, together 
with what had been paid upon it. 

At the time of the survey Indians were nu- 
merous along the waters of the Tuscarawas 
and Chippewa. They were of the Delaware and 
Chippewa tribes, and as it may be a matter of 
curiosity to know what has become of the abor- 
iginal owners of this region I will give an ex- 
tract from a document recei\-ed from the bureau 
of Indian affairs at Washington City, obtained 
through the kindness of our representative in 
congress, Hon. George Bliss. 

"The Chippewas are located upon the south 



shore of Lake Superior, though there are scat- 
tered remnants of the tribe in Wisconsin, Michi- 
gan and Minnesota. They are considerably 
advanced in civilization, their native talent com- 
paring favorably with other aboriginal tribes. 
Their natural disposition, like that of all the 
more intellectual tribes, is warlike and their su- 
perior courage renders them dangerous adver- 
saries. They are the proprietors ol a great por- 
tion of the northw estern copper reg'ion, and the 
government is now making preparations to 
treat with them for the acquisition of this valua- 
ble domain. 

"The Delawares are situated in the new ter- 
ritory of Kansas. They are an active, cun- 
ning tribe and by their energy and force of 
character, with the aid of a good deal of un- 
scrupulousness, maintain an ascendancy over 
the neighboring tribes. They are of a roving 
disposition, and, by reason of their familiarity 
with the vast regions between their domain and 
the Pacific ocean, are generally employed as 
guides by white men traveling in those regions." 

The numerical strength of the two tribes, 
while occupants of this region, I have no means 
of knowing. Their headquarters were near Jer- 
omeville, and their chief was a halfbreed. known 
among the whites by the name of Armstrong. 
He was kind and \vell disposed toward white 
settlers. Larwell's surveying corps frequently 
came in contact with small parties of the tribe. 
At one time a company of five or six met the 
surveying party, and in their colloquy gave evi- 
dence of anger and dissatisfaction at the en- 
croachments of the whites and at their driving 
oft' the game. One of their numljer, who could 
speak tolerable English, said : "You run here — • 
you run there — we cut your legs oft' — you run 
no more," at the same time gestulating vehem- 
ently, the more eft'ectually to enforce his ideas. 
This threat intimidated the party, and several of 
the corps refused to proceed. Larwell des- 
])atched a messenger to their chief Armstrong, 
informing him of the circumstance and their 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



lOI 



fears. The chief returned assurance that they 
should not l)e molested, and as proof of good 
faith on !iis part sent as a spy one of his tribe, 
to watch the movements of the rest and give in- 
formation to the company upon the first indi- 
cation of threatened danger. 

The first improvement in the township was 
made upon Newman's creek (so named from 
Jacob Newman, chain carrier and axeman of 
the surveying corps) by Henry Clapper and 
Adam Lower. They were brothers-in-law and 
came in company from Beaver county, Pennsyl- 
vania, in September, 1808, with horses, farming 
utensils, and provisions sufficient to last five 
weeks. In that time they cleared, plowed and 
sowed three acres, two of which they put in 
wheat and one in rye. They had no shelter, 
otiier than that rudely constructed from brush. 
At night they slept upon the ground or in the 
wagon. At the completion of their labor they 
returned to Beaver covmty and in ]\Iarch fol- 
lowing Henry Clapper came out with his 
brother Daniel and raised a cabin, the first 
erected in the township. Their father, John 
Clapper, and Lower soon followed. Their 
spring crop consisted of nine acres of land in 
corn. John Clapper died a few years afterward, 
from injuries received by the falling of a tree. 
He is buried on the place, and is the first inter- 
ment of a white man in the township. The next 
opening was made in October of the same year 
by Stephen and John Harris, from Washing- 
ton county, Pennsylvania. Stephen purchased 
at the auction sale the quarter later owned by 
William Shaefer, for which he gave two dol- 
lars and forty-nine cents per acre. Mr. Harris, 
in common with many other early settlers, con- 
sidered the bottom lands the more valuable, 
hence the competition for their possession and 
the increased price per acre. The two brothers 
cleared (chopped and heaped) five acres in 
twenty days, during which time they lived in 
regular camp style, their board consisting of 
ash cake and wild meat, and their bed the soft- 



est mother eartli could furnish. Upon the com- 
pletion of their fall job they returned to Penn- 
sylvania, but came back in the spring following, 
continued the improvements during the sum- 
mer, and in September, 1809, Stephen brought 
his wife and three children. At this time the 
only road was the one leading from Canton to 
Wooster. From where it crossed the Tuscara- 
was river (then known as the ferry) emigrants 
for this neighborhood were compelled to cut 
their way through the woods, following in part 
an Indian trail that led through Newman's 
creek bottom. Mr. Harris drove his wagon, 
containing his family and furniture, to an un- 
cleared spot near the spring, where he designed 
building, and cut away the underbrush before 
he could turn his horses to feed. He arrived 
with his family on Tuesday, immediately com- 
menced getting out timber for a cabin, and on 
the Friday following it was sufficiently com- 
pleted for the family to occupy. Previous to 
this time his wife and children slept in the 
wagon. 

During the succeeding two years WilHam 
Critz, Jeremiah Atkinson, Mathew Metcalf (or 
Madcap, as he was called among the settlers), 
Richard Hardgrove, John Evans and Robert 
I.-ytle settled and made improvements in the 
same neighborhood. In the summer of 1809 
William Critz built a hewed-log house, the first 
of the kind erected in the township. As a suffi- 
cient number of hands could not be procured at 
that day to raise a building, ropes and tackle 
were used. Michael Critz was the first male 
and Amanda Harris the first female born in 
the township. 

The settlers along Newman's creek were 
subjected to great annoyance from wild ani- 
mals. Bears and wolves were so numerous and 
destructive that it was impossible to keep hogs, 
and in some instances they attacked cattle. Ven- 
omous snakes oftentimes made themselves too 
familiar to be agreeable. During the summer 
months gnats and mosquitoes were so harassing 



I02 



OLD LANDMARKS 



to the horses and cattle that it was necessary to 
keep lip a smoke in order to drive them off. The 
country at tliat day was luxuriant in the growth 
of what was called pea vine, of which stock of 
all kinds was extremely fond. A species of 
onion also grew in the bottoms, which cattle 
would sometimes eat, giving their breath and 
milk the characteristic odor of that esculent, to 
the no small annoyance of the housewife. Both 
these i)lants are now extinct. 

\\'\xh the Indians the settlers were quite fa- 
ni'liar. Many incidents are related and anec- 
dotes told growing out of their intercourse with 
them. A number could speak broken English. 
The names by which several were known are 
yet remembered, Captain Beverhat, Tom Jile- 
way and Long John being among the more no- 
torious. There was considerable traffic carried 
on between the settlers and the Indians. There 
was but little money afloat, and even that some- 
times would not buy what labor or some article 
of consumption would procure. The Indians 
had wild turkeys and venison hams for barter. 
\ turkey for a pumpkin and a ham for a bread- 
basket full of corn me^il was a customary ex- 
change. It is characteristic of the Indians to 
be a beggar and a glutton. They never suffer 
from want of asking and eat an incredible 
amount before being satisfied. They were ex- 
travagantly fond of sweet milk, and two would 
empty the contents of a gallon crock, with very 
little ceremony. While the men were roaming 
about, hunting, trapping or fishing, the squaws 
would dig ginseng and make baskets of ash 
wood. 

In 1811 Mathew Roland emigmted ivom 
Yellow creek, Jeft'erson county, and settled up- 
on the land later owned by John Kirk. From 
the ferry opposite Massillon he came with lii^ 
team up the bed of the river. The tracks of the 
wagon, in many places could be distinctly traced 
several years after. James Barber, from \"ir- 
ginia. settled the same year upon the quarter 
section later nwned b\- Richard Porter. Durinsj- 



the summer his son William died from inHam- 
mation of the brain, brotight on from exposure 
seining the river. Dr. Rappee, of Canton, was 
called to see him, but too late to be of service. 
He was buried in Canton. 

The war of 181 2 materially checked emigra- 
tion west of the river. JNIany who had previous- 
ly been out and made entries were deterred from 
bringing their families from apprehensions of 
trouble with the Indians. 

During the continuance of the war, many of 
the inhabitants were in constant dread of being 
nightly liesieged Ijy the savage foe. Rumors 
were rife of a large body of savages advanc- 
ing from the west, urged on by British emis- 
saries, who were hourly expected to be upon 
them. The intimidated saw the tomahawk and 
scalping knife ever before them. Many amus- 
ing incidents are told of the conduct of some "t 
the settlers, growing out of their fears of being 
attached. It is related of Jacob Peach tint 
during this excitement he made it an invariable 
rule not to open his cabin door until he had 
first reconnoitQred the environs through the port 
holes of his dwelling. He kept his wagon be- 
fore his door reiidy to leave with his family and 
goods upon the first intelligence of the ap- 
proach of the enemy. The settlers along New- 
man's creek agitated for some time the propriety 
of erecting a fort or blockhouse for common 
safety and defense. They had fixed upon an 
eminence on the land of Robert Lytle (later 
owned by George Mowrey ) as most suitable, but 
as the project did not receive the co-operation of 
some of the more influential in the neighbor- 
hood, it was finally abandoned. It was common 
custom, howe\er, for different neighbors to 
collect with their families at a designated house 
for mutual protection. 

During the ])rogress of the war, from 1812 
to 1815, there settled west of the river Abram 
Stevens, John McCadden, Isaac Edgington, 
\\'illiam Whitecraft, John Morehead and Elijah 
l-lolierts. The last named was killed bv the fall- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



•oj 



ing of a tree, and l)iu"ic<l in the Milan grave- 
yard, being the first interment in that ground. 

There were no settlements east of the river 
in the present hmits of Lawrence township prior 
to i8t2. Phil Harton and John McCaughey 
came in that year, and each erected a cabin. 
Subsequently, and anterior to the organization 
of the township, the following persons made 
openings and erected dwellings: Joseph AIc- 
Caughey, John Tate. George Wagoner, Jacob 
Kleck, Jos(?ph liobson, Jacob Kirk, Joseph 
I'ritt, John Shank. Robert Williams, James 
jacson and John Uhoads. 

The reasons w hy the lands east of the river 
were not taken up earlier, being in market some 
years before those west, were these : The lands 
east of the ri\er were surveyed by the govern- 
ment in sections of two miles square. Any one 
wishing to enter a less quantity had to employ 
a siu'veyor to run it ofif. This was attended with 
some trouble and expense, besides, much of the 
land was "plains'" and at that day such was con- 
sidered inferior to that more heavily timbered. 
There were some fractions entered along the 
river as early as 1805, by speculating" men, who 
had an idea that a canal would some day be con- 
structed along its course. Brinton and Condy 
entered the site of Bethlehem ; Scott and Pente- 
cost, A'Lassillon : Wells and Shorl.i. Kendall; 
l^>rinton and Conday, Fulton ; and Richard Car- 
ter Clinton, now in Summit, formerly a part of 
Stark. .\n additional im])ediment to actual set- 
tlers securing- l.mfl east of the river was the want 
of a road leading into the neighborhood, while 
the state road, running from Canton to Woos- 
ter, opened in 1807, ran within a few miles of 
the settlement on Newman's creek. 

In i8t2 James F. Leonard settled upon the 
land later owned by Michael Sprankle. then in 
Canton township, now Jackson. He was a sur- 
veyor and land jobber and the first white set- 
tler in Stark county, ha\ing entered and settled 
upon a quarter section near Canton in ?^Iarch, 
1805. After locating vqion Mud brook .Mr. 



Leonard marked out a road leading from Can- 
ton into his \icinity, and, as he was known as a 
pioneer and well acquainted with the whole 
cotuitry and made it a business to show lands, 
emigrants soon began to settle in, and in im- 
provements the east side of the river has since 
kept pace with the west. Before the organiza- 
tion of the township Mr. Leonard purchased 
aufl settled ujion the farm later owned by Levi 
Reinoehl. 

The first election for township officers wa> 
held on the first Monday in April, 18 16, at the 
house of Robert Lytle. Jacob Kirk, who had 
been elected justice of Jackson township the 
year previous (which then included Lawrence 
as far as the river) , administered the oath to the 
different officers elected. As it may be inter- 
esting to know who were the successful candi- 
dates of that day, I copy from the record : Justi- 
ces, Mathew Roland and John Morehead; clerk. 
James F. Leonard; trustees, William Alban, 
John Canibell and Jacob Kirk ; overseers of the 
poor, William Whitcraft and Joseph Hobson; 
fence viewers, Stephen Wilkin and Joseph 
Tritt; appraisers of property, Hugh S. Vene- 
man and Robert Lytle; supervisors, George 
Veneman, John Meese and George Wagoner; 
constables, Richard Hardgrove and Jacob 
Kleek ; treasurer, John Morehead ; lister of tax- 
ables, Richard Hardgrove. On the day of the 
first election it was ordered by the trustees thai 
the house of William Whitcraft, on section 16, 
be tlie ])lace of holding the elections of Law- 
rence township. At the sajne time James l'~. 
Leonard, George Veneman and John Mc- 
Caughey were appointed the first grand jurors, 
and John Morehead and Richard Hardgrove 
first petit jurors. 

In August of the same year a petition was 
presented at a meeting of the trustees, praying 
for a road from Kerstetter's mill to the county 
line, at or near where Abram Stevens subse- 
([uently lived ijate residence of Richard- Po^r- 
tcrL Lewis Roger, William Elliott and Flenry 



I04 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Clapper were appointed to view said road, 
Alexander Poiter, surveyor, and John Meese, 
supervisor. This was the first township road, 
a considerable portion of which has long since 
jjeen vacated. 

In i8t7 the place of election was at the 
honse of Henry ATiller; the following year it 
was moved to section i6, to the house of Elisha 
Pierce; the year following, to the house of John 
Meese, on the same section, and there it con- 
tinued to be held until 1831, when it was re- 
moved to Canal Fulton. 

W't believe that with but few exceptions, 
and those unintentional, we have given the 
names of all who were settlers in the township 
prior to its organization. This event following 
soon after the declaration of peace, and when 
molestation from the Indians was no longer ap- 
prehended, emigrants with their families began 
to flock in in great numbers. The early settlers 
who made a profession of religion were princi- 
pally of the Methodist or Presbyterian faith. 
They frequently held meetings in private 
houses ; in fact, the Methodists held their meet- 
ings ii private and school houses until the erec- 
tion of their church in Milan, in the summer of 
1837. The first building for public worship 
was erected in 181 5 by the Presbyterians — a log 
superstructure, upon the ground now known as 
the Newman's Creek graveyard. Rev. James 
Adams, from Fayette county, Pennsylvania, 
who had settled near Dalton, Wayne county, 
was the first minister in charge. On the east 
side of the river the German Reformed and 
Lutheran persuasions were the most common. 
They had no church, but attended the minis- 
trations of Father Wier and Faust, at Mud 
Brook church, in Jackson township. I should 
have mentioned that the Catholic religion had 
some early adherents in the township. Servi- 
ces of the church were performed in private 
houses until a building for the purpose was 
erected upon the farm of Philip McCue in 1830. 



This continued to be the place of meeting until 
the completion of the church in Fulton. 

During the war there was a great scarcity 
of corn, occasioned in part by the shortness of 
the crops, but more particularly by the drain of 
the army, as they marched through the country. 
At that time it readily commanded from one 
dollar and twenty-five cents to one dollar and 
fifty cents per bushel. Considerable quantity 
was brought up the ri\er from Coshocton coun- 
ty, in what were called peroughs, a craft pro- 
pelled with poles and capable of carrying sev- 
eral hundred bushels. 

Milan was laid off in lots and offered at 
public auction in 1814. by Mathew Roland. The 
first building was erected by his son-in-law, 
John Sturgeon, and was long standing. The 
same year Mr. Roland erected a saw-mill upon 
the Tuscarawas, the first in the township, and 
about two years after, a grist-mill, likewise the 
first of the kind ; but as there was not suffi- 
cient power for both, the saw-mill was aban- 
doned, nor did the grist-mill ever amount to 
much. It changed hands several times, but was 
was always unprofitable, from want of suffi- 
cient power, and in a few years it was also 
abandoned, 'i'he building was afterward re- 
moved to Fulton, and converted into a ware- 
house. Nothing remains to mark the place of 
its existence save the remains of the old dam. 
Before the erection of the mill by Lewis Rogers 
on Newmans creek, Tuscarawas township, set- 
tlers went to the mills on the Nimi.shillen — Slus- 
ser's and Nicholas". Soon after the war Will- 
iam and Thomas Gouty built the mill later 
owned by Michael Sprankle. and Leonard 
Kerstetter the saw-mill. 

Fulton Avas laid out in the spring of 1826 by 
James W. Lathrop and William Christmas. 
Subsequently, by an act of the legislature, it and 
Milan were incorporated into one, retaining the 
name of the former. A postoffice was estab- 
lished there in 1828 and Amasiah Meese ap- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



105 



pointed postmaster. Tlie ofike was discontin- 
ued about a year afterward, Ijut reestablished 
in 1830, and John Robinson appointed postmas- 
ter, at whicli period Canal was prefixed to dis- 
tinguisli it from an office of the same name in 
Hamilton county. 

In 1827 Henry Stidger, later of Carrollton, 
opened a store in Milan. This was the first 
establishment of the kind in the township, which 
con nov\' l^oast of the largest one in the county, 
doing more business in the purchase of pro- 
duce and sale of goods than any other two 
combined. 

Previous to the completion of the canal 
there was but little sickness and less call for 
medical aid. Herbs and roots, and in desper- 
ate cases an abracadabra, pronounced by some- 
one gifted in healing by the power of words, 
sufficed the demands of nature. The first ac- 
cotint we have of a physician in the neighbor- 
hood was a man claiming that profession by the 
name of Bigelow. His residence was some- 
where on the Reserve, and he came by appoint- 
ment, once a week, to Roland's. He had quite 
a run for a season — as many as forty or fifty 
horses could be counted hitched around his 
stand at one time, but like many of the same 
itinerant order at the present day, he eventually 
ran out. Dr. Watson, of Dalton, and the phy- 
sicians located in Massillon and Canton were 
usually called upon when medical aid was 
deemed necessary. Dr. William Myers was 
the first physician who located in the township. 
He came in 1832, but. his health soon beginning 
to fail, and attributing it to local causes, he did 
not remain over a year. S. Dolbear succeeded 
him. 

The first effort in the way of teaching the 
young idea was by George Wagoner, who 
opened a private school at his house in 181 7. 
The first school house Avas erected in 181 8, in 
what was then known as Alban's district. 
Stephen Cassel was the teacher. 



In eniunerating the important events that 
have occurred in the township I must not forget 
to mention that it could once boast of a bank, 
chartered by the legislature, under the name of 
"The Orphans' Institute" and empowered with 
all the privileges of institutions of that kind. 
It commenced operations in 1836, under rather 
favorable auspices, flourished for a few years 
and then collapsed, like most of the banks since 
its day. 

The village of Tawrence, located upon the 
Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad, was laid off in 
1852 by Arnold Lynch and Phillip McCue. It 
gave promise the first year of active growth, 
but the death of Mr. McCue, who was the oper- 
ating proprietor, and its too close proximity to 
other towns that have additional facilities for 
drawing trade, co-operated in retarding its 
progress. 

I might descant at length upon the hard- 
ships and privations of our early settlers, but 
space does not allow. It was hard work, hard 
fare and hard times. There was but little 
chance to make money, and their wants were 
regulated acocrdingly. They raised flax, out 
of which they made clothes, and many wore 
buckskin pants and moccasins. They bought 
their few necessaries in Kendall or Canton ; 
carried flour to Cleveland on pack-horse and 
brought back salt, at the rate of four dollars per 
bushel. Iron was twenty-five cents per pound, 
and everything else that was imported in pro- 
portion. At the opening of the Ohio canal 
(1829) a new era began, in the demand and 
price of produce. Instead of its being a drug, 
bartered with difficulty, and for store goods, 
it would command money and a remunerative 
price. 

The improvements of the age, with the con- 
sequent improved facilities of transportation, 
make a settlement in a new country at the pres- 
ent day but play, compared with what it was 
forty 3'^ears ago; yet, with all their privations 



io6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



aiic! liardships, our pioneers were contented, in 
the enjoyment of domestic peace and fraternal 
lia])piness. 



SUGAR CREEK TOWNSHIP. 

Sugar Creek township derives its name from 
the stream which runs through and drains the 
greater portion of it. The townsliip was first 
organized in 1816, on March 4 of wliich year 
the following action was taken by the hoard of 
county commissioners : "Ordered, that that 
part of range 10 in Stark county which lies 
south of township 1 2 in said range, be and the 
same is hereby erected into separate township 
h\' the name of Sugar Creek.'' The first elec- 
tion for township officers was ordered to be 
held at the home of .Adam Grounds on the first 
Monday in April following the passage of the 
resolution. It is practically settled beyond dis- 
pute that the first permanent settler in the tow n- 
ship was Jacob Grounds, who arrived in the 
township in 1808. He took an active part in 
the subsecjuent affairs of the locality, for which 
he was well qualified, from the fact that he 
possessed a good education for those days and 
was a man of much native ability. He came to 
the township very soon after it was first sur- 
veyed and, selecting the tract of land which 
afterwards became known as the Truby farm, 
which was densely covered with a fine growth 
of maple trees, he cleared a spot and prepared 
logs for a dwelling, which he was enabled to 
raise, with the assistance of kind neighbors. 
Here the famil}' li\e<l, amid the solitude of the 
forests, for eighteen months, but in 1810 the 
township was invaded l)y another settler. Joshua 
Carr by name, who located in the northern part 
of the township. He also built a cabin home 
immediately upon his arrival, and soon entered 
upon the task of creating a farmstead. For a 
few years settlers came into the township slow- 
ly, but after jSj; liic immigration was more 



marked, so that by 1823 nearly all the land in 
the township was entered. At the first election, 
referred to heretofore, Calvin Brewster was 
elected justice of the peace and Joseph Payser, 
Sr.. constable. 

The first death in the township was that of 
[Barbara Poyser, daughter of Josq)h Poyser, 
her death occurring in the summer of 181 2. 
The first marriage was that of John Reed to 
Mary Poyser, the ceremony being performed 
on the 13th of April, 1813, by William Henry. 
Esq. The first birth was that of Jacob Poyser. 
in 1813. 

With the influx of new settlers it became 
necessary to make some much-needed improve- 
ments. At that time roads were mere jiaths 
through the woods, and during the wet seasons 
of the year they were almost impassable. But 
as soon as practicable county roads were sur- 
veyed and fitted up for public travel and eventu- 
ally the township was crossed with a network 
of highways. At the same time various indus- 
tries began to spring up in different parts of 
the township in order to supply much-needed 
articles for the settlers. In 1816 a grist-mill 
was erected on Sugar creek by Henry Willarrl, 
the structure being a frame building, about 
thirty feet sriuare and two stories in height. 
Sugar creek was dammed and the mill was sup- 
plied with w'ater by the usual means of a race. 
Two sets of stones were placed in the mill, one 
for wheat and the other for corn, and power 
was communicated from the huge breast-wheel 
by means of rude wooden shafting. This mill 
was at that time considered a valuable acquisi- 
tion to the loca!it\- and for many years enjoyed 
a line patronage. Henry Corninger built a 
distillery at an early date, the location being 
about a half mile north of the mill just referred 
to. There w ere two stills, w ith a united cajjac- 
ity of about fifty gallons, and for a while the 
concern did a fair business, but was at length, 
in the course of a dozen years, discontinued. A 
saw-mill was erected bv a Mr. King near the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



107 



;entcr of tlie township, on the Ijanks of King's 
rnn, ;uul a few years later John Edgar Inn It a 
nill on Sugar creek, above King's mill. 

l<"onr villages have sprung into existence in 
he township. Justus Station dates its incep- 
;ion from the time of the construction of the 
Puscarawas Valley & Wheeling Railroad .and 
las always been an enterprising and progressive 
i-illage. Plainsburg, which was first known as 
■^tnmbaughtown. has also long been known as 
I desirable locality and has ac(|uired considera- 
)le of a reputation because of the large produc- 
;ion of berries in that section. Beach City was 
irst located by the erection of the VVillard mill, 
in 1816, and at first was known by the name 
of Willard's Mills. The town was not properly 
laid out and recorded until nianv vears after its 
settlement, when the advent of the railroad 
made the same necessary. In March, 1872, 
Amos Woodling, the county surveyor, laid the 
town out into lots, and since then se\'eral addi- 
tions have been made, so that the place is now 
rjf no inconsiderable importance. The t(jwn of 
VVilmot was laid out by Jacob and Henry Wy- 
ant in April, 1836, the tract being surveyed by 
John Whitacre, the county surveyor. A post- 
office was located at the village al)out the time 
it was first laid out, George Pfouts being the 
First postmaster. 

Because of the later settlement of this town- 
ship schools were not started here as early as in 
some other jxarts of the county. It is ])rob;d)le 
that the first schoolhouse was erected as early as 
1820 at ^ViImot. It was a log structure, with 
huge fire])1ace and chimney, rough cla])board 
seats and desks, and jiuncheon lloor, ;ind did ser- 
vice some eiglu or leu years, when it \\;is i"e- 
placed by a neat frame building, which in lin-n 
was, about 1840, replaced by a small brick 
building. The first school taught in the town- 
ship is by some thought to have been in the 
(jrounds neighborhood, the instructor being 
Jacob Grounds. From 1815 to 1830 the vari- 
ous school districts were created ;nid ])ro\'ided 



with schoolhouses, and now no township in the 
count} pays ir.ore careful attention to the in- 
struction (Sf the young than does Sugar Creek. 

The early religious history of the townshij) 
is shrouded in much uncertainty. The Weimer 
church (United Brethren) is .said to have been 
built as early as 1S25, and was a log structure, 
being used for all public purposes, as church, 
.schoolhouse, town-hall, etc. The Bunker Hill 
churcli (Methodist h'piscojjal ) was built .nbout 
1830, and a number of other buildings were 
erected at an early day to satisfy the demand 
for places of religious worship. .A noteworthy 
event in the early religious life of the town- 
ship was a re\ival which was conducted at the 
cabin of John Weimer for six consecutive 
weeks, tlie nicest intense enthusiasm pre\-ailing 
throughout the neighborhood at the time. 

All in all. Sugar Creek township is today 
(jne of the best in the county, this being true not 
only of its nritural features, but also of the char- 
acter of its inhabitants as well, who stand high 
for intelligence, morality, industry and enter- 
prise. It is said that during the early stages 
of the war of the Rebellion Sugar Creek town- 
shi]) furnished more volunteers than any other 
country portion of the county of the same area. 



JACKSON TOWNSHIP. 

.\t the time of the first organization of 
Stark county, in ]8oc), it consisted of but five 
townships, I'lain township being one of the five. 
What is now J.nckson township was then a ]i3rt 
of Plain, but in April, i8rT, it l)ecame a part 
of Green township. In March. 181 5. Jackson 
lr>wnship was sejiarated into a new township, 
.and in the latter jiart of the same year lost part 
of her territoVv by the formation of Lawrence 
town.ship. The first townshi]) officers were 
elected on the first Monday in April. 18 13. the 
election being held ;it the house of Jacob (.'lick. 



io8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



but no record is extant showing who the suc- 
cessful candidates were. It is impossible to 
say definitely who the first settlers in the new- 
township were, one reason for which is the fact 
that many of the first settlers throughout this 
region in those days were simply "squatters," 
or roving hunters, who swept over the state in 
advance of the pioneer settlements. The fact 
seeins certain, however, that a few permanent 
settlers were in what is now Jackson township 
some years before the township was organized. 
]\Iany of the newcomers were in sore straits 
when they arrived upon the scene of their future 
homes, possessing often nothing" but a few rude 
implements of lal;>or, liut with courageous hearts 
they set to work and before many years the 
township was dotted with cabins and small 
clearings. The west made gigantic strides in 
financial prosperity between 1815 and 1835, and 
this \\as precisely the condition of things in 
Jackson township. Improvements went on 
slowly at first, but finally the prosperity and 
consequent happiness of the settlers was as- 
sured, their rude wilderness homes being trans- 
formed into those of civilizing refinement. 

In the early days of this section of Ohio 
hundreds of deer could be seen in the forests 
at almost any hour, and wolves were also very 
numerous and troublesome, killing sheep, 
calves, swine, etc., without leave or license. 
Owing to these midnight marauders it was al- 
most impossible to keep sheep. Aside from 
the liability of being killed by animals, it was 
difficult to keep sheep, owing to the noxious and 
poison<:ius herbs growing in the woods, upon 
which the sheep fed. Sometimes half the flock 
were carried off in this manner. Swine ran 
wild in large numbers in the woods, feeding 
upon the mast which at all seasons of the year 
could be found in abundance. They were often 
killed by bears. 

The first saw-mill in the township was erect- 
ed by James F. Leonard in or about 181 5, being 
on Mill brook, in the southwestern part of the 



township. This mill was abandoned about 
1S22, and at the same time another mill was 
built upon a small stream in the northern part of 
the township. In about 1820 Daniel Slanker 
erected a rude grist-mill on Mill brook, which, ) 
though the quality of flour produced was of a 
very coarse variety, proved a blessing to the | 
settlers in that section, who otherwise would 
have been compelled to go several miles for 
their flour and other mill products. Near this 
latter mill was a distillery owned by James 
Black, in which a fair quality of whiskey was 
manufactured at the rate of about a barrel a 
day. Several other industries were started 
along about the same time, and the settlers were 
.soon enjoying many of the conveniences and 
advantages enjoyed by the older settled com- 
munities. 

The town of McDonaldsville, which is lo- 
cated on sections 9 and 10. was laid out. platted 
and recorded in }ilarcli. 1829, the owners and 
proprietors lieing John Clapper and -\braham 
Routan. At the time there were three or four 
dwellii'.gs in the village, but others were soon 
erected, and soon the necessity of a store became 
evident. \\'iliiam McCormick was the first 
merchant in the village, having opened a store 
about the year 1830. A small building was 
erected and in one apartment a stock of goods 
was placed, while other portions of the building 
were fitted up in a suitable manner and were 
thrown open to public use as a ta\ern. This 
inn soon had a rival, however, as Michael Aley 
opened another caravansery on the Friday road, 
toward Canton, and this place soon became so 
l)opular, owing to the fact that it had a saloon 
attached, that McCormick was forced to sell 
out. The village has always had its full quota 
of enterprising merchants, and all seem to have 
(lone a fairly prosperous business. 

The first schoolhouse in the township was 
a rude, round-log afi'air and was situated at the 
geographical center of the township, it being 
erected as early as 181 6, through the instru- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



109 



mentality of Mr. Slanker. An eccentric 
Yankee h\' the name of Upson was one of the 
first teachers in this building, and it is said that 
he usual!}' punished his scholars by treading on 
their toes, which correction generally produced 
the desired eiYect. However, he is credited 
with having been a gootl teacher and sowed 
some good seed in this section. 

The first church edifice in the township was 
erected in 1834 by the German Reformers and 
Lutherans, the structure being built of hewed 
logs, and was long known as Mud Brook 
church. Among the early members were the 
families of Slanker, Click, Braucher, Tresch, 
Humbert, Everhart and Heldenbrand. About 
1834 the old building was replaced by a hand- 
some brick structure. This township has not 
as many churches as some other portions of the 
county, owing to the fact that many of its in- 
habitants belong to churches outside the town- 
ship. 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 

Lake was one of the two townships which 
at one time constituted all the territory now 
comprised within the limits of Stark county, 
the dividing line between the two townships 
being the line now running between Plain and 
Canton townships. To what the township 
owes its name is a mystery ,> though several ex- 
planations ha\e been offered, the most probable 
of which is that the presence of Congress lake in 
the locality suggested the same. When Stark 
county was actually organized into a civic mu- 
nicipality the present Lake township was a part 
of Plain township, and so remained until April 
.8, 181 1, when the northwestern part of Plain 
township was organized as Green township, 
this at that time including the present Lake 
township. Tn June, 1816, the following pro- 
ceedings were had by the board of county com- 
missioners : ''Ordered, that the 12th township. 



in the 8th range, be and it is hereby erected into 
a separate township by the name of Lake. Or- 
dered also, that the qualified electors of said 
township meet at the house of Joseph Moore in 
said township on the 4th of June, 1816; for the 
election of township officers. Ordered also fur- 
ther that advertisements for said election in 
Lake township be put up at the house of Peter 
Dickerhoof in the town of Union, and at the 
house of Joseph Moore. (Signed) James Lati- 
mer, John Kryder and James Drennen, County 
Commissioners." 

The name of the earliest settler in this town- 
sliip is unknown, but the following were among 
those who first made settlement here : Joseph 
Moore, Henry Schwartz, the Markleys, Jacob 
Brown, a Mr. Camp, John Fryberger, George 
Machaner, John Morehart, Martin Bachtel, 
Peter Ream, Mr. Wise, Mr. Meyer, Mr. Ponti- 
us and others. The names of the officers first 
elected in the township are not known, as no 
record seems to have been kept of them. The 
settlement of the township progressed rapidl}', 
and in a few years after the first settlement it 
\vas impossible to secure government land. The 
land was of an unusually fine quality, attractive 
to even a casual observer, and though a small 
part of the township was swampy the land \\'as 
easily reclaimed by drainage within a few years 
without great cost. It was also soon discovered 
that the soil was underlain with a fine quality 
of limestone and also that coal could be obtained 
abundantly in the western part of the town- 
ship. 

Many hardships antl privations were under- 
gone by the first settlers in the new country, 
and some were compelled by force of circum- 
stances to relinquish their title to their half- 
improved farms and return to the eastern states. 
Farm taxes had to be paid in money, which 
was often obtained from the sale of furs, such 
as mink, beaver, otter and muskrat, and the 
skins of the bear, the wolf, the panther, the deer 
and various other animals. The pursuit of 



I lO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



these animals often led to many exciting ad- 
ventures, one ol" which is here reproduced, as 
follows: "George Nodle, one of the earliest 
settlers, owned two cows that were permitted 
to roam at will through the woods in search of 
food. On one occasion about sunset, the cows 
not having returned, Mr. Nodle started with his 
dog in search of them. He was an experienced 
and skillful hunter and, as usual, when leaving 
home, took his rifle with him, though he had but 
four and a half bullets left. Reaching one of 
the streams, wiiich had overflowed its banks, 
Mr. Nodle was unable to proceed any further, 
but sent his dog across to start the cows, should 
they pro\e to be on the opposite side. Away 
went the dog and was soon barking off in the 
woods, although after several minutes it did not 
appear with the cows. Mr. Nodle at last suc- 
ceeded in crossing the creek, and hurried for- 
ward to ascertain what the dog had encount- 
ered. It was now almost dark, but as the set- 
tler approached the spot where the dog stood at 
bay he knew- that something unusual was about 
to transpire. He cautiously peered through the 
twilight and saw with astonishment a mother 
bear with her three cubs. He instantly drew up 
and shot the large bear, and then, loading rap- 
idly, shot in turn each of the cubs. He now 
had but half a bullet remaining, and it became 
a question of doubtful propriety in his mind 
whether he had better await the return of the 
sire of the bear family, or leave the spot im- 
mediately. He finally adopted the latter 
course." Many circumstances similar to this 
occurred. 

Soon after tlie (jrganization of the township 
various industries, such as saw and grist-mills, 
began to spring into existence and did much to 
stimulate the settlement and growth of the com- 
munity. These mills were nearly always of a 
primitive style and rudely constructed, but in 
lieu of better ones they satisfied the patrons and 
did a good business. One of the first of these 
mills was that erected by George Creighbaum 



some time pricM" to 1830 on a branch of the 
Nimishillen. It was a saw-mill, and was kept 
bus}' supph'ing the settlers with lumber for the 
erection of their homes and barns. 

There are four \illages in Lake township — 
Cairo, Hart\ille. Greentown and Uniontown. 
The first named, while never very conspicuous 
in public notice, has always been a prosperous 
\illage, and is inhabited by a thriving and enter- 
prising class of people. Hartville was settled 
at a ver)- early date, and soon after 1830 the 
first store was opened diere by John Houghton. 
He was followed soon afterward by Joseph 
Brown and Peter Shellenljerger. The town 
made fair progress, as is evidenced by the fact 
that al)out the year 183S a tavern was opened by 
John Morehart. Ihe town of Union, which 
is composed of portions of the northeast and 
the nortliwest corners of section 7, township 12, 
range 8. was laid out in April, 1816, by Elias 
I'reniier .md Thomas Albert, the original own- 
ers and jiroprietors. W'ho first engaged in 
mercantile business here is a matter of some 
(|uestion. It is stated that at an early date 
George Guisweit had a small stock of goods f<ir 
sale at this point, and it is certain that as early 
as 1825 George Myers and \V. H. Whitney 
opened a store, which event was followed short- 
ly afterwards by the location of' a postoftice 
here. In the early days Uniontown was a 
lively business point, and has always maintainetl 
its reputation for activity and enterprise. 
Greentown is older than Uniontown by a few 
months. ha\ing Ijeen laid out in February, 1816, 
by Henry Wise and Peter Dickerhoof. the own- 
ers. The lots of the original surxey are lo- 
cated in the northeast and southeast quarters of 
section 30, township 12, range 8. The first 
merchant in the village was a man named Good- 
will, who. al}out 1820, displayed fur sale a 
small stock of general merchandise. He was 
soon followed by others in various lines of mer- 
cantile business, and the town was launched 
upon that prosperous career that has always at- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



I 1 1 



tended it. It may not be generally known 
hat one of Stark county's most noted industries 
iiad its inception in this towmship, but such is 
the case, and the incidents connected with the 
r')imflati(in of the concern will iindnubtedly 
prove of interest to the reader. Col. Ephraim 
Ball, who resided in the township about 1835, 
iiad his attention called to the merit of a new 
threshing machine, and upon thoroug'hly inves- 
tigating the matter he decided to engage for 
himself in the mantifacture. He induced his 
brother to join him and together they pui- 
ohased the sole rights for Wayne county. They 
were not very well fixed financially, but finally 
succeeded in getting a suitable building erected 
;d Greentown, and they entered at once upon 
the manufacture of the machines, Mr. Ball mak- 
ing the first machine with his own hands and be- 
ing much hampered by the lack of suitable tools. 
The first machine, which was sold to John 
Miller, of Greentown, for one hundred and two 
dollars, was not portable, which fact was a most 
serious drawback to its value. Mr. Ball at 
once set about to erect one that would overcome 
this difficulty, and succeeded in constructing a 
horse-power connection for the thresher, which 
also, however, was pronounced to be imperfect 
and unsatisfactory. The brothers were now in 
sore straits, as their finances were at a low ebb,— 
in fact, their machine was actually in danger of 
I»eing levied upon to satisfy an execution. 
However, the\" were not discouraged, and in 
1840, Mr. Ball and his three brothers having 
secured the promise of assistance from their fa- 
ther, concluded to build and conduct a foundry. 
Their experiences at this time are thus described 
by one familiar with the circumstances : "Their 
intentions were ridiculed by the citizens, who 
looked upon the undertaking as wild and vision- 
arJ^ Everything was got in readiness, and 
finall)', in June, 1S40, the citizens to the number 
of several hundred, assembled to see the 'big 
fizzle,' at the first casting. When the castings 
for three plows, a dog-iron or two and a few- 



skillets were taken in good shape from the 
moulds, it is said that the citizens could hardly 
believe their eyes, but handled the various arti- 
cles to see if they were genuine pot-metal and 
sound. It is said that Mr. Ball, Sr., was so 
])leased with the result that he bought a bottle 
(if wdiiskey and treated all hands. It was ex- 
tremely difficult to get patterns, for the differ- 
ent articles of machinery, as the prices were 
\ery high and the Ball brothers were without 
money. Necessity compelled Mr. Ball to 
devise some for himself. He finally made 
one for a plow from a piece of tough, 
knotty maple plank, and so excellent were the 
plows made from this pattern that hundreds 
were sold all o\-er the country, and even at far 
distant points. All this business was done in 
the face of executions and judgments that 
poured in as soon as it was discovered that Mr. 
Ball was handling a little money. There were 
eleven executions held against him at one time. 
The brothers manufactured cooking stoves, 
plows, hollow-ware and a few threshing ma- 
chines. One day several men came to Mr. 
Ball and oflrered him six hundred dollars for his 
foundry, but the latter, knowing that it was 
worth much more than that, refused to take less 
than six thmisand d(jllars. They threatened 
that if Mr. fkdl did not sell for six hundred 
dollars thev would build a rival establishment. 
This was finally done, and the first thing Mr. 
Ball knew his ri\als had purchased the right to 
manufacture the plow upon which he had been 
engaged. This left him almost helpless, but he 
went to work and finally devi.sed a pattern of his 
own, which in the end ])nived as valuable as the 
one he had lost. After a time Mr. Ball be- 
gan the manufacture of the Hussey reaper, six 
being made at one time. * * One was taken 
to Eouisville, where a public exhibition of its 
workings was given before a motley crowd of 
men, women and children. The farmers saw 
with astonishnient how the standing grain went 
down before it. The owner of the field im- 



1 12 



OLD LANDMARKS 



mediateh purchased the reaper. * * Mr. 
Ball constructed a few separators about this 
time. * * * In January, 1851, Mr. Ball's 
partners sold their interest in the foundry to 
C". Aultman and David Fouser, and in April of 
the same year George Cook and Lewis Miller 
were added to the partnership, which then be- 
came known as E. Ball & Company. Soon 
after this the whole business was transferred to 
Canton, but just before this occurred Jacob 
Miller became a partner, and the firm name was 
changed to Ball, Aultman & Company." The 
subsequent career of this partnership is well 
known. 

The first school house in the township was 
a hewed-log building erected in Uniontown 
about the year 1820, though it is quite probable 
that several terms of school were taught in the 
township prior to that time. The building re- 
ferred to was for a long time used for all pub- 
lic gatherings and was for many years utilized 
as a seat of instruction. Lake township has 
long enjoyed a high reputation for morality and 
at a very early day houses of worship were 
erected by the Methodists, the Lutherans and 
the Reformers. There are now several very 
tasty and commodious church edifices in the 
township, all well attended and supported, and 
presided over by able and efficient pastors. 



THE OLD COURT HOUSE 

Hy 'John Danner. 

In 1825, when the first court house was 
erected in Canton, no one had an idea that the 
little village would become a goodly inland city, 
and that more than one lot would be needful 
for thus providing for the housing of the county 
records and the afifording of facilities for the 
various departments of government. There- 
fore the virtual proprietor of the town, Bezaleel 
Wells, of Steubenville, Ohio, gave only one lot 



for said purpose, this being the south lot ot 
the block upon which the present massive court 
house stands, the other two lots north in said 
block having been purchased by the county in 
later days. The first stores in this block have 
long since become matters of memory only. 
They were owned, respectively, by William 
Cristmas. Joseph Shorb and M. and J. Laird, 
and on the upper corner of said block was the 
old Farmers' Bank, of Canton, which was sub- 
sequently moved into the old Dewalt building, 
northeast corner of Tuscarawas street and 
Cleveland avenue, where the institution finally 
failed, the Brandt building now occupying the 
site. 

The court house was constructed of brick. 
was square in form, and not more than fifty 
feet in lateral dimensions, as the lot was but 
sixty-six; feet in width and the building stood a 
number of feet back from the south line. The 
building was erected at a cost of less than six 
thousand dollars. The roof was pitched to the 
four sides and from the center rose the old-style 
tower or belfry, on the vane of which was 
plainly inscribed the figures 1816, indicating the 
year in which the building was erected. In 
this cupola was installed the bell that now does 
service in the tower of the central fire-engine 
building, and it is worthy of mention in a his- 
toric way. This is the bell that the venerable 
Nicholas iiurger rang for so many years with 
punctillious exactitude and precision, — first at 
the hoiu" of nine in the morning to summoit the 
children to the village school ; then at the merid- 
ian hour, to admonish the good folk of the at- 
tractions of the dinner table ; and again at nine 
in the evening, when it was considered time for 
the stores to close and for all to prepare for re- 
tiring for the night. The first building for 
countv offices was a one-story brick structure 
containing four offices, utilized, respectively, by 
the auditor, treasurer, recoi^der and clerk. This 
building stood west of and on a line with the 
court house. On the west q\v\ of the Irit was a 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



113 



one-story frame building, with the gable facing 
the street, and for many years this was occu- 
pied as a store by the lirm of Raynolds & Ream. 
Between this and the county offices was a drive- 
way from Tuscarawas street, the same being 
utihzed for the purpose of putting coal and 
wood into the sheds which stood in the rear. 
About the year 1840 the one-story offices were 
torn down and a two-story brick building erect- 
ed in the place, the same extending from the 
court house to Court street. The lower rooms 
were all that were demanded for the accommo- 
dation of the county offices, and the west room 
on the ground floor was used for many years as 
the office of the county auditor. The second 
story had a hall running east and west, with 
offices on either side. The front rooms were 
quite desirable and were always occupied, but 
the back offices were not so popular. It is re- 
called that among the occupants of one of these 
offices was Thomas Goodman, who was en- 
gaged in the insurance business. He married 
Hannah Jane Saxton, the original proprietor 
of the Ohio Repository. (3ne of the other of- 
fices was occupied by Alexander Pierce, and 
both he and Mr. Goodman were excellent men, 
being acti\-e in church work and giving their 
influence in support of all good works in the 
comnninity. Two familiar characters that were 
often in the oflkes of this old building, and who 
practically made their headquarters there, w-ere 
Brice S. Hunter and William Bryce, the former 
of whom gave his attention to insurance, while 
the latter was a lawyer by profession. Both 
were bachelors well advanced in years at that 
time, being men of intelligence and very enter- 
taining in their con\-ersation. The long hall 
upstairs did not run to the extreme west end of 
the building, but to within about twenty feet, 
and at the end doors opened into a large room 
that extended the full width of the building, be- 
ing located immediately above the auditor's of- 
fice. This room was for many years occupied 
as the office of the Stark County Democrat, and 
7 



the paper was there established during the Civil 
war. Owing to its attitude at this crucial epoch 
a raid was at one time made upon the office, 
and much bitterness and ill feeling was entailed. 
The writer does not recall how great damage 
was done to the office on the occasion of this 
invasion of its sanctum sanctorum. 

Among the oldest lawyers of those days 
were John Harris and Dwight Jarvis. Mr. 
Harris built and occupied the two-story brick 
residence now owned and used as a home by 
Mrs. Catherine A. Myer, at No. 917 West Tus- 
carawas street. In the grove on the north side 
of this fine old home many a 4th of July cele- 
bration was held, while speeches were made by 
men of all political parties, their hearts beat- 
ing strong with that patriotism which overleaps 
the bounds of mere partisanship. Old and 
young enjoyed these gatherings. Dwight Jar- 
vis at one time occupied a quite prominent po- 
sition at the Stark county bar. He was a New 
Englander and an ardent churchman of the 
Episcopalian faith. He finally removed to 
Massillon, and it is recalled that his loyalty to 
his home town was of the most insistent order, 
as is evident when we revert to the fact that on 
se\'eral occasions he was heard to say that it was 
quite desirable after leaving this w-orld for all 
men to go to hea\'en, but that he would be sat- 
isfied if he could have as good a place as Massil- 
lon. He was in good circumstances, and was of 
great aid to his church in Massillon, being one 
of its most zealous and liberal supporters. 



THE SECOND COUNTY JAIl. 

By John Danner. 

The old jail stood for many years on the 
southwest corner of Cleveland avenue and 
Ninth street. The lot on which this building 
stood is now occupied Ijy the office and residence 
of Dr. Edward P. Morrow. The jail stood 



114 



OLD LANDMARKS 



back from the Cleveland avenue sidewalk line 
about fifteen feet, but on Ninth street it came 
close to the line of the walk. The barn or 
stable occupied the site of the present Disciples' 
church, and these two structures were the only 
buildings on the entire block running between 
Ninth and Tenth streets. The ownership of 
the block was vested in the county, and most of 
it was used for years as a garden and potato 
patch. 

The jail building was two stories in height 
and about thirty-five by forty feet in lateral di- 
mensions. The main entrance, on the east 
front, was the dividing line, opening into a hall 
that ran through the building. The north half 
was the prison and the south half the residence 
of the sheriff. The lower story of the north 
half was very substantially built of stone and 
the balance of the building was constructed of 
brick. In the north half were four rooms on 
the first floor and four on the second ; both be- 
low and above was a hall which ran westward 
and divided the prison rooms or cells, of which 
there were two on each side of the hall both on 
the first and second floors. The barred win- 
dows below were about sixteen inches high and 
thirty inches wide, there being one to each cell, 
affording all the lig^ht and outside ventilation 
provided. Upstairs the prison departments had 
window openings of the same size as those of 
the residence portion of the building, but the 
former were well guarded with iron bars with 
apertures between of about six inches square. 

This building was erected in 1830, the con- 
tractor being Calvin Hobart, whose specifica- 
tions and contract provided for the completion 
of the building for the sum of thirty-six hun- 
dred dollars, and it continued to be occupied for 
the purpose intended until the erection of the 
of the present county jail about thirty years ago. 
The first sheriff' to occupy the jail described was 
Henry Guise. In 1832 George N. Webb be- 
came sheriff", holding the office two terms, or 
until 1836. It was his misfortune to have been 



incumljent of the sheriffalty at the time when 1 
Christian Bachtel was hung in November, 1833, ! 
for the murder of his wife. Mr. Webb was .a ' 
good officer. The writer well recalls how cold 
and bleak was the day on which the execution I 
occurred. Executions at that time were public 
and the one in point of discussion took place on 
the commons, which were then quite large in the 
neighborhood of the present Gilliam works, a 
little south of Washington avenue and east of 
Walnut street. The town was over-run with 
visitors, many of whom were attracted from 
considerable distances, while a large number ar- 
rived the day preceding the execution. The 
murder would not have occurred had not the 
assassin been intoxicated, and the writer be- 
lieves that from that day to this every murder 
that has occurred in the county has had at the 
basis of the crime intoxicating liquor. 

After Sheriff Webb's term of office expired 
Daniel Raffensberger held said office from 
1836 to 1840. George W. Raff' was of the 
same family, but about a half century ago most 
of the family dropped all save the first syllable 
of the somewhat unwieldly name, and the name 
Raff has been commonly retained since that 
time. From 1840 to 1844 John Brandon, of 
iNIassillon, was sheriff, then Hemy Shanafelt, 
of Greentown, served until 1848, then George 
N. Webb was re-elected and held the office until 
1852; Peier Deshong, of Greentown, thereafter 
served until 1856; R. A. Dunbar was next 
sheriff of the county, holding the office until 
1858, from which year to 1862 General Samuel 
Beatty was the incumbent. I'rom 1862 to 1864 
Daniel .Saylor, of Greentown, was sheriff; from 
the latter year until 1868 Peter Chance was 
sheriff, and from 1868 to 1872 R. A. Dunbar 
again filled the office, his successor being Wil- 
liam Baxter, who was the last to serve in the old 
jail. Of those who have since served it is not 
necessary to speak in connection with this rem- 
iniscence of the old jail. Among those above 
mentioned the old residents will recall Mr. 




GOVERNMENT BUILDING. CANTON. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



115 



Saylor as an excellent lifer, there being few 
wlio could equal him in proficiency on this mar- 
tial instrument. Mr. Dunbar, who was famil- 
iarly known as "Al" Dunbar, probably had 
more experience in the sherifif's office than any 
other man in the county, since, in addition to 
having served as sheriff for several terms, he 
was deputy sheriiif for three or four others. 

The jail of which we have spoken, and 
which served its purpose as a bastile for about 
forty years, was not the first the county fur- 
nished for the incarceration of malfactors. The 
first was a wooden structure that stood on the 
lot now occupied by the Yohe hotel, northeast 
corner of Market and Third streets. This 
building was constructed of a double tier of 
good-sized logs with a frame on the outside, the 
walls thus formed being undoubtedly two feet 
in thickness. After it was abandoned as a jail 
the building was occupied by the late Thomas 
Cunningham, who utilized the same as a car- 
penter shop, and it was destroyed by fire during 
his occupancy. The writer well recalls the fire, 
which lasted f()r quite a time and created in- 
tense heat, by reason of the many heavy timbers 
used in its construction. The statement has 
been made, and is undoubtedly authentic, that 
prior to the erection of the first jail the cellar 
in the old Oberly corner was utilized occasion- 
ally to incarcerate evil doers, and sometimes 
used to imprison men for debt. In the early 
days there were laws which thus permitted the 
imprisonment of individuals for non-payment 
of debts, and in all probability if such laws 
were in force today we should need even much 
larger jail accommodations than we have at 
this time. 



THE CANTON POSTOFFICE. 

By Le\v Slusser. 

Our postoffice was established in the winter 
of i8o8-g, in the administration of Thomas 



Jefferson, and Samuel Coulter was the first 
postmaster. He kept tavern, sign of the Green 
Tree, in the brick building at the southwest cor- 
ner of the Square, the same later occupied by 
Oberly & Son. A small drawer inside the bar 
contained all the mail matter for years. There 
were no newspapers in circulation in this part of 
our government at that time. A mail was re- 
ceived but once a week. It was carried on 
horseback from New Lisbon, and went no far- 
ther west, as Canton, at that period, was the 
western terminus of civilization. Mr. Coulter 
retained the office some eight or ten years, and 
was succeeded by John Saxton. He kept the 
office in the same building in which the Ohio 
Repository was published. A small space was 
partitioned off for the accommodation of the 
postoffice. Mails were then received tri-weekly, 
and extended farther west. 

On the accession of General Jackson to the 
presidency Sanders Van Rensselaer received 
the office and removed it to his residence, cor- 
ner of Market and Fourth. About this time we 
had a daily mail cast and west, carried in four 
horse coaches. The driver, as he approached 
the town, blow ing his horn, displaying his skill 
and dexterity in handling the ribbons and crack- 
ing his whip, making gyratory movements 
around the square, was the wonder and admira- 
tion of all the boys and girls. 

^^'llliam Dunbar followed Van Rensselaer, 
when the office was removed just across the 
street into a small building that stood on the 
Rothchild lot, and was used as a tailor shop. 
Mr. Dunbar resigned before the expiration of 
his commission, and Henry Kline was ap- 
pointed. He removed the office to the one-story 
brick afterward occupied by Esquire Crevoisie, 
as justice's office. Kline was succeeded by O. 
P. Stidger, who was appointed in 1841. He 
kept the office in the building later occupied by 
Daniel Dewalt, on the east side of the pubhc 
square. This was in the administration of 
"Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," but as Stidger 



ii6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



refused to be "Tylerized," he was removed, and 
Earnest Krakau received the appointment. He 
removed the otfice to his residence, a frame 
building- on the I 'aimer lot. On Polk succeed- 
ing Tyler, (ieorge Dunbar obtained the ap- 
pointment, and kept the office in a small build- 
ing on the lot later occupied by the Mathews 
block. At the next administration (Taylor's) 
Samuel Slankc" was the lucky man, and had the 
office in a frame structure on West Tuscarawas 
street, and for a short time in Dr. Whiting's 
old office. After Slanker was N. Bour, and 
he kept it in the building later used as a Meth- 
odist parsonage. Bour's commission expiring 
several months l^efore the close of Buchanan's 
administration, .\. McGregor was appointed, 
and he removed the office to the brick at the 
corner of Eighth and ]^Iarket. W. K. Miller 
succeeded bin'. 



POSTOFFICE OF CANTON'S EARLY 
DAYS. 

By John Danker. 

The name of Nicholas Bour is familiar to 
many of the old citizens of Canton and the sur- 
rounding country. He came to Canton in 1S36 
and was an acti\e and useful citizen until his 
death, in i8qi. He was a native of France, 
was well qualihed in the French and German 
languages when he came here, and verj' soon 
familiarized himself with the English language. 
He was born in 1809 and came to the United 
States in 1829. He remained in New York 
until coming to Canton, tie was a tailor by 
trade and soon gained the reputation of being 
one of the best in the county. In those early 
days we had clothing stores or merchant tailors. 
The Avy goods stores kept cloth and trimmings 
utilized in the manufacture of garments and it 
was a common practice for the tailor to ac- 
company his customer to the store to assist in 



the selection of the necessary materials. After 
a time it became customary for tailors to carry 
their own stocks of goods and accessories, and 
]Mr. Bour and Michael Weisert were among 
the first merchant tailors in Canton. For some 
time Mr. Bour had his shop in the frame build- 
ing now owned and occupied by Dr. A. J. 
Douds, 214 West Tuscarawas street, but in 
1846 he purchased tiie lot adjoining this prop- 
erty on the west and there erected a three-stoiy 
brick building, the same being at the time much 
in advance of its general surroundings. In 

1859, when the old St. Cloud hotel, on the site 
of the present h'irst Methodist I-lpiscopal church 
was destroyed by lire, the Bour property was 
also destroyed, but the walls did not fall, so 
that the building was again prepared for use in 

1860. In this Ijuilding Mr. Bour conducted his 
tailoring business. From 1852 to i860, dur- 
ing the administrations of Presidents Pierce 
and Buchanan, Mr. Bour was the postmaster of 
Canton, and the office was maintained in the 
front room of this same building. In those 
days we had no cheap postage. For a long 
time the ]")ostage \vas live and ten cents, then 
came the reduction to three cents on first-class 
matter, while it was long afterward that the 
two-cent rate was adopted, while the free de- 
livery in such cities as Canton was an improve- 
ment of sti'l later date. Mr. Bour was fortu- 
nate in having two daughters who w ere a])le to 
render him efficient assistance in the work of 
the postolhce. h'irst was Miss Julia and later 
Miss Rose Bour, who were l)oth expert in the 
handling of mail. The latter served for some 
time as assistant to William K. Miller, who suc- 
ceeded her father as postmaster. She after- 
ward married General Serapliini Aleyer and is 
now living in California. 

Some time before the burning of the Meth- 
odist church the late Cornelius Aultman had 
purchased of Mr. Boui" liis three-story build- 
ing, together with the lot, and the Bour prop- 
erty was ])urchased by the church society at the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



"7 



time when additional menu became demanded 
for the erection of tiie present tine edifice, tlie 
Bonr bnilding- being at tlie time razed to the 
ground. CorneHus Aultman was the largest 
contriljutor to the erection of the new church, 
taking great jiersonal interest in its construc- 
tion. 

After thus disposing of the property men- 
tioned Mr. Bour purchased the residence on the 
northeast corner of Wahiut and Fourth streets, 
commonly Icnown as the old Fogie property, 
and there he continued to reside until his death, 
in 1891. His children still own and occupy this 
residence. This house was erected about eighty- 
five years ago, by William Fogle, Sr., and was 
occupied by him until he built his fine mansion 
on North Market street on the site of the pres- 
ent residence of Mrs. Kate Aultman. On this 
same block of lots which the Bour homestead is 
located Mr. Fogle had also established a tan 
yard, which was removed many years ago. This 
same house was owned and occupied for a 
number of years by the late Robert Latimer, 
and there his father, Robert, Sr., died very 
suddenly. He had formerly lived in Osnaburgh 
township and was an exemplary member of 
the Presbyterian church. David Sherrick after- 
ward owned and lived in this same house, and 
it may be said that very few of the old houses 
still standing in Canton as landmarks of a 
bygone day are as substantial as this historic 
two-story brick residence. 

It should have been stated that the third 
story of the building on West Tuscarawas 
street was used as a hall. The Odd Fellows 
occupied the same for a number of years, and 
it is believed that the Know Knothings, who 
flourished as a political organization for some 
time, also held some meetings in this hall. They 
also held a number of meetings in the hall owned 
by Martin Wikidal, in what was known as the 
Farmers and Merchants' block. After Mr. 
Bour sold this property he did not give so much 
attention to the tailnring business as he had 



done in former years, though he still continued 
to do more or less work for his old customers, 
though this was not necessary, as he was in 
comfortable circumstances, being then eighty 
years of age. In the death of Nicholas Bour, 
Canton lost a good and loyal citizen, and the 
family is one most highly esteemed in this com- 
munity. Thus the lesson is constantly repeated : 
one generation passeth away and another 

Cometh. 

♦-•-♦ 

STARK COUNTY IN THE MEXICAN 
WAR. 

By John Danner. 

Having been fortunate in obtaining a copy 
of the original muster roll of the military 
company which left Massillon in 1S46 to take 
part in the Mexican war, under command of 
Captain James Allen and Lieutenant -Samuel 
Beattv, the writer determined that no more fit- 
ting subject could be found for consideration 
in this series of articles. The muster roll con- 
tains the names of many who will be remem- 
bered by some of the citizens of the county to- 
day. Captain Allen was an old and honored 
citizen and was well known to many of the 
older residents of Canton and Massillon, 
where he had resided, having for a time 
been connected with newspaper enterprises 
in each of these cities. The Mexican war 
provided the opportunity for Captain Allen 
to raise a company and go to the front in 
defense of the stars and stripes. This war was 
occasioned by the cjuestion of the annexation 
of Texas, which was at that time a province of 
Mexico, extending to the Indian Territory on 
the north and on up to the Oregon territory on 
the Pacific ocean. Texas had been settled by 
former residents of the LTnited States, who saw 
that if the territory remained under Mexican 
rule that liberty which they had enjoyed in the 
more eastern states of the Union would be in 



ii8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



constant jeopardy. They attempted at first to 
secede from Mexico and then asked the United 
States to sustain them and annex the country 
to this. The Whig party at that time, as well as 
many outside the ranks of that party, opposed 
this movement because they feared it would of- 
fer an opportunity for the extension of slavery. 
But the will of the American people would not 
yield to this view ; the war went on and finally 
Mexico had to succumb. The war continued 
from April 20, 1846, to May 30, 1848. By an 
act of congress ten~ million dollars was placed 
at the disposal of the President, James K. Polk, 
in order to carry on the war, and fifty thousand 
volunteers were called for by the executive. 
Ohio was then comparatively a new and thinly 
populated state to what it is today, and yet she 
came forward with fully five regiments of vol- 
unteer soldiers and took an honorable part in 
the prosecution of the war, while our Stark 
county, with Captain James Allen, was among 
the first and foremost to go to the front. It is 
to record this brave act of Captain Allen and 
his men that this article is brought out, so that 
the second generation since that time may 
know and honor the men that then enlisted. 

The following is the muster roll of Com- 
pany K, of which James Allen was thus captain, 
the same being attached to the Third Regi- 
ment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, commanded 
by Colonel Samuel R. Curtis, and called into 
the service under the provisions of the act of 
Congress approved May 13, 1846, for a term 
of twelve months from the 28th day of Feb- 
ruary, 1847. ^^ connection with each name is 
given the respective age of the volunteer at 
^ time of enlistment: James Allen, captain, 44; 
Samuel Beatty, first lieutenant, 25 ; Jacob G. 
Frick, second lieutenant, 21 ; Horace L. Brown, 
second lieutenant, 23 ; John L. Cross, first ser- 
geant, 21; William J. Plartman, sergeant. 18; 
John Fitzsimmons, sergeant, 19; John B. Col- 
lins, sergeant, 23 ; Patrick Fitzpatrick, corporal, 
21; John Matson, corporal, 24: Lewis Hem- 



minger, corporal, 22 : William McCurdy, cor- 
poral, 18; Augustus F. Frederici, drummer, 46; , 
I>ouis Clement, fifer, 21. Privates: Thomas ' 
Brand, 26; Georg^e M. Bollinger, 19; Charles : 
Bradley, 31; Charles H. Coombs, 22; Hiram 
Correll, 24; John Cotwinkle, 40; John Cox, 19; 1 
Jeroboam Creighton, 21; John Dickas, 27; 
Harvey Davis, 30; Isaac Doxsey, 18; Jacob 
Ebersole, 22 ; James Elliott, 29 ; Ambrose Ess- 
ner, 24; Jacob Fentenheim, 20; Peter Finney, 
27 ; Charles Floom, 23 ; Frederick Vogelgesang, 
18; Andrew P. Gallagher, 19; John Ganett, 
18; Theodore Gibbons, 20; Ferdinand W. 
Haack, 22; William \V. Hastings, 21; Isaiah 
Keltner, 18; Frederick Kissner, 36; George A. 
Klingle. 30; Christian Ledigh, 40; Jon Link. 
22; Philip jMartin, 18: Findlay McGrew, 18; 
John C. Moloney, 2 1 ; John Mungrew, 30 ; 
Samuel F. Murrah, 23; Wesley Nugen, 21; 
Leander Preston, 19; Jacob W. Rex, 26; Ja- 
cob Sebold, 20 ; John Shannon, 20 ; Frederick 
Souter, 26; James R. Stall, 28; Samuel Stall, 
22 ; John Stevens, 24 ; John Stone, 31 ; Thomas 
Thompson, 23 ; William C. Torrance, 21 ; John 
Ulam, 19; John W. Wagner, 23 ; John R. Wal- 
ter, 22; Alonzo M. Waters, 20; Dewitt C. 
^Vhiting, 20, and William Yawkey, 37. 

Those who died in the company were Jacob 
Reed, who died at the age of twenty-two, in 
the hosjiital at Camargo, Mexico, April 8, 
1847; Joseph Schlink, age thirty-six, in 
the hospital at Saltillo, Mexico, April 23, 1847; 
Robert M. Schilling, age eighteen, at Camargo, 
April I, 1847: .Vbraham Metz, age twenty, 
was discharged at Buena Vista, Mexico, on sur- 
geon's certificate of disability, by order of Gen- 
eral Woll. 

The company was enrolled at Massillon by 
Major-General Jar\is. May 30, 1846, and was 
mustered into service at Cincinnati, June 25, 
following, by Captain E. Shriver. Captain 
James Allen was an able and fomiidable news- 
paper writer and was a brother-in-law of Mrs. 
Julius Whiting. Sr.. who is still a resident of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



119 



Canton. Lieutenant Samuel Beatty Iiardly 
needs any introduction to the present gener- 
ation, having served in the late Civil war, 
starting out as colonel of the Nineteenth Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry and returning a brigadier 
general. He died only a few years ago. Jacob 
G. Frick, the second lieutenant, was a relative 
of the late Samuel Gotshall and during the 
time the latter conducted the Stark County 
Democrat we learn that Mr. Frick was em- 
ployed in the office of the paper. He is a 
cousin of Henry C. Frick, the well-known steel 
manufacturer of Pennsylvania, and still lives 
in Pottstown, that state. Among the other 
members of the company who are well known 
to old Cantonians may be mentioned the fol- 
lowing : Sergeant William J. Hartman, who 
was a son of Joseph Hartman, who was en- 
gaged in the tailoring business in Canton many 
years ago. Corporal William McCurdy was 
a son of the late John McCurdy and a brother 
of the late Martha McGregor. After the close 
of the Mexican war, in company with a num- 
ber of others from this section, he went to 
California, at the time of the gold excitement, 
and was assaulted and killed by the Indians on 
Pit river, that state, in 1850. Isaac Doxey was 
an old resident of Massillon and died not many 
years ago. Jacob Ebersole was another of the 
Canton contingent, and he passed away within 
the last decade. Ambrose Essner was a Ger- 
man, and was a resident of Canton before and 
after the war, dying here a few years ago. 
Frederick Vogelsang is still a resident of Can- 
ton. Ferdinand Haack will be well remember^ 
by most of the present-day citizens. He was the 
old-time bailiff of the court house — a position 
that seems to have been pre-empted by him 
away back in the 'fifties. John C. Moloney 
was well and favorably known to our old resi- 
dents, having been prominent in the painting 
trade in Canton. His two sons live in Chi- 
cago, and his daughter, Mrs. Judge Mong, still 
resides in Canton. Jacob \\'. Rex was a son of 



old Jacob Rex, a pioneer tailor of Canton, and 
for many years station master at the Fort 
Wayne depot when it was located on South 
Market street. John R. Walter is still living and 
resides in Tuscarawas township, where he has 
held the office of justice of the peace for a num- 
ber of years. John Fitzsimmons was still liv- 
ing at last accounts, being numbered among the 
pioneer citizens of Lafayette, Indiana. There 
are many other familiar names on the muster 
roll, but it has been impossible to discover suf- 
ficient data concerning them to offer any record 
of accurate importance. 



INDIANS IN STARK COUNTY. 

By Lew Slusser. 

The gTjvernment sin^A^ey of the lands of 
Stark county, east of the Tuscarawas river, 
was made in 1799. The landi office for the 
district was established in Steubaiville in 1801. 
Tlie first entiy oif land was: made in 1804. Em- 
igrants began toi settle in 1805, the first in the 
townships of Canton, Osnaburg and Sandy. 
Previously, in all legal transactions, it was 
considered a part of Columbiana county. It 
originally contained twenty-two townships, five 
since taken off, viz : Green and Franklin, now 
in Summit ; and Rose, Brown and Harrison, 
nO'W a part of Carroll. 

Although the Indiians had relinquished all 
claim to the territory, and removed their per- 
sonal effects west of the Tuscarawas river, 
making their headquarters in the neighborhood 
of the present site of Jeromeville, Ashland 
county, they were still in the habit O'f tramping 
over many portions of Stark, ostensibly for 
the purpose of fishing and hunting. Congress 
lake was a great place of resort for fishing and 
Meyer's lake a loafing place. The woods 
abounded in game, and fromi white settlers 
they could beg or barter for a change of diet. 



I20 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Their chief, a lialf breed, went by the name of 
Armstrong. He was regarded with favor, 
having on several occasions befriended the 
whites. There were several prominent in the 
tribe who were looked upon with suspicion, for 
having been guilty of acts of hostility in former 
years. They were known as Captain Beaver- 
hat, Tom Jileway and Long John. Beaverhat 
was jealous of his wife, and when drunk would 
cut the soles of her feet to prevent her from run- 
ning about. He had a sort of necklace, upon 
which were strung a lot of human tnnoues. 
This, when under the influence of liquor, he 
would sometinaes display, at the same time in- 
dulging in threats against the whites. The 
story has been bandied down, that at a gather- 
ing at Slusser's mill on the Nimishillen, Beaver- 
hat was present and made rather an offensive 
exhibition of his necklace. David Bachtel 
was also present, with his trusty rifle and belt 
knife, without which he was never seen away 
from home. He was not a friend of the red 
man, and on this occasion the conduct of Beav- 
erhat excited his resentment. Beaverhat, ob- 
serving that he had gone too far, took himself 
away. He had not been gone long before 
Bachtel likewise disappeared. Beaverhat was 
never afterwards seen, and Bachtel was sus- 
pected of hastening his departure to the happ\- 
hunting ground. The Indians had wild tur- 
keys and venison hams for barter. A turkey 
for a pumpkin, and a ham for a bread Ijasket 
full of corn meal, was a customary exchange. 
It is characteristic of the Indian to be a beggar 
and a glutton. They never suffer from dif- 
fidence about asking, and will eat an incredi- 
ble amount before being satisfied. Thev were 
extremely fond of sweet milk, and two would 
drink a gallon crock with very little ceremony. 
While the men wei-e away hunting, trapping or 
fishing the women would dig ginseng or make 
baskets of ash wood. The former was pur- 
ch.ased Iw traders, who sent it east, from whence 



it was sent to China, where it was said to bring 
its weight in gold. 

As long as the Indians remained in the 
country they were treated by the whites with 
uniform kindness, and oftentimes lavish gen- 
erosity. Unsuccessful as they sometimes were 
in the pursuit of game, their request for food 
was never denied. In fact when thev called in 
the absence of the man of the cabin the woman, 
being alone, rather feared to deny them. Four 
stalwart braves called at the cabin of William 
Henry, of Tuscarawas township, while he was 
absent on the hunt of stray cattle. His w-ife, a 
delicate woman, was alone with an infant. 
Their unusual boldness excited her apprehen- 
sions, but she had the presence of mind to 
conceal her fears and to impress them with the 
idea that she was not intimidated, took one of 
their guns and held it up as if taking aim. One 
of the number inquired, "Can white squaw 
shoot?" Her reply was that she could shoot 
as well as they. Hiereupon a mark was placed 
on a tree close by. Mrs. Henry took deliberate 
aim, fired and made what would be called a 
good shot. One of the Indians then tried his 
hand, but did not come so near the mark, upon 
which they gave a great whoop, one remark- 
ing, ''White squaw brave; good to shoot," and 
immediately all left. Mrs. Henry believed they 
premeditated mischief, and attributed her pro- 
tection to the manner in which she handled the 
gun. The shot she made was entirel}' acci- 
dental, as she made no pretensions to skill in 
the use of fire arms. 

In 1807 Joseph H. Larwell was in the em- 
ploy of the government surveying the land 
west of the Tuscarawas river. The corps fre- 
quently came in contact with small parties of 
Indians. At one time a party of five or six 
met the surveying party and by their talk and 
manner gave evidence of anger and dissatis- 
faction at the encroachments of the whites 
and at their driving off the game. One of their 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



I 3 I 



numl)cr, who could speak tolerable English, 
said : "You run here — you run there — we cut 
your legs oft — you run no more," at the same 
time gesticulating earnestly, the more effectu- 
ally to enforce his ideas. This threat, and the 
manner of the Indians, intimidated the party 
and several of the corps refused to proceed. 
Larwell despatched a messenger to their chief 
Armstrong at Jeromeville, informing liim of 
the circumstances and their fears. The chief 
returned assurances that they would not be mo- 
lested, and in proof of good faith on his part 
sent as a spy one of his tribe, to walcli the rest 
and give information to the company upon the 
first indications of threatened danger. 

Up to the war of 1812 with England, In- 
dians continued to fish and hunt in parts of 
Stark county. During the exciting times pre- 
ceding the declaration of war they manifested 
no disposition to join the tribes who had allied 
themselves with the British against us. That 
overtures had been made them by emissaries of 
Tecumseh was evident from their knowledge 
of preparations on foot for the war among the 
tribes located farther west. A well-known 
character, accustomed to fish in Tuscarawas, 
and a frequent visitor at the home of Stephen 
Harris, remarked during an evening's talk, 
that it would be a "big war," and that the 
"Indians fight like Devers." 

After Hull's surrender, and the first squad 
of his paroled men reached Canton on their 
way home, there happened to be a few Indians 
in town trading. The sight of these Indians 
bringing to their mind the ignoble manner in 
which they had been treated, so exasperated 
them that they determined upon revenge, and 
approaching the Indians in a menacing man- 
ner, the latter made off, and as the soldiers 
quickened their pace the Indians increased 
theirs and soon outstripped the soldiers and 
were out of sight. As they approached the 
Tuscarawas river they gave several loud and 
peculiar whoops, which was understood by 



those encampetl ui)on the opposite bank, for 
soon the squaws had their papooses strapped 
and their camp utensils in readiness to move, 
which they did in hot haste — never again to 
return for the purpose of fishing or hunting. 

During the continuance of the war, many 
of the inhabitants were in constant dread of 
being nightly l)esieged by the savage foe. Ru- 
mors were rife of a large body of Indians ad- 
vancing from the west, led by British officers, 
who were hourly expected to be upon them. 
At one time the news came that a force of eight 
hundred had fortified themselves in the l>end 
of the river south of Bethlehem, making prep- 
arations for an attack upon the defenseless set- 
tlers. A company was made up in Canton, 
commanded by Colonel Sloan, another in San- 
dy, commanded by Captain Downing, who 
marched to the place of rendezvous, but no 
signs of Indians were discovered. 

Many amusing incidents are told of some 
of the settlers, growing out of their fears of 
being attacked ; many abandoned their homes 
and crops and went east. It was a common 
custom for different neighbors to collect with 
their families at a designated house for mutual 
protection. Besides their fire arms, axes and 
scythes and all other instruments of defense 
that could be mustered were duly arranged 
that they might be convenient in case of need. 
A sentinel was generally upon guard, and ev- 
ery preparation made, that circumstances 
would aft'ord, for vigorous resistance. There 
are a few yet living who remember being awed 
to silence, or lullabied to sleep, by dreadful 
stories of Indian cruelty whispered in their 
ears. There were several block houses erect- 
ed west of the Tuscarawas river, in Lawrence, 
Tuscarawas and Bethlehem townships, but 
they were never in requisition as such. 

At the conclusion of the war, and the es- 
tablishment at Sandusky of a reservation for 
the Indians remaining, they were in the habit 
of making annual trips through the towns 



122 



OLD LANDMARKS 



east to the Ohio river. They would travel in 
squads of a half dozen or more, three or four 
bucks and several squaws with their papooses 
hanging around town a week or more, lodging 
in the market house. The men gave exhibi- 
tions of then' skill with the bow and arrow, 
]jicking oft' shillings and sixpence at a distance 
of twenty to thirty steps, set in a forked stick 
placed in the ground. They wouldn't see a 
copper cent. The women gathered in consid- 
erable mone}- selling moccasins and bead work. 
In the evening they gave exhibitions of their 
different kind of dances. The music was fur- 
nished by their own band and it was not only 
peculiar Init horrid. 

While the Nichols mill (Browning site) 
was being built the workmen were considerably 
annoj^ed by the Indians, who persisted in hang- 
ing around for the scraps left from dinner and 
in the hope of getting whiskey, of which they 
were passionately fond. The workmen, in the 
hope of getting rid of them, would insist in 
their helping in the work. This they disin- 
clined to do. The Indian has an innate aversion 
to anything like work, outside of fishing, hunt- 
ing and lighting. According to their ideas, 
anything beyond this belongs to the female 
members of the family. Occasionally an In- 
dian could be persuaded to take hold of the 
handle of a cross-cut saw and help pull and 
push it, but it would not be long before he 
would quit, giving as a reason that it "made 
him sick arm." 

Rudy Bair happened to come across a 
squad of Indians camped on Black's creek, 
Paris township. They were just ready to par- 
take of a meal they had prepared and insisted 
upon liis joining them. Fearing lest he might 
offend them by refusing-, he reluctantly con- 
sented. The meal consisted of bear's head, 
stewed or boiled in a camp kettle and thickened 
with hair and corn meal. The Indians gave 
Bair to understand by grunts and, signs that 
he must pitch in like the rest, which he did, 



but. as he afterward frequently said, it was the 
most unpalatable meal he ever attempted to 
gulp down. The hair choked him so that it 
was witli the greatest difficulty he could keep 
from vomiting, though the Indians swallowed 
it with a will. 



EARLY MEASURES FOR SAFETY. 

By Lew Slusser. 

The other night I passed Jacob Bachtel, 
special night watchman in the public square, 
and I was reminded of the first watchman em- 
ployed in Canton. That was many years ago, 
and these were the circumstances which led 
to the employment of a watchman at that ear- 
ly day. 

The town had a bank, the second organized 
in the town, known as the Farmers' Bank of 
Canton. It was a recuscitation of the first and 
did business in a one-story brick building at 
the northwest corner of the public square. The 
officers were Orlando Metcalf, a prominent 
lawyer, president, and William Fogle, Sr., re- 
tired merchant, cashier. This was Ijefore the 
day of burglar-proof safes. The substitute in 
this bank was a walled room, ten feet square, 
built of cut stone. The door was made of 
heavy oak plank, covered with plate iron, with 
an enormous wooden lock that had a hey hole 
large enough to admit four fingers at one time. 
The key was like what in imagination we re- 
gard a Bastile key, although too large and 
heavy to carrj- on your person without discom- 
fort. The clerk or teller of the bank was Will- 
iam Fogle, Jr., and one morning while open- 
ing up for business he detected bits of putty 
sticking around the key hole of the safe lock. 
Suspicion being excited by the appearance of 
this putty, a council of the ofticers and direc- 
tors of the bank was called. Being satisfied 
that there was a movement on foot to rob the 
bank, it was decided to erect a guard house and 
employ a watchman. A wooden structure of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



12' 



octagonal form, about five feet in diameter, 
was put on the comer of the pavement imme- 
diately in front of the bank. A pane of glass 
was inserted as a look-out on each side and a 
cannon stove occupied one side, by which it 
was made quite comfortable in cold weather. 
The watchman employed was Valentine Bock- 
ius, a man passed middle age, who was with 
Napoleon at Moscow and Waterloo. At that 
day a man who had served through the Revo- 
lutionary war or with Napoleon was consid- 
ered invincible, of unquestioned courage and 
daring — at least by the boys. Bockius was a 
hatter by trade, but as the business was not 
remunerative he accepted the position of bank 
watchman, as it was looked upon as one of re- 
sponsibility and trust. His armory or means 
of offense and defence consisted of a flint-lock 
musket, generally with fixed bayonet, a horse 
pistol and a heavy cavalry sword. Much of 
his time while on duty he employed in picking 
or carding wool. 

The boys living near the public square, 
and who were wont to congregate around the 
old court house to play "hide and go seek," 
"wolf" and such like juvenile sports, would 
often linger around the watch house and 
drink in the wonderful stories the old man 
would tell of accidents by flood and field, of 
hair-breadth '"scapes" and the like. He would 
frequently from the court house pavement 
cry the hour of night and the character of the 
weather. This could be distinctly heard sev- 
eral squares distant. His call for instance 
was : "Twelve o'clock and a starlight night," 
or "Two o'clock and all's well." It is need- 
less to add that while this watch was kept up, 
to the time of the removal of the bank to the 
corner of Tuscarawas and Popular, no attempt 
at robbery was made. 

There are but few citizens of Canton left 
who did business with the Farmers' Bank at 
the time of which I write. O. T. Browning, 
John Laird and Daniel DeWalt are the only 



persons left who have not had their last check 
discounted. Banks and currency was much 
more of a disturbing element then than now. 
The country was full of all sorts of what was 
then designated "wild cat" and "red dog" cur- 
rency and you were at a loss to known whether 
what you received at par today would not be 
c[uoted at a heavy discount or announced broke 
tomorrow. Every business man took a bank 
note reporter, which he was obliged to con- 
sult daily. Schemers were starting banks in 
every nook and corner of the country. The 
Mormons had a bank of issue at Kirtland, on 
the Reserve, and a syndicate started "The Or- 
phan's Institute" bank at Fulton, and the "Owl 
Creek," and numerous other swindling con- 
cerns that played sad havoc with the farming- 
community in the purchase of produce. It is 
to be hoped the country will never again be 
subjected to such a crisis. 



SOME PIONEER REMINISCENCES. 

By Lew SluSSEr 

Valentine Weaver, better known as "Felty" 
Weaver, came from Washington county, 
Maryland, in 1806, and settled in Plain town- 
ship before it v.as organized, while the territory 
of Stark was yet a part of Columbiana. He 
had ten children, and the five older were girls, 
Nancy, Elizabeth, Magdelena, Sarah and 
Christina. Nancy was always delicate and 
died soon afer her marriage. The rest of the 
girls were healthy and stout. At that time 
hired help was scarce and the money to pay 
for it scarcer still. The help of these girls 
was necessary to open the farm, nor did they 
hesitate to give it. They could do, and did, 
whatever a man could do — cut down trees, 
burn brush, split rails, plough, sow. cut wheat 
wnth a sickle, and hay and clover with a sythe, 
thresh w-ith a flail, in short do an_v kind of farm 
work. Elizabeth, the second daughter, known 
as Betsy, who married Joseph Essig, Avas the 



124 



OLD LANDMARKS 



boss of them all. She could excel most men 
in the management of horses. As an illustra- 
tion : A young- brother hauling out manure was 
unable to start a load. Betsy, noticing his in- 
efl-'ectual efforts from the kitchen window. 
same out, took the whip out of his hand, re- 
marking, "Ous em waig; luss mich de gowl 
handle," spoke kindly to the horses, cracked 
the whip, ordered them to move, and the load 
moved out of the rut. Upon another occasion, 
when they were building a barn, the driver of 
four horses came with a load of sill timber, and 
insisted that it was impossible to drive where 
the timber was to be unloaded without bark- 
ing some fruit trees, ^t that time fruit trees 
were an object and it became a perplexing 
question among the men standing around how 
the timber could be taken where it was wanted. 
While the subject was under discussion, Bet- 
sy made her appearance and soon entered into 
the spirit of controversy. She proffered to 
drive the team to the place desired without 
touching a tree and her oft'er was accepted. 
Mounting the saddle horse, riding sideways, 
she took up the line, spoke to the horses, started 
them up. and made the twists and turns to the 
place desired without touching a tree. Betsy 
attained her ability to manage horses bj' in- 
heritance, for her father had the reputation of 
being the most skillful driver and best horse- 
man in the country around. 

One of the first constables of Plain town- 
ship was a man by the name of Packer. He was 
a great braggart and at every opportunity 
boasted of his bravery and wonderful achieve- 
ments. Pie had a sow and a litter of pigs that 
were kept in a pen near his cabin that they 
might not be molested l)v wild animals, bears 
and wolves. Early one morning, l>efore 
Packer and his wife were out» of bed. they 
heard a noise like a pig squealing. They were 
quick to take in the situation and both sprang 
out of bed. The wife naturally waited for the 
husband to move out to the rescue ; but the hus- 



band hesitated, loath to move forward, and said 
to his wife "Betsy you go foremost and Fll 
follow." Betsy, obedient to the command of 
her lord and master, went foremost, shook 
her skirts at the bear and he left. The story 
got out, and e\-er afterward, when Packer 
would commence to brag, some one in the 
company would drop the remark. "Betsy you 
go. foremost," and it effectually squelched 
him. 

During the summer and fall of 1810 more 
emigrants and land specidators came from 
the east and the ^vest than had previously come 
from the time Ohio was admitted into the Un- 
ion as a state. This was soon after the lands 
west of the Tuscarawas river were open to en- 
try. The land office was then in Canton. The 
Eag"le taA'crn, a two-story structure, comer 
of Market and Tuscarawas, was the popular 
stopping place for man and beast. It was well 
known east and as far west as white people 
dared to venture. The supply of horse feed 
was limited in this locality and Mr. Dewalt 
had difficulty in procuring sufficient to satis- 
f}- the demand of travelers. The neighlx)rhood 
of New Listen had been longer settled and 
the }-ield of farm products was there more 
abuntlant. In order to supply the demand, 
Mr. Dewalt sent his two daughters, Nancy and 
Mary, the oldest of his children, the former 
fifteen and the latter fourteen, to New Lisbon, 
a distance of thirty-five miles, for oats. It was 
a dismal road, along which the settlements 
were few and far between, and "Holm's Bot- 
tom." midway, the dread of travelers and 
teamsters, not to mention the fact of coming in 
contact with roving Indians then traveling the 
country. The girls made the trip, each riding 
horseback and between them leading a horse 
and brought back ten bushels of oats. This 
performance would not be considered anything 
extraordinary at the present day. but at that 
time, when the country was comparatively new 
and unsettled and there were no well-defined 



CANTON AND STARK COUNT V, OHIO. 



12: 



roads, it may be considered a remarkable exhi- 
bition of pluck and fortitude. 

Peter Dickerhoof came to Stark county in 
1806, and settled in Plain township. His 
daughter Betsy (recorded Elizabeth in her 
Taufschein) was a woman in a thousand. She 
early evinced a spirit of independence and an 
ambition to do work equal to a man. Although 
not particularly stout in appearance, she was 
well knit and capable of great endurance. She 
secured the contract to open the road from 
Berlin to Greentown, and it is said she cut 
down more trees than an}' man she had em- 
ployed. She was never content with doing- 
ordinary housework such as would satisfy 
most \\omen. but was always on the lookout for 
contracts. l-'elling timber and clearing up 
ground seemed to be her delight. She never 
married, though many offers were presented. 
She feared being curtailed in her liberty. She 
seemed determined that "no pent up Utica 
should contract her powers." 

Mary Marks, wife of John Marks, of San- 
dy township, had nineteen children in twenty 
years, all living when last heard from. JNIarks 
was a common laborer and, finding himself 
unable to provide for so numerous a house- 
hold, cowardly deserted his post. Mrs. Marks, 
like Niobe of old, was fond of her offspring, 
and shed tears because her husband had left her 
before she had the twentieth. 

Apropos,— William Alban, of Lawrence 
township, had twenty-one children, by three 
wives, all living. 



AWAY back: in 1840. 



By Lew Slussek. 



It was in the 'forties that a friend of mine 
engaged passage in the stage coach at Canton 
for Pittsburg. The route was through New Lis- 
bon to Smith's Ferry, on the Ohio river, thence 



by steamboat to Pittsburg. Thirty-six hours 
was required to make the trip, which was then 
considered fast traveling. Fare, five dollars. 
At the time the incident occurred which I am 
about to relate, the stage left Canton at four in 
the afternoon. W'lien it arrived from the west 
there was but <ine vacant seat, and that was 
taken l)y my informant. It was in the spring 
of the year, the roads muddy and traveling 
slow and laborious. But, that the narrative 
may be better understood, I'll let my informant 
tell it in his own language. 

"It was dusk by the time we reached Osna- 
burg. There the dri\er stopped and watered 
the horses. I should mention that I knew but 
one of my fellow passengers, a merchant from 
Navarre, wliose name I would have you with- 
hold from the public as well as my own, but 
shall call him Navarre. He and I. and a com- 
mission merchant from New York, did about all 
the talking that was carried on between the pas- 
sengers. When we reached Shull's tavern, half- 
way between Osnaburg and Paris, the dri\er 
again sto])ped to water the horses. As we drove 
up a man came out of the house with a lantern 
and followed him. Two other rather rough 
looking customers came up to the coach, looked 
in and inqtiired whether there was any room. 
When tcild that ever}- seat was occupied one 
made an expression of disappointment. One 
of the men mounted the box and the other 
climbed on the top of the coach, allowing his 
feet to hang over the side to the annoyance of 
the passengers. 

"It was after Ijed time when we got to 
Paris, where we changed horses. The passen- 
gers all got out of the stage and went into the 
bar-room, where there was a fire. The land- 
lord came out of a back room, rubbing his eyes 
and blinking as though he had just been 
awakened from a sound sleep. The driver 
came in anfl handed him the way bill. Just then 
one of the drovers said to the landlord that he 
wanted to engage passage to New Lisbon. At 



126 



OLD LANDMARKS 



this, my friend from Xavarre remarked to the 
landlord : 'You had better look over the way 
bill and see how many passengers are on. The 
coach is full.' 'You keep your mouth shut,' re- 
plied the driver. "I wasn't speaking to you.' re- 
joined Navarre. No sooner said, than the 
driver drew back and struck Navarre square in 
the face, staggering him back against the wall. 
Navarre straightened up and at it they went, 
pell mell, knocking each other right and left. 
Then New York put his foot on the seat 
of a heavy arm chair standing by and taking 
hold of an arm with both hands, wrenched it 
ofif, and with this commenced on the second 
drover, who had hold of Navarre. The other 
passengers ran from the room. In the melee 
the stove and pipe were knocked down, then the 
counter on which the candle stood, and then all 
was darkness, but the fight continued. It was 
a rap and a kick and a curse, and when the 
drivers came from the stable with a lantern, 
New York was dragging the landlord over 
the floor by the hair and he was bellowing at the 
top of his voice, 'What have I done that I 
should be so abused?" I'he drovers were no- 
where to be seen. Finding they were likely to 
get the worst of the fight, they took advantage 
of the darkness and slipped out ; nor were they 
again seen, although for miles on the way we 
anticipated an attack from them. 

"I should have pitched in, but the fact was, 
being on my way to the cit\' to purchase goods, 
and having on my best clothes, I disliked the 
idea of having my appearance spoiled. Navar- 
re was much mortified that he should have a 
black eye, but \ve did our best to console him. 
New York came out of the" fight without a 
mark. 

"We reached New Lisbon in time for break- 
fast next morning, and Smith's Ferry for din- 
ner. Here we took passage in a stern-wheel 
boat for Pittsburg, secured berths and when 
we awoke in the morning found the boat tied 
uj) at the wharf. I shall never forget the fight 



in Paris. It excited considerable talk in the 
neighboi-hood, and, as I afterward learned, the 
two drovers were young men from Tuscarawas 
township, who afterward attained some promi- 
nence, but are now both dead." 



MEMORIES OF OLDEN TIMES. 

By Lew Slusser. 

While to know how people lived in the days 
of ancient Greece and Rome may be interest- 
ing to many of the present day, it should be 
more interesting to know how our own grand- 
parents lived — to know how the habits and cus- 
toms of their day differed from our own. It is 
questionable whether the most advanced pu- 
pils of the high school have an adequate con- 
ception of the wonderful change that has been 
wrought in our domestic habits and customs 
within the last half gentur}'. When we contem- 
plate the marvelous advance that has been made 
in arts and sciences in that time we wonder at 
the stupidity of the people who lived in the hua- 
dred years previous. 'Tis said necessity is the 
mother of invention. Very true, and was there 
not as much necessity for a friction match one 
hundred years ago as today? Yet in my school- 
boy days a friction match was a thing unknown. 

Canton was twenty-five years old and had a 
population of over two thousand people before 
there was a cook stove in town. There were a 
few tin-plate sto\'es, as they were called, used 
for heating and cooking light meals, but gen- 
eral cooking was done by an open fire. The tea 
kettle was hung over the fire on a crane; the 
meat and potatoes fried in a skillet set on the 
coals ; pot-pie and biscuit were baked in a dutch 
oven, the lid covered with live coals. The same 
vessel was often used for baking bread and fry- 
ing faustnachts. Potatoes were sometimes 
baked in the pshes, wood alone being then used 
for fuel. Those were the days referred to bv 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



127 



the poet when was heard "the cricket on the 
hearth" not my days, but of generations pre- 
ceding, when young people did their courting 
liy the dying embers. It is now done by elec- 
tric light. Our chief light by which to read at 
night was the tallow candle, and it required 
snufifing about every fifteen minutes. Habits 
and customs change and we change with them. 

To return to the ways of living in the time 
of which we write. The tableware was decided- 
ly plain. Queensware was expensive, and many 
families used pewter plates. The children as a 
rule ate at the second table. Why they were 
not allowed to sit down I am unable to tell, un- 
less it was then as now, people were particular 
to observe fashion whether it was agreeable or 
not. 

High bedsteads were the style. This was 
necessary in many cases, as trundle beds in 
which children slept were kept under them and 
at night rolled out for use. It was the fashion 
to pile the bedding up high. On top of a thick 
straw tick would be a feather tick, making it 
so high from the floor that a short-legged 
woman would require the assistance of a chair 
to get in, and then it was anything but a com- 
fortable place to sleep in on a hot, sultry night. 
Education has done much toward emancipating 
us from meek submission to an objectionable 
habit. In early times a feather tick was a part 
of the bride's outfit. Now it consists of tnany 
articles quite as superfluous, but not so un- 
healthy to use. 

Hotels in those days were called taverns, 
but "what's in a name? That which we call a 
rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." 
And so it was with many of the earl)- taverns 
of this country. Food of the staple kind was 
cheap and plentiful. W illiam Hawk, the grand- 
father of William Hawk connected with the 
Windsor of New York, was proprietor of the 
Eagle tavern, from whence the Eagle block 
takes its name. His house had a reputation for 
good living not excelled by any between Pitts- 



burgh and Mansfield. There was no Chicago 
then. His table was always supplied with the 
best of everything that could be had. He had 
no printed bills of fare, but there are a few of 
the old guard still living and they testify to the 
following ordinary course : For breakfast, ham 
and beef steak, fried potatoes, warm cakes, waf- 
fles, spreads of all kinds, excellent coffee with 
rich cream. For dinner, chicken, roast beef or 
kidney, roast of veal, roast turkey, vegetables, 
sauces of all kinds and tea or coffee. For des- 
sert, pie or cake. Supper, beef steak and ham, 
mashed potatoes, sauces, coffee and tea. And 
this for twenty-five cents a meal ; regular board- 
ing, with lodging, two dollars and a half a week. 
A cold check of cold meat, boiled eggs, bread, 
butter and a .spread, pie and milk, one shilling. 
Lodging, a shilling, and horse feed the same. 
There was no oysters or ice cream, napkins or 
music, but customers were as well satisfied as 
they are now at the Windsor or Fifth Avenue, 
where they pay three to five dollars a day. 

This was the day of the stage coach. When 
Culonel Cribbs advertised that he had estab- 
lished a daily line of four-horse post coaches 
running east and west from Canton, he was 
looked upon as a greater man than General 
Grant. L&iving Canton after dinner and ar- 
riving in Pittsburgh by the next dinner hour 
was regarded the ne plus ultra of fast traveling. 
The arrival of the coach at the tavern was an 
e\ent calculated to attract everybody of leisure 
\\ itliin convenient distance. Passengers took 
their meals while there was a change of horses. 
As the stage approached from the east, on 
reaching the rise opposite the Lutheran church, 
the driver commenced blowing his horn and 
kept it up until he reached Cherry street; then 
cracking his whip with a few extra flourishes, 
he came in on a brisk trot up to the public 
square and around the market house to the 
front of the tavern, when the landlord would 
make his appearance, place steps to the door 
of the coach and invite passengers to alight. 



128 



OLD LANDMARKS 



The tlriver, as well as the proprietor of the line, 
was an important character. Having charge 
of the United States mail, artistic in handling 
the ribbons and the whip, he was a masher of 
the hired girls at the taverns along his route. 



HOTELS OF OLDEN TIMES. 

By John Dansek. 

Three score of years ago there were live 
hotels, between Canton and Alassillon. The 
county had no railroads at the time; Massillon 
was the great wheat market of this section, by 
reason of being located on the Ohio canal ; the 
tide of emigration was moving westward and 
the stage coaches passed back and forth, as did 
also the Conestoga freight wagons, and these 
conditions conspired to render necessary the 
conducting of hotels all along the route. The 
first of these hostelries on the road from Can- 
ton to Massillon was known as the Floom hotel. 
It was a frame building and was located on the 
west side of what is now known as Reedurban, 
while it is occupied by descendants of F. X. 
F'loom, the original proprietor. Both he and 
his Avife were well adapted to their business 
and had many friends. Mrs. Floom was a 
very devout Catholic and seldom failed to at- 
tend tiie services of her church in Canton. She 
was a \er\- benevolent and kind-hearted woman. 
"This hotel was opened in 1825 and was utilized 
as a place of puljlic entertainiuent about forty 
years. 

The next caravanse on the rcjad was 
known as Rhodes' hotel, and this stood about 
half a mile west of Floom's on the north side of 
the road, while the latter was on the south side. 
This liDuse was opened to the public about 1830 
and was conducted as a hotel about fifteen years. 
Several hundred yards west of Rhodes" hotel, 
and on the south side of the road, was a hotel 
which had lieen opened in 1829, bv Jesse Band, 



who was its proprietor until 1842, after which 
several other parties there continued in the same 
business. The old building has within late 
years been removed to a point a litth west of the 
village of Genoa and is now untilized as a pri- 
vate residence. The fourth hotel was about a 
quarter of a mile west of the one just described, 
and stood on the north side of the road, the prop- 
erty being now o\vned by George Locke. The 
old hotel buillding stood close to the road, and 
had a well and pump in front, as did also 
Floom's. This place was first known as Wertz's 
hotel, but later was owned by Jacob Bahney, 
who conducted it about forty-eight years ago. 
the same liearing his name at the time. On the 
opposite side of the road was the large barn of 
the hotel property, the same having long since 
been demolished. 

The fifth and last of these wayside taverns 
was owned and conducted b_\- .Vustin Allen 
and was kmnvn as Allen's Hotel. The house 
was a two-story brick structure and was situ- 
ated about two and one-half miles east of Mas- 
sillon and on the north side of the road, the 
same being located close to the road. 
Mr. Allen was an intelligent and genial 
Irishman and a strong F'ree Mason, having 
joined the order in his native land, the Emerald 
Isle. It is stated that at this house the Masons 
often met for counsel and fraternal and ritu- 
alistic work before they had lodge rooms in 
either Canton or Massillon. Mrs. Allen was 
given more or less to despondency, and while 
in one of these states of mental depression she 
committed suicide, this being more than a half 
century ago, and slmrtly afterward Mr. Allen 
abandoned the hotel business. 

In Massillon there were four hotels that 
paid special attention to the farmers and the 
emigrant travel, while the two larger ones ca- 
tered to the coach and carriage trade. One of 
these more pretentious hotels was the Com- 
mercial, which was located on the northeast 
corner of Main and Erie streets, being conduct- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



129 



ed by William M. Folger. It was constructed 
of brick and was two stories in height, while it 
was long since razed to give place to the pres- 
ent three-story business block which occu- 
pies the site. In its last days the Commercial 
was kept by Samuel Hawk, formerly of Can- 
ton, and after leaving Massillon he located 
in New York city, where he became proprietor 
of the old Manhattan hotel, on Murray street, 
and later of the St. Nicholas, on Broadway. 
The other leading hotel of Massillon was the 
Franklin house, which was located west of the 
canal and one block south of Main street. The 
proprietor for many years was Thomas S. 
Webb, who later conducted a hotel in New 
York city for a siiort time, after which he was 
engaged in the same line of enterprise in Phil- 
adelphia, where he remained a number of 
years, eventually returning to Massillon, 
where he lived retired until his death, a few 
years ago. Both Mr. Hawk and Mr. ^Vebb 
were capable and popular hotel men. 

Of the four minor hotels in Massillon it 
may be said that Jacob Miller had a good two- 
story brick house on the southwest corner of 
Main and Mill streets, opposite the present 
Conrad house. He was the father of the late 
Cieorge Miller, who was quite prominent as a 
Democratic politician about a half century ago 
and who served as a member of the state sen- 
ate. On West Main street, where the Bee 
Hive dry goods store is now located, was also 
a two-story brick hotel, which was kept b}' 
various persons in the early years, and this 
building is still standing. A full block fur- 
ther west, on the north side of Main street, 
was Spuhler's hotel, a two-story brick, which 
was utilized for hotel purposes for more than 
sixty years. Tn West Massillon was a two- 
story frame hotel conducted by Dr. Abbott, 
"ivho was well known to many of the older res- 
idents of Massillon. 



TIPPECANOE AND TYLER TOO. 



By John Dannek. 



All old citizens refer to the presidential 
campaign of 1840 as the most tumultuous, ex- 
citing and memorable in the history of the na- 
tion. A log cabin was utilized as the Whig 
headquarters during the noted campaign and 
here many fervent political harangues and 
able forensic addresses were arranged and de- 
livered, favoring the election of "Tippecanoe 
and Tyler too." This primitive building stood 
on the lot at present occupied by the Hannah 
block, being located about midway down the 
block and facing Dewalt street. The front 
part of the lot was at the time marked by a 
large walled-up cellar, which had been placed 
there a number of years previously b}- Thomas 
Cunningham, who had intended to there eredt 
a house. He was a carpenter and joiner by 
trade and his shop was located in the old jail 
building that occupied the site of the present 
Yohe hotel, on North Market street. The ma- 
terial was all in readiness for the erection of 
his new house when the old jail burned to the 
ground, entailing a total loss of its contents, 
and as Mr. Cunningham carried no insurance 
he was unable to complete his house on West' 
Tuscarawas street. The two-story brick 
hcMise which was occupied for many years by 
Alexander Hurford, and which was located on 
the site of Mr. Cunningham's projected dwell- 
ing, was erected by Jacob Schaefer, the dry- 
goods merchant, be being a brother of the late 
Louis Schaefer and of Mrs. Martin Wikidal. 

The memorable campaign whose .slogan was 
"Tippecanoe and Tyler too" occurred fifteen 
years prior to the birth of the Republican par- 
ty, and hard cider and coon skins were brought 
into distinctive evidence by the Whigs during 
that campaign, and although Martin Van Bit- 
ren was the Democratic presidential candidate, 



«30 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the memory of "Old Hickory,"" Andrew Jack- 
son, was still fresh in the minds and affec- 
tionate regard of the party, and many a hick- 
ory sapling was seen in the political proces- 
sions and celebrations of the campaign. Never 
from that day to the present time has the writ- 
er seen so great and so general political en- 
thusiasm and excitement. Processions of both 
parties a mile or more in length were fre- 
quently seen, with bands of music and great 
platform ^vagons, while on the same black- 
smiths, tinsnn'ths, threshers with flails and 
other artisans were represented at work, while 
other vocations also were shown in full com- 
plement. It was during this campaign that the 
Canton Independent Band was organized, this 
being the hrst in the county. H. J. Nathnagle 
was the leader and instructor. It is recalled that 
he composed a very popular musical selection, 
entitled the "Ladies' Reception." This was 
written in honor of and for the use in connec- 
tion with the eflforts of a band of }oung ladies 
who were dressed in uniform, each representing 
one of the states in the Union. In that memor- 
able campaign these ladies rode in a large 
wagon similar to that occupied by the band, 
«ach being drawn by four horses. They made 
tlieir first public appearance on the 4th of July, 
1840. In the same year was organized the Dem- 
ocratic band, and both of these musical organi- 
zation were equii)ped with fine band wagons, 
which soon became familiar at all great political 
gatherings in the county. 

During this campaign William Henry Har- 
rison, the Whig candidate for President, spoke 
at Alassillon, while Tom Corwin and Salmon 
P. Chase were also present at the meeting, 
which was held in a little grove north of the 
present passenger station of the Fort Wayne 
Railroad. It was on quite a knoll or hill, which 
has since been graded down. At that time 
Stark count\- had nothing in the way of rail- 
roads. On General Harrison's way east from 
the Massillon meeting he stopped for a short 



time at the Eagle hotel ( Hawks"), in Canton, 
and the writer recalls that he was among inany 
other young boys of the village who gave the 
distinguished guest a hearty greeting. The 
Whigs of the county had quite a company of 
young men mounted on horseback and dressed 
in uniform, and usually on the occasion of po- 
litical meetings of this sort they wore white 
trousers and dark coats, while their sashes bore 
the familiar words, "Tippecanoe and Tyler 
too." There were about sixty persons in this 
escort. The writer was about seventeen years 
of age at the time and was a member of this 
organization, the major portion of its contin- 
gent being somewhat (jlder. On occasion of 
popular meetings campaign songs were sung 
with a will and unbounded vigor, often wind- 
ing up with the words, shouted in stentorian 
tones. "Old Tip's the boy to swing the flail and 
make the 'Locos" all turn pale." The term 
"loco foco"" was quite jjopular among the 
Whigs as against the Democrats, the expression 
having originated by reason of the early in- 
troduction of the friction matches thus named 
in historic old Tammau}- hall, in New York 
city. 

The Democrats also evolved some hard hits 
against the Whigs, and both parties spareil no 
effort to draw together large crowds in Stark 
county and to arouse the maximum enthusiasm, 
while the displavs in \'arious lines were wonder- 
ful for the period and locality. The tide, how- 
ever, turned in fa\or of the \Vhigs, and General 
Harrison was triumphantly elected, though he 
lived to occupy the presidential chair only one 
month, to a day, from the time of his inaugura- 
tion, on the 4th of March, 1841. More than 
three days elapsed ere the news of his death was 
received in Canton, since there were no tele- 
graphic or ra'ilroad facilities at the time, and 
the most expeditious medium of communica- 
tion was that afforded by the lumbering stage 
coaches or express messengers mounted on 
horseback. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



131 



CAXALS OF ST.VRK COUNTY. 

liy John Danner. 

In the early history of Stark county our 
pioneers hati no other means of transporta- 
tion than the ordinary wagon roads, and these 
were mostly in a poor condition, with very few 
bridges. Pittsburg, one hundred miles to the 
east, was the principal market; Cleveland in 
those days was in its infancy. Wheat had no 
cash market at home. It was often used as 
barter or exchange for other articles, but for 
money it could not be sold. In 1825 an act was 
passed by the state legislature giving a charter 
for the building of the Ohio canal, to run from 
Cleveland to the Ohio river. In December of 
that year the line was located between Massil- 
lon and Akron, while from the latter place to 
Cleveland the route had been located a short 
time previously. The work was contracted all 
along the line and progressed very rapidly, so 
that by 1830 the canal was opened from Cleve- 
land to Portsmouth. This was looked upon as 
a wonderful enterprise and as one of the great- 
est importance to all citizens, especially to 
farmers, who could thus secure an outlet for 
their wlieat and other produce. 

V\'Tien the canal was first built through 
Massilion there were but a few small houses or 
cabins in the place. Kendall, which is now one 
of the wards of the city, was then an older 
and more populous place. But very soon mai 
of enterprise and business tact came to Mas- 
silion and at once erected large warehouses 
and opened stores, and were ready to buy for 
cash all the wheat that was offered. Among 
these inen were L. and S. Rawson, H. B. and 
M. D. Wellman, Jesse Rhodes., the Johnsons 
and others, so that many others were soon at- 
tracted to Massilion, which soon became known 
throughout this region as the "Wheat City." 
The thrift and growth of Massilion from 1830 
to 1850 were wonderful. Very soon after the 
coming of the merchants mentioned C. M. 



Russell, the pioneer of the Russells who after- 
ward became the great manufacturers of the 
town, located there, and the success of the 
Russell works runs parallel with the history 
and prosperity of the city from that day to 
this. 

The Sandy & Beaver canal was constructed 
a few years after the opening of the Ohio canal. 
It touched Stark county only in the southeast 
corner, Waynesburg and Magnolia being on 
the line. It was intended as a feeder in the 
supply of water as well as commerce to the 
Ohio canal, but for various causes it was 
abandoned nearly fifty years ago. The canal 
that interested the people of Canton more par- 
ticularly in those days was known as the one 
to be operated under the corporate title of the 
Nimishillen & Sandy Slack-Water Navigation 
Company. It was the intention to build this 
canal from Canton via the Nimishillai and 
Sandy creeks to the Sandy & Beaver canal and 
to a point a few miles east of the confluence of 
the latter with the Ohio canal. In order to 
reach Cleveland by canal it would have been 
necessary to go about thirty miles around be- 
fore they would reach Massilion, their com- 
petitor, which would have greatly militated 
against the trade of Canton. All of the busi- 
ness men of Canton took a great interest in 
the project. When the ground vras first brok- 
en, on Walnut street, for the construction of 
this canal, the largest plow that could be ob- 
tained was brought into requisition, the same 
being drawn by ten yoke of oxen, making a 
furrow large enough to float a little boat. The 
contractor for building the canal in Canton was 
the late Rodman Lovett, father of Mesdames 
John H. Smith and John A. Hay, who still 
reside in Canton. Mr. Lovett performed his 
work well, so that the canal, running from 
North street south on Walnut to the present 
Pennsylvania Railroad and thence directly 
westward across the property occupied by the 
present works of the Aultman Company, cross- 



132 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ing Market street at Navarre street, and thence 
running south on tlie west side of Market street 
to the south creek, was all finished ready for 
the water. After all this work was done it was 
found that the Sandy and Beaver canal was not 
a success, and that for the want of funds the 
project was likely to prove a failure. It was 
also discovered that Shriver's run, from which 
it was expected to supply the canal with water 
down as far as the south creek, was not suffi- 
cient, and this, with other difficulties and com- 
plications, caused the work to cease right there. 
Many thousands of dollars were lost in this 
operation and Walnut street stood for years 
as a witness of the folly of those early days. 
It was more frequently called Canal street than 
Walnut. Finally the old ditch was graded to 
the ground level, but not until after much 
inurnniring and complaint on the part of the 
:itizens who lived on Walnut street. The 
:anal was never filled with water, and much 
less was it ever used for floating wheat and 
other products to market. 

For many years after the above failure to 
secure for Canton canal facilities ]\IassiIlon 
controlled the heavy produce of not only Stark 
county, but of quite a number of other coun- 
ties, including Wayne and Holmes, and even 
Carroll, Columbiana and Jefferson counties 
sent much of their produce to the Massillon 
market. From 1840 to 1850 the great tide of 
trade that went through Canton to Massillon 
was such that three or four country taverns be- 
tween these two places did quite a profitable 
business in entertaining the farmers and pro- 
viding accommodations for their teams, when 
they were thus en route to and from the great 
wheat market that had lieen created at Massil- 
lon. The tide was so largely in favor of Mas- 
sillon and against Canton during that decade, 
that an effort was made to secure the removal 
of the county seat to Massillon, and at one 
time it seemed very probable that this farther 
obscuring of Canton would be accomplished. 



The writer was at the time a resident of Mas- 
sillon and often heard it said, "Canton is about 
finished and ready to be fenced in, so that the 
grass may grow in its streets," and so it almost 
appeared for awhile. But in 185 1, when the 
Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad be- 
came an assured fact. Canton was put on a 
level with other towns, and Ball, Aultman & 
Company located their manufacturing estab- 
lishment here. Conditions began to rapidly 
change in our favor, and from that day to 
this Canton has had wonderful prosperity and 
growth, so that it is now one of the leading 
inland cities of the state, while Massillon also 
has grown to be a city of great wealth and in- 
fluence. Both of these cities have manu- 
factories that send their products not only 
through this nation but also to foreign lands, 
so that they largely contribute to the export 
trade that is becoming so great from this coun- 
try to all parts of the civilized world. The 
old-time jealousy of the two cities has passed 
away, and our interurban system of electric 
lines brings us in close relation to each other, 
and every hour in the day we are mingled to- 
gether and rejoice in each other's prosperity 
and happiness, while from the rapid growth 
of surburiKui districts it looks as though 
the two cities would eventually join each other 
and become as one great city. From the great 
changes which have taken place in the last half 
century it is difticult to conjecture what may 
occur in the next fifty vears. 



EARLY PHYSICIANS OF THE COUNTY 



OHN DaNNEK. 



The question has often been asked, who 
were the first physicians to locate in Canton 
and vicinity. It is undoubtedly certain that the 
first practitioner t6 locate iii Canton was Dr. 
Andrew Rappee, who came here fr6m Balti- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



133 



more in 1808. He was a native of France and 
his wife, Mary, was a sister of John and Joseph 
Shorb, who were among our first merchants, 
and of Adam A. Shorb, the potter. Dr. Rap- 
pee was the father of the late Mrs. Henry H. 
Myers and Mrs. George Faber, who after the 
death of Mr. Faber became the wife of V. R. 
Kimball, a leading merchant here, John S. 
Rappee, the only son, settled in Little San- 
dusky, and was quite successful in trading with 
the Indiai;is, who then abounded in that part 
of the state. Dr. Rappee opened the first drug- 
store in Canton. He lived and had his store 
in a two-story building that stood on the north- 
W'cst corner of Seventh and Market streets. 
He attained quite a reputation for his eye salve, 
known somewhat extensively at one time under 
the name of "Dr. Rappee's Invaluable Eye 
Salve.',' Old Mrs. Rappee was fond of telling 
the story. that when this first house was built 
on the site mentioned the cellar was dug by 
an Indian squaw. At one time Dr. Rappee was 
working with some chemical in his drug store 
and an explosion took place, destroying one of 
his eyes. 

Dr. William Gardner was probably the next 
physician to settle in Canton, while his wife, 
whose maiden name was Sarah B. Earl, came 
here from Kendall, now a part of the city of 
Massillon. He had his office and residence in 
a two-story frame building that stood on South 
Market street, on the lot now occupied by the 
grocery store of Louis Dumont. Dr. Gardner 
died about 1833, and his office and residence 
building was thereafter used by Dr. Robert 
Estep and after his death by his son, Dr. 
Joseph Estep. Then there were Drs. John and 
Thomas Bonfield, who also came from Balti- 
more or that vicinity. Dr. John Bonfield had 
at one time been a surgeon in the army and 
was a well-informed man, but rather eccentric 
in certam ways, careless in tlie makeup of his 
apparel and slow of speech. As he was more 
or less of an office seeker he never became very 



popular as a physician. His wife was a sister 
of Thomas Cunningham, the carpenter, whom 
many of the old citizens will remember. Dr. 
Thomas S. Bonfield, a brother of John, was 
quite popular and successful as a physician and 
built up a very large practice. He built the 
two-story brick house which stood for many 
years on the lot now occupied as the residence 
of A, B. Walker, on West Tuscarawas street. 
Dr. Bonfield was the first to improve the fine 
farm jiow known as the Raff farm, two miles 
west of Canton. 

Dr. Thomas Hartford settled in this town 
in 1 81 8, having come here from Connecticut. 
He was very kind hearted and very considerate 
of the wants of the poor. W^hen they came to 
him for medicine or advice he did all he could 
for them, regardless of whether or not any pay 
was forthcoming. After he left Canton, about 
1830, he manifested his great interest in the 
poor by leaving his entire property here for 
their benefit. Thus it is that Canton has what 
is known as the Hartford poor fund. The 
Doctor was a true Christian and a member 
of the Baptist church. Dr. James Jerome came 
to Canton from New England about 1820, and 
died about five years later. He had as a stu- 
dent Dr. John Coulter, who is remembered by 
a few of our old citizens. Dr. Joseph Simmons 
was one of the early doctors in Canton, was 
competent in his profession and a man of fine 
. appearance. He did not succeed, however, in 
securing a very large practice, and within three 
years he went to Cincinnati and several years 
later removed to St. Louis, where he built up 
a large practice, which he continued until his 
death, about twenty-five years ago. 

Dr. George Breysecher, a German by birth 
and a brother-in-law of the late John C. 
Bockius, settled in Canton as early as 1820, 
possibly a year or so before that time. It was 
claimed that he had been a 'surgeon in Na- 
poleon's army. In those days deer and other 
game abounded in this section and as Dr. Brey- 



134 



OLD LANDMARKS 



secher was an expert horseman and fine marks- 
man, he often went into the plains of the county 
for game of various kinds. In later years, and 
well known to many of the present day, was 
Dr. L. M. Whiting, who came here about 
1836. He had a large practice and was one 
of our most progressive citizens. Some years 
thereafter Dr. A. W. Whiting also settled in 
Canton, becoming associated in practice with 
his brother and continuing there for a number 
of years after the latter's death. Dr. Perkins 
Wallace at one time had quite a practice in 
Canton, as did he later for several years in 
Massillon, and he finally returned to Canton, 
where he passed the remainder of his life. 
The late Dr. J. H. Matthews first studied with 
Dr. Wallace and eventually built up here an 
extensive practice, continuing his professional 
labors here until his death. In 1812 a physician 
and surgeon by the ilame of Justus 
Scott located ni Kendall, which is now 
a part of Massillon, and he there en- 
joyed an extensive practice for a number of 
years. Dr. Joseph Watson, of Massillon, will 
be remembered by many of the present day. 
He located there in the early history of the 
city and while he was an able physician and 
much liked, he much preferred to give his at- 
tention, to his drug store and to not respond to 
many professional calls. He was a most ex- 
cellent and conscientious man. a Quaker by 
birth and early education, but in later years he 
identified himself with the Methodist Episcopal 
church in Massillon. He was more than ninety 
years of age at the time of his death. In Mas- 
sillon was Dr. John Shertzer. who had a good 
practice tmtil his death, when he was succeeded 
by his son. Dr. J. V. Shertzer, who also con- 
trolled an excellent practice. Dr. J. P. Barrick, 
of Massillon, was likewise a successful medical 
practitioner of Massillon and was quite well 
known in Canton and vicinity. Dr. D. L. 
Cans, of Sparta, had a wide practice and ac- 
quaintanceship. He died a few years ago. hav- 



ing lived in that vicinity for more than half a 
century. His wife was a woman of more than 
ordinary ability, was active in religious and 
temperance work and had an extensive ac- 
quaintance throughout the county. She passed 
away a few years prior to the death of her hus- 
band. Others could be named, but this article 
has already reached sufficient length. It may 
be added that changes in methods of practice 
and in the use of remedial agents have been 
radical in the intervening years and apparent 
to all, whether versed in the science of medicine 
or not. 



EARLY FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRA- 
TIONS. 

By John Danner. 

It will not prove inappropriate to enter into 
a brief record concerning the methods em- 
ployed in observing the anniversary of our 
national independence in Canton and the coun- 
ty in the early da}S. In the early times there was 
a universal obsen^ance of this holiday and, 
simple and primitive as were the means at 
hand, the observances ever showed the utmost 
loyalty and patriotism to the best government 
on earth. In Canton for many years Harris' 
grove was generally the scene of such cele- 
brations. This was the premises now owned 
and occupied by Mrs. Catherine A. Meyer, 
917 West Tuscarawas street. John Harris, 
who built the old mansion and lived there until 
his death, \\as a prominent lawyer and most 
excellent citizen. The few patriarchal oaks 
yet standing north of the house are reminders 
of a number of such trees that stood in that 
vicinity. The reading of the Declaration of 
Independence was always the keynote to the 
exercises. A few appropriate religious services 
and patriotic speeches were always on the pro- 
gram. Very often dinners were provided, 
sometimes basket picnics were the order of the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



135 



day, while the cannon was on all occasions 
broughL forth to augment the enthusiasm. 

There were occasional celebrations held in 
Shorb's grove, on the Fulton road, and also 
in the Hartford grove, at the east end of town, 
while the writer recalls several instances when 
the dinners were served and the speeches de- 
livered on the block of lots now occupied by the 
old Harter homestead, on South Market street, 
between Tenth and South streets. That block 
was vacant for many years and the many trees 
standing thereon formed a pleasant little grove, 
making the place very suitable for use on such 
occasions. About sixty years ago there was 
living among us an old Revolutionary soldier 
known as Grandfather Capes. He made his 
home with his daughter, Mrs. Langley, who 
lived for many years on the northeast corner 
of Cleveland avenue and Fourth street. This 
old veteran was often called out and given a 
position of distinction on the occasions of the 
4th of July celebrations. He was buried with 
military honors, in the old cemetery on Mc- 
Kinley avenue and near the entrance to the 
same. 

The celebrations were usually conducted 
without regard to political partisanship, but 
sometimes the campaigns became soi spirited 
that party divisions would occur in observing 
the patriotic holiday. This was especially true 
in 1840, in which years occurred probably the 
most notable campaign in the history of our 
nation. A record of the proceedings of the 
Whig contingent of the county on that oc- 
casion is available and is here given in an 
epitomized form. On Tuesday evening, June 
16, i<S40, the Whigs assembled in the log cabin, 
which stood on the site of the* present Hanna 
block, on Dewalt street, to make arrangements 
for the 4th of July celebration. F. A. Schnei- 
der was called to the chair and Hiram K. 
J^ickey was appointed secretary. In opening 
the meeting Mr. Schneider made a few re- 
marks in German, and S. C. Frev followed 



with more extensive remarks in English. The 
committee appointed to appoint a permanent 
committee to make suitable arrangements re- 
ported the following names : William Her- 
rick, Isaac Hartman, Martin Wikidal, John 
Malline, George Raynolds, Oliver P. Stidger, 
John Koontz, John Black and John Reed, Jr., 
of Canton ; Francis J. Meyer, of Plain town- 
ship; Colonel Thomas S. Webb and Francis 
Worthouse, of Massillon; Jesse Slusser, of 
Osnaburg; and John S. Rutter. of Waynes- 
burg. The committee on invitations comprised 
Lewis Vail and John Meyers, of Canton, and 
H. Wheeler, of Massillon. 

The Democrats had a great gathering ora 
the 4th of July, but the writer of this article 
has been unable to find a record of names or 
particulars. He recalls, however, that on that 
occasion the town had all it could do to ac- 
commodate the people who assembled. During 
the campaign of that year the Democrats all 
over the county were raising hickory poles, 
some of them very tall, but hickory was the 
only timber that would suit thesir purpose, 
being selected in honor of President Jackson, 
known as "Old Hickory." The Whigs trie! 
to some extent to imitate their opponents but,- 
as a matter of course, never used hickory, em- 
ploying usually pine or hemlock. This same 
year also was the one in which the first brass 
bands were organized in Canton. The Whigs 
brought about the organization of the first and 
called it the Canton Independent Band. Very 
soon afterward the Democrats organized the 
Democratic Band. Each had a band wagon 
built for the special purpose and more or less 
ornate, and these were usually drawn by four- 
horse teams and made a fair appearance, while 
the members became excellent players. 

Not only on the 4th of July celebrations 
but also on other festive occasions, the cannon 
was generally brought into requisition as a part 
of the demonstrations, but several very serious 
accidents occurred in the countv as a result of 



136 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the use of such ordnance, and the same gradu- 
ally fell into disfavor. One accident from this 
source, of which the writer was an eye-witness, 
occurred on what was known for man\' years 
as Griswold hill, on North Market street and 
at a point about opposite the home of the late 
President McKinley. As nearly as can be re- 
called it was on the occasion of the Demo- 
cratic celebration of the passage of the sub- 
treasury bill. By the premature discharge of 
the cannon, John B. Taylor, commonly known 
as "Buck" Taylor, of Canton, and R(.)bert 
Montgomery, who lived between Osnaburg 
and Pans, were badly injured, the former 
losing an arm, while the latter was badly crip- 
pied for life. In Massillon sometime after- 
ward there was a similar premature discharge, 
in which Frederick Donsise, formerly of Can- 
ton, was badly injured, so that he was a cripple 
for the balance of his life. Ferdinand Haak, 
who w'as known for many years as a helper 
around the courthouse, was crippled for life 
by the premature discharge of a cannon on the 
old fair grounds, in the east end of Canton, 
and Peter Chance, who was afterwards elected 
sheriff of the county, lost his arm in a similar 
accident in Alliance. All of those thus injured 
lived a number of years afterwards, but all have 
now passed away. After these various and ser- 
ious accidents in the county, there has been but 
little disposition to resort to the use of cannon 
as in former years, and it is well that it should 
be so. But the proper observance and a 
rational and patriotic celebration of the day in 
which our forefathers "pledged their lives, 
their fortunes and their sacred honors" for 
the purchase of our liberties should not be 
forgotten. We should all enter heartily into 
this great inheritance and use our best endeav- 
ors to put far from us all things that tend to 
degrade and ruin our fellow men, and if we 
are loyal to the great principles of which our 
government was founded, and true to God and 



to the best interests of humanity, we shall re- 
main the greatest nation on the face of the 
earth. 



EARLY FLOURING MILLS. 

By John Uanner. 

In the early settlement of Canton and Stark 
county, quite a number of flouring mills were 
put up, and perhaps the major portion of these 
have long since ceased operation, having failed 
to keep pace with improved methods and pro- 
cesses. Among the large mills erected between 
1830 and 1833, were the Shorb mill, in Can- 
ton ; the Slanker mill, about ten miles northwest 
of this city on the Fulton road, and commonly 
known as the High mill ; and the Goodwill 
mill, at North Industry. 

The Shorb mill was built by John Shorb, 
who at that time conducted a store on the west 
side of South Market square, where David 
Zollars & Son are now located. The two^ 
story frame building which Mr. Shorb occu- 
pied for his store and lesiderice was later used 
for a similar purpose for a number of years 
after his death by Isaac Harter, and when the 
latter erected the present three-story brick 
building on the site, the frame building was re- 
moved to the northeast corner of Young and 
Tuscaraw-as streets, where it is still in use, for 
residence purposes. At the time when Mr, 
Shorb erected his mill most of the lowlands 
between the same and Tuscarawas street was 
covered with tamarack, cedar and pine, the 
trees standing quite thickly in some spots, while 
nuiskrats abounded there and were a source of 
revenue to the trappers of the day, as the hides 
commanded good prices. The hatters of the 
period were always ready to buy fur skins. 
The dam for turning the water of the west 
creek into Shorb's mill was built about one 
hundred feet south of Tuscarawas street, and 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



137 



the race leading from that point to the mill 
was about three-fourths of a mile in length, 
leading quite straight from the dam to the mill 
and on the east side of the lowland, or 
"swamp," as it was then called. 

At the tmie this mill was erected it was 
considered to be out in the country. There 
was no house between the mill and what is 
now the Alelchior store, at 8ii South Market 
street. About where the line of the Fort 
Wayne railroad now passes the road bore off 
in a diagonal direction directly to the mill, 
Navarre street not having been opened at that 
time. The mill was originally operated by 
water power, and the great wheel must have 
been at least twenty feet across the face. When 
Alfred Huntington controlled the mill steam 
was introduced, but the water power was re- 
tained in part. After the property passed out 
of Mr. Huntington's hands the water power 
was entirely abandoned and more adequate 
steam power introduced. 

The county records show that in 1831 John 
Shorb and John Myers bought the land occu- 
pied by the mill, and very soon thereafter the 
latter gave a quit-claim deed to Mr. Shorb. 
The mill was built about 1832, and in 1853 Mr. 
Shorb sold the property to the Farmers' Union, 
.which failed in i860. In the following year 
the mill was purchased by Reuben Sellers, 
while in 1863 W. Bucher & Company acquired 
the property, which they sold two years later 
to Alfred S. Huntington and James H. Ball. 
Ver}' soon thereafter these gentlemen sold to 
A. C. Tonner, who later sold the same to Mr. 
Huntington and Robert Kuhns, the latter's in- 
terest being acquired by Morgan G. Hunting- 
ton in 1868. The mill was operated for a time 
under the ftrm name of Huntington Brothers, 
who failed in business in 1876, assigning to 
Julius Whiting, Sr., while in 1880 the mill was 
sold to Upton Rank and Henry Corl. Rank 
sold to John F. Blake a half interest in 1882, 
and in 1888 Mr. Blake acquired the other half 



interest of Mr. Corl and thus became sole pro- 
prietor in that year. In 1899 he sold to the 
present owner, Jacob N. Shaub, who is doing 
a successful business, the mill being now equip- 
ped with the most improved machinery. When 
the mill was erected it was somewhat higher 
than at present, having a much steeper roof. 
About 1865 fire destroyed the upper part of 
the mill, so that the top story had to be re- 
built, and in so doing the pitch oi the roof 
was made less than that of the original. The 
old-style process originally used in the manu- 
facturing of flour in this old mill has been 
abandoned all over the country, and it is safe 
to say that very few mills in the Union have 
i passed through the changes and improvements 
that has the mill under consideration. 

The large mill at North Industry, known 
for so many years as the Goodwill mill, was 
built by William Fogle, Sr., and afterward be- 
came the property of Bradley Goodwill and O. 
T. Browning, both of whom were sons-in-law 
of Mr. Fogle. After the death of Mr. Good- 
will the mill was operated for a time by Mr. 
Browning and his son, Orrin F.. who is now a 
resident of Canton, gave his time and personal 
attention to the operation of the mill for 
several years. O. T. Browning was for many 
years one of Canton's largest and most popu- 
lar dry goods merchants. The mill was a good 
frame structure, six stories in height. Part 
of the old Sandy & Beaver canal was used as a 
race to convey water to the mill. Nearly 
twenty years ago the mill was sold to the brick 
company located there and was never after- 
ward used for milling purposes. This large 
structure, which at one time attracted so much 
attention for the quantity and quality of flour 
turned out, was destroyed by fire several years 
ago. 

The "High" mill, so generally known by 
this name, standing in the western part of Jack- 
son township, on the road from Canton to 
Canal Fulton and about ten miles northwest of 



138 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the county seat, was built about the same time 
as were the two already described. It was 
erected b\- Daniel Slanker. With changes of 
proprietors and surrounding country, the mill, 
has about tlie same appearance as when first 
built, but the development of the country and 
the habits of doing business have so greatly 
changed that the old trade with farmers from 
the surrounding districts has departed from 
the mill. A man named Koch, who lived in 
Canton, \\as a millwright by trade, and he in- 
stalled the machinery in each of these mills, 
all of which were equipped with the old-style 
hoppers, the roller process not having been in- 
vented until many years later. Quite a num- 
ber of changes in ownership and in millers 
ha\-e occurred in the old High mill, but the 
writer is not sufhciently familiar with the facts 
in the case to attempt a farther reference. Of 
the three described, this mill has withstood fire 
and other changes to a greater extent than 
either of the other two. In fact its exterior 
appearance is about the same today as when 
it was built, seventy years ago, and it certainly 
may be consistently mentioned as an old land- 
mark of the county. Reference might be made 
to other mills in this connection, but these three 
were among the earliest and largest and serve 
to indicate suiiiciently the changes of the fleet- 
ing years. 



EARLY POTTERIES IN CANTON. 

By John Danner. 

In the early history of Canton we had two 
stoneware potteries that did quite an extensive 
home business. One of these was owned and 
operated by y\dam A. Shorl), who built the 
two-story brick house now standing on the 
northwest corner of Fifth and Wells streets. 
The brick shop building, in which crocks, 
pitchers, jugs, etc., were turned, stood a short 



distance west of the residence, facing on Fifth 
street, and the kiln in which the ware was 
burned was a short distance west of the shop. 
For many years Daniel Grace was employed by 
Mr. Shorb as his principal and most reliable 
man. Mr. Grace died more than twenty-five 
years ago and is well remembered by the older 
citizens. He was for a number of years an 
active and much beloved deacon in the Baptist 
church of Canton, and all who knew Deacon 
Grace, as he was called, had the utmost confi- 
dence in liini. Adam A. Shorb was a large 
man of genial presence, and was very fond of 
fishing and hunting, to which he devoted much 
of his time, while he personally worked but 
little in connection with his pottery. He was a 
conscientious Catholic and he treated those 
who differed with him with the greatest cordi- 
ality and respect, and thus it was that he and 
Deacon (irace always maintained the most 
pleasant relations. Each had confidence in the 
sincerity O'f the other, and the fire of intoler- 
ance never l)urned in their hearts, nnr should 
it ever be kindled in any heart. 

The other stoneware potter was Adam L, 
Shorb, cousin of Adam .\. Shorb. He had his 
]X)ttery on a tract of ahdut one acre on Fulton 
street, near the present residence of (leorge W'. 
Irwin. For some time he resided on this same 
tract of land, his house being a two-story 
frame building, standing about one hundred 
feet back from the street, and such was its 
exterior appearance that its resemblance to a 
mill or warehouse was often remarked. The 
pottery was carried on there fur many years 
and for some time after the first mentioned pot- 
tery had ceased operation. In later }ears 
Adam L. Shorb built a two-stor\- brick resi- 
dence on the southeast corner of Tuscarawas 
and Dewalt streets, where he WxtA for a num- 
ber of years. In later years this property was 
acquired by H. H. Myers. who> remodeled and 
added to the same, and it is now owned 1)\- Dr. 
D. A. Arter. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



'39 



In tlie days when both Shorbs were thus 
engaged in the pottery business the most com- 
mon way of distinguishing them was to desig- 
nate them respectively as "Big Adam" and 
"Little Adam."' Adam A. being somewhat 
above the average height and his cousin a little 
less than the average. As both bore the name 
Adam it was quite natural and very convenient 
for our citizens to make the distinction referred 
to, and all people, old and young, were familiar 
with the appellations. 

Potteries in those days manufactured for 
home consumption only. We had no facilities 
for sliipping except by wagon, and therefore 
the pottery-ware was sold to the .stores and to 
the farmers of this region. The fall season was 
always the time of great demand, as then it 
was that fruit was gathered and apple butter 
made by almost all the settled citizens, not 
only in the country but also in the towns. 
There were two other potteries in Canton 
about the time the Shorbs were here engaged 
in that line of enterprise. One was located on 
the lot now occupied by the Martin block, on 
North Market street, and the other on the lot 
on which the buildings of the Canton Brewing 
Company are now located. It is the impres- 
sion of the writer that these two potteries 
manufactured a softer type of ware than did 
the other two mentioned. The ware made by 
the Shorbs was known as stoneware, while 
that of the other potteries was known as red 
or clay ware, and for general purposes was in- 
ferior to the former. All these potteries used 
wood for fuel in the burning of their ware. 
At this time wood \\as cheap and plentiful, 
while our home coal fields were but slightly 
developed, while foreign coal could not be 
brought in, as a matter of course, owing to 
the fact that we had no railroads. The coal 
then used here in Canton was principally 
brought in by country teams from the neigh- 
borhood of Osnaburg and Mapleton, mostly 



bv the Yohes, McKinneys and Millers. Both 
wood and coal were mostly sold for barter of 
some kind, being exchanged for stoneware, 
groceries, dry- goods or other articles for 
family use, wliile comparatively little was sold 
for cash. In those days dry-goods stores were 
somewhat ditiferent from the emporiums in the 
county today. All received butter, eggs and 
other country products in exchange for goods, 
and the stores were opened by the rising of the 
sun and kept open until nine o'clock at night, 
when the courthouse bell would ring for all 
to close. The writer can well remember when 
he was employed in the store of Martin Wiki- 
dal, from 1836 to 1840, while Impertus Martin 
was employed in the adjoining store, conducted 
by M. & J. Laird, and very often after the 
closing hour at night it became the duties of 
such young clerks to go to the cellar and pack 
the butter that had been taken in during the 
day, sometimes amounting to twO' or three fir- 
kins, the work demanding an hour or more in 
its completion, while we were supposed to "rise 
with the lark of the early morn." The earlier 
hours of closing now in vogue are much more 
humane, and the writer would regret to see a 
reversion to the custom which obtained when 
he was a boy in a store, but it is well to call 
attention to the difiference in view of the com- 
plaints entered by many of the young folks 
employed today. Arduous and prolonged as 
were the daily tasks laid upon us sixty years 
ago, it is practically a fact that there was not 
as much discontent and complaining on the 
part of clerks as there is in these days of 
modern usage. The greatest trouble is that 
"Young .\merica" now expects to begin at the 
point where the preceding generation ended, 
but this is not always possible, and therefore 
trouble often arises. Li those days no women 
were employed as clerks, all were boys and 
men, and in this respect the new custom is a 
distinctive impro vemen t . 



140 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ONLY PUBLIC EXECUTION IN STARK 
COUNTY. 

H\ John Danner. 

The only public execution ever held in Can- 
ton was that of Christian Bachtel, on Friday, 
November 22, 1833. The scaffold on which 
he expiated his crime was erected on the com- 
mons east of Walnut street, between North and 
Third streets, the tract being now built up. 
The crowd that gathered was immense. The 
day before the execution the town began to 
have many visitors from all directions, and they 
were atracted hither by the cruel sight which 
they expected to witness. On the morning of 
the execution the streets were filled from all 
directions. Christian Bachtel had lived in 
Pike township, a short distance south of North 
Industry. He was a good and industrious citi- 
zen as long as lie abstained from the use of 
liquor, but the appetite for strong drink became 
so fjistened upon him that quite often he would 
return home greatly into.xicated. His wife, 
who was an excellent and industrious woman, 
was compelled to do the best she could for the 
support of the family, and one night he re- 
turned home crazed with liquor and ready to 
find fault with all his good wife had done. 
Finding that he was not in a condition to 
reason upon any subject Mrs. Bachtel turned 
awav from him while lying in bed and was 
supposed to be asleep. The drunken man 
struck her on the head with an ax helve, 
fracturing her skull, and being still unsatis- 
fied with the results of his frightful act, com- 
mitted during the insane frenzy of intoxication, 
he struck a second blow, which made sure her 
death. After committing the horrible deed the 
poor inebriate took his flight, having nothing 
with him but the miserable clothes which he 
wore and a flask of whiskey. He left his 
motherless children and went forth as a fugi- 
tive, to wander he knew not where, but he 



started in a westerly direction, feeling as the 



inliuence of the liquor left him, self-condemned 
and half crazed with the thought of his horrible 
crime. He could not travel fast and as there 
were no railroads in the state at that time he 
could not escape by such means. After wander- 
ing in a dazed condition for three days he was 
arrested not far from Wooster, being brought 
to Canton without any resistance on his part. 
His trial took place in the old square brick 
courthouse. Starkweather and Jarvis being the 
prosecuting atorneys, while Harris and Met- 
calf appeared for the defense. These four law- 
yers were among the best in the county at that 
time. David A. Starkweather was afterward 
our representative in congress for some time. 
Dwight Jarvis moved to Massillon, where he 
remained until his death. Jolin Harris lived 
in the house now owned and occupied by Mrs. 
Catherine .\. ]\leyers. on West Tuscarawas, the 
residence having been erected by him and hav- 
ing been long looked upon as one of the best 
in the town. When deeply interested in a case 
of law Mr. Harris was frequently seen on his 
way home making gestures and revolving in 
his mind what he should say in the coming 
trial. Mr. Metcalf afterward removed to 
Pittsburg and became quite eminent in his 
profession. 

In 1S80 a very notable execution took place 
within the walls of our present courthouse, 
three men, or rather good sized boys, being 
executed at one time. Two of them were con- 
victed of murder, in the east end of the county, 
and the third committed a similar crime in the 
western part of the county, all expiating their 
crimes at the same tmie. Although it was 
known the execution would not be public, yet 
many persons came to Canton on that day, at- 
tracted by an unfortunate and morbid curosity. 
It was claimed that at the time of the execution 
of Christian Bachtel forty thousand people 
came here, but half that number would prob- 
ably represent a more accurate estimate. In 
later years all condemned to death for murder 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



141 



have been taken to Columbus, the executions 
taking place within the walls of the state peni- 
tentiary, with very few witnesses present. This 
is certainly a wise change. Public executions 
such as that which occurred in Canton seventy 
years ago, could not fajl to have a demoralizing" 
effect, and it were fortunate if every state in 
the Union did away with such public exe- 
cutions. Quite a number of murders have 
taken place in Stark county, resulting" in the 
sentencing of the criminals to imprisonment 
for life, among them the murder of Daniel 
Mead, in Osnaburg, and the Keefer tragedy 
in Massillon, and, to the best of the writer's 
reccollection, from first to last, intoxicating 
liquors have had more or less to do with all 
these crimes, as is generally true in all such 
cases in our state and nation, and the signi- 
ficance of this fact cannot fail to appeal to 
every right-minded citizen. 



MEYER'S LAKE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. 

By John Danner. 

Andrew Meyer, the grandfather of the 
generation now living in the county, came to 
Canton in 1810 and secured twenty-two hun- 
dred acres of land in the vicinity of the village, 
partly by entering the same from the govern- 
ment and partly by purchase from Bezaleel 
Wells. Most of the land lay west of Canton 
and was known as plains land, being covered 
with small saplings and underbrush, and from 
the fact that few large trees were to be found 
on the tract the early settlers thought it was not 
productive land, and they went to remote parts 
of the county and invested in heavily timbered 
land, making a great mistake in this respect, 
while in the purchase of the land Mr. Meyer 
displayed good business judgment. Included 
in his purchase of lands was our popular re- 
sort, known as Meyer's Lake. The name will 



probably cling to the lake, no matter who may 
own the property. 

Andrew Meyer was a native of Alsace, 
France, where he was born in 1760, and he 
came to the United States in 1791, settling in 
Baltimore. Maryland. He had two brothers, 
Godfrey and Frank. Upon the outbreak of the 
war waged by Napoleon, Andrew and Godfrey 
came to America, but Frank entered Napole- 
i on's army, in which he rose to the office of 
j colonel. At the close of his military service he 
joined his brothers in Baltimore. By trade 
Andrew Meyer was a gilder and draughtsman, 
and while a resident of Baltimore he was large- 
ly interested in a brass foundry. After set- 
tling in Canton his time was taken up in man- 
aging and improving his large landed estate. 
He lived for some time in a two-story brick 
building which occupied the site of the store 
of Klein & Heffelman, on the east side of 
North Market street. Finally he removed to 
his' farm, taking up his residence in a one-story 
frame building a little west of the brick 
mansion }'et standing. This fine old mansion 
was erected about seventy-five years ago, while 
the two brick ware rooms or storage houses on 
either side of the residence were used for the 
storage of grain and other products. In those 
days there was no convenient market for such 
produce, there being no railroads, while the 
nearest shipping point was Massillon, on the old 
Ohio canal. 

At the bottom of the hill and in front of 
the old Meyer homestead is a very large spring 
of fine water, antl the same has quenched the 
thirst of thousands of persons. The native 
Indians thought much of it, and it has been 
said that at the time Mr. Meyer secured posses- 
sion of the property an Indian chief, who bore 
the name of Beaver Cap, had a wigwam erec- 
ted hard by this spring, remaining there for 
some time after the property had passed into 
the hands of Mr. Meyer. He was of tlie Wyan- 
dot tribe and very peaceable and inofif^nsive, 



142 



OLD LANDMARKS 



winning the favor and esteem of many of our 
early settlers. The writer lias personally seen 
in his boyhood days se\eral canoes, hewed 
out of solid logs, which were made by the 
Indians and left on the lake when they fled 
before the new settlers. The lake was a 
favorite resort of the Indians in early days, and 
they were expert fishermen, supplying them- 
selves -with many a meal of fish. About a half 
mile south-east of the old Meyer homestead was 
a sawmill, which was operated by water which 
formed the outlet from the lake and also by 
that supplied by the spring, to which reference 
has been made. At that time this outlet of 
the lake carried quite a heavy stream of water, 
but the flow is slight at the present time. 

Andrew Meyer was an intelligent and well 
educated man. The family were descendants 
of royal blood in the old world. He was a 
soldier of our w-ar of 1812, and being a man of 
more than ordinary wealth he wielded a great 
influence in the community. He became the 
father of three sons and two daughters, namely : 
Andrew J., P^rank J., Joseph, Mrs. James Cas- 
silly and Mrs. Thomas Patten. Anlrew J. 
Meyer built the brick residence now owned and 
occupied by James F. T. Walker, at 2015 
West Tuscarawas street. The house has since 
been enlarged and remodeled. At one time 
Mr. Meyer kept a store in the old E^gle block. 
Frank J. Meyer lived for a number of years 
on a farm a short distance northwest of the 
lake. He afterward built a good two-story 
residence on North Cleveland avenue, nearly 
opposite St. Peter's church, and there he passed 
the remainder of his life. He was the father 
of the late Joseph A. Meyer and also of Mrs. 
Caroline Trout. 

Joseph Meyer followed farming and stock- 
growing, having been the youngest of the three 
sons of Andrew Meyer. He died in his home, 
at 917 West Tuscarawas street. He was the 
father of Edward and George Meyer, 
and also of Henrv Mever, who was ac- 



cidentally killed in this city several years ago. 
Joseph Meyer was also the father of two 
daughters, Mrs. John F. Blake and Miss 
Celeste, the latter residing in the old homestead. 
The elder daughter of Andrew Meyer, the 
pioneer, was Mrs. James Cassilly, who died in 
Canton, as did also her husband. They had no 
children. The younger daughter became 'the 
wife of Thomas Patton and they had quite a 
large family of children, the greater number 
being sons. They lived for a number of years 
in the old Meyer homestead, on North ^Market 
street. Thomas Patton was an industrious 
and active man, and was engaged in business 
here for many years, having been at one time 
a member of the hardware hrm of Patton & 
Pepple, his partner having been the late Eph- 
raim Pepple. Andrew Meyer died in 1848, 
at the adv^anced age of eighty-eight years. He 
was greatly missed in the community in which 
he had been so active a factor in laying the 
foundations of the prosperity and opulent re- 
sources today enjoved in this section. 



NIMISHILEEXTO\\X— CONTEST FOR 
THE COUNTY SEAT. 

By Lew Sh;ssi:u. 

The iirst town yon paper) in the county 
was located near the head waters of the Nimi- 
shillen, and named after the stream — Nimishil- 
lentown. It was laid out along an Indian trail 
running east and we^t. which at that time was 
the main thoroughfare for persons coming west 
to invest in lands, whether fur homes or on 
speculation. This trail, through the efforts of 
John Thomas, of Columbiana county, was wid- 
ened and improved so as to make it passaljle for 
wagons, and was afterwards known as the 
Thomas road. It is the same road, with few 
alterations, that now runs from Louisville to 
Freeburgh and Lexington. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



143 



The proprietors of Nimishillentown were 
Pentecost and Scott, land speculators. It was 
surveyed and platted by Daniel L. McClure. 
The plat looked well on paper. The streets had 
attractive names; a block of lots was donated 
for a court house and jail, one for an academy 
and another for a church. A cabin was erect- 
ed, covered with clapboards fastened with nails 
made by a blacksmith of New Lisbon. In this 
cabin the two men kept "bachelor's hall," and as 
emigrants and prospectors came along they 
were importuned to invest in the new town. 
The proprietors remained on the ground 
through the summer of 1806, when, finding 
themselves unable to compete with Osnaburgh 
and Canton, they prudently retired from the 
contest and the plat is now a cultivated field. 

OSNABURGH. 

Osnaburgh was the next place that [)ut in an 
appearance for the county seat. It was laid 
out in 1805 by James Leeper, of Washington 
county, Pennsylvania, and named after Osna- 
bruck, in Germany. Leei^er built a one-story 
log" cabin and started a tavern. The way it 
was kept and the accommodations afforded to 
man and beast will be better understood by giv- 
ing tlie personal experience of John Larwell, 
late of Wooster, as he gave it to the writer 
of this article. 

Larwell's home was at Fawcettstown, now 
East Liverpool, on the Ohio river. In March, 
1807, he was sent on horseback with provision 
to his brother, Joseph IL Larwell, then in gov- 
ernment employ, surveying lands immediately 
west of the Tuscarawas river. He went l)y an 
Indian trail leading from the Ohio river, cross- 
ing Sandy creek near the mouth. Having 
heard of Osnaburgh, he concluded to return 
home that way, as the distance was about the 
same. Leaving the' camp of his brother early 
in the morning, crossing the Tuscarawas at the 
ferry, he made his way over the plains thrnugli 



Cantor., then containing but a few scattered 
cabins, and reached Osnaburgh in the evening. 
Riding up to the most pretentious house in tlie 
village, Mr. Larwell halloed, and out came the 
landlord. . Inquiring whether lie ci:)uld stop 
with him o\er night and receiving an affirma* 
ti\-e answer. Mr. Larwell dismounted. No 
stable appearing in sight, he wislied to know 
what acconunodations he had for his horse. 
Leeper pointed to a beech tree that had just 
Iieen cut down, saying the horse could be tied 
to a top limb and feed upon twigs. As there 
was not a stable in the town, there was no al- 
ternative but to be satisfied with such accom- 
modations for the jaded animal. The cabin 
hatl but one room, with a loft which was 
reached by a ladder. The room was intended 
to answer the purpose of kitchen, dining and sit- 
ting room, the sleeping room being in the attic. 
The floors were made of puncheons and the 
chimney of sticks and mud. The chimney had 
sometime been on lire, for there was a hole near 
the grounil, Inuut through. The supper con- 
sisted of corn pone and fresh pork. While the 
jione was baking on the hearth a pig of the 
land-pike breed came through the hole in the 
chimney, snatched up the pone and escaped by 
the same hole. Mrs. Leeper ran out of the 
door, gave chase, recovered the pone, replaced 
it upon the griddle and watched the hole until 
the baking' was completed. \\ hen it came bed- 
time Mr. Larwell was offered his choice of a 
blanket on the floor below or in the loft. As 
the night was growing colder he ])referred the 
former, and, wrapping himself in the blanket 
with his feet toward the fire, obtained a com- 
fortable night's rest. His breakfast was the 
same as the supper. He found his horse brows- 
ing at the beech tree and standing in a foot of 
snow which had fallen during the night. The 
bill was seventy-fi\e cents. The ])articulars of 
this entertainment are given b\- way of contrast 
to those furnished at the present day in western 
towns competing for a county seat. 



144 



OLD LANDMARKS 



As Leeper's house was the only stopping- 
place for travelers in the town, it gave him a 
favorable opportunity to influence those who 
were looking for homes to settle in Osnaburg. 
He had induced a niimber of mechanics to pm'- 
chase lots and build during the summer of 
1806. He could boast of a store, blacksmith 
shop, tan-yard, hatter shop and a half a dozen 
or more private residences. Much stress was 
laid upon the superior natural advantages — 
water and building material. Meanwhile Beza- ''■ 
leel \\'ells, the proprietor of Canton, was hot; 
idle. He v.as a man of education and had j 
served as a member of the state convention 
which framed the first constitution of Ohio, , 
which fact gave him character and influence. , 
The friends of Osnaburgh were unsparing in 
their denunciations of the locality of Canton — ■ 
that it was between two streams, bordered with 
swamps, sure to create fever and ague; that 
there was no water, nor could any be obtained 
by digging ; there was neither timber nor stione 
with whicli to build; that the adjoining lands 
west were barren, and \^■ould never be culti- 
vated. Such were the arguments used against 
Canton, and there was so much force in them 
that had I.eeper been a man of as good address, 
habits and influence as Wells, Osnaburg would 
have carried off the palm. But Leeper was dis- 
sipated and dissolute and proved himself un- 
worthy of confidence, while, on the contrary, 
every man who came in contact with \\'ells was 
favoralily impressed and had entire confidence 
in his integrity. ?Ie agreed to donate a number 
of lots for the beiTefit of the town, which he af- 
terwards did. 

The following entry appears in the commis- 
sioners" journal of Columbia county : "June 
14. 1808. — The board of commissioners of Co- 
lumbiana county, consisting of Daniel Har- 
baugh. Joseph Richardson and GeiM-ge Atfer- : 
hnlt, NDted and jjai;! tliirteen dollars each to: 
Kli Baldwin an.d l^liiah Wadsworth tor serviiie 



as commissioners to fix the county seat of Stark 
county at the town of Canton." 

The first county commissioners for Stark 
county were elected in the fall of that same 
year. They were John Bower, James Latti- 
mer and John Nichols. The first court was 
held in the Eagle tavern, corner of ]^Iarket and 
Tuscarawas ; ne.\t year at the Coulter taverii, 
comer of Market and Seventh streets, the cel- 
lar being used as a jail ; ne.xt in the Stidger 
tavern, corner of Tuscarawas and Court streets, 
and here it v.'as retained until the completion of 
the first court house and jail, corner of Market 
and Third streets. 



EARLY NEWSPAPER PRESS 
STARK COUNTY. 



OF 



By Li.;\v Si.vsskk. 



In 1S14 John Sa.xton visited CantonWith 
a \-iew of publishing a paper there. Proposals 
were issued, and the Ohio Repository was com- 



menced on the •^oth of March, 181 • 



At the 



time the Repository was commenced there was 
a paper printed at Warren, Trumbullcounty. 
one at New Lisbon, one at Steubenvill6, one at 
St. Clairsville, and one at Zanesville.ahd these, 
with the Repository, embraced the \\ hole num- 
ber in the state north of Chillicothe. For manv 
years the publishers had to get their paper 
from Pittsburgh and Beaver, points sixty and 
ninety miles distant. 

' In October, 1819, Edward Shaffer started 
the first German paper at Canton, aiid the sec- 
ond in the state, called the Westliche Beobach- 
ter (Western Observer), and continued 'it until 
the 24th of August," 1S26. It 'was then con- 
tinued by John Sala, with some interruptions, 
until January, 1828. In January, 1829, Solo- 
mon Sala and Christiait D. Lehmus comm'ericed 
the 'N^-itefL-ind's Freund TThe Patriot), which. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



145 



ill the summer of 1831, was purchased by Peter 
Kaufmann, who continued it till August 12, 
iS-12, when he transferred it to H. J. Nath- 
nagel, his son-in-law, and it was published by 
him until the 23d of March, 1846. It was 
then suspended, for several causes, the principal 
of which was to collect arrearages. Late in 
1846 Mr. Nathnagel commenced the publica- 
tion of the Ohio Staat Bote (the State Mess- 
enger), which is still continued. In 183(3 or 
1837 John S. Wiestling commenced a Whig 
German paper, and continued it a year or 
eighteen months, when he removed to Colum- 
bus, and died there. 

In the spring of 1828 Joseph W. White, a 
veteran printer, who has started more papers 
than any other man in Ohio, if not in the Union, 
established the Stark County Democrat at 
Paris, Stark county, and continued it there until 
February, 1829, when he removed to Canton 
and published it here some six weeks, when he 
sold to James Allen, who continued it until 
April, 1830. Mr. Allen then removed the es- 
tablishment to Massillon and commenced the 
Massillon Gazette on the 12th of May, 1830, 
with John Townsend as partner. In 1831 the 
Gazette was enlarged under the joint owner- 
ship of Allen & McCully. In May, 1832, Mr. 
Allen left Stark county and did not return until 
1837. He then purchased the Massillon Ga- 
zette office of Robert Wilson, who after various 
changes in the editorship, which we can not 
now bring to mind, became its proprietor and 
conducted it alx)ut a year, and Allen com- 
menced its publication as editor on the 12th of 
May, 1837, and continued it until March, 1839, 
when he went to Columbus and took the edi- 
torial chair of the State Journal. Several 
changes followed in the Gazette establishment, 
lAice and Worstel, and then Painter and Wil- 
son, and John Hanna, having edited it for brief 
periods, and Wilson started a new paper, but, 
after a short existence, it was merged with the 
other. It is now called the Massillon News, 



neutral in politics, and edited by William C. 
Earl. The mutations in this establishment we 
think unparalleled in the annals of newspaper 
enterprises. In January, 1822, Solomon Sala 
& Company commenced a paper at Canton, en- 
titled the Canton Gazette, but of this but one 
number was issued. In 1834 Mr. Bernard 
commenced the Stark County Democrat in Can- 
ton, but died in a few months, after which Will- 
iam Dunbar took it and continued its publica- 
tion until April, 1835, when it was destroyed 
by fire. In July, 1835, it was again started, by 
Dunbar & Gotshall, and continued one year; 
then it was conducted by William and George 
Dunbar, and continued about three years ; then 
by Daniel Gottshall from 1839 to 1847; then 
by Carney & Leiter for fourteen or fifteen 
months; then by John McGregor & Son until 
the sudden death of John McGregor, when 
Alexander McGregor took the editorial chair. 



THE STARK COU'NTY DEMOCRAT. 



By Lew Slusser. 



It was during the administration of Gen- 
eral Jackson and the political throes of that 
period that the Stark County Democrat was 
born. The county leaders of the Democracy 
of that day, sensible to the fact that they la- 
bored under a disadvantage in not having an 
organ, determined to overcome that disadvan- 
tage and have a press. Among the most active 
and liberal in furnishing material aid for that 
purpose were D. A. Starkweather, Dr. Stidger, 
the Dunbars, Judge Loutzenheiser, Sanders 
Van Rensselaer, Arnold Lynch and Judge 
Greenwood, of Paris, Judge Miller and Mc- 
Cully, of Massillon. A press and type were 
procured. Henry Bernard, a practical printer 
with considerable experience as a political writ- 
er, then engaged in an office in Massillon, was 



146 



OLD LANDMARKS 



hired to take charge of the paper. A room 
was obtained 011 the second floor imnieiHately 
o\^er the room later occnpied by J. A. Bach- 
niann, on Tuscarawas street. Here, in tlie 
spring of 1834, was the first numlier of the 
paper issued. That year the Asiatic cliolera 
made its first appearance west of the moun- 
tains. Bernard was a free th-inker, a good 
suljject for the cholera, and the first to be taken 
off. His remains are in the Plum street grave- 
yard, ^\•ith nothing to mark their resting place. 
He was a caustic writer, and I well remember 
frequently seeing him set uyi editorials without 
copy. _At his death William Dunbar, who at 
fhe time had a school in the old .Academy, took 
charge of the editorial columns, assisted by 
Al)ijah Baker, a bibulous type of the tramp 
order, who had a reputation as a sharp writer. 
(Jharley Burr was the lu'st "de\il" connected 
with the office, and he had a penchant for writ- 
ing for the paper. Newspaper controversies at 
that day constituted the life of the town. In 
the fall of that year the office was removed to a 
frame building on Walnut street, belonging to 
Judge Sowers, formerly occupied as a carpenter 
sh(^p. In the spring of 1835 this building took 
fire and was destroyed, with all the contents. 
In the summer following the office was resusci- 
tated jjy Dunliar & Gotshall. and occupied a 
room in Tuscarawas street, over Houser's meat 
market. They were the proprietors until 1847, 
when the office was sold to Leiter & Carney, 
who ran it for a year or more and then sold out 
ti) John McGregor & Son. McGregor, Sr., 
flied within a year or two, when the son, Archi- 
bald, became the manager. In 1861 the office 
was in an upper room of a county building then 
occupying the court house square. The Civil 
war stirred up a feeling against many Demo- 
crats who favored compromise measures, and 
as the Democrat was their medium of expres- 
sion, the editor was charged with gi\'ing aid to 



the south. When a mob spirit is abroad it 
takes but little encouragement to fan the flames 
into an outbreak. A crowd of thoughtless men 
and boys broke nito the oflice in the night time 
and destroyed the press and emptied the cases 
of type into the street. Not a man or bo)" 
engaged in that work but afterward repented 
his action. The office was soon resuscitated 
and established in the building it occupied imtil 
the last removal. 'idie Xews-Democrat was 
established March 31. 1883. 

The function of the rural press has been 
mucli enlarged ot late years. The telegraph 
liad been the means of contributing to this end 
— communicating transactions of ever\' kind 
and from any distance immediately after the_\' 
occur. Reporters are a modern inxention — 
picking up local news antl, when hard up for 
material, manufactiu'ing it to order. Tliey 
now make a wonderful cock-and-bull story out 
of an affair that could be told in a paragraph. 
The particulars of Bachtel's e.xecution occupied 
less tlian a column. The accident whereljy 
Freymeyer and Booze lost their lives in the 
caving in of a sand bank on Tuscarawas street, 
just beyond the east bridge, and the drowning 
of Lewis Brown and his horse in the Ximisbil- 
len were gi\en in a paragraph. There was not 
tliat morbid taste then existing that has since 
been cultivated, lint the public are not now sat- 
isfied with meagre statements. They want it 
more full\- and. according to the law of supply 
and demand, they must ha\'e it. and the secular 
newspaper that does not furnish it is liable 
to fall behind. 

]Mr. A. McGregor conducted the Stark 
Count}- Democrat from 1847 to June of 1888, 
a period of forty-one years, and made it a 
jjower in state politics and a reputation as one 
of the ablest Democratic journals in Ohio. On 
the 14th of May, 1888, the paper was purchased 
by the Democrat Publishing Company. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



H7 



THE FIRST CiRCLT.AITXG LIBRARY 
i:\ C'.VXTON. 

By Lew Slusser. 

It was soon after the close of the last war 
with England that a nnmljer of the more intelli- 
gent and ambitious men of Canton conceived 
the idea of getting up a circulating library. 
.\fter se\eral preliminary meetings and dis- 
cussions of. ways and means suggested, it was 
finally agreed that the cost should be divided 
into shares of three dollars each, which would 
entitle the holder to the use of a book for two 
weeks. .\ number of the members took several 
shares, and when sufficient money was raised 
one of the merchants of the town was commis- 
sioned to make the pmxhase in Philadelphia. 
Canton then contained a population of a thous- 
and or twelve hundred. The following is a 
list of the stockholders, as near as can be ascer- 
tained : James W. Lathrop, John Harris, Or- 
lando Aletcalf, John Sloan. Dr. Rappe, Dr. 
Jerow. Dr. Bonfield, William Christmas, Sam- 
uel Coulter, William Raynolds, John Saxton, 
George Stidger. Andrew Meyer, Thomas Hur- 
ford. John Slusser, George Dunbar. Winans 
Clark. -\ case was made for the books and 
they were kept in the clerk's office, William 
Raynolds, then county clerk, acting as librarian. 

The following is the list, as near as can be 
made out: Rollin's "Ancient History," 
Sturm's "Reflections," "Letters of Junius," 
Hume's "History of England," Robertson's 
"History of America." "Memoirs of Benjamin 
Franklin." Marshall's "Life of Washington." 
"Locke on Human L'nderstanding," Riley's 
"Narrative," Burke's "Dignity of Man." Watt's 
"Improvement of the Mind," "The Spectator," 
Gibbon's "Roman Empire," Flint's "Lidian 
Wars of the West," Randolph's "Memoirs of 
Jefiferson," Abercrombe's "Moral Feeling," 
Rush on "The Mind." "Brooks' Gazetteer." 

Novels were not so abundant then as now, 
nor' had the taste for reading then been ac- 



quired to such an extent. There were but 
few such books in the library, and yet they 
were about all that had been heard of in the 
west. Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield," 
Fielding's "Tom Jones," Smollett's "Perigrine 
Pickle," Swift's "Jonathan Wild," Miss Por- 
ter's "Scottish Chiefs" and "Thaddeus of War- 
saw" about constituted the lot. The women 
were not educated then as now, consequently 
had not cultivated the taste for reading. The 
adults piously inclined confined their reading 
to the Bible, and the young' to the study of the 
catechism. The library continued in existence 
until about 1830, when the books were divided 
among the stockholders. A few are still in 
existence, but the bulk have "gone glimmering 
through the dreams of things that were." 



EARLY BANKING IN CANTON. 

By Lew Slusser, 

In the year 181 5 a meeting of the business 
men of Canton was called for the purpose of 
organizing a bank. The town at that time had 
a population of about five hundred. It con- 
tained seven stores, which, with the several 
flour mills in the vicinity, drew trade from a 
wide extent of surrounding country. The close 
of the war of 1812 gave a new impetus to busi- 
ness, increased immigration and created a de- 
mand for more circulating medium. ^Vooster 
at this time was looming up as a rival town, 
each place claiming superiority over the other, 
in the prospective navigable features of the 
Killbuck and Nimishillen. As a stroke of 
policy this meeting was called and five trustees 
appointed, viz : John Shorb. William Fogle, 
Samuel Coulter, Thomas Taylor and James 
Hazlett, who were instructed to take the initia- 
tory steps in ftu'therance of the project. 

In the month of April notice was published 
in the Ohio Repository that an election would 



148 



OLD LANDMARKS 



be held at the house of PhiHp Dewalt (then the 
Eagle Tavern, a two-story log structure, lo- 
cated on the corner later occupied by the Eagle 
Block) for nine directors for a bank, to be 
called the Farmers' Bank of Canton. It was 
at the suggestion of Dr. Fogle that the prehx 
Farmers' was adopted. The election was heid, 
and resulted in the choice of Thomas Hurford, 
John Shorb, John Meyers. William Fogle, \V\- 
nana Clark, James Hazlett, Philip Slusser, Ja- 
cob Meyers and George Stidger. John Shorb 
was elected president, and William Fogle cash- 
ier. Immediately afterward books were opened 
for the subscription of stock at Canton, Tall- 
madge, Stow and Cleveland. 

During the summer of 1815 the building lo- 
cated on the north half of lot 28, the same later 
occupied by V. B. Snyder as a grocery store, 
was erected for a banking" house, and in the 
fall was occupied as such. Immediately after- 
ward notes were issued and put in circulation. 

There was then opposition to a paper cur- 
rency. At the February term, 181 6, of the 
common pleas court, — George Tode, president ; 
John Hoover, Samuel Coulter and William 
Henry, associates — an indictment was found 
against "John Shorb. president of the Farmers' 
Bank of Canton, for signing and making bank 
notes without being by law authorized so to 
do." It was evident that the mass of the com- 
munity were disposed to sustain the Ijank, fur, 
after the jury heard the indictment read, they 
returned a verdict of not guilty, without leav- 
ing the box. Jeremiah H. Halleck appeared 
for the state, and Wright and Tappan for de- 
fendant. Notwithstanding this decision, Hen- 
ry Swartz the same year resisted the payment of 
a note of eight hundred dollars held by the 
bank against him, on the ground that the bank 
had issued paper in violation of law. The case 
was argued at length by J. ^\^ Lathrop for the 
bank and John M. Goodenow for defendant. 
Court gave judgment for plaintiff. 

The bank issued fractional currency, of 



which there were counterfeits in circulation. 
There was a publisher of a newspaper located in 
the central portion of the state who engaged 
with imi^unity in the manufacture of this frac- 
tional currency. He was not prosecuted, as there 
was a question about its being a penal offense. 

John Sterling and Thomas Alexander \vere 
elected directors in 181 6, but whether as an ad- 
dition to the number of the board, or in place 
of two retired, we are unable to ascertain from 
the archives at our command. James Drennan 
was cashier in 1817, and gives notice that "a 
dividend of 4 per cent, on capital stock actually 
paid in will be paid to the stockholders, or their 
legal representatives." 

From a statement of the condition of the 
bank, published in December, 1818, there was 
capital stock paid in $33,710; notes in circula- 
tion, $20,398; debts due, $18,000; deposits, 
$3,113; bills discounted, $75,162; specie on 
hand, $1,969^ notes of other banks, $1,406. A 
financial crisis was approaching, and the bank 
began to feel its effects. They struggled along 
until November, 1818, when, following in the 
wake of a number of other banks, they sus- 
pended specie payment, but gave notice that 
they would "continue to redeem their notes in 
good chartered paper." In January, 1820, in 
compliance with an amendment of a law then 
in force, the Ijoard of directors was increased 
to thirteen. Renewed efforts were made ta 
sustain the credit of the institution, but the 
reserve forces were insufticient, and in March, 
1 82 1, the banking house and lot, with the office 
fixtures, was sold at public auction, and the 
Farmers' Bank of Canton expired. 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE COUNTY 
COURT. 



H> Lew Sli's.sek. 



The first court in the county was held in 
the fall of 1808, in an upper room of a log 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



149 



building erected by John Shorb on tlie soutb- 
west corner of Market and Tuscarawas streets, 
Canton. The building was afterwards owned 
and occupied by Philip Dewalt as a tavern, sign 
of Spread Eagle. It \\as torn down in 1827, 
and the three-story brick building erected in its 
place. How man}- terms of the court were held, 
or how long it continued in this place, we have 
not been able to ascertain, but it is well known 
that in 18 10 it was held at the tavern of Sam- 
uel Coulter — sign of the Green Tree — in the 
upper story of the frame addition, the same 
afterward owned and occupied by C. Oberly, 
corner of Market and Sixth streets. The cel- 
lar underneath the building was used for a jail, 
and some laughable- incidents that occurred 
from its use for that purpose are told. 

In t8i2 the court was removed to an upper 
room of a brick building erected the year previ- 
ous by George Stidger, on the lot later occupied 
by the Cloud Hotel. Here it remained until 
the completion of the log jail, corner of Market 
and Third, in 181 4. The north half of the 
building had two cells, and the whole of the 
south side was appropriated as a court room. 
Here it remained until the completion of the 
court house, in 1817. The contract for the 
erection of the latter building was given out 
in I Si 6. The county commissioners of that 
year ^\■ere John Kryder. John Sluss and Will- 
iam Alban. Before the completion of the 
building John Saxton was elected in the place 
of John Kryder. Thomas A. Drayton was 
contractor for the brick work, and J. D. Hend- 
ley for the wood work. The brick were made 
and furnished by Timothy \\'allis. The 
amount paid the contractors was $5,515.70. 

In the spring of 1820 the commissioners ad- 
vertised for proposals for "inclosing the lot 
on which the court house stands. The fronts 
on Market and Tuscarawas streets, and the 
west end. to be made of good substantial posts 
and rails and sawed palings. The balance to 
be formed of boards." This fence was never 



constructed. Messrs. Harris and Raynolds 
having about that time leased the west end of 
the lot and built a store room thereon, the ne- 
cessity of a fence, in the opinion of the commis- 
sioners, was obviated. 

The internal arrangement of the first floor 
of the court house was afterward materially 
changed. There was a partition in the south 
side, and between it and the outer wall was a 
small room occupied as a la\\yer's office. On 
the left was a broad stairway leading to the 
second story. There was no back stairway. 
The judge's stand was reduced in height and 
the prisoners' dock removed. 



V ONCE PROMINENT FAMILY OF 
CANTON. 

By Lew Slusser. 

There are many who remember Jacob Sala, 
of Canton, the pioneer druggist — ^apothecary, 
as it was called in early days. He had acquired 
a knowledge of the drug business in Germany, 
came to America soon after attaining his ma- 
jority, settled in Somerset, Pennsylvania, mar- 
ried a niece of General Morgan, of Revolution- 
ary fame, and united with the religious de- 
nomination known as Tunkers. In 1819, with 
a family of nine children, six boys and three 
girls, he left Somerset for Ohio. In crossing 
the mountains one of the boys fell from the 
wagon and was killed. 

On his arrival in Canton ]\Ir. Sala secured 
a two-story frame building owned b)- Jacob 
Schlosser, corner of Seventh and Public Square, 
on the same ground now owned by Durbin, 
\\'right & Company. He remained there two 
years, then purchased the property, a frame 
building, corner of Tuscarawas and Walnut, 
now known as the Winterhalter corner, where 
he continued in the drug business during the 



ISO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



remainder of his stay in Canton. The chil- 
dren of the family were John, Solomon, Sam- 
uel, Eli, Benjamin, Levi, Lena, Charlotte and 
Sophia. 

John assisted his father in the drug store 
until he attained his majority and for several 
years after. When he commenced business 
for himself he opened a confectionery and va- 
riety store in a small frame building on the 
ground now occupied by the Canton Hardware 
Store. As it did not pay well enough to sat- 
isfy his ambition, he engaged in different other 
pursuits for several years, when the idea struck 
him that the patent medicine business could be 
made lucrative, as there were millions in it. 
No sooner thought than determined on, he fixed 
up a compound which he dubbed "Sala's Ger- 
man Vegetable Elixir," the recipe for which 
he claimed to ha\e obtained from an old Ger- 
man medical book of his father. It was made 
of whiske}' (then twenty cents a gallon) and 
sugar, with a few aromatics, something like 
"Hostetter's Bitters." It was agreeable to 
take, had an exhilerating effect, and was popu- 
lar with the patients affected with any chronic 
ailment, as it made them temporarily feel bet- 
ter. It was put up in six-ounce bottles and 
retailed at fifty cents, affording a big profit. It 
was advertised extensively, depots established 
in dififerent parts of the country and had an 
extensive sale. From that time forward Jolm 
was called Doctor, and, imagining himself doc- 
tor on the principle of the faith cure, he estab- 
lished himself as a doctor in the village of 
Western Star. Medina county, and there died 
in the 'fifties, \vithout leaving either a fortune 
or fame. 

Solomon was considered the wise member 
of the family. He was early apprenticed to 
the printing business, to the Westliche Beo- 
bachter, a German paper then published in 
town, of which in time he became editor-in- 
chief. He was fond of controvers)-, but as the 
field in German did not give him sutificient scope 



to ventilate his quixotic notions, he sokl out anr! 
used the columns of the Ohio Repository. He 
was full of visionary schemes, and made several 
efforts to organize a company as a commune, 
but failing in tiiis united himself with the Zoar- 
ites, who were then in the zenith of their glory. 
How long he remained with them I am unable 
to state, but we next hear of liini in Allegheny, 
where he died without succession. 

Sam was the butt-cut of the family, not in 
the sense the term was used in the army, but 
rather as a butt without the cut. He didn't like 
to go to school and wasn't ctjnsitlered a;^ bright 
as the rest of the famil}-. He was apprenticed 
to the plastering trade, in time graduated, did. 
business on his own responsibility; married, 
moved to Illinois and was lost sight of. excepi. 
that friends learned of his death. 

Eli had a predeliction for sport. Kepi game 
fowls and had a trotting horse, the first of the 
kind Ml the town. The animal was a blue 'lunn 
with a black streak down the back. On pleas- 
ant evenings during the summer Eli would 
speed his trotter, riding him bareback from 
opposite the Lutheran church, on East Tus- 
carawas street, to Sterling's hill, eliciting the 
huzzas of the boys along the pavement. I 
don't know that the horse was ever time<l, but 
I have no idea he could make a mile under four 
minutes, for at that da}' the noted trotters of 
the countrv were Tkhi llninib. of St. Louis. 
and Top Gallant, of Xew Jersey, and when they 
made a mile in three minutes it was considered 
a wonderful teat. When, a few \-ears later, 
I'lora Temple beat that record and made it 
in 2 :40. the country was electrified. 2 ;40 was 
the standard for everything sujjposed tn excel. 
Eli had a taste for the stage and was a per- 
former in the uld Acadeniw His aml)itic>n was 
for tragedy. l:)ut as his memory was at fault he 
fretpiently stuck in the rendition of his part.- 
which rather impaired his reputation as a star 
performer. He studied medicine with Dr. 
Bre\'sacher. went west and set up in ])ractice 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



151 



llrst in Iowa, afterwards in Illinois. Two of 
his sons enlisted during the war. Eli took 
his father and mother and with him they lived 
during the halance of their days. Eli died 
a number of years ago. 

Benjamin was in some respects the flower 
of the family. He was popular with all class- 
es, old and young, and had the good will of 
e\-eryone with whom he came in contact. He 
was cpiite a gymnast and did all the ground 
and lofty tumbling iov the jux'enile shows of 
his day. He could turn a handspring, or som- 
ersault forward and backward, equal to a pro- 
fessional. He learned the tailor trade, which 
was his life occupation, and in which he ac- 
cfuired the reputation of a skilled workman. He 
was a member of the Disciple church and some- 
times spoke in meeting. Several members of 
his family were good singers, and he had ac- 
quired the skill of imitating- with his \'oice the 
sound of a trombone. With this adjunct io 
the choir, the family tra\'eled and gave concerts 
several seasons under the name of the "Sala 
Family." Ben's last residence was in Toledo, 
w here he died se\-eral years ago, the last of the 
original family. 

Levi, the youngest of the lioys, was rather 
inclined to he wayward. His taste ran "in the 
direction of shows, and l)efore he attained man- 
hood followed one south. He ne\'er, to my 
knowledge, returned to Canton, l)ut for a num- 
ber of years !i\-ed in New (Jrleans, as an attache 
of a theatre. From there he drifted to Gal- 
A-eston, Texas, and engaged in the same busi- 
ness. Little is known of his career, only that 
he died some years ago. Two of his sons w^ere 
in the Rebel army, and the story is told by sur- 
viving members of the family that the two 
cousins on each side uf the contest met during 
the war at (h-een Ri\er, Kentucky, and had 
(|uite a chat on family matters. To one who 
had served in the army and knew how-- difficult 
it was to bring about such an event it would 



seem almost incredible, but "I tell the tale as 
'twas told to me." 

Charlotte, the eklest daughter, married Sam 
McDaniel, the John L. Sullivan of Stark coun- 
ty, a butcher and noted pugilist. The ])articulars 
of the fights he had with the Rising Sun and the 
Cro.ss Keys on East Tuscarawas would make 
interesting reading matter for the columns of 
the Sporting Times. AlcDaniel went to Illi- 
nois and died there, after which Mrs. McDaniel 
removed to the home of her lirother. Solomon, 
in .Mlegheny, and there died about 1850. 

Lena married Andrew b'lliott, a fashional)le 
tailor, the first to exhibit a fashion plate in Can- 
ton. He was an active member of the Meth- 
odist church, of the emotional type, and occu- 
pied a seat in the "amen corner." He removed 
to Navarre, and there both he and his wife died, 
sometime m the 'forties. 

Sophia, the \'oungest of the girls — "the liird 
in the cage," as her father was in the habit of 
calling her, as well as the boys about the town 
in imitation — married a man I)y the name of 
McCulver, li^■e(l in .\kron and there died many 
years ago. 

Thus endeth the chapter from which the 
student of genealogical research would natural- 
ly conclude that at the same rate of increase it 
will not be many years until the name of Sala 
is lost. It may be proper to state that much of 
the infiirmation contained in this article I ob- 
tained in an interview with the widow of Ben- 
jamin Sala, now residing in Toledo. 



OLD-TIME HOTELS OF C.\NTON. 

By John Danner. 

The old tavern kcjjt by Jacob Hentzell on 
the northeast corner of Tuscarawas and Cherry 
streets, and known as "Travelers Rest." is still 
standing, but changes made in its facade in 



152 



OLD LANDMARKS 



adapting it to Imsiness uses have materially 
altered its appearance. Six or seven decades 
ago there were three other hotels on East Tus- 
carawas street between the Hentzell hotel and 
the public square. The first of them was con- 
ducted by Henry Slusser, in a two-story brick 
building which stood on the site of the present 
store of Hoeland & Heingartner; and the next 
was the American house, which was kept for 
many years b)- two veteran and competent land- 
lords. — first by Fred Hipp, who had received 
his early training as a hotelkeeper from the 
Hawk;', of the old Eagle hotel, mentioned in 
another of these reminiscent sketches. The 
American was a two-story frame structure, and 
was a building of considerable size, the same be- 
ing eventually replaced by a more modern 
building of brick, three stories in height. The 
next caravansery was located at the northwest 
corner of Tuscarawas and Walnut streets, be- 
ing a frame structure of two stories, and at the 
time of its destruction by fire, a few years ago, 
it was km iwn as the Max Elbin building. Since 
that time rather inferior buildings have occu- 
pied the ground. The writer's first recollec- 
tion concerning this last mentioned hotel date 
back tc) the time when it was conducted by John 
Clark. He was a gunsmith by trade. His 
son and namesake was a skillful drummer and 
finally enlisted for service in the Mexican war, 
from the close of which he passed but a brief 
interval of his life in Canton. John Black, 
Jacob Flohr and John D. Snyder kept hotel in 
this same building, presumably in the order 
named, the last mentioned having been longest 
in tenure. He also conducted a hotel for a 
time in the Hurford house building, prior to its 
enlargement to its present dimensions. John 
Black also subsequently kept hotel in the old 
.Abraham Lind house, a two-story brick, which 
stood on the site of the Central Savings Bank 
building, on the southwest corner of Tuscara- 
was street and Cleveland avenue. Next east 
of the "Tra\-elers" Rest" was the Hippee home. 



This building still stands, but has been radically 
changed, through its remodeling for business 
purposes. This stood about twenty-five feet 
distant from the Hentzell building, and the in- 
tervening space is now occupied by another 
frame building of two stories. George Hippee 
was a carpenter by trade, but in his later years 
conducted a grocery, the greater portion of the 
time at the northwest corner of Tuscarawas 
and Cherry streets. 

Next east of the Hippee house, where the 
driveway to the Wheeling & Lake Erie Rail- 
road passenger station is now, stood the resi- 
dence of the late Jacob Hane, while his tan- 
yard was located on the grounds now occupied 
by the depot mentioned, while across the rail- 
road tracks, on Saxton street, is the lot utilized 
as a tan-yard by Samuel D. Slusser. On the 
front of the lot stood the family residence, 
which is still standing, though radically 
changed in appearance. 

At the time when the four hotels to which 
reference has been made: were in operation, 
Christian Elane kept a hotel about one-fourth 
of a mile east of the present home of Hon. 
Joseph Frease, on East Tuscarawas street, 
?Totels in and about Canton" in those days were 
much more numerous than they are today, but 
it is needless to say that the capacity and ac- 
commodations of the several taverns together 
would not equal that of a single one of our mod- 
ern hostelries. The writer recalls the time 
when there were five hotels between Canton 
and Massillon, and to these reference will be 
made on other pages of this volume. In this 
pioneer epoch Stark county had no railroad fa- 
cilities, and the Ohio canal constituted the great 
outlet for the farm produce of this and the sev- 
eral adjoining counties. Sixty years ago train 
after train of from five to ten wagons each could 
be seen passing through Canton transporting 
wheat to Massillon, whence the shipments were 
made by the canal, the town being then known 
colloquially as the Wheat City. From 1840 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



153 



until 1S44 the writer was in the employ of L. 
& S. Rawson, of that city, who were extensive 
merchants and wheat buyers, and well recalls 
the great number of wheat wagons that came 
filing into the town from both east and west, 
and the scene was indeed a busy one during the 
season when the wheat was transferred to the 
Axarehouses and to the canal boats. This was 
what aided ^•ery materially in sustaining the 
country taverns, for the farmers coming- 
through from Columbiana, Carroll, Jefferson 
and other counties had to secure food and shel- 
ter while on such pilgrimages. 



TANNING BUSINESS IN EARLY DAYS. 

By John D,\nner. 

With all our rejoicing at the growth and 
prosperity of Canton, we must confess to one 
"lost industry." and that is the tanning busi- 
ness. There have been in the history of our 
city seven tanneries or tan-yards; now there 
are none. Still standing on the southeast cor- 
ner oi Cherry and Third streets, and known 
to the most of our citizens as the Alexander 
woolen mills, is a building which was erected 
as a tannery by the late V. R. Kimball, who al 
one time was one of our most enterprising and 
successful merchants. The changes in the 
exterior of the building have not been very 
great, the main building being of brick, while 
the original power house was a frame addition 
at the rear, the same having long since been 
torn down. 

Probably the oldest tanyard was that of 
George Stidger, which is yet recalled by a few 
of the oldest citizens as having been located on 
the blvjck of lots on the north side of East Tus- 
carawas street, between Piedmont and Walnut 
streets, and this was probably the first to disap- 
pear. On the west corner of said block John 
Slusser, father of the late Dr. Lew Sltisser. had 



a store, and on the east corner was Clark's 
tavern, which stood for many years. Mr. 
Scroggs had a hat shop adjoining the Slusser 
property, said lot now being occupied by the 
three-story brick building of C. C. Snyder. In 
the middle of the block, formerly the site of the 
Stidger tannery, the late John Malline resided 
and conducted a grocery for many years. The 
two-story brick buildings which he there erect- 
ed are still standing. The third tanyard re- 
called by the writer was known as Fogle's, and 
was located on the east side of Walnut street, 
between Third and Fourth streets. The resi- 
dence built by William Fogle was on the north- 
east C(irner of Fourth and Walnut streets and is 
still standing, being a two-story brick build- 
ing. It was occupied for many years by the 
late Robert Latimer and family, while later 
tenants were Joseph Crevoisie, Sr., and David 
Sherrick. In 1864 the late Nicholas Bour 
jjurchased the property and took up his resi- 
dence there, while the house is still occupied by 
his children. The finu'th tannery was that of 
James Hazlett, and this \\as in operation for 
many years. It was located on the south side 
of .Seventh street, running from Piedmont to 
\\'alnut street. The main building was a two- 
stor_\- frame structure, located on the corner 
now occupied by Parr's brick blacksmith and 
wagon shop. Tanning- vats filled almost the 
entire lot. This building was afterward used 
for school purposes for a time, and in later 
\-ears was utilized as a wagon shop. 

The brick building several hundred yards 
northwest from the power house of the present 
city w ater works and occupied of late years as a 
brewery, was erected by the late William 
Christmas as a tannery, who there contiimed 
in this line of enterprise until his death, when 
a comparatively young man. He was also en- 
gaged in the mercantile business at the same 
time, and his death was considered a great loss 
to the community. At the time he built his tan- 
nerv he also constructed the dam that now 



154 



OLD LANDMARKS 



forms the htautil'ul little pniid cir lake in West- 
lawn cemetery, and du^ therefrom the race to 
his tannery, therehy utilizing the outlet of Mey- 
er's lake for ])o\ver in the grinding of bark. 
\V\s son, Willi.ini JI. Christmas, died shortly 
after the Ale.xican war, in which he was a par- 
ticijiant. Hane's tanyard was of more modern 
times. riiis tannery occupied a two-story 
frrnne building that stood on the site of the pres- 
ent Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad station, on 
b'ast Tuscarawas street. The proprietor. Jacob 
l.lane. will be remembered by nian_\- of our citi- 
zens. , He died several years ago. having lived 
retired for a l"ng period in his home on High 
street. The .Slnsser tannery was undoubtedly 
the last to be built in Canton and was also 
proiiably the last to abandon the industry here. 
It was built by b)lin Slusser and carried on in 
later years by his son. the late Samuel D. 
Slusser. This lallner^■ was likewise located on 
b'ast Tuscaraw.as street, immcdiatelv across the 
railroad track from the passenger station above 
mentioned, Saxtoii street separating this tan- 
yard from that df Air. Hane. The two-story 
frame building used for so many years by ]\Tr. 
.Slusser for tanning is still stanchng on the 
original site, and is fitted u]) for residence pur- 
])oses. 'i'he one-storv brick building, facing on 
Tuscarawas street, that had been used as a resi- 
dence by Samuel D. Slusser, is also standing. 
.■ind is used for various purposes. Of the seven 
owners of lanyards, as noted in this connection, 
all except Mr. 1 lane had also been merchants in 
C"anton Mr. Kimball did a \ery large busi- 
ness and finall\- built the store room now used 
by George 11. Span.gler, on the east side of 
South Market street square. The building was 
considered at the time of its erecticMi a mam- 
moth affair. .\n addition has since been made 
at the rear. Init the front remains almost the 
same as it was at the time of erection. 

James Tlazlett kei)t store fur many years in 
the building on the southeast corner of the pub- 
lic .square, and known as tl]e McKinley block. 



Mr. Ilazlett was the fir>t lu build there, the 
original building having been a twt)-story brick 
structure, running south as far as the present 
.\ndrews l)akery. On the site of this bakery 
st(jod a t\\i>-stiir\' frame l)uilding. whicii was 
used by Mr. Ilazlett as a wareroom in cmmec- 
tion with his st(jre. The storeroom on the cor- 
ner was not quite as wide as that miw occupied 
by Mr. Sweitzer's bank, and the balance of the 
bm'lding was used by Mr. Hazlett as a residence. 
After the property passed into the hamls of 
Messrs. .Saxton and .McKinley the building was 
extended south U\ the Eockius building and all 
made three st(iries in height, since which time 
it has been known as the McKinley block. I'"(ir 
some time after Mr. Hazlett retired from the 
mercantile business the store room was not oc- 
cupied. In 1840 the writer of this sketch rent- 
ed said roiini from Mr. Hazlett and had it en- 
larged, and then moved from Massillon tr> Can- 
ton and Continued in liusiness in this location 
for ten years, when the l)usiness was sold ti^ two 
former clerks in the store. Messrs. Meyer and 
Fisher, who there continued the mercantile en- 
terprise for a number of years. 

The store of William Christmas \\a- in a 
one-story frame building that stood about 
where the east entrance to the present court 
house is located, anrl the late Isaac Harter. Sr.. 
\v?s his most reliable beljier. ( leorge Stidgei' 
had his store near the middle of the east side "i 
the public scpiare. and William l'"o,gle'~ store 
was on the northeast ci irnei' of the i)ublic .--quarc. 
the budding ha\'in.g been an ordinar\' two-story 

frame. 

< « » 

CANTO .\ IX Till-: \\\K Ol' iSij. 

\'>y JOHN Dannkh. 

Along from iNio to iXi_> the Indian- were 
(]uite troublesome along our northwestern bor- 
ders, and our pioneers were in constant jeo|)- 
ardv from this source, while (ireat r.rit'ain 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



33 



sliowed lier sympathy w itli the Indians, so that 
in June. 1S12. war was declared against Great 
Britain, wliile prior to this time an act of con- 
gress authorized an increase in our regular 
army of thirty-five thousand men, many volun- 
teers coming forward. L'nder this act Gov- 
ernor R. J. Meigs, tiien chief executive of the 
state of Ohio, raised three regiments of troops 
to serve twelve months, their headquarters be- 
ing at Dayton. Duncan AIcArthur was colonel 
of the h'irst, James Findlay of the Second, 
L.ewis Cass of the Third Regiment. A fourth 
regiment came from Urhana, under the com- 
mand of Colonel Miller, who liad been a partici- 
l)ant in the battle of Tip])ecanoe. 

About the mil Idle of June this little army of 
t\\enty-fi\e Innulred men. under ciimmand of 
(leneral William Hull, governor of Michigan, 
started toward the northwestern part of the 
state, landing on the Mauniee river and having" 
erected Forts McArtluu\ Necessity and Find- 
lay. By carelessness on the part of the gov- 
ernment no official word had been sent to the 
frontier regarding the war, while the Britisli 
liad taken advantage of tiiis oversight by mak- 
ing ready to take our men Ijy storm. While 
on the borders of tiie Maumee the personal ef- 
fects of our army fell into the hands of the 
enemy, and that campaign ended in demoraliz- 
ing the army and in ignominious defeat, greatly 
discouraging further efforts for a time. As 
nearly as can be ascertained. Canton was at 
that time the headquarters for the Third Regi- 
ment of the Second Brigade of the Fourth Di- 
vision of Ohio militia. W'hen a call for troops 
was issued (ieorge Stidger. who had seen mili- 
tary service in the east and had been honored 
with the title of general, was made captain of 
the Canton company. There were not enough 
NoKinteers and consecpiently a draft was made, 
while one hundred dollars was the standard 
price for substitutes, and tlie company was thus 
enabled to bring its membership up to alxnit 
seventy-five men. After some research the fol- 



lowing list of names was obtained b\' the third 
auditor of the L'nited States treasury : (jeorge 
Stidger, captain: Robert Cameron, lieutenant; 
Daniel McClure, ensign; John Miller. John 
Shorb. William \'. Chamberlain. Christian 
hdickinger. sergeants; John Rowland, Ge(.)rge 
Cribbs, Jacob Fssig, Closes Andrews, corpor- 
als; Thomas Neily. bugler; and tlie following 
prixates: Ezekiel .Vlexanrler, William An- 
drews. Thomas .'\lexander. William Brouse. 
John (iutchall ( ])robably (jotchall). John 
dinger, George Crasimore. John Carper, Ben- 
jamin Croninger, Garret Crusen, Alexander 
Cameron, Samuel Duck, (jeorge Dew alt. Adam 
Fssig. John Elder. Daniel Farber. James (irafi:'. 
Thomas (iraft", 'Jhomas Hurf<:ir(l. John Kroft. 
John Koontz, ( ieorge Kirkpatrick. Flenry Li\'- 
ingston, Samuel McClelland, George Monroe, 
Jacob Afyers, James Moore, John Potts, Samud 
Patttjn, John Risey. Jacob Myers. James Aloore. 
John Potts, John Rogers, Abraham Ro(_)se. 
James Riddle, John Risey, Jacob Swigert, John 
Slusser, William Smith. Daniel Stephens, 
Thomas Shields. John Shineberger. Jacob Slus- 
ser, Robert Sorrels and Bezaleel Thompson. It 
is not known whether this was the list when 
the)' enlisted or when ihev were mustered out. 

Captain Stidger"s company camped for sev- 
eral weeks at Wooster. where there was a 
block house. Finally the company received or- 
ders to go forward toward the ?klaumee. to 
a point near where the village of Perrysburg 
is located. They remained there for some 
time, but saw no active service and were finall\' 
musterefl out. I'or some time after this they 
often met for drill and parade, feeling that there 
might still come a sudden call for tliem to de- 
fend their homes and countr\-. but tliat time did 
not come to them as an organization. 

After the war of 1S12 militia trainings or 
musters were much in \-ogue and each season 
were lield until about the middle of the last 
centur\-, when the\- were gi\en up. These an- 
nual gatherings brought a good many ])eo])Ie 



156 



OLD LANDMARKS 



from all parts of the county ; the place of meet- 
ing was most frequently in Canton, although 
quite often they met at Osnaburgh and a few 
other towns in the county. When they as- 
sembled in Canton the Stidger ten-acre field 
was the usual place of meeting and drilling. 
This tract then consisted of a field beginning 
at the southwest corner of Seventh and Wells 
streets, running south to South street, west to 
Clarion, then north to Seventh street and east 
to Wells street. No buildings were then lo- 
cated on this large tract of beautiful land ex- 
cept a barn, which stood for a number of years 
near the entrance corner, Seventh and Wells 
streets. Along the upper and west line of said 
field was quite a long row of wild 
cherry trees, which afforded shelter from 
the sun. Among the prominent men who 
todk part in these parades was Gen- 
eral Jolm Augustine. of Osnalnirgh 
township, and Captain George Krieghbaum, of 
T,ake township. The two-story brick building 
in wliich the latter lived is still standing, about 
one mile east of Greentown. Colonel Cribbs, of 
Canton, was also more or less conspicuous in 
those early military trainings. Then there was 
^Villiam Beals, who was particularly interested 
in the cavalry department. He was by trade 
a harnessmaker and had his shop on the same 
lot which is now occupied iiy tlie First Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. He removed finally to 
Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he passed the re- 
mainder of his life. After Mr. Beals retired 
from the liarness business on the corner of 
Cleveland a'-enue and Tuscarawas street, the 
late John Euckius took possession of the prop- 
erty and there continued in the same line of 
business for many years. 

Among the bpys who gathered to see the 
military training and parades the writer recalls 
J. Sweeney. W. H. Chapman, William Mc- 
Curdy, John S. Saxton. William Hartzell, 
Charles Burr, F. R. ]\Iyers. Lewis Slusser, Will- 
iam Hartman, Alcnias Lohr, D. J. Begges. Ed- 



ward Drayton, J. Patton and many others, all 
except two or three of whom have passed to 
the other world. The great Stidger field is now- 
all closely built up with comfortable and beau- 
tiful houses, with intersecting streets and beau- 
tiful shade trees. The change is wonderful and 
still the change continues from year to year, 
representing, it is to be hoped, a tending to- 
ward the better and higher life, so that oiu' 
progress may ever be onward and upward. 



CANTON'S FIRST FIRE ENGINE. 

By John Danner. 

The first fire engine used in Canton was 
the "Phoenix," which was purchased about 
1822. The next engine brought here was tlie 
"Fairmount," which was introduced in 1830. 
The late William Christmas, one of the lead- 
ing merchants in Cantun at that time, was 
delegated by tli6 village authorities to buy said 
engine. It had been used a short time in the 
city of Philadelpliia. but was practicallv as good 
as nev\- when brought here, and while it was 
much larger than the "Phcenix," antl had a 
doul)le tier of brakes, the "Phanix" having but 
one, it required a much larger force of men 
to move and operate the second engine than tlie 
first, therefore tlie new engine never became 
po])ular among the people. It was good for dis- 
play and dress parade and made a fine appear- 
ance, ])ut for real efficiency and practical use 
it never was consitlered a success. 

Neither of these engines was a suction en- 
gine. All the water thrown by either of them 
had to be introduced into the reservoir by means 
of buckets, pumping or other primitive meth- 
ods. Under this condition of things the town 
council had passed an ordinance requiring every 
freeholder to lie provided with fire buckets. 
These were made of sole leather, tall but nar- 
row, and held about as much as the ordinary 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



157 



water bucket. The name of the owner, and 
sometimes fancy decorations, were painted on 
these buckets, and they were kept in some con- 
venient place, so that at the first alarm of lire 
they were accessible. A few of the 
old leathern buckets are yet in the 
possession of the descendants of some of our 
pioneers. At the time of the burning of the old 
jail, which stood on the same block of lots 
now occupied b}' the Yohe hotel, on North Mar- 
ket street. Canton experienced what was con- 
sidered a great fire, this being about the year 
1833. The building was constructed of a double 
tier of heavy logs and a frame construction out- 
side of this, so there w^as much combustible ma- 
terial in the building, this being added to by the 
material in the carpenter shop which was there 
conducted by Thomas Cunningham. 

All citizens were supposed to be in line to 
supply the engine with water, boys and wo- 
men in the empty-bucket line and able-bodied 
men in the line along which the filled buckets 
were passed. Upon the occasion noted a few 
men who were lookers on and refused to go into 
the line so angered the man in charge of the 
nozzle that he turned the w^ater upon them for 
a few moments, soon sending them away well 
drenched, and no further refusals for such vol- 
unteer service were heard of for some time 
afterward. Joseph S. Saxton has furnished an 
old record of 1836, in which the following- 
names appear in connection with the personnel 
of the fire department of that time, the occupa- 
tion of each being subjoined for the purpose 
of more ready identification at the present : 
Firemaster, Dr. Harmon Stidger; axmen, S. 
A. Stout, Samuel Petree (weaver), Henry 
Slusser (hotelkeeper) ; laddermen : Daniel Hil- 
bert (carpenter), John C. Bockius (shoe deal- 
er), George Dunbar, Jr. (chairmaker), John 
Hoover (carpenter) ; bookmen, Samuel Slus- 
ser (tanner), Daniel Gottshall (printer), Sam- 
uel Lahm (attorney), J. D. Brown (attorney). 



linemen; Abraham Lind (carpenter), John 
Shorb (merchant), John Slusser (merchant), 
J. G. Lester (hardware dealer), Martin Wiki- 
da! (merchant). Every citizen of those times 
was recognized as a fireman, or at least it was 
expected of him to work assiduously and un- 
varyingly at every fire, as if that were his only 
business. 

The first suction engine used in Canton was 
the "Rescue," which was brought here in 1855, 
and soon a well-drilled company was organized 
to care for the same and see that it was put 
in good use on all occasions of fire. The late 
R. Allison Dunbar and Thomas W. Saxton 
were the first two captains of said company, on 
whose membership roll appear many old and fa- 
miliar names, but the list is too long to be con- 
sistently entered in this connection. A few of 
the members are still living, but the great ma- 
jority have passed away. The next suction en- 
gine that was brought here was the "Washing- 
ton," in 1859, and of the company in charge 
of the same many will remember that the late 
Christian Oberly was captain. He took a. great 
interest in the fire department and his company 
often engaged in contests with other towns in 
the trial of their machines, and quite a number 
of medal? and trumpets were secured as tro- 
phies in this way and are retained in the pos- 
session of his grandson, Charles L. Oberly, of 
this city. Upon these are inscribed the dates 
of the contests, thus marking the time of the 
several \ictories of Captain Oberly and his 
men. The late John Snyder was for a long 
time first lieutenant and Peter Roemhill second 
lieutenant. On one occasion Captain Oberly 
was badly beaten and as badly disgusted. This 
was shortly after the completion of the Canton 
water works system. The company was anx- 
ious to make a display of its ability to make its 
engine cope with the new system. The com- 
pany turned out in fine spirits and attached 
its suction hose to one of the public hydrants 



158 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and the word was given to turn on the water, 
but the pressure w as so great that it burst the 
connecting hose ot the engine and the water 
went in all directions to the dismay and discom- 
fort of the captain and his excellent company. 
There was another small suction engine in use 
for a time, known as the "Stark," but it has 
been impossible to learn the exact time of its 
introduction. The late Z. P. Bowen was cap- 
tain of the company which handled this engine, 
which was sold about thirty years ago, to the 
citizens of Orrxille. Ohio, whereupon the Can- 
ton company in charge of the same was dis- 
banded. For so small an engine it was con- 
sidered a very good one. 

Tile first steam lire engine was introduced 
in Canton in iS68, the same having been pur- 
chased largely through the efforts of the late 
Louis Schafer. and the same was therefore 
named in his lionor. It is still in the possession 
of the city. The second steamei" was brought 
here in 1880 antl was called the "Daniel Wor- 
lev" and this is kept in the central engine house. 
while the "Louis Schafer" is stationed in hose 
house No. 2. Both of these engines are avail- 
able for use at any time. Imt the present ef- 
fective water system and fire department of the 
city almost entirelx do away with the use of the 
steamers. Chemical engines w'ere first intro- 
duced here in 1885 and lia\e proved so useful 
in the first stages of a fire that it is not probable 
they will be dispensed with. 

After the water works were established, 
'.ib(jut thirty years ago. and numerous hose 
houses were located in the various parts of 
the city, it soon de\eloped that we could not 
rel\- upon fire ])rotection by \olunteer compan- 
ies, as in early times, and therefore a i>aid 
fire department became necessary. Through 
the maintenance of the same, with the e.xcellent 
facilities provided, it is believed that Canton 
has- as good fire i)rotection as any city of com- 
parative population. 



WHAT R.\JLRO.\DS HAVE DONE FOR 
CANTON. 

By Lkw Slusser. 

In 1850, somewhat more than a half century 
ago, we had no railroad in Canton, and our 
only outlet for produce was via the Ohio canal, 
jMassillon being the chief shipping point, as has 
been stated in i)receding articles. Considerable 
produce was broug'ht in and shipped from Na- 
varre and Canal FuUon, but our neighbors in 
Massillon had the boom at that time and the 
town was righth' designated as the "\\dieat 
City." 

Our merchants in Canton in getting their 
supplies from the east had to transport them 
by way of the canal to Massillon and thence 
overland to their destination, or ha\e them 
hauled from P'ittsburg by such teamsters as 
Barry Goodin and John Sell. The latter meth- 
od involved a heavy rate of freight charges, 
while six or seven days were required to make 
the trip. The writer, looking from the w indow 
of his residence, at the corner of Tenth and 
Market street, can scarcely realize how great 
ha\e l;een the changes since the Pittsburg, Fort 
\\'ayne & Chicago Railroad w as first completed 
in J 852, while other roads have entered the city 
since that time. i\e\erting to the appearance 
of the city at that Inue, it may be .'^aid that the 
south line of the xillage corporation was South 
street. On the southeast corner of that street 
and Market street resided E. C. Patterson and 
family, in a one-sory building, jiartly brick and 
partly frame. On the opposite corner, 
the southwest corner of South and Mar- 
ket, lived Peter Shorb, the industrious 
cooper, m a small frame house. Be- 
vond this corner at that time on the west side 
of Market street w'as the Raynolds field of 
about ten acres, used for agricultural purposes. 
On the east side tliere was no house beyond 
that of Mr. Patterson on Market street until 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



159 



was reached tliat of Adam Kininiel, the 
gunsmith. Ho li\ ed in a two-story frame house, 
about tlie site of the present home of John Class, 
while his barn stood about one hundred feet far- 
ther .-uuth and als(/ fronted on Market street. 

CJn the i)pposite side of Market street, there 
were no houses until near the present store of 
the Melchoirs. 81 1 South Market street. A lit- 
tle neirth. of this Irication stood a two-story 
frame house, which was in turn occupied by a 
inimber of different families. The residence ai 
806 South Market street, owned and occupied 
for man}- years by Mrs. Elizabeth Melchoir, 
was the nrst home for a long time previously 
of a \ery i)eculiar old woman In- the name of 
Frederica I'iegner. For years the boys would 
tease This old lady by going past her house and 
whistling vigorously. For some reason this 
indulgence on the part of any person passing 
her domicile would cause her to grow greatly 
excited and if they did not mo\-e on very 
quickly, she was certain to appear at her door 
and gi\e ihem a relentless "tongue lashing" for 
their conduct. The boys learned of this weak- 
ness and often improved the opportunity to an- 
noy the old woman, so that the entire village 
lM?eame acquainted with the facts. After leav- 
ing the house mentirmed no others were south 
of ;it on either side of the street until the farm 
hou.se of Dr. Willett was reached. This property 
was iifterward purchased b}- the late Peter 
Hoiisel. and soon after the ad\ent of the rail- 
road this fami was platted into town lots, and 
the old two-store frame dwelling was removed 
over to Navarre street, just west of McKinle}- 
a Venue and on the south side of the street. The 
present residence on the original site of this was 
erecfted afterward and \vas occupied by the 
Hijusel famil}- until after the death of Peter 
Housel, and later by H. W. Thomas. 

" :'At that time tliere were still visible all 
^lc»iag past the Willett farm to the creek, evi- 
dence of the old canal tliat was finished a num- 
bi?f'.iit Aears before, but ne\'er used or e\'en 



hlled with water. On South Cherry street at 
that time there were no houses south of the 
present railroad track, except the John Hane 
farm house, while the large barn stood on the 
opposite site of Cherry street. The old farm 
house is still extant, south of Plane street. This 
entire farm is^now built up, having been sold in 
town lots very soon after the railroad was an 
assured thing. John Hane was active as a 
Christian worker in the early history of the 
E\-angeIical church, on East Fourth street, and 
ga\e very freely in support of the cause. His 
son John removed to Marion, Ohio, and became 
one of the leading bankers of that city, acctx- 
mulating a large fortune. He died a few years' 
ago. 

\'ery soon after the railroad became an as- 
sured fact, Ephraim Ball and Cornelius Ault- 
man came here and located on the site of the 
present Aultman works. Other manufacturers 
were also attracted here. Wheat buying began 
and the exodus of trade from Canton to Mas- 
sillon gradually ceased. The three or four ho- 
tels which had prex'iouslv conducted a profitable 
business along the highway between the two 
towns began to feel the loss of their trade and 
one by one they were closed as places of public 
entertainment. A few years after the first rail- 
road passed througji Canton others came in, and 
a \ariety of manufactories began to spring up. 
The town began to grow in population and to 
enlarge its borders, while the old corporate lines 
are almost forgotten, and the future of the city 
is most auspicious. 

Canton is now much larger than Massilloii, 
but it is gratifying to note the fact that the 
"Wheat City" has not gone backward, though 
its business is quite radically changed. With 
the loss of the produce l)usiness to the town, 
other avenues of enterprises were opened. Rich 
deposits of coal have been found-and been prop- 
erly developed, and through this source the 
prosperity of the citv has been enhanced in later 
vears, while manufacturing' and commercial en- 



l6o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



terprises of wide scope and importance have 
been there built up. It is true of Massillon, as 
of Canton, that it is surrounded by one of the 
best agricuhural sections in the state. Both cities 
have business men, manufacturers and capital- 
ists who are in the front rank, so that the march 
of progress is certain to continue, the places 
being now connected by electric railways, with 
suburban residences springing up in both direc- 
tions, while the relations between the two mu- 
nicipalities are most friendly, and it is not diffi- 
cult to imagine that when another fifty years 
shall have passed the two will be practically one 
great city. It is certain that neither Canton or 
Massillon would consent to give up the railroads 
and go back to the slow-moving canal boats, the 
Conestoga wagons, with six-horse teams and 
the stage coaches, or do without the modern fa- 
cilities of electricity in its various applications, 
as in the olden days. The world does move; 
let us move with it, and we should strive to im- 
prove the goodly heritage allotted to us. 



CANTON'S FIRST MAYOR. 



By John Danner. 



The old two-story frame residence that 
stood for so many years on the northeast corner 
of Tuscarawas and Dewalt streets, was occu- 
pied for a long time by John Myers and family, 
and about 1850 he sold the property to Dr. 
Brackebush, who resided there a number of 
years, and up to the time of his death. He had 
an extensive practice and was well known 
throughout the county. In later years the 
property was purchased by Dr. J- M. B}-e, who 
erected the fine brick residence now standing 
on the lot. 

John Myers, after selling this property, 
moved across the street into the brick house in 
which Dr. E. O. Morrow now has his office, 
and there he lived until his death, in 1856. He 



was the father of Henry H. Myers and also 
of Hiram Myers, who at one time kept the 
Franklin hotel, which was the original part of 
the old Hurford house. At that time it was a 
two-story brick building, occupying less than 
one-fourth of the ground covered by the Hur- 
ford hotel. At one time he was also engaged 
in merchandising. John Myers was also the 
father of Frank R. Myers, who was so long 
known as general ticket and passenger agent 
for the railroads in this part of Ohio, and who 
later removed to Athens, Tennessee, where he 
is still living at the time of this writing. An- 
other son was Dr. \Villiam Myers, who had 
quite an extensive practice at Sandy ville, 
twelve miles south of Canton, where he died 
at the age of thirty-eight years. John Myers 
had two daughters, — Lydia, who married 
Philip F. Geisse, of Wellsville, Ohio; and 
Pauline, who died at the age of eighteen years. 

John Myers came to Canton in 1810. He 
was an intelligent and active citizen, was en- 
gaged to a considerable extent in farming and 
stock-growing, and gave some attention to 
politics. He was the first mayor of Canton, 
and he had his executive office in a small frame 
building which he erected on what is now com- 
monly known as the Upham property, west of 
Dewalt street, while he also used this office for 
other business purposes. 

Shortly after coming to Canton Mr. Myers 
entered claim to three quarter-sections of land 
southwest of the village. One of these he 
sold to George Stidger, and the quarter sec- 
tion west of the Stidger place was known for 
many years as the Vogelgesang farm. In the 
early days of Mr. Myers' residence in Canton 
he was appointed clerk of the courts, and in 
1820 he was elected a member of the Ohio 
legislature, serving two terms. Through his 
influence while a member of this body George 
Stidger and Thomas Hurford were appointed 
associate judges of the court of common pleas. 

At the time of the failure of Bezaleel Wells, 




HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, CANTON. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



i6i 



John Myers purchased at sheriff's sale the tract 
of land lying south of South street and west of 
rium street (now knowii as McKinley avenue) 
and running west to the creek, securing the prop- 
erty at seven and one-half dollars an acre. Af- 
terwards Henry H. Myers bought this property 
at forty dollars an acre. The block of lots on 
which the McKinley avenue public school is 
now located is a part of this tract. At one 
time Henry H. Myers sold the property to be 
used for burial purposes, in connection with the 
old cemetery which lies north of it. Quite a 
ninnter of interments were made there, but 
after the opening of Westlawn cemetery and 
other larger cemeteries that block was aban- 
doned for burial purposes, the remains there 
interred bemg removed elsewhere, wliile the 
old burying ground north of the Myers ad- 
dition is now a nice little park. It was never 
wholly given over to cemetery purposes. The 
block was left to the citizens of Canton for 
burial purposes, and therefore no effort has 
lieen made to remove all the graves. It is 
well cared fof and serves the double purpose 
of a resting place for many of our early citi- 
zens and as an attractive little park. The 
writer can well remember the time when we 
seldom saw a hearse on the streets. It was 
the custom in the early history of Canton, 
when the old cemetery was the general place 
of burial, to carry the dead on a bier borne 
on the shoulders of four men. In case the 
corpse was heavy or the distance greater than 
usual they would often have two sets of 
bearers, to relieve each other. To see such a 
funeral procession passing through our streets 
tiiday would attract everybody's attention. 
The same plan was followed in connection with 
the Lutheran, German Reformed and Catholic 
cemeteries, all of which were well within the 
present city corporation. At the time that 
Henry H. Myers sold the block referred to for 
cemetery purposes a large barn stood about 
the site of the present McKinley avenue school 

10 



building. This was removed by Mr. Myers 
to the southeast corner of Seventh and Dewalt 
streets and is at the present time used as a' 
livery stable, but for some time after its re- 
moval to the present site it was used in con- 
nection with the lumber business. At that 
time Henry H. Myers occupied the entire 
block where the postofifice and Odd Fellows 
hall now stand. In connection with his lum- 
ber business, which was quite extensive in 
those days, Mr. Myers also kept a general 
store for a number of years, in the Cassilly 
block. 

The records, so far as the writer has been 
able to discover, indicate that John Myers was 
born in Maryland, in 1774, and that he came 
fo Canton in 1810, his death here occurring 
in 1856. His mother was a noble Christian 
woman and lived with him in Canton until his 
marriage, after which she made her home with 
her daughter, Mrs. Gibson, at Minerva, this 
county. She was eighty-three years of age at 
the time of her death. 



CANTON'S OLDEST HOTEL. 

By John Dannek. 

The old Hurford hotel building, which 
stood for so many years at the corner of Tus- 
carawas and Court streets and which remained 
as a familiar landmark until a short time ago, 
when it was torn down to make way for the 
]M-esent fine modern structure on the site, had 
been vacant for some time previously, having 
been condemned for hotel purposes. 

In 1 814 George Stidger erected the first 
two-story brick building on this site, and there 
he kept a hotel for a short time, but during the 
greater portion of his residence in Canton he 
lived on the east side of the north public square. 
He was the father of Mrs. Harriet Whiting, 
also of the late Mrs. J. G. Lester and of O. P. 



l62 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and John Stidger, the latter of whom removed 
to CaHfornia a number of years ago and there 
passed the remainder of his hfe. After Mr. 
Stidger retired from the hotel business the 
same building was used as a hotel, under the 
ownership of Jacob and Henry Troup. They 
were brothers of Mrs. John Graham and un- 
cles of Mrs. L. Renick, both well known to 
Cantonians. After the Troup regime the hotel 
passed into the hands of Martin Lohr, who was 
one of Canton's pioneer merchants. He there- 
after occupied the entire building until his 
death, utilizing the front corner room for his 
store and the remainder of the house as his 
residence. After his death his nephew, Hiram 
Myers, kept a store in the same room for some 
time, after which he again converted the build- 
ing into a hotel, calling the same the Franklin' 
house. He built up a good business and was 
finally succeeded by John D. Snider, who re- 
tained the same name to the hotel. After that 
Hatcher & Ellison bought the property and 
added another story to the building and ex- 
tended the same somewhat farther north on 
Court street and west on Tuscarawas street, 
making quite an attractive three-story hotel 
building for those days. 

After the original St. Cloud hotel, on the 
site of the present First Methodist Episcopal 
church, was destroyed by fire, in 1858, the pro- 
prietors, Buckius & Hawk, bought out the firm 
of Hatcher & Ellison, of the Franklin house, 
and there continued in the hotel business for a 
number of years, changing the name to the St. 
Cloud hotel, by which title the old Hurford 
block was familiar to the older residents of 
Canton for many years. A few years after 
this the property was purchased by Alexander 
Hurford and the late Peter P. Trump, who 
leased the hotel to Thomas Nelson, who con- 
tinued the business, retaining the name of St. 
Cloud. Later on the hotel was leased by 
Henry H. Geeting and John Faber, but they 
were not experienced hotel men and did not 



long continue the enterprise, which proved a 
failure. After this the hotel was conducted 
for some time by Mr. Gillett, who was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. Cook, who had an excellent rep- 
utation as a hotel man, and he did a success- 
ful business there for a number of years. He 
was succeeded by E. D. Ely, who continued to 
run the hotel for a longer period than had any 
of his predecessors. After he gave up the house 
Alexander Hurford was at a loss to secure the 
right kind of a man to take the property, and 
though he kept the house open, depending en- 
tirely on hired help, this was not satisfactory, 
and finally he was fortunate in securing the 
interposition of E. Barnett, who soon revived 
the business. But the hopes of Mr. Hurford 
in having thus secured a satisfactory tenant 
were of brief duration, as the owners of the 
hotel building on the southeast corner of 
Cherry and Tuscarawas streets ofifered Mr. 
Baniett much better financial inducements 
and agreed to call the hotel the Barnett. and 
Mr. Barnett accepted their proposition. This 
again left Mr. Hurford without a landlord, 
and he then went to Wheeling, West Virginia, 
and arranged with Edward Norton to come 
and take charge of the hotel. A few years 
later John A. Simons became landlord of the 
Hurford, and he \Aas in time succeeded by 
Herman Kuhns, who conducted the hotel un- 
til it was closed for hotel purposes, on the ist 
(^f October. 1899, and thereafter it remained 
vacant until it was finally dismantled to make 
way for the new building. 

It will be seen from the foregoing record 
that the first walls of this hotel were put up by 
George Stidger, the original building being 
only two stories. The first enlargement was 
made by Hatcher & Ellison, the structure be- 
ing made three stories in height throughout. 
In 1883 Alexander Hurford became satisfied 
that the iDuilding should be still further en- 
larged and raised to four stories. Mr. Trump, 
who was associated with him in the ownership 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



163 



of the property, would not consent to the 
further enlargement, and therefore Mr. Hur- 
for.d purchased his interest and made the im- 
provement desired, extending the building west 
and north and bringing it to four stories in 
height. It is not within the province of the 
writer to say whether or not the condemna- 
tion of the building for hotel purposes was just 
or unjust, but the very fact that the walls of 
the main corner were put up as early as 1814 
and that seventy years thereafter the walls 
should be run up to four stories made many 
look upon the building as unsafe. After the 
building was raised to four stories the hotel 
was known as the Hurford house, and from 
that time to the present Canton has had no St. 
Cloud hotel, a name familiar to the old-timers. 



AN OLD-TIME HOTEL MAN OF 
CANTON. 

By John Dannkk. 

Canton has had some veteran hotelkeepers, 
among the number being George Dewalt, Wil- 
liam Hawk, Sr., and Samuel Stover, but prob- 
ably none of them served longer in that capac- 
ity than did Frederick Hipp, who died here 
about a decade ago. A few of the older citi- 
zens will remember Mr. Hipp as a young lad 
when he started as an errand boy at Hawk's 
hotel, in Canton, at once showing faithfulness 
and ability in the duties assigned to him. He 
was for a. time with Samuel Hawk as clerk of 
the American house in Massillon. After the 
death of William Hawk, Sr., Mr. Hipp re- 
turned to Canton and assisted m conducting 
the Eagle or Hawk hotel, after which he was 
for about two years in charge of the Ameri- 
can house at Wooster. Thence he removed to 
Bolivar, Tuscarawas county, where he erected 
a new' hotel, to which he gave the name of the 
Amgrjcan house. He conducted the same suc- 



cessfully about fourteen years and established 
a reputation of keeping one of the best hotels 
in this section of the state, his place being very 
popular with the traveling public. After leav- 
ing the hotel at Bolivar Mr. Hipp returned to 
Canton and purchased the American house in 
this place. This hotel was at that time a large 
two-story frame building which stood on the 
site of the present Stuart furniture store, on 
East Tuscarawas street. The hotel had been 
formerly conducted for a number of years, in 
turn, by Samuel Stover, John D. Snider and 
others, and when Mr. Hipp came into posses- 
sion the hotel lost none of its good reputation, 
but on the contrary it grew in favor with the 
traveling public. After a few years of pros- 
perous business in this building Mr. Hipp de- 
cided to erect a three-story brick building to 
replace the old frame structure which had been 
in service for so many years. This project he 
carried to successful completion, and the fine 
building which he erected on the site is likely 
to stand for many years, although it is now 
given up for hotel purposes, being well filled 
with business houses and other occupants, and 
being one of the substantial blocks of the city. 
After the erection of this new building, to 
which the name of American house was re- 
tained, the hotel continued for more than 
twenty years to be known as one of the best in 
northern Ohio. About fifteen years ago Mr. 
Hipp retired from the business and thereafter 
resided with his family at 235 North Walnut 
street until his death, his wife also dying there. 
Their daughter, Mrs. A. R. Miller, now oc- 
cupies this homestead. 

Frederick Hipp was born in Germany, in 
1823, and was a mere lad at the time of his 
parents" emigration to America in 1830. The 
family came to Ohio and located in Zoar, Tus- 
carawas county, and from that village he came 
to Canton to enter the employ of William 
Hawk, Sr., as before noted. Of Mr. Hawk's 
hotel enterprise mention has been duly made in 



164 



OLD LANDMARKS 



a preceding article. In 1848 Mr. Hipp married 
Miss Katherine Reefer, who proved a most 
competent and worthy helpmate to him in his 
chosen life work. Frederick Hipp was an ac- 
tive and much respected member of the First 
Reformed church in Canton ; his daily walk 
and conversation indicated the Christian gen- 
tleman, and he kept an orderly temperance 
house and set the example of being a temper- 
ance man himself. He held various offices of 
trust in his church and was much loved by the 
congregation. No one that thoroughly 
knew Mr. Hipp would suspect him of any mean 
or unworthy deed. He was honest, truthful 
and reliable in all his business and daily inter- 
course with men, and in this is involved the 
real test of good citizenship. Frederick Hipp 
was among our best citizens and ever frowned 
upon any effort to force evil upon his fellow 

men. 

4 « » 

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 

By John Danner. 

It harillv seems possible that one hundred 
vears ago the Tuscarawas river, which was 
then called the Upper Muskingum, marked the 
line of civilization in Ohio. The river was the 
boundary line which practically separated the 
few white settlers in the state from Indians, 
who still stalked through the dim forest aisles. 
At that time the red men still retained posses- 
sion of the territories west of the Tuscarawas 
river, and their garb and customs were but 
slightly changed, if any, by the encroachments 
of the white settlers. Because of their pres- 
ence the tijwnships of Sugar Creek, Bethlehem, 
Perry, Tuscarawas and Lawrence were not sur- 
veyed as early as were the townships in the 
central and eastern parts of Stark county. Since 
that time Frankhn and Green townships have 
been segregated from Stark county to f(jrm a 
part of Summit county. 



The early settlement of the western part of 
Stark county was not initiated until 1810, while 
the central and eastern portions were settled 
somewhat earlier. Canton township was set- 
tled as early as 1805. Prior to that time the 
county was held as a portion of Jefferson coun- 
ty, and up to that time the land office for this 
section was located at Steubenville. James F. 
Leonard came here in 1805 in company witi: 
James and Henry Barber, and settled a little 
north of the present center of the city of Can- 
ton, probably in the vicinity of what is known 
as Crystal park. The town of Kendall was set- 
tled before the present city of Massillon was 
thought of. This town or village of Kendall 
now forms one of the wards in the northeastern 
part of Massillon. Before the construction of 
the Ohio canal no settlement existed in what is 
now the center of Massillon. About the time 
the canal was located and completed it at once 
opened the way for a new and enterprising 
town to be located on the site of the present 
thriving city of Massillon. In farther evidence 
of this fact we reproduce at this point an adver- 
tisement which appeared in the Ohio Repository 
of Canton, under date of March 22, 1826. 

TOWN OF MASSILLON. 

The proprietors are now laying out and ofter for 
sale lots in tlie new town of Massillon, situated on the 
Ohio canal at the intersection of the great road lead- 
ing from I'ittsbnrg westwardly through New Lisbon, 
Canton, W'ooster and IMansHeld. It is very conveniently 
and pleasantly situated on the east side of the Tus- 
carawas or JMuskingntn river, in the midst of one of the 
most wealthy and fertile wheat-growing districts in the 
state of Ohio. It occupies both banks of the canal, 
having a large and commodious basin near the center 
of the town, with a large number of warehouse lots 
laid out adjoining, so as to render it peculiarly cori- 
venient for conmiercial business. The prices of the 
lots and terms of payment may be known liy applying 
to Alfred Kelly, acting canal commissioner ; James Dun- 
can, one of the proprietors, who resides in that town ; 
or John Saxton, agent tor the proprietors, in Canton 

Very soon men of enterprise and liusiness 
capacity iiegan to settle in Massillon and butid 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



165 



warehouses, store-rooms and other buildings, 
and soon the town estabHshed its reputation as 
the "Wheat City" in this section of the state. 
Among the early and enterprising citizens of 
the new town may be named L. and S. Rawson, 
M. D. and H. B. Welhnan, Jesse Rhodes, C. 
M. Russell and brothers, the Folgers, the John- 
sons, Hurxthals, Thomas S. Webb, John H. 
]\IcLain and others. 

Petry township was surveyed and named 
but a few months after the victory of the Uni- 
ted States forces under command of Commo- 
dore 01i\er H. Perry on Lake Erie, and there- 
fore the township was named in his honor. 
/\mong tlie early settlers of Kendall, Massillon 
and vicinity the names of a few others occur 
to the writer and may be consistently entered 
at this point: W^illiam Henry Arvine Wales, 
grandfather of Arvine Wales, who is still a 
resident of Massillon ; Thomas and Charity 
Rotch and Aaron and Ambrose Chapman. It 
was through the beneficence of Charity Rotch 
that the charity school north of Massillon was 
established, the institution being one that has 
done much good and is still continuing to do 
so. The Rotches and many others of the early 
settlers were Quakers and at one time they had 
a Quaker meeting house in Kendall, but none 
has been there of late years. In those early 
days there were very few houses between Can- 
ton and Massillon, or rather Kendall. Most 
of the intervening country was what was called 
plains land, there being no heavy timber but 
a dense growth of saplings in various localities, 
the same averaging from ten to twenty feet in 
height, while hazel liushes and other under- 
brush were much in evidence. Among the first 
houses built along tlie road were several coun- 
try taverns, which have been described in a pre- 
•vious article of this series. The original road 
between Canton and Massillon took a more de- 
vious course than at present. At what is now 
Hazlett avenue, in Canton, the road turned to 



the right and came by way of the present West- 
lawn cemetery and thence via the present Clar- 
endon avenue school house and coming out at 
the place now known as Reedurban. There 
was no house or cleared land after leaving the 
Jacob Smith farm until the present Reedurban 
was reached. There was, howe\-er, a cluster 
of buildings to the north of the road at Buck 
hill, where Thomas Whipple now resides. That 
farm was known in early days as the tobacco 
farm, the entire tract of land being devoted 
to the growing of tobacco, while the buildings 
mentioned were used for the storing of the 
product until sent to market. 

About sixty-five years ago they had 
in Massillon a race horse that became 
quite celebrated, the same being known 
as "the Massillon mare." Joseph Laza- 
rett and other sporting men took a 
great interest in the success of their favorite 
and popular racer. A half-mile race track was 
estaljlished midway between Canton and Mas- 
sillon, and at certain seasons great crowds 
would gather there from the two towns to wit- 
ness the speed contests, and it was generally 
the case that the Massillon mare would carry 
off the first prize. Old Uncle Dan Dewalt, of 
Canton, was one of those who always took 
much interest in these contests. The racing 
fever soon attacked some of the horse dealers 
in Canton, and another circuit track was es- 
tablished by the Canton men, tRe same being 
located west of Harrison avenue between the 
line of the present Pittsburg, Fort Wayne &: 
Chicago Railroad and the residence of Newton 
E. Wise. At that time the road from Canton 
to Bethlehem or Navarre ran from the West 
Tuscarawas street bridge in a southwesterly di- 
rection and came into the present Navarre road 
at Buck hill, so that it formed a direct road from 
the \illage of Canton, as then existing, to the 
race track last mentioned. In the fall of the 
year these old race grounds often attracted our 



i66 



OLD LANDMARKS 



people, as have the county fairs in later years, 
the latter attractions being then unknown. 

Sixty-five or seventy years ago the old road 
between Canton and Massillon had many steep 
and abrupt hills, which are now almost oblit- 
erated by the heavy grading which has been 
done. We also had a sort of "rail" road, or 
corduroy road, that we sought to avoid. These 
roads were constructed of wooden rails laid 
crosswise. In a number of the low places these 
roads were constructed in order to keep from 
sinking too deeply in the mud. It was a slow 
and very rough process to pass over these prim- 
itive roads, and they will be recalled by many 
of our older citizens as having existed in many 
points where now are established most excellent 
and smooth roads. About the same period the 
present popular resort known as Meyer's lake 
was seldom visited except by fishermen and 
hunters, fish being then far more abundant in 
the lake than at the present time. In the early 
days of the writer's acquaintance with this lake 
there were to be found there, in addition to the 
skiffs, a few Indian canoes, which were hol- 
lowed out of solid logs, being much narrower 
and longer than the skiffs. Tliey were often 
called "dug-outs." A good oarsman could pro- 
pell them' over the water quite rapidly'; 
but they proved very treacherous under un- 
skilled manipulation as they were liable to 
turn over and throw the occupant into the 
water. The Indians and some of the old fisher- 
men could generally manage them quite safely, 
but those not expert in their use were safer on 
land. The last live native deer seen by the wri- 
ter was in the act of swimming across this lake, 
and the sight was an attractive one. When 
within a few hundred yards of the shore the 
pretty animal discovered us and at once turned 
and went back to the other shore. At that time 
the wild deer could often be seen in the vicinity 
of the lake. 



OLD ONE -HUNDRED -MILE WARE- 
HOUSE. 

Hy John Danner. i 

Among the old landmarks well known to 
Canton people for many years was the old One- 
Hundred-Mile Warehouse that stood on the 
south side of East Tuscarawas street at the 
crossing of the Pittsburg, Fort Waj^ne & Chi- 
cago Railroad. This building was erected about 
fifty years ago, by an organization known as 
the Farmers' Union, to which reference has 
been made in preceding articles, as having con- 
ducted a milling and mercantile business in 
Canton. Many of the old farmers in the coun- 
ty will recall that about a half century ago there 
was quite a craze or enthusiasm in this section 
in bringing about organizations of farmers io 
engage in the mercantile and produce busiEess. 
They felt that the merchants were making too 
much money and that farming was too slow a 
process, and that they might benefit materially 
by co-operafion. We had two such orgariiza- 
tions in Canton, one in Massillon and one' in 
Navarre, and all over the country were to be 
found, stores established under such organized 
co-operation. But in a few years they began 
to have trouble and financial failures, and 
among the organizations that thus canle to 
grief was the Farmers" Union of CantOii. It 
may be said that quite a number of fariiiers 
learned a lesson that kept them from making 
further investment of this kind. 

After the failure of the Farmers' I5nion 
Madison Reynolds bought the warehouse' men- 
tioned and for a time was engaged in the buying 
of wheat and other produce, utilizing the build- 
ing for the storage of the same. About i860 
Solomon Kaufman purchased the building', 
which he utilized for similar purposes, making 
shipments by the adjoining railroad. In 1878 
M. C. Barber purchased the property and ap- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



i6; 



plied the building to similar use about twelve 
years, having been at one time an extensive 
dealer in wheat and other farm produce. He 
sold the building to John Flory, who still owns 
the lot on whicli it stood for so many years. 
About the time iVIr. Barber acquired the prop- 
erty, about 1878, Fernando Herbruck had in 
store there one season eighteen hundred bushels 
of chestnuts, whicli he shipped to various points, 
realizing a good profit. It has been said that 
the yield of chestnuts in this vicinity that sea- 
son was greater than has ever been known be- 
fore or since. 

Before the advent of the railroad in Can- 
ton, there was small need for warehouses, but 
very soon after the first road, the Pittsburg, 
Fort Wayne & Chicago, was completed, two 
substantial warehouses were here erected — the 
one just mentioned and the other on South 
Market street, adjoining the track of the rail- 
road. The latter building was erected l)y V. 
R. Kimball, who was at the time one of our 
leading and most enterprising merchants. Later 
his son, R. C, used the building until about 
1865, when he sold the property to John Pat- 
ton and since that time it has been commonly 
known as Patton's warehouse. Mr. Patton used 
the building until his death, a few years ago, 
doing quite an extensive business in the pur- 
chase of wheat and other heavy products from 
the farm. 

Another warehouse was erected by the 
Dannemillers, a little east of the freight house 
of the same railroad, but this was destroyed by 
fire a few years ago. Facilities in this line 
•will undoubtedly keep pace with the demands 
of our thri^'ing and rapidly growing city. Can- 
ton is the capital of one of the best counties 
in Ohio and the very fact that we have two 
other flourishing and prosperous cities, Massil- 
lon and Alliance, and quite a number of beau- 
tiful villagies of from three hundred to twelve 
hundred population, should make us feel that 
"Molly Stark" is more than an ordinary county. 



LAND VALUES THEN AND NOW. 

By ]oHN Danner. 

Seventy years ago Canton was only a small 
village or town, having a population not ex- 
ceeding twelve hundred. It was, of course, the 
county seat, and this fact was about the only 
thing that it could claim in precedence of other 
villages in the county. The customs and habits 
of the people were simple and plain as com- 
pared with the present day. The old corporate 
limits were from Saxton street on the east to 
Wells street on the west, and from North 
street on the north to South street on 
the south, while inside of these narrow confines 
\\ere many vacant lots which could then be pur- 
chased for very low prices, while all outside 
of the boundaries indicated was giveii up to 
farming lands. Even fifty years ago our town 
was small and property cheap. As an illustra- 
tion the writer will revert to a personal case. 
About that time he purchased two entire lots, 
from ^Villiam Spangler, on the northeast corner 
of Tenth street and McKinley a\enue, said lots 
being each sixty-six by two hundred feet in di- 
mensions, and for these beautiful lots '-e paid 
only seventy-five dollars each. After re- 
taining them several years, within which time 
he had planted shade trees along the frontage 
on both streets, he sold them to the late Samuel 
Bard for one hundred and fifty dollars each and 
considered the profit on the in\estment a good 
one. 

During his residence in Canton, Samuel 
Bard showed much enterprise in building 
houses and selling them. He was a carpenter 
and contractor by vocation and was constantly 
putting up houses and disposing of the same. 
We lost a good citizen when he left us. He 
located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he con- 
tinued in the same line of enterprise until his 
death, several years ago. His wife was a 
daughter of Rev. John Neisz, who lived a few 
miles south of Canton. About the time the Pitts- 



i68 



OLD LANDMARKS 



burg. Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad was 
opened through Canton new citizens began to 
be attracted here, such as Ephraim Ball, Corne- 
lius -\ultman. Lewis Miller, George Cook and 
others who were seeking a good manufactur- 
ing point, and soon Canton began to gain rec- 
ognition as an inland manufacturing town. The 
growth of manufacturing in the past half cen- 
tury has been marvelous and we now have 
in Canton about one hundred different lines 
of manufacturing of important order, embrac- 
ing a great variety of products, from the Due- 
ber-TIampden watches to the ponderous and 
popular Diebold safes. 

The farms that for many years lay east, 
west and south of the original town plat have 
now been taken into the possession of various 
kinds of manufacturing concerns and adapted 
to the building of homes as well, while to the 
north of the original corporation line ha\-e 
been built up most beautiful and comfortable 
homes. The north part of the city is practically 
certain never to encounter the intrusion of rail- 
roail lines, as it lies much higher than the re- 
maining portion of the place and thus offers 
no atti-actions for the traverse of railroad lines. 
The electric lines reach this section and afford 
ample accommodations for the residents there. 
As these articles are reminiscent in character 
it is not necessary to expatiate upon the many 
attractions of our beautiful city of today or the 
gratifying prospects for the future, 1)ut it can 
not but occur to the older residents to conjecture 
what will be the changes within the next half 
century. 

4 » » ■ 

BUILDINGS NOW AND SEVENTY 
YEARS AGO. 

By John Danneb, 

Upon recently seeing the workmen exca- 
vating on the southeast corner of Eighth street 
and Cleveland avenue for the erection of the 



new public library of Canton, the writer was 
forcibly reminded of the time when there were 
no buildings of any kind in that entire block. 
For quite a number of years that block of lots 
was owned by Martin Lolir, one of the pioneer 
merchants of Canton. For many years he con- 
ducted his mercantile business in a two-story 
frame building that stood on the northwest 
corner of Eighth and Market streets. The old 
building which he there used has been removed 
to 7d8 High street and looks much the same 
as it did in the original location. When in- 
formed that this building was the one occu- 
pied seventy years ago for a store and resi- 
dence, the younger generation will be im- 
pressed with the idea that the store must have 
been a very diminutive one and the family much 
cramped for room to have no larger a building 
than this little frame structure, and yet it served 
as the store and residence of one of Canton's 
old-tinie merchants. The building is about 
eighteen by twenty-four feet in dimensions, and 
the lilock which now occupies its original site 
covers a lot sixty-seven by two hundred feet, 
indicating that time brings mutations. The 
block which figures as the site of the new li- 
Ijrary was unoccupied for a number of years, 
and it was enclosed by a fence and Mr. Lohr 
iften used it for pasturage purposes. The first 
building to be put up there was a one-story 
frame structure, about twenty-five by thirty feet 
in dimensions, and the same stood on the north- 
east corner of the lot where Theobald & Com- 
[lany now have their plumbing establishment. 
This building was used for some time by the 
late Ira M. Allen, who there conducted a select 
school. It was afterward sold to the Baptist 
church and removed to the rear of their first 
brick house of worship, which stood on the 
Harter lot, corner of Tenth and Market streets. 
There it was used for some time for Sabbath 
school purposes and prayer meetings. 

\A hen the lJa]^tist church bought their pres- 
ent location, on the southwest corner of Ninth 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



169 



and Market streets, they sold tlieir old lot to the 
late Isaac Harter, who was anxious to secure 
the same, as he owned all the balance of the 
block of lots and had already built his fine res- 
idence there. He then had the brick church 
taken down and sold the material for other 
purposes, while the frame building mentioned 
was then purchased by James C. Lantz. who 
remo\-ed the same to his factory, on South Rex 
street. This, together with the entire plant. 
was .slKirtly afterward destroyed by fire. After 
the .Mien school house was removed from the 
southwest corner of Eighth and Court streets 
the late George Rank botight the north lot in 
said block and there erected his two-story brick 
residence, in w hicli he continued to reside until 
his death. He also built the block on the east 
end of the same lot, the same being occupied by 
Theobald & Company, as before noted, while 
the upper floor is used for lodge rooms. Mr. 
Rank erected this building for a planing mill 
and it was used as such for some time. The 
buildings erected by him always had the reputa- 
tion rjf being substantially built. He was a 
practical carpenter and house builder and would 
not tolerate inferior work. Some of the oldest 
and best buildings in Canton were put up by him 
and his brother John, who was also a practical 
builder and equally insistent upon the strici: 
observance of the s]>ecifications of every con- 
tract. 

\A'hile Ira M. Allen was still teaching in the 
little building mentioned, our union school was 
first established, and he was chosen as its first 
superintendent. He was succeeded by Henry 
S. Martin, during ^\•hose regime of several 
years the schools were greatly enlarged and 
new l)uildings provided. During the time of 
the superintendency of these two gentlemen the 
situation was undesirable at any time. New 
and enlarged buildings were needed and many 
of the old textbooks were discarded, so that 
many found f;uilt with the mimagement of 
the schools, Init time has demonstrated that 



the plan then adopted proved a great improve- 
ment upon the old system. No friend of gen- 
eral education wottld now consent to the abol- 
ishing of our fine public-school system. It is 
now generally conceded that the public schools 
in Canton are among the best in the state. The 
late Arcliibald McGregor was a director for 
a number of years during the early history of 
our union schools, and as he was a competent 
and experienced teacher, he proved a very val- 
uable member of the board of education, in 
those days, which many of his suggestions, as 
acted upon, have contributed to the success and 
popularity of our public schools. 



A PIONEER ENTERPRISE. 

B.V John Uanner. 

In the early history of Canton as a manu- 
facturing town one of our largest products was 
the Gibbs plow. The late Joshua Gibbs, 
father of John W., Lewis. Martin L., William 
and George (iibbs, was a great plow man and 
was the pioneer in the manufacttire of plows in 
this county. He was a native of New Jersey 
and near Trenton, that state, he learned the 
trade of making plows. For some time there- 
after he was employed as a journeyman in 
Philadelphia, after which he came to Canton, 
where he was for a time in the einploy of others 
among the number having been Judge Henry, 
who was well known in the county, especially 
the western part. Joshua Gibbs made a care- 
ful study and experimentation in his endeavors 
to perfect his plows, and very soon established 
a reputation for making the best in this section. 
His constant aim was to improve the machin- 
ery used in the processes of manufacture and 
to produce plows that would be superior to all 
others. In 1836 he obtained a patent for what 
became known as Gibbs' barshare plow, and 
this implement attanied much popularity. 



170 



OLD LANDMARKS 



After he had obtained his patent and intro- 
duced his plows in this vicinity his reputation 
in tlie hne gradually extended throughout this 
and adjoining' states. John W. Gibbs did 
nuicli traveling in connection with the intro- 
duction of his father's plows, but he was prin- 
cipally interested in selling the rights for his 
father's patent for polishing plows. In 1853 
a patent had been granted Joshua Gibbs on this 
process, and the device became favorably re- 
ceived liy plow manufacturers. No one was bet- 
ter (lualified tn introduce the polishing machin- 
ery than was John W. Gibbs, and throughout 
the western states and beyond the Mississippi 
the business was pushed forward by his tact 
and ability. The dynamometer patented by 
his father also occupied his attention in its in- 
troduction throughout the country. The in- 
strument was constructed somewhat on the 
plan of a spring- scale and could be attached 
to wagons, plows, etc., to test the amount of 
weight or strength required to move them. 
This device became quite well known and was 
finally sold to other parties, who are presum- 
ably still manufa.cturing the same. 

Joshua Gibbs carried on his business of 
manufacturing plows in a shop that stood on 
his residence lot, on the northeast corner of 
Fourth and Saxton streets. He was well in- 
formed in regard to all matters pertaining to 
his vocation and liked to discuss the same. He 
was an honest, industrious and upright man. 
All his sons were more or less interested in the 
plow manufacturing in their earlier years, but 
this was later given up by all of them. Lewis 
Gibbs, who is regarded as a pioneer in the 
Gibbs plow works in this city, is well known 
in this vicinity and while he is no longer per- 
sonally interested in these larger works the 
family still retain an interest in the same. 
George Gibbs, who removed to California 
many years ago, is still living in San Fran- 
cisco, but has given up active business. While 
he had full knowledge and some experience in 



making plows, his time was mostly taken up in 
fine mechanical work of various kinds. Be- 
fore he left the parental home he was consid- 
ered one of the best mechanics in Canton. " He 
could work in woods, m'etals and the various 
other materials used to produce fine models of 
all kinds of machinery, and he was considered 
for a long time the best model maker in Canton. 
He married Elizabeth Albert, daughter of E. 
D. Albert, the hatter, who was so well known 
in Canton half a century ago. She died 
soon after their removal to California. Her 
brother. Thomas B., is still a resident of 
Canton. 

Martin L. Gibbs was quite extensively en- 
gaged in making plow^ in Canton twenty-five 
years ago, his factory being on the north side 
of East Tuscarawas street and just east of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad. He afterwards moved 
to Findlay and retired from this line of enter- 
prise. He died there about six years ago and 
his remains were brought to Canton for in- 
terment. 

John W. Gibbs understood all about the 
plow business but was not a practical mechanic. 
He is a most thorough and energetic business 
man and now resides near ^\^^co. this C'junty. 
A number of years ago he was engaged in 
merchandising in Canton, in company with the 
late John R. Miller, their store being Ircated 
im the northeast cnnu-r nf tlie public S([uare. 
He also clerked for a time in a store in Wooster, 
being in the employ of Mr. Frost, then the lead- 
ing merchant of that town. All the members 
of the Gibbs family ha\e been among" our best 
citizens. In the possession of the Bucher & 
Gibbs Plow Company, of Canton, at the 
present time is a Gibbs plow which w-as made in 
1838 and used on a Stark county farm for 
fifty years, the steel barshare being worn off. 
It was returned to the factory of the present 
company in 1888 and was placed on exhibi- 
tion at the Ohio state fair of the state centennial 
year. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



171 



A WELL-KNOWN MANUFACTORY. 

By John Dannek. 

From tlie early history of Massillon to the 
present day the name of Russell has been prom- 
inently identified with the growth and pros- 
perity of that city. In the early part of 1838 
Charles M. Russell and his two brothers, Na- 
hum S. and Clement, came to Massillon. 
Charles M. was the eldest and the leading one 
to plan and do outside work, while the others 
were intelligent and industrious mechanics. 
The three brothers formed the firm of C. M. 
Russell & Company in the manufacture of 
agricultural implements, more especially thresh- 
ing machines, and very soon the threshers 
made by the firm attained distinct popularity 
and the trade began to extend all over the 
western countr}'. As the firm rapidly grew in 
reputation and \\-ealth other brothers came on 
from the New England states and became 
interested principals in the firm. The first 
of the younger brothers to come was Joseph 
K.. who is the only one of the seven brothers 
now living, and later Thomas H., George L. 
and Allen A. Russell. AIT these brothers 
worked in harmony with the firm of C. M. 
Russell & Company, each having his place to 
fill and all being industrious and of good habits. 
Allen A. resided the greater portion of the 
time in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he had 
charge of the leading distributing' agency for 
the products of the Massillon plant. He died 
September 11, 1901. 

It is safe to say that no other industry has 
done so much for the growth and prosperity 
of the city of Massillon as has that which had 
its inception as above noted. The concern has 
greatly expanded the scope of the entef prise 
and both stationary and portable engines are 
now manufactured in the finely equipped plant. 
The firm now have a national reputation for 
the building of large stationary engines that 
have acquired as high a standing as the Cor- 



liss and other fine engines used by electric 
power plants, large water works and in other 
places where only the highest type of such prod- 
ucts will serve the purpose. The foundation' 
and plans of work of this successful and grow- 
ing mdustry were laid so deep and well that the 
growth of the same has been almost marvelous, 
and the name stands as an effective trademark 
for the introduction of any line of products 
the concern sees fit to place on the market. 
But changes must take place in all human 
organizations, and while the name Russell & 
Company is still popularly npplied to the con- 
cern, which is the pride of our friends in Mas- 
sillon, there is not one of the originals Rus- 
sells connected with the firm. Joseph K., who 
is the only one of the seven brothers now liv- 
ing, has retired to private life, having no 
further connection with the firm. He has all 
that is needful for comfort and happiness, is 
an octogenarian and is a man active in all 
good work. He has been for many years an 
exemplary member of the Presbyterian church 
in Massillon, anddoes all in his power ':o raise 
the standard of righteousness and to promote 
the cause of temperance. • The head of the two 
Russell firms now in Massillon, that is, Russell 
& Company and the Russell Engine Company, 
is J. W. McClymonds, whose wife is a daughter 
of Nahuni S. Russell. There are Russells 
still connected with the business but they are 
descendants of the original founders. 

When this firm erected its first shops they 
were mostly wooden structures and the ground 
occupied was the narrow strip of land on the 
west side of Erie street, north of that now oc- 
cupied by the firm of Hess, Snyder & Company, 
but a number of years ago the Russells found 
that the limitations of this site were such they 
could not expand their plant to meet the de- 
mands of their growing business. They accord- 
ingly went south of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne 
& Chicago Railroad tracks and purchased 
ground on both sides of Erie street, the same 



172 



OLD LANDMARKS 



extendins^ from the Ohio canal on the west line 
to East street on the east line, and here they 
forthwith began the erection of substantial 
brick buildings, to which additions have been 
made from time to time imtil the large tract 
of ground on either side of Erie street from the 
canal to East street is well covered with brick 
buildings for the use of this prosperous con- 
cern. The otSce is one of the first buildings 
reached in going from the city to the works ; 
then here is the large iron machine shop, three 
stories in height, and still larger three-story 
buildings east of this, used in the manufacture 
of engines ; and west of Erie street are immense 
three-story buildings connected with the same 
establishment. The precautions taken to pre- 
vent and subdue fires in the great plant are 
adeciuate, and in every respect the concern has 
a fine prospect and is the pride of the thriving 
and attractive city of Massillon. 

About thirty years ago the Russells decided 
to build a branch factory in Canton for the 
building of mowing and harvesting machines, 
and the late William K. Miller, of Canton, was 
the general manager of this new enterprise. 
They accordingly erected the large three-story 
building's immediately opposite the passenger 
station of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chi- 
cago Railroad, and there manufactured excel- 
lent mowers and reapers, but as their successors 
in ]\[assilIon found their business growing be- 
yond all expectations they finally gave up the 
business in Canton and sold the buildings, 
which are now occupied l)y the Bonnot Com- 
pany in the manufacture of brick machinery, 
etc. When the Russell enterprise was started 
in Canton there was a general interest taken 
in the undertaking Ijy our leading citizens, and 
when the day came to break ground for the 
new buildings there was quite a large assem- 
blage on the grounds, while among those pres- 
ent was Nahum S. Russell, of Massillon, the 
oldest member of the original firm then li\'ing. 
and upon him devolved the honor of turning 



the first spadeful of earth preparatory for lay- 
ing the foundation, and this he performed with 
good grace. 

The Russell concerns, with their magnifi- 
cent industrial enterprises, are not only a legiti- 
mate source of pride to Massillon but the en- 
tire county also feels that it wishes to honor 
those who have founded and aided in building 
up thei enterprises and gained a world-wide 
reputation in the manufacture of products of 
the highest standard, the same having been in- 
troduced in almost every part of the civilized 
world. 



A BIT OF INDUSTRIAF HISTORY. 

H>' John Danner. 

Fifty-two years ago Canton was looked 
upon as a "finished" town. There being no 
railroads, all the heavy trade of the county went 
to Massillon. We had Imt a few thousand peo- 
ple and the grass grew quite freely on some of 
the prominent streets. In 185 1. when it was 
definitely settled that the Ohio & Pennsylvania 
Raih-oad was to be built from Pittsburg to 
Crestline, and after that when the road was 
consolidated with the Ohio & Indiana Railroad, 
running from Crestline west, the whole line 
was calleil the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chi- 
cago Railroad, and is operated by the Pennsyl- 
\ ania system, under a ninety-nine years' lease. 
\Vhen this railway became assured to Canton 
Messrs. Bail and Aultman came here from 
(ireentown, eight miles north, where they 
had begun in a small way, tt) make plows 
and a few agricultural machines. They 
found they could not compete with Mas- 
sillon firms and others that were on 
transportation lines, since Greentown was not 
supplied with such facilities and had slight 
prospect of secm'ing them. Messrs. Ball and 
Aultman came to Canton that year and selected 
three town lots on the line of the new railroad, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



173 



the land in question being a portion of the 
.large tract now occupied by the line Aultman 
plant. After making this selection of lots, 
they returned to Greentown and reported to 
Lewis and Jacob Miller and George Cook as 
to the action taken, and they unanimously de- 
cided to remove to Canton, which they did soon 
afterward. In Greentown Ephraim Ball was 
the original founder of the plant, and after- 
ward the others named Ijecame interested in the 
Inisiness, the firm and company having had va- 
rious changes in titles during the intervening 
years. When they came to Canton a new com- 
pany was organized, each partner putting in 
what capital he could and sharing the profits 
according to his investment. The total capital 
of the company when they started in Canton 
was forty-five hundred dollars. The firm thus 
formed was known as Ball, Aultman & Com- 
l^any. They at once erected on their lots a two- 
story brick building, consisting of a wood shop, 
forty by fifty-five feet in dimensions; a finish- 
ing shop, forty by sixty feet; and a moulding- 
shop, one story in height and forty feet square. 
In December, 1851, they brought their tools 
and fixtures from Greentown and began work 
in the building mentioned. In the following 
year they built twenty-five Hussey machines 
and in that year also they formed the ac- 
quaintance of Thomas R. Tonner, who soon be- 
*came an interested principal in the firm. He had 
no capital, but was endowed with good busi- 
ness talent and inflexilile honesty of purpose 
so that he soon proved a very valuable man 
to the firm. In 1857 came on the great financial 
panic which worked such havoc among busi- 
ness men in all sections of the country. Two 
years previously James S. Tonner became book- 
keeper for the firm, and he was an excellent 
accountant, and his services, together with the 
strict integrity and Christian principles of the 
founders of the firm, made it possible for them 
to tide over the panic mentioned, though it in- 



\'olved many prominent concerns in bank- 
ruptC3^ For several years prior to this time 
the firm had an arrangement with a number 
of business houses here to take their orders 
for luerchandise to pay their eniployes, settle- 
ment being made by giving notes of the com- 
pany, payable in four or six months at the 
bank. Most of the leading stores of the town 
thus aided these pioneer manufacturers to tide 
over their payments and continue operations. 

About this time the Ketchum machine was 
meeting with considerable success, and Ephraim 
Ball, Cornelius Aultman and Lewis Miller were 
appointed a committee to get up an improved 
mower. Mr. Ball was a patternmaker by trade 
and made all the patterns for the new machine, 
co-operating with the other two members of the 
committee. After much study they constructed 
a mower that year, but after testing it found 
the same to be a failure. They were not to be 
discouraged, however, and finally brought out a 
one-wheeled machine which was more satisfac- 
tory. They proceeded to build eight of these 
machines in 1853, but upon practical test these 
machines were likewise found weak in several 
points and all were soon returned as worthless. 
Some of the members of the firm became dis- 
couraged, but Mr. Aultman advised a new at- 
tempt. The harvest was then over. Mr. Ault- 
man then got up a drawing for a two-wheeled 
machine, this being the first effort in that direc- 
tion. After the drawing had been submitted to 
Alessrs. Ball and Miller some changes and mod- 
ifications were suggested and the final result 
was the introduction of what was well known 
as the Ohio mower, the first completed machine 
being turned out in 1854, and very soon appli- 
cation was made for patents, but in the patent 
office they found a patent had been taken out 
for a similar machine by a man named Haines, 
of Pekin. Illinois. In this emergency Mr. Ault- 
man secured from Mr. Haines the right to man- 
ufacture in Ohio, and in the spring of 1855 Ball, 



174 



OLD LANDMARKS' 



Anltman & Company started to make twenty- 
live of their new mowers, but on May 5 of that 
year fire destroyed their plant. As they had 
struggled to reach the point then occupied and 
were deeply in debt, this unexpected disaster 
robbed them of much of their zeal. All the 
members of this firm were active Christian 
nien of undoubted integrity, so that very soon 
friendly hands were extended to them, and 
benches were put up in a shed which had es- 
caped destruction by the fire, and by hard work 
they turned out by hand that season five mow- 
ers and twelve Hussey reapers for the harvest 
of 1855, while in /Vugust of that year they 
started up in their new shop, working day and 
night, and as that year gave a heavy harvest 
thev had no difficulty in disposing of all ma- 
chines manufactured. The next year they 
turned out five hundred Ohio mowers, fifty 
Hussev reapers and fifty Pitts separators or 
threshing machines. 

iMessrs. Aultman and Miller determined 
that they could greatly improve the mowers 
and they drew plans for a two-wheeled rear-cut 
machine, on which they secured a patent in 
June, 1856. As this machine allowed the finger 
bar to be raised and folded for transportation, 
it was considered a great improvement. Only 
one of these machines was constructed, and in 
the fall of the same year its form was changed 
to a front cut, and this noteworthy improve- 
ment met with marked favor. For the harvest 
of 1857 one thousand Ohio mowers, six or 
seven of the new Buckeye, one threshing ma- 
chine and fifty Hussey reapers were made. The 
Ohio and Buckeye machines were quite thor- 
oughly tested side by side that year, and the 
latter seemed to carry off the prize. In 1858 
Mr. Ball sold his interest to the other members 
of the firm and put up his own building within 
the same year, the same being now used by the 
McLain works, and in 1859 he put on the mar- 
ket the Ohio mower in competition with the 



Buckeye, thus continuing until 1865. After he 
retired from the firm of Ball, Aultman & Com- 
pany, the old firm adopted the name of C. Ault- 
man & Company, under which title they built 
up a large and prosperous business. In 1859 
this firm turned out eighteen hundred Buckeye 
mowers and one hundred and fifty threshing 
machines, this being the year of the destructive 
frost which visited this section in the early 
part of June. All the wheat throughout 
this region was killed, but they found a mar- 
ket for their machines in more distant fields, 
where the damage to the crops had not been 
so great. 

The Buckeye machine continued to grow in 
favor, so that in 1863 they made thirty-six hun- 
dred mowers and reapers and four hundred 
threshing machines. The business grew rapidly 
and the firm greatly added to their buildings, 
while they finally concluded that they could 
not greatly increase their business further with 
the facilities afforded by the one line of trans- 
portation then afforded Canton, that of the 
Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, 
and they therefore decided to have Lewis 
Miller go to Akron and there build ' a 
new plant, which was done. Our loss 
at that time was certainly Akron's gain. 
In T864 Mr. Miller removed to Akron 
and during that year the firm built quite 
liberally in both towns. About the same time 
we lost another industry that doubtless would 
have remained in Canton had the railroad fa- 
cilities been such as we now enjoy. This was 
the works of Aultman, Taylor & Company, 
which built threshers and separators in Mans- 
field. The late Michael D. Harter, also from 
Canton, was the prime Inisiness manager. No 
effort should be spared to gain to Canton a still 
greater number of reputable, industrial con- 
cerns, and the facilities now offered here are 
most gratifying and encouraging to manu- 
facturing. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



175 



ANOTHER OLD CORNER IN CANTON. 

By John Dannkk 

On the northeast corner of Market and 
Eighth streets is a building which was erected 
about sixty-five years ago, by Michael Weisert, 
a German tailor. The open front was put in in 
recent years, and the outside stairway was 
not a feature of the building as originally con- 
structed. Michael Weisert was the first tailor 
in Canton to keep goods on hand for the ac- 
commodation of his customers, the plan pre- 
viously followed having been to purchase goods 
from the various dry-goods stores. He general- 
ly kept quite a stock of cassimeres and other 
fabrics suitable for men's wear, and also 
made a few garments of general order 
to keep for sale as customers chanced 
to call. His establishment could not have 
been called a clothing store, as the stock 
of ready-made garments was quite lim- 
ited, but of , the fabrics for manufactur- 
nig to order he kept a good selection. He 
bought all of his supplies of this sort from the 
home merchants, at wholesale. The writer can 
well recall that when he was clerking for Mar- 
tin Wikidal, Michael Weisert would frequently 
come in and purchase several hundred dollars' 
worth of piece goods and trimmings at a time. 
Isaac Harter and V. R. Kimball also sold him 
more .or less goods at wholesale, but it is be- 
lieved that the greater portion of his trade 
went to Mr. Wikidal. Mr. Weisert was often 
referred to as the "live Dutchman," and his 
trade was given to Mr. Wikidal largely from 
the fact that the late Louis Schafer was then 
clerking in the establishment and knew exactly 
how to please his fellow countrymen. 

At the time when Mr. Weisert was in busi- 
ness in Canton we had no sewing machines, all 
work being done by hand. In the list of pioneer 
tailors in Canton was also found William 
Lemmon, of whom mention has already been 
made, his death having recently occurred at 



his old home here, at the patriarchal age of 
more than ninety-one years. In those early 
days we also had Jacob Rex, Joseph Hartman, 
Conrad Peter, Andrew Lothamer and V. 
Rothermel, who were practical workmen and 
carried on the tailoring business here for many 
years. But the introduction of sewing ma- 
chines, a little more than fifty years ago, began 
to revolutionize the tailoring business. Prior 
to that time many boys contracted for terms 
varying from four to five years to learn the 
business, and as they were usually from fifteen 
to sixteen years of age when entering upon their 
apprenticeship, they would complete their term 
of service as young men and could then become 
journeymen or start in business for themselves. 
The introduction of the sewing machines soon 
made it possible to enlarge the sphere of ready- 
made clothing and the opening of clothing 
stores, and the goods which had formerly been 
purchased from the dry goods establishments 
and taken to the tailors for manufacture into 
garments began to be handled by the tailors 
themselves, while much of the trade was di- 
verted to the clothing stores. What is true of 
the clothing trade is also applicable to the shoe 
trade in general. In olden times we had many 
shoemakers who took boys to learn the trade, 
and a very few ready-made shoes were sold. 
Now we seldom hear of a boy being apprenticed 
to learn the trade of shoemaking by hand. 

When Michael Weisert first came to Canton 
he' began operations on a modest scale in a little 
brick building that then stood opposite the E. 
J. Rex tin store, on South Market street. He 
soon succeeded in building up quite a large busi- 
ness and finally bought the lot on the northeast 
corner of Market and Eighth streets, where he 
erected the brick building first mentioned in this 
article. His shop or store was in the south half 
of the building, while the remainder was used 
as his residence. Michael Weisert was the fa- 
ther of Genera! A. G. Weisert, who was com- 
mander in chief of the Grand Army of the Re- 



lyo 



OLD LANDMARKS 



public a few years ago. He is now a promi- 
nent lawyer in ^Milwaukee. Michael Weisert 
finally disposed of all his interests in Canton 
and removed to Mansfield, where he was en- 
gaged in the same line of business for some 
time. In 1849, ^^ ^^^^ time of the memorable 
gold excitement in California, he, in company 
with his eldest son, Charles, started for the 
gold fields, and on the long and tedious jour- 
ney he died, and as there was no means of trans- 
portation and no civilized settlement within 
reach, the son was compelled to bury his father 
in the sand and leave the newly made grave 

forever. 

— — ♦ » » 

THE OLD WliNTERH ALTER CORNER. 

By John Danner. 

The two-story frame building on the north- 
east corner of Walnut and Tuscarawas streets 
is familiar to most of our citizens. It has had 
an open front for a number of years, but was 
not originally so constructed. Open fronts in 
those early days were not in fashion. The 
general appearance of the building has not 
been materially changed save in this one re- 
gard. When the house was erected it stood five 
to seven feet lower than the present grade, the 
grade of Tuscarawas street to the west being 
at the time quite heavy, and there was about ten 
feet more of a rise from Walnut to Market 
street than at the present. The house men- 
tioned has been twice raised to conform to the 
street grade, but it still occupies the original 
site. 

In 1809 Bezaleel Wells sold this lot to 
George Kirkpatrick, who later sold it to Abra- 
ham Harman, while in 1820 Christian Palmer 
owned the lot. He sold the same to Jacob 
Sala, who erected the present building on the 
site in 182 1. He there opened a drug store in 
the corner room, where he continued the busi- 
ness until 1837, when the property was sold 



to Sanders Van Ransalaer, who held it until 
1841, when it was purchased by Philip Welder. 
Mr. Sala will be remembered by many of our 
older citizens as having been the pioneer drug- 
gist of Canton. He kept a good drug store 
and was a man much respected. His sons, 
Solomon, John, Levi and Benjamin, were 
all \\ell known in Canton ^vhen they were 
young men. Solomon was a printer and for 
quite a time was one of John Saxton"s main 
supports in the publication of the Ohio Reposi- 
tory. John Sala became a physician. He was 
the father of Bronson, Matilda and Margaret 
Sala, who removed to some of the western 
states about forty years ago. Benjamin Sala 
was a tailor bv vocation and was the grand- 
father of the Sala brothers who are at present 
engaged in the printing business in the village 
of Minerva, this county. As to the other rep- 
resentatives of the original family the writer 
has no definite information. Jacob Sala was 
a native of Worms, Germany, and was well 
educated in both the German and English lan- 
guages. He retired from the drug business at 
the time he sold the property mentioned. Af- 
ter Philip Weber secured the property he con- 
ducted a grocery in the corner room and occu- 
pied the remainder of the house as his resi- 
dence. In 1843 '""s ^ol<i the property and trans- 
ferred his business to Jacob Winterhalter and 
wife, the deed being in the name of the latter. 
Previously to this time she had been employed 
as cook and baker by Mr. 'Weber. 

After the transfer of the property to the 
Winterhaltei's they continued the grocery busi- 
ness and also manufactured some soap and can- 
dles, which were sold to other dealers. In con- 
nection with the grocery business Mr. V\''inter- 
halter also sold beer, wine and similar lever- 
ages on the premises, and eventually he gave 
up the manufacturing of soap and candles and 
devoted his entire attention to his grocery and 
saloon. He and his wife owned and occupied 
this building about forty years. They never 




OLD MARKET HOUSE, CANTON. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



^77 



liad any children. Mrs. Winterhalter was a 
kind-liearted woman and of a benevolent dis- 
position, her efforts in this direction being 
endorsed by her husband. They adopted two 
girls, who Avere known to our citizens as 
Christina and Elizabeth Winterhalter. The 
latter married Joseph Allonas and is now de- 
ceased, while the former became the wife of 
Peter Lothamer, and they now reside on North 
Cleveland avenue. Besides adopting and rear- 
ing these girls Mrs. Winterhalter lent a help- 
ing hand to many others who were poor or in 
affliction. 

A few years before the death of Mr. Win- 
terhalter, which occurred in 1878, he and his 
wife turned their business over to Peter Loth- 
amer and wife, and they then removed to a 
two-story brick building which they owned on 
North Market street, the same standing on the 
site of the present Martin block. Mr. Winter- 
halter died there a few years later and his wife 
thereafter made her home with her adopted 
(laughter, Mrs. Lothamer, on North Cleveland 
avenue, where she died about a decade ago. 
She had many friends among all classes. She 
and her husband bequeathed the property at 
the corner of Walnut and Tuscarawas streets 
to Mrs. Lothamer. Mr. Lothamer continued 
for several years the business as handed over 
to him by Mr. Winterhalter, after which he 
withdrew from the enterprise and rented the 
property, whicli was later used by various per- 
sons in divers lines of business, principally 
for the sale of liquors. The irdnt room was 
divided into two. The property was finally 
sold to the Dime Savings Bank, and a modern 
business block erected on the site, the bank 
here having its offices. 



OLD HOME OF A FAMOUS FAMILY. 

By John Dannek. 

Among the early settlers in Canton were 
William Raynolds and his brother Madison, 
11 



while two other brothers, Jefferson and Frank, 
died a few years after coming here. They were 
sons of Major William Raynolds, of Virginia, 
who came to Ohio in 1802 and settled in Zanes- 
ville. He was in General Cass' brigade at the 
time of Hull's surrender of Detroit, in 18 14. 
William Raynolds, of Canton, settled here as 
a young man, in 1808, and his brother Madison- 
came soon afterward, both being active and en- 
terprising }'oung men. In 181 r William Ray- 
nolds married Elizabeth Fisk, daughter of a 
sea captain who came here in 1810 and invest- 
ed quite largely in lands, among which was the 
entire block of lots lying between Tenth and 
South streets on the west side of Market street. 
On the north lot of said block of lots William 
Raynolds built a frame cottage, and there he 
resided until his death, in the autumn of 1829. 
He had four sons and two daughters, George, 
John F., William F., Harris, Rebecca and Cho- 
ra. Rebecca married Dr. Perkins Wallace and 
Chora became the wife of Clinton McCully, 
who had formerly lived in Baltimore, Mary- 
land, her death occurring very soon after her 
marriage. 

After Mr. Raynolds' marriage he dealt ex- 
tensively in real estate, which he probably took 
up from his father-in-law. Captain John Fisk, 
who about this time resumed a seafaring life, 
his death occurring in the city of Baltimore, 
whence his remains were brought back to Can- 
ton for interment. William Raynolds built 
the first building where the Shocks mill now 
stands, about two miles south of Canton, on 
the road to North Industry. At first it was 
used as a fulling and cloth mill, but it was af- 
terward converted into a flouring mill. Be- 
tween the mill and the road 1\Ir. Raynolds 
erected another building, and there he con- 
ducted a general merchandise business. In those 
early days the Raynolds mill and store had 
quite a reputation through this section. Mr. 
Raynolds also filled the office of clerk of the 
courts and recorder for several years, and at 



178 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the time of his death he was about forty years 
of age. Very few persons accomplish so much 
in so short a Hfe as Wilham Raynolds was per- 
mitted to hve. George Raynolds, the eldest 
son of William Raynolds, kept the Eagle hotel 
in Canton half a century ago and was a popu- 
lar landlord. He afterward removed to Ak- 
ron, where he Avas engaged in a similar enter- 
prise for a number of years, and he died in that 
place, se\eral years ago. John F. Raynolds, 
who began as a boy to sell goods in his father's 
.store, south of town, passed one year in a 
wholesale establishment in New York city, af- 
ter which he returned to Canton, where he was 
married to Margaret Faber, in 1839. He was 
■engaged in the dry-goods business in Canton 
for some time and then took up his residence 
near Canal l'"ulton and was there engaged in 
the milling business for a number of years. 
He then returned to Canton, where he was 
engaged in the hardware business for some 
time, under the firm name of Raynolds & Sax- 
ton, Joseph S. Saxton being his partner. He 
also organized the Canton Gas Light & Coke 
Comjiany, of which he was president for some 
time. He was an earnest and active mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian church in this city, was 
much interested in the work of the Young 
INIen's Christian Association and he greatly 
aided this organization in erecting and paying 
for its present fine building. He was an honest 
and earnest worker in all he undertook and was 
very jwpular among all good people. At the 
time oi his birth in 181 7, the family lived in 
the brick house at the northeast corner of 
Nintli and Market streets, commonly known 
as the Katiffman house, and this residence is 
nne of the oldest now standing in the city. 
John V. Raynolds died at his home, on the 
northwest corner of South and Market streets. 
Tuly 22. i88g. in the seventy-second year of 
his age. 

General William F. Raynolds, the third son 
of \A'illiam Raynolds, was a graduate of West 



Point, was for a long time colonel of an engi- 
neering corps, and occupied important and re- 
sponsible positions during the war of the Re- 
bellion. He died a few years ago, at his home 
in the city of Detroit, Michigan, his remains 
being brought to Canton and interred in the 
family lot in Westlawn cemetery. 

The youngest of the four brothers was 
Harris Raynolds, who passed the most of his 
married life on a farm two miles south of Can- 
t(in, near the site of the mill and store built 
by his father so many years ago. A few 
years before his death he erected a nice frame 
residence on Cleveland a\enue, and there his 
death occurred. 

l"he eldest daughter of \\'illiam Raynolds, 
as already stated, married Dr. Perkins Wal- 
lace. They lived in the old homestead in Can- 
ton for quite a nvmiber of years after the death 
of her parents. Dr. \A'allace had an excellent 
practice A\hile residing in Canton, as did he also 
while a resident of Massillim, and some of our 
later physicians studied in his office, among 
the number being Dr. Joseph H. Matthews, 
who later controlled one of the most extensive 
]:)ract!ces ever had by any physician in Canton. 
Dr. Wallace was a well informed man and was 
an acti\'e member of the old Canton Lyceum, 
whicli was one of the best organizations for 
athancing general culture that the cit_\' has 
ever known. It would be gratifying if such 
an organization could i)e maintained in the city 
at the present time. It would certainly be much 
better than manv of the more dotibtful socie- 
ties and organizations which supplanted the 
grand old lyceum. 

Madison Raynolds, brother of William, 
was the father of the successful bankers who 
are known throughout Colorado, New Mex- 
ico and other western states, transacting l)usi- 
ness under the firm name of Raynolds Broth- 
ers. For a number of years Madison Raynolds 
was engaged in mercantile pursuits, the firm 
at one time being Raynolds & Ream. Their 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



179 



store was in a frame Iniilcling that stood on 
the southwest corner ot tiie court-house block, 
just across Court street from the old Hurford 
house. East of this store was a one-story 
frame l>uil(ling that was for years the office 
of the law lirm of Starkweather & Jarvis. Next 
to this was a one-story brick structure that was 
utilized for four of the county offices of those 
days, — those of treasurer, clerk of the courts, 
auditor and recorder, — and next to this build- 
ing was the old court house wliich was erected 
in 1816. Madison Raynolds was well inform- 
ed on general subjects, was much respected in 
ilie communit}- and was regarded as one of our 
most valuable citizens. For a number of years 
he ownefl and occupied the two-story brick 
residence which stands in the rear of P. H. 
Barr's drug store, on East Tuscarawas street. 
The three-story brick building in front of this 
residence was erected later, by C. C, A. Wit- 
ting, who there conducted a drug store. Later 
Aladison Raynolds purchased and remodeled 
the frame cottage at No. 902 West Tuscara- 
was street where he thereafter resided until 
his death. Mrs. Raynolds and her brother, the 
late Dr. Eew is Slusser, also died there, and the 
properly is still owned by the sons of Mr. Ray- 
nolds. 

4 » » 

ANOTHER OLD CORNER IN CANTON. 

By John Danner. 

Seventy-five years ago, on the site of the 
present fine four-story building of the Young- 
Men's Christian Association in Canton, at the 
southeast corner of Tuscarawas street and Mc- 
Kinley avenue, stood two frame buddings, 
which were occupied by two brothers, Fran- 
cis and John Pirrong. The former was a 
blacksmith by vocation and had his shop in the 
one-story building on the corner, while his- 
brother was in the tombstone business and oc- 
cupied the two-story building adjoining'. In 



those early days there was but little marble 
or granite to be had in this section, as wagons 
furnished the only means of transportation, 
and therefore most of the tombstones were 
made of sandstone. In some of our old ceme- 
teries are yet to be found some of these old 
tombstones, the inscriptions on the same being 
almost obliterated by the ra\'ages of time. 
Many of these were, made by John Pirrong in 
the shop above referred to. The Pirrong 
brothers had a sister who was well know-n 
to our citizens m later days, — Mrs. John Mal- 
ine, who resided for some time with her son, 
in Youngstown, Ohio, W'here she died at a 
venerable age. She was a very excellent wo- 
man, having man}- friends among all circles in 
Canton. ; 

Francis Pirrong lived in a one-story brick 
residence on the same lot on which his shop 
was located. This residence faced McKinley 
avenue and was located a short distance south 
of the shop, and prior to this the house had 
been the home of Isaac Suffacool, a cooper. 
He removed to the west and Francis Pirrong 
then took possession of the residence and shop, 
converting- the latter into a blacksmith shop. 
John Pirrong owned and occupied a one-story 
frame residence that stood on the northeast 
corner of Cassilly and Tuscarawas streets, 
the same having- been afterward known for 
many years as the home of the late Arnold 
Lynch. After selling this property Mr. Pir- 
rong erected a two-story frame building on 
the site of the building now occupied bv the 
office of the Western L'nion Telegraph Com- 
pany, just east of the George D. Harter Bank 
building. In this building Mr. Pirrong lived 
for a number of years, having previously re- 
tired from the tombstone business. 

John Maline, whose wife has been already 
mentioned in this connection, was quite a prom- 
inent citizen in Canton for many years. He 
erected the two-story Ijrick block in the center 
of the block between Piedmont and ^^^alnut 



I So 



OLD LANDMARKS 



streets on the north side of Tuscarawas street, 
and there he was long and successfully engaged 
in the wholesale and retail grocery business. 
He finally removed with his family to Fort 
Wayne, Indiana, where he passed the remain- 
der of his life, having met with serious finan- 
cial reverses. 

immediately east of the Y. M. C. A. build- 
ing, on West Tuscarawas street, stood the 
building occupied by Conner Sweeny and 
family. He was a hatter by trade and 
had his shop in the west part of said 
building, adjoining the Pirrong property. 
Most of the hats of those days were man- 
ufactured of wool or fur, many being made 
to order. The stores did not keep hats in stock 
as at the present time, and the hatting business 
was quite an extensive trade as conducted at 
thatperiod. Mrs. Sweeny kept on hand a good 
supply of gingerbread and pop beer, which were 
much calletl for at that time, affording quite a 
profitable enterprise for the good woman who 
served them, while the customers were none 
the worse for their indulgence in these products, 
which is more than can be said of those who 
resort to the use of the Ijrewcd beer sold in so 
many places to-day. 

On the northeast corner of McKinley ave- 
nue and Tuscarawas street was a one-story 
frame buildmg owned and occupied for 
John McCurdy, who was 
having his shop for a 
the front room of said 
McCurdy was a most 
worthy and industrious, citizen. He was the 
father of the late Mrs. A. McGregor and also 
of Joseph and George McCurdy. His oldest 
son, William, was killed by the Indians while 
en route across the plains to California, more 
than a half century ago. The east half, of the 
block of lots, \\iiere the Trinity Lutheran 
church now stands, was a vacant lot for many 
vears. It requires tjut a few years to make great 
changes in the appearance of a city that has en- 



many years by 
a cabinetmaker, 
long period in 
building. Mr. 



joyed the wonderful growth that Canton has 
experienced within tiie memory of its old citi- 
zens. 

In the time to wliich reference has been here 
made the old academy building, with four 
rooms, stood on the site of the present high- 
school building". All pupils paid tuition, this 
having been before the establishment of free 
public schools, and many of us were glad to be 
able to learn to read and write, witliout aspir- 
ing to the higher branches of knowledge, now 
within the reach of all. Barrick Michener and 
Andrew Munks were the two teachers best 
known in connection with the old academy, in 
which they taught for a longer period than did 
any other instructors, and they will be well re- 
membered by all who lived in Canton in those 

days. 

■ ♦ » » 

TWO WELL-KNOWN CORNERS IN 
CANTON. 



By John Dannf.r. 

The site of the present First Metliodist 
Episcopal church, southeast corner of Tuscara- 
was street and Cleveland avenue, has been vis- 
ited by two disastrous fires. The first was the 
burning of the St. Cloud hotel, in 1859; the 
second was the burning of the large Methodist 
church building, on January i, 1881. Before 
either of these buildings had been erected there 
stood on the lot two frame buildings of one 
story each. The west half of the lot was owned 
and occupied by William Beals, who had a sad- 
dle and harness shop in the front building and 
who resided in a frame building which stood a 
little south of the siiop, facing on Cleveland 
avenue. The east half of the lot now used by 
the First Methodist Episcopal church was orig- 
inally owned by the late Daniel Dewalt, who 
there had a one-story frame I)uilding in whicii 
he lived and conducted l)usiness, being a watch- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



i8i 



maker and jeweler by trade and having his shop 
in the east room of the building- mentioned. 
He, however, devoted much attention to deal- 
( ing in horses, so that his watch-repairing busi- 
ness was eventually abandoned. The late Isaac 
Harter resided there for some time and also the 
late Madison Raynolds, and some of the chil- 
dren of each were born in the little frame build- 
ing. The late Nicholas Bour hnally purchased 
the east part of that lot and erected thereon a 
\'ery substantial and attractive three-story 
l)ricl<: building, in which he resided and carried 
on the merchant-tailoring business for many 
years. In later years, when he was appointed 
postmaster, the postoffice was located in the 
large front room, which had a nice open front, 
supported by stone pillars. 

The late John Buckius bought the Beals 
property and the Bour property, and in 1858 the 
first St. Cloud hotel was built by him on the 
ground now occupied by the First Methodist 
Episcopal church, the same being a three-story 
building, with a wing of practically equal di- 
mensions and heig'ht to the spacious front por- 
tion. William Hawk, father of William Hawk, 
Jr., who is now one of the leading hotel men of 
New York city, married Mr. Buckius' daughter 
Ella, in 1858, and the St. Cloud hotel was 
opened by the firm of Buckius & Hawk and soon 
received a good patronage and gained much 
popularity. After the hotel had ])een in opera- 
tion about one year it was destroyed by fire. 
The fire originated in the barn that stood at the 
south end of the lot, facing on Cleveland avenue, 
and it soon communicated to the hotel, which 
was entirely destroyed. Very soon after this 
disastrous fire Messrs. Hawk and Buckius pur- 
chased of Mr. Ellison the hotel property now 
known as the Hurford house, corner of Tuscar- 
awas and Court streets, and there they perma- 
nently established the reputation of the St. 
Cloud hotel, the building at the time 
being considerably smaller than at pres- 
ent. They finally sold the propertv to 



Peter P. Trump, and at a later period 
Alexander Hurford secured an interest in 
the property, while since the deatli of Mr. 
Trump the Hurfords have been the sole owners 
of the property. After the buildings had l^een 
enlarged to their present dimensions the build- 
ing was known as the Hurford house, and is 
si ill known by that name. Imt it has been vacant 
for some time, having been condemned for hotel 
purposes, and in 1903 the building was taken 
down and there is now in process of construc- 
tion a large six-story brick and stone building. 

In 1864 the first building for church pur- 
poses was erected by the First Methodist Epis- 
copal church on the site of their present large 
and sul;)Stantial stone edifice, this being the sec- 
ond church building erected by the Methodist 
society in the town. It was destroyed by fire on 
the morning of Sunday, January i, 1881, the 
conflagration originating from a defective flue, 
and the fire occurring just as the congregation 
were about to celebrate the holy communion. 
In another article is given the histoiy of the 
Methodist church in Canton and thus it will not 
be necessary to recapitulate at this juncture. 
It may be said, however, that when the first 
church building was erected on this lot, in 1864, 
the two half lots formerly owned by William 
Beals and the other half lot to the east, formerly 
owned by Daniel Dewalt. constituted all the 
groiuid then owned by the church, but when 
the present fine house of worship was ercted it 
was found that more ground was required, and 
the society then purchased the Nicholas Bour 
property. Mr. Bour's three-story building had 
been badly injured by the fire which destroyed 
the St. Cloud hotel, adjoining, and had just 
been repaired when the Methodists purchased 
the property, and they removed the entire build- 
ing to make room for their present edifice. 

The building just east of the church is one 
of the oldest frame houses now standing in the 
city, but the open front and other modern 
improvements ha\-e much changed its appear- 



I82 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ance. For many years before it was brought 
into requisition for l:)usiness ])urposes it was 
owned and occupied Ijy a family named Gaff. 
On the site of the substantial building now oc- 
cupied by the Savings and Loan Company stood 
a two-story frame building that was quite old 
and that had been occupied for many }ears by 
the late Peter P. Trump. Before that time jt had 
been for a long time the home of the Burr fam- 
ily. "Charley" Burr will be well remembered 
by some of the older citizens. He was a printer 
by trade and was a jolly, good natured fellow. 
But time has wrought many changes, and many 
families once well known here are now well 
nigh forgotten. It was while the Burr family 
resided in the house mentioned that the late 
Isaac B. Dangler married Miss Burr. They 
afterward removed to ]\Iassillon, where Mrs. 
Dangler died many years ago, and Mr. Dangler 
was married a second time, his death occurring 
but a few years since. While he lived in Can- 
ton he was considered one of the best salesmen 
in the county. He clerked for some time with 
V. R. Kimball and also with Isaac Harter, while 
in JNIassillon he was similarly employed by some 
of the best firms in the town, and was also in the 
mercantile business for himself for a time. 
Hon. David A. Dangler, a brother of Isaac 
B., was likewise a clerk in Canton in his early 
days. He is now a resident of the city of 
Cleveland and is well known throughout the 
country as the manufacturer of gas stoves, be- 
ing also an ex-senator of the state legislature. 



THE KLMBALL AND STIDGER HOMES. 

By John Danner. 

In the early 'seventies the block of lots now 
occupied by the Baptist church, on South Mar- 
ket street, had but two buildings on the entire 
block. One was the V. R. Kimball home, a 
two-story brick building, which stood close to 
the sidewalk line on the northeast corner of the 



present church lot. The other was a two-stor\' 
frame building that stood where the residence of 
Mrs. E. D. Keplinger is now found ; this older 
building was close up to the sidewalk, the style 
in those days having been to have the houses 
in close proximity to the street, instead of pro- 
viding lawns in front. This frame building- 
was built and for many years occupied by Philip 
Slusser. It must have been erected as early as 
the vear 1818. "Father" Slusser, as he was 
familiarly known, was one of the first ]Meth- 
odists in Canton, and consequentl}' his honv; 
was often thrown open for the meetings of said 
church, while entertainment was there gracious- 
ly extended \.o the itinerant clergy of the jtio- 
neer days, the wife of this honored pioneer 
ha\'ing been in full accord and sympathy with 
him in his religious views and services. Father 
Peter Tofler. ancjther earnest -worker in the 
church, lived in a small two-story Ijrick build- 
ing opposite the Slusser homestead and on the 
site of the present home of the compiler of these 
reminiscences. At- this point it is eminently con- 
sistent that mention be made concerning- that 
sterling citizen, Philip Slusser. and the narra- 
tive phraseology will be in a measure set aside 
in order that the writer may speak in the terms 
of greater and affectionate familiarit\-. 

My grandfather, Philip Slusser, came from 
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, to Stark 
county in 1805. He entered a quarter section 
of land in what is now- part of the eastern di- 
vision of Canton and soon afterward erected 
the first fli-)uring--miil in the countv. This was 
established on the same site afterward 1 rccupied 
by the Rowland n-|il1. which was later known 
as the George Myers mill, both of these mills 
liaving been destroyed liy lire, while no mill has 
occupied the site for a number of years. 

When Grandfather Slusser first can-ie here, 
his sons Philii), Peter and John were of suffi- 
ciently mature years to l)e very helpful to him. 
Philip and Peter finally settled in Tuscarawas 
township and reared large and influential fam- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO'. 



>83 



ilies. John remained in Canton and eventually 
engaged in the mercantile business. He was 
the father of the late Dr. Lewis Slusser, and 
also of Sanuel D. Slusser and Airs. Madison 
Ra\nok!s, both now deceased, the only surviv- 
ing member of the immediate family at the date 
of this writing being Mrs. David Zollars. 

After the death of his father, John Slusser 
was appointed administrator of the estate, and 
he sold tlie old house and two lots belonging 
to it, which consisted of the entire block" except 
the one lot occupied by the Kimljall house, al- 
ready mentioned. He received lor the property 
six hundred dollars, which was considered at 
the time a very reasonable and fair equivalent. 
It is needless to say that a far different price 
would be demanded for such property at the 
present time. Mrs. McNab, mother of the late 
Dr. Harmon Stidger, bought the property, and 
there she and her son resided until her death, 
after wdiich the property passed into other 
hands, and rapidly appreciated in value, being 
now divided into four or five lots and well im- 
proved. Dr. Stidger was quite an active and in- 
fluential citizen in his day. He was an ardent 
Democrat and was one of the two delegates 
sent from Stark county to the state constitu- 
tional convention at Columbus, more than half 
a century ago, at which time the present con- 
stitution of the commonwealth was framed. 
Hon. Josqih Troup, likewise a Democrat, was 
the other Stark county delegate. 

The V. R. . Kimball house, southwest cor- 
ner of Market and Ninth streets, to which ref- 
erence has been made, was built in 1829, by Or- 
lando Metcalf, but William C. Kimball, of 
Tiffin, Ohio, states that he believes Mr. Metcalf 
never occupied the dwelling, wdiich he sold to 
the former's father. V. R. Kimball. Mr. Met- 
calf, who was a lawyer, soon afterward re- 
moved to Pittsburg, Pentisylvania. where he at- 
tained eminence in his profession. Mr. Kim- 
ball and his wife both died in this old home- 



stead, in wdiich all of their ^lildren were born. 
This is now the site of the Baptist chifrch. 

About thirty years ago the trustees of the 
Baptist church jnu-chased the Kimball property 
from the heirs, and in 1871 the old Kimfe 
house was razed to the ground and the new 
church building erected on the lot. Volney R. 
Kimball was at one time one of the largest and 
most enterprising merchants in Canton. He 
built the large store now occupied by George 
H. Spangler, on the east side of the south 
public square, and utilized the same for 
mercantile quarters until his death. He 
also built the large two-story brick build- 
ing now standing at the southeast corner 
of Cherry and Third streets, the same having 
been used as a tannery during the tim.e of his 
ownership. In early days Canton had quite a 
number of tan yards, but none are to be found 
here at the ]M-escnt day, the enterpri.se having 
fallen into decadence with the clearing and set- 
tling of this section, as it became di:Ticult to se- 
cure the requisite bark at a price that would 
justii'v the continuation of operations, this lead- 
ing to the final aliandomnent of all the tan 
yards. At one time John P. Harley, a brotherr 
in-law of Mr. Kimball, was interested in the 
store. He was a genial and energetic man and 
was quite prominent in the work of the Pre.«- 
hyterian church, of which he was a member. 
The writer was for a time a clerk in the Kim- 
ball store, taking a position there in 1840, dur- 
ing which time he boarded in the Kimball 
home, which was :■. center of gracious and re- 
fined hospitality. 



THE OLD SAX TON RESIDENCE AND 
ITS HISTORY. 



By John Danner. 



The subject of the present brief sketch is 
primarily the residence of the late John Sax- 



1 84 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ton, who was the original proprietor of the Ohio 
Repository. This building stood on the south- 
east corner of Market and Eighth streets, oc- 
cupying the north part of the site of the present 
Saxton block. John Saxton was one of the 
leading pioneers of Stark county. He came 
hither from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, in (he 
early part of the year 1815, and on March 30 
of that year he issued the initial number of the 
Ohio Repository, which was the first paper pu!> 
lished in Stark county, while at the time there 
were no more than six or seven papers pub- 
lished within the borders of the state. It is 
gratifying to note the fact that this pioneer 
newspaper has continued publication consecu- 
tively to the present time, under various cir- 
cumstances, changes and vicissitudes, it is true, 
but none who have presided over its destinies 
has been so ill advised as to change the name 
of the paper, which is still known as the Re- 
pository. 

When the enterprise was inaugurated, the 
office of the paper was established in a two- 
story frame building on the east side of the 
public square where its headquarters were 
maintained for several years. This ancient 
structure is still standing at the time of this 
writing and is itself a veritable landmark. After 
the removal of the Repository to other quarters, 
the building was occupied for many years by Jo- 
nas Polly, a watchmaker and jeweler, while 
later George Fessler there conducted a grocery 
business for a long period. Finally the dignity of 
the building waned and it was applied to baser 
uses, being used by dififerent individuals as a 
place for retailing intoxicating liquors. From 
this place the Repository office was removed to 
the Kaufman house, now known as the Herbst 
house, on South Market street, this being one 
of the oldest brick buildings in the city. Later 
Mr. Saxton built his residence and printing of- 
fice on the two lots which he had purchased for 
that purpose, the Kaufman lot and the two 
Saxton lots making up the block. Mr. Saxton 



C(:)ntinued to occupy this residence building un- 
til his death, and as long as he controlled the 
paper its office was retained in the building 
which he had erected for the purpose. 

About sixty years ago Mr. Saxton sold to 
his son-in-law, Thomas Goodman, the part of 
the soutii lot on which is now located the hard- 
ware store of E. J. Rex, the rear portion of this 
store being the old Goodman residence, the 
same being hidden from view from the street 
by the new portion erected by the present owner 
when he came into possession of the property. 
In the salutatory editorial appearing in the first 
issue of the Repository. Mr. Saxton pledged to 
the public that so long as he controlled the 
paper truth should be his guide and the public 
good his aim. All who knew him must accord 
to him honesty of purpose, however nluch the\" 
might differ with him as to policy of govern- 
ment. He was an active and consistent member 
of the Presbyterian church, and was seldom ab- 
sent from its services so long as he was able 
to be about. He and his noble wife lived in this 
house until their days on earth were passed. 
They were the parents of five sons and one 
daughter. In 1831 Joshua Saxton, a brother 
of John, became a partner in the publication of 
the Repository, the firm being known for a 
number of years as J. & J. Saxton. Joshua 
Saxton also was a most excellent man and was 
a mem!:)er of the Methodist church. He finally 
sold his interest in the Repository to his brother 
and then removed to Urbana, Ohio, where for 
many years he published the Urbana Citizen 
an(l.Ga:^ette. and there he passed the remainder 
of his life. 

In 1857 John Saxton admitted his son 
Thomas ^^^ to partnership in the newspaper 
business, and after his death the latter became 
the sole proprietor, continuing to publish at 
the old stand until 1871. when it was consoli- 
dated with the Republican, another paper of the 
same political faith, owned and published by 
Josiah Hartzell, and after the merging of the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



185 



two the publication continued under the title 
of the Canton Repository, by which it is known 
at the present time. The building in which Mr. 
Saxton so long published 'the Repository was a 
one-story frame structure which stood on the 
ground now occupied by the south end of the 
Saxton block, its lateral dimensions having been 
not more than forty by sixty feet, while it stood 
about forty feet to the south of the Saxton resi- 
dence. Its gable end faced the street and the 
entrance was an ordinary three and one-half 
foot door, on either side of which was a win- 
dow. The press used in the early days was the 
old-style lever type, operated by hand, and 
known as a Washington press. Some of the 
men wlio became apprentices in the office of the 
Ohio Repository during the regime of its foun- 
ders attained distinction in after years, the most 
notable instance being that of Joseph Medill, 
who was at one time proprietor of the Cleveland 
Leader, and who later attained a national rep- 
utation as the head of the Chicago Tribune, of 
which he continued to be the editor until his 
death, only a few years ago. In conclusion of 
this article it may be said that the present Grand 
opera house of Canton covers the ground occu- 
pied originally by the little shed standing far- 
thest to the left. 



THE OLD EAGLP: HOTEL. 

By John Danner. 

The name Eagle hotel and Eagle block have 
been familiar to the citizens of Canton and 
Stark county for fully two score of years. This 
arises from the fact that George Dewalt, who 
opened his hotel in the town at a time when its 
population was very limited in numljers, applied 
to his place the title of Eagle hotel at the time 
of opening its doors to the public. He erected 
the three-story brick building, the same having 
been located at the southwest corner of Market 



and Tuscarawas streets. The Eagle hotel was 
considered one of the finest in northern Ohio 
at that time, and tiie name was retained through 
the \arious changes in proprietorship. There 
was a main building and a two-story wing at 
the rear, the same facing on Tuscarawas street 
aitd containing the dining room and kitchen. 
West of this was the laundry and woodhouse, 
and beyond these the barn, all built of brick. 
The barn stood on the corner of Tuscarawas 
and Court streets, with the gable facing the 
former, and large double doors, arched, af- 
forded access. 

George De\valt was a brother of the late 
Daniel Dewalt and was the grandfather of 
Mrs. William McKinley, on the maternal side. 
He conducted the hotel about a quarter of a 
century and then sold the property to William 
Hawk, who came here from Pennsylvania and 
who conducted the house until his death, after 
which his sons, Samuel, Reuben and William, 
continued the business for a number of years. 
Thereafter George Reynolds was the proprietor 
for several years, and after his removal to 
Akron, where he engaged in the same line of 
business, the building passed into other hands 
and was converted into a business block. Dr. 
Robert H. McCall had his drug store in the 
corner room of the old Eagle block for a num- 
ber oi years prior to his death, which oc- 
curred nearly forty years ago. The next 
room to the south was occupied by John R. 
Buclier and later by Geeting & Bucher as a dry 
goods store, and the room farthest to the south 
was utilized by various persons and for various 
business purposes during the passing years. 
Since the erection of the present four-story 
brick building on the site of this historic build- 
ing the Eirst National bank has occupied the 
corner room, while the remainder of the build- 
ing is utilized for business and office purposes. 
The present liuilding has never been utilized 
as a hotel, hut the name of Eagle block has 
fortunatelv been retained. 



i86 



OLD LANDMARKS 



The Dewalt family had been engaged in the 
hotel business prior to coming to Canton, whith- 
er they came from Aaronsbur.i^. Center county. 
Pennsylvania, ami they were related b\- n:ar- 
riage to the Danner family, the latter family 
having originally resided in the same town 
in the Keystone state. The hotel building in 
Aaronsburg which was used Iw the Dewalts 
was still standing a few years ago and is pre- 
sumably so at the present time, the same being 
a substantial two-story stone building, well able 
ti) withstand the ravages of time for another 
centurx- if need be. Philip Dewalt, father of 
George, erected the two-story brick building at 
the northeast corner of Cleveland avenue and 
Tuscarawas street, and there conducted a hotel 
for a time. The structure is now known as the 
Brandt building, while its appearance has been 
sumewhat changed 1)\- the remodeling. During 
the time that deorge DeW'alt and William 
]-la\\k conducted the Eagle hotel the stage office 
was maintained there.and thus it was a general 
headquarters for the traveling public and also 
for the tdwnfolk. the arri\'al and departure of 
the old-time stage coaches being important 
e\'ents in the routine of each day. William Bar- 
ber was for manv vears identified with these 
stage lines. He could handle tlie reins over a 
four-horse team to perfection, but was too vaht- 
able a man to long engage in "tooling" the 
stages, as the modern coaching term has it. He 
therefore was assigned to the more responsi- 
ble duties of sti])erintending the general affairs 
of the stage routes. The two principal lines of 
stages were those of the daily service from 
Pittsburg, by way of New Lisbon, Canton, 
Massillon, Wooster, etc., and the tri-weekly 
service from Steubenville. \-ia Carrollton and 
Waynesburg to Canton. Both of these lines 
were equipped with the old-time four-horse 
coaches. George Cribbs was one of the origi- 
nal proprietors of stage lines.. He owned and 
occupied the two-story brick residence which 
is still standing on the northwest corner of 



Fifth street and Cleveland a\enue. but this 
building likewise has been extensi\ely remod- 
eled. Numerous minor hack lines were oper- 
ated from Canton to various points in the coun- 
ty, but the two mentioned were the only ones 
which operated the pretentious four-horse \'e- 
hicles. 

The w riter"s first trip east to purchase goods 
was made in the spring of 1845, ^"^ O" the 
return journey we reached Pittsburg by way of 
the canal packet, and while we traveled slowlv , 
the trip was enjoyable. We landed in Pittsburt: 
on the loth of April and found the city in 
flames, more than half of the best portion of 
the city being destroyed, while up to this time 
this was the largest urban fire which had ever 
occurred in the United States. The roads from 
I'ittsburg west were in bad condition and our 
progress was consequently slow and tedious. 
and all along tlie route we conve}'ed the news of 
the oreat fire. 



TTTF. OPT) FARMERS & :\IECH\NICS' 
BLOCK. 

By John IXmjner. 

In another article reference is made to the 
old court house which was erected in 1816 and 
which occupied only one lot of the ])reseJit court 
house block, while store rooms and other build- 
ing's stood on the two lots north of the court 
house. Nearly si.xty years ago Martin Wiki- 
(lal. who owned the middle lot, remo\ed all 
the old buildings from saifl lot aufl there erected 
a three-story brick building, known as the 
Farmers' & Mechanics' block. The novth room 
had been utilized for \arious business purposes 
and also part of the time in C(innecti')n with 
Martin Wikidol's residence. ]\Iartin \\"ikidal 
conducted his mercantile business in the 
south room until he .sold the property 
to the countv commissioners, in order that 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



187 



the requisite gTouinl iniglit he had for the 
new and larger court Imnse. The frontage of 
tlie 1)lock was sixty-seven feet, the entire width 
of tlie lot. The next lot north was owned by 
the late John Laird, and upon this was a two- 
story brick building whicli extended up to Fifth 
street and was of the same w idth as the Wiki- 
dal lot. Two stores and a residence were in 
this building. The first room M. &: J. Laird oc- 
cupied for years as a general store, and after 
that for a term of years Ruynokls & Saxton 
utilized, the same for a hardware store. The 
Laird property \vas purchased by the county 
about the same time as was the Wikidal, and 
ever since that time the entire block has been 
used for countv purjjoses. The second story 
of the \\'ikidal block was largely utilized for 
law offices, and among the early members of 
the bar who there had heacl(|uarters were Brown 
& Meyer, and after the war Meyer & ^Nlander- 
son. James D. Brown was tlie father-in-law 
of Charles F. Manderson. Before the Civil 
war Mr. Manderson was quite aoli\-e in the cause I 
of the Democratic party and served with dis- 
tinction in the war, holding the office of colonel j 
and soon identifying himself with the Republi- 
can partw A few years after the war Mr. 
Brown and Colonel Manderson removed to 
Omaha, Xeljraska, and the latter became a 1 
prominent figure in the ranks of the l-^epublican 
party in tliat state, which he represented in the , 
Linited States senate for several terms. J. D. 
Brown lived only a few years after his removal 
from Canton. The late Seraphin Meyer has 
Ijeen well known in the county, having been a 
successful lawyer and ha\ing ])resided on the 
common-pleas bencli several terms. He had 
been a Democrat, but at tlie outbreak of the re- 
l)ellion he enlisted and ser\-ed as a brave and 
loyal .soldier, and for some years thereafter was 
identified with the Republican part)-, but even- 
tually resumed his original political faith. He 
removed to California, where his death occurred 



a few vears ago. having had many friends and 
admirers in Stark county. 

The third storv of this block had two halls, 
the larger one of which was for a number of 
vears occui)icil by the Odd Fellows as a lodge 
room, while the smaller was used by the Sons 
of Tem]jerance as long as their active organi- 
zation was maintained, and after that time the 
hall was utiHzed for divers purposes, while it 
niav be noted that for a time it was the head- 
(juarters of the local contingent of the politi- 
cal organization designated as the Know-Xoth- 
ing party, of which s(.)me of the old-time Dem^ 
ocrats ha\e rather un felicitous memories. Im- 
mediately opposite the Wikidal lot stood the 
two-story market house, the same being located 
in the center of the north public square. This 
was erected in i<>_^(y Henry Kintz was the 
contractor and builder, and the building was 
considered one of much importance in its day. 
It was about forty by seventy-five feet in di- 
mensions, and was the second market house 
erected in the city. The first stood in the center 
of the soutli ])ublic scfuare, and was a one-story 
structure, built much after the style of the old 
market houses that stood so many years in 
Market street in the city of Philadelphia, Penn- 
svl\-ania. This structure had brick columns 
about twenty inches .square and built up to a 
height of fifteen or eighteen feet, and upon 
them rested the timbers and roof. The stalls 
for market |)urposes in the second building were 
all on the ground floor and on the sec- 
ond floor was the town hall and six small 
rooms. The hall could not have Ijeen more than 
fortv feet square, while the height of the room 
did not exceed ten feet. In those early days 
it answered the i)urpose to which it was applied, 
Init today such .a town hall would be looked 
upon as a subject for ridicule. In this room 
i many public meetings were held, and it was 
j notaI)ly used for the assembling of the old-time 
Ivceums. Here also were held the first services 



l88 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of both the Trinity Lutheran and the Baptist 
churches, the Lutheran brethern having util- 
ized the same many years before the Baptist 
organization was formed. In the south end of 
the room was the bell rope, which extended up 
into the little belfry in the center of the building. 
The weight of the bell could not have been more 
than fifty pounds, and it could not Ije heard over 
a tenth part of the city as it exists today, thottgh 
at that time it proved an adequate medium for 
summoning the town folk together. 

The two rooms in the south end of the 
building were nearly always occupied for shops 
or offices, but the four i-ooms north of them 
were not particularly desirable and were vacant 
the greater jiortion of the time. Of the two 
rooms occui)ied one was for many years used as 
a tail(^r shop l)y Canton's well known pioneer, 
^Villiam Lemmon. TJie southeast room was 
used as the city's first telegraph ofBce, the first 
operator being the late George R. Saxton. Mas- 
sillon wa.-- supplied with teleg'raphic facilities 
somew hat earlier than was Canton, and in fact 
the first line in Canton was simply a loop from 
the Massillon office. Li this connection it is also 
recalled that Massillon also had express ser- 
vice in advance of the county seat. Before we 
had any railroads and while packet boats were 
operated on the Ohio canal, Joseph S. Lock- 
wood, of ?\Iassillon, established what was 
known as the Lockwood express, utilizing the 
packet boats as the means of transportation. 



BANNER HOMESTEAD AND OTHER 
EARLY BUILDINGS. 

\^\■ John Hanneu. 

The old Danner home was located on West 
Tuscarawas street and stood on the lot where is 
now located the residence of Joseph S. Saxton, 
at the corner of Wells and Tuscarawas streets. 
The building was erected in the year 1821, by 



Jacob Danner, father of the writer. After his 
marriage he began housekeeping in this build- 
ing and there he and his wife continuously re- 
sided until death, Jacob Danner having been 
gathered to his fathers in 1844, while his de- 
voted wife entered into eternal rest in 1885, 
having never removed from the lot mentioned. 
Joseph S. Saxton, who married the only daugh- 
'ter of Jacob Danner, erected the present two- 
stor}' brick residence about forty years ago, and 
Mrs. Danner thereafter resided with her daugh- 
ter until she passed away. 

Jacob Danner was a gunsmith by trade, 
and for tliis reason he purchased from Bezaleel 
Wells, proprietor of Canton, a lot just out- 
side the corporation limits of the little village, 
in order that he might have a convenient place 
to test guns and not be subject to town ordi- 
nances against shooting' firearms within the cor- 
poration. The original boundaries of Canton 
were W'ells street on the west, Saxton street on 
the east. North street on the north and South 
street on the south, — representing a territory 
that would offer rather inadequate accommoda- 
tions for the present city of more than forty 
thousand population. The old well which the 
father of the writer had digged at the time the 
house was built is still in use and may be seen 
in front of the present building. A few feet 
south of the well and facing Wells street wms 
his gunsmith shop. It was a one-story brick 
building and stood in close juxtaposition to 
the sidewalk, as did the residence. It was then 
customary to erect all buildings at the fronts of 
the lots, and more attention was given to culti- 
vating gardens in the rear of the dwellings than 
to proving lawn embellishments in the front. 

On the west side of the house was the home 
of Philip Danner, a brother of Jacob, and this 
building is still standing, having been removed 
from its original location to the corner of the 
private alley on West Tuscarawas street. The 
east of the building was of frame construction 
and one story in height, and in the same Philip 




DANNER HOMESTEAD. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



189 



Danner carried 011 the business of carpet and 
coverlet weaving for many years. The shop 
part was later made a two story building. Mr. 
Banner's health finally became so impaired as 
to render it expedient to seek less sedentary em- 
ployment, ' and he therefore abandoned the 
weaving business and for a number of years 
thereafter worked at the carpenter trade, living 
to a good old age. 

Many of the older citizens will recall the 
fact that Philip Danner was a quite successful 
hunter of wild game, which was here abundant 
in the pioneer days. He was an excellent marks- 
man and his method of sighting a gun was al- 
most phenomenal in its being exceptional to 
that followed by any other person known to the 
writer, in that lie kept both eyes open, while the 
usual plan is for marksmen to close one eye 
while the other is concentrated on the sight of 
the gun. It is claimed for Mr. Danner that he 
killed more deer in his time than did any other 
man in the county. 

The block of lots where the Presbyterian 
churcii now stands was vacant for many years. 
Finally the walls <^f the old brick church were 
raised on the same site occupied by the massive 
and beautiful house of worship, but the original 
building remained in an unfinished condition 
for many years, the projectors being able only 
to erect the walls and supply the roof, and while 
in this condition the building very naturally be- 
came a playhouse for the cliildren and very of- 
ten a shelter for sheep and cattle, which in those 
days \vandered about in search of pasturage, 
following the dictates of their own desires with- 
out molestation on the part of the \illage au- 
thorities. 

At the southwest corner of Seventh and 
Wells streets we entered upon a large field, com- 
prising some ten acres, and known for years as 
the Stidger field. It extended west to what is 
now Marion street and south to our present 
South street. Not a single building of any de- 
scriptiiin then stood upon this large vacant 



space. Since that time it has been brought 
within the city limits, and fine streets and well 
paved sidewalks are now in evidence there, as 
are also manv handsome homes, on High, 
Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and South streets. Along 
the west line of this field was a long row of 
large wild-cherry trees, and these afforded 
shade for the large gatherings of people on 
the occasions of the military pai'ades which 
were customarily held there. The military 
trainings or musters of those da3fs were as 
popular throughout the county as were the agri- 
cultural fairs of the later epoch. The writer 
well remembers seeing General Augustine, of 
Osnaburg township, and Capt. George Kreigh- 
bruim, of Lake township, in attendance at these 
parades in great display of uniform and trap- 
pings. William Beales, the saddler and harness- 
maker, who lived on the lot now occupied by 
the Methodist Episcopal church, was also an 
officer of some distinction and was quite active 
in the yearly musters, as these military assem- 
blings were commonly designated. 

On the southeast corner of Tuscarawas 
street and McKinley a\-enue, where the Young 
iNIen's Christian Association building now 
stands, was the blacksmith shop of Francis 
Pierong, This was a one-story building of 
frame construction, and adjoining it on the east 
was another building of similar order, the same 
being utilized as a tombstone shop by John 
Pierong, a brother of the blacksmith. The two 
brothers passed to their reward many years 
ago, having been active citizens of Canton in 
their day. ff the Pierong tombstone shop were 
in operation t(.)day and used the same material 
as then, it would ha\-e but little patronage, as 
most of the tombstones of that period were 
manufactured of sandstone, marble being diffi- 
cult to secure, i\djoining John Pierong's shop 
on the east was the hat shop of' Connor Swee- 
ney, this line of industry being one which has 
long since been abandoned in Canton and other 
western towns, as the large factories have ren- 



igo 



OLD LANDMARKS 



(lered the business unprofital^le to the small 
manufacturer. Mr. Sweeney lived in a one- 
story frame building adjoining his shop on 
the east, and thus utilized the block except the 
lot upon which the Hanna block now stands, 
which was vacant property for many years. 
The first building erected on this lot was a 
frame structure which w^as utilized as a black- 
smith shop by various persons, and during the 
campaign of 1840 the historic log cabin was 
built on the site, and after that Jacob Shaefer 
erected a two-story brick building, which 
eventually became the home of the Hurford 
family, by whom the old landmark was re- 
moved to give place to the present substantial 
block. 



OLD LANDM.VRKS ON THE PRESENT 
HIGH SCHOOL BLOCK. 

By John Danner. 

The block of lots where the high school 
building now stands, on West Tuscarawas 
street, was left by the proprietor of the town- 
site of Canton, Belzaleel Wells, for school pur- 
poses. The first building there erected for 
this specific object and use was a one-story 
frame structure with only one room, and this 
building was subsequently removed over onto 
the lot on the northeast corner of Tuscarawas 
street and McKinley avenue, where for many 
years it w-as occupied by John McCurdy as a 
cabinet shop. Tlie first l)rick structure erected 
on the block was the old academy building, 
which was a plain building of two stories, about 
forty b\- ninety feet in dimensions, with a small 
octagonal tciwer in tlie center of tire roof ridge. 
This ^vas erected about the year 1816, and in 
the center of the building was a door wdiich 
()])ened intc:i a hall that ran througli Id the rear, 
while on either side was a schdol room about 
forty feet sc|uare. b'rom the staircase in the 
hallway access was aft'orded t<i the second story, 



which was divided in similar style, save that 
the rooms above were divided by board parti- 
tions which CDuld be removed at \\\\\. convert- 
ing the entire second fioor into one room of no 
inconsiderable size. 

In the early days of the organization of the 
I'irst Alethodist Episcopal church of Canton its 
members held their meetings in the east room 
of the second story of the old academy. Father 
Peter Tofler, Jacob Rex and Philip Slusser 
(spelled Schlosser in the olden days) were 
among the few who first met here for worship. 
\'ery soon afterward the little society built their 
first church edifice, the same being located on 
the lot now used for residence purposes, at No. 
-1 20 West Eighth street. It was an unpreten- 
tious frame building of one story, without bel- 
fry, spire or hall, and having but one room. 
When the churcli was first put into use as a 
place of worship the \vomen occupied one side 
of the house and the men the other, this being in 
accord with tlie discipline of the time, and a 
Ijromiscnous seating arrangement such as ob- 
tains today would have been considered ^■ery 
much out of order, if not. indeed, seriously ir- 
res'erent. while no one appeared in church with 
a bonnet adorned \\\\h plumes or artificial flow- 
ers, since she woulfl ha\-e attracted the disap- 
pro\ing attention of the entire congregation 
and ])erhaps becDme the target for severe pulpit 
utterance: relative to such vain display. 

After the Methodist brethren abandoned 
the room in the acadenu' building tlie board 
])artition was taken down and the entire sec- 
ond fioor was utilized by the Canton Thespian 
Societ} . The stage and scenery were in the east 
end anil the audience occupied the space not 
thus utilized. A German named Sclnveikofifer 
was then living ni the town and had no little 
ability as a scenic i)aiiiter. and through his in- 
teriiositioii in this line the societ}' secured an 
e(|uipment of scener\- and accessories considered 
to be ecpial to the best at that time. Edward 
L. Carnev. John Saxtoii. Ir., William T. Mat- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



191 



thews, William Hartman and John Taylor were 
prominent as actors, and in lieu of women of 
histrionic aspirations certain of the boys would 
be attired in feminine garb and assumed the 
roles respectively assigned. 

In those days the two rooms down stairs 
were ample to afford accommodations to all 
who could attend scIkkjI, and thus the second 
floor was applied to other uses, as noted. This 
circumstance alone may give the younger gen- 
eration today an idea as to the status of the 
little village which was the nucleus of our pres- 
ent beautiful cit>-. Today we have twelve or 
foiu'teen school buildings, each more than twice 
as large as the old academy, and all well filled 
in the various departments. Of the two teach- 
ers who occupied these lower rooms for the 
longest intervals were Barrak IMichener and 
Andrew Monks. The former later became a 
physician, and for many years enjoyed an ex- 
tensive practice in. and around Massillon. where 
he maintained his home after leaving Canton. 
He always occupied the east room during his 
pedagogic Inliors here, while Mr. Monks, who 
was a veteran teacher of those times, held forth 
for many \-ears in the west room. William 
Dunbar, William I'indkiy, ^Ir. Judd and others 
followed soon thereafter, and the writer can 
not recall that any woman was ever a teacher 
in the old academy, it being unusual for teach- 
ers tfj be of the fair se.x at that j^eriod. In 
1845 the old academy was torn down and the 
main part of Vv'hat was then the new high school 
building was erected on the same site. 

At llie time uf the erection of this school 
building Trinity Lutheran church was without 
a house of worship, and for a certain designated 
consideration the church folk were given the 
privilege of using' the lower room in the main 
building as a permanent place for the holding 
I if their services. This ihev continued to do 
for a nuniljer of years, when the church society 
began to feel the need of a larger and independ- 
ent bouse of worship, while the school board 



began to realize also the need of the room which 
had been thus diverted from school purposes, 
so that there was no difficulty in bringing about 
an amicaljle adjustment of the matter and in 
bringing the entire building into utilization for 
school ]:)urposes. At the time the Lutherans 
thus worshiped in the LTnion school building 
old b'ather Abraham I^ichtenwalter, as he was 
commonly and affectionately known, was one 
of the faithful and zealous members of the so- 
ciety, and never failed to be present at the ser- 
\ices, save by reason of illness or other pro\i- 
dential hindrances. 

In the autumn of 1851, at the time of the 
holding of Stark county's first agricultural fair, . 
the room which had been used for such chmxli 
services was br(jught into requisition for the 
display of furniture and fancy articles, while 
a part of the Presbyterian church building, 
across the street, was also utilized that year to 
accommodate certain departments of the fair, 
no permanent place being provided at the time. 

After leaving the school building the Lutli- 
eran society began worshiping in the new build- 
ing which the\' had erected on the lot which is 
the site of their present fine stone edifice. This 
first l)uilding was a very comfortable and well 
arranged brick structure and was occupied until 
the time .when it was torn down to make way 
for the present edifice. 

About the time the Lutheran society aljand- 
oned their room in the first high school or 
union building, it became evident that there was 
still an imperative demand for still more room 
for school purposes, and this led to the erec- 
tion of the large two-story wing east of the 
main Iniilding, this having been added some 
years after the erection of the main building, 
prex'iously described. It was in the upper room 
of this new east wing" that the grammar depart- 
ment was located, and in the sanie ]\liss Anna 
McKinley, sister of our lamented and martyred 
President and beloved townsman, \\"illiam Mc- 
Kinlev. taught for man\' \cirs, being- one of 



192 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the most efficient and beloved teachers ever en- 
gaged in the schools of Canton. Many of the 
present citizens of Canton revert with pleasure 
to the days they passed as students in this old 
building and particularly to those during which 
thev were under the gracious tutorship of Miss 
McKinley. In the city today there are but few 
left who attended school in the old academy 
building, and of the number one or more gained 
their entire youthful educational discipline with- 
in its severe but benign walls. The writer 
there attended school until he was about thir- 
teen years of age, and is to be classified with 
the "one or more" Avho thus ended their school 
days in a technical sense, though it must be 
realized that education is not a matter of days 
but of a lifetime, in every instance. The pres- 
ent modern and magnificent high school build- 
ing occupies the site of these historic structures, 
and of its uses and history it may be the duty of 
someone of the present day to write in gloAving 
appreciation after many years have fallen intc 
the abyss of time, even as the leaves fall in the 
forest. 



THE CHRISTMAS AND SHORE HOME- 
STEADS. 

By John Dannkr. 

The two-story frame building that has been 
the home of the Althouse family for many 
}-ears, at the northwest corner of Tuscarawas 
and Wells streets, is a building familiar to all 
otir old citizens. It was erected about 1830 
by the late William Christmas, who was one 
of the pioneer merchants of Canton. It was in 
his store that the late Isaac Harter clerked 
prior to entering into business on his own ac- 
count. The Christmas store was a one-story 
frame buiidlng, standing at the location now 
marked by the eastern entrance to the court 
house. Mr. Christmas was a most excellent 
man, and was enterprising and progressive 



in his business afifairs. He was one of the first 
and most substantial supporters of the Presby- 
terian church in Canton. The large brick 
building a few hundred yards northwest of the 
power house of the Canton water-works was 
built by Mr. Christmas and was utilized by him 
as a tannery, his business in this line having 
been quite extensive. In later years the build- 
ing has been used as a brewery. The large 
body of water which now adds so materially 
to the beauty of Westlawn cemetery owes its 
being to Mr. Christmas, who there placed a 
dam, in order to secure the requisite supply of 
water for his tanyards. Marks of the old race 
which connected the dam and the tanyards may 
yet be distinguished. The old dam was in the 
early days a favorite resort for the boys of 
Canton, who utilized it for a fishing place in 
summer and for skating in the winter season. 

The old homestead fitst mentioned has un- 
dergone as little cliange as any house still re- 
maining of the old landmarks. The contractor 
who built the house for Mr. Christmas was 
Henry Barnes, who was at that time a leading 
carpenter and contractor of Canton. He finally 
settled on a farm a few miles south of the city, 
where he died several years ago. The Christ- 
mas family comprised four daughters and two 
sons, and it is probable that the family has no 
representatives in Ohio at the present time. 
William H. Christmas, the elder son, was a 
young man at the outbreak of the Mexican 
war, and he enlisted in the United States army 
and served until the close of the war, but died 
shortly afterward, never having returned to 
Canton. Edward, the younger son, was crip- 
pled by an accident while a boy, and did not 
live to attain manhood. Mr. Christmas died in 
the prime of life and a few years later his wid- 
ow married Dr. Hall, the children soon leaving 
the old homestead and becoming widely scat- 
tered. 

The brick house north of the old Christmas 
property, on the northwest corner of Fifth and 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



193 



Wells streets, was built about the same time as 
the Christmas house. The builder was Adam 
A. Shorb, and he occupied the dwelling for a 
number of years, his business being that of a 
potter. About one hundred feet west of the 
residence stood a two-story brick shop, where 
crocks, jugs and other styles of pottery were 
formed and made ready for the kiln, which 
stood a short distance west of the shop. The 
parents of Adam A. Shorb, with their three 
sons and two daughters, moved here from Bal- 
timore, Maryland, in the early days of Can- 
ton's settlement. The family were members of 
the Catholic church and all were excellent citi- 
zens. The father was one of the prime movers 
in the erection of the first house of worship for 
St. John's church, the same having been locat- 
ed at the northwest corner of McKinley avenue 
and North street, and while this edifice was in 
course of erection Mr. Shorb was so badly in- 
jured by the falling of a timber that he died 
soon afterward. His widow, familiarly known 
as "Grandmother" Shorb, lived to witness the 
completion of the building through whose erec- 
tion she was bereaved of her husband, and who 
was a most devoted member of the congrega- 
tion, while she was loved and respected by all 
citizens. The old two-story frame house and 
barn, 719 West Third street, where Miss Har- 
riet A. Shorb still resides, were built by the 
Shorbs more than seventy-five years ago, and 
are among the city's oldest landmarks e.xtant. 

Adam L. Shorb. cousin of Adam A., was 
likewise a potter by vocation, and he had his 
residence and pottery on a large lot on Fulton 
street, near the present residence of George W. 
Irwin. In later years he built the two-story 
brick residence now occupied by Dr. Arter, 
southeast corner of Tuscarawas and Dewalt 
streets, where he lived for a number of years, 
after which he removed to the two-story frame 
house west of Joseph S. Saxton's, on West Tus- 
carawas street, where both he and his wife 
died. Adam A. Shorb was a rather tall man, 
12 



while Adam L. was somewhat below the medi- 
um stature, and the citizens commonly desig- 
nated them as "Big Adam" and "Little Adam." 
The Shorb family still has a number of repre- 
sentatives in Stark county, but of the Christ- 
mas family there are none. A few short years 
produce great changes in this world. None 
stood higher or exerted more genuine influence 
in this community at one time than the Christ- 
mas family, and yet there is not one of their 
number left to tell the story. Truthfully can 
it be said, "The places that know us now shall 
soon know us no more forever." 



DEWALT HOTEL AND OTHER LAND- 
MARKS. 

By John Danner. 

The two-story structure of brick at the 
northeast corner of Tuscarawas street and 
Cleveland avenue, known for many years as 
the Whiting corner and later as the Brant cor- 
ner, was erected about 1820 by Philip Dewalt. 
It was built for hotel purposes and was thus 
used by Mr. Dewalt for a time. It had. large 
round pillars and double verandas, though at 
the present time the gallery around the second 
story has been removed, while smaller and 
square pillars support the roof of the upper 
porch. The general outlines of the building, 
however, remain very much the same as they 
were at the time of its erection, more than 
eighty j^ears ago. 

When the hotel was first built it had the 
reputation of being among the finest in this 
part of the state. The hotel barn stood on the 
site of the present Avenue building, southeast 
corner of Cleveland avenue and Fifth street, 
and the ground between the house and barn 
was cultivated as a garden. After keeping 
hotel for several years Mr. Dewalt retired to 
a farm a mile northwest of Canton, on the Ful- 



194 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ton road, known in later years as the home of 
Christian Christ and afterward as that of his 
son-in-law, the late George E. Smith. The 
old Farmers' Bank of Canton bought the De- 
walt corner and removed their bank to this 
building- from its original location in a two- 
story brick building which stood on the present 
site of the county jail. Finally the bank met 
with a number of misfortunes and went into 
licjuidation, the property being offered at public 
sale in 1847 and being acquired by the late Dr. 
L. M. Whiting, who owned it at the time of his 
death. Dr. Lorenzo M. Whiting came to Can- 
ton in 1836 and was married the following- 
year, and he resided in various buildings up to 
the time of purchasing the Dewalt building, 
after which he there made his home until his 
death, in 1884, his wife having passed away 
twenty years previously. Dr. Whiting suc- 
ceeded in building up a very large practice 
among- all classes and was considered one of 
the county's best physicians and most excellent 
citizens. His two brothers, Julius Whiting, 
,?r., and Dr. A. W. Whiting, became citizens of 
Canton at a .somewhat later period, and became 
prominent in local affairs, having the respect 
and confidence of the citizens in general. 

Between the two-story building and the 
Holben building, to the east of the same, was a 
rme-story brick structure that was used by Dr. 
Whiting for his otilice for a number of years, 
while at a later period it was used for various 
business purposes, and during the incumbency 
"f the late William K. Miller the room was 
used as the postofffce of the town. The di- 
mensions of the building could not have been 
more than eighteen by twenty feet, and it may 
readily be imagined how inadequate would be 
such quarters for the handling- of the local 
mail ser\'ice of the present day. The two-story 
l)rick 1)ui]ding east of the old Whiting prop- 
erty was built in 1829 by Jonathan Holben, 
and the date tablet is still in evidence in the 
front of the building. Mr. Holben was a tailor 



by trade and followed this vocation for many 
years, while he resided a little to the east of 
the present German Evangelical church, on 
East Fourth street. Mr. Holben finally gave 
up the tailoring business and removed to a 
farm which he had purchased, in Tuscarawas 
township, about a mile southwest of Brook- 
field, where he passed the remainder of his life, 
his death occurring a few years ago. 

Immediately east of the Holben building 
stood a one-story frame building, w^ith gable 
toward the street, which was used for a number 
of years as a barber shop, the presiding genius 
being a negro named Daniel Mead. He was 
a genial fellow and an excellent performer on 
the violin, being thus called upon to play for 
most of the balls and dances in and about Can- 
ton in those times, the last of which was at Os- 
naburgh, whither he had been called to render 
his services at a dancing party. At the close of 
the festivities an intoxicated man accosted him 
and threatened to shoot him. Mead responded 
with a laugh, whereupon the man fired, killing 
the poor barber, this unfortunate aff'air having 
occurred about sixty-eight years ago and hav- 
ing aroused great indignation. The assassin 
was sentenced to the penitentiary for life, and 
died about a decade ago, being at that time the 
oldest inmate in the prison. 

The old Hurford house, as it now ap- 
pears, represent the results of several re- 
modelings. The writer is informed by 
Mrs. Julius Whiting-, Sr., that her fa- 
tlier, George Stidger. built the first part of 
it, which was a two-story brick building, on the 
corner of Court and Tuscarawas streets, having 
a door in the corner facing eastward and a hall 
door in the center, facing Tuscarawas street, 
there being two rooms opening from each side 
of the hall, while there were the customary 
divisions on the second floor, while the dining- 
room and kitchen were in a one-story addition 
running northward from the main building. 
Mr. Stidger built the house for hotel purposes 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



lys 



and personally conducted business in this line 
for a short time, being succeeded l)y Mr. Troup. 
From the fact that a few sessions of the court 
were held in the ball-room of this building, and 
that the first court house was not erected until 
t8i6, it is evident that the Stidger house must 
have been built as early as 1812 or 1814. After 
the house had been used for hotel purposes for 
a number of years the property was purchased 
by Martin Lohr, who occupied the same until 
his death, having utilized the same for a resi- 
dence and also having his general store in the 
building, where he conducted business for ten 
or more years, having been one of the first mer- 
chants in Canton and having previously con- 
ducted business in a small two-story frame 
building that stood on the northwest corner of 
Market and Eighth streets. After the death 
of Mr. Lohr the property was again used as a 
hotel, the same having been known for some 
time as the Franklin house, while among those 
in charge were Hiram Myers and John D. Sny- 
der. Mr. Snyder was a veteran landlord, and 
his first hotel in Canton was in a building lo- 
cated at the northwest corner of Walnut and 
Tuscarawas streets, known in early days as 
the Clark corner and later as Flohr's hotel. 
After leaving the old Stidger building he con- 
ducted the old American house, on East Tus- 
carawas street, long kept by Samuel Stover, 
and there he continued business tmtil his death. 
A few years later his widow married the late 
David J. Begges, and they built and occupied 
the pleasant residence now standing at 614 
North Market street, where Mrs. Begges died, 
her husl)and later removing to Toledo, where 
he died a few years later, his remains being 
brought to Canton for interment. 

The first hotel to which the name of St. 
Cloud was applied in Canton was a three-story 
brick building occupying the site of the present 
edifice of the First Methodist Episcopal church. 
This was built and owned by Buckius & Hawk, 
was well conducted and soon became a popular 



resort- for the public, but in 1859 this building 
was destroyed by fire, which spread from the 
barn adjoining, while a pitiful detail of the 
disaster was in the burning of several horses. 
In i860 Buckius & Hawk purchased at sher- 
it^'s sale the property now known as the Hur- 
ford house, and reopened a hotel, ■ retaining 
the name St. Cfeud. From the time Hiram 
Myers conducted this hotel until the firm men- 
tioned came into control various changes and 
additions had been made, including the build- 
ing of a third story. After about four years 
Buckius & Hawk sold the house to Peter P. 
Trump, and later he admitted Alex Hurford 
to partnership, the latter eventually becoming 
sole owner. Neither of these gentlemen per- 
sonally conducted the hotel, but rented the 
same, among the proprietors being Messrs. Elli- 
son and Cook, under whose regime it is believed 
the name of St. Cloud was retained. The 
building is now four stories in height and has 
business frontages on Tuscarawas street across 
the entire facade, these changes having been 
made since the Hurfords came into possession 
of the property, which is still used as a hotel. 



THE OLD LIND HOMESTEAD. 

By John Danner. 

The old Lind homestead stood on the south- 
west corner of Cleveland avenue and Tuscara- 
was street, occupying the site of- the present 
Central Savings Bank. Tiie original house 
was erected by Abraham Lind, who occupied 
the same for a number of years. As his family 
included only himself and his wife and their 
son, Jeremiah, he finally decided that the home- 
stead was larger than was demanded for the ac- 
commodation of the family and he therefore 
built a smaller residence immediately west of 
the old homestead. This second building was 
likewise constructed of brick and is two stories 



196 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in height. It is still standing on its original 
site and is one of the old-time residences of the 
city. The old homestead was considered one 
of the fine places of the town at the time of its 
erection. The rear portion of the building was 
likewise of two stories, but of somewhat less 
height than the main building. This 
wing faced on Cleveland avenue and 
had a double porch or veranda about five 
feet in width. The old pump that stood so 
many years on the outer edge of the pavement 
and in front of the back portion of the home- 
stead, served a good purpose for a long period, 
and was removed only a few years ago. Abra- 
ham Lind was a carpenter and contractor and 
was one of the leaders in his vocation in Can- 
ton. He built the old infirmary building about 
the year i<S33, and about the same time erected 
two churches of considerable importance. One 
was known as the Mudbrook church and was 
located about eight miles northwest of Canton, 
on the old North Fulton road, and the other 
was in Manchester, fifteen miles northwest of 
Canton. Said village was originally in Stark 
county, but is now in Summit county, the town- 
ships of Franklin and Green having been taken 
from Stark and added to Summit county at the 
time of its formation. Abraham Lind died 
quite suddenly, in 1857, being stricken while 
at the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Rail- 
road station, which then stood on South Mar- 
ket street. He sufi'ered a stroke of paralysis 
and was at once taken across the railroad track 
into the hotel then kept by Nicholas Pirrong, 
but he died before he could be removed to his 
home, having been nearly seventy-two years of 
age. His wife died about ten years later. 
Their only son, Jeremiah, died in 1899, at his 
home on the northeast corner of McICinley 
avenue and Tuscarawas street, being eighty- 
three years of age at the time. 

Immediately south of the original Lind 
homestead, and facing Cleveland avenue, was 
a one-story frame building, which Mr. Lind 



used for many years as a carpenter shop. Later 
the Rev. T. M. Hopkins, then pastor of the 
Presbyterian church, rented the building for a 
school. He taught as well as preached and 
was competent in both capacities. The weekly 
prayer meetings of his church were held in this 
school building for a number of years. After 
Mr. Lind removed into his smaller residence 
the original homestead was utilized as a hotel, 
the same being conducted by John Black, who 
later engaged in the dry-goods business here, 
and who finally removed to Freeport, Illinois. 
After the hotel business was abandoned in this 
building it was purchased by Hon. B. F. Leiter, 
who occupied the same as a residence until his 
death. The property then passed into the pos- 
session of F". T. Piero, who there resided about 
fifteen years. Eventually the property was 
purchased by the Central Savings Bank, and 
the building was torn down to give place to the 
present fine stone building. 

The two-story brick building west of the 
two Lind houses is still standing and is quite 
an old building. It has undergone many 
changes and repairs. It was erected by Joseph 
Hartman, who was at one time the leading 
tailor of Canton. His frame residence was 
destroyed by fire and the new house was erect- 
ed about 1833. Mr. Hartman was a conscien- 
tious Catholic and all classes of citizens re- 
spected him. Eventually he associated himself 
with his son-in-law, Peter Shimp, and opened 
a clothing store and merchant-tailoring estab- 
lishment at the southeast corner of Tuscarawas 
and Market streets, the building then located 
there having been a two-story brick structure, 
owned by Jacob Shorb, whose grandchildren 
still own the property, the corner now having a 
three-story brick building. Both Mr. Hartman 
and Mr. Shimp finally removed to Chicago, 
where they passed the remainder of their lives. 

The block of lots immediately south of the 
Lind and Hartman properties, and now occu- 
pied by the Odd Fellows' hall, telephone build- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



197 



ing and postoffice, was utilized for many years 
as a lumber yard, the owner being Henry H. 
Myers. He was quite extensively engaged in 
the lumber business for many years, and for a 
time he was also engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness, on the east side of the public square. He 
is still living in Canton. 



THE OLD KAUFMAN HOUSE. 

By John Danner. 

All the older citizens are familiar with one 
of Canton's old landmarks, and that is the 
Kaufman house, which is still standing at the 
northeast corner of Market and Ninth streets. 
Various changes have been made in the build- 
ing, but its general appearance is much the 
same as when it was erected. The lot upon 
which this house stands is one of the original 
size, sixty-six by two hundred feet, and was 
purchased by John Nichols in 18 10 from Beza- 
leel Wells, the consideration being forty dol- 
lars, and in the succeeding year Mr. Nichols 
erected the present building. Later he sold 
the property to John Patton, while later it was 
purchased by William Raynolds, who paid fif- 
teen hundred dollars for the same. He was 
the father of the late John F. Raynolds, who 
was born in this house. For a time John Sax- 
ton, original proprietor of the Ohio Repository, 
the first paper in the county, occupied a por- 
tion of the house, while Mr. Raynolds' family 
utilized the remainder. John L. Saxton, sec- 
ond son of John Saxton, was born in this 
house, while his elder brother, James A., 
was born in the house occupied by the 
family for a short time, on West Tus- 
carawas street, where the Hurford house 
now stands. Younger members of the 
Saxton family were born in a two-story brick 
house which their father erected at the southeast 



corner of Market and Eighth streets, where the 
Saxton block now stands. 

William Raynolds sold his house to Wil- 
liam W. Laird in 1820, and about three years 
later Mr. Laird sold the same to George Wil- 
son, who transferred the property to Peter 
Kaufman about 1826. For many years this 
house was considered one of the best in Can- 
ton, but when the Fogle mansion, on the site 
of the home of Mrs. Cornelius Aultman, was 
erected, in 1833, the latter excelled all other 
residences in Canton, the locality where it is 
situated having been for many years known as 
"Quality Hill." By the erection of Mrs. Ault- 
man's present attractive residence this old land- 
mark was removed. 

In 1830 Solomon Sala and Christian D. 
Lehmus occupied two rooms in the Kaufman 
house and published a German paper, known 
as the Vaterland's Freund, Mr. Kaufman later 
purchasing the paper, of which he became pub- 
lisher and editor, changing its name to the 
Vaterland's F"reund und Geist der Zeit (Father- 
land's Friend and Spirit of the Times). He 
published this paper for a number of years, 
and also began to issue almanacs, after the style 
of the old Lancaster almanacs, the same being 
about eight inches square and published in both 
the German and English languages. Many 
thousands of these were annually issued by Mr. 
Kaufman and were sent into all parts of the 
country. His business in conducting the week- 
ly paper and the annual almanacs became quite 
large, so that more room was required for its 
accommodation, and he according'Iy erected a 
two-story frame building on Ninth street, a few 
feet east of the brick residence, and there the 
printing was largely done thereafter. Peter 
Kaufman died in 1869, but before his death he 
sold out his business to his son-in-law, H. J. 
Nathnagle. who also published for a time a 
German weekly paper, called the Ohio Staats 
Botta. In later years, after the death of Mr. 
Kaufman, the frame building erected bv him 



198 



OLD LANDMARKS 



for the accommodation of his printing business 
was moved to the east end of the lot, corner of 
Ninth and Piedmont streets, and was converted 
into a dwelhng, for A\hich purpose it is still 
rented by his heirs. 

H. J. Nathnagle was an excellent musician 
and composer of music, and his was the distinc- 
tion of being the instructor of the first brass 
band organized in Canton, the same being 
known as the Canton Independent Band. Men- 
tion has already been made of the prominent 
part taken by this organization in the campaign 
of 1840. under the auspices of the Whig con- 
tingent in the county. The Democrats also 
organized a band at this time, and the rivalry 
\\as very spirited. Mr. Nathnagle eventually 
removed from Canton to Cleveland, where he 
remained for some time, after which he went to 
Columbus, where he held the position of in- 
structor in music in the blind asylum of the 
state for the long period of thirty-five years, 
^up to the time of his death, about eighteen 
years ago. 

The old two-story brick building now stand- 
ing on the southeast corner of Ninth and Mar- 
ket streets was erected soon after the Kaufman 
house. It Avas built by Thomas Hartford, 
whose name is held in lasting memory by rea- 
son of the perpetual fund which he left for the 
aid of the poor in the county. He came here 
from Pittsburg and had intended to use this 
house for a permanent residence, but afterward 
concluded to r-eturn to Pittsburg. He was a 
devout Christian, being a member of the Bap- 
tist church, and as there was no organization of 
this denomination in Canton at the time he re- 
sided here, and as his relatives were mostly in 
and about Pittsburg, he preferred to pass his 
last days there. He must have had a great 
love and admiration for Canton, however, as 
otherwise he would not have left a large and 
valuable estate for the benefit of the poor of 
the county. 



THE OLD FOGLE HOMESTEAD. 

By John TD,\nner. 

The Fogle mansion was at the time of its 
erection the finest dwelling in Canton, while 
it was later known as the Griswold mansion. 
This stood on the site occupied by the present 
resilience of Mrs. Cornelius Aultman, 70S 
North Market street. The building was erect- 
ed in 1833 by William Fogle, Sr., and at the 
time attracted much attention, as it was far 
more pretentious and elegant than any other 
residence to be found in the town. Abraham 
Daughenl^augh was the contractor and builder. 
At the time Mr. Fogle erected this notable 
building he tjwned quite a large tract of ground 
surrounding the same. His property included 
the Whiting property, which is north of the old 
residence site, and ran down to North street 
and extended all the way from Market street 
to and including North Walnut street. -\t 
that time the northern corporate limit was 
North street, and when the town corporation 
was extended North Walnut street cut off a 
part of the Fogle property. The original tract, 
which must ha\-e included about ten acres, was 
entirely without buildings save the new and 
elaborate residence. 

At the time of the erection of the Fogle 
mansion Canton could not have had more than 
eighteen hundred population, and even this 
stately building, wliich attracted so much at- 
tention, was not without its rural features, since 
to the south of the mansion was a large and 
usually well cultivated garden. William Fogle 
did not live many years to enjoy his beautiful 
home, and after his death the property passed 
into the possession of Hon. Hiram Griswold, 
who was at that time one of the leading mem- 
bers of the bar of Stark county, while he and 
his wife were acti\'e members of the Presby- 
terian church. After living for a number of 
vears in the Fogle house Mr. Griswold sold the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



199 



property to the late John Laird and then re- 
moved to Cleveland, where he became quite 
prominent in his profession and in public af- 
fairs. He was elected to the senate of the 
state, and in 1S48 was the Whig candidate for 
the United States senate, to which he would 
have undoubtedly been elected had it not been 
for tlie coalition of the Freesoil and Democratic 
forces in that campaign, who united in sup- 
porting Hon. Salmon P. Chase, who was elect- 
ed. Mr. Griswoid later removed to Leax-en- 
worth, Kansas, where both he and his wife died. 

John Laird and family probably occupied 
the house longer than any other family. The 
Laird family was a numerous one and all save 
one of the children vrere Iwys. None of them 
are now resident of Stark county. The late 
George Cook bought the property after the 
Lairds left it, and during his ownership it was 
rented to various persons, among them Ijeing 
\y. H. H. Avery, who conducted a large select 
school in a building which Mr. Cook erected 
for that purpose on the grounds, and facing on 
Walnut street. This school at one time en- 
joyed a high degree of popularity and gave in- 
dications of becoming a permanent institution 
of learning, but Mr. Avery finally became con- 
vinced tliat it was his duty to preach the gos- 
pel, and he accordingly abandoned teaching 
and entered the ministry of the Baptist church. 
The old Fogle property lias now been divided 
into numerous cit}' lots, and there is little to 
indicate its condition at the time when this at- 
tractive old residence was standing- on the spa- 
cious grounds. While it was true that for 
many years the Fogle mansion was the best 
house in Canton, it is certain that if it were 
standing today it would command no attention 
save by reason of its antiquity. 

The large brick residence now owned and 
occupied by Judge William R. Day was like- 
wise built many years ago, but at a much later 
date than the old Fogle homestead, from whose 
site it is nearly opposite. Rev. Stephen A. 



Mealey, father-in-law of the late Louis Shaeft- 
er, was the builder of the original structure, 
but in later years, after the death of Mr. ^ileal- 
ey, the building was much enlarged and other- 
wise remodeled by Mr. Shaeffer, who occupied 
it until his death. This house was for many 
years the only one between Louis avenue and 
North street on that side of the Ijlock, and the 
only house east of the Catholic grounds 
to Market street. The home grounds of the 
late President McKinley. and all lietween 
that and the present l)a\- mansion ha\'e 
been erected since, and also south of the Day 
home to North street. Tlie third house put 
up in that direction, aside from the farm houses 
beyond, was the two-story brick house occupied 
by Leopold P)iechele. The writer of this article 
erected this house in 1856 and sold it to Mr. 
Biechele in 1S67, who has occupied it ever 
since. The next year thereafter Hon. Seraphim 
Meyer built the two-story brick residence now 
owned and occupied by Mrs. Harriet Whit- 
ing, widow of the late Julius Whiting, Sn, and 
from that time buildings began to spring up 
rapidly in that vicinity, and the land far be- 
yond is now dotted with pleasant homes. 



THE SAME OLD SQUARE. 



By John Danner. 



Probably the east side of the north public 
square in Canton has undergone less change 
than any other square in the city; most of the 
buildings standing there were erected seventy- 
five and eighty years ago, when Canton was a 
village of one thousand or fifteen hundred in- 
habitants. Some of the buildings have had 
new fronts put in since that time, and others 
have had fire walls or other modern improve^ 
ments made, but most of the original buildings 
are still there. Where L. Sollman has his drug 
store and C. F. Spanagel his harness shop, is 



200 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the same frontage as that where John Reed for 
so many years resided and carried on the busi- 
ness of making saddles and harnesses in the 
front part, while the family occupied the rear 
part and the second story for residence pur- 
poses. The building which Mr. Reed built 
and so long occupied was a two-story brick, 
occupying the same frontage as the brick build- 
ing which now stands there, and the present 
building is the only complete one erected in 
the block for many years. When Mr. Reed 
carried on the saddle business many side-sad- 
dles for the ladies were used, both in town and 
in the country. It was quite a common thing 
in those days to see women coming in from 
their country homes with the horns of their sad- 
dles laden with baskets or bundles of produce 
for sale or for exchange for goods at the vari- 
ous stores. Such a sight today would attract 
much attention, but then it was an every-day 
occurrence. It was also a custom at that period 
for parents to present to their daughters at 
the time of their marriage side-saddles and spin- 
ning wheels, both of which articles were es- 
sential to the lady of every household. 

.\nother is the two-story frame building, 
still standing, which was originally built and 
for a time occupied as a residence b}' the 
late George Stidger, father of Mrs. Harriet 
^^■hiting. widow of the late Julius Whiting, 
Sr. At a later date Jonas Policy lived in the 
house for a number of years, and there carried 
on business as a jeweler and watchmaker. In 
later years it was the residence and place of 
business of the late George Fessler, who at one 
time had a quite large trade established there in 
the grocery and provision business. In still 
later years the building has been used by vari- 
ous persons, mostly for saloons and liquor sell- 
ing. 

South of this is a two-story brick building, 
in the south part of which has been a store 
room for a number of years. This building 
also was erected by the late George Stidger, 



at the time he was living in the frame building 
adjoining. For a time Mr. Stidger had a 
store in the south part of the building, occupy- 
ing the other part as a residence. When O. T. 
Browning first came to Canton, about 1835, he 
opened his store there, and the writer well re- 
calls the time when he began to sell calico at 
twelve and one-half cents a yard and what a 
run of trade he had, and what a sensation was 
created, for previously calico had sold from 
eighteen and three-fourths to thirty-one and 
one-fourth cents a yard, and was mostly im- 
ported from England. The colors would fade 
when the goods were put into water ; such cali- 
coes today would not sell at all. Our American 
manufacturers have greatly improved the qual- 
ity and reduced the price of such goods since 
este day. In later years Mr. Browning had his 
store oi: East Tuscarawas street, where the 
Miller Company is now located, but the build- 
ing on tliat site at the time was a two-story 
frame structure. The old store room in build- 
ing No. 3 was used for a number of years by 
the late John R. ^filler, who there conducted a 
dry-goods business, while for some time he 
was associated in the business with John W. 
Gibbs. The room is now used as a grocery. 

The residence part of this building was 
owned and used for many years by the late 
"Uncle Dan" Dewalt, as his home. On the 
north side of the brick building originally Ijuilt 
by George Stidger was an alley or passage, 
and across this was a building which was buili 
by Daniel Dewalt nearly a half century ago, 
uniform in construction with the original Stid- 
ger building. In later years the buildings 
liave had new fronts put in, and the entire first 
floor of each are utilized for business purposes, 
\\hile the upper floors have been converted into 
iiftlces, but it is still the old Stidger building. 

The building which occupies the south lot 
on this block was originally known as the Sterl- 
ing building. John Sterling built a two-story 
brick the entire width of his lot. fronting on 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



20 1 



the public square and' running back along Tus- 
carawas street about seventy-five feet. In the 
south corner of these buildings Mr. Sterling 
had his place of business. He died rather 
young and his widow later married Levi P. 
Gitchell, who conducted a store in the same 
room for a number of years. The north part 
of this building was destroyed by fire several 
years ago, and has been rebuilt, or partially 
so, the front being new. Aside from this no 
buildings have been erected here in recent years 
except the ones to which reference has been 
made. At one time in early years Christian Vo- 
gelgesang kept a store in the north room of the 
Sterling or Gitchell property, and about 1835 
a grocery store was kept in this room by 
Messrs. Dickey and Lindemuth, who were 
brothers-in-law. Hiram K. Dickey, of this 
firm, afterward removed to Massillon, where 
he engaged in the wholesale grocery business, 
conducting tiie enterprise for several years and 
becoming one of the leading citizens of that 
place. He died there several years ago. 

East of the Gitchell property, on Tuscara- 
was street, where the Farmers' Bank is now 
located, was a small frame building of one 
story, which stood some distance from the side- 
walk. In this building Edward White car- 
ried on the shoemaking business for a number 
of years. He was an excellent man and was 
quite active as a worker in the First Methodist 
Episcopal church in the early years of its his- 
tory. 

Next to the White building, on the site of 
the present George D. Harter Bank, was a 
two-story brick building, which stood some dis- 
tance above the pavement, so that five or six 
steps were used to afford access. In this build- 
ing E. D. Albert, father of T. B. Albert, car- 
ried on the hatting business for many years. 
In the basement, or lower story, the greater 
part of the manufacturing was done, while the 
upper story was used as the salesroom. This 
shop also served as a justice's office, Mr. Albert 



having served as justice of the peace for several 
terms. Samuel Subrug also had a justice's 
office in the same room, while the hatting busi- 
ness was still carried on there. Where the 
Graber building now stands was a two-story 
frame building, with the gable toward the street 
and with pillars and an open front on the first 
floor. This building was erected by John Pir- 
rong and for a time he occupied the same as 
a residence and also conducted a restaurant, 
while later Mr. V'olgelgesang and others util- 
ized the building for the same purposes. The 
building was among the first in Canton to have 
an open front. On the corner of Tuscarawas 
and I'iedmont streets, where Bour Brothers 
now have their china store, stood the old brick 
stable built by Mr. Sterling, but as business 
houses of another character laegan to locate in 
the immediate vicinity the stable was converted 
into a shop and was occupied by Robert Lati- 
mer, who utilized the same for the wood-work- 
ing department of his wagon and carriage man- 
ufactory. Afterward it changed hands several 
times, and was finally purchased by the late 
Jacob Hane, who erected the three-story build- 
ing now standing on the site. 



INTERESTING DATA. 

By John Danner. 

In another article has been given a descrip- 
tion of the old academy building in Canton, the 
same having stood on the site of the present 
high school building, which fine structure shows 
veiy clearly the improvement and progress 
made in the past eighty years in school build- 
ings in Canton. The late Robert H. Folger, of 
IMassillon, left among his valuable collection 
of books a record of the constitution of the 
Canton Academy, and it is pleasing to know 
that his daughters have graciously contributed 
the same to the Canton public library for pres- 



202 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ervation. The book is quite a large oile, the 
size of an ordinary ledger, and is in a good 
state of preservation, considering its age. The 
records are entered in a good, clear, legible 
handwriting. 

From this record we find that the citizens 
of Canton felt the need of good schools, and 
that on January lo, iSi8, the Canton Academy 
Association was organized, and the following 
named persons subscribed for the number of 
shares indicated in the respective connections : 
William Raynolds, eight; John Harris, four; 
George Stidger, four; Samuel Coulter, four; 
Thomas Hurford, four; James Drennen, tw^o; 
John Saxton, one; Joseph Porter, one; Will- 
iam Christmas, two; Roscoe M. Mason, one; 
J. ^\^ Hoyt. one; J. W. Lathrop, two; James 
\\illiams, two; Moses Andrews, one; William 
Fog"le, five; George Dunbar, one; Alexander 
Cameron, one; Thomas Alexander, three; 
James Hazlett, two ; John Buckius, two ; John 
Everhardt, one; Thomas .V. Drayton, one; 
Samuel Patton, one: Hugh McFall, one: Mar- 
tin Lohr, two ; Thomas Hartford, two ; James 
Gaff, Sr., one; George Marshall, one; David 
Park, two; John AVebb, two; Jacob Rex, one; 
George Cribbs, one ; John Alyers, three ; John 
Prouse, one; Christian Palmer, one; John Car- 
ol), two; Jacob Rapp, one; Abraham Kroft, 
one: Jonas Policy, one: Israel Bower, one; R. 
E. I^oomis, one; Jacob Welty, one; D. B. Wick, 
one: John Whipple, one; Thomas A. Drayton, 
one; William Lower, two; John Kryder, one; 
Joshua Richards, one ; John Sterline. three ; 
James Adams, one; James Rowland, two; Wi- 
nans Clark, two; George Dewalt, one. 

Upon organization the following trustees 
were elected : John Saxton, John Harris, J. 
W. Lathrop, William Fogle, William Christ- 
mas, James Hazlett, John Myers, John Webb, 
James Drennen. William Raynolds, James Gaff 
and Thomas Hurford, and they elected Samuel 
Coulter president and \Villiam Christmas clerk. 
Most of the above names are quite familiar to 



the old citizens of Canton and surrounding 
country. They laid broad and deep the foun- 
dations for the education of our youth, and 
hence our present fine and elegant public 
schools. Our present union school system is 
of comparatively modern introduction all over 
the country. Li those early days all had to be 
done by personal and voluntary contribution 
and sacrifice. 

In the same record book above referred to 
are the recortlsof the corporation of the town 
of Canton, the same showing that the town was 
incorporated on the 30th of January, 1822. 
The first meeting on record was held in the 
court house May 7, 1822, and on this occasion 
M'ere present James W. Lathrop, president ; 
Samuel Pennywell, recorder ; and Joseph Robb, 
Christian Palmer and Jacob Rex. At this 
meeting they passed two ordinances, one of 
which was entitled "An ordinance to preserve 
cleanliness, promote safety and prevent ob- 
structions in the streets and alleys of the town 
of Canton," and the other "An ordinance to 
regulate the market and extinguish fire." At 
the same meeting John Buckius was unani- 
mously appointed street commissioner and 
George Stidger fire marshal, and it was also 
ordered that Christian Palmer and Jacob Robb 
be authorized to contract to fence, gravel and 
repair the market house, which has been previ- 
ously described in this series of articles. "On 
the 17th day of September, 1822, John Sterling, 
Jacob Rex, James Hazlett and Christian Palm- 
er, trustees of Canton, granted and signed an 
order to James W. Lathrop, No. i , to purchase 
a water engine with two hundred and seventy 
dollars." This was the first engine or fire ap- 
paratus introduced in Canton to extinguish 
fires. It was called the "Phoenix," and was 
a little box-shaped, hand-brake affair. It was 
kept in use for many years, and. finally the 
larger one, known as the "Fairmount," was in- 
troduced. Neither of these were suction en- 
"•ines, and could onlv throw such water as was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



20^ 



put in the box, the usual plan of keeping them 
supplied with water being to have the bucket 
lines formed to cisterns, wells, etc., the women 
and chiklren Ijeing in the line to pass back the 
empty buckets, while able bodied men formed 
the line to pass along the buckets wdien filled 
with water. Each householder w-as required to 
keep two leathern buckets to be used in case 
of fire. 

At a meeting for the election of officers for 
the corporation of Canton, held at the house of 
George Dewalt on Saturday, April 6, 1828, 
John Myers was elected president; James Al- 
len, recorder; Timothy Reed, treasurer; \Vill- 
iam Cunningham, town marshal; and Christian 
Palmer, ^Villiam Gardner. George H. Cake, 
Levi B. Gitchell and Lewis Fogle were elected 
trustees. The abo\e elected board met on 
April 12, 1828, in the ofifice of the county clerk, 
and the following appointments were then 
made: Abraham Lind, street commissioner; 
Adam Fogle, fire master ; John Buckius and 
John Dunbar, guardsmen ; George Dunbar. Jr., 
Sylvanus Buckius. John Clark, George Cribbs 
and George Swigert. laddermen ; Daniel Raf- 
fensberger and Andrew Munks, bookmen, and 
Julius Smith and George Hippe, axmen. 

On the ]2th of ALay, 1830, when Levi P. 
Gitchell was president, and James Hazlett, John 
Saxton and Jolm Clark were trustees, the fol- 
lowing appointments were made : Jonas Pol- 
ley, fire master ; Jacob Rapp, John Caskey, 
guardsmen ; Eli Sowers, Jacob Lengafetter, 
Jacob Bucher, George Dunbar, Jr., and Syl- 
vanus Buckius. laddermen; William Phillips, 
George Cribbs. bookmen ; William Roberts, 
Samuel McDonnel, axmen; and John Miller, 
market master. On page 58 of these records 
appears the following : "At a meeting of the 
president and trustees of the town of Canton, 
Ohio, on the 20th day of August, 1834, Sand- 
ers Van Ransalaer, Eli Sowers, Jacob Rapp, 
Peter Toffler and Henry Kline, trustees, the 
following was adopted : AMiereas, For the 



purpose of preventing as far as possible the in- 
troduction of the Asiatic cholera among the 
citizens of this town, the president and trustees 
have and hereby ordain that the marshal of said 
town and said president and the sanitary board 
thereof are hereby authorized and required to 
take immediate steps to prevent, by force if 
necessary, any person or persons coming into 
said town from any infected place or places 
without written consent or permission of the 
president of the board of health of said town, 
and said marshal and sanitary board are hereby 
authorized and empowered to adopt any meas- 
ures they may deem proper for the purpose of 
carrying this ordinance fully into effect. — 
Sanders Van Ransalaer, president.' " 

The older citizens will remember that from 
1832 to 1835 cholera was quite prevalent 
throughout the country, and that the scourge 
found victims in both Canton and Massillon. 
The persons above named, as connected with 
the academy and- town, w^ere among our best 
citizens, and many of their descendants still re- 
side in the county. The older citizens will re- 
call most of the names as quite familiar to 
them from their childhood, and thus it is quite 
proper to make this extended record of those 
who went before us and helped to prepare our 
lot in so goodly a heritage. It is well to cher- 
ish their memory and to see that w^e well im- 
prove the blessings handed down to us. 



PETER HERBRQCK HOMESTEAD. 

By John Danner. 

The old homestead of the late Rev. Peter 
Herbruck is still standing at the northeast cor- 
ner of Tuscaraw-as and Herbruck streets, the 
latter of which was named in his honor. The 
building at the present time is known as No. 
1003 East Tuscarawas street, and was erected 
by Mr. Herbnick in 1834. so that it is now 



204 



OLD LANDMARKS 



nearly seventy years old and is well worthy of 
being pointed out as one of the few remaining 
landmarks of the early days. The kitchen ad- 
dition on the north side and the one-story ad- 
dition on the east side were put up a number 
of years after the erection of the main build- 
ing, but aside from these two additions the 
original building looks much as it did when 
first built. 

Rev. Peter Herbruck was much beloved by 
his own people and highly regarded by all good 
citizens, whether of his immediate congrega- 
tion or some other. He was a native of Ger- 
many, and from the time he was ten years of 
age. he longed and prayed that he might be 
a minister of the gospel. In preparation for 
this work he for several years walked five miles 
each morning and back home at night in order 
to prosecute his studies in a select school, pre- 
paratory for the work which represented his 
aim in life. lie also longed to come to Ameri- 
ca, but his father was poor and his mother 
would not consent to leave her native land. 
In 1 83 1 young Herbruck, then only eighteen 
years of age, resolved to seek a home in the 
United States, and he walked five hundred 
miles to the city of Havre, whence he expected 
to start on his voyage to the new world. He 
was compelled to wait in Havre several weeks 
before he could secure passage to the United 
States, and eventually started in an old French 
sailing vessel. The boat had been out only 
two or three days when it was overtaken by a 
terrific storm, which swept away two of the 
masts and nearly wrecked the craft. The boat 
was towed by a friendly vessel back to Ply- 
mouth, England, for repairs, and after 
much delay it made a second start, from 
that port, and after being out seventy- 
two days, contending against many re- 
verses, finally dropped anchor in Phil- 
adelphia. The delays and mishaps had greatly 
reduced the little store of money with swliich 
the young theological student had started out. 



but his warm and genial nature gained him 
friends who extended him assistance. He start- 
ed west from Philadelphia and proceeded as far 
as Womelsdorf, Berks county, that state, where 
he secured a position to teach the winter term 
in a country school. In the early spring of 1832 
he started to come farther west, and met a party 
with an old-style Conestoga wagon, the canvas 
cover of which bore the words, in large letters, 
"For Ohio." With this party he journeyed 
as far as Wheeling, West Virginia, where he 
met a young man who was going northward 
toward New Lisbon, Ohio, to which point they 
came in company. ■ When thej- arrived in New 
Lisbon he informed his companion that he could 
go no further northward with him, that he 
had made it a subject of prayer and that he 
would start westward on the state road toward 
Canton. In a few days he arrived in Canton, 
finding it a small village. He started to go far- 
ther west, and near the west creek he rested 
and slept for a few hours. He then started on 
toward Massillon, but when he, reached Wirt's 
tavern, about a mile west of Reedurban, he 
found the landlord to be a friend in need and 
one who extended a helpful sympathy, for soon, 
through his influence, the young man was found 
teaching in a country school house hard by. 
.Shortly after this time Rev. Benjamin Foust, 
who was pastor of the Reformed church in Can- 
ton, stopped at the Wirt hotel, where he formed 
the acquaintance of Mr. Herbruck, to whom 
he finally said, "Young man, do not bury your 
talent in a napkin, but come to me and prepare 
yourself for the ministry." He accepted the in- 
vitation from Mr. Faust and at once applied 
himself to the more complete preparation for 
the ministry, his desire to enter upon the work 
of this sacred calling having never waned. This 
was in the spring of 1832, and the young man 
much enjoyed the pri\'ate theological instruc- 
tions of Mr. Faust. The writer well remem- 
bers going with his father that same year to 
call at the Reformed parsonage and there for 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



205 



the first time saw Rev. Peter Herbruck, having 
been a boy of nine years at the time. In No- 
vember of the same year Rev. Benjamin Faust 
was attacked with a dangerous disease of the 
throat and his death occurred shortly after- 
ward. The young theological student was 
called upon at once to fill the vacant pulpit and 
though he was only in the nineteenth year of 
his age he at once won the affection and sup- 
port of the congregation, with whom he re- 
mained as pastor for more than fifty-three 
years, closing his long and useful service in 
1886. This is the longest pastorate served by 
any minister of any denomination in Canton, 
and the writer knows of no other in the entire 
state so long protracted. 

In the early histoiy of the Reformed church 
in Canton they and the Lutherans jointly owned 
and occupied the same house of worship, and 
the German Lutheran church now stands on 
the east end of the block they owned. In i860 
the congregation agreed to separate, the Lu- 
therans taking the east end of the block, on 
which stood the old house of worship, which 
they continued to use for a time, finally build- 
ing the present house of worship on the lot. 
The Reformed congregation took the west part 
of the block, and at once built a substantial 
brick church, near the west end of the block. 
This ])uilding is still standing, but has been 
greatly enlarged and much improved in style 
and modern conveniences. The late Conrad 
Schweitzer^ Sr., was one of Rev. Peter Her- 
bruck's most active and liberal supporters in 
the construction of their new house of worship, 
and one of the bells in the tower of the church 
was put in by him at his own expense. 

The year after Mr. Herbruck took charge 
of the Canton congregation he married Miss 
Sarah Holwick, daughter of the late Jonathan 
Holwick, Avho lived two and one-half miles east 
of town and a little north of the state road. 
The next year Mr. Herbruck built the house 
to which reference is made in the initial para- 



graph of this article, and he there continued to 
reside until his death, in 1895, having lived with 
his excellent companion sixty-two years, and all 
but the first year in the same house, in which 
all of their children were born and reared. Very 
few such instances can be found in the county, 
and it is doubtful if there is another one of 
which such record can be made. There was a 
quite large family of children, the majority be- 
ing boys, among whom are Rev. E. P. Her- 
bruck, pastor of the Trinity Reformed church 
in Canton ; Rev. E. Herbruck, of Dayton, Ohio, 
and Ferdinand Herbruck, one of the prominent 
and influential business men of Canton. During 
the pastorate of Rev. Peter Herbruck he often 
had other out-stations which he supplied, such 
as Paris, Osnaburg, Carrollton, Bethlehem, 
Georgetown, Cairo, New Berlin, etc. This was 
occasioned by two reasons, first, the want of 
clergymen, and second on the score that the 
financial support from the Canton congregation 
was very meager. It has been said, and is un- 
doubtedly true, that Rev. Peter Herbruck mai?- 
ried more persons and ofticiated at more funer- 
als tihan any other man who has ever lived in 
Stark county. The record is that he performed 
two thousand six hundred and eleven marriage 
ceremonies and ofificiated at two thousand five 
hundred and sixty funerals. The German lan- 
guage was Father Herbruck's native togne 
and in that language he loved to preach the 
gospel. He became quite proficient in the use 
of the English language, but the writer be- 
lieves that he never attempted to preach in any 
language save the German. 



THE OLD PUBLIC SQUARE. 



By John Danner. 



1840 was a notable year; it was the one 
in which General William Henry Harrison 
was elected president by the Whig party. The 



2o6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



campaign was known above all that ever pre- 
ceded it. "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too" was the 
slogan ; coon skins and hard cider the emblems, 
and log cabins the places of meeting. That same 
year General Harrison spoke in Massillon, and 
on his way eastward in a stage coach he stopped 
for one meal at the Eagle hotel in Canton, and 
the writer well remembers the greetings the 
General received in the short time he was in 
the village. General Hamson was inaugurated 
March 4, 1841, and died on the 4th of the suc- 
ceeding month, having been president only one 
month, and three or four days elapsed ere the 
news of his death was received in Stark county, 
the most rapid means of communication at that 
time being the stage coach or the postman on 
horseback. 

The old court house was a brick structure 
built in 1816, and the same has already been 
described in the preceding article. In the tower 
was the old bell which is now in the central 
engine house. In the one-story frame building- 
next north of the court house was at that time 
the dry goods store of Jacob Schaefer, an 
elder brother of the late Louis Schaefer, who 
was at that time a clerk in this store, while later 
he took up the study of law. The two-story 
frame building next north of Schaefer's was 
occupied by Martin Wikidal as a store and res- 
idence, the north half being utilized 
for the latter purpose. Joseph Shorb 
had erected said building and he occu- 
pied the same as a store previous to 1836, 
while the upper room was used for a theatrical 
hall. The two-story brick building next 
north of the ^¥ikidal building was owned by 
M. and J. Laird, who utilized the south half as 
a store and the north half as a residence. Mat- 
thew Laird, the senior member of the firm, was 
a bachelor and was very deaf. He afterward 
sold his interest in the business to his brother 
John, who continued the enterprise a short time 
and then engaged in the foundiy and machine 
Imsiness, eventually building up quite an exten- 



sive industry in that line. He died a few years 
ago, in Canton, being nearly ninety-three years 
of age at the time. After John Laird, quit the 
mercantile business the store room was enlarged 
and for a number of years was used as a 
hardware store by the firm of Raynolds & Sax- 
ton, the late James i\. Saxton having been the 
junior member of the original firm, while later 
Joseph S. Saxton succeeded him. At a later pe- 
riod Conrad Schweitzer, Sr;., also kept a hard- 
ware store in the same building. 

The two-story brick building which stood 
on the northwest corner of the public square, 
on the site of the present Folwell block, was 
built by William Foglc, grandfather of Henry 
C. Fogle, whose father, Lewis Fogle, thereafter 
conducted tiie same line of business in the build- 
ings, while the hardware business was still car- 
ried on there at later periods by Jonathan G. 
Lester and Fatton & Pepple. After the property 
was purchased by Martin \Vikidal, he occu- 
pied all but the store room as his residence 
until his death, a few years ago. The store 
was used for a number of years by the Dueble 
Brothers, who were engaged in the jewelry 
business there, and also by the late Joseph A. 
Meyer, for a similar purpose. Thereafter the 
changes were so numerous that it is needless 
to enumerate them in this connection. 

The market house, which stood in the cen- 
ter of the square, was Ixiilt in 1836, and has 
been fully described in a preceding article, as 
ha\'e also the uses to which the various rooms 
of the building were applied. The lower story 
was all open for market places, and even at that 
time a very good market was kept up three 
mornings each week, Tuesday, Thursday and 
Saturday. This was continued until quite re- 
cently, and it is a question among many as to 
whether or not it has proved best to effect the 
change in market hours that has been made 
in recent years. The first telegraph office 
opened in Canton, in 1845, '^^'^s in the south- 
west room of this building, upstairs. The late 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



207 



George R. Sa.xton was the first operator, and 
the first service here was effected through the 
use of a loop from the main line at Massillon. 
That town had both the telegraph and express 
service before such advantages were secured 
to Canton, and the leading business men of 
Canton transacted their telegraph and express 
business in Massillon. After a few years Canton 
secuned direct telegraphic communication and 
also an express ofiice, that of the Adams Com- 
pany. The late G. W. Huntington was the 
first local agent of the company, while at the 
start he also acted as ticket agent for the Pitts- 
burg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad. Finally 
his entire attention wis given to the express 
business. The market house here referred to 
was not the first in Canton, the original building 
erected for this purpose having been put up 
about 1 8 18. 



JACOB MYERS' LIFE WORK. 

By JoH>f Danner. 

A building erected by the late Jacob Myers 
about sixty years ago and occupied by him as 
his residence until his death, in 1S73, '^ still 
standing on the original site, at the extreme 
south end of Cherry street, across the creek and 
on an elevation which affords a commanding 
view of Canton and the surrounding country. 

Jacob Myers was born in Hagerstown, Ma- 
ryland, in November, 1784, and died in Canton 
in December, 1873, having thus entered upon 
his ninetieth year. He came to Stark county 
in iSii. at which time there were few houses 
in Canton, while the county was almost a wil- 
derness. The few citizens then here were al- 
ways glad to greet newcomers, and their cor- 
dial \\'elcome was one to be long remem- 
bered. Jacob Myers loved to relate many 
of his early experiences and the scenes and in- 
cidents of his first coming to Canton. In the 
autumn of iSri he returned to Hagerstown, 



but came back to Canton the- following year. 
While he was in Maryland he built a wool- 
carding machine and also took unto himself a 
wife, and when he returned to Canton he 
iM-ought his carding machine, which was the 
first of the kind in the county. He put the 
machine in operation in the east part of the 
town, in what were known for many years as 
the Rowland mills, and the mill and machine 
were eventually destroyed by fire. After this 
Mr. Myers purchased a lot on the southwest 
corner of Eighth and Market streets, where he 
again put a carding machine into operation, 
utilizing horse power. At one time he owned 
a portion of the land on which the city of Mas- 
sillon now stands, near the point where the 
Sippo creek empties into the Tuscarawas river ; 
some distance up the small stream he built a 
saw-mill and powder-mill. It is believed that 
this was the only powder-mill every established 
in the county. In the early days the Indians , 
had camps on the west bank of the Tuscarawas 
river. About 181 5 Mr. Myers sold his Massil- 
lon property to P'olger & Coffin, and the writer 
believes they afterward sold it to Mr. Roach, 
who built a woolen factory further up the 
stream. In 181 6 Mr. Myers leased the tract 
of land and later purchased the property. As 
it was school land he could not purchase the 
same in the beginning, but by securing a lease 
as he did, he had the first chance to buy the 
land when it was placed in the market. Near 
the residence he erected a flouring-mill, which 
was one of the first in the county, and at one 
time it had a large custom. In those days all 
mills were operated by water power. The east 
branch of the Nimishillen creek afforded a 
good supply of water for this purpose, but of 
course it took hard work and a considerable 
outlay of money to make all the proper connec- 
tions. The foundations of the old mill, or a 
part of the foundation, may yet be seen. The 
nn'll was burned while owned by George C. 
Harvey and was never rebuilt. 



208 



OLD LANDMARKS 



For want of transportation facilities wheat 
was unsalable, or if sold, it commanded about 
twenty-five cents a bushel in the local market. 
In this condition of things Mr. Myers had ac- 
cumulated quite a stock of flour, and he ac- 
cordingly joined Daniel Slanker, owner of what 
was known as the "high mill," in Jackson 
township, and together they built a boat on the 
Tuscarawas river, in 1823, intending to take it 
down, via the Muskingum river, to the Ohio 
and thence to New Orleans. They put three 
hundred barrels of flour on board, together 
with some pork and whiskey, for Mr. Myers 
had also built and placed in operation a distil- 
lery. With a crew of five men, they finally 
started out with their cargo. The}' could only 
float with the current and generally tied up 
along the river banks at night. They proceeded 
safely but slowly until they reached Zanes- 
ville, on the Muskingum river. There they 
collided with a raft of logs, partially wrecking 
their boat, which soon afterward sank to the 
bottom of the river. Messrs. Myers and Slan- 
ker naturally became discouraged, and after 
making ready to start with what could be 
saved from their wrecked cargo, they consigned 
all to John Kincaid and returned to Canton. 
Kincaid took another course with his cargo and 
never reported to the owners, so that the entire 
venture proved a total loss. 

Dr. Andrew Rappe, who was at that time 
quite active as a business man in Canton, where 
he was also engaged in the practice of his pro- 
fession, also made a similar effort to send a 
cargo to New Orleans, starting via the Tusca- 
rawas river, but he proceeded onl}" as far as 
Zoar, where he abandoned the attempt, dispos- 
ing of his products as best he could. It is be- 
lieved that these two attempts to use the Tusca- 
rawas ri\-er as a navigable stream put an end 
to further ventures in the line, save in the 
local points. Mr. Myers began the erection of 
ills flouring-mill in 1816. and to build a mill, 
dig a race and construct a dam in those days 



was a great undertaking. But he persevered 
and also bm'lt a saw-mill and a mill house for 
his miller. He also carried on the business of 
fulling and cloth dressing, which in that epoch 
was much needed, as the women spun the yarn 
and made ready the material for making their 
home-spun cloth and linsey-woolsey, so that 
carding machines and cloth-weaving looms were 
much in demand. About 1846 Mr. Myers gave 
up both the distilling and fulling' business. The 
former became disreputable, the latter unprofit- 
able, but the flouring-mill continued in opera- 
tion until its destruction by fire, as already 
noted. 

Jacob Myers was a man of strong convic- 
tions, and while he might greatly differ with 
many of his fellow-citizens in his political and 
religious A-iews, he was uniformly regarded as 
an honest and upright citizen. He had man}' 
hard struggles financially, but manfully met all 
reverses and eventually became free from in- 
debtedness and had a comfortable home and 
many friends. His son Washington and his 
wife are still residing in Canton, and are num- 
bered among our oldest and most respected cit- 
izens. William H. H. Myers, the youngest 
son, now lives in the old homestead, being in 
advanced years and much respected in the com- 
munitv. 



THE SMITH HOMESTEAD. 

By John Danner. 

The residence of David Smith, 2216 West 
Third street, is a veritable landmark of the days 
long since fallen into the abyss of time. This 
house, which is located just west of Harrison 
avenue, was erected in 1820, by Jacob Smith, 
father of the present occupant, and has been 
somewhat changed from its original appear- 
ance, since a porch has been added and a second 
story to the wing at the west. When this house 
was built, a brick yard was located a short dis- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



209 



tance west of the barn, and in this were manu- 
factured the brick for the house. At the time 
of its erection, and until about 1837, the Mas- 
sillon road passed in front of this house. After 
leaving the creek the road led to Hazlett avenue, 
the same as it does at the present time. At that 
point, however, it bore ofif to the right and 
came onto Third street a short distance east of 
the Smith Jionie, thence continuing as at pres- 
ent up past the Zettler nursery, coming out to 
the present Massillon road at Reedurban. What 
is now known as the Massillion road from 
Hazlett avenue to Reedurban was not then 
opened. 

About 1828 Jacob Smith built an oil mill 
on the site now occupied by the power house of 
the city water works, near the west branch of 
the Nimishilien creek. The race which he con- 
structed for said mill is the same one which is 
now utilized by the power house. Soon after 
the completion of this mill Mr. Smith built the 
two-story brick residence that yet stands on the 
hill a short distance above the water-works 
station, and he removed into the new house and 
left the older one for the use of his children. 
It has never passed out of the possession of the 
family and is at present occupied by his son 
David, as has been already noted. Jacob Smith 
lived in his house on the hill until his death in 
1855, when about eighty-eight years of age. 
He had four sons and four daughters, all of 
whom are now deceased except David, who oc- 
cupies the original homestead. 

Jacob Smitii was quite acti\'e in the old Re- 
formed church, of which the late and honored 
Rev. Peter Herbruck Avas the pastor for more 
than fifty years. At that time both the Re- 
formed and the Lutheran churches occupied the 
old church building which stood on the site of 
the present German Exangelical Lutheran 
church, on the corner of Tuscarawas and Her- 
bruck streets. 

Before the IMassillon road was changed to 



its present location as running between Hazlett 
avenue and Reedurban, an unfortunate accident 
occurred on this section of the original road, 
and mention of the same may consistently be 
made in this connection. Gardner Field, of 
Massillon, liad been over in Canton attending 
a ball at Dewalt's tavern, which stood on the 
site of the present Eagle block. It was in mid- 
winter and the weather quite cold, and Mr. 
Field had driven to Canton in his gig, a two- 
wdieeled and one-seated vehicle, of a type com- 
mon in those days. The ground was frozen 
very hard and it was after midnight when Mr. 
Field started for home, alone. As he did not 
arrive at Massillon in the morning, search was 
made for him, and a short distance east of 
Flooms tavern, or Reedurban, he was found 
dead, his feet entangled in the reins, while the 
horse had stopped, with his dead driver lying 
on the ground. Mr. Field was a most excel- 
lent citizen and a man of good habits, and it 
was supposed that he had been overcome by 
sleep and fallen out of his gig, while his feet 
became so entangled in the reins that he was 
dragged to his death, after which the horse 
stopped. Gardner Field'and his brother William 
were among the best citizens of Massillon, and 
the latter was for a number of terms incumbent 
of the office of justice of the peace in that town. 
He afterward removed to the capital city of the 
state, where he served in the same capacity for 
a number of years, and there he died nearly 
twenty-fi\e years ago, much respected and loved 
by all who knew him. 

In the days first referred to in this article 
there were several very influential and enter- 
prising citizens in Massillon, whose names will 
be remembered by the older citizens of the 
county today. There were M. D. and H. B. 
Wellman, who were large dealers in merchan- 
dise and extensive buyers of wheat. They 
erected the block of brick buildings which are 
yet standing on the southwest corner of Main 



13 



Z lO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and Erie streets in that city. M. D. Wellman 
built the substantial brick residence yet stand- 
ing on the northeast corner of Main and Pros- 
pect streets, there making his home until after 
the death of his wife, when he removed to Penn- 
sylvania. He was patentee of the Wellman 
grate, at one time considered the best manu- 
factured. H. B. Wellman built the large brick 
residence on Prospect street about three blocks 
north of Main and on the east side of the street. 
He afterward went to Indiana, and, so far as 
the writer has been able to ascertain, he died 
in or near the city of Indianapolis. 

Then there were L. and S. Rawson, who 
were for many years in the forefront in Massil- 
lon's early period of prosperity, having been 
merchants and wheat buyers. Levi Raw- 
son married a sister of the late R. H. 
Folger, and he died some years ago, in 
the city of Cleveland. Silas Rawson 
married into the Hurxthal family and 
after the death of his first wife married her sis- 
ter. He died in Canton a number of years 
ago. The Johnsons also. were very enterprising 
merchants and produce buyers of Massillon in 
the canal days, when that was the great ship- 
ping point of the county. They built the fine 
three-story building yet standing on the north 
side of Main street, on the east bank of the 
canal. Matthew Johnson was active as a Dem- 
ocratic politician in his day. Then there were 
the Hurxthals, who built the brick block west 
of the canal, on the north side of Main 
street, the same having been destroyed 
by fire a few years ago and having been 
at the time occupied by the Bee Hive store. 
The building now standing there was built since. 
Jesse Rhodes, who was quite an extensive wheat 
l)uyer and who also had a large store on the 
northeast corner of Tremont and Erie streets, 
was one nf the most active and enterprising- 
men of his day, while there were many others 
iwho might be mentioned. 



RESIDENXE AND SHOP OF JACOB 
BUXHER, IN CANTON. 

By JoHK Banner. 

Attention is called to another of the prom- 
inent old landmarks of Canton, the residence 
and shop of Jacob Bucher, which stood for 
many years on the southeast corner of Tusca- 
rawas and Cherry streets, on the lot now oc- 
cupied by the Barnett hotel. 

Jacob Bucher came to Canton from Ha- 
gerstown, ^Maryland, in 1812. Soon after his 
arrival he became associated with George Dun- 
bar in the chair-making business, but after a 
few years he withdrew from that line of enter- 
prise and built the two-story frame house just 
mentioned. Tlnere he carried on the Ijusiness 
of wheelwright for a number of years, occu- 
pying the front corner room for his shop. From 
this corner of the building there was suspended 
a spinning wheel, which served as a sign for his 
business. Mr. Bncher had the reputation of 
making the best spinning wheels in the county, 
and at one time he did quite an extensive busi- 
ness in that line. He manufactured both the flax 
and wool wheels. The former were small 
wheels, requiring a chair for the operator. The 
distaff which held the flax from which the linen 
threads were spun was always quite prominent. 
This is one of the old Bible terms which we 
read in Proverbs xxxi, 19: "She layeth her 
hands to the spindle and her hands hold the 
distaff." Some of these wheels are yet held in 
a few of our homes, as souvenirs or relics of 
the days long passed. The larger wheel, used 
for the spinning of wool, could be operated 
( )nly by standing and pacing the floor back and 
forth as the process of spinning was going on. 
These wheels also were much in use, and both 
Icinds were made by Mr. Bucher. Persons 
would often come from all parts of the county, 
and from adjoining counties, either to buy new 
wheels or have old ones repaired. They would 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



21 I 



usually cijnie iu what were known as Dearborn 
wagons, the elliptic springs now used on vehi- 
cles being unknown at that time. What won- 
derful changes have taken place within the past 
sixty years. The manufacturer of spinning 
wheels could no longer carry on his business as 
in former times. The young ladies no longer 
learn to spin, save it be to spin "street yarns." 
We are glad to know, however, that many of 
the excellent girls of the present day are as in- 
dustrious and useful as in former times, yet 
far too many are carried away with the fash- 
ions and gossip of the times and know but little 
of the realities of a useful and happy life. 

Jacob Bucher's wife was a Rex, a sister of 
old Grandfather Jacob Rex, the tailor, who 
for many 3'ears carried on business at the 
northwest corner of Rex and Tuscarawas 
streets, and who was one of the active 
and useful members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church in Canton. Jacob Bucher and 
his wife were Lutherans. They had five 
sons and four daughters, the sons being 
\\'illiam, Jacob, Joim, Cornelius and Theo- 
dore. The two eldest and first named became 
quite prominent as citizens of Massillon. Will- 
iam, in company with his brother-in-law, Isaac 
X. Doxsce, was engaged in the tinning and 
stove business in that place, under the firm name 
of Bucher & Doxsee. Jacob Bucher, Jr., op- 
erated a stove foundry in Massillon and was 
successful, while he was also interested in 
other enterprises. He built the Bucher opena 
house in Massillon and was one of the in- 
fluential citizens of tlie town. John and Cor- 
nelius Bucher were engaged in the dry goods 
business in Canton for a number of years, 
being associated in the same for some time, 
after whcih the former withdrew. More 
than thirty-five years ago John R. Bucher 
disposed of his interest in the mercantile 
business and became associated with the 
writer of this article in the building of the 
stove foundry now known as the Bucher & 



Gibbs Plow Works. The first products 
of the foundry comprised only stoves, the name 
of the firm being Danner & Bucher, the senior 
member of the firm finally sold his interest and 
Lewis Gibbs succeeded him, while the enterprise 
changed its character, being devoted to the 
manufacture of plows. Theodore Bucher went 
to Cleveland many years ago and died there. 
Harriet Bucher, the eldest daughter of Jacob 
Bucher, married Isaac N. Doxsee, of Massillon, 
who died some years ago, no children having 
been born to this union. At the time of writing 
Mrs. Doxsee is living with her adopted son in 
Reedurban, a suburb of Canton. Mary Ann 
Bucher, the second daughter, married Jacob 
Ruthrauft', who died a few years later, and 
she afterward became the wife of V. B. Snyder, 
who was quite active in business in Canton for 
years, and then removed to Toledo, where both 
have since died. Amelia married Reuben Haif- 
ley, who was a resident of Canton for some 
time, and they removed hence to Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, where both are living; Cath- 
erine, was never married and is still living in 
Canton, having many warm friends in the city. 
Cornelius Bucher is the only one of the sons 
now living and is one of the representative citi- 
zens of Canton. 

On the south end of the present Barnett 
hotel lot Jacob Bucher had erected a good-sized 
frame barn, M'ith its gable facing Cherry street, 
and this stood on the site until the erection of 
the hotel. A little east of the Bucher house, on 
Tuscarawas street, and about midway between 
the house and Saxton street, stood for many 
years a one-story frame building, occupied sixty 
years or more ago as the locksmith shop of the 
firm of Earnhardt & Youngblut. J. B. Barnhart 
was the father of Mrs. Joseph Biechele, of this 
city, and he lived for many years in a frame 
building which stood on the southwest corner of 
Tuscarawas and Saxton streets, while his part- 
ner and brother-in-law, Nicholas Youngblut. 
li\ed on the southeast corner. Both came from 



212 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Germany, and the writer well recalls the time 
of their arrival, and also that they came often 
to his father's gunsmith shop to exchange tools, 
the same kind being demanded in many kinds 
of work in the two establishments, while the 
principals of the two were on the best of terms 
with each other and ever ready to extend accom- 
modations. Both the scenes and business of 
those early days have greatly changed. 



OLD HOME OF THE BELDEN FAMILY. 

By John Danner. 

Among the most fashionable and popular 
homes in Canton two generations ago was that 
of Hon. G. W. Belden and family. This old 
brick cottage was the scene of many a happy 
gathering, not only of the immediate family 
and relatives, but also of the best citizens of 
those days. The outlines of the old cottage are 
still standing on the lot on the northwest corner 
of Tuscarawas street and Cleveland avenue, 
but the business building located immediately 
in front of it has, with other obstructions, con- 
spired to almost place this fine old home out of 
sight. 

When this substantial brick cottage was 
built by Mr. Belden, the entire grounds in front 
were kept in fine order, and the interior furnish- 
ings of the house were of the best of those days. 
Mrs. Belden was a most excellent and intelli- 
gent woman, and the home was always a pleas- 
ant one in which to visit. Mrs. Belden was a 
most genial and gracious entertainer and the 
writer bel!e\es that she was a communicant of 
the Protestant Episcopal church, but as there 
was no church organization of this denomina- 
tion in Canton at the time, she generally at- 
tended the Presbyterian church. About fifty 
years ago her sister, Mrs. Peter Hugus, also 
resided here, and she and her husband were both 
active and consistent members of the Methodist 



Episcopal church during a residence of about a 
decade in the town. They went hence to Oma- 
ha, Nebraska, where they passed the remainder 
of their lives. Their son, John, is living in Pas- 
adena, California, and is a man of wide influ- 
ence in that locality, and a successful business 
man. 

George W. Belden was a man of great abil- 
ity and was the architect of his own fortunes. 
His parents were of the old New England 
stock, the father from Massachusetts and the 
mother from Connecticut. Of the ten children 
in the family, George W. was the second son. 
He was born in Canandaigua, New York, Sep- 
tember 24, 1810, and died in Canton, Ohio, on 
the i6th of August, 1868, being fifty-eight years 
of age. For some time the Belden family lived 
at Middlebury, Ohio, and while there young 
George worked at the printing business. He 
afterward assisted in the survey of the Ohio 
canal and later clerked for som etime in the 
store of Mathew Johnson, in Massillon. about 
the year 1828. He began the study of law in 
the oflice of Hon. David A. Starkweather, in. 
Canton, in 1829, and the latter part of 
that year he was appointed receiver of 
tolls from the canal, in the office of 
James Duncan. In the early part of 
1830, in company with Dr. J. Townsend, he 
started a newspaper in Massillon, the Massillon 
Gazette, but early in the history of this enter- 
prise they turned the paper over to Captain 
James Allen, who made a success of the pub- 
lication. The Captain had been previously a 
citizen of Canton, and was a brother-in-law 
of Mrs. Harriet Whiting, who still resides 
here. Captain Allen's wife was an older sister 
of Mrs. ^^'■hiting. After Mr. Belden disposed 
of his interest in the Massillon Gazette, he re- 
sumed the study of law, while for a short time 
he again held a position in the collector's ofifice 
in Massillon. In June, 1830, he was united in 
marriage to Miss Rachel E. McCormick, who 
proved a most excellent and prudent life com- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



213 



panion. They became the parents of three 
daughters and one son, and the son, Henry S., 
and the eldest daughter, Sarah B., the wife of 
Hon. Joseph I-'rease, are yet residents of Can- 
ton. 

In 1 83 1, after his admission to the bar, 
George \V. Belden became a law partner of 
John Harris, under the firm name of Harris &; 
Belden, and they gained quite an e.xtensive prac- 
tice, Mr. Harris having at that time been con- 
sidered one of the giants in his profession. 
On the .30th of June, 1834, Governor Robert 
I.ucas appointed Mr. Belden lieutenant colonel 
of the First Regiment of Riflemen in Ohio, and 
in October of the following year he w-as elected 
prosecuting attorney of Stark county, while in 
1836 he received further military honors 
through his appointment, by Governor Lucas, 
to the oflice of brigadier general of the Sixth 
Division of the Ohio state militia. In 1837 
Hon. Joseph Vance, then governor of the state, 
appointed General Belden district judge. After 
the expiration of his term on the bench, he 
entered into a professional partnership with the 
late Louis Schaefier, but shortly afterward he 
was returned to the bench by popular vote, and 
after his term of office he united with B. F. Lei- 
ter in forming the law firm of Belden & Leiter. 
During the term of this professional alliance 
his son-in-law, Hon. Joseph Frease, studied law 
in the office of the firm, as did also Hon. Jc* 
seph Pool, who later attained distinction as 
judge of the superior court in New York City. 
After these various changes Judge Belden was 
again called to this district bench, and after 
retiring therefrom he and his son-in-law, Joseph 
Frease, formed a professional partnership, un- 
der the title of Belden & Frease. After a few 
years of successful practice, the firm was dis- 
solved, owing to the fact that Mr. Belden had 
received the appointment of United States attor- 
ney, while Mr. Freas was elected to the bench of 
the court of common pleas, which office he ably 
filled for a number of terms. Finally Judge 



Belden again resumed the practice of his pro- 
fession, taking into partnership a young man 
who was then but little known, but who had 
the love and esteem of those with whom he be- 
came acquainted, and that was William McKin- 
ley, Jr., our late revered and martyred Presi- 
dent. Judge Belden passed the remainder of 
liis long and useful life in Canton, and his 
memory is revered by those who have recogni- 
tion of his life and services. 



FA^OLUTION OF A CANTON CORNER. 

By John Danner. 

The remodeling and enlarging of the old 
^lathews block, now known as the Mrs. George 
D. Harter block, whereby the whole lot, sixty- 
seven by one hundred feet in dimensions, was 
covered by the one store building, reminded the 
writer of the changes that have there taken place 
since he first knew the location. When he was 
a boy of about nine years, the site was occupied 
Ijy a two-story frame building, standing at the 
corner of Market and Eighth streets. This 
building was only eighteen by twenty-eight feet 
in dimensions, and it is yet standing at 708 
South High street. When Dr. J. H. Mathews 
built his three-story brick block on South Mar- 
ket street, the old frame building was moved to 
the northeast corner of High and Michael 
streets, its present location. New siding has 
since been put on the house and an addition 
built on the rear, but the main building remains 
practically the same as. when first erected, more 
than seventy years ago. In the south half of 
this building, Martin Lohr had his dry-goods 
store, while the balance of the building was used 
as his residence. He later removed to a two- 
story brick building on the northwest corner of 
Tuscarawas and Court streets, w^hich was the 
original part of the Hurford hotel. Mr. Lohr 
there continued in the mercantile business until 



214 



OLD LANDMARKS 



his death, some ten years later. Mrs. Lohr was 
an excellent assistant in the store. In those 
days lady clerks were not employed, but some- 
times the wife of the proprietor would assist, 
and Mrs. Lohr did this admirably. They had 
one son, Menias Lohr, who would occasionally 
assist in the store, though he devoted most of 
his time to other occupations. He became the 
father of several children, and his death here 
occurred several years ago. Martin Lohr Avas 
devoted to his business and was very frugal, so 
that he succeeded in accumulating a consid- 
erable amount of property. For some time he 
owned the entire block of lots on the east side 
of Cleveland avenue between Eighth and Ninth 
streets, finally selling to George Rank, who 
built for a residence the two-story brick building 
now occupied by the Woman's Exchange, and 
also the three-story block occupied by the 
plumbing establishment of Theobold & Com- 
pany. Mr. Rank erected the latter building for 
a planing mill and carpenter shop, and he thus 
utilized it until his death. Martin Lohr also 
owned the entire block of lots where the United 
Brethren church now stands, on the east side of 
Cleveland' avenue between Tenth and South 
streets, and a portion of this block was the last 
to pass out of the possession of Menias Lohr, 
his only son. 

Immediately north of the little two-story 
buildi-ng first mentioned in this article stood 
a one-story building of frame construction and 
about fifteen by twenty feet in dimensions. This 
was used by Esquire Dunbar as his office, he 
having been incumbent of the position of jus- 
tice of the peace for a number of years. It was 
also used as the postoffice of the town at one 
time, and for various other purposes at differ- 
ent intervals. Both of these buildings stood 
on the lot now owned by Mrs. George D. Har- 
ter. On the next or middle lot of said black 
was a one-story frame building, and adjoining 
this on the north was a two-story frame build- 



ing. These two buildings were occupied sev- 
enty years ago by Dr. Gardner, as office and res- 
idence, respectively. After his death the prop- 
erty passed into the hands of Dr. Robert Estep. 
who utilized them for the same purpose as had 
his predecessor. Dr. Estep built up an excellent 
practice and was known as one of the leading 
physicians and surgeons of this section. He 
was the father of Dr. Joseph Estep and the late 
James B. Estep, who was engaged in the dry 
goods business in Canton and later in ]\Iassil- 
lon, while later he removed to Cokimbus, Ohio, 
where he passed the remainder of his life. Dr. 
Joseph Estep entered into his fathers extensix'e 
practice and well upheld the professional pres- 
tige of the name. He died several years ago. 
and the property mentioned soon afterward 
passed into the possession of Louis Dumont. 
who erected the present building on the site, 
the two frame building's having been destroyed 
by fire. 

The older citizens will recognize these hur- 
ried outlines as correct, and to the younger 
folk it may prove entertaining as a part of the 
history of the growing city of Canton. 



THE HAZLETT PROPERTY. 



The McKinley block, southeast corner of 
the public square, is familiar to everyone in 
Canton and to multitudes outside the city. Sixty 
years ago this was well known as the Hazlett 
corner. James Hazlett built a fine two-story 
brick Iniilding there more than eighty years ago. 
In the corner room next to the square he con- 
ducted his mercantile business for a number of 
years. It was called a dry-g'oods store, but all 
such establishments in the early days kept some 
groceries, hardware and crockery in stock, in 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



215 



connection with the general stock of dr^ goods, ' 
wliile in exchange for goods were received va- 
rious kinds of country produce, such as butter, 
eg"gs, lard, dried fruit and other smaller prod- 
ucts of the farm. Mr. Hazlett also bought a 
great many liides and pelts, since he also con- 
ducted a tan yard, which has been described in 
a preceding article. This tan yard was located 
one block east of his store, and in making ex- 
cavations in later years for the brick building 
now standing on tlie lot several of the old tan- 
ning vats were found. James Hazlett was also 
interested in a furnace located in North Indus- 
try and known as the Congress furnace. The 
writer can well remember the old-style ten-plate 
stoves manufactured there and bearing upon 
them the inscription, "Congress Furnace." John 
and Matthey Laird were interested with Mr. 
Hazlett in the furnace business. 

The brick building erected by Mr. Hazlett 
on the site of the present McKinley block is still 
an integr.'il jjortion of the modern and attract- 
ive block which bears the name of the late and 
martyred President, whose interest in his home 
city of Canton remained insistent and deep until 
the time of his tragic death. James Hazlett re- 
tired from the mercantile business about 1843, 
and his store room was thereafter vacant for a 
number of years. In 1849 t^^ writer returned 
to Canton from Massillon, where he had resided 
for nine years, and rented from Mr. Hazlett this 
store, in which he conducted his clothing and 
merchant tailoring business. Finally finding 
the room too small for the proper accommoda- 
tion of the enterprise he pre\-ailed upon Mr. 
Hazlett to enlarge the store by taking in the 
hall and parlors of the residence portion of the 
building, and the business was continued in the 
enlarged quarters until 1858, when it was sold 
to Herman Meyer and Solomon Fisher, who 
had been clerks in the store and who there con- 
ducted a successful business for a number of 
years. The rooms were later changed, while 
various lines of business have been there con- 



ducted prior to the final remodeling of the block 
and the building of the present fine structure. 

James Hazlett had four sons and two 
daughters, namely : William, Isaac, James, 
Robert, Mary and Emma. All are now deceased 
except tlie last named. William Hazlett be- 
came a successful physician in Pittsburg; Isaac 
was an attorney and held the office of probate 
judge for some time; James, Jr., finally re- 
moved to Iowa, where he became successful in 
business, his death there occurring several years 
ago; Roljert died before attaining his majority. 
The writer lielieves that Canton has ne\er had 
a family of higher reputation for honesty and 
reliability than the Hazlett family. Mrs. Haz- 
lett was a sister of the late John and Matthew 
Laird. Isaac Hazlett will be remembered by 
many as having been the second incumbent of 
the o.flice of probate judge in the county. Judge 
George W. Raff having been the first. James 
Hazlett, Sr., was likewise known as judge, as 
he had been appointed one of the associate 
judges under, the old regime. Judges Loutzen- 
heizer and Christmas, as well as Judge Welker, 
of Perry township, all gained their titles in a 
similar way, none of these having been lawyers. 
The adoption of our present constitution, more 
than half a century ago, abolished this judicial 
office. James Hazlett, Sr., had one very prom- 
inent peculiarity, and that was that he was ex- 
tremely episodical in conversation. In speaking 
of any person or event he could not avoid refer- 
ence to contingent circumstances and various 
incidental allusions, thus making his story of 
far greater length than it would have been given 
liy the average man. But all who knew him 
loved hini and regarded him as a true and hon- 
est man, and when time was not making insist- 
ent demands all enjoyed listening to him, but 
those in a hurry would sometimes wax restless. 
Most persons have some peculiarity of idiocyn- 
cracy, and this was the peculiarity of Mr. Haz- 
lett, who built and occupied for years what is 
now known as the McKinlev IjJock. 



2l6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



THE OLD BEGGES BUILDING. 

By John Danneu. 

On the lot now occupied by the Commercial 
block, on the northeast corner of Market and 
Seventh streets, there was erected about eighty- 
five years ago a good substantial frame build- 
ing of two stories. It was built by James 
Begges, father of the late David J. Begges, and 
was occupied by the former as a residence and 
store until his death, in 1830. James Begges 
was among the first merchants to locate in Can- 
ton. He came here from New Lisbon, Ohio, 
his brother, Da\id, of that place, having been 
greatly interested in the building of the Sandy 
& Beaver canal, which ran from the Ohio river, 
near Smith's Ferry, to Bolivar, this state. The 
canal was completed but was never practical, 
only one boat ever passing through the same. 
This ventui'e proved a great financial loss to 
David Begges. while others were so crippled by 
the incidental loss of their investments that they 
never fully recovered. James Begges was a 
young man at the time of his death, and his 
widow and their son, David J., lived in the 
house mentioned for a number of years after he 
had passed away. David J. clerked for a num- 
ber of years in the store of the late Isaac Harter, 
and about this time his mother became the wife 
of Judge William Henry, of Wooster, Ohio, 
whither she moved, her son remaining in Can- 
ton. After clerking for Mr. Harter, Mr. Begges 
was fortunate in securing a legacy from some of 
his relatives and he then engaged in business 
for himself, opening a china and toy store on 
the east side of south public square, where he 
did a good business for a number of years. 
Ray J. Bour was one of Mr. Begges' first clerks 
and in this capacity gained his first experience 
in the crockery business. The store in the 
Begges building occupied the south room, and 
the room north of the hall was used as a par- 
lor by the family, while the remainder of the 
building was also adapted to residental pur- 



poses and thus used by the family. It was in 
this store that the late Martin Wikidal began 
his mercantile career in Canton, and there he 
continued several years, after which he pur- 
chased the Joseph Shorb property, which was 
the middle lot of the present court house block, 
and there he maintained his mercantile busi- 
ness until he retired permanently from the same, 
eventually selling the property to the county 
for the use to which it is now applied. While 
Mrs. Begges was yet residing with her son in 
this house the Rev. Timothy M. Hopkins, then 
pastor of the I'resbyterian church, rented the 
room over the store for the purpose of opening 
a select school, and at this time an outside stair- 
way was constructed, to aft'ord access to the 
school room without interfering with the re- 
maining part of the house. 

In those days we had no public schools, all 
being privately conducted and maintained, and 
as the Rev. Mr. Hopkins was a competent schol- 
ar and a very genial and popular man, his school 
room was soon filled with the best young folk 
of the town, among the families represented be- 
ing the Hazletts, Saxtons, Kimballs and other 
leading ones. The Presbyterian church at that 
time was quite weak, and from the support 
given the pastor in the maintaining of his school 
the church was enabled to keep so excellent a 
man much longer than it could have otherwise, 
without extraneous support from some other 
source. The school continued for some time 
and will lie remembered by many of our older 
citizens. 

The Begges building stood until 1851, when 
the property was purchased by the Farmers' 
Lhiion, when the old frame building was re- 
moved and the present three-story Ijrick build- 
ing erected. The Farmers' Union, a stock con- 
cern, also engaged in the mercantile and milling 
business, having purchased the brick mill of 
John Shorb, as is noted in the article descriptive 
of that and other mills, on preceding pages. 
This companv soon became financially in\'olved 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



217 



and finally the building passed into the hands 
of Louis Koons, while it is the belief of the 
writer that it is still owned by his heirs. For 
quite a time the large hall on the third floor of 
this building was the largest and best public hall 
in the city. Concerts, lectures and Sunday 
school entertainments were often held in this 
room, which was comomnly known as Commer- 
cial Hall. Finally other assembly rooms more 
easy of access became available, through the 
erection of new buildings, and the old Commer- 
cial Hall was finally abandoned for such uses. 

The grading on Seventh street at this point 
has made considerable change in the surround- 
ing properties. At the time the Begges build- 
ing was standing on the corner the ground from 
Market street to the back part of said building 
was almost level, and from there on the hill 
was quite steep, while it descended lower than 
the present level of Piedmont street at that 
point. This hill was a favorite coasting place 
for the boys of the town. 

Mrs. Begges removed to Wooster after her 
marriage to Judge Henry, as before stated, and 
after his death she returned to Canton and with 
her son erected a pleasant cottage on North 
Market street, a short distance above Calvary 
Presbyterian church, and now owned and occu- 
pied by Mrs. F. M. VVertz. D. J. Begges mar- 
ried Mrs. J. D. Snider and with his wife and 
mother he resided in the cottage mentioned 
until both his wife and mother died, and they 
are laid to rest in Westlawn cemetery, as was 
also Mr. Begges, who died when well advanced 
in years. 

Many will remember that D. J. Begges was, 
familiarly known as "Doc" Begges. This was 
not because he ever studied medicine or had 
practiced, but was due to the fact that when 
he was a small boy he often went into Dr. 
Simmons' office and said he wanted to be a doc- 
tor. To please the little fellow, Dr. Simmons 
would occasionally give him a vial or two 
filled with colored water, which greatly pleased 



the youngster. In his mature years there is no 
indication that he ever manifested any desire to 
study or practice medicine, but the title of 
"Doc" clung to him until his death. Such are 
the trifling incidents which some times perpet- 
uate sobriquets or nicknames from youth to old 
age. 



THE OLD SHORB CORNER. 

By John Danneh, 

The Cassilly block, on the southeast corner 
of Market and Tuscarawas street, is familiar 
to all citizens of Canton. Sixty years ago a 
two-story brick building stood on this corner, 
which was then known as Shorb's corner. The 
building was erected by Jacob Shorb, the grand- 
father of Thomas and Edward Cassilly, who 
now own this fine and valuable property. The 
building there erected in' Jacob Shorb had but 
two store rooms, on Market street, there being 
one on either side of the central hall, which 
served as an entrance to the residence portion 
of the building. The store room on the left of 
the hall vvas the corner room and was occupied 
by the general store conducted by Mr. Shorb. 
The room at the right of the hall was occupied 
for some time by Peter Cassilly, for general 
merchandising, gi^oceries constituting the mo.st 
important part of the enterprise. After this 
George W. Sickafoos had a general store in this 
room for a number of years. He removed from 
Canton to Freeport, Illinois, where he contin- 
ued in the mercantile business until his death, 
several years later. His wife was a daughter 
of Mr. Vogelgesang, who lived three miles 
southwest of Canton. 

After Mr. Shorb gave up his mercantile 
business, the room which had been his head- 
quarters was occupied for some time by D. B. 
Pecker, who there conducted a dry-goods busi- 
ness. One of his principal clerks was Daniel 
Burget, who came here from the village of 



2l8 



oLd landmarks 



Paris, this count}-. He was a very good mu- 
sician and was popular among the young folk 
of those times. Afterward the room on the 
corner was occupied for a number of years by 
the late Joseph Hartman, where, he had his 
clothing and merchant-tailoring establishment. 
For quite a time his son-in-law, Peter Shimp, 
was associated with him in business. Mr. Shimp 
came here from Osnaburg, and he will be well 
remembered by many of our older citizens. He 
clerked for a number of years in the dry-goods 
store of O. T. Browning, but after his marriage 
to Miss Elizabeth Hartman he became associa- 
ted with his father-in-law in the business men- 
tioned. Later he removed to Chicago, where 
he became cjuite successful in the real-estate 
business. Both he and his wife died a number 
of years ago. 

It was in this same Shorb corner that Schill- 
ing & Herbruck afterward engaged in the dry- 
goods business. The firm was composed of 
John Schilling and Augustus Herbruck. That 
part of the lot of the Cassilly block now occu- 
pied as an eating house was vacant for a 
number of years, but was eventually built 
up with a two-story structure of the same de- 
sign and construction as the remainder of the 
building previously erected. This store was 
occupied for some time b}- Henry H. Myers, 
Avho was there engaged in the dry-goods busi- 
ness. Afterward Patton & Saxton there con- 
ducted a gTocery, and still later D. J. Begges 
had his grocery and toy store in the rootn. 

The old two-storj' building first erected on 
this corner by Jacob Shorb ran back about 
seventy feet on Tuscarawas street. Beyond 
that to Piedmont street were wooden build- 
ings, mostly one story in height. Near the cen- 
ter of this cluster of frame buildings was a two- 
stf>ry house, and in this C. C. A. Witting con- 
ducted his drug business for several years, util- 
izing the rear portion and second floor of the 
building- for residence purposes. On the east 
end of the lot. up to Piedmont street, stood two 



one-story frame buildings, with quite a number 
of attachments, the same having been occupied 
for many years by the late L. Boerner for his 
bakery and also for residence purposes. The 
present three-story block, known as the Cassil- 
ly block, was built by the Cassillys in 1868, but 
originally extended east from Tuscarawas street 
only about one-half the length of the lot. A 
number of years later they completed the east- 
ern part, down to Piedmont street. As the 
building now stands there are three good store 
rooms on Market street and quite a number on 
Tuscarawas street, together with many rooms 
and offices on the second and third floors, mak- 
ing the block one of the important ones in Can- 
ton. One thing is particularly noticeable in 
connection with this building, — the tenants are 
usually permanent, some of the occupants hav- 
ing been there for more than twenty years, 
while many of them have been tenants for peri- 
ods varying from ten to fifteen year.s. There 
are very few properties in Canton that have 
remained in the same famil}' connection for so 
long a period as has this building, — an interval 
of nearly a century. 

Jacob Shorb was a native of Maryland and 
was a cousin of John, Adam A. and Joseph 
Shorb. He removed to Stettbenville, Ohio, and 
was there engaged in merchandising for several 
years, after which he removed to Columbiana 
county, whence he came shortly afterward to 
Canton, about the year 1813. He had one son, 
Jacob, Jr., who assisted him in his store and 
who died at the age of about forty years, a 
bachelor. Of the two daughters, the elder was 
• Catharine, who became the wife of Peter Cas- 
silly. They resided a number of years in Zanes- 
ville, and there the eldest of their four sons died, 
while the youngest died in Canton, when quite 
young. The two living are Thomas A. and 
Edward A. Cassilly, who yet own this valua- 
ble property. The former resided here several 
years, but is now living in Maryland. Edward 
A. lives on one of the Cassillv farms, near Canal 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



2 19 



Fulton, in this county. The _younger daughter 
of Jacob Shorl) was Miss Louisa, who died 
about 1850, when about thirty -five years of age, 
her motlier dying within twenty-four hours of 
her demise. 

There were three branches of the Shorb 
family to settle in Canton between 1807 and 
1815. First there was John Shorb and his 
family. He was the father of John, Adam A. 
and Joseph Shorb, who were so w'ell known 
here fifty years ago. Jacob Shorb, who is so 
frequently mentioned in this series of articles, 
was a cousin of the three last named, and Adam 
L. was a son of still another brother of the 
older Shorbs. They were Catholics and were 
excellent citizens. 



THE OLD HAAS HOMESTEAD. 

Bt John Danneh. 

The citizens of Canton and surrounding 
country well remember George B. Haas, who 
for so many years carried on the business of 
making chairs and other furniture in the build- 
ing which still stands at the southwest corner 
of Rex and Tuscarawas streets. The Ixulding 
has been improxed by the placing in of larger 
windows, gi\ing an open front for business pur- 
poses, but otherwise it remains practically the 
same as ^^'l^en erected, about seventy-five years 
ago. 

George Buckeye Haas was a native of Vir- 
einia, and came to Canton when about sixteen 
years of age. Flis father. Rev. Fred Haas, had 
five other sons, Frederick, Benjamin, John, 
William and Luther, and a daughter, Margaret. 
He was a clergyman of the Lutheran church 
and was in charg'e of the congregation of that 
denomination in Canton for some time in its 
early history. In 1841 George B. Haas mar- 
ried Miss Elizabeth Ely. She was a noble wom- 
an and one held in aft'ectionate regard in this 



comnumity. She came here from Washington, 
Pennsylvania, several years prior to her mar- 
riage, making the entire trip on horseback. A 
year or two after their marriage Mr. Haas took 
up their residence in the building mentioned and 
there resided until the death of the former, in 
1878. Thereafter Mrs. Haas continued to re- 
side there for several years, and then she made 
her home with her daughter, Mrs. Ada B. Cox, 
until she was summoned into the life eternal, 
about two years ago, at the venerable age of 
eighty-two years, her husband having been 
sixty-five years of age at the time of his demise. 
They became the parents of two children, Mr."^. 
Ada B. Cox and Marshall E. In 1861 the lat- 
ter enlisted as a member of Company F, Fourth 
Ohio \'o]unteer Infantry, and he participated 
in a number of the important battles of the Re- 
bellion, including those of Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. At Morton's 
Ford, Virginia, he was wounded, a ball hav- 
ing pierced his bofly, and the effects of this in- 
jury clung to him until his death, in 1876. He 
was married and later removed to Centralia, 
Illinois, i.vhere he died, leaving a widow and 
one son. He was a \'ery excellent young man 
and was taken in the prime of life. 

George B. Haas was a natural mechanic and 
took great delight in handling tools, and he con- ' 
tinned in the manufacturing of furniture in the 
building mentioned, for a long term of years, 
having been an expert workman. The ware- 
room and salesroom were in the eastern part of 
this house, while the remainder of the building 
was used as the family residence. About fifteen 
feet south of this building, on Rex street, was 
the workshop, and these two buiklings were 
connected by an elevated open platform, where- 
on most of the furniture was placed for paint- 
ing on pleasant days. Chairs in those early 
days were not turned out by machinery as now. 
Mr. Flaas would often load up a large wagon 
full of chairs and go to Waynesbung, Magnolia 
and other villases within fifteen miles of Can- 



220 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ton and dispose of the products, while his ware- 
rooms in Canton were kept constantly supplied 
with stock for the local trade. In later years 
he became associated with the late William 
Prince in the undertaking business, and for 
some time they were the only undertakers in 
the town. After that came the late J. B. Mc- 
Crea and a number of others. Caskets were not 
kept in stock as at the present time, the old- 
style coffins being manufactured to order as 
needed, and thus delays occurred very often and 
work was done at unseasonable hours in order 
to make ready for the appointed time for burial. 
The question has been asked as to whether or 
not Mri. Haas personally erected the old home- 
stead, and the writer is not able to give a posi- 
tive answer to the query, though he is quite cer- 
tain that Mr. Haas was not the builder, since 
personal recollection authorizes him to state 
that such a house was there standing as early 
as 1836. The records show that Bezaleel Wells 
sold the lot to Jacob Rapp in 1815, and that he 
did not dispose of the same until 1838, when it 
was transferred to John H. Boltz, while two 
years later it was sold by the sheriff to Hiram 
Myers, who later sold the property to Michael 
Rohrer. who held it about ten years and then 
sold it to Mr. Haas. Thus it is to be inferred 
that the building was erected by Jacob Rapp, 
and this must have occurred about seventy-five 
years ago. Many changes have been made 
since the erection of the building, but the prin- 
cipal exterior improvements was that of the 
introduction of the open front. This property 
has now passed into the possession of Philip 
Wild and brother, the consideration being 
twenty-two thousand dollars, and it is quite 
certain that within a short time a modern busi- 
ness block, in harmony with the many other 
fine buildings which have lieen erected in the 
city, will be built thereon. It will be but a 
short time before all these old landmarks, 
now so familiar to us, will have given 
place to new structures, and none can re- 



gret the march of improvement, even though 
cherishing the memories and associations of the 
past. 



. THE LEMMON HOMESTEAD. 

By John Dannkr. 

At 230 North Cleveland avenue in the city 
of Canton is an historic brick house which was 
for more than sixty-three years the home of 
one of the city's patriarchal citizens, William 
Lemmon, who lived to attain the age of nearly 
a century. The house was erected by David 
Agnew, in 1833. He came here from Pennsyl- 
vania in 1829, having been a tailor by trade, 
and Mr. Lemmon came here at the same time, 
having been an apprentice of Mr. Agnew. 
Mr. Agnew occupied the house mentioned until 
1839 or 1840, when he left Canton. In the 
meanwhile Mr. Lemmon had completed his ap- 
prenticeship, and in 1840 he was united in mar- 
riage to Catherine Knapp, of West Brook- 
field, Ohio. Shortly afterward he purchased 
the Agnew property and there took up his resi- 
dence. This was his home during the entire 
period of his married life save for a brief in- 
terval prior to his purchase of the property. 

David Agnew was a stanch Democrat and 
rather zealous as a politician. During the lat- 
ter part of the administration of ]Martin Van 
Buren INIr. Agnew obtained a few names to a 
petition for obtaining the office of postmaster 
in Canton, but the citizens rebelled and, after 
several public meetings, succeeded in securing 
the appointment of Henry Kline as postmaster. 
He retained this position several years, having 
the postoffice in a one-story brick building that 
stood at 210 North Market street, this old 
structure having long since given place to the 
three-story brick building now located on the 
site. This disappointment to Mr. Agnew, as 
well as the general drift of affairs, did not 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY,, OHIO. 



221 



please him and he consequently disposed of all 
his interests in Canton and left the town. 

In 1837 the two-story frame market house 
that stood in the center of the north puhlic 
square was completed, and Messrs. Agnew and 
Lemmon occupied one of the rooms on the 
second floor of said building for their tailor- 
ing business, and there Mr. Lemmon continued 
the business after Mr. Agnew removed from 
Canton. He there remained until i860 
when the market house was removed to the 
northeast corner of Cleveland avenue and 
Eighth street and converted into an engine 
house, Mr. Lemmon removed his tailor shop 
into the one-story brick building which had 
been utilized as the postoffice by Mr. Kline, 
as before noted. Later he continued the busi- 
ness at his residence until the infirmities inci- 
dental to advanced age compelled his retire- 
ment. He was consecutively engaged in the 
work of his trade about seventy-five years. 
Mrs. Lemmon was a most worthy woman, her 
death having occurred a few years ago. Mr. 
and Mrs. Lemmon had six sons, four of whom 
are living at the time of this writing. Mr. 
Lemmon became a member of the Presbyterian 
church in 1833 ^^^^^ ^"^^^ ^^'^'' afterward a 
consistent and zealous worker in the same dur- 
ing his active career, his noble wife having 
likewise been a member of the church 
until her death. The older Cantonians will 
well remember Mrs. Lemmon's flower garden, 
just north of the residence, as well as her gener- 
osity with the flowers which she loved so well. 
She was always ready to share with others not 
only the blossoms but also the seeds and bulbs 
and roots from her carefully tended garden. 
She was a true and excellent wife, a loving 
mother and kind neighbor, and it can be said 
of her that she did what she could to make 
others happy. There are very few of the old 
citizens of Canton who have not at some time 
worn clothing made by Mr. Lemmon. He was 



always industrious, honest and upright and 
much respected by all who knew him. 

The house which was so long the home of 
this \\orthy citizen has the same e.xterior ap- 
pearance as when first erected, seventy years 
ago. When JNIr. Lemmon purchased the prop- 
erty the house was not fully completed on the 
inside, and he finished the interior and also 
made an addition in the rear, but the front ele- 
vation remains practically unchanged. 



THE OLD KIMBALL BUILDING 

By John Danner. 

The old Kimball store building, east side 
of the public square, was erected about 1845 
by V. R. Kimball, who was one of Canton's 
most extensive and progressive merchants in 
his day. When this store was first built it 
was about half the depth of the building as 
it stands today, the extension having been put 
on during its use by the present occupant, 
George H. Spangler. When the building was 
erected it was looked upon as one of the largest 
and most modern business blocks in the county. 
At that time the large windows were not en- 
closed by single plates of glass as at the present, 
a number of smaller panes being used. V. R. 
Kimball was a native of the state of New York 
and was a tanner by trade, following this occu- 
pation for some time after coming to Canton, 
about 1827. He came here as foreman of the 
new tan yard established by William Christ- 
mas, the same having been described in a pre- 
ceding article. He proved a valuable man in 
this connection but the position was not one that 
could permanently satisfy as well quali- 
fied a man as was Mr. Kimball for the 
handling of an independent enterprise. A 
few years after coming here Mr. Kimball 
decided to enter business on his own re- 



222 



OLD LANDMARKS 



sponsibility, and accordingly opened a 
store in the two-story building then known as 
the Kitzmiller building, just north of and 
adjoining the building mentioned in the head- 
ing of tliis article. In this Kitzmiller build- 
ing Mr. Kimball built a very extensive mercan- 
tile business, while he also established a tannery, 
as has been noted in a foregoing article relative 
to that class of enterprise in Canton in the 
early days. He was a man of more than ordi- 
nary ability and of energy and enterprise, and 
he rallied about him men and clerks who were 
efficient and accommodating, so that in a short 
time he built up one of the most extensive busi- 
ness concerns in this region. He also had a 
warehouse and entered more generally into the 
purchase of country produce than did any other 
merchant then in Canton. Associated in busi- 
ness with him for a time was his sister's hus- 
band, John P. Harley, who likewise was an 
active and enterprising business man. One of 
Mr. KimlialTs efficient and popular clerks was 
David A. Dangler, who has since become a 
prosperous and representati\^e business man of 
Cleveland, being the head of the Dangler Stove 
Manufacturing Company, of that city. After 
a few years of successful business Mr. Kim- 
ball married Miss Craighead, who was a most 
noble woman and devoted Christian, being an 
active member of the Presbyterian church. As 
nearly as the writer is able to recall the facts, 
Mr. and IMrs. Kimball became the parents of 
four sons and three daughters. The eldest 
daughter. Miss Josephine, is living with her 
Ijrother. R. C. Kimball, in Brooklyn, New 
York, and tlie other two daughters are de- 
ceased. R. C. Kimball has become a successful 
business man in New York city. William G. is 
residing in Tiffin, Ohio, and has been prospered 
in temporal affairs. Thomas W. Kimball died 
a numljer of years ago, and it is believed that 
the youngef son, Arthur, is also a resident of 
New York. It should not be forg-otten that 
Thomas W. Kimball was tlie pioneer in the 



whtjlesale grocery business in Canton, and he 
was succeeded by the firm of B. Dannemiller 
& .Sons, whose success has been noteworthy. 
Thomas W. Kimball also erected the residence 
which has since become so well known as the 
home of our lamented president, William Mc- 
Kinley. The house has been enlarged and re- 
modeled since that time but it continued to be 
the home of Mr. Kimball until his removal 
from Canton. 

After the death of his first wife V. R. 
Kimball married the widow of George Faber, 
and their one daughter, Jessie, is now the wife 
of Paul D. Rider, of this city. Mr. Kimball 
\\\t(\ only a few years after his second mar- 
riage, and was about fifty-six years of age at 
the time of his death. His son, R. C. Kimball, 
who \isited Canton somewhat more than a 
year ago, has passed the seventieth milestone on 
the journey of life and is still energetic and in 
good health. He loves to revert to the scenes 
and events of his early life in Canton. At 
the time of his birth the family resided in a 
house which stood in the center of the east side 
of the north public square. About 1835 ^'''^ 
father purchased the lot on which the Baptist 
church now stands, on the southwest corner of 
Market and Ninth streets, a good two-story 
brick house ha\ ing previously been erected on 
said lot. This was the home of the family 
thereafter until the death of the father, and 
so the children have no recollection of any 
other home in Canton. To show the appreci- 
ation in the value of property in Canton since 
]Mr. Kimball purchased that lot, with its ex- 
cellent house and good barn, we may say that 
he paid for the same only fifteen hundred dol- 
lars. In 1870 the Baptist congregation pur- 
chased the property for eight thousand dollars 
and had all the old buildings removed to make 
room for their present large church edifice, 
which was erected the following year. About 
the same time that Mr. Kimball purchased this 
property the two lots just south of it, upon 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



223 



one. of which was a good two-story frame 
house, was sold by John Slusser, as admuiis- 
trator of the estate of PhiHp Slusser, for the 
nominal consideration of six hundred dollars. 
It seems almost impossible to believe that at 
any time property so centrally located could 
have been so cheap in Canton. But those 
were dark days for the town. We had no rail- 
roads or, otlier means of transportation save 
by recourse to the Ohio canal, with Massillon 
as the shipping point, and this circumstance 
gave that place a great advantage over Canton 
until the advent of railroads. Notwithstand- 
ing, however, that Massillon was attracting 
much trade to the disadvantage of the county 
seat, V. R. Kimball controlled a large busi- 
ness here and bought much produce. His rep- 
utation as an enterprising business man ex- 
tended all over the county. 



THE OLD DUNBAR HOMESTEAD. 

By John Danner. 

\'ery few of the citizens of Canton passing 
on West Eighth street and seeing the build- 
ing on the southeast corner of Eighth and 
Court streets, now occupied by J. A. H. Green- 
wood as a restaurant, realize that the building 
when first built was the home of some of the 
best families in Canton, yet such is the fact. 

The house was built about sixty-five years 
ago, as the residence of George Dunbar. It 
originally stood on the southwest corner of 
Market and Eighth streets, immediately across 
the street from the new Mclvinley hotel. When 
first Ijuilt it was considered one of the nicest 
residences in Canton, but when it was 
moved to the west end of the lot and 
converted into a business room the founda- 
tion was made much lower than before. The 
whole front was changed and the nice 
projecting cornice in front taken down. 



The side cornice on Court street has been left 
as originally built and the pitch of the roof 
is as at first built, but outside of these two 
features the house would not be recognized 
as the pleasant home of George Dujibar and 
family. 

George Dunbar was an excellent and in- 
telligent citizen, a chairmaker by trade. He 
had four brothers and two sisters, all active 
and useful citizens. They were Captain John 
E. Dunbar, who was quite an artist ; William 
Dunbar, who was an excellent school teacher 
and w'ho was also admitted to the bar for the 
practice of law. At one time he edited and 
published the Stark County Democrat. He 
afterwards moved to Mt. Vernon, where he 
published a Democratic paper and was a use- 
ful and active citizen until his death, some 
years ago; Robert Allison Dunbar, who was 
for many years in the sheriff's office, either as 
sheriff or deputy, and was quite popular; Hor- 
ace P. Dunbar, who was a lawyer of 
considerable reputation and influence in his 
day. The one sister was Mrs. Sowers, the 
wife of the late Judge Eli Sowers, and the oth- 
er was married to Dr. John Sala, who at one 
time was one of our best citizens. The father 
of these five brothers and two sisters was 
George Dunbar, Sr. He, in his lifetime, was 
also a man of much influence. For quite a 
time he held the office of justice of the peace 
and was also postmaster fori some time. For 
some years be lived in a frame house that stood 
on the lot where Kenny Brothers' big store is 
now located. The last years of his life were 
spent in his home at the southeast corner of 
Cleveland avenue and Third street,, where he 
died many years ago. He was quite old at 
the time of his death. 

George Dunbar, Jr., who built the house we 
describe, had but two children, a son, named 
George, who left in early life for the west and 
died when but a young man : and Ethalinda 
Dunljar, who married a ^Methodist minister by 



224 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the name of High. She has also been dead 
for some years. 

When the tirst excitement broke out about 
the discovery of gold in California, in 1849, 
George Dunbar left his pleasant home just 
spoken of, and went to California. Almost 
all of the journey had to be made overland, 
and it took from six to eight weeks' hard travel 
to go from this region to California. Many 
lost their lives in their first attempts to go 
there, some being attacked by warlike Indians 
and others by exposure and fatigue. George 
Dunbar made the journey successfully, but 
died shortly thereafter. To the best of my 
recollection all the Dunbars, from the j'oung- 
est to the oldest, were Democrats, but they 
had the respect of the Whigs and others op- 
posed to them in politics. 

After the death of George Dunbar, who 
built the home described, the widow remained 
there for a few years, after which the late 
George W. Raff bought the propeinty and oc- 
cupied it for several years, after which he sold 
it to L. V. Bockius, who was married in 1855 
and very soon thereafter moved into this same 
house. He never added much to it. but kept 
it in good repair and well painted. Mr. Bock- 
ius and family continued to live in this house 
for almost twenty-nine years. Mrs. Bockius. 
who is still living, says that all their, children 
were born in this house. 

Before George Dunbar built his line cottage 
home on the corner of Market and Eighth 
streets there stood there a two-story frame 
building which was occupied eighty years ago 
by Joseph Trout and family. Joseph Trout, 
Jr., who died about eight years ago, was born 
in this house and so were others of that family. 

The elder Joseph Trout was a good stone 
mason and said he was induced to come to 
Canton by John Shorb, Sr., to help build the 
first house of worship of the St. John's Cath- 
olic church, which was among the first church- 
es built in Canton. Joseph Trout, Sr., claimed 



that he was the first German emigrant to settle 
in Canton, as one of its citizens, and I have 
never heard it contradicted. That of itself is 
quite an honorable record. In later years Jos- 
eph Trout, Sr., built the two-story brick build- 
ing yet standing on the northwest corner of 
Cleveland avenue and Third street, and there 
died many years ago, at an advanced age. 
This house is still owned by the Trouts. In 
later years Joseph Trout, Jr., built the two- 
story frame luiilciing just north of the brick 
building, but on the same lot, and there is 
where his widow with one or two of the daugh- 
ters still reside. 

In looking over the "old landmarks'' of this 
article we cannot fail to observe two things : 
First, the great change made in fifty years 
and how soon our places are forgotten. Fifty 
years ago old Father George Dunbar and his 
excellent wife and their five sons and three 
daughters were all married and settled in Can- 
ton. Now there is not one left to perpetuate 
the name in the community. Only a few dis- 
tant relatives, of different name, now reside 
here. Truly the places that know us now 
shall soon know us no more. The second 
change to which we would direct attention 
is here noted. Fifty years ago the southwest 
corner of Eighth and Market streets had more 
attractive buildings than are theire today. The 
new McKinley hotel directly east of this cor- 
ner is a fine modern building of six stories. 
Directly north of this is a fine three-story build- 
ing, and to look down from these pretentious 
structures to find a one-story frame building 
on the corner is to cause the hope that a new 
and harmonious building may soon occupy 
the site. 



A VETERAN HOTEL MAN. 

By John Danner. 

Already the fact has been noted that Can- 
ton has had some veteran hotel keepers, such 




CENTRAL ENGINE HOUSE, CANTON. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



!25 



as Philip and George Dewalt and William 
Hawk, Sr., and his son, William, Jr., but 
Massillon also had one veteran hotel man who 
was well known throughout this section. This 
was the late Thomas S. Webb. Sixty-two 
years ago the Franklin house, kept by Mr. 
Webb in Massiilon, was considered one of the 
most homelike stopping places in the country. 
When the writer first went to Massillon to 
live, in 1840, he boarded for a time in this 
hotel and became well acquainted with Mr. 
Webb. 

The Franklin house stood on Canal street, 
one square south of Main street, being a two- 
story frame building. On the north side of 
the lot was an alley that led back to the barns. 
This house was always well kept while con- 
trolled by Mr. Webb. It was not as well located 
for first-class trade as was the Commercial 
hotel, kept by the late William M. Folger, who 
was also a successful and popular host. The 
Commercial was a two-story brick building, 
located at the northeast corner of Erie and 
Main streets, and was afterward enlarged by 
the addition of a third story. One incident 
may be recalled in illustration of the hospitality 
and social nature of Thomas S. Webb. More 
than sixty 3'^ears ago Dr. John Schertzer, of 
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, started out on horse- 
back to look up a location for practice, in 
Mansfield or some place west of that. 
He stopped at Mr. Webb's hotel in Massillon 
for the night and was so well pleased with the 
cordial reception and treatment received there 
that he concluded to settle in Massillon, and 
he there gained a reputation as an able phy- 
sician and excellent citizen. He was succeed- 
ed by his son, Dr. J. V. Schertzer. Each con- 
trolled a large practice and both died in Mass- 
illon. 

Finally Mr. Webb made the venture of en- 
gaging in the hotel business in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, ^^]^ere he opened a large four- 
story brick building on the east side of North 

14 



Third street, and very soon he built up a large 
business. Most of the merchants from this re- 
gion made his hotel their abiding place when in 
the Quaker city for the purpose of buying 
goods. This hotel was known as the Eagle. 
After conducting the same successfully for a 
number of years Mr. Webb moved into a 
larger and more modern brick building on the 
north side of Arch street, between Third and 
Fourth streets, and immediately opposite one 
of the largest Friends' churches in the city. 
This was known as the Union hotel and gained 
a large patronage from all over the country. 
Mr. Webb succeeded in pleasing his many 
guests and in making money. All Stark coun- 
ty people made the Union hotel their head- 
quarters during the regime of Mr. Webb, and 
as in those days the merchants throughout this 
region visited Philadelphia twice each year for 
the purpose of buying goods, a number of per- 
sons from this part of Ohio were to be found 
almost any time in the old "City of Brotherly 
Love." The opening of railroads and the 
more modern plan of selling goods to the re- 
tail trade through the interposition of traveling 
salesmen have revolutionized all the old-time 
customs, so that comparatively few of our peo- 
ple now visit Philadelphia as compared with 
the olden time when Mr. Webb was there en- 
gaged in the hotel business. 

One thing that militated somewhat against 
the complete success of Mr. Webb was the fact 
that he was a man who generally became much 
excited during political campaigns and some- 
times allowed his utterances to be of such a 
nature as to offend those who held opposing 
views. This lost him some patronage, yet he 
was very popular and successful and accumu- 
lated considerable money in the hotel business. 
Mrs. Webb was a most excellent woman and 
well adapted to managing the affairs assigned 
to her charge, but she was delicate in health and 
was thus much handicapped in her efforts. 
The success attained by Mr. Webb in Phila- 



226 



OLD LANDMARKS 



delphia finally prompted him to enter the same 
line of business in the city of New York, 
where he opened a large hotel on the south side 
of Courtland street, near Broadway, where he 
built up a very good business, which he con- 
tinued several years. Mr. Webb was always 
an ardent admirer of Massillon and had many 
warm friends there, and he finally decided to 
retire from the hotel business and make his 
home in Massillon. He accordingly secured a 
home nearly opposite Cedar street, on the 
south side of East Main street, where he con- 
tinued to abide untl his death, a few years ago, 
his wife having passed away a few years pre- 
vious. Their sons, Frank and Jesse, are also 
deceased. 

The old Franklin hotel in Massillon was 
kept open as a hotel for some time after the de- 
parture of Mr. \'Vebb from the city, buti ts 
popularity waned soon after his retirement. 
The building is still standing, but is much 
changed in general appearance and in the uses 
to which it is applied, but it is one of the old 
landmarks of the county. 



. A PIONEER FAMILY. 

By John Danner. 

As reference has been made in another 
article to William M. Folger as having been 
one of the old-time hotel men of Massillon, it 
is quite proper that further mention be made 
of the pioneer family of which he was a worthy 
representative. In 1826 Mayhew Folger, fa- 
ther of ^Villianl M. and Robert H. Folger, con- 
ducted a hotel in Kendall, which is now one of 
the wards of Massillon. Upon the comple- 
tion of the Ohio canal and the beginning of the 
town of Massillon, in 1828, he removed to the 
new tow n and on the northeast corner of Main 
and Erie streets erected a new hotel, to which 
he ga\e tlie name of the Commercial Inn. 



Four years later his death occurred and the 
hotel was then kept open by Joseph Lazaret 
and others until 1841, v/hen William M. Fol- 
ger rented his father's old established hotel, 
which he conducted until 1843, when he re- 
moved to Ravenna, this state, and became the 
proprietor of the Prentiss house, there con- 
tinuing business until the building was de- 
stroyed by fire, about 1862, and he then re- 
moved to Akron, where he conducted the Em- 
pire hotel for the ensuing five years. For a 
short time after this he was engaged in the 
same line of enterprise in Reno, Pennsylvania, 
his place being known as the Folger house, and 
in the centennial year of our national inde- 
pendence he went to Philadelphia and assisted 
his old Massillon competitor, Thomas S. 
Webb, in the management of his hotel during 
that year, the two ha\'ing been warm friends 
during all the years they had been in compe- 
tition. 

William M. Folger was born in Nantucket, 
Massachusetts, in 1804, and his death occurred 
in Mantua, Ohio, in 1891, at the advanced 
age of eighty-seven years. After Mr. Folger 
retired from the hotel business in Massillon 
Samuel Hawk, of Canton, took the hotel and 
greatly enlarged and improved the building. 
After there continuing a successful business 
for several years he went to New York city, 
where he attained no little prestige and success 
in the same line of business, having at one tmie 
conducted the St. Nicholas, one of the popular 
and well known hotels on Broadway, and he 
accumulated quite a fortune in the hotel busi- 
ness. His father, William Hawk, came to 
Canton some years before and purchased from 
the late George Dewalt the Eagle hotel, on the 
southwest corner of Market and Tuscarawas 
streets, where he rem.ained until his death. 
While he was conducting this hotel his son, 
Samuel, who had been thoroughly trained in 
the business, removed to Massillon, as noted 
previously. Samuel Hawk married a daugh- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



227 



ter of Dr. Estep, of Canton, no children being 
born of this union. WiUiam Hawk, a younger 
brother of Samuel, was also trained in the 
hotel business. He married Miss Ella Buck- 
ius, of Canton, and their only son, William, 
Jr., is at the present time one o-f the most popu- 
lar and successful hotel men in New York 
city. 

Robert H. Folger, the attorney of Massill- 
on, who died there in recent years, was a 
younger brother of William M. Folger, and at 
the time of his death must have been about 
eighty-eight years of age. It was said of him 
in his later years that he was the oldest prac- 
titioner at the Ohio bar. While a young man 
he was captain on one of the packet boats then 
plying on the Ohio canal between Massillon 
and Cleveland. As we then had no railroads 
itiany sought the accommodations of these 
comfortable canal packets, and frequently men 
of national reputation would be among the 
passengers. On one occasion John Ouincy 
Adams, then ex-president of the United States, 
was a passenger on Mr. Folger's boat, and the 
latter greatly enjoyed the privilege of having 
so distinguished a passenger. 

From the inception of the town of Massill- 
on until the death of Robert H. Folger, a few- 
years ago, the name of Folger was familiar 
among the residents of that city, but it is be- 
lieved that none of the name are now residing 
there. The two daughters of Robert H. were 
living there at the time of his death, removed 
to Toledo, and the only son has been a captain 
in the United States navy for many years, oc- 
casionally visiting Massillon during his fa- 
ther's life. The father of William M. and 
Robert H. Folger had been a sea captain for 
many years prior to coming to Ohio. Mrs. 
Levi Rawson was his daughter, and after the 
death of her husband she made her home with 
her daughter, Mrs. Perkins, in Akron. The 
firm of L. & S. Rawson sixty years ago was 
known as being one of the largest buyers of 



wheat in this part of Ohio, their headquarters 
being in Massillon, where they had large stor- 
age and warehouses, also being engaged in the 
mercantile business. They operated a canal 
boat on the canal, utilizing the same for the 
transportation of wheat to Cleveland. The 
late John Jacobs was the captain of the boat 
and did a large business, becoming quite well 
off. He was a hard worker and an honorable 
man, and he died in recent years, having at- 
tained the age of nearly ninety years. 

It was recorded of Captain Mayhew Fol- 
ger, who had so long been on the sea before 
coming to Ohio that he had circumnavigated 
the globe three times. His last voyage was 
made in the Topaz, of Boston, in 1810, and he 
then decided to abandon the seafaring life, 
coming to Ohio and locating in Kendall, now a 
part of Massillon, as has been already noted 
in this article. The city of Massillon and all 
the people of Stark county can take a just pride 
in the fact that such excellent people, industri- 
ous, moral and trustworthy, were numbered 
among our pioneers. The Folger family were 
members of the Society of Friends. William 
M. Folger in later years became a member of 
the Baptist church in Massillon and was always 
a consistent Christian worker. He was a 
strong advocate of temperance and in all his 
hotel life never kept a bar in connection. It 
is the impression of the writer that Mayhew 
Folger had a daughter Sarah, who became the 
wife of Jefferson Raynolds. of Canton, but as 
the)^ have been dead many years no definite 
information is accessible. There was a young- 
er daughter who married James D. Ladd, of 
Jefferson county, and they afterward moved to 
Ottumwa, Iowa, where they resided until 
death. They were married in the old Friends' 
meetiing house in Kendall, the ceremony being- 
conducted after the customary manner of the 
Quakers, there being no officiating clergyman 
but each of the contracting parties vowing to 
take the other as life companion. 



22i 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ONE OF OUR EARLIEST FAMILIES. 

By John Danner. 

Sixty years ago John Slusser, fatlier of the 
late Dr. Lew Slusser and Samuel D. Slusser, 
kept a store in a two-story brick building 
which stood on the northeast comer of Tusca- 
rawas and Piedmont streets. This building 
stood about six feet lower than the present 
building on that site. At that time East Tusca- 
rawas street to Piedmont street showed quite a 
steep grade, and in making the present grade 
in later years the buildings east of Piedmont 
street were thrown five or six feet below the 
new grade. 

The Slusser family came to Stark county 
in 1805. Old Grandfather Philip Slusser, the 
father of John, came here from Westmoreland 
county, Pennsylvania, with a family of five 
sons and five daughters, the youngest of the 
latter being the mother of the writer of this 
series of reminiscent sketches. All the chil- 
dren of this pioneer have passed away, the 
mother of the writer having been the last to be 
called to the life eternal, her death occurring 
more than fifteen years ago. All died and 
were buried in Stark county except one son, 
Philip, Jr., who had lived for a number of 
years near West Brookfield, this county, 
whence he finally removed with his family to 
Vandalia, Illinois, where he passed the residue 
of his life, his death occurring about forty 
years ago. Philip Slusser, the father of these 
children, was an active member of the Metho- 
dist church, as was also his wife, and all the 
members of the family became active Christian 
workers. The majority were Methodists, sev- 
eral joined the Presbyterian church and one. 
if not more, united with the German Baptists. 
John Slusser, with whom this article has more 
particularly to do, was a Methodist for many 
years. He had much experience in connection 
with pioneer life in the early history of Stark 
county. At the time the family came here 



Indians were still numerous in this region, 
and white settlers but few. The writer 
has often been told that at that time our 
now prosperous city of Canton did not have 
more than six or seven buildings, these be- 
ing log cabins of the primitive type. The 
original German spelling of the the name 
was Schlosser, and this was retained until 
about the time Philip Slusser came with 
his family to Stark county. He built the first 
mill in the county, the same having been lo- 
cated east of the little hamlet of Canton, very 
near the point where Ninth street crosses the 
east creek, and about the site where the Row- 
land mill stood many years thereafter. The 
mill thus erected by Philip Slusser was de- 
stroyed by fire within a few years after its 
erection. The year preceding the building of 
this flouring mill he had erected a saw mill near 
the site of the grist mill later put up, and John 
Slusser, who was at the time about sixteen 
years of age, was placed in charge of this saw 
mill. The responsibility was great for one so 
young and without experience in that kind of 
work. The settlers soon began to buy boards, 
slabs and other saw-mill products to use in the 
erection of houses. John Slusser often, in 
later years, referred to his experience in his fa- 
ther's saw mill and said it had been a means 
of great education to him, both in the conduct- 
ing of business and in learning the use of 
tools. Very soon he was able to handle or- 
dinary carpenter tools with as great facility 
and skill as many who had served a regular ap- 
prenticeship at the trade. At that time there 
were no cabinetmakers living here, and such 
a thing as a furniture store of the modern type 
was not heard of. Thus as new families came 
to settle in and around Canton they naturally 
needed such things as dough trays, cupboards, 
tables and other furniture which could not be 
brought with them by the primitive means of 
transportation then available. Very soon it 
was made known throughout the new settle- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



229 



ment that John Slusser could manufacture such 
articles, and the demand soon became greater 
than one man could supply. He made all he 
could, and each article was good and sti'ong, 
and in the family are yet retained a few of 
his products in this line, the same having been 
made before any of the present generation 
knew about such things, and they are strong 
and solid today and could not be purchased 
for any price, the writer being favored in hav- 
ing such articles from the hand of John Sluss- 
er in his home today. 

In the year 1812 John Slusser enlisted as 
a soldier, near the present site of the city of 
Sandusky, but he was attacked with an ill- 
ness which incapacitated him from active serv- 
ice and was afterward honorably discharged. 
Not long after his return to Canton he married 
Nancy Dewalt, sisteii of Daniel, George and 
Philip Dewalt. He had obtained from his 
father some land about a mile from town, on 
what is now known as the Fulton road. There 
he settled and remained for a number of years, 
giving most of his attention to cabinet work, 
in the manufacture of bureaus, clock cases, ta- 
bles and such other useful household furniture 
as the country at that time much needed. In 
1825 he exchanged his property with John 
Webb for the property on the northeast corner 
of Tuscarawas and Piedmont streets, the same 
being improved with the two-story brick build- 
ing first mentioned in this article. After 
coming to town he continued to make some 
furniture, but concluded, in view of the fact that 
he had a good central location, that he would 
open a store, and in company with others who 
wished to buy goods in Philadelphia and New 
York, he rode on horseback to those cities. In 
those days a few staple dry goods, a little hard- 
ware, boots and shoes and a general variety 
made up the requisite stock. He continued in 
this business until 1850 and was quite success- 
ful, but finally retired from all business and 



purchased another property, two squares fur- 
ther east on Tuscarawas street, on the south 
side of the same, where he passed the remainder 
of his life, his death occurring in 1859. 

In 1842 John Slusser's frrst wife passed 
away. They became the parents of seven chil- 
dren, namely : Sarah, who became the wife 
of Madison Raynolds ; Samuel D. and Dr. Lew 
Slusser; Mary and Alfred, both of whom died 
of scarlet fever in 1833; John, Jr., who lived 
in the southern states until i860, when he died, 
his remains being brought to Canton and in- 
terred in the family lot in "VVestlawn cemetery; 
and Rebecca, Mrs. David ZoUars, who is now 
the only one of the children living. Some 
time after the death of his first wife John 
.Slusser married Mrs. Catherine Whitman, no 
children being born of this union. 

During the time that John Slusser was in 
the mercantile business he bought the lot on 
the north side of East Tuscarawas street, just 
east of Saxton street, and there established 
a tan yard, which he conducted quite success- 
fully, with William Dobbs as his tanner. In 
later years his son, Samuel D. Slusser, had be- 
come an excellent tanner, and he conducted the 
business in that tan yard until the enterprise 
was finally abandoned. Just across Saxton 
street, on the site of the present Wheeling & 
Lake Erie passenger station, is the lot on which 
Jacob Hane had lived and conducted his tan 
yard, and though he and Mr. Slusser were com- 
petitors in business for many years they were 
warm friends. Most of the old buildings on the 
Slusser lot are still standing, but are converted 
to other uses, while the building of the Hane 
tan yard was removed to give place to the best 
passenger station in the city, that of the Wheel- 
ing & Lake Erie Railroad. All these changes 
may seem very singular to our young people, 
but the old citizens are quite familiar with 
the same and therefore enjoy a reminiscent 
glance. 



230 



OLD LANDMARKS 



THE BOCKIUS FAMILY. 

By John Danner. 

The two-story brick building on South 
Market street, in which Charles J. Bockius has 
his shoe store, was built many years ago by his 
grandfather, John C. Bockius, and the major 
portion of the building was utilized by the 
latter as a residence during the time he lived 
in Canton. The name is one which is familiar 
to the people of Canton and vicinity. Valen- 
tine Bockius, great-grandfather of Charles J., 
was a hatter by trade and lived for a number 
of years on South Walnut street, near Tenth. 
He was very fond of fishing and made frequent 
trips to Meyer's lake for that purpose; very 
few of the citizens of Canton at this time re- 
member this veteran, who lived to quite a 
venerable age. He must have approached very 
near to the century mark before he passed 
a•\^'ay. He was born in the United States, but 
went to Germany, his father's native land, and 
there was married, and while he was living- 
there his son, John C. Bockius, was born, so 
that the father was an American by birth and 
the son a German. In 1819 they all came to 
the United States. John C. Bockius. while 
yet in Germany, served several years in Na- 
poleon's army as a drummer boy, after which 
he learned the trade of shoemaking. In Can- 
ton he opened the business of making and keep- 
ing for sale boots and shoes, and he continued 
in active business here until his death, in 1878. 
His son, L. V. Bockius, was associated with 
him in the enterprise for a long term of years, 
under the firm name of J. C. Bockius & Son. 
The shoe business appears to have been con- 
genial to the family, as three generations have 
been identified with the same in our city, rep- 
resenting a period of seventy-five years, and 
there are at the present time two firms per- 
petuating the name here in this line of enter- 
prise, namely L. V. Bockius' Son, 116 South 



Market street, and Charles J. Bockius, who is 
located at 222 South Market street. 

When John C. Bockius first opened his shoe 
store in Canton it was looked upon by local 
shoemakers as a distinct innovation, since prior 
to that time it was the invariable custom here 
for all shoes to be to order and by special meas- 
urement. There were at the time a number 
of shoemakers in the town but no shoe store. 
Among the old shoemakers of those days were 
Seth Godden, Edward White and Louis Four- 
nace. John C. Bockius was the pioneer in 
Canton to open a store exclusively confined to 
the sale of boots and shoes. 

The other family of Bockius, on Buckius, in 
the county are the descendants of John Buck- 
ius, who adopted the English form of spelling 
the name, v/hile the other branch, just men- 
tioned, have retained the original German 
orthography. Both descended from the same 
family stock several generations back. From 
both branches have come some of our best and 
most useful citizens, all industrious and en- 
gaged in honorable occupations. 

John Buckius, Sc, about seventy-five years 
ago, had for a time carried on the business of a 
tinner in a frame building which stood on the 
site of the present store of W. D. Caldwell, 
on the northeast corner of the public square. 
He afterward erected on the same ground a 
two-stor}' brick building, in which for a time 
he conducted a hotel, known as the Franklin 
house, and in later years other hotels in the 
town were known by this name, as will be 
recalled from the perusal of preceding articles 
in this series. Henry Buckius, son of John, 
for many years lived and carried on the tin- 
ning business on the west side of North Market 
street, between Fourth and Fifth streets; and 
his brother, John, Jr., was a saddler and har- 
ness maker by trade and was located for many 
years on the southeast corner of Tuscarawas 
street and Cleveland avenue, where the first 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



231 



Methodist Episcopal church now stands. In 
later years he erected a good brick house on 
the same lot and opened the St. Cloud hotel, 
the first of the name in the town, which has 
already been described, as has also the old Hur- 
ford house, which he likewise conducted under 
the name of St. Cloud after the burning of his 
original house. 

L. V. Bockius lived for many years in the 
cottage originally erected by George Dunbar, 
on the southwest corner of Eighth and Market 
streets, and all his children were born there. 
Later the family took up their residence at 71 1 
North Market street, where Mr. Bockius died, 
his willow still retaining her home in this 
dwelling. 



EARLY LUTHERAN AND REFORMED 
CHURCHES. 

By John Danner. 

Li studying the early history of Canton it 
becomes evident that a large percentage of the 
early pioneers held the faith either of the Luth- 
eran or German Reformed ciiurches, or were 
reared under the training of the same, and it is 
therefore quite consistent that these two de- 
nominations be the first to gain consideration 
in this publication. The first preaching in 
the neighborhood was in a barn owned by 
Michael Reed, a short distance from the site 
of the present county infirmary, and the clergy- 
man was Rev. John Stanch, a Lutheran, who 
lived in western Pennsylvania and who visited 
Stark countv at stated intervals during the 
pleasant- summer months. The seats provided 
in this primitive place of worship were made 
from slabs secured from the sawmill of Philip 
Slusser, said mill having at the time been lo- 
cated in the east end of the little village of Can- 
ton. Li the winter season services were oc- 
casionally lield, principally in private houses, 



and the dining room of Dewalt's tavern was 
occasionally used for this purpose. 

Li 1810 the German Lutheran and Re- 
fonned congregations jointly took possession 
of the block of lots in West Tuscarawas street 
where the Presbyterian church now stands. 
This block of lots was left by Bezaleel Wells 
for church purposes. The two societies men- 
tioned built a small frame house of worship, 
but it was never fully completed, being used 
for services on several occasions before it was 
even plastered. As the donation of the block 
of lots by Mr. Wells designated no denomina- 
tions the congregation feared that other church 
organizations might wish to utilize the ground 
also, and (Jii this score doubtless the society did 
not care to make more expenditure of funds 
than was absolutely necessary. Li the early 
history of the congregation Rev. Anthony 
Wier, a Lutheran minister, became the pastor 
of the chmxh, and it is said that he was the 
first resident clergyman of Canton. Through 
his influence the congregation decided to buy 
ground of whose control they could always be 
sure, without fear of molestation on the part of 
other congregations, and they therefore bought 
the block of lots, in East Tuscarawas street, 
■where the First German Reformed and the 
Evangelical Lutheran churches now stand. 
Here they erected a two-story edifice. As they 
were not financially able to complete this build- 
ing it stood for many years in an unfinished 
condition, but under roof, and in the meantime 
it was injured somewhat by lightning, but it 
was finally completed. The Reformed congre- 
gation had no regular pastor, but was occa- 
sionally supplied by Revs. Mahneschmidt and 
Sonnendecker. The interior of this old church 
would appear quite extraordinary to the pres- 
ent generation. The gallery extended around 
three sides, south, east and west, and was ten 
or twelve feet from the lloor, while the pulpit, 
on the north side, was raised to the height of 
the gallery. A steep little stairway, with a 



232 



OLD LANDMARKS 



railing, led up frcmi one side into this pulpit, 
which was so small that hut two persons could 
occupy it simultaneously. The pews weiie 
primitive in style, with s(|uare end pieces, while 
the backs stood straight u]) and the seats were 
liard and level, thus making it quite as coin- 
fortahle to stand as to he seatetl. In later 
jfears the seats were somewhat im])roved. 

The first regular pastor of the Reformed 
church, according to the most authentic 
accounts, was Rev. Benjamin Foust, who took 
char,ge of the congregation in 1818. The 
frame church, in Tuscarawas street, fir.st 
mentioned, was occupied by the two congre- 
gations about four years, and the new brick 
clunch was completed about 1822, and the two 
congregations worshiped there until the early 
'60s, making in all about forty years that they 
occupied the same house of worship. Rev. 
Benjamin Foust died in i8_^2, and soon there- 
after Rev. Peter Jicrbruck assumed the pas- 
torale, .altluuigh not i|uile twenty years of age 
at tile time. I le li.ul come here as a young 
theological student from (iermany, when 
eighteen years old, and was under the instruc- 
tion of the Rev. Mr, l'\)ust until the death of 
the latter. Mr. I levhruck rcm.iincd pastor of 
the congregation about fifty-three years, — until 
he felt that he was tco old to fill the place. He 
was very popular .tniong his own people and 
well liked among other congregations. At 
the time of his jubilee or fiftieth anniversary 
of his pastorate over this congregation it was 
said he had performed more marriage cere- 
monies and ofliciated at more funerals tli.ui 
any other man in Ohio, at least while pastor of 
the same church. it was stated on that oc- 
casion that he had married nineteen hundred 
and sixty-one couples and attended two thous- 
and sixty-six funerals, and he later ofticiated 
many times in these capacities, so that it is 
safe to say that few if any pastors in the state 
have equaled his reconl in these lines. 

For a number of \ c.irs both congreg'.ilions 



used a portion of the block of lots which they 
purchased as a burial place for their dead, but 
this burying ground has long since been 
abandoned and luany of the bodies transferred 
to larger and more distant places of interment. 
Several of the pastors were buried on the north 
side of the old brick church, and among the 
number the writer l)elie\es were Rev. Benja- 
min Foust and Rev. Fred Haas, the latter be- 
ing the father of the late George B. Flaas, of 
Canton. After the death of Rev. Anthony 
Wicr kev. Rrofes.sor William Schmidt h;id 
charge of the Lutheran congregation for a 
time, and during his pastoral incumbency the 
Fvangelical Lutlieran synod of Ohio and west- 
ern 1 'cnnsyl\;uii;i started the project of a the- 
ological seminary, upon the organization of 
which Professor Schmidt was made a member 
of the faculty. Jt is believed that this original 
organization occurred in Canton, and the sem- 
inary was here established for a time in a por- 
tion of the Holben building, in West Tuscara- 
was street, but the permanent location of the 
institution was lin.illy made in the city of Co- 
lumbus. 

Within the time of his residence in Canton 
Mr. Schmidt married Miss Rebecca Buckius, 
daughter of John Buckius, Sr. Old Mr. Buck- 
ius was a tinner by trade and carried on his 
business for a number of years on the north- 
east corner <^f the jiublic square. Me cliimed 
he was the last man to look iq)oii the face 
of George Washington. He was living in 
Alexandria, Virginia, at tlie time of W^ashing- 
tou's de.ith and was called upon to seal the 
casket which held the remains of the great 
patriot before they were laid to rest in Mount 
Vernon. 

About i860 the Reformed congregation 
withdrew- from the union with the Lutheran 
and built a new brick church on the west end 
of the block of lots. At that time the late 
Conrad Schweitzer. Sr., was one of the most 
active .uul cfliciciit members .-nid (■(Hitributed 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



233 



much to the new interest. The house of wor- 
ship is still standing, but has been much en- 
larged and otherwise improved. 

In 1837 a portion of the English-speaking 
members of the Lutheran congregation with- 
drew to organize an English church of the 
same faith. Rev. J. J. Fast was the first pas- 
tor, and their first service and Sunday school 
were held in the old town hall, on the second 
floor of the old market house, which is de- 
scribed in an article elsewhere. The congre- 
gation afterward had their place of worship 
in the main room of the high school building, 
in West Tuscarawas street, this room being 
on the first floor, and they continued to occupy 
the same until they purchased the lot where 
Trinity Lutheran church now stands, on West 
Tuscarawas street. Here they built their first 
independent house of worship, the same being 
a neat and comfortable brick structure. It 
has since been razed to give place to the fine 
stone church that now occupies the same site, 
the organization Ijeing now one of the leading 
ones in the city, while there is probably more 
wealth represented in its membership than in 
any other Protestant congregation in Canton. 
The Trinity Reformed church is an English 
'ofifshoot of the German Reformed church, its 
organization occurring about 1870, while Rev. 
J. B. Shoemaker was the first pastor. He 
held the charge but a short time, and the next 
incumbent was Rev. E. Herbruck, who served 
the church about seven years, when he re- 
signed and .went to Dayton, where for a num- 
ber of years he published the Christian World, 
devoted to the interests of the Reformed 
church, and in later years became connected 
with the church institution, Heidelberg Col- 
lege, at Tiffin, though still retaining his resi- 
dence in Dayton. Upon his resignation of the 
pastorate of Trinity church his brother, Rev. 
E. P. Herbruck, became pastor, and under his 
ministry the congregation has materially 
grown and strengthened, the church being one 



of the largest and most prosperous in Canton. 
The history of both Lutheran and Reformed 
churches shows that in the early days most 
if not all of their services were conducted in 
the German language, but as the second gen- 
eration matured they demanded English in the 
church services, and this fact led to the estab- 
li.shing of the new churches as noted. 



ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, ROMAN CATH- 
OLIC. 

By John Danner. 

In the very early period of Canton's settle- 
ment there came here from Baltimore, Mary- 
land, several very excellent Catholic families, 
among whom were those of John Shorb and 
Andrew Meyer, who came here as early as 
1808 or 1810, while very soon after the war of 
1812 other Catholic families joined the settle- 
ment. Andrew Meyer invested very largely 
in land, becoming the owner of several thous- 
and acres, including the whole of the popular 
resort still known as Meyer's lake. Efforts 
have been made by other owners since that time 
to change the name, but the public have con- 
sistently-adhered to that given in honor of 
the original owner, and it is to be hoped this 
title will perpetually be retained. Among oth- 
er members of the Catholic church who came 
here between 18 12 and 1818 were John and 
Francis Pirrong, Joseph Traut, Sr., the Cassi- 
lys, Owens, Grimes, McCormicks, George 
Hossofross, Adam Rider, the Pieros and many 
others. Catholic missionaries occasionally 
held services in Shorb's grove and also 
in the house ^vhich is a part of the 
residence now occupied by Miss Har- 
riet A. Shorb, 710 West Third street, she 
being a granddaughter of the John Shorb, to 
whom reference has lieen made. These mis- 
sionaries came here about twice a year, and 



234 



OLD LANDMARKS 



proclamation of their coming was made 
througliout tine county and beyond, so that pil- 
grimages were made to these meetings by many 
living five to twenty-five miles distant. Well 
informed members of the church in Canton 
state that St. John's is the oldest Catholic 
church in the Cleveland diocese. 

John Shorb and his wife were especially 
active and zealous workers in the church. The 
first house of worship, a brick structure, was 
liegun in 1823 and completed in the following 
3'ear. About fort)'-eig"ht years ago Father 
Lindesmith built an addition to the west end 
of the church, which gave the building the 
appearance most familiar to the older residents 
of the city today. It may be consistently noted 
again at this point that Mr. Shorb lost his life 
as the result of an accident while assisting in 
the erection of the church edifice, mention hav- 
ing previously been made of this fact. Original- 
ly the edifice was only forty by ninety feet in 
dimensions and had a pointed spire running up 
from the belfry. The priest's house was in 
the east end of the building, facing McKinley 
avenue, while the auditorium was always in 
the western end. the entrance facing the old 
cemetery, while the building stood near the 
southeast corner of the lot. The present large 
and handsome building of St. John's parish 
stands some distance further to the north than 
did the old church. The cemetery near the 
church was never very large, and was well filled 
Ijefore the opening of the new parish ceme- 
tery on North Cleveland avenue, in Plain 
township. Adjoining the old burying ground 
was a smaller one owned by the Shorbs and 
their relatives, this not being opened for gen- 
eral use. 

Among the notable women of early days 
in the Catholic church here was Grandmother 
Shorb, who had for years been a faithful at- 
tendant of the sick. Wherever she went, 
among Protestants as well as among her own 
people, she was beloved and was looked upon 



as an angel of mercy and benevolence. Then 
there was "Mother" Grimes, who was Irish 
and could talk, but never to the harm of any- 
one. She was impulsive and kind-hearted and 
was noted for her acts of kindness to her 
neighbors, without regard to sect or party. 
She lived in the hope that her adopted son, 
John McSweeney, would become a priest in the 
church, but this hope was never realized. He 
was well educated and became one of the fore-, 
most criminal lawyers in Ohio. He finally 
removed to Wooster, where he died, and his 
son and namesake is likewise a member of the 
bar and is a talented and influential man. 

From 1830 to 1845 the Catholic church 
in Canton received the most strength from 
immigration. At that time the tide of immi- 
grants to this country was very great, and after 
the completion of the Ohio canal Massillon 
became the great wheat city of this whole re- 
gion. So when the roads were good in the 
autumn of the year long trains of wagons 
could be seen going from Canton to Massillon, 
loaded with wh.eat and other products of the 
farm, and when these wagons returned it was 
no unusual thing to see them loaded down 
with immigrants, with their ponderous trunks, 
chests and other luggage, seeking homes in this 
new country. A large percentage of these 
immigrants were Catholic, although there was 
quite a numlier of Lutherans and other sects. 
Then it was that such sterling families as the 
Biecheles, Danneniillers, Bechels and others 
came among us. Our young people will bear 
in mind that in those days we had no railroads 
in Stark county,, and the Ohio canal was a 
wonderful impro\'ement over the old Cones- 
toga wagons and other primitive means of 
transportation _ utilized in the pioneer epoch. 

The first priest in charge of the Canton 
congregation of the Catholic church was Rev. 
John A. Hill, who was a nephew of Lord 
FTill, of England, and a relative of Rev. Rol- 
and Hill, the famous Baptist clergyman of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



235 



England. He had been coniniander of a regi- 
ment in the battle of Waterloo and afterward 
had married. He and his wife were soon 
converted to the faith of the Catholic church 
and eventually became impressed with the idea 
that it was their duty to consecrate themselves 
to its service. They therefore separated by 
mutual consent, the wife entering a convent in 
Italy, while Mr. Hill prepared himself for the 
priesthood, the church canonically authorizing 
their separation and the dissolution of the 
marital bonds. After the completion of his 
theological education Father Hill came to 
America, where he served a few years as a 
Catholic missionary. He came to Canton 
about the time the first edifice of St. John's 
church was completed, in 1824. He assumed 
the pastorate of the parish, but lived only a few 
years, his death occurring September 3, 1828, 
and, in harmony with his own request, his re- 
mains were laid to rest near the church, on the 
south side. Before the old church building 
was taken down, in Seijtember, 1848, the mor- 
tal remains of Father Hill were exhumed and 
removed to St. Jo.seph's cemetery, about a mile 
south of Somerset, Perry county. 

For several years after the death of Father 
Hill the clnnxh had brief pastoral incumben- 
cies, and in 1831 Rev. John M. Henni became 
the priest in charge, remaining until 1834. 
During his pastorate, about 1833, this region 
was visited with a serious scourge of cholera, 
and about that time one of the bishops of the 
church visited the parish. While on his way 
home he was taken violently ill of this dread 
malady, while on the stage coach, and died 
soon afterward. Massillon suflfered from the 
ravages of the cholera to a somewhat greater 
extent than did Canton, but here also w'ere a 
number of sudden deaths, including that of 
Mr. Bernard, the first proprietor of the Stark 
County Democrat. 

Rev. J. S. Alemany succeeded Father Hen- 
ni as rector of St. John's in 1834, and later 



Father Henni became archbishop of the dio- 
cese of Milwaukee, VMsconsin, while still later 
Father Alemany was made archbishop of the 
diocese of San Francisco. For ten years after 
1834 pastoral changes were frequent, but from 
the foregoing it will be seen that among the 
priests who served the parish in the early days 
were men of high ability and two who attained 
distinctive eminence in the church. 

Tn 1844 about twenty-five families with- 
drew from St. John's and organized a German 
Catholic church, under the name of St. Peter's. 
They built their first house of worship on 
North Cleveland avenue, between their pres- 
ent church and the parochial school. Peter 
Meyers, one of the active members of the con- 
gregation, was the designer and builder of the 
first church, he having been one of the leading 
contractors and builders of the town at that 
time. Rev. Father Luhr was the first pastor 
to minister to the congregation of St. Peter's, 
and there were several other pastoral incum- 
bents before the coming of the present popular 
and loved shepherd. Rev. Father V. Arnould, 
who has been in charge for nearly forty years. 
After the Germans had withdrawn from St. 
John's Rev. Father Doherty was pastor for a 
number of years, and he was succeeded by Fa- 
ther Lindesmith, who was very popular in the 
community and who Avas an active temperance 
worker. His successor was Father Bartolett, 
with whose work the writer is not familiar, but 
the present large and elegant church edifice 
was erected during his regime. The present 
priest in charge is Father P. J. McGuire, who 
has been here fully a quarter of a century, 
being a man of ability and one who commands 
uniform respect and esteem in the community. 



EARLIEST PRESBYTERL\N CHURCH. 



By John Danner. 



The first house of worship built by the 
Presliyterians in Canton occupied the same site 



236 



OLD LANDMARKS 



as does their present fine stone edifice, at the 
southwest comer of Tuscarawas street and 
McKinley avenue. It was a brick structure 
and was about fifty by seventy-five feet in di- 
mensions. When it was first built the availa- 
ble resources of the society were inadequate to 
more than place the building under roof, and it 
remained unfinished for several 3'ears. At 
the time when the original structure was com- 
pleted there was no tower, the spire and belfry 
being erected during the pastorate of Rev. E. 
Buckingham, about fifty years ago, this por- 
tion of the building being constructed of wood. 
There are records to show that Presby- 
terian missionaries visited this section as early 
as 1809, and occasionally services were held 
in house and barn, as opportunity offered, but, 
so far as tiie writer has been able to learn, 
no records of an organized church are to be 
found of a date anterior to 1821, when the 
First Presbyterian church of Canton was or- 
ganized. Among the early clergymen of this 
faith to officiate in Canton were the Revs. 
Joshua Beer, James Adams, Matthews and 
Vallandingham, but there are no records to 
indicate that any one of these gentlemen was 
ever settled as a pastor in Canton. In 1820 
Rev. James McClean, an Englishman by birth, 
began to preach for the Presbyterians in the 
old brick court-house that had been erected in 
1 81 6, and he \'ery soon impressed upon the 
people the importance of organizing a Sunday 
school, and in harmony with his admonitions 
the first Sunday school in Stark county was 
organized by the Presbyterians on the 21st 
of December. 1820, the assembly being held 
in the court-house, with fifty-six persons in 
attendance. Rev. McClean continued to offi- 
ciate here during that winter and the following 
summer, but was al:>sent more or less, visiting 
other isolated sections where church services 
were in demand. lie could find no records of 
an organized Presbyterian church in Stark 
county, and lie therefore gathered together the 



friends of such a church, and on the ist of 
September, 1821, effected the organization of 
the First Presbyterian church, with a member- 
ship of twenty-five persons. The first elders 
elected were Samuel Coulter and Robert and 
James Latimer, each of whom accepted the 
office. At the first communion and public 
recognition of the church Rev. A. Hanna, of 
Fredericksburg, was present to assist in the 
services. The next year the Rev. Mr. Mc- 
Clean pressed a little more strenuously for 
his salary than the church and congregation 
felt able to withstand, and it is said that he 
left the field by reason of tiie non-payment of 
his salary and that afterward he sued the trus- 
tees to recover the same, and that judgment 
was obtained against them by default, the trus- 
tees at the time having been James Gaff, Sr., 
George Dunbar and Robert Latimer. For sev- 
eral years thereafter the little congregation was 
without a pastor. In 1825 J. B. Morrow came 
here, a young theological student, and served 
the congregation, while in June of the follow- 
ing year he was regularly ordained and was 
installed as pastor of the Canton church, by the 
presbytery of Richland, Rev. James Rowland, 
,of Mansfield, and Rev. James Snodgrass, of 
Pigeon Run, participating in the public ser- 
vices on this occasion. Mr. Morrow was the 
grandfather of Dr. E. P. Morrow, now a resi- 
dent of Canton. 

Rev. James B. Morrow was the first paston 
to be publicly recognized by the presbytery. He 
continued his pastorate here until December, 
1830, and during his regime seventy-five new 
members were received into the church, so that 
the total number of members at the time of his 
departure was about one hundred. It was dur- 
ing his pastorate that the church took posses- 
sion of the lots left by Bezaleel Wells for 
church purposes, and the}' began the erec- 
tion of their first church edifice. Through 
the lack of funds and apathy on the 
part of some of the congregation the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



237 



building remained uncompleted, and the 
pastor finally became discouraged and resigned 
his charge, removing to New Philadelphia, 
Tuscarawas county. The Sunday school be- 
gan to decline and the spiritual enthusiasm to 
wane. The church had occasional preaching, 
but had no settled pastor until there came to 
the rescue Rev. Timothy M. Hopkins, of New 
York. Both he and his wife were ex- 
perienced school teachers and were quite vig- 
orous and enthusiastic. Soon after their arri- 
val in Canton they opened a select school, 
which soon gained the reputation of being the 
best ever conducted in Canton, the public- 
school system having not then been established. 
The church had been without a pastoral in- 
cumbent almost four years at the time Mr. 
Hopkins came here. Very soon, under the ef- 
fective efforts of this worthy man and his de- 
voted wife, the house of worship was put in or- 
der, the Sunday school was re-established and 
definite progress began to be made. Among 
the active workers in the Sunday school at this 
time were Almon Sortwell, Thomas Goodman 
and William Lemmon. Mr. Hopkins was an 
outspoken temperance man and was not afraid 
to voice his opinions, and it is certain that the 
words uttered by him relative to this burning 
question had much to do with moulding the 
characters of some of the youth in his Sunday 
school. 

After the pastorate of Mr. Hopkins, came 
that of Rev. W. B. Reeves, who was a good 
man and faithful, but hardly able to equal the 
record of his predecessor. During his pasto- 
rate the Rev. J. F. Avery, the Cleveland evan- 
gelist, held a series of protracted meetings in 
the church, and through his earnest exhorta- 
tions each of the churches in Canton gained a 
number of members, more especially the Pres- 
byterian. The work in this church became so 
heavy that the pastor felt his inability to prop- 
erly handle it and accepted a call to a smaller 
congregation. Soon thereafter Rev. S. F. 



Porter initiated his labors as pastor, remain- 
ing here two years and being succeeded by 
Rev. W. W. Taylor. Mr. Taylor was an ex- 
cellent and able man, strong in his convictions 
and in the courage to defend them, while he 
was a fluent and forceful speaker and one who 
brought the utmost enthusiasm and zeal into 
his ministry. To him pi'obably more than to 
any other one pastor should be given the credit 
of bringing the congregation up to new-school 
ideas. The physical strength of Mr. Taylor 
was not great, and the tension of his work here 
proved severe, undoubtedly being the cause of 
his leaving the field, at the expiration of about 
four years. The next pastor was Rev. E. Buck- 
ingham, who assumed charge in 1846 and who 
continued to preside over the spiritual and 
temporal affairs of the church for the long pe- 
riod of twenty-six years, his pastorate having 
been of the longest duration of all incumbents 
the church has had. He was a man of more 
than average ability, firm in his convictions of 
right and duty, and industrious in all depart- 
ments of church work. He left the congrega- 
tion greatly augmented in numbers, and not 
only the church but also the entire community 
felt the loss of Mr. Buckingham, when he 
could no longer be counted as one of the min- 
isters of Canton. 

A very short time after the close of Mr. 
Buckingham's pastorate a call was extended 
to Rev. W. J. Park, who was at that time 
pastor of the Prebyterian church at Fredericks- 
burg, Wayne county. He accepted the call 
and g•a^'e promise of great usefulness, but after 
several years he became complicated in charges 
which would reflect against the character of 
any clergyman, and in the autumn of 1879 he 
was suspended from the pastorate. Rev. J. H. 
Richie thereafter supplied the pulpit for a few 
months, until in 1880, the church was fortunate 
in securing Rev. David E. Platter, of New Jer- 
sey, as its pastor. He was a man well qualified 
for the position and was popular not only in his 



238 



OLD LANDMARKS 



own congregation, but also in the community 
as a whole. He continued in pastoral charge 
about ten years, being compelled to resign by 
reason of an affection of the throat which ren- 
dered it impossible for him to continue speaking 
in public. Rev. H. Clay Ferguson was the 
next incumbent and remained until 1895, when, 
by reason of his views becoming antagonistic 
to some of the officers of the church, he with- 
drew, taking a number of the members of 
church witli him, and they organized a new 
congregation, known as Calvary Presbyterian 
church. Shortly afterward Rev. O. B. Milli- 
gan was called and installed as pastor and is 
the present incumbent. He has made wonder- 
ful progress in the upbuilding of the church, 
both spiritually and financially. 

During the pastorate of Rev. D. E. Plat- 
ter, a mission was started in the southwest 
portion of the city, the same being known as 
the Buckingham mission. It has been contin- 
ued to the present time and a house of worship 
has been erected and paid for, the building be- 
ing capable of seating about five hundred per- 
sons, and the w^ork is prosperous in all ways. 



METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN 
CANTON. 

By John Danner. 

It has been found difficult to discover au- 
thentic records of the earliest movements of the 
Methodists in Canton and the county, but the 
writer is impressed with the belief, from data 
obtainable, that his grandfather, Philip Schlos- 
ser (afterward spelled Slusser), and William 
Hill were the first resident Methodists of Can- 
ton. They often discussed and planned to 
have a church of their faith established here, 
and they improved every opportunity to enlist 
the co-operation of the itinerant clergy of the 
church in the holding of services as often as 



possible and also to hold class meetings. 
.Among the first to preach here were a presiding 
elder by the name of Waterman and Rev. J. 
Graham, who was a circuit preacher. They 
held services here occasionally as early as 181 7. 
Whenever missionaries came into the locality 
the Methodists here were quite active in work- 
ing up a meeting for them. They had no reg- 
ular place of worship. Sometimes they would 
assemble in private houses and occasionally 
they would occupy the old log court house 
which has been elsewhere described in this se- 
ries of articles. Finally they met quite regu- 
larly in the old frame school house which stood 
on the block now occupied by the high school 
building. This old one-story school house was 
later moved to the northeast corner of McKin- 
ley avenue and Tuscarawas street and for a 
number of years was used as a cabinet shop by 
the late John McCurdy, while later it was re- 
moved about forty feet further north on the 
same lot, where it stood until comparatively a 
few years ago, when it was torn down. 

After the first brick school house was 
erected on the school lot in West Tuscarawas 
street, the Methodists held their meetings for 
several years in the east room of the second 
story. It has been found impossible to deter- 
mine the exact date of the organization of a 
Methodist society in Canton, but it must have 
been about 1822. About 1823 John McLean, 
who afterward became a justice of the United 
States supreme court, and whose sympathies 
were always with the Methodists, chanced to 
pass a Sunday in Canton as a guest in Dewalt's 
tavern. He inquired as to \^•lletller or not there 
was any Methodist meeting in the village that 
day and was directed to the old academy, or 
school building, where he found a few persons 
assembled for a prayer meeting, Philip Slusser 
being the leader. The leader was somewhat 
disconcerted to see a man of such dignified po- 
sition come to the meeting, but when oppor- 
tunity offered Mr. McLean arose and spoke so 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



= 39 



kindly and eloquently as to win the hearts of 
all present. 

About this time Rev. William Tipton was 
the circuit preacher for Canton, and it seems 
that he visited the place once each fortnight. 
In 1824 Rev. Daniel Goddard became the cir- 
cuit preacher, and for some time thereafter 
Canton continued as a mere circuit station. 
The society began to grow, however, and in 
1825 had quite a number of new and useful 
members, among whom were Drs. Thomas 
and John Bonfield, John Webb, Peter Tofler, 
"Mother" Cake, Jacob Rex and Newberry 
Cline. While the society met in the old acad- 
emy, they had various preachers, among whom 
were Revs. Frey, Plimpton, Ruckel, Kent, 
Graham, Sheppard and Sheldon. During this 
time the question of buying a lot and making 
an effort to build a house of worship was c[uite 
generall}' discussed, and Dr. Bonfield, New- 
berry Cline and William Dunbar were ap- 
pointed a committee to look up a location. In 
1830 the society purchased the block of lots 
that lay between McKinle}- avenue and De- 
walt street, facing on Eighth street and run- 
ning back to Ninth. In 1833, near the center 
of the Eighth street frontage, they erected a 
modest little church. The building was forty 
by fifty feet in dimensions, and was all in one 
audience room, only eighteen feet in height, 
the two outside doors opening directly into the 
audience room. In the early times the wo- 
men always took the west side and the men 
the east side of the church during all services, 
an intermixture of the sexes being then con- 
sidered in exceedingly bad form. The contractor 
and builder of this primitive meeting house was 
the late Thomas Cunningham. Soon after the 
completion of the. building the circuit preacher, 
Rev. Milton Colt, died, and his remains were 
buried a short distance south of the church, 
I)eing remoA'cd to the cemetery a number of 
years later. About the time of the completion 
of the church. Edward White, Joshua Saxton, 



William Dunbar, George N. Webb and Daniel 
Gotshall became active and useful members. 
In 1837 E. C. Patterson and wife settled in 
Canton and from that time forward they con-' 
tined to be valued members of the church until 
their death, a few years ago. Not long after 
they came to Canton, Rev. John M. Goshorn 
located here. He was a good preacher, but 
preferred to give most of his time and energy 
to school teaching. Shortly after his settling 
here, the two-story building still standing at 
the northwest corner of the block, and now 
used as a residence, was erected, and there was 
established the Canton Female Seminary, 
which had a most successful history under the 
capable management of Mr. Goshorn and his 
talented wife. No other select school in Canton 
has ever yet attained so great popularity and 
hirge patronage as did this seminary, and all 
good citizens regretted when it ceased to exist. 
Rev. J. M. Goshorn resided for the most of 
the time in the old Cribbs house, which is the 
two-story brick building on the northwest cor- 
ner of Cleveland avenue and Fifth street, and 
here was conducted a boarding house for the 
young ladies who attended the seminary. 

In the early occupancy of the church block 
a parsonage had been erected thereon, its lo- 
cation being at the corner of Eighth and De- 
walt streets. It was afterward occupied for 
years by the late William Barber and his fam- 
ily. Additions have been made to the house, 
so that its appearance is materially changed, 
but it still stands on the original location. It 
should also be stated that a fourth building 
stood on the back of the middle lot, facing on 
Ninth street. This house was quite small, be- 
ing not more than nine feet wide and not more 
than twenty in length. It was for a long time 
the snug and happy little home of the church 
sexton, James Armstrong, and his wife, Nan- 
cy. They were colored people and were the 
embodiment of good nature, while they not 
onlv looked carefully to the maintenance of 



240 



OLD LANDMARKS 



neatness and order in the church building, but 
were also quite active in its services. They had 
no children. Armstrong was familiarly 
known in the town as "Black Jim." while his 
wife was called "Aunt Nancy." He was 
above the average physique, while she was 
quite small. Tn times of protracted meeting 
the voice of Black Jim could often be heard 
above all others. He and his wife finally re- 
moved to Mount Union, where they passed the 
remainder of their lives, having had many 
friends in the county. 

John McCurdy and wife and Frederick 
Hafer and wife were among the old and faith- 
ful workers of the church, and in latter days 
David H. Harmon and wife and Peter Hugus 
and wife were very active workers, and al- 
ways with the advance guard. Upon the open- 
ing of the female seminary by the Rev. J. M. 
Goshorn, the congregation began to feel that 
they should no longer be kept on a circuit, but 
have a regular and stated pastor. Their request 
to this end soon met with a favorable response, 
and their first settled pastor for all-time pur- 
poses was the Rev. Edward Burkett. It soon 
became manifest, however, that they could not 
pay a stated pastor for his whole time, and 
they were therefore compelled to again be as- 
signed to a circuit, the same embracing Canton, 
Greentown, Hartville, Bethlehem, Sparta and 
Miller's church, in Pike township. The pas- 
tors who came after Mr. Burkett and kept up 
the circuit were Revs. White, Hare, Cramer, 
Baker, McCue, Swaney, McAbee, Jackson and 
Scott, and there may have been a few others 
whose names the writer has not been able to 
ascertain. About 1840 the Rev. Mr. McCue 
was carried away with the doctrines of Miller- 
ism, or second adventism, but the church was 
never affected by his fanaticism. 

At the time of the opening of the Pittsburg, 
Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, in 185 1-2, 
there were introduced into our midst E. Ball, 
C. Aultman and the Millers, which gave the 



town a new impetus, and the Methodist 
Episcopal church at once took a higher 
stand in the community than it had 
e\-er before occupied. Very soon there- 
after the church people had a regular 
stated preacher every Sunday, and thus closed 
for all time the connection of the Canton 
church with the circuit system. The old frame 
church was soon found to be too small and 
\'ery much out of date, and in 1862 a very fine 
brick edifice was erected on the corner of Tus- 
carawas street and Cleveland avenue, the same 
having class rooms, Sunday school rooms, etc. 
This new house was a wonderful improvement 
upon the old, and the church grew and pros- 
pered in every way until January, 1881, when, 
as the congregation was about to celebrate the 
sacrament of the holy communion, on the first 
Sunday of the new year, the church was found 
to be on fire. Rev. Pliram Miller, who was 
then pastor, proved very calm, being a man of 
excellent judgment, and he managed to get the 
congregation out of the building without a 
panic, but the church was destroyed. The so- 
ciety afterward built their present fine edifice, 
which is of stone and which occupies the site of 
the old church. After the destruction of the 
former building several churches of other de- 
nominations, with true Christian courtesy, of- 
fered the Methodists the use of their respective 
houses of worship, but it was deemed best to 
rent a hall in the ]Monitor block, and there they 
remained until the present edifice was comple- 
ted. The history of the church from that time 
to the present has been one of growth and spir- 
itual and temporal prosperity, and the church 
is one of the strongest in the city. 



THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 



By John Danner. 



Among the first Baptist ministers to settle 
in Stark county were Rev. Jehu Brown, of 




AULTMAN HOSPITAL. 



i 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



241 



Wajaiesburg.. and Re\-. Pitney Guest, of Pike 
township. Both settled in the county about 
1825 and were considered good preachers in 
their time, but they were always fearful of 
making a start in Canton. In 1849 Thomas 
Goodman, Robert Latimer and the writer of 
this article resolved to make the effort to ef- 
fect an organization in Canton. In 
April of that year the writer and his 
wife removed from Massillon to Canton, 
bringing our church letters with us, and we, 
together with Brothers Latimer and Goodman 
and Daniel Kreps, who was a clerk here and a 
Baptist, made a total of five. We at once ar- 
ranged to have Rev. John Winter, of Sharon, 
Pennsylvania, moxe to Canton and preach for 
us, and he and his wife increased the number 
of our church folk to seven. We called a 
council in _\pril, 1849, ^"d effected an organ- 
i7ation as a Baptist church of seven membei's. 
On the 22d of April we organized our Sunday 
school, with foiu'teen in attendance. Our 
meetings at first, and for several months there- 
after, were held in the little town hall, then lo- 
cated in the upper story of the okl market 
house, on the north public square. The Trinity 
Lutheran church had utilized the same room 
for a similar purpose about fifteen years pre- 
vious. We then purchased from the late Ira 
M. Allen his frame school-house, twenty-four 
by thirty-six feet in dimensions, the same 
standing on rented ground at the corner of 
Eighth and Court streets, the site of the pres- 
ent Raynolds block. In 1851 we purchased 
from the late John Shorb a lot at the southeast 
corner of Tenth and Market streets, where the 
riarter block now stands. The lot secured had 
a frontage of only forty-five feet on Market 
street, and one hundred and five feet repre- 
sented the Tenth street frontage. We then 
moved the frame building which we had pur- 
chased from Mr. Allen on to the east end of 
our new lot, and in 1852 we erected a brick edi- 
fice, the same being thirty-six by fifty feet in di- 

15 



mensions and of more modern design and con- 
struction than any other church building then 
in the city. The old building was then used 
for the Sunday schood and for prayer meet- 
ings, and these two buildings continued to be 
thus used by the congregation until 1872, when 
we took possession of our present house of 
worship. The old church which had been 
adapted from the Allen school-house was then 
sold to J. C. Lantz, who removed it to South 
Rex street, and he used it as a shop until its 
destruction by fire, a few years later. 

Rev. John Winter remained our pastor 
only a short time and then removed to 
Massillon, and we then had Thomas E. In- 
man and Andrew M. Torbet, who Avere both 
excellent men, but neither of them kept the 
pastorate long. Then followed Rev. P. M. 
W^eddell, a nephew of Peter M. Weddell, who 
built the Weddell hotel, long one of the finest 
houses of the sort in the city of Cleveland. 
He remamed with us seven years and did a 
good \vork. He then accepted a call to the 
Baptist church in Wooster, Ohio, and imme- 
diately thereafter Rev. Samuel Gorman, who 
was reared in Sandy township, this county, but 
who had been for a number of years a mis- 
sionary in New Mexico, took the pastoral 
charge and here continued likewise for seven 
years. Before Rev. Mr. Gorman resigned we 
found that our membership had grown to more 
than three hundred, and the seating capacity 
of the original brick church proved inadequate. ' 
Among the strong members of the congrega- 
tion was the late George Cook and it was de- 
cided that a larger building was demanded, but 
the lot on which the old church was located 
would not aft'ord the desired ground space. 
In 1871 the lot at the corner of Ninth and Mar- 
ket streets was purchased from the Kimball es- 
tate, and thereon the present church edifice was 
erected, at a cost of fifty thousand dollars, the 
church being free from debt. About the time 
this church was building Rev. Gorman felt it to 



242 



OLD LANDMARKS 



be his duty to resign his pastorate, and then fol- 
lowed the pastorate of Rev. W. A. Smith, who 
was in charge for several years, and in 1876 
he and forty-two other members withdrew and 
organized the Centenary Baptist church, but 
the organization lapsed within a year, Mr. 
Smith returning to the east, whence he had 
come, while the majority of the seceding mem- 
bers returned to the mother church. After 
Mr. Smith's withdrawal the church issued a 
call to Rev. Duncan McGregor, who was a 
Scotchman and a most excellent preacher, but 
he remained only one year, his wife persuading 
him to return to their native land. Shortly 
afterward we were favored in securing the 
services of Rev. E. W. Lounsbury, who re- 
mained our pastor for seven years, doing a 
good work. He was succeeded by Rev. B. F. 
Ashley, who was with us a few years, with- 
out any marked change. Then came Rev. J. 
F. Rapson, who was a consecrated man and a 
hard worker, but his health and strength were 
not such as to justify his remaining. He took 
a smaller charge in one of the New England 
states, and died a few years later. After these 
two short pastorates the church was fortunate 
in securing Rev. J. N. Field, who did an excel- 
lent and fruitful work during his seven years' 
pastorate, and who then accepted a call fnom 
th6 Prospect Avenue church in Buffalo, New 
York. Rev. L. M. Roper succeeded Mr. Field, 
and after a service of four years he felt it his 
duty to resign in order to return to his native 
state of South Carolina, where he continues 
in the work of the church. 



THE DISCIPLES CHURCH. 



By John Danner. 



Nearly seventy years ago there was a small 
congregation of Disciples of Christ, or Chris- 
tians, organized as a church in Canton, but it 



has been impossible to discover any definite 
record concerning the organization. It is, 
however, recalled that Alpheus Brown and the 
late John Koons were among the members. 
They had no house of worship, but held most 
of their meetings in the old court house, which 
was built in 1816, with occasional meetings in 
private houses. Between 1840 and 1849, while 
the writer was residing in Massillon, the late 
Rev. Alexander Campbell, of Bethany, West 
Virginia, came there and preached in the old 
Christian church upon several occasions, and 
it was also said that he held services in Can- 
ton at that period. Upon the writer's return to 
Canton, in 1849, he found that the little church 
of Disciples had disbanded, and very soon after 
the organization of the Baptist church here 
Deacon Daniel Grace, who had been promi- 
nently identified with the Disciples in Canton, 
cast in his lot with the Baptist organization, 
proving one of the zealous and worthy workers 
in the same. He remained a faithful member 
until his death, in 1876. A few years after the 
organization of the Baptist church in Canton, 
in 1849, the present Disciples church was or- 
ganized. — about 1 85 1 or 1852, — and very soon 
thereafter the society erected a brick church on 
the southeast corner of South Cleveland avenue 
and Seventh street, on the lot now occupied by 
the city hall. It was a plain but substantial brick 
building, thirty-six by fifty feet in dimensions, 
with a seating capacity adequate to accommo- 
date about three hundred persons. It has not 
been possible for the writer to discover any 
record as to the organizers of the church, as 
has been already stated, but he personally 
knows that John Koons was one of them and 
also believes that this gentleman's brother-in- 
law, John Correll, of Plain township, was one 
of the constituent members of the second or- 
ganization. In the early history of the present 
church there were identified with the same sev- 
eral of the Littles, the Ownes, George Prince, 
Mr. and Mrs. D. Risher and Mrs. Allison Dun- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



243 



bar, but it is not known whether or not the}' 
were constituent members. After thein house 
of worship was completed, nearly half a cen- 
tury a,§o, the Disciples had some able minis- 
ters and visitors, among the latter being the 
late James A. Garfield. President of the Uni- 
ted States, and the writer can well remember 
hearing him speak in the church in Canton be- 
fore he became known to the nation as a great 
and honest politician. It is thought that Rev. 
Alexander Campbell did not visit Canton after 
the ; organization of the present church, his 
visitations having been made while the first 
organization was yet in existence, and when 
no house of worship had been erected by the 
society. He died on the 4th of March, 1866, 
and had traveled very little for several years 
prior to his demise. 

During the war of the Rebellion, the con- 
gregation became quite weakened, but main- 
tained regular meetings. In 1866 Rev. S. 
Chapman came to Canton and assumed the 
pastorate, reorganizing the congregation with 
about twenty members, and soon an era of 
prosperity dawned on the church, and it now 
has a good standing among the religious bod- 
ies -in Canton. Not long after the coming of 
Mr, Chapman, the city made overtures for the 
purchase of the church property, as it was 
then the project for the building of the fine 
city hall on this block of lots was being 
brought definitely forward, it being al- 
together desirable that the city should thus 
acquire the corner occupied by the Disciples 
church. Nine thousand dollars was finally of- 
fered for the property, and as this was consid- 
ered a good price, the church society accepted 
the proposition. The church then purchased 
their present lot, on Ninth and Dewalt streets, 
and soon afterward erected their present 
attractive church edifice, while the society 
has been growing and enlarging its influ- 
ence from that time to the present. After Mr. 
Chapman, the society had a number of pastors, 



among whom may be mentioned the Revs. In- 
gram, William Hayden, Joseph Ross, Hensil- 
man, W. A. Watkins, R. G. White, John E. 
Potmds, E. R. Black, C. G. Brelos, H. F. Lutz 
and the present pastor, Rev. C. A. Hill, who 
has tlie reputation of being a careful and ear- 
nest worker, while the church is in a prosper- 
ous condition. There may have been a few 
other pastors and the above list may not be in 
accurate and chronological order, but the data 
is the best obtainable without official record, 
which is not accessible. 



THE UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH. 

By John Danner. 

The first church edifice erected by the Uni- 
ted Brethren in Canton was built in 1869. It 
stands on the corner of Charles and Willets 
streets, is constructed of brick and is about 
thirty-five by forty-five feet in dimensions, 
while at the time of its erection it was consid- 
ered on a par with the best church buildings in 
the town. Since the congregation has built 
and occupied its new edifice, at the cor- 
ner of Cleveland avenue and Tenth street, 
the old building has' been utilized as a 
Jewish synagogue, while the African Meth- 
odists have also held their services in 
the building. The exterior appearance of the 
structure has not been materially changed dur- 
ing the long intervening years, and the present 
beautiful edifice of the United Brethren, erect- 
ed somewhat more than a decade ago, is among 
the best and most moderm in the city, having 
represented an expenditure of about thirty-five 
thousand dollars. The first building is not as 
old as others previously described in this se- 
ries of articles, but there were a number of 
families of this faith in and near Canton some 
years before an organization was efifected or 
an attempt made to build a house of wonship. 



244 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Among them is recalled the venerable Rev. 
John Neisz, who lived on his farm, about three 
miles south of Canton. He took a deep inter- 
est not alone in the early history of this church 
in Canton, but also in other parts of the coun- 
ty,, while occasionally he extended his trips 
throughout the western part of the state. 

In the building of this first United Breth- 
ren church, Rev. Father Neisz aided quite 
freely in the financial department, as well as 
in his exhortations to others to help. He was 
a man of wide acquaintance and was much 
loved and respected. The first efforts of the 
church people of this faith were directed in se- 
curing the assembling for prayer meetings in 
private houses and of an occasional sermon, 
and they soon became impressed with the con- 
viction that they had a mission to perform 
here and which they could accomplish only 
by organizing under their own denominational 
name, and this soon led to the purchase of a 
lot and the erection of the church. At the ded- 
ication of their first house of worship Bishop 
Jonathan Weaver ofiiciated, and he is still liv- 
ing at the time of this writing, being well ad- 
vanced in years and a man of wide influence 
in the religious world. The first trustees of 
this church in Canton were Cornelius Weid- 
ner, Alfred Gonser, John Fulk and Solomon 
Yant. At the time of the building of their 
first church they had a membership of about 
thirty persons some of them in most moderate 
circumstances, so that it implied consecration 
and self-abnegation to assume the responsibil- 
ity of building a church, even though the same 
cost only a few thousand dollars. Among the 
constituent members aside from those already 
mentioned were Hester Gonser, Miss C. ^^■eid- 
ner, John Swartz and wife, Mrs. Solomon 
Yant, Henry Cavnah and wife, Nancy Ham- 
mond and a few others. During the winter 
of 1870-71 there was quite an acquisition to 
the membership, among the number being Will- 
iam McCammon and wife, Andrew Cubbison 



and wife, and Misses Martha Reed and Elmira 
St. Clair. 

The first regular pastor was Rev. J. Cecil. 
He was a man of large physique and was 
equally powerful as a preacher and worker. 
The church then had for a short time as pas- 
tor the Rev. Lehmasters, and he was succeeded 
by Rev. A. Bowers, who remained only one 
year. In September, 187 1, Rev. B. F. Booth 
took charge of the congregation and continued 
pastor for six years. He was a man of more 
than ordinary ability and was much esteemed 
by all, the congregation being much enlarged 
and strengthened by his pastorate. He was 
afterward elected secretary of the general mis- 
sionary organization of the church, retaining 
this office until his death, a number of years 
later. Rev. Samuel Koontz became pastor in 
September, 1877, and so continued until about 
1 880. In September, 1 880, Rev. R. Rock took 
charge of the work, remaining two years and 
doing a good work. Twenty-four members 
were received during his pastorate and a good 
financial report was made. Rev. Charles N. 
Queen succeeded Dr. Rock in 1882, and after 
remaining one year returned to college to 
complete his studies. He was absent one year 
and then reassumed his pastorate here, re- 
maining two years longer. He was a young 
man of marked abilit}- and a good pastor. Dur- 
ing his pastorate the annual conference added 
two appointments to the charge, the Warner 
church and the Middlebranch mission, both 
being a number of miles northeast of Canton. 
During the interval of Rev. Mr. Queen, 
Rev. H. A. Dowling filled the pastorate, but 
the work was somewhat broken at this time 
by the frequent changes which had been made 
in the clergy in charge thereof. In 1886 Rev. 
William Williamson came to the church and 
remained its pastor for the ensuing ten years, 
being a successful and untiring leader. The 
Warner and Middlebranch appointments were 
taken from the charge in September, 1888, but 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



245 



\he church in Canton continued to be in part 
.lej)en(ient for its support upon the missionary 
board until 1892, when it became self-support- 
ing. ]\Ir. AVilliamson was an indefatigable 
worker, and held the esteem and confidence 
not alone of his own people, but of the com- 
munity in general, while he was progressive in 
his views and aided in all moral reform work, 
being specially pronounced in his hostility to 
the liquor traffic and making many addresses 
here and elsewhere in favor of the temperance 
cause. 

Mr. Williamson discerned the need of hav- 
ing the church more centrally located, in order 
that more efficient work might be done and 
accommodations provided for the United 
Brethren families who were taking up their 
residence in the city. By his advice the lot at 
the southeast corner of Cleveland avenue and 
Tenth streets was purchased, and the present 
commodious and attractive brick edifice was 
erected thereon, the new church being dedi- 
cated in 1895. In 1896 Mr. Williamson re- 
signed to accept the pastorate of the church at 
Altoona, Pennsylvania, and shortly afterward 
Rev. P. M. Camp became the pastor of the 
Canton church, over which he remained in 
charge only one year. He was a good man, 
an able speaker and was well liked here. His 
sudden and unexpected departure somewhat 
checked the church work, but soon the congre- 
gation secured the services of Rev. Dr. J. A. 
'Weller, but he likewise remained only one year, 
being succeeded in September. 1898, by the 
present pastor. Rev. Charles Crewbaker, who 
came here from Maryland. His earnest and 
faithful work has won to him the affectionate 
regard of his people and the respect and es- 
teem of the entire community. 

The financial undertaking involved in the 
purchase of the lot and the erection of the new 
church was a large one, considering the fact 
that the membership of the church was not 
large and that most of the number were per- 



sons in moderate circumstances, and the bur- 
den became the greater owing to the financial 
panic which swept the country at the time the 
new building was in process of erection, but 
that success crowned their, efforts stands in evi- 
dence of the devotion and zeal of the church 
people. The}- deserve much praise for what they 
have accomplished, and the church is now 
making most .satisfactory progress in both its 
spiritual and temporal work. 



FOREST TREES OF STARK COUNTY. 

By Lew Slusser. 

The following list of trees, that attain a 
growth not less than sixteen feet in height and 
four inches in diameter, has been made out 
after considerable research : White oak, red 
oak. chestnut oak. Burr oak, swamp 
oak, black oak, Spanish oak, scrub oak 
or black jack, post oak, pin oak, black 
walnut, white walnut, shell-bark hick- 
ory, pig-nut hickory, bitter hickory, syca- 
more, yellow poplar, cotton wood, basswood 
(linden), mountain ash, white ash, green ash, 
swamp or black ash, sugar maple, hand maple, 
red or swamp maple, silverleaf maple, box el- 
der, wild cherry, choke cherry, dogwood, iron- 
wood, black or sour gum, white elm, slippery 
elm, sugar or huckberry, yellow beech, white 
beech, water beech, prickley ash (tooth-ache 
tree), cucumber, tamarack, locust, honey lo- 
cust, crab apple, white pine, spruce pine, black 
willow, wild yellow or red plum, service or 
June berry, sassafi'as, yellow birch, witch ha- 
zel, wild plum, sweet gum, white cedar, red ce- 
dar, weeping willow, yellow willow, pawpaw, 
chestnut, whitehorn, white mulberry, black 
mulberry. 

The exotics we would not untlertake to 
enumerate. Besides all our fruit trees, many 
ha\'e i)ecn introduced for ornament and for 



246 



OLD LANDMARKS 



shade. Among the most conspicuous may be 
mentioned tlie buckeye, horse chestnut, catalpa, 
Ailanthus, Enghsh, Scotch and box elder, 
white fringe, Norway spruce, balsam tir, 
Scotch and Austria pine, balm of Gilead, I^oni- 
bardy and silver-leaf poplar. 



OUR REPRESENTATIVES IN CON 
GRESS. 



By Lew Slusser. 



Ohio was admitted as a state in 1803, and 
had but one representative in the lower house 
up to 1813. That one was Jeremiah Morrow, 
of Warren county. In 181 2 the Ohio legisla- 
ture made the first apportionment of the state 
into districts for the election of congressmen, 
making six districts, of which the sixth was 
composed of Tuscarawas, Stark, Columbiana, 
Portage, Trumbull, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Ash- 
tabula, Knox. Wayne and Richland. The first 
man elected from the district was John Stark 
Edwards, of Warren, Trumbull county. He 
was the son of Hon. Pierpont Edwards, of 
New Haven, who became proprietor of Meso- 
potamia, Trumbull county, in the division of 
lands among the parties composing the Con- 
necticut Land Company. Stark, as the son 
was familiarly called, went to Mesopotamia in 
the spring of 1799. He was commissioned 
recorder of Trumbull county in July, 1800. by 
General St. Clair, and held that ofiice until his 
death in 1813. The winter of 1804-5 he spent 
in Chillicothe, then the capital of the state, in 
an effort to obtain a division of Trumbull 
county. "The bill passed the house nine to 
one, but was postponed in the senate to next 
session," — so he wrote to his friends in Con- 
necticut immediately upon his return to War- 
ren. January 15 of the same year he wrote, 
"My legal business supports me handsomely." 

In 1802 his brother-in-law, Samuel W. 



Johnson, in behalf of himself and Stark's 
"good sister," writes him, "We trust we shall 
in due season see you descending the waters 
and crossing the mountains to advocate your 
country's interests in Washington." In reply 
he wrote, "I often experience much real 
pleasure in contemplating the future greatness 
of this flourishing and rising country. I can 
behold cities looming up in the future which 
shall equal in population and splendour those 
of the Atlantic states — a rich, well improved 
and highly cultivated country, and as great a 
share of luxuries and enjoyments of life as are 
necessary for our happiness. I am heartily 
tired of living alone. You must look me up 
a wife. Things are taking such a course as 
will give us a tolerable society in this place, 
when I must eventually settle down." In 1807 
he married a lady of Springfield, Vermont, 
returned with her to Warren and resided in a 
house with Simon Perkins until he had a dwell- 
ing erected for himself. In 181 1 he and his 
brother Ogden bought to their father the Put- 
In-Bay islands and stocked them with one hun- 
dred and fifty Merino sheep and four hundred 
hogs. The same year he was commissioned 
colonel commandent of the Second Regiment, 
Third Brigade, Fourth Division, Ohio Militia. 
On Hull's surrender in August, 1812, he 
marched his regiment to Cleveland and was 
active in arousing the country to the threaten- 
ing dangers. Having made himself somewhat 
prominent before the people, and regarded as 
a man of more than ordinary ability, he was 
by common consent supported and elected to 
congress. 

In the winter following, while at Put-in- 
Bay island arranging his business, with the ex- 
pectation of being absent some tune, he was 
much exposed and contracted what he iup- 
posed to be a bad cold. After a few days' con- 
finement, feeling better and concluding to start, 
he arose from his bed in the morning, walked 
across the floor, was heard to cough and then 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



H7 



give out a sound as if choking-, when he fell 
and died in a few minutes. He was in his 
thirty-sixth year; tall, stoutly built, of florid 
complexion and commanding presence. His 
death shed sadness and gloom over the whole 
country. He was a graduate of Princeton Col- 
lege; studied law in New Haven, attended the 
lectures of Judge Reese at the law school in 
Litchfield, Connecticut, and was admitted to 
practice in March, 1799. He was regarded as 
the most gifted of all the brilliant lawyers who 
early settled in the Western Reserve. Al- 
though Colonel Edwards was the first con- 
gressman elected he died before taking his 
seat. 

These facts have been obtained from the 
Historical Collections of the Mahoning Valley, 
through the courtesy of Dr. Julian Harmon, 
of Warren. Colonel Edwards was followed 
in 1814 by General Beall. 

GEN. REASIN BEALL. 

The condition of the country, growing 
out of the war with England, rendered it nec- 
essary, in the opinion of President Madison, 
to call an extra session of congress in 181 3. 
The death of Colonel Edwards left our dis- 
trict without a representative. A special elec- 
tion was held and Gen. Reason Beall, of New 
Lisbon, was elected. 

General Beall was born in York county, 
Pennsylvania, August 10, 1770, and removed 
with his father, while young, to Washington 
county, same state. On attaining his majority 
he entered the United States army, and was 
made an ensign March 7, 1792, being pro- 
moted to adjutant and quartermaster the fol- 
lowing year. On his retirement from the army 
he settled in Steubenville, but not liking the 
place removed to New Lisbon in 1803. While 
there he was made clerk of court, in which 
capacity he served a number of years. His 
service in the regular army imbued him with 



military spirit and he was quite active in in- 
fusing a like spirit among the people, organ- 
izing the militia and preparing them for the 
conflict which soon followed. Organizing a 
regiment, he was made colonel, and as soon 
as the increase of troops justified was elected 
brigadier general. The surrender of General 
Hull at Detroit created a great panic over the 
country, many of the inhal)itants of this sec- 
tion returning to Pennsylvania for safety. Li 
this state of affairs everybody turned to Gen- 
eral Beall as the man to devise wa^s and means 
for protection. He lost no time in organizing 
a battalion of men and marching them to the 
support of the frontier inhabitants of Wayne 
and Richland counties. Block houses were 
built in different localities of Stark county west 
of Tuscarawas river. George W. Raff, foun- 
der of the Central Savings Bank, was born in 
one of them. 

General Beall marched his troops to Camp 
Huron where he joined those from the West- 
ern Reserve under General Wadsworth and 
General Perkins. Here they were reviewed 
by General Harrison, and the army being re- 
organized General Beall returned home. He 
took his seat in congress May 24, 181 3. In 
this extra session as well as in the regular ses- 
sion following, he gave his best efforts in the 
support of measures for the rigorous prosecu- 
tion of the war. There was opposition, that 
being the time of the Hartford convention and 
the Blue Light Federalists of New England. 
General Beall was not much of a politician, and 
as his domestic ties were very strong, the duties 
of a congressman became ii^ksome and distaste- 
ful. He concluded to resign at the close of the 
session of 181 3-14, which he did. 

The office of register of the land office for 
the Wooster district becoming \-acant in 1814 
General Beall Avas appointed to the place and 
immediately thereafter took up his residence 
in Wooster. He held this office until 1824, 
when he resigned, intending to retire from pub- 



248 



OLD LANDMARKS 



lie employment. With the exception of being 
chosen a presidential elector in the campaign 
of 1840 he took no part in politics. He died 
February 20, 1843. General Beall was a man 
of commanding appearance and made a favor- 
able impession upon all with whom he came in 
contact. He was regarded as a man of strict 
integrity and scrupulously honest. Considered 
wealthy lor his day. he was liberal in his con- 
trilnitions to promote morality and religion. 
He was a member of the Presbyterian church 
and died in the full faith of the promise of a 
Redeemer. 

A daughter of General Beall married \\\\\- 
iam Christmas, a prominent merchant of Can- 
ton, who died here in the 'thirties. Mrs. 
Christmas was a woman of more than ordinary 
ability and at one time was an influential mem- 
ber of society. 

DAVID CLENDEN.^N. 

Following the resignation of General Beall, 
came David Clendenan, of Trumbull county, 
who served the unexpired term of General 
Beall and was re-elected a second term, ending 
in 181 7. Notwithstanding considerable effort, 
we ha\-e been unable to gather any information 
in reference to the Hon. David Clendenan. as 
to where he was born, where he died, or what 
was his profession, — a sad commentary up- 
on the posthumous fame of a congressman. 
W't have looked into the history of Trumbull 
county, consulted the annals of the Western 
Reserve, delved among the archives at Wash- 
ington, but all to no purpose. Poor comfort 
for a man ambitious to carve his name upon 
fame's proud temple. 

PETER HITCHCOCK. 

David Clendenan was succeeded by Peter 
Hitchcock, who came from Connecticut and 
Avas a graduate of Yale College. His father's 



means being limited, he was compelled to leave 
college at intervals and engage in teaching 
to raise the means whereby he was enabled to 
graduate. There would be Ijut few Yale 
graduates at the present day if candidates had 
by their own labor to earn the means of 
paying their expenses. !Mr. Hitchcock after 
graduating, studied law, and was admitted to 
practice. He opened an office in Cheshire, 
his native town, but "a prophet is not without 
honor save in his own country," and as 
clients did not appear in sufficient numbers to 
satisfy his ambition he left for the west and 
in 1806 settled in Burton, Geauga county, 
Ohio, where he entered a tract of land, upon 
which he made his home the remainder of his 
life. He tauglil school, practiced in the courts 
and occupied his leisure time clearing and 
cultivating liis farm, in which he always took 
great pride. Although he li^•ed some distance 
from the court house, his law business in- 
creased with tiie population, and so popular did 
he become that his reputation soon sjjread over 
a wide extent of the country, and notwith- 
standing there were many lawyers of ability 
from the east settled in the Reserve, Mr. 
Hitchcock always maintainetl a leading po- 
sition at the bar. In 1810 he was elected to 
represent Geauga coimt\' in tlie lower branch 
of the legislature. In 181 J he was elected to 
the senate, and re-elected in 18 14, during a 
])ortion of v.-hich term he was made presiding 
ijfficer. Both in the house and senate he al- 
ways took a prominent [jart in the proceedings 
and exercised great influence over the mem- 
bers. In the fall of ,1816 he was elected to 
congress, taking a seat in the house of repre- 
sentatives in December, 1817. He served but 
one term and before its expiration was elected 
by the Ohio legislature a judge of the supreme 
court of the state of Ohio for the constitutional 
term of seven years. He was re-elected in 
1826, and again lirought out in 1833. but Jack- 
son Democracv was then at a hiyh tide, and as 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



249 



Judge Hitchcock belonging to the x\dams 
party he was defeated. He was not, however, 
allowed to remain in private life, but was again 
elected to the state senate, serving two terms 
and discharging the duties of presiding officer 
during the last session. In 1835 he was again 
elected to the supreme bench and at the close 
of his term was defeated by partisan oppo- 
sition, but again re-elected in 1845, retaining 
the office of chief justice until 1852, when he 
voluntarily retired from public service. He 
was made a delegate to the convention to re- 
vise the constitution of Ohio in 1850 and he 
is credited with bringing about the most im- 
portant changes in the old instrument. Al- 
though he held the office of chief justice, his 
labors in the convention did not prevent the 
performance of his usual circuit duties on the 
bench, though it was laborious work. In his 
habits he was systematic, punctual and atten- 
tive, dispatching business with peculiar facility. 
He was a man of robust health, unexceptional 
habits, and capable of severe mental effort. 
His strong natural faculties had been improved 
Ijy habits of sobriety, personal self-denial and 
untiring industry. He was a Christian, liberal 
in his contributions to worthy objects and 
strong in his domestic attachments. He died 
at the house of liis son, Hon. Reuben Hitch- 
cock, Painesville, Ohio. March 4, 1834. when 
on his way home from attendance in the su- 
preme court at Columbus, where overwork. had 
brought on severe illness. Judge Hitchcock be- 
longed to that race of men, now almost extinct, 
who belie\ed the office should seek the man, 
and not the man the office. Let us pray for a 
return of that race in increased numbers. 

JOHN SLOAN. 

John Sloan followed Peter Hitchcock and 
served this district in congress from 18 19 to 
1829, ha\ing been returned fi\-e times. At 
the time of his election he was a citizen of 



Wooster. He was born in Maryland, served 
an apprenticeship at the wheelwright trade and 
followed that occupation in Steubenville before 
Ohio was a state. He was a man of more than 
ordinar_\- ability and, being a good talker and 
manifesting commendable interest in public af- 
fairs, he was elected in 1804 to the legislature, 
as a member of the lower house, and re-elected 
the two successive sessions. In 1808 Presi- 
ilent Jefferson appointed him neceiver of the 
land office established that year in Canton. 
He remained a citizen of Canton until ordered 
to remove the office to W'ooster in 1816, and 
then "the star of empire began to take its way 
westward." In the fall of 181S he was elected 
to congress and the next year resigned the 
office of receiver. 

The journey from this section to Washing- 
ton at this time was made on horseback, as 
there were no public conveyances. The route 
was througli southern Pennsylvania, Maryland 
and Virginia. Members of congress wintered 
their horses with the farmers residing near 
Alexandria. John Randolph and John C. Cal- 
houn kept their iiorses where they boarded in 
Geoi^getown, and rode over to the capital. The 
pay of congressman at that time was eight 
dollars a day and mileage. They were allowed 
the franking privilege, which was quite a con- 
sideration to members who had much of a 
correspondence, as postage on a single letter 
from \Vashington to Canton was eighteen and 
three-fourths cents. Board and lodging ran 
from five to eight dollars a w^eek. 

The first re-apportionment of this district 
was made by the legislature in 1822. The num- 
ber was then changed from the sixth to the 
twelfth and was composed of Columbiana, Stark 
and Wayne counties. Colonel Sloan served 
one term in the sixth district and four in the 
twelfth. During the year he was made chair- 
man of the standing committee on elections. 
During the ten years he occupied a seat in 
congress he was a popular and intlucntial mem- 



250 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ber, maintaining and vindicating the interest 
of his district and the county with signal power 
and ability. He was on terms of close inti- 
macy with Henry Clay, who held him in high 
esteem as a man and a statesman. He sup- 
ported John Ouincy Adams in preference to 
General Jackson, and notwithstanding the ex- 
citement that followed the election of Mr. 
Adams, so popular was Colonel Sloan with the 
people of his district that he was elected the 
fifth time in 1826, and though the excitement 
continued to increase, in the contest of 1828 
he was only beaten by a few votes. After the 
expiration of his congressional career he was 
appointed clerk of the Wayne county court, 
which position he held for seven yeaijs. In 
1841 he was appointed secretary of state 
of Ohio, discharging the duties of that office 
three years. Diu-ing the administration of 
President Fillmore he was made treasurer of 
the United States. On his return from Wash- 
ington, in 1853, he retired from public life and 
died in Wooster, May 15, 1856, aged seventy 
seven. 

DR. JOHN THOMPSON. 

The district at this time was known as the 
twelfth and was made up of Columbiana, Stark 
and Wayne. The political parties of that day 
were designated the Democratic or Jackson 
])arty and the Republican or Adams party. 
The former obtained its chief support from the 
south and west, and the latter from the New 
England states. Many of the leaders of the 
Adams party were accused of federalism — 
that is, with a leaning toward monarchy or a 
more central government. In the presidental 
contest of 1824 there were four candidates in 
the field. Tiiat was before the day of calling 
national conventions to nominate. As neither 
candidate received a majority of electoral 
votes, in accordance with the provision of the 
constitution, it devolved upon the house of rep- 



resentatives to elect a President from the three 
highest candidates. Jackson had ninety-nine, 
Adams had eighty-three, Crawford, forty^one, 
and Clay, thirty-seven. The excitement in 
the house during the canvassing was what 
might have been anticipated; from ways thai 
are dark and tricks that are subtle, those of the 
office seeker are past finding out. The charge 
of "bargain and sale" in politics originated at 
that time, and the reader is aware how it has 
flourished since. From the inauguration of 
Adams to the next presidential election party 
spirit ran high and the contest was most 
acrimonious. Those in office, in the hope of 
being retained, were unsparing in their de- 
nunciations of General Jackson. No candi- 
date before or since was so villified and 
abused. When elected, the circumstances sur- 
rounding him demanded, in justice to the 
administration, that he remove his enemies 
from official positions. Senator Marcy, of 
New York, annunciated the doctrine that "to 
the victors belong the spoils of the enemy," 
and that has been the practice ever since by 
both parties, modified to some extent. 

The congressional contest in this district 
in the fall of 1828 was remarkably, active. 
Both parties resorted to every means in their 
power, except "boodle," and that "root of all 
evil" difl not at that day enter in as a factor 
in political contests. John Sloan was a candi- 
date for re-election for the sixth term. He 
Avas considered the best known and the most 
popular man in the district. Having served 
for a number of years as government receiver 
of public moneys at Canton and Wooster, and 
making a favorable impression upon all with 
whom he came in contact, and having proven 
himself a wise and judicious legislator, it was 
thought that he could not be defeated, but he 
was, by Dr. John Thomson, of New Lisbon. 
The latter was born in the north of Ireland, 
and came to this country with his parents 
when about seven years of age. They settled 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



251 



in Butler couiUy, Pennsylvania, where he re- 
mained until grown, when he studied medicine 
and removed to New Lisbon. During" the war 
with England, which soon followed, he im- 
bibed quite a military spirit, and as he took an 
active part in the organization of the militia 
he was promoted to the position of major gen- 
eral. He was a man of fine appearance, par- 
ticularly on horseback. He served three terms 
in the house and two in the senate of the state 
legislature, from 1814 to 1821. He was not 
only very popular with his own part}^, but his 
gentlemanly bearing and kind and conciliatory 
manner secured the respect and esteem of his 
political opponents. The crowning excellency 
of his life was his piety. He was an elder in 
the Presbyterian church, and during his term 
in congress he was a regular attendant upon 
the weekly prayer meeting composed of men 
of both political parties. He enjoyed the 
society of good men and loved to join with 
them in praise and prayer. He was always 
very neat and particular in dress. It was 
said of him that upon his first visit to Wash- 
ington, and before taking his seat in congress, 
he purchased the finest suit of clothing in the 
city, and before leaving for home he stored the 
suit away until his return, giving as a reason 
for not taking it with him that crossing the 
mountains was hard on clothing and he wished 
to avoid soiling them. He was assigned a 
member of the standing committee on public 
expenditures, and spelled Thompson without 
the p. He died September 9, 1852, aged sev- 
enty years. 

BENJAMIN JONES. 

Benjamin Jones, of Wooster, •\\-as our rep- 
resentative from 1833 to 1837. He was born 
in 1787 in Winchester. Frederick county, Vir- 
ginia. He served an apprenticeship for seven 
years to the trafle of cabinet making, worked 



as a "jour" several years and then started 
Inisiness for himself. Not succeeding as well 
as he anticipated, he took the contract for car- 
rying the mail on horseback from Canton to 
Mansfield. Tiring of that, and still anxious 
to accumulate, he engaged in merchandising. 
This brought him more in contact with people 
and made him a politician. He was elected 
a representative to the state legislature in 
1821; in 1824 he was district elector on the 
Jackson ticket, and twice he was elected to the 
state senate, serving from 1829 to 1832. 

Though possessed of a limited education, 
Mr. Jones was endowed with strong natural 
sense and a happy faculty of expression by 
which he matle a favorable impression. He 
was a man of attractive social qualities and an 
interesting story teller. General Jackson was 
in the habit of inviting him to the White House 
purposely to help him entertain company \\\t\\ 
his jokes. He was strongly built, of dark 
complexion and a member of the Baptist 
church, though a devoted worshiper of General 
Jackson and loud in his expressions of Democ- 
racy. 

The writer of this has a distinct recollection 
of Congressman Jones stopping over in Canton 
on his way to Washington by stage, that his 
constituents might have the opportunity of an 
interview. He put up at the Eagle Tavern, 
on the site of the first National Bank, then kept 
by George Dewalt (grandfather of Mrs. Mc- 
Kinley, Avife of our present congressman), and 
the bar-room was given up to callers. The 
writer, then a lad of twelve, with a crowd 
of boys, occupied the pavement, looking 
through the window to see this distinguished 
individual, who made an impression upon us 
as would Stanley, the African explorer, or 
Buffalo Bill upon the boy of today. He served 
while in congress on the committee on terri- 
tories. He died of disease of the heart April 
24, 1861. aged seventy-four. 



252 



OLD LANDMARKS 



MATHIAS SHEPLER. 

The census of 1830 gave the state an in- 
creased representation in the lower house of 
congress, consequently it became necessary to 
redistrict. Wayne and Stark alone furnished 
population sufficient to constitute a district, 
and were united, forming the eighteenth. Co- 
lumbiana was severed from Stark and made 
a part of the seventeenth. General Thomson, 
of that county, who had been our previous 
representative, was re-elected from the new 
district. Rotation in office was, and is yet to 
some extent, an accepted principle in politics. 
Two terms were supposed to be sufficient to 
satisfy the ambition or cupidity of the average 
office seeker. Exceptions occur in the en- 
forcement of this rule, and where the incum- 
bent has the ability and the backing he is con- 
tinued in office. It was this rule of action that 
governed the South in ante-bellum times and 
which gave them the advantage over the North 
in national legislature. 

Ben Jones, of Wayne, having had two 
terms, it was conceded that Stark was entitled 
to the honors. The political leaders in Stark 
county at that day belonged to .the Democratic 
party and were the JMcCullys, Johnsons, James 
Kelly and Tom Blackburn, of Massillon ; the 
Dunbars, Doc Stidger, Belden and Stark- 
weather, of Canton : Arnold Lynch and Judge 
Greenwood, of Paris. It was the custom of 
those men to put their heads together and deal 
out the offices. 

Malhias Shepler was a well-known, popu- 
lar man, having served a num!)er of terms in 
the legislature, and while he was not aggress- 
ive — that is to say, had not been instrumental 
in effecting any changes in the existing laws 
or in creating new ones, and had not in any 
way aroused the ()p])()sition — it was decided to 
bring him out as a Democratic candidate for 
congress. Tlie ^\'hig candidate was Samuel 
Ouinby, 'if Wooster. Mr. Shejiler made no 



effort to secure his election. Although in 
comfortable circumstances, his contribution 
was limited to what was equitably his propor- 
tion of the expense legitimately incurred in en- 
tertaining speakers from a distance, the music 
and necessary printing. No man was hired to 
electioneer, nor was there any money given to 
purchase ^'otes. The saloon was not then a 
factor in politics, nor had our foreign popula- 
tion anything to say in the matter. The farm- 
ing curnmunit}' and the mechanics of the towns 
were the controlling element. The vote of 
Stark county was for Shepler, one thousand, 
nine hundred and sixty-five; for Quinby, one 
thousand, seven hundred and fifty. 

Mathias Shepler was born in Westmore- 
land county, Pennsylvania, November 11. 
1790. His advantages of early education were 
limited. He served in the war of 1812, mar- 
ried in 1816, and in April, 1818, removed to 
Ohio, settling upon a quarter section of land 
entered by his father in Bethlehem township, 
Stark county. His wife accompanied him on 
horseback, carrying a child the whole distance. 

Air. Shepler uas a fine looking man, erect 
in bearing, a pleasant countenance, courteous 
in manner, making" favorable impressions upon 
all with whom he came in contact. He was 
deliberate in forming an opinion, and when 
formed, not easily moved. In a new county 
such a man soon becomes an important factor 
in society. He was the man chosen to settle 
neighborhood disputes in controversies. It 
was not long until he was brought out for jus- 
tice of the peace, and, although he had no de- 
sire for office, he could not refuse the impor- 
tunities of his friends. For nearly thirty years 
he ser\ ed in that capacity, and his docket, still 
preserved, is a model of neatness and method. 
His popularity became widespread, and he was 
announced as a candidate for county commis- 
sioner. Twice was he elected to this office. 
Then lie was sent to legislature, twice to the 
house and four times to the senate. He was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



253 



also made a member of the state board of 
equalization. Fortunate in so conducting- him- 
self in the various offices he had filled as to 
meet the approbation of his constituents, it 
was but natural that they should desire his 
promotion. He found life in Washington and 
the duties to which he was assigned different 
than what he anticipated. He was placed on 
the committee of public expenditures, and soon 
discovered that he had not the knowledge of 
national affairs necessary to satisfactorily dis- 
charge the duties devolving upon him. He 
was too honest and conscientious to play the 
sinecure. Mr. Shepler was a member of the 
United Brethren church, and was particular in 
observance of the rule that should mark Chris- 
tian conduct, and the habits and ways of 
many of his associate members were distaste- 
ful to him. He was not a public speaker, and 
felt that he had undertaken a task for which 
he had not the qualifications, and but for the 
importunity of friends would have resigned at 
the expiration of the first session. He per- 
emptorily declined re-election. 

In private life Mr. Shepler was above re- 
proach. He was liberal. In the erection of 
a United Brethren church in his neighborhood 
he was chief contributor, and when no more 
subscriptions could be obtained he fm-nished 
the balance necessary to its completion. When 
the June frost of 1859 came upon us and com- 
pletely destroyed the wheat crop of that year, 
a famine was predicted. Many farmers had 
sold all their grain, not even retaining sufficient 
for seed. There was a feeling of alarm, and 
a luish was made for the wheat yet in store, 
■ some wanting it for seed and others for specu- 
lation. Mr. Shepler had between three and 
four hundred bushels on hand. The first call- 
er was his neighbor, Mr. Leiter. He wished 
to purchase fifteen or twenty bushels for seed. 
"Have you the money to pay for it?" inquired 
Mr. Shepler. "To be sure I have," replied 
Mr. Leiter, rather nettled at the question. 



"Then you can buy it of some one else," 
coolly remarked Mr. Shepler. "What 
wheat J have to spare I shall sell to those who 
need it for seed and have not the money to 
bu_\-. They can pay for it out of the next 
crop." Such evidence of generosity is not an 
e\-ery-day occurrence. As has been before 
remarked, Mr. Shepler made no pretentions 
to public speaking. The only time he was ever 
known to make an effort in that direction was 
while a member of the state board of equaliza- 
tion. The member from the adjoining county 
of Tuscarawas had made quite an effort in a 
speech before the board, to reduce the valua- 
tion of land in his county, by comparing it with 
Stark, the most valuable land in the state, be- 
cause most productive, while Tuscarawas was 
hilly and iiocky, and only fit for pasture land. 
There was quite a disposition manifested to re- 
duce the valuation of Tuscarawas, when Mr. 
Shepler took tlie floor and, in his honest, frank 
manner, stated in substance that while he 
would agree with the gentleman from Tus- 
carawas as to what he had said about the good 
quality of land in Stark county, he would 
differ with him in his estimate of Tuscarawas. 
He had neglected to mention or allude to the 
advantages of his section in her mineral re- 
sources. If those hills did not produce wheat 
with Stark, they had underneath the soil min- 
eral resources and salt, far more valuable than 
anything that could be raised from the surface. 
Mr. Shepler's remarks were brief, but to the 
point, and effectually settled the question with- 
out disturbing the valuation that had been fixed 
by the board. 

Mr. Shepler left his farm in i860 and re- 
mo^■ed to Navarre, where he died April 7, 1863, 
from a disease of the respiratory or,gans, sup- 
posed to be consumption. His body was in- 
terred upon the homestead farm. Mr. Shep- 
ler was married three times. He had one 
child by his first wife, John R. Shepler, still 
living, a retired minister; six by his second 



= 54 



OLD LANDMARKS 



marriage, only two living'; and no children by 
his last wife. 

There is a lesson in the life of every man. 
That learned from the life of Mathias Shepler 
is that education is a necessary factor to the 
dexelopnient of the great or useful man or 
woman. Some men are born great, others 
have greatness thrust upon them, but these are 
exceptional cases. Unless an effort be made 
to develop the mind in youth and a taste for 
knowledge excited, it is rarely a thing attended 
to in adult years. Mr. Shepler had natural 
ability. All that was wanting was oppor- 
tunity for cultivation. Had he enjoyed this 
he would have made a very able man. 

DAVID A. STARKWEATHER. 

On the refusal of Mathias Shepler to ac- 
cept a second term in congress David A. Stark- 
weather, a well-known Democrat and a man of 
acknowledged ability, was brought out. Mr. 
Starkweather was born in Lincolnfield, Con- 
necticut, graduated at Williams College, Mass- 
achusetts, studied law with his brother, in Coop- 
erstown. New York, was admitted to practice 
in 1827 and located in Canton the following 
year. The law business at that time in the 
West was not brisk, neither did it pay well, 
as people were too poor. Consequently Mr. 
Starkweather had much leisure time. The 
county was full of game, and he enjoyed out- 
door sports, particularly fox hunting. He 
kept a pack of hounds and often on still morn- 
ings, at early dawn, his hounds would be dis- 
tinctly heard on the "plains," west of town, 
in hot pursuit of the game. For many years, 
in company with other noted fox hunters, he 
continued this sport. 

Mr. Starkweather was eminent as a law- 
yer. In his day the bar at Canton stood ex- 
ceptionally high, a majority of the members 
being men of more than ordinary ability. 
There were Harris, Metcalf, Lathrop, Jarvis, 



Griswold. and Belden, residents of Canton. 
Then there were those who reguarly at that 
day rode the circuit. There were Tappen, 
Wright and Goodenow, of Steubenville, 
Loomis, of New Lisbon, Powers, of Akron, 
Avery and Cox, of Wooster, and on special oc- 
casions Siliman, of Zanesville, and United 
States Senator Ewing, of Lancaster. For 
any of these Mr. Starkweather was always a 
match. 

Mr. Starkweather was four time elected a 
member of the state legislature, three times to 
the house of representatives, and once to the 
senate, serving in this capacity from 1833 to 
1838. When a candidate for congress the 
first time he was opposed by Hiram B. Well- 
man, a prominent citizen of Massillon, a man 
of liberal education, and at that time engaged 
in commercial pursuits. The vote in Stark 
county was, for Starkweather, three thousand, 
one hundred and eight, for Wellman, two 
thousand one hundred and eighty. When a 
candidate for the second time his opponent 
was General John Augustine, a popular man 
^\■ho had been elected to the state senate seven 
terms in succession. The Democrats had a 
majority in both branches of congress during 
Mr. Starkweather's career. Yet there was no 
measure of special national interest in con- 
troversy. "The "second sober thought" of 
the people, which followed the log-cabin and 
hard-cider campaign of 1840, revolutionized 
public sentiment and the Democrats had every- 
thing their own way. The overthrow of the 
United States Bank was folloAved by a crusade 
against paper money. Gold and silver — "Ben- 
ton mint drops," as it was facetiously called, — 
"seen through the interstices of every man's 
purse." was the by-word of the administration 
followers. 

Mr. Starkweather was assigned to the 
standing committee on roads and canals the 
first term, and invalid pensions the second 
term. He was much interested in the treat- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



255 



ment received by the Indians at the hands of ' 
the government and made several speeches in 
their behalf, which were highly commended. 
He was exceptionally popular with members 
of both the political parties and exercised much 
influence over them. A number of years ago 
the writer was on a visit to Georgia, and while 
there called upon General Toombs, who was a 
member of congress at the same time. He in- 
quired particularly about Mr. Starkweather, 
and spoke of him in eulogistic terms as a man 
of ability and integrity, though they were of 
opposite politics. Mr. Starkweather's second 
term in congress expired during the adminis- 
tration of President Pierce, by whom he was 
appointed minister to Chili, a position held 
through the succeeding administration. 

As a citizen Mr. Starkweather was pro- 
gressive, and always ready to help any measure 
calculated to benefit the public, faithful and 
honest in the discharge of every duty, both 
public and private. Decided in his convic- 
tions, he was never aggressive or offensive in 
his efforts to convince others. As a friend he 
was de^"oted, kind and true, making the cause 
of his friends his own and never permitting an 
unjust attack to go unrebuked. As a public 
man he met every question presented in an 
honorable, candid spirit, and was never known 
to be influenced by selfish interest. He was 
true to those he represented, and studied their 
best I interest. Whether as a member of the 
Ohio legislature, member of congress or for- 
eign minister, he never shirked grappling" with 
the most intricate or delicate questions which 
arose, nor to antagonize the greatest minds of 
that day, and never failed to win the admira- 
tion of his friends and even adversaries. It 
was at the bar, however, that he shone with 
the brightest luster. Fitted by nature for that 
particular field, he entered the arena with suc- 
cess written upon his brow. His natural abili- 
ties enabled him to grasp the principle of the 
case and his quick apprehension to detect it in 



all its details and bearings. As an advocate 
he had few equals and however dry the case, 
he would have something in it by which he 
could reach the heart. He was familiar with 
the scripture, and it was his habit frequently 
to enforce an idea upon the jury by reading 
passages from the Bible. In the defense of 
a young man charged with larceny he so 
wrought upon the feelings of the crowd that 
they broke forth in cheers. The court and 
sheriff exerted themselves to keep order, but in 
vain — they could not restrain themselves. The 
court, discouraged in its efforts to obtain quiet, 
remarked to the sheriff that there was but one 
alternative, "either imprison the crowd or stop 
Mr. Starkweather; the first was impracticable, 
and the second unconstitutional." It is easy to 
imagine that his client was triumphantly ac- 
(|uitted amid a burst of applause. He was a 
man of rare genius, of critical judgment and 
quick apprehension. His voice was attractive, 
sweet and melodious, his gestures graceful, and 
his deportment earnest, — just the requisites for 
success. 

It should have been mentioned that at the 
expiration of Mr. Starkweather's first term in 
congress Wayne county insisted upon her; 
claim to the seat. Stark county having occu- 
pied it two terms in succession, the limit then 
allowed by the aspirants in the different coun- 
ties constituting the district. Although Mr. 
Starkweather was the more popular man, yet, 
rather than have any disturbance in the ranks, 
he withdrew from the contest and allowed the 
representative from Wayne county to inter- 
\'ene. 

Mr. Starkweather died of paralysis at the 
home of his daughter, Mrs. Brinsmade, in 
Cleveland, July 12, 1876, aged seventy-four 
years. He had four children, three daughters 
and one son, all of whom are dead, with 
the exception of Mrs. Brinsmade. Mrs. 
Starkweather died several years before her 
husband. 



256 



OLD LANDMARKS 



EZRA DEAN. 

Mr. Dean served in congress the tour 
years that intervened between Air. Stark- 
weather's first and second term, from 1841 to 
1845. Mr. Dean was born in Hillsdale, Co- 
lumbia county. New York, April 9, 1795. The 
family dates their ancestry to the settlement 
in Massachusetts in 1630. When in his sev- 
enteenth year he was appointed by the secre- 
tary of war, ensign in the Eleventh Regiment, 
United States Infantry, then on duty on the 
northern frontier. He was commissioned 
second lieutenant by President Madison, to 
rank from October i, 18 14, for meritorious 
conduct in the sortie of Fort Erie September 
17, 18 14. He was in the battles of Bridge- 
water and Chippeway, and his regiment -had 
the advance in the storming of Oueenstown 
Heights. At the close of the war with Eng- 
land and before he had attained the age of 
twenty, he was placed in command of a rev- 
enue cutter on Lake Champlain, in which ca- 
pacity he rendered etl'ective service against 
smugglers. After two years' service in guard- 
ing the northern frontier he resigned that posi- 
tion and was assigned a place in the corps of 
government engineers to run the boundary line 
between the states of Maine and New Bruns- 
wick. He was engaged in that service about 
one year, when he concluded to take up the 
study of law and make it a life business. He 
engaged with an attorney of Bloomington, 
A^ermont, completed a preliminary course and 
was admitted in 1823. The following year^ 
he came to Wooster, Ohio, and opened an of- 
fice. As he became known business came to 
him. and it was not long before he had estab- 
lished an excellent reputation. His habits 
were unexceptionable and his morals above re- 
proach. 

In 1828 Mr. Dean was appointed postmas- 
ter of Wooster by General Jackson, and held 
this office until 1832, when he was elected by 



the legislature judge of the common pleas 
court, the circuit being composed of the coun- 
ties of Knox, Wayne, Holmes, Richland, Me- 
dina and Lorain. He served his term of seven 
years and gave very general satisfaction in 
that function. At the expiration of his term 
he resumed the practice of law. Though not 
renowned, he was always regarded as a safe 
counsellor. He was elected to congress in 
1840, and re-elected in 1842. In such esti- 
mate was he held by the party at this time 
that he was a competing candidate for United 
States senator when Ben Tappen was chosen, 
and lacked but one vote of being the successful 
man. During his first term in congress he 
ser\ed on the committee on territories. At- 
the second term he was made chairman of the 
committee on militia. While in congress 
fudge Dean made a leading speech on the po- 
litical issues of the day, which was extensively 
circulated as a campaign document, and he 
frequently engaged in the running debates of 
the house, not being particularly identified with 
any special party measure, though always rec- 
ognized as a stanch Democrat. He was a 
great reader and his mind was well stored with 
useful knowledge, particularly in ancient and 
modern history. His convictions were well 
settled in what he believed to be right, and he 
adhered to them with a firmness and uttered 
them with a boldness that neither tumult or 
claiiior could modify or subdue. His firmness 
sometimes subjected him to the accusation of 
dogmatism. In manner he was rather re- 
served, but dignified, not cordial or genial, yet 
he had many warm friends. In stature he 
was above medium height, athletic and well 
proportioned; complexion, dark, with a coun- 
tenance that indicated deep thought and inflex- 
ible resolution. At the expiration of his last 
term in congress he resumed the practice of 
law in Wooster. John McSweeney had just 
completed his studies in Canton, and was 
taken in partnership. It was not long before 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



257 



the firm was full of business, Dean being the 
counsellor and McSweeney the advocate. 

During the Civil war Judge Dean took a 
decided stand in favor of the Union and, as 
" a Democrat, gave moral support to the admin- 
istration in its efforts to suppress the rebellion, 
and cheerfully gave his consent that his son 
enter the service. As he was a warm sup- 
porter of General Jackson in his stand on 
nullification, so was 'he with Abraham Lincoln 
to prevent a dissolution of the Union. In 
1867 he removed to Ironton, Ohio, where he 
had a son living, E. V. Dean, Esq., engaged 
in the practice of law. He had his home with 
him when he died, January 25, 1872, aged 
seventy-seven years. 

SAMUEL LAHM. 

Samuel Lahm was born in Leitersburg, 
Washington county, Maryland, April 22, 
181 1. After receiving all the educational ad- 
vantages the schools of his native town af- 
forded he was sent to Washington College, 
Pennsylvania, where he graduated. Henry 
A. Wise and James G. Blaine, as well as many 
other distinguished men, were graduates of 
this institution. Jefferson College, located at 
Cannonsburgh, seven miles from Washing- 
ton, was the first incorporated institution of 
learning west bf the mountains. As Washing- 
ton and Jefferson both originated in the same 
church, a movement was inauguiiated at the 
close of the Civil war to consolidate the two, 
and then commenced a struggle as to which 
one should be sustained. Jefferson was the 
older and had the prestige of success. Her 
alumni, proud of her reputation and cherishing 
her memory as a child would that of a person, 
labored for the survival of the fittest; l)ut 
Washington had the material aid that controls 
destinies, and the courts decided the matter in 
favor of Washington, and christened the in- 
stitution Washington and Jefferson College. 

16 



The writer of this was a Jeflferson College 
student and had frequent controversies with 
Mr. Lahm on the comparative merits of the 
rival institutions, which is the apology for this 
irrelevant paragraph. 

Mr. Lahm studied law in Hagerstown, the 
county seat of his native county. Complet- 
ing the usual course of study, he came to Can- 
ton in the year 1834. As the laws of Ohio- 
required that he be a resident of the state one 
year before he could be admitted to practice, 
he entered the law office of Almon Sortwell 
and employed much of that time in the study of 
the statutes of the state. At the time Mr. 
Lahm became a citizen of Canton a debating 
society known as the Lyceum was in active 
operation. There belonged to it the most in- 
tellectual men of the -town. The society met 
once a week in a room of the old Academy, 
situated on the ground now occupied by the 
high school. The exercises consisted chiefly 
of debating, and the questions selected for dis- 
cussion were those in which the public took an 
interest — political, religious or scientific. The 
proceedings were conducted according to strict 
parliamentary rules. A censor was selected 
for each evening, who passed upon the per- 
formance of the members, their pnonunciation, 
delivery, etc., always with considerate feeling 
for the performers. There has never been 
a literary society in Canton from that day to 
the present in which the town felt as much 
interest, or from which the citizens of all class- 
es derived as much benefit. Among the promi- 
nent members may be mentioned Hiram Gris- 
wold, George W. Belden, H. C. Stowall, Al- 
mon Sortwell, Joseph Whitney, J. D. Brown, 
C. C. . Haddock, F. A. Schneider, William 
(jaston, Thomas Goodman, Rev. Taylor, Mad- 
ison Raynolds, Dwight Jarvis, L. M. Whit- 
ing, William Ramsey, Seraphim Meyer, Judge 
George Rex, John McSweaiey, Louis Schaef- 
er, all of whom are now dead, with the excep- 
tion of Goodman and Meyer. Mr. Lahm unit- 



258 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ed with this society soon after he came to Can- 
ton, and in due time was assigned a disputant 
in a discussion. The question was: "Were 
the removal of government deposits from the 
United States Bank justifiable?" It was the 
exciting political question of the day. The 
writer of this, then a school boy, has a very 
distinct remembrance of the impression made 
upon the audience by Mr. Lahm in his maiden 
effort. His tone of voice, easy delivery, clear- 
cut propositions, and the apparent ease with 
which they were enforced seemed to carry con- 
viction to all. There was but one expression 
by the crowd on leaving the coom. and that 
was that the new comer was decidedly in ad- 
vance of any of the old members. Politics at 
that time ran high between the Whigs and 
Democrats, and when Mr. Lahm avowed him- 
self an adherent of the latter party, there was 
great rejoicing among the Democrats. 

Mr. Lahm commenced the practice of law 
under very favorable auspices and soon had 
all the business he could reasonably covet. It 
was not long before he was sure to be engaged 
on one side or the other of every important 
case in court. It was about this time that the 
following incident occurred, which received a 
wide circulation in the papers : A witness 
was called to testify. On presenting himself 
at the bar the clerk propounded the usual ques- 
tion : "How do you swear?" meaning, do 
you swear or affirm : upon which the witness 
promptly replied: "1 swear for Sam Lahm." 
}ilr. Lahm was twice elected prosecuting at- 
torney of Stark county, serving from 1837 to 
1841. 

Militia training was at that time in vogne. 
and as ^Ir. Lahm e\inced a taste for military 
display he was elected brigadier-general, from 
which he ever afterward enjoyed the title of 
general. He was twice elected to the Ohio 
senate, serving from 1842 to 1844. ^^'hile a 
member of the senate the question of state 
banks reform was an engrossing subject of 



legislation. General Lahm's course on this 
question did not exactly meet the approval of 
some of the leaders of the party at home, and 
when a candidate for the third term he was de- 
feated by the treachery of pretended political 
friends. 

The congressional district had a decided 
Democratic majority, and as the Whigs had 
no hope of success with a candidate of their 
own. they were quite willing to form a coali- 
tion with the friends of General Lahm and 
support him for congress. He was according- 
ly announced as an independent candidate 
against ]Mr. Starkweather, the regularly nomi- 
nated candidate. Though under some obli- 
gations to the ^^ big party for his success, he 
in no way compromised his political principles, 
but in every party measure identified himself 
with the Democracy. During his career in 
congress he made a speech that was adopted 
by the national Democratic committee as a 
campaign document, and was said to have had 
great influence over the country. General 
Lahm was a candidate for second term in con- 
gress, being regularly nominated l)y a Demo- 
cratic convention in 1856, but it was the year 
that Know-nothingism swept the countr\-. and 
he was defeated. In his day General Lahm 
was the most popular stump-orator in the dis- 
trict, and was regarded as among the l^est in 
the state. He was a man of fine appearance, 
with a ready command of language. He was 
earnest, logical, forcible and persuasive. He 
laid his foundations with care, built his argu- 
ments with skill and made them con\-incing. 
For many years, during every actixe cam- 
paign, General Lahm was always in demand. 
He had a strong voice and there is no doubt 
that it was his outdoor speaking which led to 
its impairment and influenced him to with- 
draw from politics. He made a large pur- 
chase of land on the plains, and ga\e his at- 
tention to farming, at which he continued until 
his death. June 17, 1876. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



259 



General Lahm was twice married. His 
first wife was Miss Almira Webster Brown, a 
relative of Daniel Webster, and his second wife 
w'as Miss Henrietta Faber, of Canton. By 
the first wife he had five children, four sons 
and one daughter. Two of the sons enlisted 
in the war of the rebellion, and both died of 
sickness. Bv the second wife he had three 



daughters. 



DAVID K. CARTTER 



was born in Jefferson county. New York, 
June 22, 1812. He began life for himself as 
an apprentice to the printing business in the 
office of Thurlow Weed, in Rochester. He 
secured the means, by saving his earnings, to 
obtain an academic education, studied law, was 
admitted to the bar and hung out his shingle 
in the same place soon after attaining his ma- 
jority. After several years' trial, not meet- 
ing" with the measure of success he desired, and 
impressed with the idea that "a prophet is not 
without honor, save in his own country," he 
decided to change his base of operation, and 
accordingly removed to Ohio. He settled in 
Akron in 1836, and formed a partnership with 
Alvah Hand, under the firm name of Hand 
& Cartter. From some incompatibility this 
firm did not long continue united. \Mien they 
separated Cartter and George Bliss formed a 
connection, and they soon acquired a reputa- 
tion as a strong firm. 

Although Cartter's success in the legal pro- 
fession was sufficient to satisfy the ambition of 
most men, still he was not content. He as- 
pired to something higher, having an inclina- 
tion for congressional iionors. As there was 
no hope of success in Summit county he de- 
cided to remove to the congressional district 
of Wayne and Stark, then desiginated the Gib- 
raltar of Democracy. It was charged against 
him when a candidate for nomination, by some 
of the rival candidates, that he removed into 
Stark purposely to reach congress. In tlie 



light of subsequent e\'ents that was probably 
true, but wherein the wrong? If he had the 
ability to win the prize from the candidates of 
longer residence, so much more to his credit. 
On general principles, qualifications being 
equal, the longest resident and the one most 
identified with the interest of his constituents 
should be preferred, but qualifications first. 

Mr. Cartter came to Massillon in 1845 and 
formed a partnership with H. B. Hurlbert. 
His reputation had preceded him and he soon 
became a leading lawyer at the Canton bar, 
then considered one of the ablest of northern 
Ohio. He was a man of commanding ap- 
pearance, face pock-marked, voice coarse, 
rough in manner, and a terror to witnesses, 
neither chaste in language nor polite in man- 
ner. He had an impediment in speech, but it 
never interfered with his efforts before the 
court or jury. It rather emphasized his lan- 
guage. He took an active part in politics 
soon after he came into Stark, was prominent 
in conventions and popular as a speaker. The 
Whigs feared him. He was a thorn in their 
side. Their papers wrote him Decay Cartter. 
He received the nomination for congress in 
1848. His W'hig opponent was Samuel 
Hemphill, a lawyer of Wooster. Cartter was 
elected, carrying Stark county by a majority 
of ten hundred and three votes. He was nomi- 
nated for the second term in 1850 and re- 
elected by a majority in Stark of nine hundred 
and seventy-nine. His opponent at this elec- 
tion was John Brown, of Wayne county. At 
the expiration of his term in congress Mr. 
Cartter withdrew from party affiliation, and 
soon afterward settled in Cleveland. ' On the 
organization of the Republican party he was 
united with it, and again became an active 
politician. He was appointed delegate to tlie 
Chicago convention in i860, and claimed the 
honor of Lincoln's nomination to the presi- 
dency, his services being recognized by ap- 
pointment as minister to Bolivia. This place. 



26o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



however, did not suit his taste and he soon 
resigned and came home to ask for something 
more congenial. He was then appointed chief 
justice of the supreme court of the District of 
Cohimbia. His quahhcations for judgeship 
are better described by legal friends who had 
opportunity of forming an unbiased opinion 
and who furnished the writer with the follow- 
ing, in substance : 

He was a man of vigorous intellect — ele- 
mentar\- in his style of reasoning and acting 
and independent in thought, with the courage 
to follow his convictions. He was not much 
of a student, but understood and grasped the 
elementary principle of the law with wonderful 
clearness and power. It is told of Chief Jus- 
tice ^Marshall, that in the supreme court con- 
sultation he said, after some discussion : "The 
law is so and so — I do not know where to find 
it, but Justice Story will be able to tell you." 
Judge Cartter was of such a type. He knew 
what the law ought to be — that it was probably 
stated in some text book or decision, but he 
was not able to cite the book or case. It may 
be truly said that he won for himself the repute 
of having a strong and judicial mind. He 
went on the bench as chief justice of the su- 
preme court of the District of Columbia at a 
time when a vigorous, courageous and ag- 
gressive mind was necessary in the court. The 
atmosphere about Washington was so charged 
with disloyalty that even in the court where 
litigation of the district was carried on a man 
of fearless and aggressive mind was requisite. 
The radical change and conditions of affairs 
brought new and important questions before 
the court. Precedents were searched for in 
vain. Laws had to be made to meet the new 
and strange conditions of affairs. Cartter's 
mind was so elementary, and his courage of the 
kind that made it easy for him to reach satis- 
factory conclusions and cut through the diffi- 
culties. He made his impress upon the ju- 



dicial proceedings of the court, and his record 
is in every sense one entirely creditable to him. 
He grew to the full measure of the emergencies 
and had the brains and the fearlessness to meet 
all difficulties and successfully surmount them. 
It is safe to say that if he had been more of a 
student in his early life and had had the suav- 
ity and culture of his contemporary, Chase, he 
would have been one of the foremost judges on 
the federal bench. 

It is well known that when in practice ^Ir. 
Cartter was often rough and coarse in his style 
of trying cases, and in later years referred to it 
as something to be regretted. He was not 
proud of the character he had won in that style 
of litigation. While brusque and at times 
arbitrary on the bench, he was quick to take 
in the humorous side of the case, as the fol- 
lowing incident will exhibit : Mrs. Lock- 
wood, a lawyer practicing at the Washington 
bar, appeared in court with a party whom she 
wanted to offer as surety on an appeal bond, 
and it was necessary that he be approved b}- 
the court. The surety offer was a typical 
Virginian darkey of the old school, wearing an 
old silk hat, an ancient dress coat, with brass 
buttons and what was once a white vest, in 
which garb he appeared before the court, hat 
in hand. Judge Cartter eyed him curiously 
and then blurted out: "Well, uncle, what's 
the condition of your earthly possessions?" 
The darkey, having been sworn, testified that 
he owned a certain well known piece of real es- 
tate unincumbered. Cartter, after hearing his 
statement, said, "Well, you'll do. If you can 
show as good spiritual assets on judgment day 
you'll be well off." He approved the Ijcind. 
The spectators and lawyers were hilarious and 
the darkey marched out of the crowded court 
room with a triumphant air. 

Judge Cartter died April i6, 1887, of can- 
cer of the stomach, leaving his family in \-ery 
comfortable circumstances. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



261 



GEORGE BLISS. 

From 1833 to 1853, a period of twenty 
years, the eighteenth congressional district, 
then composed of Wayne and Stark, was not 
changed. In 1842 the legislature redistricted 
the state and an effort was then made to sep- 
arate the two counties, in order no doubt, to 
give some Democratic aspirant of an adjoin- 
ing county a chance for congress. But Judge 
Hostetter was the senator for Stark that ses- 
sion and he opposed it violently. He belonged 
to the Jacksonian school, and was uncompro- 
mising, saying, in a speech, that "It must be 
\\'ayne and Stark, or Stark and Wayne; 
damned if he would ever cast a vote for any- 
thing else," and as there was no yielding on 
his part, so it was made. The inhabitants of 
the two counties are homogeneous people, 
mostly Pennsylvanians and their descendants, 
and they did not like the idea of being associ- 
ated with Yankeedom. 

George Bliss, who served in the district 
from 1853 to 1855, 'w^s born in Jericho, Ver- 
mont, January i, 181 3. He came to Ohio in 
1833 and graduated from Dennison College, 
Granville. He studied law with D. K. Cart- 
ter, in .Akron, and after being admitted to the 
bar was taken by him into partnership. As 
a firm they were quite successful. On the 
election of Judge Wade to the United States 
senate Governor Wood.appointed Bliss his suc- 
cessor, a position he held until a change in the 
state constittition in i85;3 vacated the office. 
He made an able judge. Soon after his re- 
tirement from the bench he removed to Woos- 
ter and formed a partnership with John Mc- 
Sweeney. In 1852 he received the nomination 
for congress from the eighteenth district, and 
was elected. His opponent was Darius Ly- 
man, a member of the third party, then known 
as the Free-Soil party. It is proper to state, 
for the information of those ignorant of politi- 
cal movements of that day, tliat as the Whig 



party lost support the Free-Soil gained. The 
Free-Soil party then held the same relation to 
the two great parties. Whig and Democrat, as 
does the Prohibition party of today. The 
present Republican party is made up of what 
was left of the Whig party, united with the 
Free-Soil party. The apportionment under 
the census of 1850 increased the ratio of rep- 
resentation, and as Wayne and Stark had not 
the numerical strength required it became 
necessary to make a new deal, and they became 
separated, much to their dissatisfaction. The 
result was Portage, Stark and Summit became 
the eighteenth district and Wayne was made 
a part of the fourteenth. Judge Bliss was 
elected a second term and served in the thirty- 
eighth congress, from December, 1863, to 
March 3, 1865. 

Judge Bliss was a man of fine appearance 
and of acknowledged ability. He had a pe- 
culiarity of expression, or rather a hesitancy 
in his speech, occasioned by a twitch of the 
muscles of one side of the face; but it was 
never considered a disadvantage; rather the 
contrary, as it made his expression more em- 
phatic. He was a forcible speaker, argumen- 
tative and influential, whether before a jury or 
promiscuous audience. He married Miss 
Fish, of Williamstown. New York, who bore 
him five children, one daughter and four sons. 
They, with the mother, afterward resided in 
Brooklyn, New York. Judge Bliss died in 
Wooster October 24, 1868, from paresis, com- 
monly known as softening of the brain. 

BENJAMIN F. LEITER. 

Benjamin F. Leiter was born in Leiters- 
burg, Maryland, October 13, 1813. His 
father was a carpenter by trade and of limited 
means. His early education was what the 
common schools of that day aft'orded. Em' 
phatically was he a self-made man, and what- 
ever of honor and fame he attained in after 



262 



OLD LANDMARKS 



years was through his own exertions and 
without adventitious aid. 

He left liis parental home wlien ahout 
twenty to \\s\\. liis uncle. Jacob Myers, owner 
of the Myers mills, on East Nimishillen, near 
Canton. Pleased with the country,, he con- 
cluded to remain, his uncle proffering him 
employment at whate\er there was to do about 
the mills — driving teams, attending to the 
mill or keeping books. Ben, as he was fa- 
miliarly called, was stout and hearty and of an 
accommodating disposition, willing to turn his 
hand to anything that offered. Naturally of 
bright intellect, he employed much of his 
time in reading and study. He had some 
experience in teaching before lea\-ing home, 
and the second winter in Stark he was em- 
ployed to take charge of a school in an ad- 
joining district. The patrons of the school 
were well jileased with his ability, and when 
the present free school system went into op- 
eration he was the first teacher engaged in 
Canton. 

While empli)yed in teaching he was 
elected township clerk and also justice of the 
peace, which office he held for three succes- 
sive terms. During this time he took up the 
study of law. reciting to D. A. Starkweather. 
On his admission to the bar he formed a part- 
nership with Hon. George W. Belden. He 
was attentive to business and did well ; became 
actix'e in politics, and, in connection with Ed 
Carney, purchased the Stark County Demo- 
crat, then owned by Colonel Gotshall. They 
ran it in partnership a httle over a year, when, 
not being able to agree, they sold out to 
McGregor & Son. 

Mr. Leiter was what is called in the po- 
litical parlance of the day. a '"hustler." and in 
1848 was elected to the state legislature, and 
again in 1849. At the latter session the two 
parties were so equally divided that there was 
a bitter and prolonged contest for the 
speakershi]). Mr. Leiter obtained possession 



of the chair by a cimp de main, and after con- 
sideralile filibustering, with some sacrifice of 
comfort, succeeded in being made perma- 
nent speaker. He was apt in acquiring 
the necessary knowledge to become a par- 
liamentarian and was soon a popular 
presiding officer. In 1850 he was a can- 
didate for the senate, but was defeated, while 
the balance of the Democratic ticket was 
elected. This was a rebuff' and calculated to 
embitter his feeling against the party. He 
liecame lukewarm in politics, and for se\eral 
years measurably stood aloof. 

In the spring of 1854 Senator Douglas" 
bill, repealing the Missouri Compromise, 
caused great dissatisfaction throughout the 
North. Mr. Leiter was among those who 
were hostile to the measure and was \'ery 
outsp(-ken in his denunciation of the admin- 
istration. ^VlliIe this state of feeling was rife 
a secret, oath-bound political organiza- 
titm, known as "Know Nothings," sprang, 
like Jonah's gourd, into existence. The 
writer is unalile to state by wliat mighty 
magic this order succeeded in bamboozling so 
many voters into the order, but they went in — 
\yhigs, who were in the fi.x of Macawber, 
"waiting for something to turn u]) :" dis- 
affected Democrats, who wanted an excuse 
to leave the party ; the floating vote, who went 
in from curiosity, and some from a prejudice 
against foreigners and Catholics. Mr. Leiter 
was a chief among them, and so manipulated 
the crowd that he secured the nomination to 
the thirty-fourth congress as a Republican 
and was elected, receiving in the district 8. 738 
votes, against 5,023 votes for Ebenezer Spald- 
ing, Democrat. His course in congress meet- 
ing the approbation of the Republican part)-, 
he was renominated at the district conventirm 
and re-elected, defeating General Lahm, Dem- 
ocrat. During his entire service he was a 
member of the committee on Lrdian affairs. 
The remark has been frequently made that 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



263 



Ben Leiter was the most thoughtful and oblig- 
ing congressman ever sent from this district 
in remembering his constituents b}' supplying 
them with documents and seeds. 

Mr. Leiter married Miss Catherine Bur- 
ger, of Canton, by whom he had seven chil- 
dren, all dead but one daughter, Mrs. Volney 
l^'ulmer. of Canton. One son was killed in 
the army. Benjamin Leiter died on June 17, 
1866. 

This paper completes the list of those who 



have served in congress from the Stark dis- 
trict and are no longer living. My effort has 
been to keep alive their fading honors. The 
later members are still living and adding to 
their history. Their records will be written 
when ended, if not l)y me, by some other hand. 
Tliey are Sidney Edjerton, of Summit county; 
Ephraim R. Eckley, Carroll county; Jacob H. 
Ambler, Columbiana county; L. D. Wood- 
worth, Mahoning county; J. H. Wallace. Co- 
lumbiana county; William McKinley, Jr., 
Stark county. 




C.^f'cX'^^^^i-t'^ ^<^ X> 



^Ufc*-'^*-^ 




C/^ dcMy^i^J. 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 



WILLIAM McKINLEY.— To the state 
of Ohio has been given the supreme honor of 
furnishing- to the United States every President 
chosen by the people since Abraham Lincohi 
to the present writing, 1903, with a single ex- 
ception. Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Harrison and 
McKinley were all natives of the Buckeye 
state. 

The last named of these great sons of Ohio, 
William McKinley, was born at Niles, Trum- 
bull county, on January 29, 1843. He came of 
that sturdy race, the Scotch-Irish, which has 
given to the country so many men of character 
and worth. He was of an old American fam- 
ily. His grandsires fought in the war of the 
Revolution with devotion and courage. His 
father, also William McKinley, was a man of 
strong characteristics, a great reader, and one 
who thought out his own convictions as he had 
wrought his own way in the world. He was an 
iron-master and engaged in that business when 
the subject of this sketch was born. William 
McKinley had a strong and upright father ; 
he was doubly fortunate in having a great and 
noble mother. It has been said that no great 
man was ever born except of a great mother. 
Nancy Allison McKinley, the wife of William 
McKinley, Sr., and mother of the future Presi- 
dent, was one of nature's noblewomen. She 
possessed in rare degree those qualities which 
gave character to her son. She was gentle, 
yet strong. She was modest, yet self-reliant. 
She had supreme good sense. She recognized 



intuitively the fitness of things and acted ac- 
cordingly. She was quietly proud of her great 
son, yet never boasted nor said a word which 
any mother might not say of a boy who had 
shown character and good works. "William 
was a good boy," she would quietly remark to 
those who praised him before her. She lived 
an even, temperate life and saw her son inaug- 
urated to the chair of Washington and Lincoln. 
Fortunately, she was spared the pain of his das- 
tardly taking off. She taught her son to love 
God and to respect the rights of his fellows. 
Under her guidance, he early united with the 
Methodist Episcopal church, retaining his mem- 
bership throughout his life. It is said to have 
been the mother's ambition that William might 
some day be a bishop. If his career took an- 
other direction, he never forgot the lessons of 
his youth and throughout life he was a man of 
deep religious convictions. He was never 
ostentatious of his religion. In all the phases 
of his active and varied career it was his prac- 
tice to seek daily guidance from on High. The 
religious freedom he claimed for himself he 
freely granted to all. and numbered among his 
friends men of all creeds and of no creed at all. 
He did not boast of his righteousness ; he had 
none of the "I am holier than thou" in his 
make-up. Without shadow of turning, he 
quietly followed the path in which his good 
mother had set his youthful feet when he began 
the journey of life. 

In order that his family might receive better 



266 



OLD LANDMARKS 



advantages for education, William McKinley, 
Sr., sought a iiome where they could avail them- 
selves of broader* opportunities for mental cul- 
ture and improvement, and with this in view, 
removed witli his family to Poland. Mahonins' 
county. This town was the seat of one of the 
small but excellent institutions of learning for 
which Ohio is known. At the Poland Academy 
\\'illiam IVIcKinley received most of his higher 
education. The classes were not large but the 
instruction was thorough and the pupils of that 
kind who reall_\- strive for improvement and 
are not merely sent to college for want of some- 
thing else to do, or because that is the conven- 
tional thing with young people in this countr}-. 
At the academy he is spoken of as a good stu- 
dent and an earnest debater in one of the liter- 
ary societies of the institution. He passed one 
year in the college at Meadville. Pennsylvania, 
taught school and for a time worked in the Po- 
land postoftice. His education was not com- 
pleted when the civil war of 1861 began. He 
was only seventeen years of age. but he did not 
hesitate to enter the ranks of the soldiers of 
the Union who went forth to battle for their 
country. With thousands of others of the best 
youtli of the land, he beliexed his country had 
a riglit to the service of her sons, and if need 
be their lives, that our government might live. 
He enlisted as a private in the Twenty-third 
Regiment Ohio Volunteer InfaiUry. This regi- 
ment had in the ranks the flower of young and 
de\oted manhood. Its roll of officers is unique 
in the character and services of its members. 
Its first colonel was \\'illiam S. Rosecrans, 
lieutenant-colonel. Stanley ]\Iatthews. after- 
wards United States senator and judge of the 
supreme court : major. Rutherford B. Hayes, 
afterwards President. With tlie election of 
\\''illiam McKinley, this regiment gave to the 
country two Presidents. \Miile our volunteer 
soldier missed the opportunities ior niDre com- 
plete higher education, he profited by the expe- 
rience which came from armv life. He learned 



to submit to discipline, to endure hardships, 
to accept victory or defeat as it came; to be 
cool, self-possessed and courageous. Who 
shall say that the foundations of character may 
not be laid in such a school as well as in the 
studies and duties of an academic course? It 
is the testimony of his comrades that William 
McKinley made a good soldier. That he was 
brave and competent is shown in his rise, young 
as he was, to the rank of brevet major at the 
close of the war. He served on the staffs of 
Generals Hayes and Crooks. To the former 
he became devotedly attached, a friendship 
fully reciprocated by General Hayes, who has 
said that he knew young iMcKinley like a book 
and lo\'ed him like a brother. The regiment 
served throughout the war. participating in 
many skirmishes and battles. General Has- 
tings. A\ho was a close friend and served with 
AIcKinley, has gi\-en an incident of his army ex- 
perience which illustrates at once his kindness 
of heart and firm confidence in the triumph 
of a just cause. When the Federal army was 
driven by Early's troops back through Win- 
chester, an old Quaker lady, who sympathised 
with the Union cause, stood at her gate weep- 
ing as the retreating troops passed by ; AIcKin- 
ley saw her and reining his horse to the curb, 
said "Don't worry, my dear madam, we are 
not hurt as much as it seems : we shall Ise back 
here a.gain in a few days." The prophecy was 
fulfilled — in a few days the triumphant Union 
army, with Sheridan at the head, swept back 
through Winchester, driving Early and his 
forces from the Shenandoah valley. 

Tlie war ended. Major IMcKinley returned 
to his home in Poland and began the study of 
law. He was fortunate in having for his pre- 
ceptor Judge Charles E. Glidden, a man of 
fine presence, of learning as a lawyer, and 
eloquent as an advocate and public speaker. He 
completed his law studies at the Albany Law 
School and in 1867 was admitted to the Ohio 
bar. He had then to solve the question which 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO, 



267 



confronts every young barrister as to the best 
location in wliich to begin the practice of his 
chosen profession. This problem was largely 
solved for him by the residence of a beloved 
sister \\'lio was then and for many years con- 
tinued to be an honored teacher in the public 
schools of Canton, the county seat of the popu- 
lous and wealthy county of Stark. In a 
short time Major McKinley became one of the 
leading lawyers of his count v and in 1869 
was elected prosecuting attorney, a place then 
mucli sought by young lawyers for tlie oppor- 
tunity it furnished for practice and acquaint- 
ance. If his career had not been deflected a few 
years later from law to politics, he would have 
attained high rank as a lawyer and jurist. He 
early appreciated that more cases are won in 
their preparation than in their trial. He thor- 
oughly prepared himself, and was always cour- 
teous in the presentation of his causes. It is 
said to have been his early ambition to become 
a common pleas judge. By temperament and 
aljility he was peculiarly fitted to become 
a judge, but fate had other tilings in store for 
him. During the ten years of his legal practice 
in Stark county lie was actively interested in 
political afifau's, and in even*' campaign gave 
freely of his services as a public speaker in ax:l- 
vocacy of the principles of tiie Republican 
party. For most young lawyers, the partici- 
pation in political campaigns was not a matter 
neediiig mtich thought or investigation ; it was 
an affair calling for little preparation : a drive 
into the country after court hours, and an ofif- 
hand speech to the many or few who might as- 
semble for such an occasion. Not so with Mc- 
Kinley. He made a thorough study of political 
questions and paid to every audience before 
which he appeared the compliment of tliorough 
preparation. 1876, the same year that saw his 
old commander elected President of the United 
States, witnessed his election as a memlier of 
congress. McKinley's early life had brought 
him much in contact with the men who toil in 



shop and factory and he conceived a strong- 
sympathy for them, and from his advent into 
congress became an ardent advocate of the pol- 
icy of a protective taritT, which he believed 
would lead to the betterment of the condition 
of the laboring men of the country and give to 
their wives and children a greater share in the 
comforts of living. In one of his later speeches, 
we find him giving voice to this sentiment in 
these words : "The labor of a country consti- 
tutes its strength and its wealth, and the better 
that labor is conditie)ned, the higher its rewards, 
the wider its opportunity, and the greater its 
comforts and refinements, the more sacred will 
be our homes, the more capable will be our 
children, and the nobler will be the destiny that 
awaits us." For fourteen years he served his 
people as tlieir representative. \\'eight and in- 
Huence in congress is gained only by men of ex- 
cepticnal^Ie ability and great industry. The 
house is no respecter of persons, and sooner ur 
later every man"s measure is taken for what he 
really is. Major McKinley soon became one 
of its leaders. Upon the tariflf question he l^e- 
came a recognized authority and the leader 
among the advocates of the protective tarilT. 
The fourteen years of his congressional service 
were years of constant growth and the experi- 
ence of that time was an invaluat>le preparation 
for the great work that the years had )'et in 
store for him. In 1878. a turning point in his 
career, he had carried a gerrymandered district 
organized for his defeat. In 1890 the work 
was more effectually done, and Major McKin- 
ley was located in a district Democratic beyond 
all peradventure. It had a nominal Democratic 
majority of about three thousand. After a cam- 
paign of unprecedented activity. Major Mc- 
Kinley was defeated, but the three thousand 
majority was reduced to a little more than three 
hundred. He retired from congress as chair- 
man of the ways and means committee which 
framed tlie tarii^ act known as the McKinley 
Bill. After this act was passed there came one 



268 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of those temporary revulsions of public senti- 
ment resulting- in a change of the party in power 
in the administration of public affairs. The 
McKinley tariff law was bitterly attacked and 
it is claimed much misrepresented by its op- 
ponents. The result of the election in favor 
of the Democrats was generally attributed to 
the onslaught on this measure. Many friends 
of the protective tariff were disposed to modify 
their views to meet the change in public senti- 
ment. Not so with McKinley. He declared 
that the principles of the Republican party were 
no less sacred in defeat than in victory, and the 
battle must go on under the old banner and for 
the faith so often endorsed by the people. The 
Republicans of Ohio stood with him and with- 
out dissent nominated him for governor in 
1891. He threw himself into the fight with 
renewed energy and zeal and was triumphantly 
elected after one of the most arduous campaigns 
in a state celebrated for political warfare. In 
1893 he was again chosen governor of his na- 
tive state and by a greatly increased majority 
over that of 1891. The duties of the governor 
of Ohio are not ordinarily arduous. Governor 
McKinley made an excellent executive. He had 
on several occasions to meet threatened out- 
breaks of violence and evinced a firm determi- 
nation to uphold the supremacy of the law and 
maintain the public peace. These four years 
were no less years of growth. He had leisure 
for study and development. His addresses de- 
livered during that period cover a wide range 
of subjects and give evidence of his mental 
versatility. Nor was he idle in political af- 
fairs beyond the lx)rders of his own state. He 
had become a national figure and one of the 
most popular orators of the day. In 1894 he 
traveled far and wide, being everywhere met 
by throngs of his countrymen and continually 
growing in popular esteem. As the year 1896 
approached it became apparent tliat he was to 
be the choice of his party for the presidential 
nomination. Others were mentioned, but the 



tide had set in so strongly for him that his 
selection was inevitable. He had been in the 
shadow of the nomination for this great office 
before. In the convention of 1888 it is gener- 
ally believed that his loyalty to the distinguish- 
ed statesman whose cause he upheld prevented 
his own selection. The speech made in declin- 
ing to be considered a candidate liecanie famous 
in convention annals and made a lasting im- 
pression upon the country. He said : "Mr. 
President and Gentleman of the Convention, 
I am here as one of the chosen representatives 
of my state. I am here by resolution of the 
Republican state convention, commanding' me 
to cast my vote for John Sherman for Presi- 
dent, and to use every worthy endeavor to se- 
cure his nomination. I accepted the trust be- 
cause my heart and judgment were in accord 
with the letter and spirit and purpose of that 
resolution. It has pleased certain delegates to 
cast their votes for me for President. I am 
not insensible to the honor they would do me. 
but in the presence of tlie duty resting upon 
me, I cannot remain silent with honor. I cannot 
consistently with the wish of the state whose 
credentials I bear and which has trusted me; 
I cannot consistently with my own views of 
personal integrity, consent or even seem to 
consent to permit my name to be used as a can- 
didate before this convention. I would not 
respect myself if I could find it in my heart to 
do or permit to be done that which could even 
be ground for any one to suspect that I wavered 
in my loyalty to Ohio, or my devotion to the 
chief of her choice and the chief of mine. I do 
not request — I demand that no delegate who 
would not cast reflection upon me shall cast 
a ballot for me." 

It was supposed that the campaign of 1896 
would be fought upon the issue of the pro- 
tective tariff', but it had hardly begun when 
the lines were drawn upon the so-called silver 
question, the Democrats favoring the free coin- 
age of sih'er at the ratio of sixteen to one, and 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



269 



the Republicans standing' t(ir the maintenance 
of the g'oid standard with hniited silver coin- 
age to be maintained at par with gold. Gov- 
ernor jNIcKinley promptly met this new issue 
and made many addresses on that question to 
the people. "1 do not know what you think," 
sa.id lie, "but to me it seems better to open the 
mills to the labor of the countr}- than the mints 
to the free coinage of silver."' This way of 
putting things could not but appeal to men will- 
ing to work but deprived of the privilege in the 
general stagnation of business then prevailing 
in the country. The campaign in 1896 was 
unique in the history of politics, the candidate 
remaining in his home in Canton, where he was 
^•isite(l by thousands of his countrymen, mak- 
ing sometimes as many as twenty speeches in a 
single day — giving to each delegation some- 
thing appropriate to the time and occasion. 
These speeches were carried by the Associated 
Press all over the country and made a pro- 
found and favorable impression. The result of 
that campaign was his triumphant election to 
the Presidency. Congress was at once called 
in extra session, and a tariff bill passed framed 
on lines consistent W'ith the protective policy of 
the Republican party. 

Mr. McKinley found our relations with 
Spain in a critical condition due to the situation 
in Cuba. He determined to do all that he could 
in the range of his official duties to better the 
condition of the Cuban people, to relieve our 
own country from the strain of the situation 
r so irritating and so near our doors. It was his 
purpose to accomplish these ends if possible 
without involving the country in war. These 
purposes are the key to his Cuban policy, de- 
veloped in his instructions to our minister at 
Madrid, and in the measures in relief of the 
starving and suffering people of Cuba. Much 
had been accomplished and no backward steps 
taken, when the unlook'ed-for happened in the 
treacherous anchoring of the "Maine" where 
she became the easy prey of malicious persons 



bent upon her destruction. The President 
fully realized that a peaceable settlement was 
no longer possible which did not include the 
withdrawal of Spain from the American con- 
tinent, and our minister at Madrid was prompt- 
ly advised that no other settlement would be 
satisfactory, and that no assistance could be 
afforded to plans of so-called autonomy under 
Spanish rule. Congress had voted fifty mil- 
lions of dollars to be expended iov the nati(inal 
defense. This meant possible war, and whilst 
working for a peaceable solution war prepara- 
tions were rapidly pushed. The passage of a 
resolution demanding Spanish withdrawal from 
Cuba was met by Spain sending our minister 
his passports and the war had begun. The 
President became in fact as well as in nominal 
authority the commander-in-chief of the army 
and navy and, aided by his able advisers in those 
departments of the government, directed our 
forces by land and by sea. Fortunately, the 
conflict was short and decisive, and the triumph 
of the American arms complete. On August 
12, 1898, the protocol was signed in Washing- 
ton, practically ending the war between the two 
countries. Then came important questions as 
to the terms of the treaty of peace. That treaty 
was negotiated at Paris by a commission of five 
members representing each country. In di- 
recting the terms of the treaty, the President 
had no hesitation in demanding the termination 
of Spanish sovereignty in western waters by 
the cession of Porto Rico and the relinquish- 
ment of sovereignty in Cuba. He came more 
slowly to the conclusion that our duty required 
us to assume governmental responsibility over 
the Philippine islands. After the most anxious 
consideration, he reached the conclusion that 
the situation did not permit of our withdrawal 
and the interdependence of the islands did not 
permit of a division of the archipelago. With 
concessions to a defeated country, he directed 
the making of the treaty which assumed the 
responsibility he believed to be right and 



270 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in accord with the well-gTounded sentiment of 
the majority of his countrymen. He looked 
upon our growmg territory as an enlargement 
of the bounds of hl^erty. The exploitation of a 
■weak people for our benefit was utterly foreign 
to liis thought and purpose, and he bent every 
energy to the uplifting of these people by 
spreading the means of education and giving 
the right of self-government in as great a de- 
gree and as fast as the situation pemiitted. 

So much had his countrymen learned to 
know his great qualities of head and heart and 
to trust his wisdom and courage that he became 
the uncjuestioned leader of his party. In 1900, 
he was nominated by acclamation for another 
term of the Presidency and elected by an in- 
creased majority. The most important event 
in the few months of his second term grew out 
of the outbreak in China. Our troops in the 
Philippines were utilized in the rescue of our 
legation in China imperilled by the Boxer up- 
rising. The safety of foreigners being secure, 
President McKinley led the way in an example 
of moderation in victory towards a weak power 
which made possible a peace without spoliation, 
while safeg'uarding- the personal and commer- 
cial rights of other peoples. 

It was one of the clierished purposes of 
President McKinley in entering upon his duties 
to build up cordial relations between the sec- 
tions of his country which had been in deadly 
strife in the greatest of civil wars. On leaving 
Canton to take up the untried duties of his of- 
fice, he said to the assembled neighbors and 
friends : "To all of us the future is as a sealed 
book, but if I can by othcial act or administra- 
tion or utterance in any degree add to the pros- 
perity and unity of our beloved country, and the 
advancement and well-being of our splendid 
citizenship, I will devote the best and the most 
unselfish efforts of my life to that end." He 
believed that his country should be a union in 
fact as well as in name. The most important 



consular ofl"ice withm his gift was held, by an 
ex-Confederate officer, the gallant Fitzhugh 
Lee. T(i the partisan request for his removal 
he made answer as he did to the later demand 
of Spain when she asked his removal from 
oftice, that he would be retained so long as he 
did his duty with the ability and patriotism 
which characterized his acts. When the war 
with Spain came the South no less than the 
North rallied to the support of the government, 
Lee and Wheeler and the sons of those who had 
worn the gray making common cause with 
those whose blood was of the men who had 
defended the flag in '61. He had the pleasure 
of seeing the sectional line disappear in the zeal 
with which a united country faced a foreign 
foe. Meeting his Southern brethren at the close 
of the Spanish war, he gave utterance to his 
joy at this consummation in these fervent 
words: "Reunited! Glorious realization. It 
expresses the thought of my mintl and the long 
delayed consummation of my heart's desire as 
I stand in this presence. It interprets the hearty 
demonstrations here witnessed and is the pa- 
triotic refrain of all sections and all lovers (if 
the Repuljlic. Reunited! One country again 
and one country forever ! Proclaim it from the 
press and pulpit, teach it in the schools, write 
it across the skies! The world sees it and feels 
it, it cheers e\-ery heart North and South, and 
brightens every American home. Let nothing 
ever strain it again ! At peace with all the world 
and with one another, what can stand in the 
path of our progress and prosperity?" When 
he was stricken down no words of sympathy 
could exceed in feeling and kindness those 
which came from the Sciuth. Many applica- 
tions came from those who had been in arms 
against the L'nion for places in the cortege 
which bore him to the tomb. One company 
from Atlanta, (Seorgia, rather than fail to pay 
this tribute made application for honorary 
membershii) in the Ohio National Guard which 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



271 



had been detailed liy the governor of Ohio for 
the occasion. Trul_\- he was the "well beloved 
of the people." 

William ]\IcKinley was marrietl, January 
25. 1871, to Ida Saxton, daughter of James A. 
Saxton, of Canton. Mr. Saxton was a man of 
fine business qualifications and a leading banker 
of Stark county. Two children, Katie and Ida, 
were born of this union, one dying in infancy 
and the other living only a few years. This 
bereavement and the illness which followed the 
birth of her second child broke the once vigor- 
ous health of the wife. It did not prevent her 
loving interest and sympathy in all that went 
to make tip the illustrious career of her be- 
loved husband. His tender devotion to her 
never failed. Through all the years and until 
the hand-clasp loosened in the long sleep, he 
led the stricken companion with a strong and 
gentle love which altered not and knew no 
shadow of turning. Death's arrow ne\'er struck 
d(jwn a more devoted companion, nor left a sad- 
der hearth than the one by which the bereaved 
wife keeps the endless vigil of devotion and 
love. 

William McKinley loved his home and cher- 
ished his friends. No matter to what heights 
of success he arose, to his friends and neigh- 
bors he was ever the same. To others he may 
have been the executive head of the nation, en- 
trusted with powers which might make or mar 
its destiny; at home, he was ever the familiar 
guide, counsellor and friend of those who, 
knowing him best, loved him most. He w'as 
de\-otedly attached to his Canton home, and 
took an almost boyish delight in improving 
and beautifying it. He enjoyed beyond meas- 
ure the summer months which he passed there 
in comparative freedom from official cares, 
with his wife and the association of the friends 
and companions who had known him from 
young manhood. His ideal of home was one 
of peace and comfort, not extravagance and 
display. "The American lit'ime," he declared. 



"where honesty, sobriety and truth preside, 
and a simple every-day virtue without pomp and 
ostentation is practiced, is the nursery of all 
true education." In homes like tliese, his coun- 
trymen, bereft of one of their own. mourn his 
untimely death. It was in the upbuilding and 
multiplying of such homes that William Mc- 
Kinley found the highest duty, of constructive 
statesmanship and the true safeguard of the 
Repuljlic. 

Those who seek in William McKinley the 
leader and Presitlent who undertook to set up 
his own policies and views in defiance of public 
opinion and without regard to the sentiments 
of co-ordinate branches of the government will 
be disappointed. He believed in his country 
and its institutions. He believed that the sober 
sense of the people of a republic was the ulti- 
mate appeal of the statesman. To questions 
of public policy he gave the most earnest and 
careful consideration, and sought to guide pub- 
lic sentiment in the channels he believed best 
for the people. He delighted to take his coun- 
trymen into his confidence by frequent visits 
among them and frank utterances in their pres- 
ence. No one can state his ideals so well as 
himself, and in his tribute to Lincoln we may 
find his views of the duties of a chief magis- 
trate of a free people : "What were the traits 
of character which made Abraham Lincoln 
prophet and master without a rival in the great 
crisis of our history? What gave him such 
mighty power? To me the answer is simple. 
Lincoln had sublime faith in the people. He 
walked with and among them. He rec- 
ognized the importance of an enlightened 
public sentiment and was guided by it. Even 
amid the vicissitudes of war he concealed little 
from public view and inspection. In all he 
did he invited rather than evaded criticism. He 
submitted his plans and purposes as far as 
practicable to public consideration with perfect 
frankness and sincerity. There was such home- 
ly simplicity in his character that it could not 



272 



OLD LANDMARK'S 



be ]iedged in by pomp of place or the ceremonies 
of high official station. He \vas so accessible 
to the public that he seemed to take the whole 
people into his confidence. Here, perhaps, 
was one secret of his power. The people never 
lost their conhdence in him, howexer much 
they unconsciously added to his personal dis- 
comfort and trials. His patience was almost 
superhuman, and who will say that he was mis- 
taken in the treatment of the thousands who 
thronged continually about him? JNIore than 
once when reproached for permitting visitors 
to crowd upon him he asked in pained sur- 
prise : 'Why, what harm does this confidence 
in men do me ? I get only good and inspiration 
from it." " How unconsciously y.et how truth- 
fully in this picture he holds the mirror up to 
his own character and conduct. No less faith- 
fully has he drawn his own portrait when say- 
ing of him : "Lincoln had that happy, pecul- 
iar habit, which few public men have attained, 
of looking away from the deceptive and mis- 
leading influences about him — and none are 
more deceptive than those of public life in our 
capitals — straight into the hearts of the people. 
He could not be deceived b}- the self-interested 
host of eager counsellors who sought to en- 
force their own peculiar views upon him as the 
views of the country. He chose to determine 
for himself what the people were thinking 
about and wanted to do, and no man ever lived 
who was a more accurate judge of their opin- 
ions and wishes." William McKinley knew that 
a war begun without exhausting every means 
of reaching an honorable peace would not be 
justified by the sober sense of the people. He 
knew that neither law nor fact, when fully dis- 
cussed and fairly developed, would justify the 
recognition of the so-called Cuban republic, 
and he stood like a rock against the folly of 
such a course, and time has vindicated the 
wisdom of his position. \\'hen his mind was 
made up he was firm and immovable. Seeking 
the advice and listening to the opinions of 



others, associated in the responsibilities of his 
administration, he was the executive head of 
the government and took the responsibility of 
ultimate decision upon himself. All the terms 
0/ peace were as clear to him when Spain first 
asked for them as they ever were, save the dis- 
position of the Philippine Islands — there he 
wished for investigation and deliberation. Turn 
again to his picture of Lincoln, " 'He was neith- 
er an autocrat nor a tyrant; if he moved slowly 
sometimes it was better to move slowly, and 
like the successful general he was, he was only 
waiting for his reserve to come up. Possess- 
ing almost unlimited power, he yet carried 
himself like one of the humblest of men. He 
weighed every subject. He considered and 
reflected upon every phase of public duty. He 
got the average judgment of the plain people." 
As truly as Abraham Lincoln, William McKin- 
ley believed that this average judgment was 
the power that should control in the public 
affairs of a free people. 

Li early September, 1901, he responded to 
an invitation to deliver an address at the Buf- 
falo Exposition. On the fourth day of that 
month he made his last speech to his coun- 
trymen. William McKinley's career had been 
a steady growth from his entrance into pub- 
lic life. His last public utterance was not only 
marked by strength and beauty of diction, 
but contained a declaration in favor of liberal 
trade relations with other countries which was 
everywhere read with interest and viewed as a 
forerunner of the policy which the President 
would advocate. He was recognized as the 
first of protectionists : he had lived to see the 
industrial development of his country until it 
led the manufacturing nations of the world. 
He declared the pressing need of more markets, 
and favored an enlightened policy which should 
seek reciprocal trade with other countries with- 
out impairing the high standards of American 
production and wages. The concluding por- 
tions of that memorable address come to us now 




THE McKINLEY HOME. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



273 



witli the tender Ijeauty of a benetlictioii : "Tlie 
good work will go on. It can not be stopped. 
These buildings will disappear; this creation 
of art and beauty and industry will perish from 
sight, but their intiuence will renuun to 

'Make it live beyond its too short living 
With praises and tlianksgiving.' 

Who can tell the new thoughts that ha\e been 
awakened, the ambitions tired and the high 
achievements tliere will be wrought through 
this exposition ? Gentlemen, let us ever remem- 
ber that our interest is in concord, not conflict, 
and that our real eminence rests in the victories 
of peace, not those of war. We hope that all 
those who are represented here may be moved 
to higher and nobler efforts for their own and 
the world's good, and that out of this city 
may come not only great commerce and trade 
for us all, but more essential than these, rela- 
tions of mutual respect, confidence and friend- 
ship, which will deepen and endure. Our earn- 
est prayer is that God will graciously vouch- 
safe prosperity, happiness and peace to all our 
neighbors, and like blessings to all the peoples 
and powers of the earth." 

On September 6th, while holding a public 
reception, he was stricken by the assassin, 
lingering until September 14, when he died. 

Nothing in his career gave more evidence 
of the great character about to be removed from 
earth than the fortitude and patience with 
which he met his doom. His hrst word was to 
restrain the people from taking sudden and 
unlawful vengeance upon the wretch who had 
fired upon him ; then of the invalid wife, that 
the news might l)e broken gently to her. Hav- 
ing every reason to hold life dear, no complaint 
at the harshness of his fate escaped him. "It 
is God's way; his will, not ours, be done," said 
this strong and gentle man as he sank to his 
final rest. 

\Vho shall speak adequately of his gentle- 
ness and kindness? Cardinal Newman has 

17 



said : "ft is almost a definition of a gentleman 
to say tliat he is one who never inllicts pain." 
If that be the test, he was indeed one "who 
wore without reproach the grand old name of 
gentleman." 

William McKinley never consciously 
wronged a fellow-being. It was his rule not 
only to refrain from inflicting pain but to 
scatter joy wherever he could. He would step 
aside from a march of retreat to assure a weep- 
ing mother, who loved the Union, that defeat 
was but for a day and would be turned into vic- 
tory. Steadfast in his friendships, he would 
not swerve from loyalty for the glittering of 
the Presidency. Enduring the burdens which 
came before, during and after the war, no word 
of impatience ever escaped him, and he met the 
people with a smile of welcome and a word of 
encouragement. He would turn from the most 
important affairs of state to give a flower to 
a little child, or to say a kindly word to some 
visitor for whom he could do no more. Re- 
sentments he had none. He believed life was 
too short to give any of his time to cherish- 
ing animosity. Sensitive to criticism, no one 
ever heard him utter an unkind word of an- 
other. He met calumny with silence and un- 
just criticism with charity. His was the gos- 
pel of cheerfulness. His presence was sun- 
shine, never gloom ; his encouraging word dis- 
pelled doubt and nerved others to their duty. 
So gentle, kind and true had been this life that 
not even his slayer could strike at him ! With 
this gentleness, what mighty strength! Death 
meets all on equal terms. The man as he is 
then stands unveiled. With so much to make 
life dear this strong man did not falter when 
the summons came. Looking forward to re- 
tirement in the home he loved, sure of the af- 
fection of his countrymen and the respect of 
the world, holding the hand of his loved com- 
panion whose welfare had ever been the first 
purpose of his life, and whose returning 
strength had made his last summer one of the 



274 



OLD LANDMARKS 



i)rightest, he entered the \alley of the shadow 
of death with no murmur at his fate, leaning 
on tiie nxl and statT wiucii iiad comforted his 
fathers, died as he had hveih in humhle sub- 
mission to the will of God. "Xow wiiile he 
was thus in discourse, Iiis countenance changed, 
his strong man bowed under him, and after he 
had said : 'Take me for I come unto Thee,' 
lie ceased seen of them." 

He lives in the love of his countrvmen. 
His character will grow brightei with the 
years; the nobleness of his life, the sublime 
heroism of his death shall never perish from, 
the memory of men. He will live in the thou- 
sands of homes where comfort and domestic 
peace rerlect the wisdom of his statesmanship. 
He will live in the beneficence of his example 
at every hearth where succeeding generations 
shall recount the strength and beauty of his 
character and tell again the story of his 
life. 



JOHN BANNER, one of Canton's oldest 
and most highly esteemed citizens, was born ni 
this city on March lo, 1N23, the only son 
of Jacob and Anna (Slusser) Danner, both na- 
tives of Pennsy!\-ania, the father born in the 
year 1795 and the mother on April i, 1S03. 
The niaternal grandfather was I'hdip Slusser, 
who built the first mill in Stark county in 1816. 
The Slusser family were among the pioneers 
of Canton. Jacob Danner, father of John, 
was bom in York county. Pennsylvania, and 
came to Canton from Center county. I'enn- 
sylvania. to which county his parents removed 
when he was a boy. in 1816. and here married 
Anna Slusser in i8ji. They became the par- 
ents of two children, their daughter Har- 
riet becoming Uie wife of Joseph S. Sr.xton. 
The mother of Mr. John Danner died in 1889 
and the father in 1845. 



John Danner was reared in his native city, 
where he was also educated. He attended for 
a time the private school of Rev. T. M. Hop- 
kins, a i'resbyterian minister, from whom he 
gained much \;duable knowledge. He began 
his practical life as a clerk in the store of Alar- 
tin W'ikidal. one of Canton's pioneer mer- 
chants, with whom he spent four years. After 
that he went to Massillon. where he clerked 
for four years more for L. & S. Rawson, 
prominent pioneer merchants. In 1865, in 
company with John R. Bucher, he started 
what was called the Canton Stove Works, 
but not liking the business, sold out 
at the end of one year. After this he en- 
barked in the clothing and dry-goods business, 
which he carried on until 1876, when he dis- 
posed of his stock, and that same year patented 
what is known as the John Danner revolving 
book-case. This piece of library furniture he 
manufactured for two years in a small w'a\', 
only about forty men being employed, but the 
strong, steady growth of the trade of the house 
reached such dimensions that it necessitated 
removal to more extensive and convenient 
premises to cope with the increased demand. 
In 1890 they removed to their present site on 
Na\'arre street, on the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne 
& Chicago Railroad, where they erected large 
frame buildings, fifty by one hundred and eigh- 
ty-two feet, and fitting them throughout with 
modern macliiner)-, occupied the same with in- 
creased and increasing facility and business un- 
til May 31, 1903, when the plant was destroyed 
by fire. Nothing flaunted by this disaster, 
which was indeed one, as the insurance on the 
plant was light, the company began at once the 
erection of their present brick factory, on the 
old foundation, being fifty liy two hundred 
feet, the additirai being two stories in height. 
They now employ from one hundred and sev- 
enty-fi\'e to two hundred men. Upon the form- 
ing of the comp'uiy. Mr. Danner, the inventor, 
became president of the same. C. B. Campbell. 




« 




JOHN DAMNER. 




MRS JOHN DANNER 



I 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



275 



superintendent; J. F. Campbell, treasurer and 
J. M. Danner, secretary. Tliey sell direct to 
the trade throughout the United States, and 
also have a large trade in foreign cities, espe- 
cially in Montreal, Canada; Paris, France, and 
London, England. The Danner revolving laook- 
cases were the first practical articles of the kind 
ever patented, and all others gotten out later 
are gross infringements of the same. 

October 4, 1847, Mr. Danner married Miss 
Terressa A. Millard, a native of Tioga county, 
Pennsylvania, who .was born July 24, 1828, the 
daughter of William j. and Betsy J. (Ball) 
Millard, both natives of Onondago county, 
New York, who after their marriage removed 
to Tioga county, Pennsylvania. William J. 
Millard was a soldier in Llic war of 1812, and 
received an honorable discharge. Col. Ball, 
the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Danner, also 
served in the above war, where he distinguished 
himself in several engagements and his regi- 
ment did good service in many siuiguinary bat- 
tles. Two brothers of Mrs. Danner served in 
the war of the Rebellion. Seven children were 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Danner, as follows : Anna 
died at the age of two years; Mary E. ; Julia 
A. married L. M. Jones, attorney, of Canton; 
Harriet N. married J. F. Campbell; Edith R. 
married S. S. C. Gaskell, of Canton ; John N., 
married May Shanafelt, of Canton, and Almina 
T., who married Charles M. Bawsel, of Colum- 
bus, Ohio, now of Washington, D. C. 

Mr. Danner has served six years as a mem- 
ber of the city council, and also served a simi- 
lar period on the school board. He and his 
wife are memljers of the First Baptist church 
of Canton, having joined the same in Massillon 
in 1842 and 1847, respectively. For over twen- 
ty years Mr. Danner was superintendent of the 
Sunday school and teacher of the Bible class, 
and still continues the latter. He was formerly 
a Whig, then a Republican in politics, but for a 
number of years has been a Prohibitionist of 
the most pronounced character, and e\'cii at 



his advanced age is still deeply and actively in- 
terested in all temperance work. He has al- 
ways been found on the side of law and mor- 
ality. 



REV. CHARLES W. BREWBAKER, D. 
D. — There are but few divines in the United 
Brethren church of Ohio that have enjoyed 
greater prestige in theological circles than the 
scholarly and erudite Dr. Brewbaker, the 
eflkient and popular pastor of one of the large 
and inllucntial congregations of the city of 
Canton. One of the notable men of bis day 
and generation in the religious body with which 
he is identified and a minister of much more 
than local repute, his talents have won him 
recognition among the leading clergymen of 
the state, while his work for the Master in 
Canton will remain a monument to his memory 
far more enduring than marble shaft or granite 
obelisk. Many years ago three brothers by the 
name of Brewbaker left their native Switzer- 
land and came to the new world, one settling 
in Canada, one in Virginia and llie third in 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Im-oui the 
latter the subject of this review is descended, 
Peter Brewbaker, the Doctor's great-grand- 
father, was born in the township of CocoHca, 
Lancaster county, but later transferred his resi- 
dence to the county of Franklin, in the same 
state, where his death occurred at the age of 
eighty-two years. He had a son John, who 
was born in Pennsylvania, May 22, 1797, and 
who, when a young man, married Miss Matilda 
Leiter, a native of Maryland and born near 
the town of Leitersburg, on the 8th of June, 
1803. Her people were among the early 
settlers of Maryland and from them have de- 
scended many men of prominence in the pro- 
fessional and business world, among them be- 
ing the Leiters, of Chicago, one of whom is 
now a merchant prince of that city and father- 
in-law of the present viceroy of Lidia. By 



2;6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



occupation John Brenbaker was a cooper, in 
connection with \\hich trade he also carried on 
the pursuit of agriculture. A man of sturdy 
honesty and high character, he was not re- 
ligiously inclined, but lived a correct moral life 
and died at the age of eighty-eight, esteemed 
by all who knew him. His wife, a lady of 
excellent repute, departed this life in her sixty- 
sixth year and her body sleeps beside that of her 
husband in the old Cierman Baptist cemetery, 
near Greenc&stle, Pennsylvania. Abraham 
Rush Brewbaker, son of the above and father 
of the subject of this sketch, is a native of 
Franklin county, Pennsylvania, born on a farm 
in what is now Peters township, January 28, 
1838. He was reared an agriculturist, but be- 
gan life for himself as a cabinetmaker, in ad- 
dition to which he also became a proficient 
house painter. Later in life he and his twin 
brother, Andrew J. Brewliaker, were associated 
in cabinetmaking and undertaking at State 
Line, Pennsylvania, the latter subsequently 
withdrawing from the firm and moving- to Du- 
buque, Iowa, where he earned the reputation of 
being one of the finest mechanics in the above 
city and also stood high as an enterprising 
man and public-spirited citizen. Abraham 
Brewbaker continued to run the business in 
Pennsylvania and is still an honored resident 
of State Line and one of the leading men of 
affairs in the county of Franklin. His wife, 
who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Sour- 
beck, was born in Antrim township, Franklin 
county, Pennsylvania, on the loth day of De- 
cember, 1842, the daughter of Daniel Sourbeck, 
who owned a large nursery near the town of 
Greencastle. Mrs. Brewbaker was reared in 
the faith of the German Reformed church, but 
subsequently united with the United Brethren 
church, of which she is still a zealous member, 
as is also her husband. 

Politically INir. Brewliaker is a stanch sup- 
porter of the Democratic party and as such 
has been elected at different times to various 



local offices, in all of w hich he has shown him- 
self worthy of the trust reposed in him by his 
fellow citizens. Nine children resulted from 
the marriage of Abraham and Mary Elizabeth 
Brewbaker, namely : Abraham, who died in 
infancy; Amelia also died when quite young; 
Peter G., a resident of State Line, Pennsyl- 
vania ; Mary E., wife of John Holbert ; Charles 
W'., whose name furnishes the caption of this 
article; Virginia Dell, now Mrs. Daniel 
Swisher, of Franklin county, Pennsylvania ; 
Matilda E., who married Elmer Spessard, of 
Hagerstown, Maryland; Emma Myrtle, wife 
of George Mayhew. of State Line, and Harvey 
Cleveland, who is still under the parental roof. 
Rev. Charles W. Brewkaker was born in 
the town of State Line, Franklin county, 
Pennsylvania, on the i8th day of October, 
1869, and attended the public schools of his 
native place until his seventeenth year. He 
made commendable progress in his studies, as 
is attested by the fact of his passing success- 
fully the teacher's examination at the above age, 
but for various reasons he did not engage in 
educational work. He early showed promise 
as a scholar and as a boy possessed that 
positiveness of conviction and resoluteness of 
pur])ose which have been such marked traits of 
his mature years. Reared in an environment of 
religious influence and receiving from his child- 
hood instruction in holy things, he was led, 
when a }'outh of seventeen, to give his heart 
to God and unite with the church, facts which 
had much to do in shaping his future course of 
life. Endowed with intellectual abilities fitting 
him for public ser\'ice in the church and ])elie\- 
ing it his duty to enter the ministry, he was 
licensed when but eighteen years old, to preach 
the gospel. He delivered his first discourse in 
the town of Chewsville, Maryland, eleven miles 
from his home, and those who heard the sermon 
predicted for the youthful minister a long and 
useful career in the noble work in which he 
had been called. To better prepare himself for 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



277 



his lioly office, Dr. Brewbaker, in the spring of 
1888, entered an academy at Buckhannon, West 
\'irginia, and by his own efforts succeeded in 
working- his way tin"ough the institution until 
completing" the full course, graduating with a 
creditable record in the }-ear 1890. He then 
became a student of the Western College, of 
Toledo, Iowa, in which he took the [jhilosoph- 
ical course and from which he was graduated 
in 1892, By reason of failing health he was 
oliliged to forego further mental eft'ort and 
turn his attention to outdoor exercise, and 
wliile thus engaged he supplied for about one 
year se\-eral churches that had no settled pas- 
ti:'r>. \\'hen. sufticienti}' reco\'ered he resumed 
his studies, entering, in the fall of 1893, the 
I'nion Biblical Seminary, at Dayton, Ohio, 
where he prosecuted his theological work until 
1896, when he was graduated with the degree 
of Bachelor of Divinity, at the same time re- 
ceiving the degree of Master of Philosophy 
from the college at Toledo, Iowa, which he had 
fiirmerly attended. 

With a mind well disciplined by thorough 
intellectual and theological training. Dr. Brew- 
baker was now well prepared for effective ser- 
vice in tlie ministry and beginning his labor on 
the Hagerstown circuit, in the Maryland con- 
ference, ministered to the churches under his 
charge with great acceptance and fruitful re- 
sults for a period of two and a half years. In 
the fall of 1898 he resigned the above position 
to accept the pastorate of the First United 
Brethren chiu'ch at Canton, and since that time 
he has labored with encouraging success in this 
city, building up the congregation materially 
and spiritually and adding greatly to its 
strength as an influential factor for good in the 
community. Realizing the need for thorough 
preparation in all lines of ministerial activity, 
he has spared no opportunity for the consum- 
mation of this laudable end : in addition to his 
ministerial work he has continued to prosecute 
systematically his theological studies, at first 



privately, but later under the direction of some 
of the ablest divines in the denomination to 
which he belongs. He spent one year taking 
a post-graduate course in psychology at Woos- 
ter University, W^ooster, Ohio, in addition to 
wliich he also took a course in practical and 
pastoral theology in the American University 
at Harriman, Tennessee, receiving from the lat- 
ter institution, in 1900, the degree of Doctor 
of Divinity. At the present time he is taking 
a course in sociology, as prescribed by the Illi- 
nois Wesleyan University. In June, 1902, the 
degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon 
bun by Otterbein University, one of the lead- 
ing educational institutions in the United States 
under the auspices of the United Brethren 
church. It will l^e seen from the foregoing 
that the life of Dr. Brewbaker has been one 
of great actnity. signal usefulness and dis- 
tinction in his chosen calling, but the amount of 
labor accomplished is but a prophecy of still 
greater activity and more fruitful results in 
years to come. 

Dr. Brewbaker is interested in politics as 
a citizen and not as a partisan. In local matters 
he is not bound by party ties, but supports the 
candidate who is, in his judgment, best quali- 
fied for the office sought. An uncompromising 
enemy of the liquor traltic in all its forms and 
believing its power can only be effectually over- 
come by ridding the country of the evil, he has 
been of late years an avowed Prohibitionist, 
working zealously for the party and doing 
nnich for its success in this part of the state. 

In the year 1900 Dr. Brewbaker was 
elected general corresponding secretary of the 
Young People's Christian Union of the United 
Brethren church, which position he still holds 
and through the medium of which he has been 
brought into close relation with the leaders of 
this department of work throughout the United 
States. He has proved a very capable official 
and discharges the functions of the secretary- 
ship with the same zeal and energy that charac- 



278 



OLD LANDMARKS 



terize his public ministry. The Doctor is 
blessed with a comfortable share of this world's 
goods and is surrounded w-ith evidences of a 
happy and prosperous life. He was married on 
the 30th of August, 1899, in jNIowersville, 
Pennsylvania, to Miss Nellie Maude Snoke, 
a native of the place and daughter of 
Aaron F. and Sarah (Shomaker) Snoke. 
Mrs. Brewbaker was born October 30, 1877, 
received her early educational discipline in the 
public .schools of Cumberland Valley, Franklin 
county, Pennsylvania, and in 1896 was gradu- 
ated from the Normal School at Shippens- 
burg, of that state. She taught one year in 
Franklin county. Pennsxlvania, and demon- 
strated tine abilities as an instructor. A lady 
of refinement, varied culture and exemplary 
Christian character, she enters heartily into 
her ]uisl)and's work, co-operating with him and 
others in strengthening the walls of Zion in the 
city of Canton. Rev. and Mrs. Brewbaker have 
one child, a daughter, Mary Elizabeth, who w as 
born January 7, 1903. 



DAVID A. ARTER, M. D.— Dr. Arter's 
success in the nolile profession to which his 
talents ha\e l)een devoted soon gave him 
worthy prestige and by a long life of conse- 
cration to the cause of suffering humanity he 
won an abiding place in the affections of the 
people. His signally successful career was 
abruptly terminated, some years ago, but his 
achievements up to that time, together with the 
potential influence for good which he has al- 
ways exerted, will stand his fit and imperish- 
able monument. 

Michael Arter, the Doctor's father, was 
a native of Cumberland county, !\Taryland, but 
when a young man he came to Ohio, settling 
in New Lisbon, Columbiana county, where he 
learned the trade of tanning and currying 
under Joseph Richardson, a prominent business 
man of that town. Mr. Richardson had a 



daughter, Lydia, between whom and young 
Arter a fast friendship was soon cemented, 
which, ripening into love, eventually led to mar- 
riage. The father of Mrs. Arter sprang from 
an old and highly connected family of Quaker 
origin, and was born in the state of Pennsyl- 
vania, in September, 1 774, the son of John and 
Lydia Richardson, who were early settlers of 
Lancaster county. Mrs. Richardson, whose 
birth occurred on the 27th of September, 1775, 
in York cit\', Pennsyhania, was the daughter 
of Joseph and Lydia Greene, the father a brother 
of deneral Nathaniel Greene, of Revolutionary 
fame. She married Mr. Richardson on the 
I ith day of January, 1790, and about the year 
1800 the two moved to Columbiana county, in 
the pioneer history of which he bore a con- 
spicuous part. Mr. Richardson was one of 
the early business men of New Lisbon and in 
addition to mercantile pursuits carried on 
farming and tanning quite extensively, acquir- 
ing in the course of time large wealth and high 
social standing. He took a leading part in the 
public and political affairs of Columbiana coun- 
ty, served several terms in general assembly of 
Ohio and at one time was speaker of the house 
of representatives. He had three wives, the 
first of whom, referred to above, died a few 
years after moving to Ohio. She bore him 
three children, namely: Lydia, wife of 
Michael Arter and mother of the direct sub- 
ject of this sketch; Jason and Albert G. The 
last named became a distinguished Methodist 
divine and preached for some years in eastern 
Ohio, thence removed to New York, where his 
daughter married a very wealthy and influential 
banker by the name of Shattuck. Mr. 
Richardson's second wife, whom he married in 
the year 1808, was Mrs. Elizabeth (Matthews) 
Robinson; she did not long survive her mar- 
riage, and subsequently, about 181 2, Mr. 
Richardson chose for his third companion 
Lydia Myers, who bore him children as fol- 
lows: Samuel, who died September 16, 1887, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



!79 



near Morohead, Minnesota; Charles, a lawyer 
by profession, departed this life in Missouri; 
Joseph became a professor in a dental cijllege 
in Cincinnati, and atained great prominence in 
his profession. He wrote many books and 
articles on dentistr}^, one in particular on 
"Mechanical Dentistry." lx;coming a text book; 
Louisa married a Mr.' Dilworth, a wealthy 
coffee merchant of Pittsburg, and is still living 
in that city ; Frank became prominent in medi- 
cal circles and was at one time professor in a 
medical college in Cincinnati ; he rose to dis- 
tinguished prominence in his profession and 
died in Cincinnati ; William, the youngest son, 
spent the greater part of his life in Pittsburg 
and it was in that city that his death occurred. 
Joseph Richardson, the father of these children, 
died at New Lisbon, Ohio, in the year 1831. 
Li many respects he was much more than an 
ordinary man. He was a natural leader and 
moved among his fellows as one born to com- 
mand. Physically he was of massive mold 
and dignified presence, being unusually tall and 
magnihcently proportioned and in his prime 
weighing over three hundred pounds. He left 
the impress of his individuality deeply im- 
pressed upon the community in which he lived 
and is remembered as one of strong characters 
and leading public men of the county of Colum- 
biana. 

In the early settlement of Maryland. Will- 
iam Richaixlson, an uncle of Joseph, acquired 
title to three hundred and twenty acres of land 
within the corporate limits of Baltimore, which 
he afterward leased for a term of ninety-nine 
years. The land is now in the very heart of 
the city and, being covered with large busi- 
ness blocks, is conservatively valued at over 
eighty million dollars. The lease expired a 
number of years ago, but thus far the heirs 
have not been able to establish a legal claim 
to the property, although the matter has long 
been in litigation. 

After his marriage to Lydia Richardson, 



Michael Arter engaged in the manufacture of 
leather at Hanover, Ohio, and continued to do 
a thriving business there until his retirement 
from active life. Like his father-in-law. he 
also became quite prominent in public affairs 
and for many years was a leading Republican 
politician of his county. During the days of 
slavery he was active in assisting run-away 
bondsmen by means of the "underground rail- 
road"' and through his instrumentality many 
poor black people were helped on their way to 
freedom across the Canadian border. After a 
long and useful life, he passed away at Hanover 
and his memory is still cherished in that place. 
Mrs. Arter bore her husband seven children and 
departed this life on the 14th day of October, 
1S64. The oldest of these offspring was 
Joseph, whose birth occurred on the i8th of 
October, 181 7. He early became interested in 
politics and in recognition of valuable services 
rendered his party as well as on account of his 
peculiar fitness for the office, he was appointed 
collector of revenue for the seventeenth con- 
gressional district of Ohio, being the first man 
to hold the position. He then for six years 
held the position of county clerk at Xew 
Lisbon. Later he became interested in the de- 
velopment of oil lands in Ohio. He died at New 
Lisbon, leaving one son living, Richard, who 
also, like his father, held for six years the po- 
sition of county clerk of New Lisbon. The 
second of the family is the subject of this 
sketch, after whom came Albert, who was born 
February 11, 1822, in the town of Hanover. 
He also became a politician and for many years 
was prominent!}^ identified with the public and 
political affairs of Columbiana county. Jane, 
who was born in January, 1824, married a 
clergvnian by the name of Lowman and died on 
the I tth day of January, 1856. Jason, the next 
in order of birth, studied medicine with his 
brother, David A., of this review, and after 
attending medical college at Cincinnati and 
Cleveland, became division surgeon in the 



28o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Union army during the Civil war. Catherine 
Amancla, born April 30, 1828, married Rev. 
Mr. Wright, a Methodist minister of consider- 
able note in eastern Ohio. The youngest mem- 
ber of tlie family, a son by the name of Thomas 
Jefferson, was born on the 22A day of July, 
1830. 

Dr. David A. Arter, to a review of whose 
life and professional career the remainder of 
this sketch is devoted, was born in Hanover. 
Columbiana county, Ohio, January 30, 1820, 
and at tliis writing has attained the ripe old age 
of eighty-three years, ni full possession of his 
mental faculties, but by no means vigorous 
physicially. He spent his youth and early 
manhood in liis native town and until the age 
of nineteen attended the pul)lic schools, in which 
he made rapid and substantial progress. The 
training thus received was suplemented by a 
three vears" course in .Mieghenv College, after 
which he entered the office of Drs. Robinson & 
Carey, of Hanover, to begin his preliminary 
preparation for the medical profession. 

Subsequently he read and also practiced 
under the directi(^n of Dr. Hulderman. a 
prominent physician and surgeon of Minerva, 
and after spending six months in his office 
entered a medical college in Cincinnati, from 
which he was graduated in the year 1845. O" 
receiving his degree Dr. Arter opened an office 
in the eastern part of Columbiana county, but 
after practicing three and a half months, and 
his receipts amounting to only eleven dollars, he 
concluded it wise to seek a new and more 
favorable field. Accordingly, on the ist day of 
August, 1845, h^ located at Carrollton, in the 
county of Carroll, and during the ensuing 
twenty years practiced at that point with an 
eminent degree of success, both professionally 
and financially, earning nnich more than local 
repute as a skillful physician and surgeon. His 
practice took a very wide range and during his 
long residence in Carrollton his name became a 
household word in nearlv everv home in the 



county. On tire 25th of April, 1865, Dr. Arter, 
much to the regret of the people of Carroll 
county, left that field and opened an office in 
Canton. When he came here he found five men 
practicing" medicine in the city, all of whom 
liave since died. He not only survived his 
associates of those days, but has outlived many 
who hax'e come and gone the meanwhile, be- 
iiig at this time the oldest physician both in 
years and length of service in the county of 
Stark. The Doctor was not long in building up 
a kicrative practice in the town and surround- 
ing county and for many years he was the 
leading practitioner in this part of the state, 
the constant demand for his services keeping 
him on the go day and niglit until his erst- 
while strong and vigorous constitution beg^an to 
feel the effects of too close application to duty. 
He took high rank in every department of the 
profession and earned a reputation as a suc- 
cessful healer and skillful surgeon such as few 
attain. It is the testimony of all who knew him 
during the palmy days of his career that Dr. 
Arter's presence in the sick room was like a 
genial ray of briglit sunshine and under no 
circumstances did he fail to uphold the ilignity 
of his calling or forget to be a gentleman. All 
testify to his ability in the line of his profession 
and to his strong integrity, sterling honesty 
and upright, manly conduct in the domain of 
citizenship. 

Dr. Arter's life is a fair illustration of the 
fact that merit ultimately wins its own reward. 
He entered the medical profession with a de- 
termination to excel and Ijecome a true liealer. 
and that he succeeded even beyond his most 
sanguine expectations is attested by the large 
measure of success which he achieved and the 
distinguished position he held among the most 
noted physicians in this part of the state. He 
continued to prosecute his profession with the 
most beneficial results until October 20. 1886, 
when a stroke of paralysis occurred which 
eCfectuallv ended his active career as a 



/ 



I 

■'I practitioner. This grie\ous affliction came 
■ upon him in the night, rendering him for a time 
p completely unconscious and when he revived it 
I was with the memory of his previous life com- 
pletely shattered. The power of speech had 
left him, likewise the strength of his vigorous 
intellect, and the pathetic experience of his 
wife, while teaching him to talk, and after- 
wards to spell and read, is one of the saddest 
chapters in the life history of this erstwhile 
able and brilliant man. Beginning with the 
alphabet, which he soon mastered, he began 
j studying a small primer such as children use 
in school and in due time he could read fluentlv 
and understand equally as well. In the course 
of time his powers of mind returned, also his 
memory, and while still disabled physically he 
is mentally almost as vigorous and alert as in 
the days of his prime. 

Dr. Arter has aways manifested a lively 
interest in political affairs and for many years 
was one of the Republican leaders in the county 
of Stark. He was a delegate to the national 
convention at Chicago, in i860, which nomi- 
nated Abraham Lincoln for President, took an 
active part in the campaign that followed and 
as long as he was able never lost sight of his 
duty to his party. He has studied deeply the 
great public and political questions of his time, 
and since the stroke which rendered him com- 
paratively helpless has kept in touch with the 
trend of current events, also pursuing a wide 
range of reading, his acquaintance with the best 
literature of all ages being both general and pro- 
found. He possesses fine literary tastes and at 
times gives expression to his thought in 
beautifully written prose and verse. Some of 
his poetry, noted for purity of thought and 
elegance of diction, is well worthy of preser- 
vation, but thus far but little if anv has been 
published. Quite recently he wrote a few 
stanzas, under the caption of "Our Earthlv 
House," of which the following -verses are 
samples. A\'hile prophetic of the end which in 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



281 



the course of nature cannot be far away, they 
indicate a sublime trust in an all-wise Father's 
guidance and breathe a spirit of devotion be- 
speaking the consolation which only religion 
aft'ords : 

Our earthly house is fast dissolving, 
.\nd mortal life will soon be o'er. 
The cares within us now revolving 
Will soon afflict our hearts no more. 

Pure religion lasts forever, 
Death will our spirits ever free. 
Through endless ages onward rolling 
This heavenly portion ours shall be. 

Reverting to the domestic life of Dr. Arter, 
it is learned that he was first married on the 
6th day of Noxember, 1844, to Miss Almira 
Ferrell, of Columbiana county, Ohio, who died 
at Carrollton, November 28, 1859. She bore 
him three children: Florence, born January 
6, 1846, married George Thomas and lives at 
Bellefontaine, this state; Alphonso, born Feb- 
ruary II, 1848, married Miss Frances Pain, of 
Painsville, and died at Cleveland, Ohio, Janu- 
ary 7, 1900; Ruth Emma, the youngest, is the 
wife of Henry Heath, of Milwaukee, Wiscon- 
sin, and was born on the 8th day of August, 
1852. The Doctor's second marriage was 
solemnized November 7, i860, with Margaret 
McCall, who was born in Cadiz, Harrison 
county, Ohio, March 24, 1839. Mrs. Arter 
spent her childhood and youth in her native 
town and after attending the public schools, 
took a course in a seminary at Athens, Ohio. 
Her father, Marshall McCall. was a prominent 
citizen in Harrison county, which he repre- 
sented at different times in the general as- 
sembly, and as a pulilic man he stood high in 
the esteem and confidence of the people. He 
married Miss Mary Morrison, of \\'ashington 
county, Pennsylvania, by whom he had four 
children, namely: John A. died in Kansas: 
James, a resident of Wenona, Illinois ; Mary, 
wife of Leonard Rowley, of Arkon, Ohio, and 
Mrs. Dr. Arter. Marshall McCall was born 
in Scotland in the vear iSo^ and when a child 



282 



OLD LANDMARKS 



was brought by his parents to the United 
States, where he spent the remainder of his hfe, 
dying in Wenona, Ilhnois, September 29, 1873. 
His first wife died on the 17th of September, 
1849, 'i"*^' later he married the widow of 
General Gale, of Columbus, who died in 1902. 
Dr. Arter was made a Mason in 1850, in 
Carroll Lodge No. 124, and was for six years 
master of that lodge. After removing to Can- 
ton his membership was transferred to Lodge 
No. 60, in that city, and he is now the oldest 
Freemason in Canton. 



MADISON RAYNOLDS was the son of 
William and Elizabeth (Millar) Raynolds. ami 
was born March 20, 1808. His father came 
with a family of four children to Ohio in 1802 
and settled in Zanesville, where he died in 1814. 
During the war of 1812 he raised a company 
and was made captain. He served under Gen- 
eral Cass and rose to the rank of major and 
was present at Hull's surrender at Detroit. Af- 
ter Major Raynolds' death his widow, with her 
family of nine children, came to Canton, where 
she died in 1843 at the advanced age of seventy- 
nine. 

The subject of this sketch was eight years 
old at the time of his mother's removal to 
Canton. At fifteen he was employed by a mer- 
chant in Steubenville. Later he formed a part- 
nersliip with his brother-in-law, John Laird, 
and opened a store in Dalton, Ohio. After two 
years he returned to Canton, and. in company 
with John Harris, opened a store on the west 
half of the present court house lot. For thirty 
years he was identified with the mercantile in- 
terests of Canton. Li the early part of his 
business career he made the journey to New 
York for goods on horseback and by stage, oc- 
cupying from fifteen to twenty days, and be- 
fore he retired he was able to make the same 
in twenty-four hours. He retired from mercan- 
tile business in 1853 and formed a partnership 



with Solomon Kauffman in the grain business. 
They built what was known as the "Hundred- 
Mile Warehouse" and continued in business for 
ten years, after which Mr. Raynolds retired 
from active business. 

Li September, 1833, Mr. Raynolds married 
Miss Sarah Slusser, a native of Canton. By 
this marriage were seven sons, four of whom • 
are living, viz : Jefferson and Joshua S., in Las 
Vegas, New Mexico; Frederic A., in Canon 
City, Colorado, all engaged in the banking 
business, and Albert H., living in El Paso, 
Texas. Two died in infancy. Four of their 
boys were in the Civil war. Lewis F. Ray- 
nolds came out of the war a major and brevet 
lieutenant colonel. He located at Burlington, 
Iowa, where he was engaged in the wholesale 
drug business until his health failed from the 
effects of his hard usage in the army. He re- 
turned to Canton to die, but before his death 
was largely instrumental in starting the Pub- 
lic Library and very helpful to the building 
up of the Young Men's Christian Association. 

The home of Madison and Sarah M. Ray- 
nolds (the latter known to everyone in Canton 
twenty years ago as "Aunt Sarah") was al- 
ways the happy resort of every boy and girl 
in tlie neighborhood. In addition to raising 
their own children, they brought up Rel)ecca 
Slusser, now Mrs. David Zollers, and William 
\A'allace, a nephew, now vice-president of the 
Omaha National Bank. 

Mr. Raynolds was highly esteemed in busi- 
ness circles as a man of integrity and enter- 
prise. In an article he wrote he says : "The 
early citizens and business men of Canton 
struggled for years against the overshadowing 
business prosperity of Massillon. The efforts of 
some of our citizais, first to get the Ohio canal 
located through Canton and then the Cleveland 
& Pittsburg Railroad, being thwarted by the 
shortsighted penuriousness of some of the peo- 
ple, kept Canton in the drag for some years. 
The abortive effort to build a branch of the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



283 



Sandy ami Beaver Canal to Bolivar was wild in 
its inception and miserable in its failure. The 
location of the Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad 
(now the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago) 
galvanized the old town into a little life, but the 
vitalizing inlluence of the Ball & Company 
machine shops gave an impetus to the business 
prosperity of the place. To the inventive gen- 
ius of Epliraim Ball Canton is greatly indebted 
for •\'ery much of its growth and i)ri)S])erity 
and our citizens should erect a monument to 
commemorate his name and usefulness. The 
shops and the railroads have given an impe- 
tus to iiusincss prosperity of the place which 
may result in m;iking it a great city." 

!Mr. Rayniilds was the originator of the old 
Stu-k county fair. He was its first president 
and for ten or fifteen years was either presi- 
dent, secretary or treasurer. His early advan- 
tages for obtaining an education were limited. 
He was a shining example of a self educated 
man. He was a great reader of the best liter- 
ature and had collected a large library, rather 
unusual in that early day. It might almost 
have l^een named a circulating library, for his 
generosity in lending his books was proverbial. 
He was alive to the fact that books and games 
for boys were educational and in "The Library" 
were to be found all the magazines and books 
published. The boys of the town were wel- 
comed and have never forgotten the pleasure 
and profit. Mr. Raynolds was a lover of music 
and for many years was a member of the choir 
of the Presbyterian church. He passed away 
August 23, 1883. 



S. T. KEITH. M. D.— This distinguished 
physician and surgeon, also a brave and gal- 
lant soldier in one of the greatest wars of 
history, is of Scotch-English descent and traces 
his family history to this country as far back 
as the time of the colonies. Some time ptior 
to the war for independence some of his pater- 



nal ancestors, who were natives of Scotland, 
came to x\merica and settled in Virginia, in 
which state, near the city of Richmond, his 
grandfather, Price Keith, was lx)rn and reared. 
During the war of 1812 Price Keith was de- 
tailed as a commander of a force of men to 
keep in .subjection the slaves of his part of the 
country and it is a matter of history that he at- 
tended strictly to his duties in that capacity un- 
til the latter ])art of the year 1815. About 1818 
he moved his family to Columbiana county, 
Ohio, settling in J huunerton, where he fj])ened 
a hotel, the first public house in the place, which 
he managed with gratifying results for a term 
of years. Sul)scf|uenlly he engaged in agri- 
cultural ])ursuits in the above county and con- 
tinued that mode of life until too old to attend 
successfuly to the duties of his farm, which 
consi.sted of one hundred and eighty acres 
within a short distance of Hanoverlon. Horn 
and bred in a slave state, Price Keith was 
taught to believe human servitude a divine 
institution, but becoming convinced that it con- 
flicted with every princi])le of right and justice, 
he, later in life, liberated his slaves and from 
that time until his death opposed the institution 
both for ])olitical and humanitarian reasons. 
In his old age he retired to Hanoverton, where 
he S]jent the remainder of his days, dying there 
in the early 'fifties at the remarkable age of 
ninety-six. Thomas Henson Keith, son of 
Price Keith, and father of the subject of this 
review, was born on the old family homestead 
near the city of Richmond. Virginia, spent his 
childhood and youthful years there and re- 
ceived a good educational training under the 
direction of competent teachers in his native 
state of Ohio. Before attaining his majority 
he accompanied his parents to Columbiana 
county, and in early life engaged in merch- 
andizing at Augusta, in the county of Carroll. 
After spending several years in that town he 
changed his residence to southern Illinois, 
purchasing a farm just south of Cairo, where 



284 



OLD LANDMARKS 



he lived as an honest and fairly successful 
tiller of the soil for a period of about six years. 
Disposing of his interests there, he returned to 
Ohio and engaged in the pursuit of agriculture 
in Paris township, Stark county, where he 
remained ten years, selling out at the expiration 
of that time and purchasing his father's old 
farm in the county of Columbiana. After 
spending several years on a place endeared to 
him by so many tender recollections and early 
associations, and finding himself no longer able 
to attend to the practical duties of the farm, 
he mo\ed to the town of ISIinerva, Stark coun- 
ty, where he lived in honorable retirement until 
taking up his abode in Alliance, with his son, 
the subject of this review. Thomas H. Keith 
■\vas a man of excellent character, an honorable, 
upright citizen and exercised a wholesome in- 
fluence for good in the various localities in 
which he resided. He lived to a ripe old age, 
highly esteemed by all who knew him, and died 
at the residence of his son in the month of 
June, 1896. His wife, who Ijore the maiden 
name of Alargaret AIcBride, was born in 181 2 
and departed this life in T\Iarch, 1897. She 
was the daughter of Stephen ]\IcBride. a nati\e 
of Ireland, and always possessed an excellent 
and beautiful moral character. 

Dr. S. T. Keith, son of Thomas H. and 
Margaret Keith, was born in the town of 
Egypt, southern Illinois, on the loth day of 
October. 1844. When he was about two years 
old his parents returned to Ohio, consequently 
his early life was spent in Paris township. 
Stark county, in the public schools of which 
part of the state he received his preliminary 
educational discipline. Reared on a farm, he 
early became familiar with the varied duties 
of agriculture and while still a youth learned 
to prize honest toil and honorable endeavor 
at their true value. He was his father's able 
and willing assistant until the year 1862, at 
■which time, when a lad of seventeen, he laid 
aside the implements of husbandry and, with 



the patriotic fervor which animated the loyal 
sons of the North, offered his services to the 
government, enlisting in May of that year in 
Company 1, Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, for the three-months .service. Shortly 
after the expiration of his term he re-enlisted, 
this time joinmg Company F, Seventy-sixth 
Ohio Infantiy, for three years or during the 
war, his period of service terminating in 
August, 1865. During his military experience, 
which included some of the most noted cam- 
paigns and bloody battles of the Rebellion, Mr. 
Keith bore bravely and uncomplainingly his full 
share of duty under trying circumstances, never 
shirking a responsibility or shrinking from a 
danger, on long, tiresome marches or in the heat 
of battle. He shared with his comrades the 
fortunes and vicissitudes of war in various 
southern states, participating in the actions at 
and near Chattanooga, all the terrible battles 
of the Atlanta campaign, marched with Sher- 
man to the sea, and. what is a most remarkable 
record with but few parallels, never missed a 
day from duty. To narrate in detail his varied 
experiences while following the old flag 
through the South and encountering the hosts 
of treason in the twenty-seven sanguinary en- 
gagements in which he participated, would far 
transcend the limits of this article, but through- 
out fiis conduct was all that an honorable 
soldier's could be, and the reflection that now 
comes to him in the thanks of the Union to 
which he devoted some of the best years of his 
life, affords a satisfaction and pride that in 
some measure at least compensate him for 
services rendered and hardships endured. 

After the war ]\Ir. Keith resumed his 
studies for a while and then accepted a clerk- 
ship in a drug house at Hanoverton. devoting 
his leisure while thus employed to the reading 
of medicine, which profession he had long 
contemplated as a life work. Severing his con- 
nection with his employer, he entered the office 
of Dr. R. P. Johnson, a distinguished physician 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



285 



aiul surgeon of Alliance, Ohio, and after prose- 
cuting his researches for soinc time under that 
oentleman's direction became, in the fall oi 
1868. a student in the medical department of 
the Michigan L'niversity, at Ann Arbor. Ad- 
dressing himself assidiously to his studies, he 
completed the prescribed course in less than two 
years, receiving his degree of Doctor of 
Medicine witii the class that was graduated in 
the spring of 1870. 

\V'ell fortified with superior professional 
training, the Doctor at once began the practice 
at Hanoverton and after spending about one 
year there removed to a larger and more in- 
viting field m the town of Bloomington, Illi- 
nois, where he ministered to the ills of suffering 
humanity for a period of two years, meeting 
with gratifying success the meantime. From 
Bloomington he removed to North Jackson, 
Mahoning county, Ohio, and during the 
ensuing ten years practiced in that town and 
vicinity, winning much more than local repu- 
tation as an able physician and skillful surgeon, 
his business taking in a wide range and result- 
ing not only in professional success, but also in 
very liberal financial remuneration. The 
Doctor's next move was to Alliance. Stark 
county, in which city he spent the eighteen or 
twenty years following, constantly adding to 
his high repute in every line of his calling, 
also taking advanced rank as an intelligent. 
enterprising citizen and progressive man of 
afifairs. About the year 1892 he gave up in 
large degree his general practice for the pur- 
pose of devoting especial attention to the treat- 
ment of diseases by the static electric process, 
in which for years he had been making scientific 
investigations and which under his subsequently 
perfected system has become one of the greatest 
and most successful discoveries of modern 
medical science. Like all discoveries of 
remedial agents, his success has been achieved 
in the face of professional and g^eneral oppo- 
sition, but with unbounded confidence in the 



efficacv of his svstem he persevered until he is 
now the proprietor of a large and thoroughly 
equipped sanitarium at Canton, where he lo- 
cated in 1898, the number of patients demand- 
ing treatment taxing the institution to its ut- 
most capacity. 

Among the many ills which have been 
treated with most lieneficial results, the follow- 
ing may be especially noted: Neuralgia, re- 
flex irritation, various types of head pains, 
insomnia, the different forms of epilepsy, skin 
diseases, all classes of nervous disorders, dis- 
orders of the scalp, gout, all types of rheuma- 
tism, also heart diseases, resulting from reheu- 
matic affections, many forms of chronic 
functional nervous disorders, locomotor ataxia, 
dyspepsia, sciatica, Bright's disease and other 
kidney troubles, debilitating fevers, most of the 
diseases peculiar to the female sex. diseases of 
children, in fact nearly all chronic ailments, 
while many others not included in this catalogue 
have yielded easily and permanently to the 
treatment which the Doctor and his assistants 
so successfully apply. 

Dr. Keith has spent many years of hard 
study and painstaking research in developing 
and perfecting the static remedy, sparing no 
expense in supplying his sanitarium with the 
latest scientific appliances, including among 
others the most improved X-ray method, which 
he uses with skill and most beneficial results. 
In the prosecution of his work of healing he 
has conferred a great boon upon suffering 
humanity, his establishment on South Cleve- 
land avenue being highly prized, not only by 
patients in the city of Canton, but by hundreds 
from distant places, who have tested to their 
satisfaction the efficacy and wonderful cura- 
ti\'e powers of the remarkable system which 
he has brought to such a high degree of effi- 
ciency. The Doctor's distinguishing ambition 
has always been a laudable desire to be a trtie 
healer of men, and through a long and en- 
couragingly successful career he has subordi- 



286 



OLD LANDMARKS 



nated every other consideration to this one im- 
portant idea. That he has succeeded is abund- 
antly attested by the high favor with which his 
remedy has been received by the suffering and 
the avidity with which it has been adopted by 
physicians of distinction in Ohio and other 
states of the Union. What he has ah^eady ac- 
complished may be accepted as an earnest of 
a still more successful career and his many 
friends and admirers in Canton and elsewhere 
are profuse m their predictions of a future 
filled to repletion with happy results in the line 
of his chosen profession. 

Dr. Keith has been twice married, the first 
time at Hanoverton, Ohio, in 1865, to Miss 
Allie Bost, daughter of Dr. Bost, a well-known 
physician and surgeon of that place. Mrs. 
Keith died in the town of North Jackson, 
about the year 1878 ; she was the mother of one 
son, Harry R., who departed this life when a 
youth of sixteen. Subsequently the Doctor 
entered the marriage relation with j\Irs. Jennie 
Fisher, of Canton, a union without issue. Dr. 
Keith is a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
belonging to Canton Lodge No. 60, at Canton ; 
Canton Chapter No. 34; Council No. 35; Can- 
ton Commandery No. 38 ; and Emeth Lodge of 
Perfection. He is also identified with John 
C. Fremont Post. Grand Army of the Republic, 
at Alliance, and is an active worker in the 
organization, nothing affording him greater 
enjoyment than meeting with his old comrades 
with whom he shared the terrible realities of 
war during the trying days when the gallant 
ship of state was almost stranded upon the rug- 
ged rocks of discord and disunion. In every 
relation of life he has been a man among men, 
firm in his purpose to do the right as he sees 
and understands the right and discharging as 
a ioyal American all the duties of citizenship. 
Personally he is held in high esteem by the peo- 
ple of his adopted city and in the professional 
world he occupies a position such as few of his 
fellow laborers succeed in reaching. 



JOHN REED POYSER.— The original 
old-world style of spelling the family name was 
"Poiser," but for some generations it has been 
used in its present form. The name is met with 
frequently in England, France and \\'ales. 
The emigrant ancestors of the subject came to 
this country at a very early period and first 
settled in Fayette (then Westmoreland) county, 
Pennsylvania. There the subject's grand- 
father, Joseph Poyser, lived and followed the 
occupation of fulling and weaving. He mar- 
ried in Pennsylvania Christina Hielman, who 
died, and he subsequently married Susan 
Harrold. In 1809 he emigrated to Ohio, 
making the long overland journey in 
wagons, and entered land in Plain township, 
Stark county. This land, which lay just. west 
of Nimishillen creek, is now in the possession 
of the Whiting family. Here Mr. Poyser built 
a small log house and on the banks of the creek 
he erected a fulling-mill. In connection with 
the mill, however, he continued to clear the land 
and cultivate the soil. Eight years after com- 
ing to this place he bought a farm in Sugar 
creek township, selling his former place. There 
he erected a second fulling-mill on Sugar 
creek and as before carried on his dual occu- 
pations. He was prostrated by fever, however, 
in 1824. and died in comparatively early life, 
while his widow survived him a number of 
vears, passing away in the 'fifties. He was a 
sturdy man, of upright character and a faithful 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

Joseph Poyser, father of the subject, was 
born August 27, 1798, in Eden township, 
Fayette county, Pennsylvania, on the old home- 
stead situated on the banks of Oswickly creek, 
and lived there until he was eleven years old. 
His mother died when he was but a mere child 
and in his youth he was enabled to secure but 
eleven days' schooling. He came to Ohio in 
1809, walking the greater part of the distance, 
and grew to sturdy manhood in the wilderness 
of Stark county, being compelled to endure 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



287 



many hardships. He possessed a rugged con- 
stitution, else he could not have withstood the 
tremendous demands made upon his strength 
and vitality. As a boy he was passionately 
fond of hunting and made many long excur- 
sions after game. Upon the death of his 
father he fell heir to a share of the home farm 
and followed thereafter the pursuit of agricul- 
ture. Selling his farm in Sugar creek town- 
ship in 1832, he came to Canton township in 
1833 and there made his home until 1845. when 
he returned to Sugar Creek township. In 1861 
he came back to Canton township and subse- 
quently removed to the city of Canton, where 
he resided until his death, March 20, 1877. He 
was originally a Whig in politics, but upon the 
formation of the Republican party he affiliated 
with it and was faithful to its principles all his 
life. His. religious principles were those em- 
bodied in the creed of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, of which he was a faithful and consis- 
tent member. Mr. Poyser was married in 
Canton to Miss Madeline Reed. She was a 
native of Maryland, but removed to Fayette 
county, Pennsylvania, from whence, in 181 1, 
she came to Stark county, Ohio. She died at 
Canton on the 2d of November, 1878. 

John Reed Poyser was born December 9, 
1825, at the foot of Swan's Hill, Sugar Creek 
township, this county, on what is known as 
the old Nicholas Swan farm. He grew to 
manhood surrounded by pioneer conditions and 
was early inured to the rugged toil necessi- 
tated by the primiti\'e conditions with which he 
was environed. He developed a splendid phy- 
sique and was able to endure a great amount of 
hard toil. An aunt, Jane Poyser. was a school 
teacher in Sugar Creek township and to her 
school the subject went in 1833. It was a typi- 
cal school house of the place and period. It 
was a round-log, one-story structure, with 
greased paper windows, a door with wooden 
hinges, and benches made of split logs with 
long pegs for legs. Spelling and reading 



formed the principal studies, but the subject 
was an apt pupil and endeavored to faithfully 
make the best use of his opportunities, limited 
though they \\ere. The school was far from 
his home and the path through the dense woods 
was a lonely one, so his father would frequently 
come to the school in the afternoons to take him 
home. John R. spent two terms in this school, 
but his education was then interrupted by the 
removal of his father to Canton township, 
where no schools had been formed at that time 
and the subject was deprived of the privilege 
of study for the following five years. He was 
fond of hunting and was a good shot, and dur- 
ing these five years he indulged his passion to 
the utmost. In 1838 he resumed his studies 
in Perry township, arithmetic being at this time 
added to his other studies. His school days 
ended in 1842, by which time he had acquired 
a fair education, though not by any means as 
complete as he desired. Mr. Poyser remained 
under the parental roof until in March, 1846, 
he went to Canton and apprenticed himself to 
John B. Hoover to learn the trade of carpenter 
and joiner. He served three years under ver- 
bal contract and then followed his trade as a 
journeyman until 1851. He then engaged in 
contracting on his own account, in which he 
met with immediate and satisfactory success. 
The first building he erected was a house for 
Samuel Smith in Perry township and he after- 
ward erected many buildmgs in Canton. In 
1855 he erected the building formerly owned 
by the Farmers' Union, but now occupied by 
Durbin & Wright. He also erected the Harter 
block, two-thirds of the Eagle block, the Whit- 
ing and Poyser block and part of the Cassilly 
buildings. He assisted in the erection of the 
second court house and constructed many fine 
dwellings in Canton and vicinity. In all his en- 
terprises he was uniformly successful, and, be- 
cause of his painstaking care and strict atten- 
tion to details, coupled with an evident desire to 
please all who had dealings with him. he soon 



288 



OLD LANDMARKS 



acquired and retained the utmost confidence of 
all who had dealings with him. In 1891 he 
gave up tlie contracting business and that year 
supervised tlie erection of the present postoffice 
building, a responsible position, and one for 
which he was well qualified by reason of his 
previous experience in the building line, .\bout 
the time his duties in this capacit}' were com- 
pleted he was elected to the ofiice of county 
commissioner and was serving in this capacity 
at the time of the erection of the present county 
court house. Mr. Poyser became a stockholder 
in the Bucher & Gibbs Plow Company and is 
now serving as vice-president of the same. Al- 
though he does not now take as active part in 
business affairs as formerly, yet he still retains 
a keen interest in passing events and keeps in 
close touch with all questions concerning the 
varied interests of his city, county or nation. 
Although now almost seventy-seven years of 
age, he possesses to a remarkable degree his 
physical and mental vigor. 

John R. Poyser was married in Canton, on 
the 28th of October, 1852, to Miss Mary Mel- 
len, of that city, the daughter of Patrick and 
Nora (Lynch) Mellen. Four children have 
been born to this union, brietlv mentioned as 
follows : Mary Frances died at the age of nine 
years ; William J., who is secretary of the Buch- 
er & Gibbs Plow Company, married Helen 
Bucher and they are the parents of three chil- 
dren, Edna. Helen and John R. : Joseph died 
at the age of three years; Ella is the wife of 
Frank Alexander, of Canton. 

Politically, Mr. Poyser was originally a 
Whig, but upon the formation of the Repub- 
lican party he identified himself with it and has 
been firm in his allegiance to its principles. His 
first vote was cast for Jackson, and he still has 
a vivid recollection of the Harrison campaign 
of 1840. He has always taken a keen interest 
in political matters and in his active years per- 
formed much effective service in ad\'ancing the 
interests of his party. 



i\lr. Poyser, while personally a most unos- 
tentatious citizen, is well known in the city of 
his residence as a man of clear foresight and 
tenacious, resolute purpose, and as possessing 
the highest type of sag'acity, ingenuity and 
firmness in overcoming obstacles in the way of 
his success. And it is also well recognized that 
his success has not come from lucky chance, 
but has been the result of his own ability, integ- 
rity and silent perse\-erance. He has for many 
years occupied a most prominent place in the 
business, moral and social life of Canton and is 
one of those conspicuous figures whose charac- 
ters h^ve left their impress upon the history of 
the county and have caused it to be known far 
and wide for its development of men of acu- 
men and sound judgment. 



ARTHUR N. KALEY.— Although a 
young" man, and but recently admitted to the 
bar. the subject of this sketch has achieved 
local distinction as a lawyer and bids fair, at 
no distant day, to take his place among the 
successful members of the Stark county bar. 
His father, Joseph Kaley, a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, came to Stark county when a boy and 
is still living here, having reached the age of 
seventy years. He is a son of John Kaley, 
who was born in the Keystone state, where 
his ancestors settled in a very early day. 

Joseph Kaley, the subject's father, married 
Miss Marriam Cornelia Warren, who was Ijorn 
in New York, her father, Levi Nelson 
Warren, being a native of Shirley, Massa- 
chusetts. In many respects Mr. Warren was 
an extraordinary man. After receiving a fine 
education he read medicine and began the prac- 
tice, but later devoted much of his attention to 
wood carving", in which he acquired artistic 
skill seldom equalled. He was a mechanical 
genius and could tun: his hand to any kind of 
workmanship, from the construction of the 
most intricate piece of machinery to the tracing 




A. N. KALEY. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



289 



of tb.e most delicate artistic designs, besides 
carving from wood every form of animal and 
vegetable life. He also traveled extensively 
over various parts of the world and possessed 
wide general information as well as superior 
scholastic and technical attainments. While 
carving from a piece of oak wood the figure 
of a dove for the altar of a Presbyterian church 
in Rochester, New York, ]\Ir. \\'arren met the 
lady (]\Iiss Phoebe Brown, formerly of Coven- 
try. Connecticut) who afterwards became his 
wife. In company with her mother, the young 
lafly visited the place where he was at work, 
and while admiring the beautiful figure upon 
which he was engaged, an acquaintance sprang 
up between them which, ripening into love, 
eventually led to marriage. Charles Warren, 
the father of Levi Nelson Warren, was a dis- 
tinguished soldier of the Revolution and a near 
kinsman of General Warren, who fell while 
gallantly cheering his men at the battle of 
Bunker Hill. The name is inseparably con- 
nected with the struggle for independence and 
for man}- years prior to that time various mem- 
bers of the family figured conspicuously in 
the civil and military annals of JNIassachusetts. 
The original Warrens of New England came 
to this country to escape religious persecution, 
bringing with them only such of their wealth 
as they could hastily collect, leaving behind 
large and exceedingly valuable estates in the 
city of London and elsewhere. Owing to the 
destruction of public records by the great Lon- 
don fire the descendants of the family have 
ne\-er been able to establish a legal claim to 
the property, which now includes a large area 
in the most populous part of the city, besides 
valuable estates in the country. 

Reverting to the personal history of Arthur 
N. Kaley, it is learned that his birth occurred 
in Massillon, Ohio, on the ist day of Decem- 
ber, 1867. At the proper age he entered the 
city schools, and' in due time passed through 
the various grades, graduating from the high 

18 



school in 1886, with the second honors of his 
class. Immediately thereafter he entered col- 
lege, but owuig to ill health he was obliged to 
discontinue his studies a short time before 
completing the prescribed course, a matter 
which caused him much regret. There is a 
time in the experience of every young man 
when it becomes necessary for him to choose a 
vocation, and fortunate indeed is he who 
selects one suited to his tastes and inclinations. 
In this respect young Kaley has nothing to 
regret, as he decided upon a profession for 
which his talents peculiarly fitted him, to-wit, 
the law. After the usual course of private 
reading, during which period he held a po- 
sition as private secretary to an attorney repre- 
senting large business interests, he entered the 
law department of the Western Reserve Uni- 
versity, where he was graduated in 1899 with 
the degree of Bachelor of Law. Prior to the 
above date Mr. Kaley made two extensive 
European tours, one in 1896, the other two 
years later, visiting in the course of his travels 
various parts of England, France, Germany, 
Holland, Belgium and Switzerland. In this 
way he obtained a practical knowledge of the 
world, such as colleges and universities fail 
to impart, enriching his mind by visiting many 
points of historic interest, coming in close touch 
W'ith the manners and customs of the people of 
various countries and becoming familiar with 
their civic and political institutions. In the 
fall of 1899 Mr. Kaley was admitted to the bar 
at Columbus, Ohio, and during the ensuing 
year practiced his profession in Cleveland, 
Ohio, building up a fairly lucrative business. 
Impressed with the idea that his native town 
afforded a more inviting field, he returned to 
Massillon, in 1900, and since that year has been 
engaged in the general practice in this city. 
As a lawyer he is studious and energetic, well 
versed in the principles of jurisprudence, and 
familiar with every detail of practice. Few 
men of his experience have been more success- 



290 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ful and judging from wliat he has already 
accomplished, it is but natural that his friends 
predict for him a bright future. 

In addition to his local practice, ^Ir. Kaley 
has frequently been interested with large in- 
terests at distant places, having but recently re- 
turned from an extended and important business 
trip through Arizona. New Mexico and other 
parts of the Southwest. Thus far every matter 
confided to his care has been attended to with 
ability and dispatch, and his reputation as a 
safe and reliable counsellor and shrewd but 
honorable practitioner has won for him not only 
a full share of legal patronage, but a worthy 
standing at a bar distinguished for the learning 
and professional ability of its members. He 
is popular in the social circles of his city, as he 
was also during his residence in Cleveland, and 
is a most courteous and companionable gentle7 
man in every walk of life. Public spirited, he 
manifests a lively interest in the material pros- 
perity of the community and to the extent of his 
ability encourages every enterprise to this end. 
His ideal of manhood is high and as a citizen 
his influence has been on the side of right and 
justice as he understands these terms. He i£ 
a member of the Board of Trade, and is a 
member of Massillon Lodge No. 190, Benev- 
olent Order of Eagles. Religiously he is affil- 
iated with the Euclid .Avenue Presb}-terian 
church of Cleveland. 



DR. JOHN P. SCHILLING is descended 
from an old family that, for generations, lived 
near Frankf ort-on-the-Main , and inherits in a 
marked degree the many amiable qualities 
and sturdy characteristics for which his ances- 
tors liave long been noted. His paternal grand- 
father, who lived in a small village not far 
from the above city, was an honest, industrious 
tiller of the soil who owned his small farm and 
from the most reliable information he appears 
to have been far in advance of his neighbors 



and fellow villagers in point of natural 
mental endowment and acquired intellectual 
growth. He lived and died on the ancestral 
estate, leaving two sons, the older of whom 
succeeded to the farm, and the younger, John, 
became a distinguished physician both in his 
land and the United States. 

John Schilling was born near Frankfort-on- 
the-Main, Germany, in the year 1795, spent his 
youthful years on the old homestead and un- 
til the age of fourteen attended the schools 
of his native town. In his fifteenth year he was 
provided with a private tutor, under whose 
instructions he was prepared for the German 
Gymnasium, an institution in which boys were 
fitted for college, and after finishing his course 
in the latter his parents used their utmost en- 
deavors to have him prosecute his studies 
further, with the object in view of taking the 
holy orders. Not pleased with the idea of 
entering the priesthood, the young" man de- 
murred, assigning as a reason for his objection 
to the church the fact that he had long con- 
templated devoting his life to the medical pro- 
fession, for which he early manifested a decided 
inclination. Animated by this resoh-e, he at 
once \\ent to work to earn means to defray 
the expenses of a medical education, and while 
thus engaged addressed himself to a preliminary 
course of study, after which he entered the 
University of W'urtzburg, recently made 
famous by the discovery of the Roentgen or 
X-ray by Dr. Roentgen, one of its professors. 
John Schilling became a student in this noted 
institution wiien a young man, was graduated 
therefrom with an honorable record in the year 
1825, and immediately thereafter began the 
practice of his profession in the city of Wurtz- 
berg, remaining there for several years. 
Shortly after receiving his degree he was united 
in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Schroeder, 
who was born in a village near the city of 
Frankfort, her father, Philip Schroeder, being 
a native of that part of Germany and a farmer 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



291 



of wealth and high social standing. Mrs. 
Schilling had one brother, Coin^ad Schroeder, 
who became a man of more than local promi- 
nence in his native land, receiving a fine liter- 
ary education and thorough military training 
in one of the finest military institutions of 
Germany. He served with distinction in the 
German army and had he seen fit to remain so 
would doubtless have risen high in military 
circles. In 1836 he came to America and set- 
tled in Kentucky and when the Mexican war 
broke out he entered the service of the United 
States as a captain in a regiment recruited in 
that state. He made an honorable record as a 
soldier, his superior military training and 
handsome figure winning not only the un- 
bounded conhdence of his superiors, but also 
the admiration and love of his immediate com- 
mand, his company winning distinction as the 
best drilled and in every respect the most 
efficient body of men in the army. While lead- 
ing his men against a formidable position, he 
received a severe wound, but continued in 
action until the enemy were driven away and 
the American flag planted on the rampart. 
He studied law in his native land and some time 
after locating in Kentucky he was elected to 
official station, holding at different times vari- 
ous positions, prominent among which was that 
of court interpreter, as he was a fine linguist, 
conversing fluently in several languages. Mr. 
Schroeder married into a Louisville family of 
high social rank, his wife being noted for her 
intellectual attainments and varied culture. He 
died in the above city about the year 1880, at 
the age of seventy, while his widow still sur- 
vives, making her home at this time in Balti- 
more, Maryland. 

Thinking to better his financial condition in 
the L^nited States, of which country he had re- 
ceived many flattering reports from friends 
who had settled some years before in Tuscara- 
was county, Ohio. Dr. John Schilling and 
family set sail in 1836 from the port of Havre, 



France, and after an uneventful but weary 
voyage of nine weeks' duration landed at their 
destination in the city of Baltimore. From 
there they proceeded by canal and part of the 
way by team to Ohio, finally reaching the vil- 
lage of Bolivar, in the county of Tuscarawas. 
Learning of his arrival Dr. Schilling's old 
friends came out en masse to greet and welcome 
him, to his new home in what was then little 
less than a wilderness, the only residences being 
rude log cabins situated in clearings which were 
mere niches in the surrounding forests. In 
view of the glowing colors in which the 
beauties and advantages of the new west had 
been depicted in the letters he had previously 
received, the wild condition of the country and 
the primitive maner of living afforded the 
Doctor anything but an encouraging prospect 
and when he compared the log dwelling with 
the beautiful home which he had left behind, 
the outlook became more and more dishearten- 
ing. Determined not to be cast down nor to 
give way to his dismal forebodings, he made 
the most of the situation and opening an office 
at Bolivar soon had all he could do in minister- 
ing to the sick in the village and surrounding 
territory. After remaining about one and a 
half years at the above place he removed to a 
larger and more remunerative field in the town 
of Louisville, Stark county, where he practiced 
with a high degree of professional and financial 
success until the spring of 1842, when he 
changed his location to Osnaburg, also- in the 
county of Stark. 

During the ten years following. Dr. Schill- 
ing enjoyed a large and lucrative practice and 
achieved distinction as a scholarly and emi- 
nently successful physician in all lines of his 
profession. By reason of failing health, super- 
induced by too close application to his duties, 
he discontinued the practice in 1852 and moved 
to the city of Crestline, where, for a period of 
eighteen months, he was engaged in the drug 
business. At the expiration of that time, with 



292 



OLD LANDMARKS 



his bodily powers greatly restored, he resumed 
his professional duties at Louisville and con- 
tinued the same with his accustomed energy 
and success until his death, at the age of eighty- 
seven years, nnie months and twenty-seven 
days. His wife preceded him to the grave by 
about thirteen years, dying at Louisville of 
apoplexy at the age of sixty-one. 

Dr. John Schilling not only achieved 
prominence in the chosen calling, but became 
distinguished as a public-spirited man and repre- 
sentative citizen. He took a decided stand for 
all enterprises looking to the material and in- 
dustrial adva'ncement of the various places in' 
which he lived, and was equally interested in 
promoting the social, intellectual and moral 
condition of the people with whom he mingled. 
Originally a Democrat, he advocated the princi- 
ples of th^t party until the organization of the 
Republican party, when he transferred his al- 
legiance to the latter and continued one of 
its active and earnest supporters to the end 
of his days. Up to within a short time of his 
death he was not identified with any church 
organization, although a firm believer in re- 
vealed religion, but about three years preced- 
ing his demise he united with the Reformed 
church and remained a faithful communicant of 
the same until called to the higher life. 

John and Elizabeth Schilling were the par- 
ents of eight children, whose names are as 
follows: Katharine, torn in Germany in 1834, 
married, in Louisville, Ohio, J, G. Prenot, who 
died some years ago in Stark county; she is still 
li\ ing" in the above town, where her friends and 
associates are many. Conrad, the second of the 
family, was bom in Bolivar, Ohio", and died in 
childhood. John also died when young, as did 
a third son, who also bore the name of John. 
The sixth in order of birth is the direct subject 
of this sketch, after whom came Edward, whose 
birth occurred in 1845; he married Miss Ella 
TvIcGregor, daughter of Archibald Mc- 
Gregor, editor of the Stark County Democrat, 



and at the present time lives in Goshen, Lidi- 
ana. Matilda, the youngest of the number, 
married William H. Miller, of Louisville, and 
is now deceased. 

In tracnig the career of Dr. John P. Schill- 
ing, of this review, it is learned that his birth 
occurred on the ist day of September, 1840, 
in Louisville, Stark county, Ohio, and that 
when six months old his parents changed their 
residence to the town of Osnaburg. There the 
lad grew to his twelfth year, meantime acquir- 
ing a knowledge of the elementary branches 
of learning in the village schools. From Osna- 
burg he accompanied the family to Crestline 
and after spending the greater part of two years 
in that city returned to Louisville, where he 
finished his public school training at the age of 
fifteen, subsequently prosecuting his studies for 
a period of four years in a seminary in the 
county of Summit. Having decided upon the 
medical profession as a career best suited to 
his abilities and tastes, young Schilling began 
his preliminary reading under his father's di- 
rection and later attended one course of lec- 
tures in the Western Reserve Medical College, 
after which he entered Starling Medical College 
at Columbus, completing the prescribed course 
and graduating in 1864. At that time the great 
Ci\-il war was being waged and believing it to 
be the duty of e\-ery loyal son of the North to 
render to the government all the service with- 
in their power, the A'oung Doctor, in May, 1864, 
was commissioned assistant surgeon of the 
Thirty-fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantry, which formed a part of General Cook's 
command, operating in the Kanawha and Shen- 
andoah valleys, Virginia. \\''hile with this regi- 
ment Dr. Schilling formed the acquaintance 
of William McKinley, at that time holding the 
office of first lieutenant, and between the two a 
warm friendship soon sprang up, which con- 
tinued unabated until the death of the lamented 
President by the murderous bullet of a coward- 
Iv assassin. Onlv one week before the fatal 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



293 



missile was fired the Doctor had a very pleasant 
interview with the President, in the progress of 
which they referred to tiie thrilhng experiences 
of their mihtary Hfe in the valley of theShenan- 
doah and to other incidents interesting and en- 
dearing to the hearts of the soldiers. Dr. Schill- 
ing participated in a number of noted battles, 
prominent among which was the engagement at 
Cedar Creek, in the Shenandoah valley, made 
famous by Sheridan's famous ride, in which he 
turned defeat into victory, a feat such as the 
great Napoleon with all his matchless genius 
in warfare never accomplished. The Doctor 
saw the bold, intrepid commander on his wild, 
daring dash and witnessed the wonderful efifect 
of his thrilling- commands, while rallying the 
disheartened, scattering troops and leading 
them back to meet the enemy where victory was 
snatched from the very grasp of defeat and dis- 
aster. 

In the battle at Beverly, West Virginia, the 
Thirty-fourth Ohio was surrounded by over- 
whelming numbers and captured, the Doctor 
being among the few that succeeded in making 
their escape. After this event the Thirty-fourth 
and Thirty-sixth Regiments were consolidated 
and the Doctor, rendered supernumerary by 
virtue of consolidation, was mustered out of 
service, though at the solicitation of the 
surgeon general of Ohio, he accepted the po- 
sition of acting assistant surgeon United States 
Volunteers and later was commissioned an as- 
sistant surgeon of the Eighty-eighth Ohio 
Regiment, with which regiment he remained un- 
til the close of the war, being mustered out 
July 4, 1865. At the close of the war he re- 
turned to his home at Louisville and resumed 
the practice of medicine, which he continued 
there until his removal to the city of Canton, 
on the 13th of September, 1901. 

Concerning his ability and high standing 
in the professional world there is a remarkable 
consensus of opinion to the effect that few 
physicians and surgeons have enjoyed as uni- 



form success and that none in this part of the 
state occupy a more commanding station in the 
confidence and esteem of the public. By long 
and critical study he has so enlarged the area 
of his professional intelligence as easily to 
stand in the front rank of Stark county's most 
scholarly healers, while his deft touch, sympa- 
thizi)ig presence and rare capacity in winning 
the confidence of both patients and their friends 
mark him as possessing the essential attributes 
of the ideal family physician. His reputation 
as a man and citizen is commensurate with the 
distinction achieved in the line of his duties 
as a healer of men, occupying as he does a con- 
spicuous place in the regard of his fellow citi- 
zens and encouraging by his influence and 
frequently in a more positive and forceful way 
all measures having for their object the general 
welfare of the community. He belongs to 
various medical societies and takes an active 
interest in their deliberations. 

In politics Dr. Schilling is a Republican, 
and he is proud of the fact of having cast his 
first vote for Abraham Lincoln in the presi- 
dential election of 1864. Although firm in the 
support of his opinions, his professional duties 
have been such as to prevent him from taking 
a verv active part in political affairs and he is 
least of all an office seeker or an aspirant for 
public honors. At one time he was prevailed 
upon to run for coroner, an office to which he 
was elected by an overwhelming majority, but 
before the expn-ation of his term he resigned the 
position the better to devote his attention ex- 
clusively to the wants of his patients. His 
fraternal relation includes membership with the 
ALasonic brotherhood and the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, both of which organi- 
zations he has been zealous in upholding and 
the principles of which he has reduced to prac- 
tice in his daily life. 

Dr. Schilling's married life began at Mans- 
field, Ohio, where he was united in the bonds 
of wedlock with Miss Catherine Matthias, 



294 



OLD LANDMARKS 



whose bii'tli occurred near Gallon, this state, 
on the 2d day of October, 1840. Mrs. 
Schilling is the daughter of Michael and Fran- 
ces ^Matthias and was reared and educated near 
where she first saw the light of day. The 
oldest child of Dr. and Mrs. Schilling is Charles 
E., who was born in 1868, graduated at the 
early age of twenty-two from the \Vestern Re- 
serve Medical College, at Cleveland, and is 
now a successful physician, with a large and 
lucrative practice . He married Miss Lora Putt, 
a young lady of education and excellent social 
position, and is the father of one daughter, 
Katln'yn. Fred \\'., the second son, also a 
physician and surgeon, was born on the 2d 
day of January, 1872, in an almnus of the Ohio 
Medical University at Columbus and has be- 
fore him a futiu^e of great promise and useful- 
ness. Ida May, whose birth took place April 
21. 1874. is the wife of Dr. C. A. Walker, of 
Louisville, this county, and has two children, 
Nellie f 'iiilida and Helen May, the second name 
of the former being" a combination of the first 
names of the subject and the child's mother. 



^^'ILLIAM HARRISON LITTLE was 
born in Damascus, Columbiana county, Ohio, 
on the 27th of December, 1844, being the son of 
William and Nancy (Jobs) Little, the former 
of ^^•hom was born in \\'ashington county, 
Pennsylvania, in 1813, while the latter was 
born in the same county, in 181 7. They were 
reared and educated in their native county and 
there their marriage was solemnized. In 1839 
they came to Ohio and located in Steubenville, 
Jefferson county, whence shortly afterward 
they removed to Columbiana county, locating 
in the village of Damascus, where he engaged in 
the manufacture of washboards and other uten- 
sils, while he also served as constable of his 
township for a number of years, having been 
incumbent of this office at the time of his death, 
which occurred in 1848, his final resting place 



being in the cemetery at Damascus. His widow 
still survives him, having attained the venerable 
age of eighty-seven years, and she makes her 
home in Damascus, Ohio. Of their children 
we enter the following brief record : Louis J. 
died at the age of sixty years; Elizabeth is the 
wife of Jessie Dixson, of Damascus, Ohio ; Will- 
iam H. is the immediate subject of this sketch; 
Dilworth met his death while serving as a sol- 
dier in the Union army during the Rebellion, 
his death occurring in Natchez, Mississippi, at 
the age of nineteen years, and Joseph L. is a 
resident of Martin's Ferry, Belmont county, 
Ohio. 

William H. Little, the subject of this re- 
view, passed his early boyhood days in Damas- 
cus, Ohio, where he began his educational train- 
ing in the common schools. At the age of sev- 
en years he went to Jennings county, Indiana, 
where he lived in the home of Samuel Stanley 
until he had attained the age of fourteen years, 
assisting in the work of the farm and contin- 
uing his studies in the district school during 
the three months' winter terms. He continued 
to reside in Indiana until i860, when he re- 
turned to Oliio. and on the 29th of August, 
1862. at ]\Iassillon, this county, he was mus- 
tered in as a private of Company B, One Hun- 
dred and Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. 
Soon afterward his regiment was ordered to 
Fort Mitchell, at Covington, Kentucky, just 
across the Ohio river from Cincinnati, where 
the command was stationed to protect the latter 
city from the raid of General Kirby Smith. 
After three days' battle General Smith retreated 
and was forced to leave Kentucky. Later Mr. 
Little participated in the battle of Richmond, 
that state, where he received a severe wound 
in the shoulder, being confined to the hospital 
for two months, at the expiration of which he 
received his honorable discharge. Thirty days 
later, not being able to carry a musket, he re- 
enlisted for service, becoming a member of the 
Twelfth Ohio Volunteer Cavalrv, with which 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



295 



he took part in the battles of Saltville, Virginia ; 
Cynthiana, Kentucky ; Kingsport and Bristol, 
Tennessee; and Abingdon, Virginia, in which 
last engagement he recei\-ed a \\'Ound in the 
right wrist. At Marion, Virginia, where the 
command participated in a three days' fight, 
his horse was shot from under him and he re- 
ceived a saber wound in the right leg during 
a cavalry charge. Later his regiment returned 
to Saltville and assisted in capturing the place, 
b)' defeating Genera! Breckenridge, the Union 
forces taking one thousand prisoners at the 
time. The regiment was then placed on detail 
to guard these prisoners during their removal 
to Rock Island, Illinois, and he then rejoined 
his regiment, with which he was taken prisoner 
by the Confederate forces in North Carolina, 
in December, 1864. With others of his unfor- 
tunate conn'ades he was marched one hundred 
and twenty miles in five days, at the expiration 
of which time each of them were given one pint 
of corn meal, ground cob and all. for a five 
days' rations, and they were then incarcerated 
in the famous Libby prison, at Richmond, the 
Confederate capital, where Mr. Little was held 
captive for three months and seven days, suf- 
fering" the horrors and privations which made 
that prison so notorious in the history of the 
war. When he entered the prison his weight 
was (ine hundred and fifty pounds, and upon 
being paroled, in February, 1865. his a\ eight 
was only seventy-two pounds, which fact is 
sufticiently significant of what he endured. Af- 
ter being released he rejoined his regiment, and 
on the 6th of April. 1S65, three da3rs before the 
surrender of General Lee, in Dallas. North Car- 
olina, Mr. Little received a gunshot wound in 
his right elbow, permanently crippling the arm, 
and owing to his injury he was not able to re- 
turn to his home until August, 1865. 

After the close of his long and gallant serv- 
ice in defense of the integrity of the LTnion Mr. 
Little returned to Ohio, locating in Bellaire, 
Belmont county, where he secured a position 



as bookkeeper for the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- 
road Company, while later he became a member 
of the police force of that place. He resigned 
this position in 1890 and removed to Canton. 
Here he was first employed in a clerical capac- 
ity by Berry & Davis, street-paving contractors, 
and later he was for three years bookkeeper in 
the ofiice of the recorder of Stark county. Since 
that time he has given his attention and has 
continuously engaged as traveling salesman 
for the E. C. Harley Company, of Dayton, and 
has gained a high degree of popularity with his 
trade and the entire confidence and esteem of 
his company. 

In. politics J\Ir. Little gives a stanch alle- 
giance to the Republican party and takes an 
active interest in its cause. While a resident 
of Bellaire he was clerk of the Iioard of educa- 
tion from 1885 to 1889, and prior to that had 
served four years in the office of township clerk. 
He and his wife are members of the Simpson 
Methodist Episcopal church, and they have the 
high regard of the community. Fraternally 
Mr. Little is a member of William McKinley 
Post No. 25, Grand Army of the Republic; 
Canton Castle No. 11, of the Chevaliers : Oliver 
Wendell Holmes Council No. 41, Junior Order 
of United American Mechanics, and U. S. 
Grant Council No. 35, Senior Order of L'nited 
American Mechanics. 

On the 4th of July, 1873, at Bellaire, Ohio, 
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Little to 
Miss Vetura Fowler, who was born in Belmont 
county, Ohio, being a daughter of Thomas and 
Cynthia (Campbell) Fowler, the former of 
whom was a farmer and carpenter by vocation. 
Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Little we enter 
the following record, with respective dates of 
birth in connection with each name: Mento 
May. July 20, 1875 J Howard Hayes. Febru- 
ary 6, 1877; Charles Luzerne, August 19, 
1879; Harry Joseph, September 22, 1881 : Dil- 
worth Delbers, June 2, 1883: William Groves, 
who was born No\-ember 13. 1884. died on the 



296 



OLD LANDMARKS 



28th of March, 1887; and Anna Elizabeth, 
born January 30, 1887. Howard H. was united 
in marriage, m i902„to Miss Ethel M. Foos, of 
Canton, and the other children still remain at 
the parental iiome. 



JOHN WILLIS comes of a long line of 
staunch English ancestors, but the name has 
been identihed with the annals of the Emerald 
Isle for several generations, since the parental 
grandfather of the suliject was a soldier in the 
army of King William, Prince of Orange, as 
was also one of his brothers and with their king 
the}- crossed over into Ireland to join the mon- 
arch's brother Edward and support him in the 
subjugation of the Emerald Isle, and there the 
Willis brothers remained after the close of the 
war, having received grants of land and become 
freeholders there. Philip Willis, father of the 
subject, was born near the city of Belfast, Ire- 
land, and his entire mature life was devoted 
to agricultural pursuits in his native isle, where 
he died in 1840. His wife, whose maiden name 
was Isabella McLean, was a native of Scotland, 
being a daughter of William and Hannah 
(Tuft) McLean, and she long survived her 
husband, having joined her children in the 
United States in 1868, and having died in Stark 
county, Ohio, in 1879. Philip and Hannah 
Willis became the parents of sixteen children, 
of whom six are living at the present time, in- 
cluding the four sons and one daughter who 
came to America. 

John Willis was born in Belfast. Ireland, 
on the 17th of March, 1830, the day recognized 
as the anniversary oi the birth of the patron 
saint of the Emerald Isle, St. Patrick. He at- 
tended in his native place the parochial schools 
of the church of England and at the age of 
fifteen years he entei'ed upon a live years' ap- 
prenticeship at the trade of house carpenter, 
and during this interval he continued his edu- 
cational training by attending night school 



three nights in each week. He became a master 
workman and continued to follow his trade 
in Ireland for three years after completing his 
apprenticeship and then, in 1853, having saved 
enough money through his labors to defray the 
expense of his passage to America, as well as 
that of a younger brother, Daniel, who is now 
a successful farmer of Rice county, Kansas, 
the two proceeded to Greenwich, Scotland, 
where they embarked on the sailing vessel, 
"Zion's Hope," Captain Connor, and after 
seven weeks and three days had elapsed from 
the time when the boat weighed anchor, the two 
brothers landed in the city of New York, the 
subject of this review being at the time twenty- 
three }-ears of age. It may be noted that they 
set sail on the 3d of April of the year men- 
tioned. The young men came from New York 
to Ohio, to join their cousins who had pre- 
viously located in Tuscarawas county. They 
came from the city of Buffalo to Cleveland, 
Ohio, by boat on Lake Erie, and thence to Fort 
Washington, Tuscarawas county, by the canal. 
Daniel Willis later went to Peoria, Illinois, 
where he joined other cousins, and finally he 
took up his residence in Kansas, as has already 
been intimated. 

Shortly after his arrival in Tuscarawas 
county John Willis secured employment in 
New Philadelphia, working for Hugh Mitchell, 
father of Dr. Hugh Mitchell, who is now one 
of the representative physicians of Canton. In 
the autumn. of the same year Mr. Willis came 
to Massillon. Stark county, and here he worked 
at his trade, having assisted in the erection of 
the first sash and door factory in that place, 
while he was there in the employ of the firm of 
Russell & Company, manufacturers of thresh- 
ing machines, for the period of nine years, and 
at the expiration of this interval, in the year 
1861, he came to Canton, where he secured em- 
ployment in the wood-working department of 
the C. Aultman Company's plant, being thus 
engaged about three years, within which time 




JOHN WILLIS. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



297 



he enlisted, in the one hundred days" service, 
as a private in the One Hundred and Forty- 
fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, thus manifest- 
ing his intrinsic loyalty to the land of his adop- 
tion. After the close of the war Mr. Willis 
engaged in business on his own responsibility, 
purchasing of the firm of Grimminger & Fred- 
ericks a small shop on Dewalt street, between 
Ninth and Tenth streets, and here engaging in 
general carpenter work. About two years later 
Mr. Willis purchased two lots on Eighth street, 
east of Cherry street, and here he built a larger 
shop, which he equipped with the requisite 
machinery, and here engaged in the manu- 
facture of sash, doors and blinds, his able man- 
agement of the enterprise causing it to rapidly 
expand in scope and importance, and here he 
continued operations until 1898, when he sold 
the land to the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- 
pany, and then erected his present plant, on the 
opposite side of, the street. Through his own 
industry and well-directed effort during the 
long years of his residence in Canton he has at- 
tained success of no indefinite order, building 
up a large and important enterprise in his line 
and gaining prestige as one of the reliable and 
progressive business men of the city, while. he 
has so demeaned himself in all the relations of 
life as to retain the unbounded confidence and 
regard of his fellow men. In politics he is a 
staunch Republican, his first presidential vote 
having been cast for John C. Fremont, the first 
candidate of the "grand old party," and from 
that time to the present he has been a stalwart 
advocate of its principles and policies. He was 
reared in the faith of the Presbyterian church, 
and he and his family are valued members of 
the Calvary Presbyterian church of Canton. 
Mr. Willis joined the Masonic fraternity in 
Ireland, when twenty-one years of age, and is 
now a member of Canton Lodge No. 60. 

In Massillon, this county, in September, 
1S54, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 



Willis to i\Iiss Mary Ann Benskin, wdio was 
born in the town of Margaret, near London, 
England, on the 14th of February, 1S34. The 
coincidence of her having been born on St. 
Valentine's day and her husband on St. Pat- 
rick's day may be consistently noted in this 
connection. When Mrs. Willis was eight years 
of age her parents emigrated to the United 
States, her father, George Benskin, having 
located in Stark county and having been en- 
gaged in contracting in Massillon, where he 
died. Of the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Willis, the following is an epitomized record : 
Isabella is the first wife of Orr Day, of Cleve- 
land, Ohio, and they have one son, Berne. 
Mary, who was a popular and successful teach- 
er in the schools of Stark county, died at the 
age of twenty-two years. Harriet is the wife 
of Albert Wherry, of Canton. William J- 
died in Massillon, in 1864. Sarah is the wife 
of John Little, of Canton, and they have had 
nine children, Ruth (deceased), Harry, Edwin, 
Frank, Willis, Ralph, Roy, Hazel and Wilber. 
Lincoln, the sixth in order of birth, was born 
in the city of Canton, on the 8th of September, 
1866, and he secured his educational discipline 
in the public schools. At the age of fifteen 
years he began an apprenticeship at the car- 
penter trade under the eft'ective direction of his 
father, later becoming associated with the work 
of the factory, and during the greater portion 
of the time since his early youth he has been 
connected with his father's business, being an 
able and enterprising young business man, and 
he is now junior member of the firm of Willis 
& Willis. On the nth of August, 1888, he 
was united in marriage to Miss Elizaljeth Burt- 
scher, of Canton, and they have two cliildren, 
Earl and Ethel. Grant, who is eng-aged in 
bookkeeping in Canton, married Miss Leith 
LTighway, of this city, and they have four 
children, Edna, Irma, Helen and Walter. 
Emma remains at the parental home. Jeanette 



298 



OLD LANDMARKS 



is a successful school teacher at Ispheming, 
Michigan. Edith is tlie wife of Wilson Beeler, 
of Akron, Ohio. 



EUGENE W. HAHN is a native son of 
Stark county, having been born in the city of 
Massillon, on the Sth of July, 1876. His father. 
Christian E. Hahn, was born in Germany, in 
the year 1847, and there he was educated and 
there learned the trade of shoemaking. At 
the age of seventeen years he came to America, 
landing in New York city, whence he proceeded 
to Harrisburg. Pennsylvania, where he found 
employment at his trade, thence removed some- 
what later to Tyrone, that state, from which 
]joint he came to Massillon. Stark county, 
about the year 1867, where he remained 
a number of years. He there married 
]\Iiss Louisa Schwier, who was born in 
Canton, this county, in 1849, being a daugh- 
ter of Jacob and Margaret Schwier, who were 
born and reared in Germany, where their mar- 
riage was solemnized. Upon their emigration 
to America tliey were forty days in making the 
voyage, on a sailing vessel, which was ice- 
bound for some time off the coast of New 
I'^onndland. fn 1S91 Christian E. and Louisa 
Hahn came from Massillon to Canton, where 
they still continue to reside, and here the former 
is engaged in the work of his trade, being a man 
of sterling character and one who has the re- 
spect of all who know him. He is a Democrat 
in his political proclivities and both he and his 
wife are devoted members of the r.ntheran 
church. Of their children we enter the follow- 
ing brief record : Charles is a resident of Lo- 
rain, Ohio, where he is engaged in railroading-; 
Delia is the wife of John Kropf, of Canton; 
Eugene W. is the immediate subject of this 
review; and Laura, Theodore and Anna remain 
at the parental home. Christian Hahn, the 
grandfather of the subject, came to the United 
States prior to the war of the Rebellion. Iiis 



wife liaving died in Germany, while Christian 
E. was their only child. Grandfather Hahn 
rendered valiant service as a Union soldier dur- 
ing the Civil war and he is now living in the 
National Soldiers' Home at Dayton, Ohio, 
being about eighty-three years of age at the 
time of this writing. 

Eugene W. Hahn .secured his early edu- 
cational training in JNIassillon and was fifteen 
years of age at the time of his parents' re- 
moval thence to Canton. He had been a mem- 
ber of the first class in the Massillon high 
school, and he continued his studies in the Can- 
ton public schools. Here, at the age of si.xteen 
years, he entered upon an apprenticeship in the 
establishment of the Canton Engraving Com- 
pany, of which he is now the proprietor, and 
after serving without pay for a period of six 
months he was recompensed for his services 
by the payment of two dollars per week, while 
thereafter he secured an increase in salar\- 
eveiy six months until he was receiving six- 
teen dollars a week, having become an expert 
in the line of wood engraving. He finally be- 
came the head wood engraver of the establish- 
ment, while with the advancement made in the 
art. by the adoption of other methods and pro- 
cesses, he kept in close touch, so that he is 
thoroughly skilled in all the lines of production 
demanded for commercial and other uses. Lt 
1901 ^Ir. Hahn became associated with Ed 
Nclins in the purchase of the business with 
which he had so long been identified, and the 
latter withdrew from the firm in 1902, since 
which time the subject has been the sole owner 
of the business, which he has made one of the 
most successful order, having the management 
of all branches and handling work for all the 
large manufactories of Canton, while he also 
recei\es a representative trade from outside 
sources, the same ramifying into diverse sec- 
tions of the Union. Li politics he is a stanch 
advocate of the principles of the Democratic 
party and has taken an active interest in its 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



299 



cause, in a local way. He was reared in the 
faith of the Lutheran church, while his wife is 
a member of the United Evangehcal church. 
On tlie 25th of October, 1900, Mr. Hahn 
was united in marriage to Miss Ethel Tal- 
bott, a daughter of Joseph Talbott, of Canton, 
where she was born and reared, and they have 
one son. Raymond Stanley, who was born on 
the 25th of December, 1902. 



CHARLES E. STUDER, vice-president 
of the Canton Buggy^ Company and one of the 
enterprising young business men of the city, 
is a native of Ohio, born December 20, 1879, 
in Strasburg. Tuscarawas county. His father, 
Edward Studer, a native of Switzerland, was 
brought to the L^^nited States at the age of seven 
years and grew to maturity in Holmes county, 
Ohio, marrying there, when a young man, Miss 
Mary Zurcher, who also was of Swiss birth. 
Shortly after their marriage ]\Ir. and Mrs. 
Studer settled on a farm in Tuscarawas coimty 
where the former still lives, the latter having 
died on the 15th day of August, 1900. 

Charles E. Studer remained at home until 
his eighteenth year, attended the public schools 
of winter seasons and during the other months 
assisted his father with the work of the farm. 
At the above age he borrowed a few hundred 
dollars and went \\ est, making his way as far as 
Bloomfield, Nebraska, where for about one and 
a half years he worked for his cousin. Julius 
Stahl. on the latter's ranch, devoting his atten- 
tion during that time to cattle herding and agri- 
cultural pursuits. Satisfied with his western 
experience, Mr. Studer. at the expiration of the 
above time, returned liDme and after a brief 
stay there came to Canton and began working 
at carriage painting for the Canton Buggy 
Company, the same concern of which he 
is now vice-president. He soon became an 
efficient painter, and, commanding good wages, 
saved his monev so that when a few vears 



later the compan\' was reorganized he was 
able to purchase an interest. As reorgan- 
ized the personnel of the company was 
as follows : D. L. Tschantz, president ; 
Charles E. Studer, vice-president, and Frank 
H. Hoffer, secretary and treasurer. As thus 
constituted the firm continued on a successful 
and steadily growing business until the failure 
in health of Mr. Hoffer. after which ]^Iessrs. 
Studer and Tschantz purchased that gentle- 
man's interest and have since managed the af- 
fairs of the concern and built up a large and 
lucrative patronage. 

Mr. Studer is a self-made man and his ad- 
vancement within a few years from a humble 
subordmate beginning to the present influential 
position he occupies in industrial and commer- 
cial circles, shows him the possessor of those 
strong powers of mind and the superior Ijusi- 
ness ability which never fail to win success. In 
politics Mr. Studer is a Republican, with Pro- 
hibition tendencies, being an uncompromising 
enemy of the liquor traffic and believing pro- 
hibiting legislation to be the only eft'ective 
means to rid the country of the dram shop. 

On November 20, 1902, Mr. Studer con- 
tracted a matrimonial alliance with i\Iiss Flor- 
ence Schnake, daughter of Charles and Sophia 
Schnake, both parents residents of Canton, but 
of German descent. Mr. and Mrs. Studer are' 
acti\-e members of the United Brethren church 
of Canton and for some years past he has been 
assistant superintendent of the Sunday school, 
is president of the choir and general steward of 
the congregation. He is zealous in all lines of 
religious and charitable endeavor, stands high 
in the esteem of his fellow citizens and for one 
of his age has made his influence felt beyond 
the majority of men. 



VARIAN S. COREY was born in Bed- 
ford, province of Quebec, Canada, on the loth 
of January, 1863, being a son of Norman and 



300 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Angelia (Best) Corey, the former of whom 
was Hkewise born in Bedford, while the latter 
was born at North Stanbridge, same province, 
their marriage being solemnized in Bedford 
about the year 1859. The date of the nativity 
of Norman Corey was .1807, while his wife was 
born in 1834. The fatlier is now deceased, the 
subject of this sketch having been their only 
child. His paternal grandparents were natives 
of the United States, having been members re- 
spcctixely of old New York and Rhode Island 
families of English extraction, while the grand- 
father devoted his life to argicultural pursuits, 
ha\ing removed to the province of Quebec, 
Canada, when a young man. Norman Corey 
was a contractor and builder, following this 
vacation during his entire active business ca- 
reer. He died in Bedford, Canada, in 1892, 
while his wife is living in Canada. 

V'arian Seward Corey, the immediate sub- 
ject of this review, attended the public schools 
of his native town until he had attained the age 
of sixteen years, at which time he entered upon 
an apprenticeship at the trade of machinist, 
serving the required period of three years in 
shops at Mystic, Canada, and after completing 
his apprenticeship he continued to work at his 
trade about eight years, in the Walbridge Ma- 
chine Works, at Mystic, this concern manu- 
facturing all kinds of machinery. He had early 
manifested a distinct predilection and capacit\' 
for mechanical pursuits, and through his thor- 
ough apprenticeship and subsequent experience 
and experimentation he became a skilled arti- 
san. After leaving the employ of the Wal- 
bridge Company Mr. Corey removed to Spring- 
field. Massachusetts, where he continued to fol- 
low his trade for a time in the shops of the 
Springfield Glue & Emery Wheel Company, 
and later was for one year with the Hampden 
Watch Company, in that city. When this con- 
cern was merged into the Duelaer-Hampden 
Watch Company and the \\-orks were removed 
to Canton, Ohio, in 1888. Mr. Corcv came here 



and has e\er since continued in the employ of 
the company. For a time before leaving Can- 
ada he was in the employ of the Southeastern 
Railroad, which is now a portion of the Can- 
adian Pacific system. In politics Mr. Corey 
is a stanch supporter of the cause of the Repub- 
lican party and he and his wife are members 
of the First Methodist Episcopal church of 
Canton. Mr. Corey was formerly a teacher in 
the Sunday school and was also for a time 
superintendent of the [Methodist Sunday school 
at Mystic, Canada. Fraternally he is identi- 
fied with McKinley Lodge No. 431. Free and 
Accepted ]\Iasons ; with Canton Tent No. 1 1 , 
Knights of the Maccabees, and with Canton 
Lodge No. 589, Knights of Pythias. 

In Canton, on the 17th of June, 189 1, [\lr. 
Corey was united in marriage to ^liss Etha 
Esther Webb, a daughter of George N. Webb, 
a representative of one of the pioneer families 
of Canton, and at present a resident of the 
city, specific reference being made to him on 
another page of this volume. Mrs. Corey was 
born and reared in Canton, receiving her edu- 
cation in the iniblic schools. ]\Ir. and JNIrs. 
Corey are the parents of two children. Marian 
and Norman. 



J. H. SHARER.— The furniture bouse of 
J. H. Sharer & Son is the oldest establishment 
of the kind continuously in the business in 
Ohio. Pliilip Sharer, its founder, was a native 
of Germany from rtear Manheim, He landed 
in New York, August i. 1837, after a perilous 
voyage of sixty-eight days. The panic of that 
year had so depressed business in the metrop- 
olis that it was impossible to procure a day's 
work and after four weeks of persistent effort 
his limited n.icans became exhausted, he left 
his trunk and its contents as security for a 
board bill, and started out on foot for Pitts- 
burg. For six weeks he tramped, begging his 
wav through New Tersev and Pennsylvania, 





C2^^^}^^m^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



301 



LHitil reaching Adanisburg-, Westmoreland 
conntv, where lie got work at the carpenter's 
trade at thirt_v-seven and a half cents a day of 
fourteen or sixteen hours. He remained there 
for foiu- years, when he was married and start- 
id west again on foot, accompanied by his young 
ivife, his tools and their few household neces- 
sities being all carried on a small one-horse 
wagon. Reaching Freedom, now a part of 
A.l!iance, Ohio, October i, 1841, he started a 
:abinet shop, continuing at the furniture and 
undertaking business until 1882, when he re- 
ared, his death occurring in 1889 in his se\- 
;nty-iiinth year. 

It was in this little hamlet of Freedom, 
,<nown only for its isolation and its poverty, 
;hal J. H. Sharer, the present senior member 
3f the firm of J. H. Sharer & Son, was born 
fuly I, 1842. Being the oldest of a large 
Family, he was compelled at twelve years oi 
ige to earn his own living by working on the 
Farm, in the brick yard and driving teams, 
riie only time alloted for school was 
:hree months during the winter. In the fall of 
[859 he was apprenticed at the cabinetmaking 
;rade with his father in a part of the building 
he firm still occupy. The Civil war coming on 
jefore concluding his apprenticeship, he en- 
isted in the army, August 8, 1862, intending 

join the One Hundred and Fourth Ohio 
Volunteer Infantr}-, but his captain was made 
;olonel of the One Hundred and Fifteenth 
Regiment and he was therefore mustered in as 

1 private in Company F of that regiment 
September 18, 1862. January i, 1863, he was 
ietailed as ordnance sergeant at Camp Denni- 
>on. Ohio, and March i, 1863, he was assigned 
o Post B at the same place. October i, 1863, 
VIr. Sharer rejoined the regiment and went to 
rennessee, but on May i, 1864, he was de- 
:ached from the company and made principal 
nusician of the regiment and leader of its band, 
A^hich position he retained until the close of the 
,var, retm-ning home July 5, 1865. and resum- 



ing his place at the work bench \acated three 
years before. He has continued the furniture 
and undertaking business in the same building 
ever since. The business was conducted in 
the name of Philip Sharer from 1841 to 1868, 
Philip Sharer & Son from 1868 to 1882, J. H. 
Sharer from 1882 to 1898, in the latter year 
his youngeest son, Roscoe T., being admitted 
to the' firm, since when it has been known as 
J. H. Sharer & Son. The subject became a 
charter member of the first Grand Army Post 
in Alliance in 1866, serving as aid on the staff 
of se\eral department and national commanders. 
He was appointed on the Stark coiuity soldiers' 
relief commission on the passage of the law, 
and has been appointed for sixteen consecutive 
years. He served as master of Alliance Lodge, 
Free and Accepted Masons, eight years, and 
also as high priest of the chapter. 

When enrolled in the army Mr. Sharer's 
occupation was given as undertaker, and hav- 
ing gained much practical knowledge in this 
line during the war he had an abiding faith in 
the benefits that would come to- the general 
public when the purposes for which the ad- 
vanced men in the profession were striving 
could once be understood. He joined in a call 
for a convention of undertakers at Columbus 
in June, 1881, where a state association was 
formed, of which he was elected secretary, 
and for ten consecutive years unanimously 
chosen, eight as secretary and two as president. 
He was also a delegate to the first national 
convention, where an association was formed, 
and was chairman of the national executive 
committee until 1886, when elected secretary 
and unanimously chosen for twelve vears, ten 
years as secretary and two years as president. 
In 1 90 1 he was appointed chairman of a com- 
mittee to draft and secure the passage of a 
law to regulate the practice of embalming in 
Ohio, so as to prevent the spread of contagious 
and infectious disease, and provide for the 
better protection of life and health. The 



302 



OLD LANDMARKS 



matter was taken up and prosecuted with 
vigor until April 30. 1902, when the 
act was passed and an embalmer's law 
placed on the statute books. The law pro- 
vides for an examining Ijoard, consisting of 
three practical practicing embalmers appointed 
by the governor, the president and secretary 
of the state board of health to be ex-oflficio 
members. When the Iward was named. Mr. 
Sharer received the thr^e-year appointment 
without solicitation and when it organized for 
work he was unanimously chosen secretary 
and treasurer. There were fifteen hundred 
embalmers in the state to be licensed and it 
became his duty to systematize the work, ar- 
range for all examinations, prepare the ques- 
tions and issue the licenses, which was all ac- 
complished within the provisions of the law, 
without confusion, dissatisfaction or the humil- 
iation of any embalmers of the state. In pol- 
itics he is a Kepublican, in religious faith 
Presbyterian. 

Mr. Sharer was happily married, in 1868, 
to Miss Mary L. Hartzell, of North Benton, 
Ohio, and to this union eight children were 
born, two dying in infancy. Those living are 
William P., cashier of the First National Bank 
of Wellsville, Ohio; John C, an optician and 
attorney at law ; Roscoe T. is the business 
partner of the subject; Mrs. W. H. Morgan, 
Mrs. E. E. Brosius and Miss Grace, all of 
Alliance. During his experience as an under- 
taker, covering a period of almost a half cen- 
tury, the subject has personally conducted over 
five thousand funerals, but has now retired 
from the active part of the work, which is en- 
tirely in charge of his son and partner, Roscoe 
T. Sharer. 



FRED WILHELM, who for the past sev- 
enteen years has been identified with the com- 
mercial interests of Canton, was born in North 
Industry, Stark county, Ohio, August 30, 1863. 



His father. Frederick Wilhelm, was a native of 
Germany, torn in the year 1814, and when a 
young man came to the United States, settling 
near North Industry, where he engaged in the 
manufacture of lime. The subject's mother 
was ^Madeline Elsesser, also a native of Ger- 
many. She was married in this countr)^ spent 
the greater part of her life in Stark county and 
died some years ago at her home in North In- 
dustry, at the age of sixty-eight. She was born 
and reared a Catholic and remained loyal to her 
church through life, her husband being a Luth- 
eran in his religious belief. 

The early years of Frederick Wilhelm 
were spent at the place of his birth and he re- 
ceived a good common school education, mean- 
time as soon as old enough becoming acquaint- 
ed with life's practical duties by assisting his 
father in operating the latter's lime kilns. Later 
while still a youth in his teens he began working 
as a coal miner and to this kind of labor he 
devoted a number of years, during which he 
was employed in the Burton, Ewan. Fox Run 
and Richard mines of Stark county, his experi- 
ence while thus engaged being especially \-alua- 
ble in developing a vigorous physique and 
teaching him the nobility of honest toil. 

Not caring to follow mining as a perma- 
nent occupation, Mr. Wilhelm fipally quit the 
business and accepted a clerkship in a grocery 
house in Canton conducted by George Barth 
on South ]\Iarket street. He continued as a 
salesman imtil about 1886, ^\■hen he engaged in 
merchandising for himself at Barth's old stand, 
beginning in a modest way with groceries as 
a special line. Subsecjuently he moved to the 
corner of Charles and Cherry streets, but later 
returned to his former place and there remained 
until 1892. when he removed to his present 
quarters. No. 2231 South Market street, where 
he erected a commodious building which is well 
stocked with a carefully selected assortment of 
groceries, notions, etc.. suitable for the general 
trade. \\'hen Mr. Wilhelm purchased the site 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



303 



m which his building now stands the ground 
vas little less than a swamp, but by filling it he 
onverted it into a fine lot and added many 
lundred dollars to its value. By close atten- 
ion to business and courteous treatment of his 
latrons he has built up a large and lucrative 
rade which from present indications bids fair 
o grow rapidly in magnitude with each re- 
urring year. He is enterprising and progres- 
i\e in his methods, a careful buyer who appre- 
iates the value of small as well as large mar- 
;-ins, and thus far he has made no mistakes, as 
lis present prosperous condition abundantly at- 
ests. 

Mr. Wilhelm is a Catholic in religion, a 
democrat m politics and a worthy member of 
he Odd Fellows fraternity. He has been ac- 
ive in municipal affairs and for a period of 
our years represented his ward in the city coun- 
il, during which time he was regarded as 
>ne of the most faithful, hard working and 
onscientious members of that body. In the 
'ear 1885 he contracted a matrimonial alliance 
vith Mary Ann Brankel, of Canton, who has 
)orne him three children, namely : Harvey, 
Corner and Norman. Mr. Wilhelm is a gentle- 
nan in all the term implies, honest to a fault, 
ndustrious, public spirited and a true type of 
he intelligent, enterprising American business 
nan of todav. 



CLARENCE J. PARKER.— One of Can- 
on's popular and well-known young men is 
Vir. Parker, who has here made his home from 
he time of his birth and who is now engaged 
n the government service as a railway postal 
:lerk. his route at the time of this writing being 
)etween Pittsburg and Chicago, while he has 
)roved himself a capable and discriminating 
official in this position, which calls for the ut- 
nost discrimination, exactitude and extensive 
cnowledge of towns and cities in all sections 
)f the Union and of the various routes of trans- 



portation, the manifold details of the work 
being little understood by one not personally 
familiar with this important branch of the 
government service. 

Mr. Parker w"as born in the family resi- 
dence, on \\'est Eighth street. Canton, on the 
9th of September, 1878, and his educational 
discipline was here received in the public schools 
which he continued to attend until he had at- 
tained the age of seventeen years, after which he 
was for four years bookkeeper in the George 
D. Harter Bank, later being employed in va- 
rious capacities. While in the bank he had 
made a careful study in regard to the mail 
service, securing books which would afford him 
the greatest possible amount of information, 
and on the 29th of August, 1900, he received 
his appointment as railway postal clerk, in 
which position he has since rendered most ef- 
ficient service. He was married in Canton, 
May 27. 1903. to Miss Beatrice Oldfield, of 
Canton. He gives his allegiance to the Repub- 
lican party, is a member of Trinity Reformed 
church and is identified with the Junior Order 
of United American Meclianics, being popular 
in the social circles of his home city and hav- 
ing gained the reputation of being a young men 
of principle and determinate ambition. 

James Parker, father of the subject, was 
born in England, whence he was brought by 
his sister to the United States when a child 
of four years, and was here reared and educated, 
being a blacksmith by trade and vocation, while 
he was a well-known and honored citizen of 
Canton for the past half century. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Flora Hardman, was 
born in Warren. Ohio, and they are the parents 
of seven children. 



WILLIAM SHOOF, who has achieved 
much more than local reputation as a con- 
tractor and builder, is a native of Canton, 
Ohio, born on East Third street in what is 



304 



OLD LANDMARKS 



known as the Shoof homestead, April 12, 1854, 
being the son of Andrew and Catherine (Ul- 
rich) Shoof, a sketcli of whose family history 
will be found in the biography of John Shoof, 
on another page of this work. The early life 
of the subject was spent in his native city and 
until fifteen years of age he attended the public 
schools, acquiring during the interval a pretty 
thorough knowledge of the branches consti- 
tuting the curriculum. In his sixteenth year 
he entered upon an apprenticeship with his 
brother to learn brick-laying, and after serving 
three years and becoming an efficient mason, 
he began earning wages as a "jour" workman, 
■ continuing in that capacity until attaining his 
majority. Mr. Shoof engaged in business for 
himself at the age of twenty-two and since that 
time has devoted his attention very closely and 
successfully to contracting and building, his 
advancement the meanwhile, from an unknown 
mechanic to his present high position in the 
industrial world, bespeaking not only a thor- 
ough mastery of his chosen vocation, but 
energy, foresight and a comprehensive grasp 
of situations such as few possess. As a con- 
tractor he has done much to advance the ma- 
terial interests of Canton and to beautify the 
same, having erected many of the largest and 
most conspicuous buildings in the city, both 
public and private, notably among which may 
be enumerated the Dinnemiller wholesale 
grocery house, the Canton Brewing Plant, the 
Stark Rolling Mills, the Canton Tin Plate Mill, 
and many others here and elsewhere, the mere 
mention of which would far transcend the limits 
of an article of the character of this review. 
Mr. Shoof has just completed the plant of the 
Banner Manufacturing Company, which is one 
of the largest and most imposing buildings of 
the kind in the city, the undertaking being of 
great magnitude and requiring three months to 
complete. 

Mr. Shoof has led a very busy life, its 
usefulness commensurate with the activitv dis- 



played in all of his enterprises, and its reward 
being not only the ample competence resulting 
from his labors, but also the conspicuous place 
he occupies in the industrial circles of his city. 
county and state. In politics he is a Republi- 
can, but the pressing claims of his business 
interests have been so great as to prevent very 
active participation in party affairs, conse- 
quently he has never sought office at the hands 
of his fellow citizens, nor aspired to leadership 
or public honors. He holds membership with 
the Free and Accepted Masons, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, and tire Junior Order 
United American Mechanics fraternities and in 
religion is a Presbyterian, being a member of 
the First church of that denomination in the 
city of Canton. 

The married life of Mr, Shoof dates from 
November 1878, when he was united in the 
bonds of wedlock with Miss Mary A. Young, 
daughter of George and Wilhelmina Young, of 
Pennsylvania, the union resulting in the birth 
of a son, Harry C, who is now his father's 
business associate. 



^^TLLIAM R. DAY.— What of the man 
and what of his work? This is the dual 
query winch represents the interrogation, at 
least nominally entertained whenever that 
discriminating factor, the public, would pro- 
nounce on the true worth of the individual. 
The career of Judge Da}- indicates the clear- 
cut, sane and distinct character, and in re- 
viewing the .same from an unbiased and un- 
])reiudiced standpoint interpretation follows 
fact in a straight line of deri\-ation. In this 
])ublication it is consistent that such a re\-ie\v 
be entered, and that without the adulation 
which is so intrinsically repugnant to the man 
as he stands among his fellows. The city of 
Canton nattirally takes pride in the work ac- 
complished by Judge Day, now an associate 
iustice of the sunreme court of the United 




; nf/Ziams ££nt Ny 



TIhJ/^ 



. e. I 



7^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



305 



States, ami consistency demands tliat he be 
given the relative precedence in a work winch 
has to do with those who have lived and la- 
bored to good pnqjose within the confines of 
Stark county. 

William Rufus Day was born in Ravenna, 
Ohio, on the 17th of April, 1849, '^^^'^ there 
received his early educational training in the 
public schools. In September, 1866, he was 
matriculated in the literary department of the 
University of Michigan, in which he was 
graduated as a member of the class of 1870. 
In this connection it is gratifying to quote 
from an article Avritten by one of his fellow 
students in the university and published in 
the April edition, 1903, of the Michigan 
Alumnus ; "If there be anything in parentage 
that tends to shape the career of a man. Jus- 
tice Day may be said to have come naturally 
1))- his abilities as a lawyer and judge. His 
tatiier, the Hon. Luther Day, when at the 
Ohio bar, was one of its most capable trial 
lawyers. He is described as an advocate of 
marked ability and great eloquence. But he 
was not, as is so often the case, so entirely an 
advocate that he was unfitted for judicial 
service. He had the rare ability and tempei^a- 
ment, as has his distinguished son, that en- 
abled him to be an advocate when it was his 
place and duty to be one and a most impartial 
and discriminating judge when called upon to 
administer even justice upon the bench. He 
was for many years a member of the supreme 
court of Ohio, and his opinions, characterized 
as the)' are by lucidit\- of statement and com- 
])rehensiveness of \-iew. place him in the front 
rank as a judge. The mother of Justice Day 
was the daughter of Judge Spalding, also of 
the supreme court of Ohio, and for some 
time a member of congress from the Cleve- 
land district, and the granddaughter of Chief 
Justice Swift, of Connecticut. With such a 
parentage and \\\i\\ the environment which it 
must have brought, it is plain that Justice Day 

19 



must in his youth have lived in an atmosphere 
that would be a perpetual and powerful stim- 
ulus to a career at the bar and upon the bench." 
Continuing its appreciative estimate, the 
same article speaks further as follows : "Jus- 
tice Day began his preparation for the bar at 
his home in Ravenna, Ohio, soon after his 
graduation in the university, and here began 
his devoted and persistent work as a student. 
Although possessed of a mind and tempera- 
ment admirably fitted for the law, his success 
has been due in no small degree to the habit 
of study and patient investigation that has 
characterized his entire professional life. His 
fiist )'ear of preparatory study was spent in 
the ofifice of the Hon. George F. Robinson, of 
Ravenna, and the next in the department of 
law of the University of Michigan. He was 
admitted to the Ohio bar July 5, 1872, and 
soon thereafter formed a partnership for the 
practice of law at Canton, Ohio, with Wil- 
liam A. Uynch, under the firm name of Lynch 
& Day. Mr. Lynch was at this time in full 
general practice and was also the prosecuting 
attorney for Stark county. During his en- 
tire career as a lawyer Justice Day was a mem- 
ber of this firm, although its style was changed 
from time to time, as its membership changed. 
He was the senior member of the firm when 
summoned to public duties by the late Presi- 
dent McKinley. With the exception of one 
year, when he was on the common pleas bench 
of the ninth judicial district of Ohio, Justice 
Day was continually in the practice of the law 
from 1872 until 1S97, ^vhen he was called 
to W^ashington. During this time he had a 
large general practice in the state and federal 
courts of northern Ohio and was recognized 
as a safe adviser and an exceptionally able 
trial lawyer. His cases were thoi'oughly pre- 
pared and clearly presented. His association 
with the late President McKinley began in 
1872. For a quarter of a century he was Mr. 
McKinlev's most intimate friend and trusted 



3o6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



adviser. After the latter's retirieinent from 
the practice of law Justice Day became liis 
counsel in legal matters, and he is now one of 
the administrators of his estate. None knew 
so well as did the lamented President the ex- 
traordinary intellectual gifts, the sound judg- 
ment and the genuine worth of this diligent 
and painstaking lawyer, and when he came to 
the responsibilities and perplexities of his 
great office he naturally turned to him for as- 
sistance and advice. 

"It has been mentioned that Justice Day 
served for one year upon the common pleas 
bench. His period of service began in 1886 
and ended in 1887. He resigned the position 
not because judicial duties were uncongenial 
or because he felt himself unfitted by tempera- 
ment for work on the bench, but because he 
found it impossible to live upon the salary and 
make proper provision for his family. His 
conspicuous qualifications for judicial services 
were early recognized, and he was frequently 
urged to accept judicial honors. In 1889 the 
late President Harrison appointed him dis- 
trict judge for the northern district of Ohio, 
an appointment that he desired to accept, but 
he was led to decline the honor by reason of 
a threatened breaking of his health. 

"JiTStice Day's notable public services be- 
gan with his appointment as assistant secre- 
tary of state in April, 1897. Up to that time 
he was practically unknown in Washington or 
by the public at large. But even before this 
appointment he was an influence in public af- 
fairs, for to him the President frequently turned 
for advice upon the many new and important 
questions with which he was confronted. And 
to render aid in this quiet and modest way, 
rather than through the holding of offi- 
cial place, was his desire. For him the social 
life of Washington had no charm. It has been 
said that he avoided it as eagerly as many men 
seek it. Put it early became apparent that 
Secretarv Sherman, bv reason of age and dis- 



abilities, was unequal to the diplomatic emer- 
gencies that were developing. He had sur- 
rendered his seat in the senate to accept the 
state portfolio, and under the circumstances 
it was not probable that his resignation would 
be forthcoming in the near future. A strong 
man was needed as assistant secretary, a m;ui 
of discrimination, judgment, courage; a man 
who, though occupying a subordinate rank, 
would be capable of performing the duties of 
secretary to the satisfaction of the country and 
in a way that would not wound the feelings 
of his superior. The situation called for a 
man of exceptional ability and extraordinary 
tact. In his tried and trusted lawyer, friend 
and associate the President knew that he 
would find such a man. The only appeal that 
could reach him and induce him to assume the 
responsibilities of public office was one based 
upon personal friendship and public duty, and 
to this Justice Day yielded. The step involved 
not only great pecuniary sacrifice, and the risk 
of impaired health, but also the chance of fail- 
ure, for the field was to him an untried one. 
That he accepted under the circumstances 
shows the stuff that is in the man." 

Of Justice Day's services in this connec- 
tion an article appearing in the Review of Re- 
views of September, 1898, spoke as follows: 
"For one year as assistant secretary he per- 
formed the duties of secretary of state, except 
those ceremonial functions which the secre- 
tary of state could perforin and attendance 
upon cabinet meetings, which became purely 
ceremonial on the part of the secretary. As- 
sistant Day going over the state department 
business with the President before or after 
cabinet meetings. It was hard to do this day 
after day without offending the nominal sec- 
retary of state or impairing the dignity of that 
venerable statesman's position. But Mr. Day 
showed by his manner, as he did by his work. 
that he was a natural diplomat in the best 
sense of the word, and he preserved to the end 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



307 



that ccurteotis fiction which tlie circumstances 
demanded. Everybody who had serious busi- 
ness with the state department went to Assist- 
ant Secretary Day because that was the way 
to get it done; but none of his callers ever 
heard him put into words what they ah recog- 
nized as the extraordinary and unprecedented 
situation of the department. If they had any 
considerable conversation with him they dis- 
covered that they were dealing with a singu- 
larly strong and silent man. They found that 
■he never said too much or too little for his 
own purpose, that he was absolutely truthful 
and straightforward, and that he spoke with 
unusual clearness and cogency and candor, but 
above all with the most discreet reticence and 
perfect self-possession. In Washington, 
where every official secret is open and the 'ex- 
ecutive sessions' only emphasize the fact, the 
new man's ability to keep his own counsel and 
that of the President, whose representative he 
was as well, deepened the impression of power 
which was conveyed by what he did say, and 
helped on the idea, soon generally accepted, 
that he would be able to cope with any cir- 
cumstance and with any antagonist." 

The writers who have been thus quoted, 
and who had exceptional facilities for fully 
canvassing the data from which their articles 
were prepared, have written so consistently 
and appreciatively that there can be no meas- 
ure of impropriety in drawing farther from 
these sources. At this point recourse is again 
had to the article appearing in the Michigan 
Alumnus, the official publication of the alum- 
rife association of the University of Michigan : 

"In May, 1898, Justice Day became secre- 
tary of state. At that time the country did 
not know, as it now knows, that the promotion 
involved for him little change so far as 
duties and responsibilities were concerned. It 
has been said that 'it really involved nothing 
more than mo\ing from one room into the 
next, drawing a larger salary and attending 



formal cabinet meetings and occasions of cere- 
mony.' He brought to his duties the mental 
habits of the thoroughly trained lawyer. In 
this public capacity he served the country 
with the same faithfulness and devotion that 
had characterized him in the service of his 
clients. No man could have a higher standard 
than was his. The brief period of his service 
demanded prompt action, almost daily, upon 
grave questions of international importance, 
and in every instance he proved himself equal 
to the emergency. The mental grasp, the 
judgment, the discrimination and the discre- 
tion of the man are apparent when we remem- 
ber that he had to meet the grave responsibili- 
ties of his office without previous training in 
pttblic affairs and without diplomatic experi- 
ence; and his straightforward and genuine 
character is manifest in the conditions upon 
which he accepted the trust — that Professor 
John Bassett Moore, a Democrat in politics, 
should be appointed assistant secretary be- 
cause of his acknowledged attainments in in- 
ternational law. Justice Day's most conspicu- 
ous and masterly service as secretary was 
undoubtedly rendered in the negotiations con- 
nected with Spain's request for our terms of 
peace. His determination and prompt action 
brought to an end difficulties that under the 
jurisdiction of a weaker man would undoubt- 
edly have resulted in prolonged diplomatic 
correspondence, if not in more serious results. 
The remarkable tribute paid to Justice Day by 
the late President McKinley, when speaking 
of his services in the state department. 'Judge 
Day has made absolutely no mistakes,' was 
undoubtedly well merited. 

"With the closing of hostilities Justice 
Day felt that he might honorably retire from 
tlie state department. To this President Mc- 
Kinley reluctantly consented, upon condition 
that he should go upon the peace commission 
appointed to negotiate the Paris treaty with 
Spain. This appointment was in line with the 



308 



OLD LANDMARKS 



diplomatic \\oi"l>: in which he had been so suc- 
cessfully engaged and was generally recognized 
as most appropriate. The dignified and effect- 
ive part that he took in the Paris negotiations 
contributed largely to the success of the com- 
mission. 'J"he framing and signing of the 
treaty of peace having been accomplished, the 
time had come when Justice Day could return 
to his professional work. He had aided the 
President during the most critical and trying 
])eriod of his administration and he had given 
to his country the best service that it was in 
his power to render. Notwithstanding his 
success in the difficult role of secretary and dip- 
lomat, he always regarded his services in this 
field ar. temporary and felt that his life work 
should be in liis profession. An opportunity 
that was in the direct line of his ambition came 
to him in February, 1899, when he was ap- 
pointed United States circuit judge for the 
sixth judicial circuit. His eminent fitness for 
service upon the federal bench was at once ap- 
parent, and it very soon became a foregone 
conclusion that his promotion to the supreme 
bench w-ould not be long in following. This 
came In l^'ebruary of the present year (1903), 
his appointment being universally regarded, 
both by the people and by the profession, as 
most appropriate and merited. Justice Day 
enters upon his new duties conspicuously 
qualified by temperament and training for 
their successful discharge, and if health and 
strength are spared him we may confidently 
predict a most brilliant and eft'ective career." 
In this connection it may be said that there 
are no duties that any officer of gox'ernment 
is called upon to ])erform which are so serious 
in their consequences to the lives, lil)erties, 
characters and property of their fellow men 
as. those embraced in the performance of judi- 
cial functions. If the stream of justice be im- 
])ure or weak and uncertain then government 
itself has failed and been dishonored. If jus- 
tice be not arlministered with an impartiality 



and intelligence that ciimnian<l respect, then 
has the last barrier been reached and the gov- 
ernment in which sucli conditions exist has 
become unworthy of preservation. Thus it 
will be seen how imperative it is that the right 
men lie called to the exercise of judicial func- 
ticjus from the highest to the lowest tribunals, 
and the brief outline here given of the career 
of Justice Day gives us the assurance that his 
appointment to the supreme bench comes as a 
fitting crown to his able and faithful services, 
and he brings to Ijear a deep knowledge of the 
law, an unusual power of analysis, scholarly 
attainments and a thoroughly judicial mnid. 
He has ever been an able advocate of the prin- 
ciples of the Republican party, but is in no 
sense a politician in the commonl)- accepted 
significance of the term. In his home city of 
(^anton his friends are in number as his ac- 
quaintances, and all view with gratification 
the wiii^k he has accomplished and the distin- 
guislied preferment which has come to him. 

On the 24th of August, 1875, Justice Day 
was united in marriage to Miss JMary E. 
Schaefer, of Canton, daughter of Louis Schae- 
fer, one of the honored pioneers of Stark coun- 
ty, and of this union have been born four chil- 
dren — William I-., Luther, Stephen A. and 
Rufus S. 



REV. J. HARRISON JONES.— This 
brief record of a long, eventful and eminent- 
ly useful life, and to say the least, of a most re- 
markable career, will doubtless be read with in- 
terest by the many friends of the honored sub- 
ject, throughout the state which, for over three- 
quarters of a century, has lieen the scene of his 
struggles and victories. The unique distinc- 
tion of being the oldest minister of the gospel 
in Ohio, both in point of age and continuous 
service, belongs to Elder J. H. Jones. Of the 
fathers of what is termed the "Current Refof- 
mation," a religious movement inaugurated as 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



309 



early as 1809 by Thomas and Alexander 
Campbell, Walter Scott and others he is per- 
haps the sole survivor. For many years he was 
a co-laborer with those worthies and he bore 
no small part in shaping and directing what 
has since become one of the remarkable relig- 
ious reformations in history. Elder Jones is 
not only the oldest divine of his own commun- 
ion in the state of Ohio but his record of over 
three-quarters of a century of active service in 
disseminating the sublime truths of the gospel 
is perhaps without a parallel in any church in 
this country. His has indeed been a full life, 
fraught with strenuous endeavor and untold 
blessings to humanity, and today, after the 
heat of the conflict has somewhat subsided, re- 
taining the full possession of his magnificent 
mental faculties and much of his erstwhile vig- 
orous physicial powers, he is still a striking ex- 
ample of the consecrated disciple, whose zeal 
the passing years has but slightly modified and 
whose beautiful life is a continuous sermon as 
potent and forceful, perhaps, as when, a master 
of assemblages, he swayed with burning elo- 
quence and fervid zeal the thousands who lis- 
tened to his matchless presentation of the simple 
story of the Nazarene. 

Elder J. H. Jones was born in Trumlxill 
county, Ohio, on the 15th day of June, 181 3. 
His father was Isaiah Jones, a native of Lou- 
doun county, Virginia, and his uKither, Sarah 
Hartford, was also born and reared in that 
commonwealth, both being descended from 
old and prominent families that figured con- 
spicuously in the early history of their com- 
munities. Isaiah Jones was a son-in-law of a 
clergyman by the name of Thomas, whose fam- 
ily settled in Hilltown. Pennsylvania, in 171 1, 
and who during the war of the Revolution 
served as chaplain in \Vashington's immedi- 
ate command, having been the personal friend 
and spiritual advisor of the Father of his Coun- 
try. Shortly after his marriage, Isaiah Jones 
left Virginia and took up his residence in the 



Western Reserve, locating in what is now 
Trumbull county, Ohio, his main reason for 
changing his abode being his uncompromis- 
ing opposition to slavery. After farming a 
few years in Trumbull, he disposed of his in- 
terests there and removed to Wooster, where 
for a number of years he was engaged in the 
mercantile business. Subsecjuently he lived for 
a few years in the county of Wayne and from 
there removed to Crawford county, where he 
entered land and devoted his attention to agri- 
cultural pursuits. Mr. Jones' later years were 
largely given to farming and stock raising 
and he li\'ed to a good old age, dying in the 
county of Wayne in his seventy-ninth or eigh- 
tieth year. To Isaiah and Sarah (Hartford) 
Jones were born eight children, only two of 
whom survive, the subject of this review and 
Mrs. Anna Butler, of Monmouth, Illinois, the 
latter a remarkably preserved lady of ninety- 
four years, the widow of the late Isaac Butler, 
of that city. 

J. Harrison Jones lived with his parents 
until his sixteenth year and early became 
familiar with the stirring scenes and vicissi- 
tudes of pioneer life. Owing to the absence of 
school facilities his early education was some- 
what limited, but being of a studious nature and 
a great lover of books he subsequently made up 
for this deficiency by reading and study at 
home, in this way in due time becoming the pos- 
sessor of a large fund of useful knowledge. 
Mr. Jones' mind was early attracted to relig- 
ious subjects and while a mere lad became a 
reader and close student of the sacred scrip- 
tures, the result of which very materially af- 
fected his life and changed his future course 
of action. He was a youth in his teens when 
the great religious awakening spread over Ohio 
and throughout the west, and its influence had 
much to do in shaping his character and di- 
recting him into the work to which his life has 
been so closely and ceaselessly devoted. Hav- 
ing made a public profession of religion and 



3IO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



believing it his duty to devote his talents to the 
service of the Master, as a minister of the gos- 
pel, he began his preparatory studies for the 
same under the direction of Elder John Se- 
christ, an able and scholarly preacher, and one 
of the first to proclaim tlie simple faith of the 
Current Reformation throughout the west- 
ern and northern counties of Ohio. In com- 
pany with Elder Sechrist, young Jones started 
out on an evangelistic tour which took a very 
wide range, making appointments at different 
places and preaching wherever favorable oppor- 
tunities presented themselves. This tour marked 
the beginning of Elder Jones' labor as a preach- 
er. Possessing decided forensic talent, the 
youthful minister was heard gladly by the peo- 
ple and his fame as a clear, forcible and elo- 
quent speaker preceding" him wherever he went, 
he was always greeted by large and appreciative 
audiences. He remained several years with 
Elder Sechrist, studying when not actively en- 
gaged in the work of the ministry, but realiz- 
ing the great responsibilities resting upon him 
and perceiving the harvest so ripe and the reap- 
ers so few, he devoted the greater part of his 
time to the preaching of the word, his labors 
being greatly blessed in winning souls to the 
higher life. 

Later Elder Jones travelled by himself over 
the greater part of Ohio, preaching fearlessly 
but lovingly the pure, simple claims of the gos- 
pel as practiced by the primitive disciples, bold- 
ly assailing long-established prejudices, declar- 
ing against the sin of sectarianism and a di- 
vided church, and hesitating not to apply the 
axe to creeds and dogmatic statements of doc- 
trines, conceived in an age of religious intol- 
erance and nurtured by centuries of ecclesiasti- 
cal despotism. He planted churches with the 
Bible alone as the rule of faith and practice, in 
many places, looked after these congregations 
with a fatherly interest and during his itiner- 
ancy of over fifteen years preached in groves, 
in humble private dwellings, school houses. 



public halls, in fact any place he could find a 
hearing, his audiences ranging in size from a 
half dozen lowly backwoodsmen and their 
wives to thousands of the most cultured, re- 
tined and critical people. 

Realizing the need of a more thorough in- 
tellectual training than could be obtained from 
private study alone, Mr. Jones, in 1834, en- 
tered an academy at VVadsworth, Ohio, where 
he took a two-years course, the meantime de- 
voting the Lord's days and vacations to his 
ministerial work. Li the year 1836 he was 
united in marriage to Miss Lauretta Pardee, 
daughter of Judge Allen Pardee and a lineal 
descendant of Robert Morris, one of the sign- 
ers of the Declaration of Independence and the 
great financier of the colonies during the Revo- 
lutionary struggle. Mrs. Jones' grandmother, 
Abigail Gage, was a sister of General Gage, 
the commander of the British forces in Boston 
at the beginnnig of the war for independence; 
she married a gentleman by the name of Ste- 
phen Foster, who was loyal to the colonies, and 
who at the breaking out of the war entered 
the American army as captain and achieved a 
distinguished record as a brave and gallant 
soldier and fearless officer. 

Finishing his course at the academy. Elder 
Jones located at Wooster, Ohio, where 'he made 
his home for a period of fourteen j'cars. dur- 
ing which time he built up the church at that 
place from a membership of twehe ti) over 
two hundred, besides preaching at many other 
points and gathering in scores of converts by 
special meetings. Leaving Wooster, he took 
up his residence for a few years at Bedford, 
thence removed to Cleveland and still later to 
Alliance, holding pastorates in these cities and 
greatly strengthening the congregation in each. 
Subsequently he labored with much acceptance 
for churches at different places, his wonderful 
oratorical abilities as well as his keen, incisi\e 
reasoning powers en using such a wide-spread 
demand for his services that he found it im- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



311 



possible to respond to but very few of the many 
urgent calls. 

In 1861, at tlie earnest solicitation of his 
warm personal friend, James A. Garfield, be- 
tween whom and himself the closest ties of 
companionship liad long existed, Elder Jones 
became chaplain of the latter's regiment; he 
served in this capacity three years, participat- 
ed in many of the bloodiest battles of the war, 
and while at the front was ready and willing 
at all times to face danger and death in the 
discharge of his duties. When President Gar- 
held died. Elder Jones assisted in conducting 
the funeral services and the address he de- 
livered upon the occasion, abounding in pathos 
and affectionate references to the beloved chief 
magistrate, made a deep and lasting impression 
upon the grief stricken audience that heard it. 

In the year 1871 Elder Jones moved his 
family to Alliance, in which city he has since 
made his home. Until quite recently he was ac- 
tively engaged in the labors of his holy office, 
but he is now resting somewhat from the bur- 
den and heat, in a life of honorable retirement, 
surrounded by faithful and devoted friends and 
carrying with him into his retreat the blessings 
and benedictions of the thousands of his ad- 
miring countrymen and fellow citizens, many 
of whom, through his instrumentality, have 
been redeemed from sin and lifted to a higher 
plane of living. 

Elder Jones' long and eventful experience 
has brought him in contact with all classes and 
conditions of people and his life if written in 
detail would form a volume of deep and ab- 
sorbing interest. He has met and been on terms 
of intimacy with many of the leading public 
men of the country, including Presidents, 
judges and many other distinguished actors in 
our national liistory, among whom may be men- 
tioned Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, 
William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, 
Benjamin Harrison, James A. Garfield, to say 
nothing of tlie hundreds of others in high sta- 



tion who were proud to claim him as a friend. 
According to an approximately reliable esti- 
mate, he has baptized and received into the 
church ten thousand converts, solemnized over 
a thousand marriage ceremonies, officiated at 
a greater number of funerals, traveled thous- 
ands of miles on horseback, during the early 
days of his ministry, besides covering an exten- 
sive territory by more modern means of loco- 
motion. His life has been a series of conse- 
crations to the Master's service, as already 
stated, a continuous sermon, and the vast 
amount of good accomplished through his in- 
strumentality will only be known in the day 
when' the "books are opened" and man re- 
warded for his deeds and influence. 

As a preacher Elder Jones has long enjoyed 
a high reputation, not only in his own commun- 
ion but among all I'rotestant bodies in Ohio 
and many other states. As a pulpit orator he 
stands unique, and he is perhaps without a peer 
as a master of assemblages; in his power to 
sway audiences at will, he has few equals and is 
perhaps without a superior. His forensic abil- 
ities are of the highest order and the late 
President Garfield, one of the great orators of 
this country, pronounced him one of the most 
eloquent speakers in the United States. 

Always zealous in his work of the minis- 
try. Elder Jones has also kept abreast with the 
times in matters of public and political import. 
In his younger days he was a Democrat, but in 
1854 he transferred his allegiance to the Re- 
publican party, and has ever since been a zeal- 
ous and unswerving Republican, and as such 
is fearless in expressing his opinions and un- 
tiring in his efforts to uphold the principles 
of the party and to contribute to its success. 
As a citizen he is not indifferent to his duties 
to the public, being interested in all legitimate 
measures and means for advancement of the 
genei'al welfare. Although in his ninety-first 
year. Elder Jones, as already indicated, re- 
tains in a marked degree the possession of his 



312 



OLD LANDMARKS 



mental and physical faculties, being as keen and 
alert in mind as in the days of his prime, and 
in body, capable of enduring remarkable exer- 
tions for one of such advanced age. He has 
never known any serious indisposition, his 
health from childhood having been uniformly 
good and, coming of a family noted for lon- 
gevity, he bids fair to live many years before 
rounding out the full life which has so greatly 
blessed the world and benefited mankind. 

Of the eight children born to Elder and 
Mrs. Jones, seven are living, namely: Helen, 
widow of David Solliday; William A., of Can- 
ton; Jefferson H., of Chicago, Illinois; Emma 
P.. wife of William Heston, of Homestead, 
Pennsylvania; Isaiah B., a resident of Ashland, 
Ohio; Mary C, who married Hiram M. Tur- 
ner, of Pueblo, Colorado, and Kimball P., 
whose home is in Johnson City, Tennessee. 
Anna, the deceased member of the family, was 
the wife of Norman A. Sherwin ; she left a 
son by the name of Ira R.. who lives at this 
time in Wichita. Kansas. 



\MLUAM H. CLARK is a native of 
the old Keystone state of the Union, having 
been born in Brownsville, Fayette countv. 
Pennsylvania, on the 19th of February. 1858, 
being a son of John F. and Permelia M. 
(Alexander) Clark. John F. Clark was born 
near \mity. Washington county, Pennsylva- 
nia, on the 6th of November, 1831, and he 
died in the city of Canton, Ohio, nn the 17th 
of February, 1896. His fatlier. Levi Clark, 
was likewise a native of the Keystone state, 
where he was born on the 22(1 of January. 
1S09. and he was in his earlier years quite 
extensively engaged in business as a (Inner, in 
connection with farming, and lie passed the 
later years of his life in agricultural pursuits 
near Salem. Henry county, Iowa, where he 
died about the year 1879. Flis wife, whose 
maiden name was Margaret Fulton, died at 



the home of her daughter, Lurania (Mrs. J. 
H. McVey), in the state of Idaho in the year 
1899 at the venerable age of ninety years. 
They l)ecame the parents of ten children, 
namely: Joim I<"ulton, father of the subject of 
this review ; Deborah, who was married to G. A. 
Kerr on the 17th of August, 1853; Lebbeus, 
who died in 1853; Isaac, who married Marie 
E. Sharp on the i8th of February, 1858; Isa- 
bel, who married Stephen Hill on the 2d of 
Septemlier, 1856; Lydia, who married Isaac 
Clerk on the ist of January, 1861 ; James Ful- 
ton, who married Martha J. Frazier on the 4th 
of January, 1872; Levi Herod, who died in 
infancy; Lurania, who married Josiah H. Mc- 
Vev on the 6th of March, 1866. and Silas, who 
married Mary A. Sweet on the 2gth of March, 
1872. Isaac Clark, the great-grandfather of 
the subject, was born in the state of New Jersey 
on the 28th of July, 1766. where the family 
had Ijeen established early in that century, and 
it is a matter of record that three of his brothers 
were active participants in the war of 1812. 
After his marriage he removed to southwest- 
ern Pennsylvania, where he passed the re- 
mainder of his life, as did also his wife, whose 
maiden name was Deborah French, She was 
born Nrivember 24, 1769, in New Jersey, and 
there their marriage was solemnized on the 
I2th of .\pril, 1786. He died on the 30th of 
November, 1842, while she passed away on 
the 30th of Decemljer, 1846. Of their chil- 
dren brief data is as follows: I'lKebe became 
the wife of Reason James. John married Ma- 
hila Clark, Aaron died unmarried, Silas mar- 
ried PhiDebe McFarland, Abner married Pattie 
Evans, Isaac married Martha Crockard ; Eze- 
kial married Joanna McFarland, ]Mary became 
the wife of John Fulton, Lebbeus married 
Mary Evans. Charlotte became the wife of 
Harvey Cutter, Deborah married Adam La- 
cock, Le\'i was the grandfather of the subject, 
Lurania married P)ethuel l^N-ans and Lvdia be- 
came the wife of )(ihn M. Reeves. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



313 



John F. Clark, father of the subject, was 
reared to maturity in Pennsylvania, and in his 
early manhood he followed the vocation of a 
drover in that state, while later he was en- 
gaged in farming. When the subject was an 
infant his parents removed from Pennsylvania 
to Henry county, Iowa, and thence, in 1864, 
to Canton, Stark county, and here William H. 
was reared and educated. Here his father es- 
tablished himself in the insurance business, be- 
coming agent for both fire and life insurance 
companies of the best order, and with this im- 
portant line of enterprise he continued to be 
actively identified until the time of his death, 
having built up a large and important business 
and having been honored as one of the upright 
and representative citizens of Stark county's 
attracti\e capital. He was for more than 
thirty years a member of the Canton First 
Presbyterian church, and for the major por- 
tion 1 if tliis time he held the office of elder and 
superintendent of the Sunday school in the 
same, his devoted wife being likewise an ear- 
nest and zealous member of the church. In 
politics he was originally an old-line Whig, 
but he espoused the cause of the Republican 
part}- shortly after its organization and ever 
afterward was a stanch ad\ocate of its princi- 
ples. 

C)n the 2d of September, 1856, in Freder- 
icktown, Washington county, Pennsylvania, 
John F. Clark was united in marriage to Miss 
Permelia M. Alexander, who was bonn near 
that place on the 22d of June, 1837, being a 
daughter of Andrew and Harriet (Lawrence) 
Alexander, the former of whom was of 
sturdy Scotch lineage and the latter of German 
ancestry in the paternal line. The original 
American progenitor of the Alexander family 
was Elias Alexander, who was born and 
reared in Scotland, whence he removed . into 
England and thence emigrated to America in 
the colonial days, locating in Maryland, where 
he engaged in agricultural pursuits. There he 



marrietl a Miss Bradley, and they later re- 
moved to Washington county, Pennsylvania, 
where they passed the remainder of their lives. 
His son Isaac was born in Washington county, 
and there he continued to be a farmer until 
his death. His son Plenry was likewise born 
in that county, and there was solemnized his 
marriage to Miss Mary Young, who was of 
Scottish ancestry, and both died there. Their 
son Joseph was born and reared in Washing- 
ton county and there married Miss Jeanette 
Montgomery, being of partly French extrac- 
tion and the same family line as General Mont- 
gomery of Revolutionary fame. Joseph Alex- 
ander, like his fatheii and grandfather, was a 
farmer in his native county, which continued 
to lie his home until his death. His son An- 
drew, the maternal grandfather of the subject 
of this review, was born on the old home farm 
in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and 
there he recei\-ed an academic education. He 
became a prominent and influential citizen in 
his section of the Keystone state, where he was 
engaged in merchandising and also in the 
mining of coal, which he shipped to points as 
far distant as New Orleans, utilizing flatboats 
on the Ohio and Mississippi ri\'erts. He owned 
a mercantile establishment in Fredericktown 
and also a valuable farm in the vicinity. He 
took a prominent part in public affairs and was 
for a number of years captain in the state mili- 
tia. In his native county Andrew Alexander 
was married to Miss Harriet Lawrence, whose 
ancestors came from the Rhine district of Ger- 
many to the United States in order to escape 
religious persecutions, the name having been 
originalh' spelled Lorenz. They settled in 
Maryland, whence members of the family later 
removed to Fayette count}-. Pennsylvania, 
where Harriet (Lawrence) Alexander was 
horn, being a daughter of Jonathan Lawrence, 
/.ho was a son of William, the emigrant an- 
cestor. In an early day Anilrew Alexander 
came to Ohio aiid i)iu"chascfl a farni in Dela- 



314 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ware county, after which he returned to Penn- 
sylvania for his family, but was taken ill and 
(lid not live to establish his home in the Buck- 
e3'e state, his death occurring in his native 
county in 1853. His widow came to Ohio to 
join her children, and here passed the remain- 
der of her life. Of their children brief record 
is as follows : William was for a number of 
years a prominent member of the Stark county 
bar, and here remained until 1868, when he 
removed to the city of Toledo, where he was 
engaged in the insurance business until his 
death; Jeanette jNI. married Colonel Benjamin 
F. Pond, of Malta, Morgan county ; Permelia 
Matilda is the mother of the subject and still 
maintains her home in Canton ; Montgomery 
D. is a representative citizen of Canton ; Henry 
Duncan is likewise an honored resident of this 
city; Harriet Louisa is the wife of Daniel Wal- 
ters, of Oskaloosa, Iowa ; West L. is a resident 
of Canton and is individually mentioned else- 
where in this volume; Sarah Isadore married 
D. K. Allender and died in Canton, and Emma 
Josephine married William Cox and died in 
Canton. The children born to JMr. and Mrs. 
Clark were as follows: The subject; Andrew 
L.. born November 26, 1863: Margaret, Oc- 
tober 25, 1870, and Grace, born September 12, 
1877. 

William H. Clark was about six years of 
age at the time when his parents took up their 
residence in Canton, and here he has since 
maintained bis home and here risen to a posi- 
tion of prominence in the business life of the 
city and in the esteem and good will of the 
community. He secured his educational dis- 
cipline in the public schools of Canton. ha\-ing 
been graduated in the high school as a mem- 
ber of the class of 1878. Mr. Clark is secre- 
tary and treasurer of the Ohio Millers' Fire 
Insurance Company, while his other business 
interests are important. He is president of the 
Savings and Loan Company, vice-president of 
the First National Bank of Canton, a director 



in the City National Bank, president of the 
Sanitary Mdk Company and vice-president of 
the J. H. McLain Company of Canton, manu- 
facturers of heating boilers and radiators. He 
is a man of excellent business and executi\e 
talent, progressive in his ideas and public- 
spirited in his attitude, being loyal to the in- 
terests of his home city and ever ready to aid 
legitimate undertakings for the general good. 
In politics Mr. Clark is found arrayed as a 
stalwart advocate of the principles of the Re- 
publican party, but he has never manifested 
an iota of political ambition in the seeking of 
official preferment. He is a valued member 
of the First Presbyterian church, in whose 
faith he was reared from his childhood. Mr. 
Clark has not as yet joined the ranks of Bene- 
dicts, but is one of the distinctively popular 
bachelors of Canton, where his frdends are in 
number as his acquaintances. 



JULIUS WHITING, Jr., is an able mem- 
ber of the bar of Stark county and a representa- 
tive of one of the sterling pioneer families of 
the city and county in which he now lives and 
of which he is a native son. His ancestral 
history betokens long and prominent identifica- 
tion of the name witl: the annals of American 
history, the original American progenitor hav- 
ing come from England and taken up his abode 
in the colony of Massachusetts prior to the 
middle of the seventeenth century. From a 
history of Lynn, Massachusetts, compiled by 
Arnold Lewis, who had recourse to town and 
colony records of divers orders, we are able 
to quote interesting passages apropos of the an- 
cestral history of the subject, and these ex- 
tracts cannot fail of permanent value as here 
entered. It may be said that the town of Lynn 
was founded in 1629, and vmder date of 1636 
is found reference to the original progenitor 
of the Whiting family in America. In the fol- 




j£37rf ifU ^'.^. i'ifi//i. 



fiO/ns --■ 



/: 



///////.) ^W//////^/. y?' 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



315 



lowing paragraphs we quote from the compila- 
tion mentioned : 

1636. — The Rev. Samuel Whiting arrived from Eng- 
land in June and was installed pastor of the church of 
Lynn on Tuesday, November 8th. The council remained 
two days and found much difficulty in organizing the 
church, which was composed of only six members be- 
sides the minister. (16.37) The Rev. Thomas Cobbet 
arrived from England on June 26th and was installed 
colleague in the ministry with Mr. Whiting. Mr. 
Whiting was styled the pastor and Mr. Cobbet was 
called teacher. On November isth the name of the 
town was changed from Sangus to Lynn. The name 
was given in respect to Mr. Whiting and others who 
came from the town of Lynn Regis, or King's Lynn, in 
Norfolk, England. (1638) In an apportionment of 
the public lands is found "Mr. Samuel Whiting, the 
pastor, two hundred acres." (1657-63) Mr. Samuel 
Whiting testified in court and in 1663 addressed a let- 
ter, written in a handsome manner, to the county clerk 
at Ipswich, from the church of Lynn. (1679) In the 
number of ministers of New England there were few 
who deserved a higher celebrity for the purity of their 
character and the fervor of their piety than the Rev. 
Samuel Whiting. 

Mr. Whiting was born at Boston, in Lincolnshire, 
England, on November 20, 1597. His father, John 
Whiting, was mayor of that city in 1600 and 1608, and 
his brother John obtained the same office in 1655. Hav- 
ing completed his studies in the school of his 
birthplace, he entered the university at Cambridge, 
where he had for his classmate his cousin, Anthony 
Tuckney, afterwards master of St. John's College, with 
whom he commenced a friendship which was not 
quenched by the waters of the Atlantic. He received 
impressions of piety at an early age. Having taken his 
degree, he entered holy orders and became chaplain to 
a family of five ladies and two knights, Sir Nathaniel 
Bacon and Sir Roger Townsend, with whom he re- 
sided three years. He then went to Lynn, England, 
where he spent three years more, with Mr. Price as his 
colleague. While at this place complaints were made 
to the bishop of Norwich of his nonconformity in ad- 
ministering the services of the church, on which he was 
removed to Skirbick. There the complaints were re- 
newed, on which he determined to sell his possessions 
and embark for America. He remarked : "I am going 
into the wilderness to sacrifice unto the Lord and 1 
will not leave a hoof behind me." 

Mr. Whiting sailed from England in the beginning 
of April, 1636, and arrived in Boston May 26th. He was 
very seasick on the passage, during which he preached 
but one sermon. He observed that he "would much 
rather have undergone six weeks of imprisonment for 
a good cause than si.^ weeks of such terrible seasick- 



ness." He came to Lynn in June and was installed on 
November 8th at the age of thirty-nine. He was admit- 
ted to the privilege of a freeman December 17th. His 
residence was nearly opposite the meeting house in 
Shepherd street. An anecdote related by him will 
serve to illustrate his character. In one of his excur- 
sions to a neighboring town he stopped at a tavern 
where a company were reveling. As he passed the 
door he thus addressed them: "Friends, if you are 
sure your sins are pardoned, you may be wisely 
merry." He is reputed to have been a man of good 
learning and an excellent Hebrew scholar. In 1649 he 
delivered a Latin oration at Cambridge, a copy of 
which is preserved in the library of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society. He possessed great command over 
his passions and was extremely mild and affable in 
his deportment, and his countenance was generally 
illumed with a smile. He was chosen moderator in 
several ecclesiastical councils and appears to have been 
generally respected. 

In the latter part of his life Mr. Whiting was af- 
flicted by a complication of disorders and endured 
many hours of most excruciating pain. But his pa- 
tience was inexhaustible and his strength enabled him 
to continue the performance of the public services till 
a very advanced age, in which he was assisted by his 
youngest son, Joseph. A short time before his deatli 
he presented to the general court a claim for five hun- 
dred acres of land, which he had by deed of gift 
from his brother-in-law, Richard Westland, an alder- 
man of Boston, in England, who had loaned money to 
the colony of Massachusetts. As the claim had been 
some time due, the court allowed him six hundred 
acres. He made his \vill February 25, 1679. He com- 
menced thus : "After my committing of my dear flock 
unto the tender care of that great and good Shepherd, 
the Lord Jesus Christ." He gave his son Samuel, at 
Billerica, his house and four hundred acres of land, 
valued at three hundred and sixty-two pounds, and 
fourteen acres of marsh at Lynn. He remembered his 
daughters at Roxbury and Topsfield, and bequeathed 
his orchard, dwelling house and eight acres of land at 
Lynn to his son Joseph. His money and place amounted 
to five hundred and seventy pounds, fifteen shillings, six 
pence. He died on the nth of December, 1679, at the 
age of eighty-two, having preached at Lynn forty-three 
years. His death called forth a highly bombastic 
eulogy from the pen of Benjamin Thompson, of Brain- 
tree, the first American poet. The following epitaph 
was applied to him by Cotton Mather ; 

"In Chri.sto vixi, morior, vivoque, Whitingus ; 
De Sordes morti, cetera Christi tibi." 

"In Christ I lived and died, and yet I live; 
My dust to earth, my soul to Christ I give." 
]\Ir. Whiting published several works, the principal 
of which are the following: A Latin oration, deliv- 
ered at Cambridge on commencement day, 1649; a ser- 



3i6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



moil delivered before the Ancient and Honorable Ar- 
tillery Company, of Boston, 1660; a discourse on the 
Last Judgment, 1664; "Abraham's Humble Interces- 
sion for Sodom, and the Lord's Gracious Answer in 
Concession Thereto," 1666. 

Mr. Whitnig married two wives in England. By 
his first wife he had three children, two of whom were 
sons, who, with their mother, died in England. The 
other was a daughter, who came with her father to 
America and married Thomas Weld, of Roxbury. His 
second wife was Elizabeth St. John, of Bedfordshire, to 
u-hom he was married in 1630. She came to Lynn with 
her husband and died iNIarch 3, 1677, aged seventy-two 
years. She not only assisted her husband in writing 
his sermons, but also by her care and prudence re- 
lieved him of all attention to temporal concerns. By 
her he had six children — four sons and two daughters. 
One daughter married the Rev. Jeremiah Hobart, of 
Topsfield, and one son and one daughter died at Lynn. 
The other three sons received their education at Cam- 
bridge. They were Rev. Samuel Whiting. Jr. ; Rev. 
John Whiting and Rev. Joseph Whiting. 

The Rev. Samuel Whiting, Jr., was born in England 
in 1633. He studied with his father at Lynn and gradu- 
ated at Cambridge in 1653. He was ordained minister 
at Billerica November 1 1, 1663, and died February 28, 
1713, aged seventy-nine years. The name of his wife 
was Dorcas and they had ten children — Elizabeth, Sam- 
uel, Rev. John (minister at Lancaster, and killed by 
Indians September II, 1697, aged thirty-three), Oliver, 
Dorothy. Joseph, James, Eunice, Benjamin (died in in- 
fancy), and Benjamin (2d). Rev. John Whiting (son 
ot Samuel, Sr.) graduated at Cambridge in 1653. He 
returned to England, became a minister of the estab- 
lished church and died at Leverton, in Lincolnshire, 
very e.xtensively respected. Rev. Joseph Whiting grad- 
uated in 1661. He was ordained at Lynn October 6, 
1680, and soon afterward removed to Southampton, 
Long Ishmd. He married Sarah Danforth, of Cam- 
bridge, daughter of Thomas Danforth, deputy governor, 
by whom he had six children, born at Lynn, and of 
these all except the first and sixth died within a few 
weeks of their birth. 

The history of Torrin^ton, Ci mnecticiit, 
gives the .-^ame general ontline of the family 
history, and says of Joseph, who removed to 
Long Island, as noted, that he continued to 
preach in the church at Southampton until his 
death, in \~-^- llis son Samuel lived in tliat 
town, where he married. He had three sons, 
Benjamin, Stejihen and Jo.seph. Benjamin 
married in Walling turd, Connecticut, in 1720, 
and later --ettled in Meriilen, that state. In 



1734 he purchased three full rights of land, a 
part of which he gave to his sons John and Ben- 
jamin, both of whom settled in Torrington, 
Connecticut. Of Stephen Whiting there is no 
record e.xtant. Joseph married and settled in 
.Stamford, Connecticut. John Whiting, son of 
Benjamin, was born November 23, 1723, and 
married Sarah Foster, who bore him eleven 
children, from the fifth of whom, John, Jr., the 
line of descent is traced to tlic subject of this 
.sketch. 

John Whiting, Jr., was born July 24, 1758, 
and died March 19, 1830. In 1778 he was 
united in marriage to Miss Sylvia Loomis, who 
was born January 7, 1760. and who died June 

6, 1826. Their children were as follows: Ab- 
ner, who was born May 24, 1779, died Jaiuiary 

7, 1866; Ira. who was born November 28, 
1780, died March 26, 1843; Roxy, who was 
born in 1782, died xApril 21, 1784; Tryphinia, 
who was torn February 5, 1784, died Septem- 
ber 16, 1847; Ro^y (-^d), who was born Oc- 
tober 7, 1785, died June 1(1, 1874; Harvey, 
who was born January 14, 1788, married Laura 
Bass, and died May 14. 1865: John, who was 
born August 24, 1790, died February 17, i88[ : 
Samuel, who was born February 7, 1792, died 
on his birthday anniversary in 1874; Silvia, 
born May 31. 1793. died December 13, 1847; 
Auren, who was born August 22, 1795. died 
September 15. 1824; Aurelia, Ixirn July 6, 
1797, died without issue: Susan, who was born 
September 6. 1800, died August 17, 1S39; 
T. Foster, who was born August 17, 1802. 
died August 19, 1832; and W. Franklin, who 
was born April 7, 1806. died November 17, 

Abuer ^\'hiting, eldest son of John, re- 
moved from Connecticut to Lewis county, New 
York, taking up his residence in Copenhagen, 
He married Asiruth Clark, and they became the 
parents of the following named children : Roxy. 
who was born July 13. 1805. died December 
13, 1839: FTar\ey M.. who was Ix^rn .\]iril 14, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



317 



1807, died at an advanced age; Lavinia, who 
was boni December 28, 1809, died December 
14, 1830; Malinda, born July 31, 1812, died 
March 19, 1881; Silvia, born May 11, 1814, 
died March 26, 1834; Arline was born May 
30, 1816; Asiruth was born January 26, 1818; 
Susan, born February 17, 1821, died June 13, 
1858; John Clark was born January 20, 1825 ; 
and is deceased; and Auldah, born April 14, 
1828, died on the 4th of September, 183 1. 

Harvey M. Whiting, son of Abner and Asi- 
ruth (Clark) Whiting, married Louisa Clark, 
and of their children three are living at the pres- 
ent time, namely : Franklin M., who was born 
November 21, 1838 ; Anna, who was born April 
14, 1840, and is unmarried; and Mary Aurelia, 
who was born April 23, 1843, and who is the 
wife of Ashbel Humphrey. Franklin M. mar- 
ried Ophelia Wapple and they became the par- 
ents of three children. 

Ira Whiting, second son of John and Sylvia 
(Loomis) Whiting, and grandfather of the 
subject of this review, was born in Colebrook, 
Litchfield county, Connecticut, on the 28th of 
November, 1 780, and he there died on the 26th 
of March, 1843. ^^ married Elizabeth Conk- 
lin, who was likewise a representative of an old 
New England family, and they became the par- 
ents of five children, namely : Lorenza Miles, 
who came to Canton, Ohio, in 1838, and who 
was for many years one of the leading physi- 
cians of this county, where he died in 1884. 
He married Mary Marshall and they became 
the parents of one son, Julius, who died in early 
boyhood, and two daughters, Kate C. and Har- 
riet F., the former of whom was the wife of 
Alfred S. Huntington, of Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania; she died April 10, 1903. Julius, the 
second son, was the father of the subject of 
this sketch. The other sons were John Har- 
rison, A. Wellington and Samuel. 

Julius Whiting was born in Colebrook, 
Connecticut, on the 14th of April, 1816, and 
there he was reared and educated, his father 



having been there engaged in agriculture. He 
attended school until he had attained the age of 
sixteen years, and thereafter was engaged in 
teaching for one winter term at Barkhamstead. 
At the age of seventeen he became a clerk in 
a mercantile establishment in his native town, 
and was thus employed for five years, and 
thereafter he was similarly engaged at Am- 
herst, Massachusetts, until 1840, when he came 
to Canton, Ohio, on a visit to his brother and 
the following year returned to make Canton 
his home, where he passed the remainder of his 
life. Here he secured employment as teller in 
the old Farmers' Bank, and after the failure of 
that institution, in 1844, he returned to Con- 
necticut to settle up his father's estate and in 
1845 lis returned to Canton and a few years 
later he associated himself with Isaac Harter, 
Martin Wikidal and Peter P. Trump in orga- 
nizing the Savings Deposit Bank, of which he 
continued a cashier and general manager until 
1 861, when his health became so impaired as 
to necessitate his retirement. He became one 
of the representative business men and influ- 
ential citizens of Canton, and he ever command- 
ed the unqualified confidence and esteem of 
the community. He lived to attain the patri- 
archal age of eighty years, his death occurring 
on the 14th of June, 1896. When the village 
of Canton put on the importance of cityhood 
Mr. Whiting had established the financial in- 
stitution already referred to. Through wars 
and peace, through panic and prosperity, its 
permanent utility has vindicated the wisdom of 
his methods. That institution, and its off shoots, 
have been controlling factors in the city's 
economic development. Mr. Whiting's succes- 
sors in control have gracefully accorded to him, 
as their schoolmaster in finance, the honor of 
having put banking in Canton upon that safe 
and conservative basis which has always dis- 
tinguishe^l its commercial affairs. 

Julius Whiting, Sr., was originally a Whig 
in politics but upon the organization of the Re- 



3i8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



publican party he transferred his allegiance to 
the same and was ever afterward a stanch ad- 
vocate of its principles. His religious faith 
was that of the Presbyterian church. After 
his marriage he resided for a time in Snyder's 
hotel, which was located near .the court-house, 
and about 1S50 he purchased property just east 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, on West 
Tuscarawas street, and there resided eleven 
years, the place now being owned by Dr. A. J. 
Douds. In 1 86 1 he purchased the present fam- 
ily homestead, opposite the residence of the late 
lamented President McKinley, on North IVIar- 
ket street, and there he resided until the close 
of his long and useful life. 

In 1847 ^I''- Whiting was united in mar- 
riage to Mis5 Harriet K. Stidger, who was 
born in Canton, this county, on the Blh of Jan- 
uary, 1818, and who has ever maintained her 
home here, having witnessed the development 
of the city from the condition of a straggling 
hamlet in the miilst of the forest to a position as 
an attractive and opulent industrial and resi- 
dence city. She is still living', and in the golden 
evening of her gracious life she is loved and 
revered by the wide circle of friends whom she 
has gathered about her during the long years 
of her residence in Canton. She is a daughter 
of General George Stidger, who emigrated to 
Canton from Baltimore, ^Maryland, in 1806, be- 
coming one of the early settlers in Stark county, 
where he died in 1826. He served with distinc- 
tion in the war of 18 12, with the rank of gen- 
eral, and was a man of fine mentality and im- 
pregnable integrity, having wielded marked in- 
fluence in the pioneer community during the 
years of his residence in Ohio and having been 
a member of an old and iionored family of 
Maryland. Of the four children of Julius and 
Harriet (Stidger) Whiting we enter the follow- 
ing brief record : Laura and Mary Elizabeth 
died in infancy; Julius is the immediate sub- 
ject of this sketch ; and Helen Frances was the 



wife of Frederick S. Hartzell, of Canton; she 
died January 28, 1901. 

Julius Whiting, Jr., was born in Canton, on 
the 6th of June, 1855, and here he received his 
elementary educational training in the public 
schools. At the age of twelve years he entered 
the military academy at Spring"field, Ohio, 
while later he continued his studies in a select 
school at Painesville, this state. His father's 
health at this time had become so precarious 
that it was deemed advisable for our subject to 
remam at home, and accordingly he returned 
to Canton, where he attended a private school 
for the following two years. In 1872 he was 
matriculated in the Western Reserve College, 
at Hudson, Ohio, in which he was graduated 
as a member of the class of 1876, receiving the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1879 his alma 
mater conferred upon him the Master's degree. 
After leaving the Western Reserve College Mr. 
Whiting took a post-graduate course in Har- 
vard College, and he then entered the law de- 
partment of that institution, where he continued 
his technical studies for two years, and in Sep- 
tember, 1879, he was duly admitted to the bar 
of Ohio. Thus he came to the active work of 
his profession with an excellent equipment, hav- 
ing spared no effort to thoroughly familiarize 
himself with the minutiae of the law and with 
the basic principles of the science of jurispru- 
dence. He established himself in the practice 
of his profession in his native city, and he soon 
proved his powers as an advocate and counselor 
so that popular appreciation was manifested in 
the representative clientage which he succeeded 
in securing and wbicli he has retained during 
all periods of his career at the bar. Mr. Whit- 
ing has the valuable faculties of concentration 
and close application, and, with a full appre- 
ciation of the dignity and responsibility of the 
profession, he never presents a case without 
careful preparation, while by his strict observ- 
ance of the unwritten code of ethics he has com- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



319 



mended himself to the esteem and confidence of 
his confreres at the bar, and is known as one of 
the able and representative lawyers of the coun- 
ty and state. It has been his to hold the inti- 
mate friendship of many of the distinguished 
men of Ohio, including the lamented President 
McKinley and also Senator Hanna, while he 
has been a recognized leader in the local ranks 
of the Republican party, in whose councils he 
has taken part and whose cause he has ever en- 
deavored to further so far as lay within his 
power, having rendered effective service in va- 
rious campaigns and having been one of the 
stanchest admirers and supporters of Presi- 
dent McKinley, whom he had known from his 
boyhood days. He is a man of genial and un- 
assuming personality and has the high regard 
of all classes of citizens in his native place, in 
whose welfare he has a deep and abiding inter- 
est. Unlike many others, Mr. Whiting never 
came to regard his education as a thing that 
had been completed by his college life. His 
student habits have clung to him. Neither his 
professional duties, nor interest in govern- 
mental affairs, have been allowed to stand in 
the way of that broad culture which has kept 
him abreast of the best thought of his times. 
His familiarity with the incidents and results 
of modern research, and with general literature, 
give him an equipment and an authority which 
is rarely conceded to any one. It is largely due 
to these facts that Mr. Whiting has attached 
to himself a circle of such influential and dis- 
tinguished friendships, both at his home and 
throughout the country. 

On the 9th of November, 1881, Mr. Whit- 
ing was united in marriage to Miss Harriet 
M. Gregory, who was born in Hudson, Sum- 
mit county, Ohio, being a daughter of Dr. 
Edwin S. and Clara (Baldwin) Gregory, and 
being a representative of old and influential 
American families — the Gregorys, Baldwins 
and Hudsons, members of the last mentioned 
family having been the founders of the town of 



Hudson, Ohio, and descendants of Henry Hud- 
son, the first explorer of the river which bears 
his name. Mr. and Mrs. Whiting have one 
child, Helen A. 



DAVID ZOLLARS was born February 
19, 1828, in Harrison county, Ohio. When 
he was a mere lad the family moved to a farm 
several miles south of Canton. At the age of 
nineteen Mr. Zollars entered the store of the 
late Isaac Harter, Sr. After several years 
he became a partner in the business under the 
firm name of Isaac Harter & Company, which 
continued for three years. JVfr. Zollars then 
went into the employ of the Farmers and Me- 
chanics store for three years. At the end of 
this time Mr. Harter sold his entire stock to 
Mr. Zollars and Samuel Baird, who continued 
the business at the old location, under the firm 
name of Zollars & Baird, for eighteen months, 
when the latter retired. Mr. Zollars conducted 
the business alone for some years, when Peter 
E. Barlet was taken into the firm, under the 
name of Zollars & Company. In 1884 Lewis 
R. Zollars was taken into partnership, the 
firm name remaining unchanged. After the 
death of Mr. Barlet, it was changed to David 
Zollars & Son, and has so continued. The 
present business location has been occupied as 
a general merchandise store and dry goods 
house for sixty-five years. A frame building 
stood there until replaced by the fine brick 
building erected by Isaac Harter, Sr., and now 
occupied by the firm, and where Mr. Zollars 
Sr., has, in capacity of clerk and proprietor, 
spent fifty-seven years, a business career of un- 
usual length, distinguished by the strictest in- 
tegrity and rewarded by success, not only in a 
pecuniary way, but by an enviable reputation 
in the community. 

Mr. Zollars, on April 12, 1856, married 
Rebecca Slusser, daugliter of John Slusser and 
sister of the late Dr. Lewis Slusser. Two sons 



320 



OLD LANDMARKS 



were born to them, John William, a banker in 
the far west, and Lewis R., a member of tlie 
firm. 

]n 1856 Mr. Zollars united with the Baptist 
church, of which he has been a consistent and 
enthusiastic member. For twenty-five years 
continuously he was superintendent of the Sab- 
bath school, resigning a few years ago. Dur- 
ing all the time of his most exacting business 
career he always found time for personal serv- 
ice in the church and was ready, with open 
hand, for its support. 

Mr. Zollars is one of the directors of the 
Central Savings Bank, and a trustee of Denni- 
son University, located at Granville, Ohio. Dur- 
ing the time of Governor McKinley's admin- 
istration, the latter offered Mr. Zollars a place 
on the board of one of the charitable institutions 
at Columbus, which, for business reasons, Mr. 
Zollars could not accept. 



LORENZO M. WHITING, M. D.— To 
epitomize the life and character of the late Dr. 
Whiting within the limits which this work al- 
lows is impossible. The stalwart proportions 
of his living presence were realized in the void 
made by his death. But less than most men 
intellectually his equal does he need the voice 
of eulogy, for "his works do follow him." 
Concerning the family genealogy adequate 
data is given in the sketch of his brother, Julius 
Whiting, appearing on another page of this 
work, so that this memoir need touch only the 
life and services of the Doctor himself. 

Lorenzo Miles Whiting, the eldest in a 
family of five sons, was born in Colebrook, 
Litchfield county, Connecticut, on the 27th of 
February, 181 1, the family being of fine old 
English extraction and having been establislied 
in New England in the early colonial epoch. 
There the name has been one of prominence 
durine' manv successive generations, while its 



representatives are now to be found in the most 
diverse sections of the Union. The Doctor was 
a son of Ira Whiting and a grandson of John 
Whiting, concerning both of whom more spe- 
cific mention is made in the sketch of Julius 
Whiting, to which reference has already been 
made. The Doctor was reared to the sturdy 
discipline of a New England farm, where he 
v\axed strong in both mental and physical 
vigor, while his rudimentary education was 
received in the common schoools of the local- 
ity and period. He continued his studies in a 
school at Sandisfield, Berkshire county, ]\Iassa- 
chusetts, and at the age of eighteen he began 
teacliing school, continuing to devote his at- 
tention most successfully to pedagogic work 
for several years. As a young man he went to 
Perth Aniboy, New Jersey, and he retained 
vivid recollections of old CouDUodore \ ander- 
bilt and his family, the Commodore having 
been the founder of the present noted family 
of the name. The Doctor recalled in later 
years the circumstances of having seen Mrs. 
A'anderbilt cross over to New York city with 
a little boat laden with vegetables, which she 
was taking to market, her transportation fa- 
cilities being somewhat different from those 
controlled by her descendants of this century.- 
The Doctor later attended Williams College, in 
]\Iassachusetts, and was graduated in the med- 
ical department of this institution as a member 
of the class of 1835. Shortly afterward he 
went to Wheeling, West Virginia, where he 
entered upon the practice of his profession, but 
after a brief interval his health became seri- 
ously impaired and he \vas thus led to come 
to Canton, Ohio, in which village he made his 
advent in 1836, in response to an invitation 
from two of his boyhood friends, Hiram Gris- 
wold and Elijah P. Grant, who were here es- 
tablished in the practice of law and who as- 
sured him that this would be a favorable place 
for him to recuperate his physical energies. 
They finally induced him to make a permanent 




LORENZO M. WHITING, M. D. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



location in Canton, and he accordingly estab- 
lished himself in the practice of his profession 
in the pioneer town and he became widely 
known as one of the most eminent and schol- 
arly pliysicians of the state, while he wielded 
a marked influence in local affairs. He was a 
man of wide erudition and was an able writer 
and speaker. He wrote many essays of fine 
literary merit and was a valued contributor to 
the Ohio Medical Journal, published in the 
city of Columbus, while he also became one of 
the censors connected with the Charity Hos- 
pital and Medical College of the city of Cleve- 
larcd, and in this institution delivered many 
lecture before the students. He was not only 
tlioronghly read in the sciences of medicine 
and surgery, but also devoted much attention 
to original investigation and research along 
scientific lines, particularly as bearing on his 
profession. He was among the very first to 
adopt the germ theory of disease, and made 
extensive researches in the line, doing much 
to fortify the votaries of this so-called innova- 
tion ill holding to the theory which is now 
common!}' accepted, while he wrote many mon- 
ographs and al)le treatises on the subject. Dr. 
Whiting contiiuied in the active practice of 
his profession until 1879, when he received a 
stroke of paralysis, which compelled him to 
abandon active labor, and thereafter he lived 
practically retired until his death, which oc- 
curred on the 30th of June, 1884, at which 
time he was seventy-three years of age. His 
skill and ability in his profession gained to 
him the highest prestige and his genial and 
gracious personality won to him warm and 
enduring friendships, which were ever held in- 
violable. 

During the crucial epoch leading up to and 
culminating in the war of the Rebellion Dr. 
H' biting was known as an uncompromising 
abolitionist, and he was one of those promi- 
nently concerned in the operation of the 
famous "underground railway," by means of 
20 



which so many slaves were assisted to freedom, 
lie often rose in the middle of the night and 
with his own conveyance carried a fleeing 
slave to Marlboro,' the next station on this so- 
called railway, while during the war he was 
one of the most ardent supporters of the 
Union. At the outbreak of this great conflict 
he \vas summoned to Columbus as a member 
of the board of examiners for surgeons, in 
which capacity he rendered most effect- 
ive service. He was afterward appointed ex- 
amining surgeon for the pro\-ost marshal's 
board of the seventeenth district of Ohio and 
served in that capacity until the close of the 
war. After the war he was made a member 
of the board of pension examiners for Stark 
county, retaining this incumbency until 1880, 
when he resigned the office by reason of his 
pliysical infirmities. As a young man he be- 
came an earnest worker in the temperance 
cause, of which he ever afterward continued 
a stanch advocate, while his helpful influence 
was extended in many ways, for he had a 
deep knowledge of the springs of human 
thought and action and his tolerance and char- 
ity were unbounded, his aim ever being to "do 
good unto all men." His benevolences were 
extended with a lavish hand and yet so unos- 
tentatiously tliat none save biniself and the re- 
cipient of his favors knew of them. A man of 
recondite knowledge, a clear and logical 
thinker and one who had at all times the cour- 
age of his convictions, he was an agnostic in 
religion, though he maintained the deepest rev- 
erence for the spiritual verities and he so lived 
as to well merit the unqualified commendation 
which was given to Abou Ben Adem. In poli- 
tics the Doctor was originally a member of the 
Whig party, later identifying himself with the 
Free Soil organization, being one of the two 
men who voted its ticket in Stark county, 
while at the inception of the Republican party 
he transferred his allegiance to the same and 
ever afterward remained a stalwart advocate 



^22 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of its principles. He was active in its cause 
and was a delegate to one of the conventions 
which nominated the late President McKinley 
for congress, while he was a warm personal 
friend of tiie martyred President. 

No physician in Stark county stood in 
higher estimation with the profession, and he 
Avas one of the prominent and valued members 
of the Northeastern Ohio Medical Society and 
also of the Canton Medical Society, of 
which last he was one of the founders. His 
genial personality and distinguished attain- 
m.ents drew to him the friendship of many 
prominent men, and at his home he delighted 
in entertaining such persons, among whom 
may be mentioned the late Salmon P. Chase, 
Horace Greeley, Rev. John Pierpont, Parker 
Pillsbnry and Theodore Parker, the renowned 
Unitarian clergyman. The Doctor was at one 
time a member of the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, in which he passed the various 
official chairs. The Doctor was a man of fine 
physique, standing six feet in height, distin- 
guished in presence and of marked symmetry 
of features, his face indicating the patrician 
stock and the high intellectual faculties with 
which he was endowed. He had a rare appre- 
ciation of the humorous, and was a most en- 
tertaining reconteur and conversationalist, 
greatly enjoying the amenities of refined so- 
ciety. Dr. Whiting was a man who stood four 
s(|uare to every wind that blows, and standing 
in the light of such a noble life and character, 
we cannot but be moved to a feeling of venera- 
tion and distinctive appreciation, while his in- 
.fluenct for good must continue in ever widen- 
ing angle, through the lives and labors of those 
upon whom it was so beneficently exerted. 

In conclusion we will turn briefly to the 
domestic chapter in the life history of the hon- 
ored su1)iect. In Colebrook, Connecticut, on 
the i.|th of September, 1837, Dr. Whiting was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary Marshall, a 
friend of his childhood days. She was born 



in Colebrook on the 23d of October, 181 1, be- 
ing a daughter of Roswell and Sophia (Bass) 
Marshall. The Marshall family is of fine Eng- 
lish lineage, coming on one side of the Tudor 
stock, and it was early established in tlie colony 
of Massachusetts, whence representatives later 
went to Connecticut. Ihe Bass family was 
also established in New England in the early 
colonial days, being likewise of English ex- 
traction. Mrs. Whiting died in Hartford, 
Connecticut, in 1864, while absent on a visit, 
and her remains were interred beside those of 
her husband, in Westlawn cemetery, Canton. 
Dr. and Mrs. Whiting became the parents of 
three children, concerning whom the follow- 
ijig is brief data : Julius died at the age of 
four years ; Harriet resides at ] 34 North 
Cleveland avenue. Canton, and Kate C, who 
died April 10, 1903, was the wife of Alfred 
S. Huntington, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 
and they had one son and five daughters. 



HON. GEORGE W. RAFF.— The pater- 
nal ancestry of Mr. Raff was of stanch German 
origin, the name having been Von Rafifensber- 
ger as held by the ancestry in Germany, while 
the American line first dropped the prefi.x "von" 
and later eliminated the terminology until the 
present form came into use, while the family 
was established in America in the early period 
of the settlement of Pennsylvania, where the 
original progenitors in the new world took up 
their abode. George W. Raff represented one 
of the pioneer families of Stark county, having 
been born in Tuscarawas township, on the 24th 
of March, 1825. His father, William Raflf, 
was born in Pennsylvania, whence he came to 
Ohio at an early day, locating in Stark county, 
and he died when his son George was a child, 
having been a man of a high order of intellect- 
uality and having been for a number of years 
a successful school teacher. Owing to the 
death of his father the subject of this memoir 




"■\, 




> Pt^/A^Tis £J 



^en^ey 



/f.l^c^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



323 



was compelled to assnine personal responsibili- 
ties when he was a mere boy, doing- his part in 
supporting the other members of the family. 
On this account his early educational advan- 
tages were very liinited in scope, but one of so 
alert mentality could not he permanenth' handi- 
capped in this respect, and throug-h his own ef- 
forts Judge Raff became possessed of a broad 
and liberal education. He began to depend up- 
on his own resources when about tweh-e years 
of age, and after living for a few years in the 
village of Bethlehem he came to Canton, where 
he was given a clerical position in the office of 
the county recorder, his uncle, Daniel Raff, 
having been incumbent of the office at the time. 
Later he became a clerk in the mercantile 
establishment of Mr. Wikidal, but his incli- 
nations soon led him to rejoin his family, who 
were still living in Bethlehem. After a time 
the entire family came to Canton, and for a 
short period Mr. Raff was again employed in 
the recorder's office, under Arnold Lynch. Li 
1844 his uncle, Daniel Raff, was elected to the 
office of county clerk, and our subject was ten- 
dered the position of second deputy, Thomas 
Goodman, now of Chicago, being the first 
deputy. Mr. Raff remained in the clerk's office 
until 1850, and within this time had become 
chief deputy, wh.ile in addition to this he had 
lieen appointed clerk of the circuit court. He 
continued in tenure of both positions, and 
through the kindly action of his uncle he was 
afforded an opportunity to take up the study 
of law, his uncle employing another person to 
relieve him of the more onerous duties de- 
volving upon him as deputy clerk. Thus, in 
June. 1848, he became a student in the law office 
of Hiram Griswold, who was then considered 
the head of the Stark county bar, and in July, 
1850, he was duly admitted to the bar of the 
state, upon examination before the supreme 
court, then in session at Bucyrus, this body 
at the time being alone empowered to admit 
candidates to practice in the courts of the coni- 



monwealth. Shortly afterward Mr. Raff re- 
signed the two clerkships noted, and went to 
New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas county, Avith 
the expectation of establishing himself in prac- 
tice in that place, but owing to the fact that 
conditions there proved unfavorable to his 
health he returned to Canton, where he entered 
into a professional co-partnership with James 
D. Brown, and here initiated his successful 
professional career. He had been a close stu- 
dent and was at this time well grounded in the 
principles of jurisprudence, while from his 
boyhood days he had been an omniverous 
reader of good literature and had shown the 
marked assimilative power which ever charac- 
terized his mental equipment. 

Li the autumn of 185 1 Mr. Raff yielded 
to the importunities of his friends and became 
the candidate of the Democratic party for the 
office of judge of the probate court of Stark 
county, being at the time but little more than 
twenty-six years of age. His nomination re- 
ceived a flattering endorsement at the polls and 
he was elected to this responsible and dignified 
office by a gratifying majority. The probate 
court had just been created, under the pro- 
vision of the new state constitution, and he 
organized the same in this county, showing 
marked discrimination in systematizing the busi- 
ness and placing it upon the basis which has 
virtually Ijeen retained ever since that time. Li 
1855, at the expiration of his term of office. 
Judge Raff formed a law partnership with John 
Lahum, the firm attaining high prestige, while 
Judge Raff, became known as one of the most 
eminent and successful members of the bar of 
the county. He was a man of well rounded 
character, finely balanced mind and splendid 
intellectual attainments, and several of his pub- 
lished works touching the f|uestions of law re- 
main as perpetual and worthy monuments to 
his ability. One of his first works was entitled 
"A Guide to Executors and Administrators in 
the State of Ohio," while the same is generally 



324 



OLD LANDMARKS 



known as Raff's Guide, the work Ijeing based 
upon liis wide and compreliensi\e experience in 
tlie work of tlie probate court and being one of 
distinctive value. In 1862, at the request of 
Robert Clarke, the well known publisher of the 
city of Cincinnati, Judge Raff prepared a Pen- 
sion Manual, for the benefit of persons having 
claims against the government in connection 
with the war of 1812. and the Mexican and 
Civil wars, but later, on account of the rapid 
legislation then found necessary, and by reason 
of the frecjuent and multifarif)us changes made 
in existing and bounty laws, it was deemed 
expedient to issue an entirely new manual, and 
this work was carefully taken in hand b\- Judge 
Raff, the result being the publication of the 
valuable volume known as the W'ar Claimant's 
Guide. In 1863, at the suggestion of the same 
publisher. Judge Raff prepared a compre- 
hensive work on the road laws of the state of 
Ohio, the same being held as an authoritative 
exposition of the subject. 

In 1870 Judge Raff formed another profes- 
sional alliance, associating himself in practice 
with George E. Baldwin, under the firm name 
of Raff & Baldwin, and he continued thereafter 
in the active practice of law in Canton alx)ut 
a year, when his health became so impaired 
that he was led to withdraw from general prac- 
tice, and he then entered the employ of Cor- 
nelius Aultman. the well-known manufacturer 
and capitalist of Canton, in the capacity of con- 
fidential agent, secretary and attorney, and he 
continued to be thus engaged until the death 
of Mr. Aultman. on the 26th of December, 
1884. Judge Raff was then appointed one of 
the administrators of the estate. In 1888, 
Judge flaff, in company with his son Edward, 
organized the Central Savings Bank of Canton, 
of which he became president and his son 
cashier, and on the 14th of April of the same 
year Judge Raff was summoned into eternal 
rest, after years of signal honor and usefulness, 
and- the community was called upon to mourn 



the loss of one of its best citizens. Dr. Peter 
Barr was then elected president of the bank, and 
a few years later Edward Raft' resigned his po- 
sition of cashier and was elected to the presi- 
dency of the institution, retaining this incum- 
benc}' until his death, on the ist of February, 
iQor, at Tucson, Arizona, whither he had gone 
a month previously in the hope of recuperating 
his health. Judge Raff was a man of strong 
individuality and indubitable i)robity, and his 
influence was ever exerted in the furtherance of 
all that was good and true, so that, standing in 
the white light of his exalted character and 
worthy career, we gain anew a respect for all 
that sterling manhood represents. 

In politics Judge Raff ga\e his allegiance 
to the Democratic party, but in local affairs he 
was liberal in his attitude, while he was ever 
public-spirited, taking a deep interest in all that 
tended to conserve the prosperity and progress 
of his home city, to which he was deeply at- 
tached. He was a devoted member of Trinity 
Lutheran church and gave a liberal support to 
all departments of its specific work and also 
to its collateral benevolences, while for a 
quarter of a century he was the leader of the 
choir of the church, having been possessed of 
fine musical talent and having a well trained 
and sympathetic baritone voice. 

On the 1 8th of December, 1855, Judge Raff 
was united in marriage to Miss Belinda J. 
Schneider, who survi\-es him and who still re- 
sides in the Canton homestead, which is en- 
deared to her by the memories and associations 
of the past. She was born in Chambersburg, 
Eranklin county, Pennsylvania, on the i8th of 
February, 1828, being a. daughter of Frederick 
Alexander Schneider, who was born in the vil- 
lage of Houburg, near the city of Hamburg, 
Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, on the 23d of 
October, 1790, and who passed the major 
portion of his early life in the city of Hamburg. 
His father. Frederick Schneider, was a colonel 
in the Prussian army, and had his official head- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



325 



quarters in the town of Houburg-, wliile his 
family resided in Hamburg the greater po'tion 
of the time. The father of Mrs. Raff was sent 
to America when but eighteen years of age, in 
order that he might escape tiie merciless con- 
scription pre\'aiHng (hu'ingthe Napoleonic \vars. 
and he landed in the city of Philadelphia, where 
he was for several years employed as clerk in 
a hardware establishment, after which, in com- 
pany with a friend, he went to Chambersburg', 
that state, where they became associated in 
establishing a hardware business. In that town 
Mr. Schneider was united in marriage to Miss 
Rebecca Faber, and in 1829 they removed with 
their family to what was then the village of 
Canton, Ohio, where he opened the first hard- 
ware store in the town, while it has been stated 
that this was the first established west of the 
Alleghany mountains. Here he continued to be 
actively engaged in business until 1857, after 
which year he lived retired until his death, 
which occurred on the 27th of February, 1864, 
his remains being interred in Westlawn Cem- 
etery. His wife passed away on the 4th of 
April, 1887, at the venerable age of eighty-three 
3^ears, both having been zealous members of the 
Lutheran church. Mr. Schneider was one of 
the influential citizens of Canton in the pioneer 
days, and was president of the village council 
at one time. Of their nine children we enter the 
following record, the two eldest having lieen 
born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and the 
others in Canton : Margaret, who became the 
wife of Charles Cranz. died in California in 
1893. Belinda is the widow of the subject of 
this memoir. Anton G. died in Massillon, this 
county, in 190T. Frederick A. is a resident of 
San Jose, California. Louis B. maintains his 
home in the city of Omaha, Nebraska. Edward 
F., who was a brave soldier and officer in the 
war of the Rebellion, attaining the rank of 
brigadier general at the close of the war, and 
who died in Europe, in 1873. having gone 
abroad for the purpose of recruiting his health. 



Henrietta, the widow of Captain James Wal- 
lace, died in Canton on the 9th of December, 
1900. He was a valiant soldier in the Avar of 
the Rebellion and in the battle of Fredericks- 
biu^g received a wound which necessitated the 
amputation of one of his legs. After the opera- 
tion he was sent to a hospital near the city of 
Washington, and, in company with her aunt, 
Mrs. Brown, his fiancee went to his bedside to 
minister to him, and while he was thus lying on 
the bed of suffering their marriage was sol- 
emnized, and the same evening his spirit took 
its flight. Julia F., who became the wife of 
Captain William J. Broatch, who was an officer 
in the regular army and served during the Civil 
war, died in Canton in 1893, while here for a 
visit. Emma S. remained unmarried until her 
death, which occurred in 1873. 

Judge and Mrs. Raff became the parents of 
two children, namely: Norman C, who is a 
resident of New York City, where he is eng^aged 
in business, married Mrs. Virginia (Duncan) 
Kingman ; and Edward, who was president of 
the Central Savings Bank at Canton, who died 
in February, 1901, as has already been noted. 



HENRY WILLIAM HARTER, a repre- 
sentative niemlier of the bar of the county and 
at present an incumbent of the office of judge 
of the court of common pleas of the first subdi- 
vision of the ninth judicial district of Ohio, is 
a native of the city of Canton, having been 
born in the old family homestead, which stood 
on the site of the present First Methodist Epis- 
copal church, on West Tuscarawas street, on 
the 9th of May, 1853, and being a son of Isaac 
and Amanda Z. (Moore) Harter. After avail- 
ing himself of the advantages afforded in the 
public schools of Canton, Mr. Harter was ma- 
triculated in Pennsylvania College, at Gettys- 
burg, Pennsylvania, where he was graduated as 
a member of the class of 1874, receiving the de- 



326 



OLD LANDMARKS 



gree of Bachelor of Arts. After leaving college 
he returned to his native city and began the 
study of the law, becoming a student in the office 
of the firm of Lynch & Day, under whose able 
preceptorship he continued his reading of the 
law for two years, after which he was a student 
in the law department of Columbia University, 
in the city of New York. He was admitted to 
the bar in the spring of 1877 and later was ad- 
mitted to practice before the supreme court of 
the United States. He established himself in 
practice in Canton, and soon gained a high rep- 
utation as an able and discriminating advocate 
and counselor, while he continued in the active 
work of his profession for nearly a quarter of 
a century, having to do with nnich important 
litigation in both the state and federal courts 
and showing an unflagging devotion to his pro- 
fession, from which his semi-retirement came 
only when he was called to the bench. In 1879 
he was elected to the office of prosecuting at- 
torney of Stark county, entering upon the dis- 
charge of his duties on the ist of January of 
the following year and continued to hold this 
position until January, 1885. During these 
years he added materialy to his reputation 
through his able service as prosecutor, handling 
the legal affairs of the county with consummate 
tact and discrimination and thus conserving the 
ends of justice. In 1901 he became the nomi- 
nee of his party for the office of judge of the 
court of common pleas and was elected in the 
autumn of that year, without opposition, as the 
other party made no nomination for the office. 
On the bench Judge Harter has given an ad- 
.ministration which has fully justified the wis- 
dom of the choice of the voters of the judicial 
district. The judge is a member of the firm of 
Isaac Harter & Sons, proprietors of the Savings 
Deposit Bank, one of the substantial and popu- 
lar monetary institutions of the state and the 
oldest banking concern in the city of Canton, its 
establishment dating back to the year 1854. 
He is also vice-president of the George D. 



Harter Bank, of this city ; vice-president of the 
Aultman & Taylor Machinery Company, of 
Mansfield, Ohio; and vice-president of the 
Bonnot Company, manufacturers of clay-work- 
ing and cement machinery in Canton. Judge 
Harter is president of the Aultman Hospital 
Association and a member of the board of trus- 
tees of the Canton public librar}?, his interest in 
all that touches the welfare and progress of his 
native city being at all times insistent and help- 
ful. In politics he has ever given an unqualified 
allegiance to the Republican party and has been 
an able advocate of its policies, though he has 
never sought official preferment save in the 
direct line of his profession. 

Fraternally the Judge is identified w'ith 
McKinley Lodge. Free and .\ccepted Masons ; 
Canton Chapter No. 84, Royal Arch Masons; 
Canton Commandery No. 38, Knights Temp- 
lar; Nimishillen Lodge No. 39, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows ; and Canton Lodge No. 
68, Benevolent and Protecti\-e Order of Elks. 
He is a zealous member of Trinity Lutheran 
church. 

At Westfield, New York, on the 23d of 
June, 1883, was solemnized the marriage of 
Judge Harter and Miss Annette H. Taylor, 
who was born in the town of Westfield, being 
a daughter of David H. and Harriet P. (Camp- 
bell) Taylor. Of this union have been born 
three children, namely : Henry ^^''.. Jr., who 
was born on the 30th day of December, 1886: 
David Taylor, who was born on the i8th of 
May, 1888, and who died on the ist of the fol- 
lowing August; and Charles Stockton, who 
was born on the 13th of September, 1890. 



WEST L. ALEXANDER.— The career of 
the gentleman whose name introduces this 
sketch is prominentlv identified with the insur- 
ance business in the city of Canton, where he 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



327 



is recognized as an alert, reliable and thorough- 
ly progressive man. He was born on the 
parental homestead near Fredericktown, Wash- 
ington county, Pennsylvania, on the 25th of 
April, 1847, being a son of Andrew and Har- 
riet (Lawrence) Alexander, the former of 
whom was of Scottish and the latter of Ger- 
man ancestry. Andrew Alexander, father of 
the subject, was also a native of Washington 
county, Pennsylvania, and was a prominent 
and successful business man of his section of 
the old Keystone state, where he engaged in 
merchandising and also in the operation of coal 
mines, shipping large quantities of coal on 
tiat-boats down the Ohio river and also down 
the Mississippi as far as New Orleans. His en- 
terprise in the line of merchandising was prin- 
cipally conducted in Fredericktown, in his na- 
tive county, and in the immediate vicinity of 
that town he was the owner of a valuable farm. 
He was a man of prominence and influence in 
the community, taking part in public affairs 
and having been for a number of years captain 
of a company of state militia. He was united 
in marriage, in his native county, to Miss Har- 
riet Lawrence, who, as previously stated, was 
of German descent, the name having originally 
been spelled Lorenz. The ancestors were 
residents of the Rhine district of Germany, 
whence the original representatives in the new 
world emigrated to escape religious persecu- 
tions, settling in Maryland, whence members 
of the family later removed to Fayette county, 
Pennsylvania, where the mother of the sub- 
ject was born, being a daughter of Jonathan 
Lawrence, who was a son of William, the emi- 
grant ancestor. Some time after Andrew 
Alexander's marriage he came to Ohio and 
purchased land in Delaware county, though he 
subsequently returned to Pennsylvania for his 
family, but was soon afterwards taken ill and 
did not live to establish his home in the Buck- 
eye state, his death occurring in his native 
county in 1853. His son William later came 



to Ohio for the purpose of disposing of the 
land in Delaware county, and after his arrival 
in the state determined to establish a permanent 
residence, taking up his residence in Mount 
Vernon, Knox county, where he studied law 
and was admitted to the bar, and whence he 
removed to Canton in 1859, where he was as- 
sociated with W. Iv. Upham in the practice of 
his profession. Later he engaged in the in- 
surance busmess and iri manufacturing in this 
city, where he remained until 1867, when he 
removed to tlie city of Toledo, where 
he devoted his attention to the insurance 
business until his death. He was a 
stanch supporter of the principles of 
the Republican party from the time of its or- 
ganization and was a zealous member of the 
Baptist chvu'ch. as was also his wife, whose 
maiden name was Loretta Wise. Some time 
after the death of her husband the mother of 
the subject came to Canton to join her chil- 
dren, and her death occurred in this city. 

As a rule the members of the Alexander 
family have been Presbyterians in their re- 
ligious faith, while in politics the Whig and 
later the Republican party claimed allegiance 
from the majority of the representatives of the 
family. Of the children of Andrew and Har- 
riet (Lawrence) Alexander we enter the fol- 
lowing brief record: William, the eldest, has 
been already mentioned in this paragraph; 
Jeanette M. is the widow of Colonel Benjamin 
F. Pond, of Malta, Morgan county; Permela 
Matilda became the wife of John F. Clark, and 
■ of them more specific mention is made in the 
sketch of the life of their son, William H., of 
Canton, appearing on another page of this 
volume; Montgomery D., who married Miss 
Henrietta Hughes, of Greene county, Penn- 
sylvania; Henry Duncan, who is engaged in the 
blacksmithing business in this city, married 
Miss Louisa Smith, of Canal Dover, Ohio; 
Harriet Louisa is the wife of Daniel Walton, of 
Oskaloosa, Iowa; West L., subject of this 



328 



OLD LANDMARKS 



sketch, was the next in order of birth ; Sarah 
Isadore was the wife of D. K. Allemler, who 
died in Canton ; Emma Josephine married Wil- 
liam Cox, of Greene county, Pennsylvania ; she 
died in Canton, where he now maintains his 
home. 

"West L. Alexander passed his early child- 
hood on the homestead farm near Frederick- 
town, Washington county, Pennsylvania, and 
his initial scholastic discipline was received un- 
der the tutorage of Joseph Baker, in Greene 
county, that state, while he continued his 
studies in the public schools of his native coun- 
ty until he had attained the age of thirteen 
years, when he came to Canton. Ohio, to join 
his brother and sister, who had here located. 
Here he continued his studies in the public 
schools, completing- a four years course in the 
high school. During the Civil war Mr. Alex- 
ander enlisted, in Canton, in the one hundred 
days' service, becoming a private in Company 
B. One Hundred and Sixty-second Ohio Vol- 
unteer Infantry. He continued in active ser- 
^•ice for five months, or until after the close of 
the war, after which he returned home. A 
short time later he was matriculated in Den- 
nison University, at Granville, this state, where 
he remained as a student for two years. In 
1868 he engaged in the general insurance 
business in Canton, and a year later he turned 
his attention to civil engineering, along which 
line he had received specific and technical in- 
struction during his collegiate course, and to 
this vocation he continued to devote himself 
for four years, being successful in his opera- 
tions as a railroad civil engineer. In 1874 he 
again became identified with the insurance busi- 
ness, being retained as special traveling agent 
for the Girard Company of Philadelphia, and 
Firemans, of Dayton, Ohio, after which he es- 
tablished a local insurance agenc\- in the city of 
Canton, representing a number of the leading 
fire and life companies, and here he has built 
up a large and important l)usiness. retaining a 



representative clientage and being recognized 
as one of the leading underwriters of this sec- 
tion of the state. He was one of those promi- 
nently concerned in the organization of the 
Canton public library and is a member of its 
directorate at the present time, while he also 
lent effective co-operation in the organization 
of the Aultman Hospital Association, of which 
institution he has ever since been .secreta^}^ In 
politics Mr. Alexander is a stalwart adherent 
of the Republican party, but has never sought 
official preferment, though he served for two 
years as a member of the city council. Fra- 
ternally he is identified with McKinley Post 
No. 25, Grand Army of the Republic, and also 
with the ^Masonic order and the Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks. 

In the city of Canton, on the 8th of Sep- 
temlier, 1875. was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Alexander to ^liss Caroline Renick, daugh- 
ter of the late Jonathan Renick, and of this 
union three children have been born : Edward 
R., who is engaged in the practice of law in the 
city of Washington, D. C. ; and Jeanette M. and 
Donald, who remain at the parental home. 



GEORGE D. HARTER.— The strong, 
true men of a people are always public bene- 
factors. Their usefulness in the immediate and 
specific labors they perform can be defined by 
metes and bounds; but the good they do 
through the forces they put in motion and 
through the inspiration of their presence and 
example is immeasurable by any finite .gauge 
or standard of value. The late George D. 
Harter was such a man. To epitumize his life 
and character witirin the limits which this work 
allows is impossil)le. But less than most men 
intellectually his equal does he need the voice 
of eulogy. A native son of the city of Canton, 
which was the scene of his mature labors, he 
left a distinct impress on the ci\'ic and industrial 
life of the c<uint\", wliile his oH'orts were so 




v_/^^?^V^-t„^S^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



329 



discerningly directed along' well defined lines 
that he seemed at any one designated point to 
have realized at that point the full measure of 
his possibilities for accomplishment. 

George Dewalt Harter, who was sum- 
moned into eternal rest at his home in Canton, 
on the 6th of December, 1890, was born in 
the old family homestead, which was located 
on the site of the present Savings Deposit 
Bank, on south Public Square, in the city of 
Canton, the date of his nati\-ity having been 
Christmas day of the year 1843, so that he 
was but fort\'-seven years of age at the time of 
his demise, being called away in the very prime 
of his honorable and useful manhood. He was 
the third son of the late Isaac Harter, one of 
the honored pioneers and most influential citi- 
zens of the county, concerning whom a specific 
memoir appears on other pages of this work, 
so that a recapitulation of the family history 
will not be demanded in this connection. Mr. 
Harter received his early educational discipline 
in the public schools and at the age of sixteen 
was graduated in the Canton high school, with 
a record of high scholarship. Shortly after- 
ward he was given the position of teller in the 
Savings Deposit Bank, of which Julius Whit- 
ing, Sr., was cashier at the time, and he was 
incumbent of this oflice at the time when the 
dark cloud of civil war began to obscure the 
national horizon. Though but eighteen years 
of age at the time, Mr. Harter gave prortipt 
evidence of his intrinsic patriotism by tender- 
ing his services in defence of the integrity of 
the Union. Concerning his military career 
the following tribute was ofl^ered at the time of 
his death by his lifelong friend and his comrade 
in the Rebellion, John J. Clark, of Canton. : 



Comrade George D. Harter, whose early and un- 
timely death we are called upon to mourn, when a youth 
of eighteen years enlisted as a private soldier in Com- 
pany E, One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, on the 14th of August, 1862. The nation had 
become alive to the magnitude of the rebellion and the 



patriotic spirit of our people had become fully aroused, 
and the work shops, farms, offices, counting rooms and 
school houses sent out living streams of willing sacri- 
fices, ready to ofter themselves upon the altar of liberty 
in defense of a common country. Comrade Harter was 
not formed in a rugged mold, but his early education, 
his correct habits, his studious cast of mind and his 
sterling loj-alty and devotion to the principles of free- 
dom, made him a willing, earnest soldier in his coun- 
try's cause and gave him such prestige that on Septem- 
ber 18, 1862, he was made a sergeant of his company, 
and on December 14th of the same year he was ad- 
vanced to the position of first lieutenant of Company 
E, which position he held till the close of the war, re- 
spected and cherished by all who served under him and 
trusted and confided in by those under whom he served. 
Always quiet and unassuming, always attentive to duty 
and at Iiis po.st wherever duty called him, his services 
as a soldier exhibited those sterling traits of character 
which in civil life exemplified him as a man and so 
endeared him to all who knew him. His early training 
in his father's banking house had made of him a cor- 
rect and methodical accountant and had fitted and quali- 
fied him to properly discharge the irksome duties im- 
posed upon officers in command of troops engaged in 
defense of lines of communication and in garrison, and 
it is safe to say that there was not a more competent 
and trustworthy officer on the line between Nashville 
and .Sherman's front in 1863, 1864 and 1865 than the 
quiet, self-reliant and modest young lieutenant, over 
whose remains we now shed fraternal tears in kindly 
remembrance of his many virtues. In December, 1864, 
when Sherman abandoned his connections and marched 
his victorious veterans from Atlanta to the sea. General 
Hood sought to reap rich reprisals by a bold invasion 
of Tennessee. Lieutenant Harter was then in com- 
mand of a meager garrison in a block house near Nash- 
ville. The right wing of Hood's army swept across the 
railroad and enveloped its defenses and attacked the 
block house with artillery at short range — defenses in- 
tended only to shelter the garrison from the marauding 
bushwhackers who interfered with the railroad bridges. 
Against such odds and under such circumstances Lieu- 
tenant Harter held his block house, though it was many 
times penetrated, killing several men, until night came, 
when he skillfully and successfully withdrew his com- 
mand and led them through the enemy's lines into 
Nashville, where they became a part of the invincible 
army fif (jcncral Thomas, which broke Hood's army 
of invasion to pieces and redeemed Tennessee from the 
menace of subsequent invasion. 

Comrade Harter was present at the fatal catastro- 
phe which, on August 26, 1863, resulted in the sad and 
untimely death of his brother. Captain Joseph S. Har- 
ter, at whose side he remained, ministering with a 
brother's kindly hand until death relieved the Captain 
of his sufferings. Besides being a member of the Loyal 



330 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Legion, he was a comrade in Canton Post No. 25, De- 
partment of Ohio, Grand Army of the Republic, which 
he joined by muster^ on the first day of November, 
1882. He always took much interest in a quiet and un- 
ostentatious way in the welfare of the post. He was 
one of the most liberal contributors where sickness or 
distress called for relief. He only needed to know that 
assistance was required. In his death our post suffers 
a severe loss and one which our comrades will feel 
keenly and deeply. He was a brave and true-hearted 
defender of the republic at a time when the republic 
most needed brave and loyal defenders. He offered to 
die that his country, proudly, gloriously and unitedly 
great, might live. At his death his countrymen remem- 
ber his gallant services and drop upon his grave the sor- 
rowing tears of grateful remembrance. 

Anotlier apprcciati\e estimate of Air. Har- 
ler's career as a soldier is the following, which 
was given by Hosea R. Jones, of Canton, who 
was a member of the same regiment : 

Mr. Harter was looked upon as being one of the 
best drilled men in the regiment and his bravery was 
simply undaunted. He marched down to Tennessee 
in the summer of 1864 and was engaged in a fierce 
battle there. When the rebels attempted to take pos- 
session of and destroy the various block houses. Lieu- 
tenant Harter and a company of less than twenty men 
were stationed along the Nashville & Tennessee Rail- 
way, in charge of garrison No. 2. The Southerners 
tried to capture the troops and destroy the garrison be- 
cause behind it were hitling a large number of colored 
people. Mr. Hartor's company was assaulted by the 
enemy December 9. 1864, while they had only three 
pieces of rifled artillery. A continuous lire was kept 
up from 9 o'clock in the morning until dark. Two of 
the garrison were killed and five wounded. Under 
cover of night the garriscJn withdrew^ to Nashville in 
safety. After their retreat General Thomas recognized 
the services of Lieutenant Harter in defending the 
block houses to such an extent that he attached Mr. 
Harter to his headquarters for some time and finally 
placed him or. Genera! Beatty's staff as aide-de-camp. 
After that fierce battle General Thomas issued a special 
complimentary order acknowledging his services as 
lieutenant in defendins his post, and presented him with 
a handsome saddle. During one of his engagements 
Mr. Harter's sword was shot off by a shell. 

I\rr. I lark-r continned in active service un- 
til victory crowned the Union arms and then 
retm^ned to Canton, where he resumed his po- 
sition in the bank, continuing to be identified 



with the institution until 1867, when he became 
associated with his brother Alichael D. in the 
organization of the banking firm of George D. 
Harter & Brother, and this institution is still 
in existence, being known at the present time 
as the George D. Harter Bank. Apropos of 
his many capitalistic and industrial associa- 
tions the following extract is from an article 
published in the Sunday Herald, of Canton, 
on the morning after his death : "At the time 
of his death Mr. Harter was president of the 
First National Bank and a member of the bank- 
ing firm of Isaac Harter & Sons. As a ban- 
ker he was always conservative and successful, 
at the same time very liberal with his patrons. 
There are, no doubt, many men in this city to- 
day who can date their success in life to favors 
received from him. But there is a time-hon- 
ored adage which says : 'there is that which 
scattereth and yet increaseth,' for Mr. Harter 
leaves a large estate. There is no public or pri- 
vate charity in this city which is not his debtor. 
One of the greatest things of this kind to 
which he had become deeply interested was the 
new building of the Young Men's Christian 
Association, on West Tuscarawas street. Trin- 
ity Lutheran church also received a share of his 
donations to religious institutions. The new 
hospital A\hich he and his wife were building 
in tlie western part of the city will be com- 
pleted." (This institution is now in operation 
and is unexcelled in its accommodations 
and equipments.) He was born in the 
faith of the Lutheran church, of which 
he was a member from his }outh un- 
til his demise, while during the greater 
portion of the time during his adult years he 
served the same in some official capacity. ha\-ing 
been a member of Trinity Lutheran church, of 
whose Sunday school he was superintendent at 
the time when his summons came to pass for- 
ward to the "land of the leal." Of him it has 
been said that he "was neither a Pharisee nor 
a bigot in religion," and this was to be presup- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



331 



posed as true of one of so high intellectuahty 
and wide mental and practical ken. He was 
signally appreciative of all that is best in lit- 
erature and art and his private collections in 
these lines were among the best in the state, 
\^■hile it was his pleasure to enrich his beau- 
tiful home with all that makes for ideality in 
life, the home life representing an apotheosis of 
all the term implies, and being so sacred and 
inviolate as to make it incompatible in this 
connection to even attempt the lifting of the 
gracious veil which compassed it. He was a 
member of the Canton board of trade, of the 
board of managers of the Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association and of its building commit- 
tee. Its politics he gave a stanch allegiance to 
the Republican party, l>ut, having a deep insight 
into the well springs of human thought and 
action and being ever kindly and tolerant in 
his association with "all sorts and conditions 
of men," he placed true values upon those with 
whom he came in contact in the various re- 
lations of life, even esteeming character above 
the mere accidents of temporal prestige or 
power. ]\lr. Harter was a distinct man and 
a true one, and as such it was his to become 
a potent factor for good in all places in which 
he chose to interpose, while the unequivocal 
esteem and affection accorded him on e\-ery 
side constitute the best tribute to his worth as 
a man. 'A gracious personality, a cultured and 
refined taste and a sincerity of thought and 
purpose which never wavered, — these charac- 
terized the man to whom this memoir is dedi- 
cated, and, standing in the pure light of his 
unassuming and noble manhood, we can not 
but be moved to a feeling of respect and admi- 
ration and to a realization of the fact that he 
lix'ed a life filled to its maximum with useful- 
ness and Imnor. His death was held as a per- 
sonal bereavement to the people of Canton, 
where his entire life was passed, and his name 
will be held in grateful remembrance as long 



as there remain those who have cognizance of 
his wurtliv and kindly life. 

In conclusion, briefly, reference is made to 
the domestic chapter in the life of the honored 
subject. On the 3d of March, 1869, was sol- 
emnized his marriage to i\Iiss Elizabeth Ault- 
man, daughter' of the late Cornelius Aultman, 
one of Canton's most distinguished and pub- 
lic-spirited citizens, and of this union were born 
six children, concerning whom the following 
is a brief record : Eliza Aultman Harter 
(deceased) ; Mary Elizabeth, at home; C. 
Aultman (deceased) ; Amanda, wife of James 
U. Fogle, of Canton; Catharine and Elizabeth, 
at home. Besides his wido\v and four children 
Mr. Harter is survived by two brothers and two 

sisters. 

•-.-♦ 

CHARLES STEESE, president of the 
First National Bank of Massillon, is a native 
of Ohio, born in the year 1842 at Canal Dover, 
Tuscarawas county, being the eldest of a fam- 
ily of children whose parents were Dr. Isaac 
and Mary (Johnson) Steese. The father prac- 
ticed medicine for a number of years in the 
above town and rose to an eminent place in 
the ranks of the profesion to which he devoted 
the greater part of his life and the maturity 
of his mental powers. When about four years 
old Charles Steese was brought to Massillon 
where he spent the years of his youth and early 
manhood, the meanwhile attending the public 
schools until completing the prescribed course 
of study, after which he entered Kenyon Col- 
lege at Gambler. Finishing his intellectual 
training in that institution, he accepted a po- 
sition in a bank where his abilities were soon 
recognized, as witness his success in promotion 
from a minor clerkship to higher and more re- 
sponsible posts and from that time to the pres- 
ent he has been actively identified with the finan- 
cial history of Massillon. After serving three 



332 



OLD LANDMARKS 



years as teller in the Merchants Bank of this 
city, Mr. Steese was made assistant cashier of 
the First National Bank, entering the latter 
institution at its organization, and in 1874 rose 
to the position of cashier, the duties of which 
he discharged until elected to the presidency, 
March 23, 1S92. As president his record has 
been a series of continued successes, as the his- 
tory of the bank abundanti}- proves, and he 
occupies today a conspicuous place among the 
able financiers of Ohio, besides having a wide 
reputation in business circles in other states. 
A man of strong mentality, mature judg- 
ment and fertility of resource, his opinions in 
financial matters have had great weight, and, 
as already indicated, his influence in the busi- 
ness development of Massillon has been mark- 
ed and salutary along every line of the city's 
industrial and commercial erowth. 



GEORGE REEVES was born in the 
town of Victoria. Monmouthshire, Eng- 
land, on the 7th day of July, 1850. His an- 
cestors for several generations wene identified 
\\\\\\ agricultural pursuits and were residents 
near tlic town of Motcomb. in Dorsetshire. 
England, l)eing gradually depri\ed of their 
holdings in that locality by the scheming of 
wealthy landlords of the county. George and 
(Martha) Arnold Reeves, parents of the sub- 
ject, were liorn. reared and married in Mot- 
comb, and there were born five of their eight 
children, namely: Marv i\nn, James, Jabez, 
Jonathan and Jeremiah. In 1847 the)- removed 
to the great iron-manufacturing county of Mon- 
mouthshire, locating in the town of Victoria, 
where their sons Frederick. George and Thom- 
as were born. The parents each attained a ven- 
erable age, and nf their children five are living 
at the present time, namely : Marv Ann. Jabez. 
Jonathan, Jeremiah and George. 

The sul)ject of this sketch ])ursue(l his stud- 
ies in ])iil)lic and ])ri\ate scIiddIs until he had 



attained the age of thirteen years, when he went 
to work in a rolling mill in Victoria, iron rail- 
road rails being there manufactured. These 
rails were straightened by hand. The process 
of straightening was accomplished by a primi- 
tive method. A very large man with a very 
large hammer or sledge would strike the 
rail at the points where it was bent, but it was 
necessan- that the product be free from dents 
and marks, and to accomplish this object a lx)y 
was engaged to hold a piece of sheet 
iron, rounded at one end for a handle, on the 
rail at the point of impact with the sledge, and 
in the case of Mr. Ree\'es, upon whom de- 
volved this service, it may be said that it was 
a very small boy who thus rendered assistance. 
\\ hile engaged in this work he received six 
pence (twelve cents) per day, antl in his eyes 
his first month's pay was much larger than any 
he has ever since received. Within a few 
months he became errand boy for the general 
manager of these large iron works, and soon 
afterwards this gentleman accorded him the 
privilege of going to work for a short time with 
any of the skilled workmen in his employ, and 
the boy chose to work a short time, in turn, with 
the carpenters, patternmakers, painters, stone 
masons, bricklayers, blacksmiths and boiler- 
makers. His brief experience in each of these 
departments proved of distinctive value to him 
in after years, since he gained a knowledge of 
the manifold details entering into the prosecu- 
tion (if tile industry with which he identified 
himself as owner and employer. At the age of 
sixteen years, Mr. Reeves left this employment 
and went away from home, working in differ- 
ent parts of luigland for the ensuing two years 
and su]:)pi:trting himself very respectably in 
e\erv wa^•. 

In 18^)0, al the age of nineteen years, Mr. 
Reeves was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Mcintosh, at Abergavenny. Monmouthshire, 
and in Mav of the following vear he came with 
his bride to America, and here he foutid em- 




i 
i 




£^iy-r>iZ_, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



333 



ploynient as a boilennaker, working for short 
intervals at Sharon, Pittsburg and Connells- 
ville, Pennsylvania, and Youngstown, Ohio. 
From the last place he removed to Leetonia, 
Columbiana county, this state, where he started 
the Leetonia Boiler Works. In the autumn of 
1871 he located in Niles, Trumbull county, 
where he became associated with his three elder 
brothers, Jabez, Jonathan and Jeremiah, under 
the firm name of Reeves Brothers, and they 
there established themselves in the same line of 
enterpnise. Soon afterward Jabez and Jona- 
than disposed of their interests in this business, 
which was thereafter continued by Jei-emiah 
and George, as equal partners, until 1891. In 
1880 Jeremiah went to Europe with his fam- 
ily, remaining abroad somewhat more than a 
year, within which period the entire charge of 
the business at Niles devolved upon the subject 
of this review. In 1883 the Reeves brothers 
embarked in the rolling-mill business at Canal 
Dover, Tuscarawas county. In June of that 
year George Reeves went to the town men- 
tioned and purchased the rolling mill there lo- 
cated, securing the property for himself and 
his brother from the assignee of the previous 
owners, and the Reeves Iron Company was 
forthwith organized to operate the plant. This 
venture being made in face of the fact that three 
different firms of experienced mill men had 
failed there, seemed to some older and more 
experienced heads to indicate a spirit of pure 
recklessness and presumption on the part of 
the Reeves brothers, who knew but little of the 
business, and there was no little criticism as to 
their jeopardizing their past successful record 
and hard-earned savings in this enterprise. It 
fell to the lot of Jeremiah to undertake the di- 
rect management of these works, and he re- 
moved from Niles to Canal Dover for that pur- 
pose in 1883, while George remained in Niles 
to conduct the pioneer business, paying weekly 
visits to the Canal Dover plant for consultation 
concerning its operation. Much hard labor 



and deep thought were given to it for years, 
and many sleepless nights came as the result 
to both of the interested principals. Reeves 
Ijrothers were placed, as the saying goes, be- 
tween the devil and the deep sea. They chose 
the sea, but it is nut ill advised to say that at 
times they scarcely knew whither their course 
was trending". The plant had never employed 
more than one hundred men until it came into 
the possession of the Reeves brothers; in 1885 
more than two hundred men were on the pay 
roll and sunshine appeared through the pre- 
viously clouded atmosphere of the enterprise. 
It became prosperous aiid consecutively ex- 
l)anded in scope and importance until in 1891 
it aft'orded employment to more than five hun- 
dred persons in the manufacture of iron and 
steel bars, from one-fourth inch to two-inch, 
round and square; three-fourth inch to six- 
inch flats, light rails, angles, etc. In 1890 plans 
were made to add a plant for the manufacturing 
of light sheets and plates, and within the two 
vears following said plant was completed and 
properly equipped. 

In 1 88 1 -2 the Reeves Brothers contracted 
for and erected the substantial iron buildings, 
boiler tanks, etc., for the rolling mills of the 
Ward Iron Company, at New- Philadelphia, 
Ohio. This company failed in 1883, owing the 
Reeves brothers a large sum of money, for 
which lien was taken. In 1885, at the earnest 
solicitation of the citizens of New Philadelphia, 
James Ward, the former owner and his credi- 
tors, the subject of this sketch and his brother 
Jeremiah, organized the New Philadelphia Iron 
& Steel Compau}-, the Reeves brothers taking 
stock for their lien, and the new company pro- 
ceeded to take possession of the plant men- 
tioned and to i^lace the same in operation. 
George Reeves was elected secretary and treas- 
urer of the company, and upon him devolved 
the arduous task of satisfying other creditors 
of the original Ward Iron Company and of 
procuring the funds demanded for the remodel- 



334 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ing and putting into operation the acquired 
plants as well as taking an active part in the 
management of the manufacturing. The works 
were put into operation in the autumn of 1S85 
with twenty-two puddling furnaces, muck mill, 
bar mill and two sheet mills. In 1887 the 
Reeves brothers purchased the interests of 
James Ward and others, and by the year 1891 
had increased the number of sheet mills to four 
and had succeeded in paying off all the creditors 
of the Ward Iron Company. From 1883 jthe 
Reeves brothers' Niles plant kept on increasing 
its capacity and business under the manage- 
ment of George Reeves, but was somewhat 
curtailed by reason of the brothers' investments 
at Canal Dover and New Philadelphia. 

In 1 89 1 Jeremiah and George Reeves dis- 
solved partnership, the former taking all the 
interests of both in the Reeves Iron Company, 
at Canal Dover, while our subject acquired the 
interests of both in the plant at Niles and in 
that of the New Philadelphia Iron & Steel Com- 
pany. The three concerns continued operations 
under the original titles and George Reeves be- 
came president of the New Philadelphia Iron 
& Steel Company, while his eldest son, Albert 
G., was made secretary and treasurer of the 
same. Success and progress continued to at- 
tend the fortunes of the company, and in 1899 
it had increased its capacity to ten sheet mills, 
with an extensive galvanizing plant and stove- 
pipe works, while employment was given to six 
hundred persons. In 1900 the company sold 
its plant, inventory and business to the Amer- 
ican Sheet Steel Company, a New Jersey cor- 
poration. 

In 1893 arrangements were made by George 
Ree\es and the citizens of Alliance to remove 
the Niles plant to the former city, and this 
work was accomplished in 1893-4. The works 
were destroyed by fire in May, iQoo. but were 
rebuilt and again put in operation early in the 
succeeding year. On July 15111 of that same 
year fire again destroyed the plant, Init the cour- 



age of the interested principals did not abate 
even in the face of this second disaster, and it 
was decided to rebuild upon an even more ex- 
tensive scale. In September of that year con- 
tracts were let for the erection of buildings to 
be constructed entirely of steel and brick, and 
these were not completed until October, 1902. 
None save those who have had similar expe- 
rience can appreciate or understand the demor- 
alization and chaos caused by being thus sud- 
denly deprived of the facilities for carrying 
on a large and heiivy manufacturing business, 
involving the arranging for the subletting of 
contracts and the cancelling of others for work 
on hand. The discouragement incidental to 
seeing regular customers driven elsewhere for 
merchandise, and the entire disruption of the 
shop organization also must figure as disrupting 
elements in such a case, and it stands to the 
credit, self-reliance and invincible courage of 
Mr. Reeves and his coadjutors that they did not 
permit the word failure to be for a moment 
considered. His great capacity as an execu- 
tive and as a man of initiative power stood well 
in h;ind at this critical juncture, and the results 
are most gratifying and significant. The busi- 
ness was operated by George Reeves un- 
der the firm name of Reeves Brothers, 
as before noted, until October i, 1901, 
when a reorganization was effected by 
our subject, the concern being incorpo- 
rated under the title of The Reeves 
Brothers Company, with Mr. Reeves, his 
sons and daughter as stockholders. The 
organization was perfected by the elec- 
tion of George Reeves, president ; Al- 
bert G. Reeves, vice-president and treas- 
urer; James A. Reeves, manager, and Ar- 
thur A. Reeves, secretary, and operation of the 
plant under the new regime was inaugurated 
in October, 1901. After the buildings were 
completed, machinery and other equipments 
and accessories had to be re-arranged, and at 
the time of this writing (May, 1903) more 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



335 



:han one hundred individuals are represented 
)n the pay roll, while the facilities are ade- 
]uate and the expectation certain for having 
I corps of three hundred employes before the 
;lose of the year. The plant is equipped with 
;ome of the heaviest and largest machinery 
md tools in existence, including bending rolls, 
ninches and riveting machines. The works 
ire equipped with electric cranes, electric light, 
lydraulic and pneumatic plants and appliances 
md powers. The buildings and fire apparatus 
ire pronounced perfect by the Ohio fire insur- 
ince inspectors, and the plant covers two acres 
jf ground. Among the products of this great 
plant may be noted the following : Heavy plate' 
md light sheet work, oil and acid tanks, oil 
refining work, oil tanks, rotary cement dryer 
;ylinders, blast furnace work, annealing boxes, 
?tand pipes and penstocks, converters" ladles, 
ooilers, heaters, girders, iron buildings, grain 
elevators, copper furnaces, clinker coolers, etc. 
In politics Mr. Reeves gives his allegiance 
lo the Republican party and fraternally he is 
identified with the Masonic order and the Royal 
Arcanum, in the former of which he has passed 
:he ancient, capitular and chivalric degrees, be- 
ing identified with Warren Commandery, No. 
^9, Knights Templar, while he is also a mem- 
jer of Al Koran Temple, Ancient Arabic Order 
3f the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in Cleve- 
land. Mrs. Reeves has been a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church for twenty years, 
and the subject attends its services. At the 
time of this writing Mr. Reeves is erecting on 
">ne of the most attractive and eligibly located 
lots on Union avenue a residence which will be 
the largest, finest and most expensive in the city 
of Alliance, which is notable for its beautiful 
homes. He is a man of genial presence and 
his course has been such as to commend him to 
the most unequivocal confidence and esteem in 
the business world and in the social relations 
of life, while his career in its well earned suc- 
cess affords both lesson and incentive. 



Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Reeves all 
were born in the United States except the eld- 
est, whose place of nativity was Monmouth- 
shire, England. Of the children we enter the 
following brief record, death having entered 
the family circle but once, taking the son Fred- 
erick, who died in infancy : Elizabeth R. was 
born July i, 1870; Albert G., who was born 
July 23, 1872, married Miss Tod Welty; James 
A., who was born March 15, 1874, married 
Miss Mary Kinsman; Frederick E., who was 
born December 10, 1875, died in infancy; 
Mayme M., who was born May 18, 1877, is 
the wife of A. G. Zang, of Alliance, and Arthur 
A. was born November 14, 1880. 



JOHN DaHINDEN.— The paternal 
grandparents of the subject were natives of 
Switzerland and died in that country. Their 
son. Job DaHinden, father of the subject, was 
born in Bern, Switzerland, in 1821. After re- 
ceiving a fair education he learned the trade 
of stone-cutting. In 1852 he came to the United 
States, landing at New York city, from whence 
he came direct to Canton, Ohio. Here he was 
employed at general work for a time. He sub- 
sequently lived at Massillon several years, but 
later moved into the country near that city. He 
followed his trade during the greater part of 
this time, but in 1868 came to Canton and op- 
ened a grocery store at what is now 1234 South 
Market street. He was fairly successful in this 
enterprise and conducted it until his death, in 
1880. Politically he affiliated with the Demo- 
cratic party, while religiously he and his wife 
were faithful and consistent members of the 
German Reformed church. 

In 1856 Jacob DaHinden was married to 
Miss Charlotte Biebesheimer, the ceremony be- 
ing performed at Canton by Rev. Peter Her- 
bruck, pastor of the German Reformed church. 
She was born in the southern part of Germany 
in 1832. Her father died in Germany and 



336 



OLD LANDMARKS 



shortly afterward her mother brought her fam- 
ily to the United States, coming direct to Can- 
ton. They afterward lived here and at Mas- 
sillon, the mother's death occurring at Canton 
in 1900. Mrs. DaHinden"s maternal grand- 
mother resided in Iowa and died there at the 
home of a daughter at the age of eighty-six. 
To Jacob and Charlotte DaHinden were born 
the following cliildren : John, whose name 
appears at the head of this sketch ; Jacob, who 
lives at Wheeling, West Virginia; Sophia; 
Charles W. is a farmer and resides in this coun- 
ty ; Emma is at home ; Charlotte is a teacher in 
the public schools; Frank is a prominent and 
successful physician in Canton. 

John DaHinden was born in Massillon, 
Stark county, Ohio, on the nth of March, 
1857. When a boy he removed with his par- 
ents to Canton and here received his education 
in the public schools. Quitting the city schools 
at the age of sixteen years, he attended the Can- 
ton Business College for several months, ac- 
quiring a sound, practical acquaintance with 
business methods. Entering his father's gro- 
cery store as a clerk, he remained with him un- 
til his death, in 1880, since when he has con- 
ducted the business alone. He has endeavored 
at all times to cater to the needs and tastes of 
his customers and by his courteous treatment 
and evident desire to please all who deal with 
him, he has built up a large and profitable busi- 
ness. 

Politically Mr. DaHinden is a staunch ad- 
vocate of Democratic principles and takes a 
keen interest in the general trend of public 
events. Taking an especial interest in educa- 
tional matters, he served as a memter of the 
board of education from 1886 until 1890, per- 
forming much effective service in the Avay of 
improving and strengthening the public school 
system of the city. Religiously he was reared 
in the faith of the German Reformed church 
and has lived a life consistent w-ith its teachings. 
He is progressive in his methods, keen in opin- 



ion, and withal a man who has in a marked 
degree impressed his personality upon the com- 
munity in which he has so long resided. 



JOHN BUCKIUS.— The Buckius family 
is of stanch old German stock, and the 
name has been spelled Bockius l)y cer- 
tciin branches of the parent stock in 
America, whither two brothers came from Ger- 
many in the colonial epoch, being numbered 
among the early settlers in the immediate vicin- 
ity of the city of Philadelphia and having be- 
come the owners of the land about German- 
town, in whose founding they were instru- 
mental, the place being now one of the most 
attractive suburbs of Philadelphia. John 
Buckius. Sr., father of the subject of this me- 
moir, was born in that section of Pennsylvania, 
and he there learned the trade of coppersmith. 
As a young man he li^'ed in Newmarket, Dis- 
trict of Columbia, and it is interesting to recall 
the fact that at the burial of Washington, at 
Mount ^''ernon, he was the last to look upon 
the face of the great "father of his country,"' 
having been assigned by the government to the 
task of sealing the leaden casket in which the 
coffin of the late President and patriot was in- 
closed. This John Buckius was twice married, 
his two wives having been sisters, w^hose 
maiden names were Sims. After the death of 
his first wife he married her younger sister, 
who was at the time a widow. He came with 
his family to Canton, Stark county, Ohio, 
a])out t8io or 1812. from Lancaster county, 
I^ennsylvania. His first home in Canton was a 
primitive log cabin, located on what is now the 
ciiurt house square, and later he purchased 
property at the corner of Fifth street and the 
I)ublic square, where Caldwell's store is now 
located, and here he erected a substantial brick 
residence, which was considered a marvel of 
hixupv' and convenience in that day. In this 
place he established himself in the work of his 




^/t^k^ ^^^^-^^r^c^ 






cc^ 




C-1-^Mxf 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



337 



trade as a tiiisniilh and coppersmitli. and his 
liome also figured for a number of years as a 
sort of private hotel, its entertainment being- 
greatly appreciated by the occasional travelers 
3f the period, and its use in this way being dic- 
tated quite as much for hospitality as profit. 
Mr. Euckius was one of the prominent and in- 
lluential men of the pioneer community and 
was known as an upright and capable business 
man. He became the owner of a farm on the 
Fulton road, in Plain township, and after re- 
tiring from business in Canton he removed to 
his farm and there passed the remainder of 
his life, his death occurring in 1847, when he 
was well advanced in age. His first wife ac- 
companied him on his removal to Canton, and 
;ifter her death he returned to Pennsylvania 
and there married her widowed sister, who 
survived him. and who, after his death, found 
a home with her daughter, Mrs. Heyl, born of 
lier first marriage. She passed her declining 
days' in the city of Columbus, where she died, 
no children ha\'ing been born of her marriage 
to Mr. Buckius. His children by the first mar- 
riage were as follows : Samuel, who married 
:i Miss Dunbar, of Canton, died at his home in 
Mansfield. Ohio; Valentine married, in Canton, 
Miss Maria Kitzmiller (sister of the wife of the 
subject), and she died in Canton, her husband 
subsequently marrying Judith Ann Longe- 
necker. who likewise died in Canton. At the 
time of the gold excitement in California, in 
1849 o'' 1850, Valentine Buckius, accompanied 
by three of his grown children, went to that 
state and there passed the remainder of his 
life: Sylvanus. the next in order of birth, mar- 
ried Sarah Adams, and his death occurred in 
Massillon, this cotinty ; Henry, who was for 
many years engaged in the tinning business in 
Canton, married Catherine Reed and here 
passed the residue of his life; John, subject of 
th!s memoir, was the youngest son, and the 
rlaughters in the family were: Savilla. who be- 



came the wife of a ]\Ir. Beals, and Catherine, 
who was twice married. 

John ]3uckius, to whom this tribute is dedi- 
cated, was born in the old log house previously 
mentioned, on the court house block. Canton, 
on the 25th of January, 1813, and his early 
education was received in private or subscrip- 
tion schools of the pioneer x-illage, one of his 
early instructors having been a ^Ir. Goodwell, 
who was one of the class commonly designated 
in those days as "Yankee teachers." As a 
youth the subject learned the harness making 
and saddlery trade under the direction of John 
Reed, and in this line of enterprise he was for 
a few years engaged on his own responsibility, 
his shop being on the site of the present First 
Methodist Episcopal church. About 1837 he 
remo\-ed with his family to Paris, this county, 
where he conducted a hotel for a few years, 
this old "tavern" of the earl)- days being a 
stopping place for all stages tra\-ersing" the 
state road. Later he located on a farm in Co- 
lumbiana county, where he remained for a few 
years, and he became also the owner of much 
farm land and to\Mi property in and about Up- 
per Sandusky, Wyandot county, removing to 
that locality, but remaining only six months, 
owing to the dire efl'ects experienced by mem- 
bers of tl'.e family in the frequent and insistent 
attacks of "fever and ague," as the preva- 
lent malady was termed. He accordingly re- 
turned to Canton and took up his abode in a 
house where the First Methodist Episcopal 
church now stands, and there continued to fol- 
low his trade for a number of years. He event- 
ually rPmo\-ed the old liouse from this site and 
erected in its ])lace a large brick residence, 
which was the family home until about 1858, 
when, in company with his son-in-law, Mr. 
Hawk, he purchased the brick residence of 
Isaac Harter, located on the lot adjoining on 
the east and separated only by a brick wall. 
The tWLi buildings were remodeled and united 



21 



338 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and finally opened to the public as the St. Cloud 
Hotel in the spring of 1858. In October of 
the following year the property was destrt)yed 
by fire, and Messrs. Buckius and Hawk then 
became associated in the purchase of the prop- 
erty on the opposite corner, where the Frank- 
lin Hotel then stood and where the Hurford 
Hotel was located up to within recent years. 
They changed the name of the Franklin tn that 
originally adoj^ted for their other house, and 
continued to successfully conduct the hotel at 
that location until the spring of 1864. when 
Mr. Buckius retired from active business, buy- 
ing the residence property at the corner of 
Eighth street and McKinley avenue, where he 
resided for many years. He died at the home 
of his daughter, Mrs. Hawk, on the 31st of 
March. 1883, in the fullness of years and well 
earned honors and lamented by a host 
of friends in the community where he had 
passed so great a portion of his life. He was 
a man of utmost sincerity, urbane and genial 
at all times, and his honor was of the most 
exalted type. His intellectual powers were of 
superior order and he had distinctive business 
ability, while his counsel and advice were fre- 
quentl}' suught in regard to matters of public 
pulicy and civic enterprise. In politics he was 
arrayed with the Whig party until the organi- 
zation of the Republican, whose principles he 
afterward advocated without reservation. He 
had the niniost reverence for the spiritual veri- 
ties and was a devoted member of the First 
Methodist Episcopal church from the time of 
its organization until he was finally summoned 
into eternal rest, secure in the faith which he 
had so earnestly professed and exemplified. 

In 1834, in Canton, was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr. Buckius to Miss Rebecca 
Kitzmiller. who was born on the 29th of De- 
cember, 1814, un tlie old Kitzmiller farm, one 
of the noted homesteads of the vicinity of Can- 
ton in the early days, a daughter of Jacob and 
Sarah (Kru^l Kitzmiller, both families hav- 



ing been of prominence and wealth in Holland, 
whence came the original representatives in 
America, taking up their abode in Pennsylva- 
nia, from which state members of each family 
came to Ohio in the early pioneer epoch. The 
venerable wife of the Imnored subject still re- 
sides in Canton, being one of the oldest lixing 
persons native of this city and having the rev- 
erential affection of a wide circle of devoted 
friends. She is likewise a devoted member of 
the First Methodist Episcopal church, in whose 
work she was acti\-e until compelled to with- 
draw in a measure by reason of the inlirmities 
incidental to advanced age. Her mother was 
a small girl in Germantown, Pennsylvania, at 
the time Washington was there with his army, 
a!id she retained a vi\id reccjilection of the 
occasion. She was reared in a Moravian school 
and was a daughter of Jacob Krug, who came 
to Ohio, but who finally remo\-ed to Craw- 
fords\i!Ie, Indiana, where he died at the age 
of one hundred and two years. The parents 
of Mrs. Buckius both died in Canton. She is 
now tenderly cared for in the home of one of 
her daughters, Mrs. Hawk. 

To I\Ir. and Mrs. Buckius were born two 
daughters, Ella La\inia and Sarah Frances. 
The latter married Thomas Stackpole, a cap- 
tain in the I'nited States army during the 
Civil war, and died in Athens, Tennessee, April 
I", 1898. They had one son. Ralph D. Stack- 
pole, now residing in Harrislmrg, Pennsyha- 
nia. ]Mrs. Stackpole resides in Canton. 

Ella Lavinia (Buckius) Hawk was Ixini 
in the old home, erected in 1829, on West Tus- 
carawas street. Canton, where the News Ex- 
change is now located, on the loth of January, 
1836, and slie was reared in her native town. 
She prosecuted her studies in the pri\-ate semi- 
nary conducted by Ebenezer Buckingham, later 
attended a union school, taught by Ira M. Al- 
len and M iss Betsey Cowles, and completed her 
scholastic discipline in Esther Institute, an ex- 
cellent school, then conducted in the citv of Co- 




'm 



/' 



'fJ/T^ dfa^^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



339 



lumbus. On the 27th of April, 1858, in Can- 
ton. Rev. Ebenezer Buckingham, a Presbyter- 
ian clergyman, pronounced the solemn words 
wliich united the destinies of Ella Lavinia 
Ikickius and William Hawk, concerning whom 
mention has already been made in this article. 
Mr. Hawk was born in Pennsylvania in 1836. 
and when he was still an infant his parents, 
William and Mary Hawk, removed thence to 
Canton, where they passed the remainder of 
their li\es. lionored pioneers of the city. ]Mr. 
Hawk died on the 25th of January, 1864. They 
had one child, William S., who was born in this 
city on the nth of February, 1859, and who 
here received his early educati(_inal training. 
At the age of ten years he entered the Gray- 
lock School, in Massachusetts, and after com- 
pleting his education he went to New York 
city, where he secured a thorough business 
training in the old Windsor Hotel. Fifth ave- 
nue and Forty-fifth street, at that time one of 
the best in th.e metropolis and conducted by his 
uncle. Samuel Hawk, who died in 1882, after 
which William S. became associated with Gard- 
ner Weatherby in the conducting of the same 
hotel, from which they retired one year prior 
to the burning of the same with so fearful loss 
of life in 1898. They soon afterward erected 
the magnificent Manhattan Hotel, at the corner 
of Madison avenue and Forty-second street, in 
New "^'ork, which has since been conducted un- 
der the firm name of Hawk & Weatherby, Wil- 
liam S. having been the able successor of his 
uncle and Lieing recognized as one of the lead- 
ing hotel men in the Union. In New York city 
he married Miss Edith Davis, and they have 
three cliildren — Annette Catherine, Edith 
Olivia and William Davis. 



REV. EMIL P. HERBRUCK.— The his- 
tory of the Reformed church in Canton 
is very closely identified with the life and 



achievement of the Herbruck family, a promi- 
nent member of which is the subject of this 
sketch, who, as a worthy successor of his dis- 
tinguished father, has labored successfully in 
the broad field of religious endeavor and earned 
a reputation as one of the leading di\-ines of 
his communion in the state of Ohio. Emil P. 
Herbruck, son of Rev. Peter and Sarah ( Hol- 
wick) Herbruck, was born in the old family 
residence at 1003 East Tuscarawas street. Can- 
ton. Ohio, on the 5th day of January, 1857.. 
His early life was marked Ijy no special event 
worthy of note and from the age of six tc 
ten lie attended the public schools of the citv, 
after which he spent three years in the paroch- 
ial schools with the object in view of receiv- 
ing religious instructions and intellectual train- 
ing. Meanwhile the influences of Christian 
parents had much to do in shaping his charac- 
ter and making him what he has since become, 
— a symmetrically developed man, intellectu- 
ally, morally and spiritually. When thirteen 
years of age he entered Calvin Institute, a pri- 
vate school in which boys are prepared for col- 
lege, and there he applied himself verv dili- 
gently for three years, making an honorable 
record as a student. Finishing the prescribed 
course of the above institution, young Her- 
bruck was entered at Heidelberg Uni\ersity, 
Tifiin, Ohio, where he prosecuted his studies 
until 1875 when he was graduated at the early 
age of eighteen. Having decided to devote 
his life to the noble work of the ministry, he 
began his theological course in the Heidelberg 
Seminary, finishing his work there in 1876, 
and in May of that year accepted a call to the 
Grace Reformed church in the city of Akron. 
During a pastorate of ten and a half years there 
he was instrumental in greatly adding to the 
church numerically and extending the bounds 
of its influence, not the least of his labors be- 
ing the erection of a beautiful and commodious 
temple of worship of modern design, which 



340 



OLD LANDMARKS 



was finished and dedicated witli ai)i)ropriate cer- 
emonies in 1883. This edifice is of pressed 
brick, imposing in appearance, and stands as 
a monument of the zeal and self sacrificing 
efforts of the earnest pastor under whose ad- 
ministration the work was undertaken and 
puslied to successful completion. 

Resigning his charge in the fall of 1886, 
Rev. Herbruck Ijecame pastor of Trinity Re- 
formed church in Canton, at that time a small 
congregation of one hundred and fifty com- 
mmiicants, a number which, under his masterly 
leadership, has since increased until the rec- 
ords now show a membership of one thousand 
two hundred and fifty, a growth unparalleled 
in the history of any other religious body in the 
city. He began his labors here under favoraljle 
auspices and by carefully working according 
to methodical plans has realized results such as 
few in much longer pastorates have accom- 
plished. Additional to the large increase in 
membership, there has been a corresponding 
advancement in all departments of work and in' 
the church in all its liberality and spiritual 
growth, general usefulness and helpfulness in 
the thri\ing community where God planteil it 
there has l>eenno backward movement. Here. 
as in Akron, it became necessary to provide 
a building of sufficient capacity to meet the 
recjuirements of the congregation, accord- 
ingly in 1892 a movement to that end was in- 
augurated and in due time took visible form. 
Before the expiration of that year the present 
handsome and imposing brick structure of 
Romancs(|ue design was completed and formal- 
ly dedicated to the purpose for which intended, 
the event being a glad day in the history of the 
organization. The house, which occupies a 
fav6rable site in one of the best quarters of 
the city, is arranged \\-ith all modern conven- 
iences and is sufficiently comnKKlious to meet 
the purposes of the congregation for years to 
come. 



Ive\-. Herbruck is first of all an hunilde and 
devout disciple of the Xazarene, after which 
his ;^clu)larly attainments and persuasive pow- 
ers as a forcible and eloquent speaker may be 
considered. Clear and cogent as a rcasoner, 
rtuenl in language and apt in illustration, he 
presents the claims of the gospel in strong 
but elegant terms which are easily understood 
Ijy his auditors and he seldom fails to impress 
his people by the earnestness of his message. 
Both as citizen and embassador of Christ he 
comes very near the highest ideals of life, 
combining in his person all of those rarer gifts 
which we ha\-c come to believe are embodied 
in the best type of.Christain manhood. Rev. 
Herbruck has not been unmindful of the claims 
the public has upon all its citizens, consecjuently 
he manifests a lively interest in the material 
welfare of his adopted city and takes an acti\-e 
part in tlie political cjuestions of the day. He 
is a Democrat in state and national issues and, 
all things being equal, supports his party's nom- 
inees for local offices; otherwise he casts his 
ballot for the best qualified candidate regard- 
less of political ties and never hesitates to give 
expression to his opinion when it becomes ex- 
pedient to do so. He ser\ed on the new audi- 
torium hoard and in other ways has manifested 
an interest in the public improvements of Can- 
ton, believing the minister's mission to be wide 
enough to include many atTairs not cxactl_\- in 
the es]3ecial line of church work. Fraternally 
he holds membership with the Pythian brother- 
hood, lielonging to the Canton Lodge. 

On the I till day of October, 1884. Rev. 
Herbruck was married in the city of Akron to 
-Miss Iris h. Zwisler, daughter of Rev. John 
antl Rebecca Zwisler, the union being blessed 
with children whose names and dates of birth 
are as follows: Carl P.. !\Iay 5, 1886: Wendall 
Arden, I'cbruary 23, 1888: Xina Irene. March 
5, i8r)0, and Marguerite, who was born Octo- 
ber 29. 1893. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



341 



WILLIAM F. RAYNOLDS.— "Peace 
liatli its victories no less renowned than war." 
said Sumner, and this fact has Ijeen jiroven oft- 
en and again as the march of progress lias con- 
tinued witli ever accelerating speed. But the 
crucial period, and the one which evokes the 
most exalted patriotism, is tliat when a nation's 
lionor is menaced, its integrity threatened and 
tlie great ethic principles of right in\'iil\-etl. 
Then is sterling manhood roused to definite 
Ijrotest and decisi\-e action, and ahove ah the 
tumult and horror of internecine conflict never 
can greater honor he paid than to him who 
aided in holding high the standard which repre- 
sents the mtrinsic principles of liberty, hurl- 
ing oppression back and keeping the boon of 
freedom. The military career of the subject 
of this memoir was one which will ever re- 
d<jund to his honor as a loyal and devoted son 
of the republic and as one whose courage was 
that of his convictions, and yet who was con- 
tent to fight for principle and for his country's 
righteous cause rather than for mere glory 
of arms or relati\e personal precedence. The 
career of Mr. Raynolds was one of exceptional 
interest, w ith great variety of incident and un- 
usual experiences, and yet throughout all 
changes and chances of this mortal life he stooil 
forth as a symmetrical type of the true Ameri- 
can citizen and the noble man. thoroughly in 
liaruKiny with the spirit of the republic and de- 
voted to all that is desirable and ennobling in 
life. As a native son of the city of Canton and 
as one who attained distinction of significant 
character, it is clearly incumbent that in a work 
of this province there be incorporated a brief 
trilnite to his memory. 

William F. Raynolds was born in the old 
family homestead, located on the site of the 
present City National Bank, in Canton, Stark 
county, Ohio, on the nth of March, 1840, be- 
ing the eldest son of John F. and Margaret 
(Faber) Raynolds. He received his jirelim- 
inary educational discipline in the puljlic schools 



of his native city, and supplemented the same 
by attending a private school here conducted 
l)y Ihof. Ira M. Allen. He early began a ca- 
reer of somewhat adventurous order, since at 
the age of sixteen he set forth on a whaling 
\nyage on the Pacific ocean, sailing from New 
Bedford, Massachusetts, on the whaling" ves- 
sel "Midas." The winter months were passed 
in the Sandwich islands, which were at that 
time still practically in a state of barl)arism. 
and in their various voyages the crew of the 
vessel endured great hardships, dangers and pri- 
vations. On one occasion they floated help- 
lessly for a period of twenty-three days, being 
lodged on an ice pack, but Mr. Raynolds, 
though a mere boy, bore himself with the for- 
titude of a man, as was shown in a lauditory 
letter written to his father by the captain of the 
vessel, whose words of commendation were un- 
stinted. In these hours of peril and arduous 
toil he manifested the same self-reliance, fertil- 
ity of expedient and quick and decisive mental 
action which characterized his entire career and 
which made iiim a man of action in every sense 
of the term. Lie went away as a boy and re- 
tiu'ned a man, having been absent on this whal- 
ing expedition for a period of four years. He 
returned to Ohio in i860, and in the winter of 
that year established himself in the oil business 
at Darlington, Richland county, but soon he 
disposed of his business to respond to the clar- 
ion call to arms, as the intrinsic loyalty and 
and patriotism of his nature led him to make 
responsive protest when the rebel guns thun- 
dered against the ramparts of old Fort Sum- 
ter. In i86t, in response to the first call for 
\olunteers, Mr. Raynolds enlisted as a private 
in Company F, Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infan- 
try, under Col. Andrews and Captain Wallace. 
He enlisted for ninety days and went to the 
front with his regiment, returning home in 
June, at the expiration of his term, and he 
here veteranized and shortly afterward re-en- 
listed in the same regiment, for a term of three 



342 



OLD LANDMARKS 



years. He was specially endowed with those 
qualities which make good soldiers, being brave 
and cool-headed, e\er amenable to discipline 
and holding duty as inviolable under all con- 
ditions, and thus he was soon called upon to 
assume special duties of important character. 
In December, 1861. I\Ir. Raynolds returned 
to Ohio and here aided in the organization of 
the Sixth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, of which 
he was chosen adjutant at the time of its for- 
mation. While with the Fourth Infantry he 
had been in active service in the artillery branch 
and had gained valuable and practical knowl- 
edge of methods antl tactical manoeuvers. \\'hen 
the Sixth Cavalry was consolidated with the 
Eighth Ohio Artillery, the subject withdrew 
from the same to accept the position of lieuten- 
ant on the gunboat "Port Royal," and later 
he was in active service with the bl(^ckading 
squadron of the gulf of Mexico, continuing 
in the naval department of the service until 
the close of the war and making an enviable 
record for valor, fidelity and earnest devotion 
to the cause of the Union. Upon the establish- 
ment of the re\-enue-cutter service, at the close 
of the war, Mr. Raynolds was made a lieuten- 
ant in the same, continuing in this branch of the 
government service until 1870, when he re- 
sigiied his position, owing to illness in his fam- 
ily, as will be further noted in this context. 
About the year 1870 he accepted a position as 
inspector of hulls, with headquarters at Louis- 
ville. Kentucky, where he maintained his resi- 
dence until 1876. AVhile there he was persuad- 
ed to take a financial interest in a local plow 
manufactory, and of this concern he acted as 
representative at the Centennial exposition, in 
Philadelphia, in 1876. About this time his 
health l)ecame much impaired and he returned 
to his home in Canton, and here, in 1879, he 
became associated with Mr. Best in the manu- 
facturing of apparatus for the use of gasoline 
as an illuminant and with this enterprise he 
continued to be identified until his death, which 



occurred on the 17th of March, 1S83. His 
gracious and kindly nature won to him hosts 
of friends, and when he was called from the 
scene of life's labors his loss was mourned by 
this community and by those whom he had 
endeared himself in many other sections of 
the Union, for his circle of acquaintances was 
exceptionally large, and may well be said to 
have been coincident with that of his friends. 

In politics Mr. Raynolds ever gave an in- 
flexible allegiance to the principles and poli- 
cies of the Republican party, in whose cause he 
was an acti\e and enthusiastic worker, though 
never a seeker for official preferment of any 
sort. He was reared in the faith of the Pres- 
byterian church, and his views were ever in 
harmony with the tenets of this denomination. 
He retained a lively interest in his old com- 
rades of the Civil war was one of the organ- 
izers of the Grand Army of the Republic Post 
in Canton, while later he affiliated with Burn- 
side Post, in Washington, D. C. He always 
had a marked ajipreciation of and love for mili- 
tary affairs, and prior to the Rebellion he was 
a member of the organization known as the 
Canton Zouaves, while in this city, after his re- 
turn from the war, he effected the organiza- 
tion of the Wallace Greys, of which he became 
captain. His was a thoroughly symmctrial and 
distinct character, one exponent of the truest 
nobility, and the lesson and incentive of his 
life were such that their influence must be cum- 
ulati\'e for all time, even as the diverging lines 
from an angle constantly widen. 

In the city of Canton, on the 15th of May, 
1866, Mr. Raynolds was united in marriage to 
Miss ]\rar\- Alma Lester, who was liorn in the 
house where she now resides, the same having 
been her home consecutively save for the inter- 
^•als when she was with her husband during 
his limited residence in other places and dming 
his travels. 

Mrs. Raynolds is a daughter of Jonathan 
G. and Mary Abigail (Stidger) Lester, the for- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



343 



mer of whom was born in New London, Con- 
necticut, in 1804, being a representative of a 
family long established in New England, the 
name having been identified with the history 
of Connecticut from the early colonial epoch. 
Mr. Lester learned the trade of tanner in his 
youth, and as a young man he came to Ohio, 
becoming one of the pioneer business men of 
Canton, where he established himself in the 
hardware business, in which he continued for a 
long term of years, being signally prospered 
in his etf'orts and accumulating a competency. 
He Ijecame the owner of fine farming property 
in this immediate vicinity, and being fond of the 
untrammeled life of the farm, finally disposed 
of his mercantile business and thereafter de- 
voted his attention principally to the manage- 
ment of his farms, still continuing to maintain 
his home in Canton, where he died on the 30th 
of July, 1874, in the fulness of years and well 
earned honors. His widow survived him by 
nearly a score of years, entering into eternal 
rest on the 6th of June, 1893, at the age of 
seventy-seven years. She was born in Canton 
and her parents were numbered among the 
early pioneers of Stark count}-. Mrs. Raynolds 
was the scond in order of birth in the family 
of three children, the youngest of whom was 
Helen, who died at the age of eleven years. 
The eldest of the three w^as George S. Lester, 
who received his early education in the public 
schools of Canton, after which he was ma- 
triculated in the L'nited States Naval Acad- 
emy, at Annapolis, where he remained until 
1861, in June of which year he w-ould have 
been gradtiated in the institution. At that 
time there was great dissension among the ca- 
dets, owing to the growing animosity between 
the North and South, culminating in the war 
of the Rebellion, and Mr. Lester managed to 
keep himself in "hot water" a great portion of 
the time through resenting the insults and 
taunts of the southern sympathizers, who were 
greatly in the majority in the institution. He 



was finally called upon to enter an apology 
when he believed one was due him, and he re- 
fused to so humble himself and resigned his 
place in the academy. He came immediately 
home and at once enlisted as a private in Com- 
pany F, Fourth Ohio Volunteer Lifantry, and 
later he became an officer on the staff of Gen- 
eral John S. Mason, in which capacity he con- 
tinued to serve until the close of the war, mak- 
ing a distinguished record. Li 1863 he was 
united in marriage to Miss Rachel ^liner, who 
died in 1874, after which he removed to New- 
York city, where he engaged in the paint busi- 
ness in company with his cousin, S. J. Miller, 
and there, in March, 1875, he married Miss 
Jennie Marsh, of Cattaraugus county. New 
\"ork, and shortly afterwards he returned with 
his bride to Stark county, taking up his abode 
on his fine farm, in the northwestern part of 
the county, where he retained his home until 
his death, in 1884, as the result of an accident. 
His widow and two sons survive, Mrs. Lester 
and her elder son, Jonathan G. maintaining 
their home in Massillon, while George ]\L, the 
younger son, is an attorney in the city of Chi- 
cago. Mrs. Raynolds w^as reared and educated 
in Canton, and here she has passed practi- 
cally her entire life, as has already been noted 
in this context. She is a woman of gracious 
refinement and enjoys the friendship of the 
representati\-e families of the community, tak- 
ing a prominent part in the social acti\-ities 
of the city. 



JOHN V. LEWIS, M. D., son of Peter 
and Caroline Lewis, is a native of what is now 
Mahoning county (his birth place being for- 
merly in the county of Columbiana), and was 
born August i, 1836. Peter Lewis was born 
in Pennsylvania and grew to maturity near 
Doylestown, Bucks county, that state, adopt- 
ing when a young man the medical profession 
for his life w^ork. Shortly after his marriage 



344 



OLD LANDMARKS 



witli Miss Caroline W'asser, he removed to 
Columbiana county, Ohio, but following a 
brief residence there changed his abode to Car- 
roll county, where he practiced Iiis profession 
until his death, in 1838. His widow sul:)se- 
(juently married Samuel Roller, a prominent 
business man of Mahoning county, and with 
him spent tiie remainder of her days in the town 
of Green Fork. 

Of the two children born to Peter and Caro- 
hne Lewis. Dr. John V. of this sketch is the 
only sur\"ivor. He spent his early years at 
home and after laying the foundation of a lib- 
eral intellecutal training in the public schools, 
entered the Salem high school, the prescribed 
course of wliich he completed when a }'<)uth of 
seventeen. At that early age he began teaching 
m the schools of Mahoning county and on at- 
taining his majority four years later took up 
the study of medicine at Green Fork under the 
direction of Dr. Andrew \\'eikhart. in whose 
office he remained until becoming a student of 
tlie Eclectic ^ledical Institute at Cincinnati. 
He paid his way through that institution with 
money earned by teaching, was graduated in 
due time with an honorable record and imme- 
diately tliereafter removed to Crawford county. 
Illinois, where he spent the ensuing" three years 
in the active practice of his profession. Re- 
turing to Ohio at tlie expiration of that time. 
Dr. Lewis formed a partnership at his home 
town of Green Fork with Dr. Weikhart, his 
former preceptor, which relationship continued 
for a period of ten years and resulted in a large 
measure of professional and financial success 
to both parties. In 1871 the subject wound 
up his business at the above place and removed 
to .Alliance, where he soon forged to the front 
as a successful physician and an exceptionally 
able surgeon, having for some years devoted 
especial attention to the latter branch of his 
profession. 

During his long period of residence in Alli- 
ance, covering almost a third of a century. Dr. 



Lewis' professional career has been eminently 
successful and his reputation as a practitioner 
is of the highest order of excellence. His kind- 
ly presence and sympathetic nature enable him 
to gain the confidence of his patients and his 
efficiency and skill mark him as a true friend of 
suft'ering humanity. While doing a large gen- 
eral ])ractice. the Doctor, as already stated, 
makes surgery a specialty and his reputation 
as a skillful operator is second to that of no 
other practitioner in Alliance or neighboring 
cities. 

Dr. Lewis, in 1862, was united in marriage 
with Miss Sophia E. B'ristoe, of Crawford 
county, Illinois, the union resulting in the birth 
of a son, Clifford, who died some years ago. 
Like all progressive men of his calling, the 
Doctor has never ceased to be a student and 
at this time his name adorns the records of va- 
rious professional organizations, among which 
are the National ]\Iedical Association and the 
Eclectic Medical Association of Ohio. He is 
also a member of the city board of health, the 
board of medical examiners and an active 
worker in the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows. 

Dr. Lewis is one of the influential Denmcrat 
politicians in this part of the state and has con- 
tributed greatly to the success of his party in 
both local and general campaigns. He was 
elected in 1883 to represent his senatorial dis- 
trict in the upper house of the state legislature 
and as a member of that honorable body made 
a record highly creditable to himself and sat- 
isfactory to his constituency of all parties. In 
all of his relations, the Doctor is recognized 
as possessing a strong sense of truth and jus- 
tice and as endeaN'oring to shape his life ac- 
cording" to these principles. 



LEWIS SLUSSER. M. D.. Wc-is bom on 
a farm now within the city limits of Canton. 
Januarv 21, 1820. His grandfather Schlos- 






,(>c^Leyv^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



345 



ser (as tlie name was originally spelled) came 
to Stark cxninty in 1805 with fi\-e sons and five 
daughters. His father, John Slusser, married 
Nancy, daughter of Philip Dewalt. Dr. Slus- 
ser's Ijoyhood days were spent in Canton. After 
his course through the various private schools 
the town afforded he entered Jefferson College, 
in Canonsliurgh. Pennsylvania, where he re- 
mained four years, when failing health com- 
]jelled him to seek a more congenial climate. 
He went to Georgia and after his health was 
improved remained and opened a college pre- 
paratory school for young men, which he 
taught for five years. He then began the study 
of medicine with Dr. Ramsey, of Wilkes coun- 
ty, Georgia. Dr. Slusser attended his first 
course of lectures at the National Medical Col- 
lege in Washington, D. C, after which he re- 
turned and practiced two years under instruc- 
tion in his native city. After his second course 
of lectures in the Ohio Medical College of Cin- 
cinnati he was gratluated in the spring of 1848 
and began the practice of his profession in Ful- 
ton, this county. In 1885 he was elected a 
member of the state legislature on the Demo- 
cratic ticket and served two terms. He was 
during this term chairman of the committee on 
benex'olent institutions and was active in secur- 
ing the passage of the bill providing for the 
appointment of a medical board of examiners 
to pass upon the fitness of surgeons for the 
army. 

Tn 1 86 1 Dr. Slusser was appointed surgeon 
of the Sixty-ninth Regiment, Ohio V(_ilunteer 
Infantry, commanded by Colonel Lewis Camp- 
bell. Later he became medical director of the 
brigade to which his regiment belonged, and 
sulisequently of the division. After his regi- 
ment was mustered out he accepted a commis- 
sion as surgeon of the Twenty-sixth Ohio Vol- 
unteer Infantry, which was sent to the Mexican 
border, where he remained until 1865. He 
then returned t(/ Canton and resumed the prac- 
tice of his profession until 1873, when he was 



ap]3ointed medical superintendent of the hospi- 
tal for insane at Cleveland, Ohio, which posi- 
tion he resigned in 1876 to resume his practice 
in Canton. He loved his profession and lived 
long enough to rejoice over the rapid advance- 
ment it had made since he entered the ranks. 
He was fearless in times of pestilence and con- 
tagious diseases, belonging to the class of phy- 
sicians who ask first, "What is my duty?" 
rather than "What shall I gain?" L'nder a 
somewhat bruscjue manner his sympathetic 
heart and generous hand often led him to sup- 
plement his professional serx^ices with what- 
ever was needed for the restoration of those 
under his care. Preventive medicine had a 
charm for bun, which cropped out in his love 
for hygiene and sanitary science, U])(in which 
subjects he wrote considerably in later years. 
Dr. Slusser was an ardent advocate of crema- 
tion, and wrote for medical journals and de- 
livered lectures upon the subject. He was the 
organizer oi the (ialen Club, composed of the 
more prominent members of his profession in 
Canton, for the interchange of views in prac- 
tice of medicine as well as for social pleasure. 
Dr. Slusser was public spirited. He was 
instrumental in organizing the health board of 
the city, and for }ears before its organization 
himself kept a record of vital statistics. He 
was for some years secretary of the agricultural 
society. He was the chief organizer of the Old 
Settlers" Society and was a trustee of the pulj- 
lic library from the time of its organization 
till his death. With a number of other citizens 
the Star Lecture Course was established, when, 
with the highest fee admissible consistent with 
the object in view, each member paid a share 
of the deficit at the end of the year. They felt 
amply rewarded in living to see their venture, 
in the hands of the Young Men's Christian As- 
s(iciati(jn, reach the point of giving fine lec- 
tures at a nominal rate without a deficit. Dr. 
Shisser was a member of the Humane Society 
from the time of its organization and was for 



346 



OLD LANDMARKS 



a mnn!)ei" of years a meml)er of the coniniittee 
of visitors to the cliaritable and correctional in- 
stitutions of tlie county, appointed by the pro- 
Ijate court. He was a member of the First 
Presbyterian church, of the Grand Army of the 
Republic and of the Masonic fraternity. 

In 1853 Dr. Slusser married Sarali Pierce, 
daugiiter of Dr. Joseph Pierce. She (bed in 
1863 and in 1866 he married Helena A. 
Ricks, of Massillon, Ohio. Two daughters 
were born to them — Georgia, now Mrs. Stan- 
ley C. Igoe. and Lucile. now Mrs. H. J. Donds. 
In 1889 Dr. Slusser's health became impaired 
and he was compelled to retire from active 
practice. About this time he was appointed as 
a member of the pension Iward and the duties 
of this office, with the writing of historical 
sketches of Stark county, pleasantly occupied 
his time. After a short illness he passed away 
December 23, 1892. In compliance with his 
earnestly expressed wish, his remains were cre- 
mated and his ashes deposited in Lakeview cem- 
eterv of his native citv. 



DR. ISAAC STEESE, the eldest of five 
sons of Jacob and Sarah Deshler Steese. was 
born at Steese's Mills, Union C(_iunty, Penn- 
sylvania, December 23, 1809. At a very early 
age he went to li\'e with his paternal grand- 
mother, a woman of much local celelority for 
her vigorous intellect and wonderful force of 
character. It is l)elieved that while with lier 
the boy laid the foundation for his taste for 
books, and many traits that distinguished him 
through life. In 1819 he moved with his fath- 
er's family to Penn's Creek, where he lived till 
his si.xteenth year engaged most of the time in 
a woolen mill, and occasionally in rafting logs 
down the tributaries of the Susquehanna. In 
1825, his father, who before this time had been 
in prosperous circumstances, became embar- 
rassed through going security for friends, and 
through the monetary troubles of the times. 



and moved to New Cumberland, Tuscarawas 
county, Ohio, where Isaac taught a country 
school one winter, and was engaged in a small 
woolen mill the following summer. Tlie next 
year the family moved to Uniontown, Stark 
county, Ohio. Here, as the oldest of tlie fam- 
ily, he had for three years ahnost entire charge 
of another small woolen mill in the summer, 
and engaged in teaching during the winter 
months. In 1829, being then twenty years old, 
he went to Canton, and for fouf years attended 
a select school taught by Dr. Barak Michener, 
and reading medicine with Dr. Gardner. Hav- 
ing completed his professional studies and re- 
ceived his degree, lie practiced medicine for 
the following seven years, part of the time at 
Shanesville, and part of the time at Canal Dov- 
er, Tuscarawas county. Here, on the 15th of 
July. 1835, he was married to Miss Ann John- 
son, who survives him. From 1840 to 1845 
he lived at Canal Dover, carrying on various 
milling and mercantile enterprises, and in the 
latter year removed to New Philadelphia. In 
the fall of 1S46 he came to Massillon, where 
he resided until the time of his death. 

In November, 1847, the Union Bank of 
Massill<:)n was organized, with Dr. Steese as 
president, and the late Sebastian Brainard, 
Esq., as cashier: this position he resigned in 
1850. to engage in a private banking house 
with H. B. Hurlbut, Esq., and Mr. Alvin Vin- 
ton. One year later, in 1851, the private bank- 
ing house was dissolved, and the Merchants 
Bank of Massillon was organized, with Dr. 
Steese as president and Mr. S. Hunt as cash- 
ier. This bank continued in successful opera- 
tion without change of its executive officers 
until January, 1864. when it was merged in the 
First National Bank of Massillon, which from 
its organization has been managed b)- Dr. 
Steese, Mr. Hunt and Mr. Charles Steese. 

With Dr. Steese's removal to Massillon, 
he entered upon his widest field of usefulness. 
For twenty-tive years he was one of the larg- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



347 



St landed proprietors and farmers of tlie coun- 
y. For twenty-five years he was the manager 
if the largest banking institution in the coun- 
y. No man was better fitted by nature and 
cquirements for ari eminent banker. Of the 
I'hole theory and science of banking, he was 
thorough master. His perfect rectitude and 
iitegrity were widely known, and were ne\-er 
uestioned where known. His perfect ac- 
uaintance with business and his sagacity were 
uch that the mstitutions under his direction 
lassed through all the monetary convulsions 
if the past quarter of a century almost wholly 
without loss, and without once failing to make 
heir customary dividends to their shareholders, 
rheir shares were never upon the market, un- 
2ss brought there by the death of their owners. 
Uways anxious to encourage the commercial 
nd industrial enterprises of the place so far as 
e safely could, no consideration of public spirit 
ir private friendship could cause him to for- 
;et for a moment that as a banker he was the 
rusted custodian of other people's money. 

The universal respect and confidence which 
e inspired, caused him largely to be sought 
lUt as the manager of the funds of people in 
eclining years, or widows, or minor children, 
nd people of small savings, carefully husband- 
d and left with him as in a place of the last se,- 
urity against a time of need. In times of finan- 
ial peril and alarm, the sense of responsibil- 
:y which these peculiarly sacred trusts entailed 
pon him was oppressive, sometimes almost 
rushing. 

Always a man of marked indi\iduality, one 
f the most prominent traits of his character 
ras his strong attachment for books and for 
ound and generous literature. It began with 
is earliest boyhood. Before he was fifteen he | 
ecured the use of a little island in Penn's creek 
nd planted it with castor beans, with the sole 
lurpose of founding a library with the pro- 
eeds. Friends who knew him fortv vears ago i 



are full of amusing recollections of his insepar- 
able companionship with books. 

A few men who begin life with these tastes 
preserve them to the last, but generally at the 
expense of all relish for business avocations. 
It was not so with him. His active and com- 
prehensive mind maintained to the last its 
keen enjoyment of intellectual pursuits, and the 
most thorough understanding of all the details 
of afifairs. For twenty-five years he directed 
his extensive farming operations, the running 
of his banks, ^id a multitude of private under- 
takings, and during all this time he was a de- 
voted and most loving student. He seemed to 
have the power of perfectly absorbing the 
whole contents of a book. What was once read 
was never forgotten. He delighted to share 
with others the result of his studies, and could 
condense into an hour's conversation the whole 
pith and substance of a bulky volume. 

Few practicing physicians kept so well read 
up in the advance of medical science. The dis- 
cox^ery of a new remedy, a new method, or an 
ingenious operation was hailed with the joy of 
an enthusiast. There is no book in the Eng- 
lish language treating of metaphysical topics 
that he was not familiar with. Not twenty 
men in the nation \\ere better informed in poli- 
tics in the large and best sense of the word — 
in political economy, and especially in questions 
of finance, taxation, the interchange of com- 
modities, and the fluctuations of prices : his 
knowledge of the action of our own and Euro- 
pean government on these subjects was ^■ery 
full, and his reasonings wonderfully clear. It 
was a subject of frequent regret among friends 
that he had not exercised his talents of this 
kind in a wider way. and in a public capacity. 

In several departments of natural philos- 
ophy, in history, in the best lighter literature, in 
social and reformatory topics he was well read, 
and kept abreast with the best minds of the 
asre. His kindness of heart was uni\-ersallv 



348 



OLD LANDMARKS 



known and acknuwledg'ccl. But llie extent 
of it never was, and never will he known. Hun- 
dreds of the kindest acts of his life were so. 
quietly and so delicately done that they never 
reached the knowledge of any l)ut the recipi- 
ents of them. Of the most genial disposition, 
few men so enjoyed the society of his fellows. 
The home which he jjuilded up in Massil- 
lon, was known far and near not more for its 
elegance, its culture and refinement than for its 
open handed hospitality. It was always the 
home of teachers of youth. Its welcoming 
doors were always open. There were few days 
in the year when its generous tables were not 
surrounded, and its rooms were not filled with 
neighboring or distant friends. At this hcmie 
on the loth day of August, 1874, attended by 
all that the highest medical skill or the most 
painfully anxious aftection could suggest, min- 
istered to by loving hands, and surrounded by a 
devoted and heart broken family, he quietly 
passed away. 



CONRAD SCHWEITZER.— A repre- 
sentative member of the banking fraternity in 
Stark countv, Ohio, and one who is known as 
one of the most loyal and public-spirited citi- 
zens of the attractive capital of Stark count}', 
is Conrad Schweitzer, who stands at the execu- 
tive head of the People's Savings Bank, of 
which he is treasurer, while the organization 
of the same was effected chiefly through his 
efforts. Mr. Schweitzer was horn in the city 
of Canton, this countv, on the (Sth of Januarw 
1S55, being a son of Conrad and Xanette 
(Kuert) Schweitzer, both of whom were born 
in the fair little republic of Switzerland, where 
they were reared and educated and where their 
marriage was .solemnized. They emigrated to 
.\inerica in the year 1848 and soon afterward 
took vip their residence in C;uiton, where Mr. 
Schweitzer was engaged in the retail hardware 
business from 1850 until iSCiA, when he re- 



moved with his family to Xew \o\'\i city, where 
he established himself in the wholesale hard- 
ware business, in which he continued until his 
death, which occurred in 1873, at which time 
he was forty-nine years of age. He was 
man of fine mental ability and business acumen, 
while his integrity and honor in all the relations 
of life were bevond ca\'il. so that he held the 
high regard of all with whom he came in con- 
tact. After his death the affairs of his estate 
were adjusted and his business interests in the 
national metropolis were sold out in i87(), while 
two years later his family returned to Canton, 
where our subject has since maintained his 
residence. The mcjther of Mr. Schweitzer is 
still lixing in Canton at the \enerable age of 
eighty-four years. She is a devoted member 
of the German Reformed church, as was also 
her husband, while in politics he gave his alle- 
giance to the Democratic part)-, taking an ac- 
tive and intelligent interest in the (juestions and 
issues of the hour. To him and his wife were 
born eight children, of whom all are li\iug at 
the present time. 

Conrad Schweitzer. Jr., the immediate sub- 
ject of this review, received his preliminary 
educational discipline in the pnl)lic schools of 
Crmton and the city of Brooklyn, Xew York. 
where the family resided during the time his 
father was engaged in business in Xew ^'llrk. 
and later the subject ;itten(led the military acad- 
emy at College Point, Long Island. He left 
school at the age of fifteen years and then Ije- 
came an erranil bov in his father's wholesale 
hardw^ire establishment in Xew ^'ork city, and 
he continued to be identified with the enter- 
])rise until the death of his father and was about 
twenty-one years of age at the time when the 
family retiuMied to Canton, where he was there- 
after concerned in merchandising and other en- 
terjirises of commercial character for a num- 
ber of vears. In i8<)i Mr. Schweitzer effected 
the organization of the People's Savings Bank, 
one of the solid and popular monetary institu- 



'i 




^.T^. S-if^-C" *'*-//--w/jm; ii'X^ri'.i I- 





CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



349 



ions of tliis section of the state, aiul he has 
)een its active head from the time of its incep- 
ion to tlie present. Tlie l)ank is capitahzed 
or tifty tiiousand dollars and its executive 
orps at tlie present time is as follows : Presi- 
lent, John C. Welty ; treasurer. . Conrad 
ichweitzer : secretary, Calvin L. Garner. 

¥oY nianv years Mr. Schweitzer has mani- 
ested a live and helpful interest in puhlic af- 
airs of a local nature, and he has been called 
ipon to serve in various positions of trust and 
esponsibility. in each of which his interposi- 
ion has ])roved of definite and unequivocal 
alue. In 1882 he was elected a member of the 
loard of trustees of the water works of Can- 
on, in 1887 was elected to membership on the 
loard of ec[ualization and in 1890 was chosen 
. member of the board of park commissioners, 
•"or his able and timely efforts in the capacity 
ast mentioned the citizens of Canton owe liim 
. perpetual debt of gratittide. for he was the 
irst to urge the importance of securing a public 
lark system for the city, and it was principall}- 
hrougli his instrumentality that the heirs of 
he estate of George Cook were prevailed upon 
donate to the city thirty-four acres of beau- 
iful and eligibly located land for park pur- 
loses. and this ])roperty has already been well 
iipro\-ecl and is consistently known as Cook 
'ark. In politics Mr. Schweitzer is an ardent 
)emocrat and is prominent in the local coun- 
ils of the party, in whose cause he has been a 
ealous worker. He was a delegate to the na- 
ional con\-ention of the party in 1896 at Chi- 
ago, and in r 884.-5 '^^ ^^''^'^ chairman of the 
)emocratic executive committee of Stark 
ounty. He is an a]")preciati\'e and xalued mem- 
er of the time-honored Masonic fraternity, in 
rhich his affiliations are as follows : William 
.IcKir.ley (formerly Eagle) Lodge. No. 431, 
•"ree and Accepted Masons ; Canton Chapter, 
Co. 84, Royal Arch Masons; Canton Council. 
Co. 35, Royal and Select Masters, and Canton 
"ommandery, Xo. 38. Knights Templar. He 



has thus completed the entire circle of the York 
Rite in this noble fraternal organization. 

On the 27th of October. 1886. Mr. Schweit- 
zer was united in marriage to Miss Helen R. 
Cook, who vi'as born and reared in Canton, be- 
ing a daughter of George Cook, wlio was a 
pri.iininent manufacturer and representative 
citizen -of this i)lace, where he died in the vear 
1879. 



CARRELL B. ALLMAN was born in the 
\'illage of Navarre, Bethlehem township. Stark 
county, Ohio, on the 29th of December, 1842, 
anil he died at his iiome in Massillon, on the 
2 1 St of February, 1903. He was a son of 
Daniel and Elizabeth (Baines) Allman. His 
grand.fatlier. Ebenezer Allman. was a nati\-e 
of the state of Maryland, where he was born 
on the nth of Novemlier. 1764. and there he 
was reared to manhood, and there married Miss 
Agnes Carrell. who was born on the 20th of 
July. 1772. They were the parents of thirteen 
children, namely : George. William, James, 
Mary, John, Daniel, Carrell, Hamon, James 
(2) and Barnes (twins), Sarah, Elizabeth and 
Margaret. Ebenezer jMlman was a pioneer 
member of and an active worker in the Metho- 
dist Episcopal church. From Maryland he re- 
moved to Washington county, Pennsylvania, 
where he continued to reside until 1808, when 
he came to Stark county. Ohio, and became 
the first settler in Bethlehem townsliip. where 
he passed the residue of his life, having been a 
man of prominence and infiuence in that pioneer 
community, and lia\ing developed a good farm 
in the midst of the forest. 

Daniel Allman, father of the subject of this 
memoir, was born in Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, on the i6th of September, 1797, 
and there received his early educational train- 
ing, having been about eleven years of age at 
the time of the family removal to Ohio, where 
he continued his studies in the primitive pion- 



350 



OLD LANDMARKS 



eer schools as opportunity otl'ered, while he 
contrihuted his quota to reclaiming the home 
farm to cultivation. Here was solemnized his 
marriage to Miss Elizabeth Baines, who was 
born in Yorkshire, England, on the nth of 
:March, 1819, being a daughter of John Baines, 
while the maiden name of her mother was 
Chapman. Mr. and j\lrs. Baines were like- 
wise numbered among the early settlers of 
Stark county and were folk of sterling charac- 
ter. Daniel and Elizabeth Allman became 
the parents of four children, namely: ]\Ielissa, 
deceased; Carrell B.. who ligau-es as the imme- 
diate subject of this tribute; Agnes, deceased, 
who became the wife of D. M. Anderson and 
Haymon, who is living near Wilmot, Ohio. 
After attaining years of maturity Daniel All- 
man turned his attention to mercantile pur- 
suits, in which he was engaged at Navarre 
and Rochester, this county, and for a time 
at Bolivar, Tuscarawas county. He was a 
man of distinctive business acumen and was 
successful in his efforts." He died at Massil- 
lon, this county, in the year 1867, while his 
wife resides at the home of C. B. Allman, of 
Massillon, He was a zealous member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics 
gave his support to the Republican party. 

Carrell B. Allman was reared on the home- 
stead farm, in Bethlehem township, and at- 
tended the common schools of the neighbor- 
hood until he had attained the age of eighteen 
years. He gave manifestation of his intrinsic 
loyalty at the time of the war of the Rel)ellion, 
when he went forth in defense of the Union, 
as a member of the One Hundred and Seventh 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served 
one year, at the expiration of which he re- 
ceived an honorable discharge, by reason of 
physical disaljility. In 1864 he became asso- 
ciated with his father in the mercantile busi- 
ness at Bolivar, Tuscarawas county, where he 
spent one year, and in 1868 he came to ^Nlassil- 
Ibn, with whose business interests he was there- 



after prominently identified for the long period j 
of thirty-five years. He here became a mem- 
ber of the pioneer mercantile firm of J. G. War- I 
wick & Company, which, in 1871, was succeed- 
ed by that of Allman, Grosse & Wetter. In 
1876 the firm became Allman & Wetter, and 
continued so until 1882. In 1883 Mr. i\llman 
became associated with his brother-in-law, John 
C. F. Putnam, in business, which on January 
I, 1902, was incorporated under the name of 
The Allman-Putman Company, under which 
name the business was and is still conducted 
though both of the original principals are now 
deceased. Through the able management and 
progressive policy inaugurated and maintained 
by the firm this concern has become one of the 
most extensive department stores in this section 
of the state, the same being known as the Bee 
Hive, and the enterprise is today one which 
would do credit to a city of much larger popu- 
lation. During a long and successful com- 
mercial life, characterized by enterprise and 
indefatigable application, ]\Ir. Allman ever 
maintained an enviable reputation for the high- 
est honor and principle, and no unworthy deed 
or word ever linked itself with his name, while 
no citizen made better or more unostentatious 
use of his accumulations. His life was that of 
a thorough business man. He was e\er prompt 
in keeping his business engagements and ex- 
pected the same consideration on the part of 
others. He gave a ready hearing to all who 
desired to see him, and all matters claiming his 
attention were disposed of quietly and criti- 
cally. His associates testify in strong terms to 
his kindness of heart, having found in him not 
only a safe adviser but also one whose coun- 
sel was not that of words alone. The fine es- 
tablishment of the Bee Hive, thoroughly met- 
ropolitan in its accessories and stock, remains 
as a monument of his ability and discrimina- 
tion as a business man, while his name contin- 
ues as an abiding inspiration to those with 
whom he came in contact in the various rela- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



351 



tions of life. He was a prominent and valued 
member of the First Alethodist Episcopal 
church of Massillon, of which he was a trustee, 
and was an enthusiastic worker in its Sunday 
school, while he accorded a liberal support to 
all departments of its work, including its col- 
lateral benevolences. For many years he was 
the efficient superintendent of the Sunday 
school. Fraternally he was identified with 
the various bodies of the [Masonic order and 
was signally appreciative of the noble frater- 
nity, having attained to the degree of a Knight 
Templar. His political allegiance was given to 
tlie Republican party and through he was not 
active in the field of politics, he was ever true 
to the duties of citizenship and was progres- 
sive and public-spirited. Mr. Allman was a 
man of most gracious bearing and genial per- 
sonality, and possessed a marked capacity for 
gaining and retaining friends, for he ever held 
friendship as inviolable and pronounced un- 
equivocally upon character, without regard to 
wealth or relative precedence, so that he held 
the regard of all classes, his death being felt 
as a personal bereavement in many homes in 
Massillon, aside from that in whicli the h\6\\' 
fell with crushing force upon those nearest and 
dearest to him. 

On the 15th of September, 1870, i\Ir. All- 
man was united in marriage to Miss M. Alice 
Putnam, daughter of the late Captain Timothy 
C. Putman, concerning whom a memoir ap- 
pears on other pages of this volume. Three 
children were born of this tmion, namely: Wal- 
ter, who is engaged in the plumbing business in 
Massillon and is also manager for the Ameri- 
can Sand Company; Grace, who remains with 
her widowed mother in the beautiful family 
home; and Elizabeth Alice, who is the wife of 
Rodolfo Simonetta, of Turin, Italy. 

At a special meeting of the official board 
of the First Methodist Episcopal church of 
Massillon, at the time of the death of Mr. All- 



man, the following resolutions of respect were 
adopted : 

Whereas, For thirty years or more Carrell B. All- 
man has heen actively interested in the business and 
spiritual welfare of the First Methodist Episcopal church 
of Massillon, during most of the time having been a 
member and for many years a steward, while he also 
served long and faithfully and acceptably as a class 
leader and was actively engaged in the work of the 
Sunday school, as superintendent and teacher for many 
years, and 

Whereas, His Christian character throughout his 
church life has been an example and inspiration to all 
of us, always showing him to be an humble and faith- 
ful follower in the footsteps of our beloved Lord and 
Master, and 

Whereas, His eminent business capacity and 
righteous life qualihed him to be a "pillar of the church" 
and his death has left a sore vacancy in our ranks and 
in each of our hearts, that we feel will never again be 
so fitly filled. 

Resolved, That we calmly bow to what seems to 
be the will of his God and ours, in calling him from 
his sufferings to his "exceeding great reward'' ; 

Resolved, That in behalf of the church and its offi- 
cers, collectively and individually, we. tender to his 
heartbroken family our sympathies, emphasized by the 
assurance that we also are sorely stricken. 

Resolved, That his official chair shall remain vacant 
for the remainder of our conference year; 

Resolved, That a copy of this expression shall be 
given to the family. 

A farther appreciative estimate of the life 
and character of Mr. Allman was that which 
appeared in one of the local newspapers at the 
time of his demise, and this, too, consistently, 
is given reproduction in permanent form in con- 
clusion of this brief tribute to a loved and hon- 
ored citizen : 

The blow which has fallen upon the Allman home iu 
this city is one that also smites the whole city with 
genuine sorrow. The sacred sorrow behind the closed 
doors on East Main street and the piteous pain of that 
daughter whose bridal wreaths have scarcely faded and 
who is speeding to-night across the continent to her 
mother's side, — these griefs can not be known to any but 
God. But in the wider circle of church and business, 
and the yet wider one of citizenship there comes a sense 
of irreparable loss when a good man dies that is near 



352 



OLD LANDMARKS 



akin to personal grief. So this Satnrday night the name 
of C. B. Alhiian will be npon many a lip and a gloom 
upon many a heart of men and women who knew him 
only in brief contact of business ; and those who knew 
him better will pause and speak together with tearful 
eyes about his life and deeds, and to sympathize with his 
dear ones in this, their saddest hour. 



REV. O. BROWN MILLIGAN.— The 
lirst representative of the MilHgan family in 
the I'nited States was tlie paternal grandfather 
of the ^tihject. Rev. James Milligan. D. D., who 
was l)orn in Scotland, and who had enlisted in 
the English army, in which he was preparing 
to serve as an officer, when, hy inadvertance 
or accident, his messmate appeared with a 
small hint (if tiimr on the sleeve of his uni- 
form, for which insignificant offense he re- 
ceived five Innidrcd lashes, the injnstice and 
indignity causing him to desert from the ranks 
and flee to America, where he became a prom- 
inent clergvman of the Reform Presbyterian 
church, having made his home in Pennsylvania 
until the time of his death. 

Rev. O. Brown Milligan is a native of the 
old Keystone state of the Union, having been 
born (in a farm adjoining the little town of 
New Alexandria, Westmoreland county, Penn- 
sylvania, on the 4th of November, 1861, being 
a son of Rev. Alexander McLeod and Ellen 
Snodgrass Milligan. the former of whom was 
Ijorn at Ryegate, Caledonia county, Vermont, 
A])ril 6, 182J, and the latter in New Alexan- 
dria, Pennsylvania. The Rev. A. M. Milligan 
was a leading and well known minister and for 
years was the pastor of the Eighth-street 
Reformed Presbyterian church in Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania. His death occurred on th(r jth 
of May, 18S5, while he was in the West with 
the object of recouping his shattered health. 
His wife's death occurred in 1868. They were 
the parents of nine children. 

Wh.en the subject was abotit seven years of 
age his father received a call to a clnnxdi in 



Pittsburg, antl iri that city O. Brown was 
reared to manhood, completing the curriculum 
of the public schools and preparing for college 
in the Xewell Institute, in Pittsburg. In i87(; 
he was matriculated in Geneva College, at 
Beaver Fails, Pennsyhania, where he com- 
pleted the classical and literary course and was 
graduated as a member of the class of 1883. 
Ha\ing determined to prepare himself for the 
ministry, Mr. Milligan then entered the semi- 
nary of the Reformed Presbyterian church, in 
Allegh.eny Cit)', Pennsylvania, where he com- 
pleted liis theological course, being graduated 
in May, 1887, and jjeing ordained to the minis- 
try in June of that year. Soon after his gradu- 
.'ition he received a call to a church of the Cove- 
nanters' denomination in Delaware county, 
Xew York, and it was there that his ordination 
took place, while he was duly installed as pas- 
tor of the church on the 22d of June. 1887. 
After a successful pastorate of one and one- 
half years Mr. Milligan received a call to the 
church of the same denominati(.)n in the East 
End of the city of Pittsburg, and he assumed 
this charge, which he retained about two years. 
The discipline of this denomination forliade 
the exercising of the right of franchise by any 
of its members, maintaining that the constitu- 
tion of the L nited States was a Godless instru- 
ment and should receixe no recognition from 
this definite order from the church. Realizing 
the injustice of this policy, the subject asso- 
ciated himself with si.x other ministers in an 
attempt along orderly lines to change the law 
and discipline of the church m refer- 
ence to this matter. The result of their 
action was that they were summoned 
before the synod of the church and 
charged with heresy. They could not jirevail 
upon the synod to realize the disloyalty and un- 
reasonableness of this particular item of disci- 
pline, and accordingly determined to withdraw 
and united themselves with a more lilieral and 
American denomination. Shortlv after this ac- 




"-;, .h.s^n^/Zt^s SBi-^jvy 



t 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



353 



tioii Mr. Alilligan received a call to the Second 
Presbyterian church of Braddock, Pennsylva- 
nia, this being in the spring of 1893, and this 
important charge he held until the fall of 1895, 
having done a most effective work and having 
gained the affectionate regard and ready co- 
operation of the church people, who were ap- 
preciative of his efforts. He withdrew from 
this field of labor to accept the call to his pres- 
ent pastorate, and during his eight years" in- 
cumbency he has done much to vitalize both the 
spiritual and temporal work of the church, in- 
fusing enthusiasm in all departments and giv- 
ing himself unreservedly to the promotion of 
its best interests and to the cause of religious 
advancement in the community. As a speaker 
Mr. Milligan is forceful, direct and convincing, 
his every utterance bearing the evidence of su- 
preme faith and personal sincerity, while his 
language is at all times chaste and dignified, as 
befitting the office and the sacred place. His 
administrative capacity is also excellent, so that 
the church has l^en prospered and blessetl dur- 
ing his pastorate. In his political proclivities 
Mr. Milligan is independent, and he takes a 
deep interest in the issues and questions of the 
hour, being a man of high intellectuality and 
broad general information. 

On the 7th of June, 1892, in the city of 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Mr. JMilligan was 
united in marriage to Miss Nannie Agnew, who 
was l5orn in Pennsylvania, being a daughter of 
George W. and Margaret (Mahaffey) Agnew. 
She is a woman of gracious presence and gen- 
tle refinement, and has proved an able coadju- 
tor to her husl^and in his chosen work. They 
are the parents of two daughters, ]\Iargaret 
Eleanor and Harriet Lavinia. 

In 1847, at New Alexandria, Pennsylvania. 
Rev. Alexander M. Milligan was united in 
marriage to Miss Ellen Snodgrass, who was 
born in New Alexandria, Westmoreland 
county, Pennsyhania, on the 26th of July, 
1826, a daughter of Hon. John Snodgrass, and 
22 



she died in the city of Pittsburg on the 8th of 
January, 1868, after a happy married life of 
twenty-one years. Hon. John Snodgrass was 
born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, 
in 1 708, and he operated the old Pennsylvania 
stage line between Pittsburg and eastern points. 
He was one of the contractors on the construc- 
tion of the Pennsylvania railroad, doing a large 
portion of the grading between Pittsburg and 
Harrisburg. He served as a member of the 
Pennsylvania legislature, being one of the in- 
fluential and honored men of the state, and dur- 
ing the war of the Rebellion he was looked 
upon as one of the most potent forces in up- 
holding the policy of Governor Curtin. He 
owned large tracts of land in Westmoreland 
county, and to each of his five children who at- 
tained years of maturity he gave four hundred 
acres of land. He was distinctively a man of 
affairs, having operated paper mills and grist 
mills and having had various other important 
capitalistic interests. He was twice married, 
the maiden name of his first wife having been 
Ann Mason. She was born in Westmoreland 
county, April 14, 1802, and died January 15, 
1 85 1. He died at New Alexandria, that 
county, on the 7th of November, 1878. 
♦ » » 

SERAPHIM SHIVELY.— This well- 
known citizen was one of the old soldiers who 
fought in the great Rebellion to perpetuate the 
union of states and to wipe the curse of slav- 
ery forever from our national escutcheon. He 
w^as for many years connected with the busi- 
ness interests of Canton and after a long and 
useful life fraught with much good to his fel- 
low men, finished his earthly course and quiet- 
ly passed into the great unknown whither in 
due time all that now live shall follow him. 
Seraphim Shively was a native of Stark coun- 
ty, Ohio, born in the town of Louisville on the 
loth day of November, 1836. His parents be- 
ing in very ordinary circumstances, he was 



354 



OLD LANDMARBIS 



denied the prixileijes wliich many boys enjoy, 
consequently his education was limited and 
while still a mere youth lie started out to make 
his own way in the world. He remained in 
his nati\e village until reaching the years of 
young manhood, meanwhile finding employ- 
ment on the Pittsburg & Ft. Wayne Railroad 
when that line was being extended through this 
part of Ohio. Mr. Shively went to work as 
a common laborer, but it was not long until he 
was made foreman of a section of the road and 
as such he discharged his duty in a manner 
highly satisfactorily to his employers until the 
completion of the road. When about twenty- 
two years old he came to Canton and for some 
time thereafter clerked in various mercantile 
houses, finally engaging in the clothing busi- 
ness m partnership with Sol Fisher, the firm 
thus constituted lasting until the breaking out 
of the great Rebellion. 

Disposing of his interests in the business, 
Mr. Shively, in 1861, enlisted in Company F, 
Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which 
he ser\-e(l during the greater part of the war, 
veteranizing some time before the close of the 
struggle as second lieutenant in the One Hun- 
dred and Sixtieth Regiment. He took p.irt in 
many of the most noted battles of the Vir- 
ginia campaign, having served in the Amiy of 
the Potomac during the bloodiest period of the 
war. He was with his command in the first 
battle of Bull Run and from that time on par- 
ticipated in nearly every engagement of note 
until the fall of the Confederacy at Appomat- 
tox Court House. At one time, while on de- 
tailed service with a battery, he was \-ioIently 
thrown from a caisson when going into battle, 
the fall resulting in an injury which necessi- 
tated his retirement for some months from ac- 
tive duty. When sufTticiently recovered he re- 
enlisted, as above stated, and at the e.xpiration 
of his term of ser\ice was discharged as second 
lieutenant, having won that promotion by 



brave and meritorious conduct on the field of 
battle. 

Returning to Canton at the close of the war, 
'Sir. Shively accepted a clerkship in the store 
of Mr. Zollars and after spending a few years in 
that capacity opened a grocery on the east side 
of the public square. Subsequently he aban- 
doned that line of business and engaged in the 
dry-goods trade in the same room, but after 
a few years" experience, disposed of his stock 
and purchased a general store in the town of 
Xavarre. He was in business at that place 
for a period of sixteen years, selling out in 
1885 and returning to Canton, where he again 
turned his attention to the grocery trade, open- 
ing a store on South Market street. After a 
limited experience in the grocery line he closed 
out his establishment and started a bakery on 
East Tuscarawas street, but this not coming up 
to his expectations he abandoned the business 
after a short time and entered the shipping de- 
partment of the Danner manufacturing plant. 
He remained with Mr. Danner for several years 
and pro\ed a most faithful and capable em- 
ploye, but ill health, superinduced by e.xpos- 
ure in the army, finally compelled him to re- 
sign his position and retire to private life. Mr. 
Shively was an active business man and as a 
citizen stood high in the esteem of the people 
of Canton. In state and national affairs he 
voted the Democratic ticket, but in local mat- 
ters never permitted the claims of party to 
bias his judgment in favor of the wrong man 
for oflice. He was a member of the Grand 
Arm\' of the Republic post at Navarre and to 
the end of his davs maintained a lively interest 
in all matters pertaining to the old soldiers and 
their organizations. 

Mr. Shively was married in Canton. June 
2Q, 1865, to Miss Frances Cunningham, who 
prox'cd a faithful helpmeet and lining com- 
panion to him during the remainder of his 
earthh' sojourn. Mr. .Slii\elv lived according 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



355 



o his highest ideals of I'ight and justice and 
)n the 8th day of August, 1892, at his home 
n Canton, gently breathed his last and passed 
o his reward. In his death the city lost a valu- 
ible citizen, the country a true patriot, his wife 
md family a loving and devoted husband and 
'ather, and all who came within the range of 
lis influence, a loyal and unsuspecting friend. 
He died as he had lived, at peace with God 
md his fellow man, and the memory of his 
cindly deeds will long remain enshrined in the 
learts of those he left behind. 

Mrs. Frances Shively was born at her 
Father's home in Canton, Ohio, November 27, 
1842. Her father, Thomas Cunningham, 
whose birth occurred at Salem, New Jersey, in 
the year 1800, was a representative of one of 
the oldest families in Stark county, his parents, 
William and Elizabeth Cunningham, moving to 
this state as early as 1810, locating first in the 
county of Crawford, and some time in the 
'twenties changing their abode to Canton. 
William Cunningham, a shoemaker by trade, 
had a shop in an early day on old Market 
street and worked there until his death, which 
took place prior to the year 1842 : his wife sur- 
vived him many years, dying in this city at a 
very old age. He was of Scotch and she of 
Welsh-English descent, their ancestors coming 
to this country at an early period in the time 
of the colonies. They had children as follows : 
William, Samuel. Thomas, David, Daniel, 
Mary, wife of Dr. Bonfield, and Eliza, who 
died unmarried at the age of seventy-five years, 
all of the number having long since having 
passed into the life beyond. 

Thomas Cunningham was perhaps the first 
undertaker of Canton. He formerlj' owned the 
lot now occupied by the Yohe hotel and there 
ran a shop for the manufacture of cofiins, 
furniture, carriages, in addition to which he 
also did all kinds of repairing. He carried on a 
flourishing business for many years, but finally 
suffered a severe loss by fire, his shop and con- 



tents being completely destroyed by the flames. 
Being a man of remarkable energy, he subse- 
quently recovered from his re\-erse and con- 
tinued to do a successful business, especially in 
the line of undertaking, until within a short 
time before his death. He was a skillful me- 
chanic and many specimens of his handicraft 
are still to be found in the older homes of Can- 
ton, some of the furniture being as solid and 
substantial as when it left his shop sixty years 
ago. He departed this life about 1858, his 
wife surviving him until September, 1900, 
\\-hen she died, at the advanced age of ninety- 
four years. The census of that year mentions 
her as the oldest person then living in the 
county of Stark. The maiden name of Mrs. 
Thomas Cunningham was Caroline Shirk. She 
was born in 1806 in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
vania, the daughter of Mathias and Anna 
(Weaver) Shirk, and came to Stark county 
with an uncle, Henry Weaver, as early as 1826, 
her parents joining her one year later. 

Reverting to the life of Mrs. Shively. it 
is learned that she spent the years of her child- 
hood and early youth with her grandmother 
near Akron, and there attended her first term 
of school. Subsequently she entered the 
schools of Canton and such was her progress 
that she completed the high school course be- 
fore attaining her fifteenth year, graduating as 
valedictorian of her class. When but fourteen 
years old she successfully passed the required 
examination for a teacher's license and would 
ha\'e taught before finishing her high school 
studies had she not been dissuaded from such 
a course by a friend of the family. She had 
secured a school in the country and was on her 
way to take charge of the same when met by 
the friend referred to alxive. who persuaded 
her to change her mind, telling her she was en- 
tirely too young and unexperienced to assume 
the duties of the school room. Her mother also 
discouraged her and between the two she was 
finally persuaded to abandon for the time the 



356 



OLD LANDMARKS 



project of teaching and finish lier liigh school 
course. In order to procure the necessary 
books for the latter purpose, she applied for 
employment to John Banner, who at that time 
was engaged in the manufacture of shirts, over- 
alls and other articles of wearing apparel, in 
connection with the clothing business. On ac- 
count of her youth and diminutive size, he at 
first laughed at her. but finding the child per- 
sistent, he finaJly gave her a half dozen shirts 
and the same number of overalls to make up, 
which she did in due time with neatness and 
dispatch. recei\ing for her work a shilling a 
garment. In this way she was enabled to earn 
sufficient money to buy her school outfit and 
from that time until her graduation she applied 
herself so diligently to her studies as to make 
the best record, for one so young, in the history 
of the Canton high school. After her gradu- 
ation she took charge of the sixth grade room 
in the old high school building and the year 
following was assigned to work in the build- 
ing on East Fifth street. Later she was pro- 
moted to the A grammar grade and continued 
in that line of teaching until her marriage, 
spending seven years in the Canton schools, 
and five years 'in educational work at Navarre 
after marriage. Mrs. Shively earned an envi- 
able reputation as a teacher and many of the 
leading business men of Canton are indebted to 
her for their instruction in the mysteries of 
books. She retired from the school room a 
number of years ago. but always maintained an 
interest in educational matters, up to the time 
of her death, keeping in close touch with 
modern methods and frequently re\isiting the 
scenes of her former labors. At the age of 
se\-enteen she united with the First Baptist 
church of Canton and began the devout 
Christian life which marked her career from 
that time. She was alive in all good works, 
and many poor and unfortunate in this city 
\\ci\Q reasons to fondly cherish her name on 
account (A her deeds of charitv and benevolence. 



For a number of years she was active in Sun- 
day school work, her intellectual ability and 
wide culture peculiarly fitting her for the oftice 
of teaching the word of God. Mrs. Shively 
was one of the most popular ladies of Canton 
as well as one of the most cultured and refined. 
She occupied a prominent position in the social 
world and her gentle infiuence was the means 
of directing many into proper ways of living, 
and her death, which occurred February ii, 
1903, was mourned Ijy all who knew her. She 
tore her huslxmd four children, the oldest of 
whom, Nora, was graduated from the Canton 
high school with the class of 1889. She then 
began teaching in the South Market street 
building and since then has been actively en- 
gaged in educational work in this city. She 
is a young lady of varied culture and as a teach- 
er ranks with the most capable in the schools 
of Canton. Caroline E.. the second daughter, 
attended the Navarre school until completing 
the prescribed course and after spending two 
years in the Canton high school entered the 
normal of this city, for the purpose of prei>ar- 
ing herself for the teacher's profession. After 
teaching six years in the Garfield avenue 
school and one year at the Hartford street 
building, she was transferred to East Fifth 
street, where she has had charge of a room 
since 1890. Her standing as a teacher is high 
and she is a popular lady in social circles as 
she is successful as an educator. Frederick, 
the oldest of the two sons, holds a position with 
the Danner Manufacturing Company of Can- 
ton. He served three years in the Third United 
States Regulars and was with Lawton's com- 
mand in the Philiitpines until that general's 
death. He experienced his full share of war- 
fare in those far-away islands and at the expi- 
ration of his period of enlistment returned iiome 
with a record of which any brave soldier might 
well feel proud. Thomas C the youngest of 
the children, was graduated from the commer- 
cial department of the Canton high school. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



357 



after wliicli he took a course at the Lewis Insti- 
tute, of Chicago, and is now a (h'aftsman in 
the Berger works of Canton. 



REV. PETER HERBRUCK— The Her- 
bruok family is of German origin, the genealogy 
being traceable to the kingdom of Bavaria. 
Philip Herbruck and his wife Barbara, parents 
of the subject of this sketch, were born in 
Zweibrucken, Rhine Palatinate, Bavaria, and 
spent the greater part of their lives in their na- 
tive country, coming to the United States in 
1845 ^^'^11 advanced in years. Their son. Rev. 
Peter Herbruck. had preceded them to America 
and it was largely through his instrumentality 
that rliey were induced to leave tlie fatherland 
and spend the remainder of their days in the 
new world. By occupation Philip Herbruck 
was a tiller of the soil, but he was too old to 
follow this vocation very long- after coming 
to this country. He died at his home, about 
four miles north of Canton, in 1854, his widow 
surviving him until about 1867. Three chil- 
dren accompanied Philip and Barbara Her- 
bruck to the United States, namely : Mary, now 
Mrs. Rindclien ; Catharine, who married a 
gentleman by the name of Grosenbaugh, and 
Susan, who became the wife of a Mr. Deuble. 

Rev\ Peter Herbruck, for over fifty-three 
years pastor of the German Reform church in 
Canton, was bom near the town of Zweibruc- 
ken, Bavaria, in 1813. From an excellent bi- 
ography constituting one of the articles of Hon. 
John Banner's "Old Landmarks" the following 
sketch of this remarkable man is taken : Peter 
Herbruck spent his early childhood at the place 
of his birth and from the time he was ten years 
old longed and prayed that he, might become 
a minister of the gospel. With this object in 
^■iew. he walked five miles each morning and 
back m the evening to a select school prepara- 
tory to the work to which he had determined 
to devote his life. Meantime there was 



awakened in his mind a desire to go to America, 
l.)ut his father being- poor and his mother re- 
luctant to leave the land of their birth, he was 
obliged to postpone this object until a more 
convenient season, which in due time presented 
itself. In 183 1, when but eighteen years old, 
he bade farewell to his family and the familiar 
scenes of his childhood and started on foot for 
Havre, France, a distance of five hundred miles, 
where he expected to embark on his voyage to 
the new world. Reaching that city after a long 
and tiresome journey, he was obliged to wait 
several weeks before he could get a vessel to 
the United States. Finally receiving passage on 
an old French sailing vessel he saw the shores 
of Europe gradually recede from view, but 
when only two or three days out a terrific 
storm came up which swept away two of the 
masts and almost wrecked the ship. In this 
dilemma they were towed by another vessel to 
Plymouth, England, for repairs, and after much 
delay a second start was made, with more 
fortunate results. The vessel, after being at 
sea for seventy-two days, contending with many 
reverses, finally reached Philadelphia, where the 
young student stepped upon the shores of a new 
world and entered upon a new destiny. The 
mishaps and unavoidable delays had greatly re- 
duced his little stock of money, but by his warm 
and genial nature he was not long in making 
friends who assisted him in his time of need. 
Young Herbruck started west from Phila- 
delphia and got as far as Berks county. Penn- 
sylvania, where he secured a position as teacher 
in a country school for the following winter. 
This was in the year 183 1. and early the next 
spring he fell in with a party traveling west 
in an old fashioned Conestoga wagon, on the 
canvas covering of which, printed in large let- 
ters, were the words "For Ohio." With this 
friendly company he journeyed as far as 
Wheeling, .West Virginia, where he met a 
young man going northward towards New 
Listen, Ohio, with whom he traveled to that 



358 



OLD LANDMARKS 



point. On reaching Xew Lisbon Mr. Herbruck 
told his companion that he could go no further 
northward, saying that he had made the mat- 
ter a subject of prayer and was led to believe 
that his duty lay in the west. Accordingly he 
struck- the old state road leading to Canton, 
which place he reached in the course of a few 
days, finding the town a mere village of a few 
hundred inhabitants. He started to go further 
west and when near West creek stopped a few 
hours to rest and sleep. He then proceeded on 
toward Massillon until reaching Wirt's tavern, 
near Reedurban, where he found a landlord 
who proved indeed a friend in all the term 
im])lies. Recognizing in the stranger a young 
man of excellent character and much more than 
ordinary mental powers, the keeper of the 
public house persuaded him to remain and 
take charge of the country school near by, 
which was then withdut a teacher. This the 
student did and the result had a very material 
effect upon his future course of life. Shortly 
after this time Rev. Benjamin Faust, pastor 
of the Reformed chiuxli in CantdU, stopped 
at Wirt's hotel and fcjrmed the ac(|uaintance 
of the young man. preceiving at once his sterl- 
ing qualities of head and heart. In the course 
of their conver.satinn the reverend gentleman 
.said : "Young man. do not hide your talent in 
a napkin, but come with me and prepare your- 
self for the ministry." Mr. Herbruck gladly 
accepted the mvitation and at once applied him- 
self to the more complete preparation for the 
.sacred calling which he had so longed to enter. 
This was in the spring of 1832 and the young 
man much enjoyed and greatly profited by the 
private theological instructions which Rev. 
Mr. Faust was so capable of imparting. 

In Xovember of that year Rev. Benjamin 
Faust was taken very ill w-ith a dangerous 
throat disease and died soon after, another 
event which had a pronounced effect upon the 
life and future career of his son in the gospel. 
The congregation for which Mr. Faust had ad- 



ministered did not long discuss the matter of 
his successor, the consensus of opinion being 
in favor of Mr. Herbruck. although at the time 
he was but nineteen years of age and without 
previous experience in ministerial or pastoral 
work except as his preceptor's assistant. Re- 
sponding to the call, he at once entered upon 
his labors, wmning the affection and support 
of the congregation, Ijoth of which he retained 
(huHng a long and successful pastorate C)f over 
fifty-three years, his connection with the 
church ending in 1886. This is the longest 
pastorate of any minister in the history of Can- 
ton and doubtless the longest and most suc- 
cessful in the state of Ohio, as far as official 
records show. 

In the early history of the Reformed church 
in this city they and the Lutherans jointly 
owned and used the same house of worship. 
In i860 the two congregations niutuall_\- agreed 
to se]:)arate. the Lutherans taking the east end 
of the block on which the house stood, the 
Reformed congregation taking the western part. 
Immediately after the division the latter erected 
a substantial brick building on their part of the 
lot. which at the time it was finished was one 
of the most cummodious edifices of the kind in 
the city. The house still stands, but it has 
been greatly enlarged to suit the needs of the 
growing congregation, besides being much im- 
proved in style and modern con\-eniences. The 
late Conrad Schweitzer. Sr.. was one of Rev. 
Herbruck's most active and liberal supporters 
in the construction of the new temple of wor- 
ship, one of the belis in the tower ha\ing been 
put in at his own expense. 

The year following ^Ir. Herbruck's taking- 
charge of the Canton congregation he married 
Miss Sarah Holwick, who remained his helpful 
companion and helpmeet for sixty-two years, 
spending all but the first year in the same house 
on East Tuscarawas street, where their whole 
family of children were born antl raised. Rev. 
Peter Herbruck 'died in 1893. loved and 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



359 



honored by the people of Canton regardless of 
church afliliation. He came to his grave like 
a sheaf, fully ripened, leaving the impress of 
a strong character and profound spirituality 
deeply stamped upon the community, and trans- 
mitting to posterity a name which will always 
remain a priceless heritage. There were (|uite 
a number of children born to Rev. and Mrs. 
Herbruck, mostly sons, among whom are Rev. 
Emil P.. pastor of Trinity Reformed church 
in tins city ; Rev. E. Herbruck, of Dayton, 
Ohio ; and Ferdinand Herbruck. one of the 
largest and most successful merchants of this 
city. It is stated that Rev. Herbruck officiated 
at a greater number of funerals and solemnized 
more marriages than any other man in Stark 
county, the record showing twenty-ii\-e hun- 
dred and sixty of the former ami twenty-six 
hundred and eleven of the latter. During his 
pastorate here he often had outer stations that 
he supplied, among them being Paris, Osna- 
burg. Carrollton. Bethlehem. Georgetown. 
Cairo. New Berlin and others, all of which 
churches were greatly strengthened and built 
up through his instrumentality. The German 
language was his native tongue and in that 
language he lo\'ed to preach the unsearchalile 
riches of Christ. He became quite proficient 
in the use of the English language and could 
converse in it fluently, but invariably employed 
his native German in all of his public speaking. 



JAMES H. ROBERTSON was born 
January 23, 1862, in Sandy township. Stark 
county, Ohio, and is the son of James and Mar- 
garet (Sickafoose) Robertson, both also natives 
of this county. The subject's maternal grand- 
father, George Sickafoose, was a native of 
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and in 
the war of 1812 served under the ci^mmand of 
General Harrison. About 1818 he came to 
Sandy township. Stark county, and entered one 
hundred and sixty acres of land, making it his 



home during the remainder of his life. The 
paternal grandfather, Denny Robertson, was 
born in county Tyrone, Ireland, but immigrated 
to the new world at an early day, settling in 
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. His 
father, William Robertson, was the son of John 
Robertson, who it is supposed was a native of 
Scotland, but removed to county Tyrone. Ire- 
land. Denny Robertson emigrated to the United 
States, coming to Ohio in 182 1 and settling in 
Carroll county, then a part of Stark. He fol- 
lowed the pursuit of agriculture, was quite suc- 
cessful and at the time of his death possessetl 
an estate of six hundred acres. He married 
Eleanor McConkey and they became the par- 
ents of eight children. 

The father of tlie suliject. James Robert- 
son, was born in 1S21 on the parental home- 
stead. He remained there until ten years of 
age. when, upon the death of his parents, he 
went to live with an uncle. Throughout lift 
he followed the occupation of farming, in which 
he met with a due measure of success, and at 
his death left an estate consisting of four hun- 
dred and thirty acres. During the war of the 
Rebellion he enlisted with the One Hundred 
and Sixty-second Regiment Ohio Volunteer 
In.fantry, and served his entire period of enlist- 
ment. His death occurred in June, 1900, his 
wife dying January 20, 1898. He was formerly 
a \Miig in politics, but later became identified 
with the Republican party, with which he re- 
mained identified until his death. His religious 
affiliations were with the Trinity Lutheran 
church at Magnolia, Ohio. His children were 
as follows : Laura is the widow of Jacob Buch- 
man : Eleanor married a Mr. McBeth and 
lives in Nebraska ; Denny S. ; George, deceased ; 
William A., deceased; James H. is the subject; 
Andrew. I^Iary O., Carrie and two that died 
in infancy. 

James H. Robertson was reared upon the 
paternal homestead and is indebted largely to 
the common schools for his mental training. 



36o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



He subsequently attended the normal school at 
Pierce, Ohio, after which for eight years he 
was engaged in teaching school. He had long 
had a leaning toward the legal profession and 
decided upon making it his life work. In ac- 
cordance with his intention he commenced 
reading law in the office of Harter & Krich- 
baum. of Canton. In 1891 he entered the law 
school of the Cincinnati College, from which he 
was graduated with the class of 1892, receiving 
the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Return- 
ing at once to Canton, Mr. Rotertson com- 
menced the practice of his profession, meeting 
with a due measure of success from the start. 
In 1896 he was elected justice of the peace and 
performed the duties of the office with marked 
ability. So pronounced an impression had he 
made upon the leaders of his part\- and the 
citizens generally that in 1899 he received the 
nomination for mayor of Canton and at the 
ensuing election was chosen to the position. He 
entered the office in possession of the fullest 
confidence of the people, a confidence that was 
so strengthened that in 1901 he was electetl to 
succeed himselt and is the present incumbent 
of the office. He has administered the multi- 
tudinous dttties of this important station with 
marked ability and efficiency and has thus em- 
phasized the wisdom of those by whose sufifrage 
he was chosen. When the body of the late 
President McKinley was brought back to Can- 
ton for interment, the members of the Presi- 
dent's cabinet selected Mr. Robertson to take 
charge of its funeral arrangements at Canton, 
and all the details were most carefully super- 
vised Ijy him. IMr. Robertson was one of the 
incorporators of the McKinley Memorial Fund 
Association and has been very active in his 
efl'orts to further the objects of the association. 
Politically Mr. Robertson has all his life 
been an ardent and zealous Republican, and has 
been very effective in advancing the interests 
of his party. Fraternally he lielongs to the 
Knights of Pvthias, Benevolent and T^rotective 



Order of Elks. Junior Order United American 
Mechanics, Woodmen of the World and the 
Knights of Honor. 

In 1899 Mr. Robertson was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Gertrude Shaeffer, daughter of 
Jacob Shaeft'er. of Canton. As a lawyer the 
subject evinced a familiarity with legal princi- 
ples and a ready perception of facts, together 
with the ability to apply the one to the other, 
which won him the reputation of a sound and 
safe practitioner. In the administration of the 
duties of the important ofiice of mayor, he has 
evinced a broad and comprehensive grasp of the 
details of city government and has given to the 
city one of the best administrations in its his- 
tory. By his genial manners and genuine 
worth he has gained a host of wann personal 
friends and the full confidence of the public 
p'eneralh'. 



HON. JOHN G. WARWICK.— Probably 
no man who ever lived in Massillon held a 
warmer place in the hearts and affections of 
the citizens, or whose memory is today more 
revered, than the late John G. Warwick, who 
for many years easily held the position of the 
most prominent man in the community. Like 
many of the influential factors in our composite 
nationality, Mr, Warwick was an American by 
adoption, he having been born and reared to 
young manhood on the Emerald Isle. His 
birth occurred on December 23, 1830, in 
County Tyrone, Ireland, and over twenty years 
later, in company with his brothers, Robert 
and William, he came to America to enter into 
the great battle of life, and like so many of 
his fellow countrymen, right valiantly and no- 
bly did he make the fight, winning both fame 
and fortune. Upon arriving in this country 
he remained for a time in Philadelphia, but 
soon pushed his way over the mountains into 
Ohio, he having decided that the then Great 
^\'est offered better opportunities to the man of 




♦ 



hrhxvi 




aAAy\ 





V I 



■ ^^r^ A^K 



Ji'a.^^^ ^. %^:Zc^, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



361 



moderate means than the east, which even at 
that early date was becoming crowded. Com- 
ing to Stark county, Mr. Warwiclv went first 
to Navarre, where he took a position as clerk 
and bookkeeper in a store, where he remained 
a few years. But his ambition was far beyond 
that of filling a subordinate position in life, and 
bending his energies, practicing economy and 
frugality, he was soon able to travel out for 
himself, and accordingly, in 1853, he came to 
Massillon and opened a dry-goods store, and in 
a short time had become recognized as one of 
the potent factors in business circles in the 
place. His natural business talent, industry and 
integrity manifested itself in everything with 
which he became connected, and he soon be- 
came identified with important interests and 
enterprises, and acquired great influence and 
popularity, and at the same time accumulated 
considerable wealth. Aside from his dry-goods 
enterprise, with which he was connected for 
over twenty years, Mr. Warwick was principal 
owner of the Sippo Valley Mills, and during 
the latter 'sixties he became active in railroad 
interests, and served as a director in the Mas- 
sillon & Cleveland, the Wheeling & Lake Erie 
and the Cleveland & Marietta railroads. Later 
he became extensively interested in mining, and 
soon was one of the largest and most successful 
coal operators in the state. In 1872 he retired 
from the dry-goods business, and thenceforth 
devoted all his time to his railroad and min- 
ing interests, and the supervision of his several 
large farms. He was one of the organizers 
of the Massillon Building and Loan Associa- 
tion, and for a time was its president. He was 
a director in the Massillon Water Company, 
and, as a stockholder, was interested in various 
coal companies and other enterprises. Mr. 
Warwick's prominence in the business world 
naturally attracted attention to him, and that 
he should, with his talents and inherited per- 
sonal gifts of character, drift into politics and 
public life was to be expected. He was a mem- 



ber of the Democratic party, but his interest 
in politics was a purfely unselfish one, and he 
cared not for public office or its emoluments. 
He steadily declined all o\'ertures from his 
party to become a candidate until 1883, when 
he finally accepted the nomination for lieuten- 
ant governor of Ohio, on the ticket with Hon. 
George Hoadly. He had always been a liberal 
contributor to the legitimate expense of the 
Democratic campaigns, and, despite the at- 
tacks made upon him by prejudiced people, he 
was triumphantly elected. He presided as 
lieutenant governor o\'er the senate of the sixty- 
sixth general assembly, which elected the Hon. 
Henry Payne to the United States senate. He 
discharged the duties of lieutenant governor 
with dignity and ability, and in such a manner 
as to win the confidence and esteem of even his 
political opponents. 

In 1890 he entered national politics by be- 
coming a candidate for the nomination for 
congress to represent the sixteenth Ohio dis- 
trict. The contest in the convention for this 
high honor was vigorously waged, the conven- 
tion being one of the most memorable in the 
history of congressional politics. Seventy-four 
ballots were cast before a choice was made, Mr. 
\\'arwick receiving the nomination, which was 
made on July 11, 1890. The Republicans of 
the district renominated their idol, William 
McKinley (afterwards the idolized President), 
and the contest was \\'aged as was never a con- 
test waged before, and was eagerly watched by 
the people of the whole country. Mr. Warwick 
was triumphantly elected, and upon taking his 
seat in congress found his reputation as a public 
man already established, such having been the 
wide interest taken by everybody in the con- 
test between McKinley and him. He took the 
oath of ofiice Decemlier 7. tqot, and his promi- 
nence was at once recognized by 'his appoint- 
ment as chairman of the committee on enrolled 
bills, one of the four oldest and most import- 
ant and arduous committees of congress. He 



362 



OLD LANDMARKS 



was also placed on the committee on public 
grounds. Such treatment of a new member was 
an unusual event, and brought him into the 
closest intimacy witii his colleagues. His life 
in Washington was a busy one. He was punc- 
tilious in his attendance upon the sittings of 
congress, except when urgent business called 
him away from the capitol. His circle of ac- 
quaintances, already large at the beginning of 
his congressional career, constantly broadened, 
and his apartments at his hotel were con- 
stantly visited by his personal friends and con- 
stituents. He was alive to every phase of poli- 
tics, was an indefatigable worker, and labored 
for the good of the country and his party sim- 
ultaneously. He was popular, and everybody 
admired and respected him, and it was often 
heard that his associates regarded him as much 
for his views that agreed with theirs, as for his 
steadfastness in asserting tlmse which did not. 
He was an earnest advocate of whatever meas- 
ure he espoused, and worked assiduously to 
win support for it. To him is due the passage 
of the McGarraghan Bill (vetoed) giving a 
poor Irishman recourse in court against a band 
of robbers who for many years unjustly held a 
cpiick-silvcr mine. He was made the member 
of the national congressional committee of 
Ohio. 

In 1864 Mr. Warwick married the estima- 
ble ladv who was thereafter his constant com- 
panion and true helpmate, and who exercised 
over him an influence for his good, which he 
fully recognized, appreciated and paid homage 
to. She was Mrs. ^laria E. La\ake. l>orn 
in Karthaus. Her father, who was a native 
of Remscbeid, Prussia, came to America, dili- 
gently applied himself to business, for which 
he had great abilit\ . ;uid b\' his own exertions 
became one of the wealthiest shi]) merchants in 
the city of "Baltimore. He was also identified 
with the settlement of ;uid owned luany busi- 
ness interests in the state of Pennsylvania ; and 
on the banks of the Sus<|uehanna ri\-er, in that 



state, there is now a town called by his name, 
on the site of which he years ago opened a fur- 
nace and began a coal business and also built a 
rtouring-mill. 

On Tuesday morning, August 2, 1892. Mr. 
Warwick left for New York city to attend a 
meeting of the board of directors of the Wheel- 
ing & Lake Erie Railroad Company, and while 
there was seized with an illness which pro\ed 
fatal. The protracted heat of tlie summer had 
not yet ceased and it was to this as much as 
to any other cause that his death was due. His 
wife, who had gone to Atlantic City to recu- 
perate from the heated term, was summoned to 
his bedside, where her unremitting care and de- 
votion relieved much of his suffering and 
soothed and comforted his last hours. The 
sad end came all too swiftly, and he pa.ssed 
away August 14. conscious to the last minute, 
and his final words were addressed to his wife. 

The news of his death was a shock to his 
friends and fellow citizens, notwithstanding 
it was generally known be bad been troubled 
for a long time with stomach irregularities 
which had become chronic. His death called 
out the most general mourning from the citi- 
zens of Massillon. among whom he had lived 
the best years of his life. The mourning was 
not confined to Massilion or to Stark county 
alone, but was shared by the people all over 
Ohio, and reached to the members of congress, 
in which he had in so short a time made so 
bright a name and by his sterling traits of char- 
acter won so much respect and admiration. 

Today, o\er a decade since b.is death, Mr. 
W'arwick stands out as one of the central fig- 
ures in the recent history of Ohio. His pri- 
vate and public life reflects nothing but credit 
and honor on his memory. In a large sense his 
career is a i)art of the history of Stark county 
and of the state of Ohio. 

Personally. Mr. Warwick was genial, af- 
fable, warm-hearted and charitalile. His char- 
acteristics were honesty, integrity, steadfast- 






o 



c 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



363 



ness of purpose and 01 an intense admiration 
and belief in the country, state and city of his 
adoption, and of their institutions. He was a 
communicant of the Episcopal church. 



JOHN E. CARNAHAN is a native of 
the old Keystone state, but he chose Canton as 
his home and the center of his largest business 
interests on accoimt of its excellent location and 
exceptional shipping facilities. A recent issue 
of the New York World almanac mentions him 
as one of Canton's three millionaires, while his 
advent in Canton was hailed with marked 
gratification by the board of trade and business 
men in general, for the reputation of his ability 
and solid business interests had preceded him. 
His great wealth, honestly acquired, coupled 
with his wise discrimination in applying it to 
the extension of Canton's business interests, 
augured well for the future of the city, but 
even the most sanguine had no prescience of 
the extent of his plans for Canton's good nor 
a])preciated the full importance of his conimg 
here. Today he is at the head of four leading 
manufacturing industries of Canton, affording 
employment to a corps of two thousand work- 
men, and he has a controlling interest in three 
of these ctjncerns. The three industries estab- 
lished largely by his capital in East Canton are 
the Carnahan tin plate and sheet mill, the 
Carnahan stamping and enameling plant and 
the United States Steel Company. Before 
these ])lants were built he was asked to become 
president of the Stark Rolling ^lill Company, 
and the combined output of these plants is said 
to exceed in value more than four million dol- 
lars annually. The plants adjoin the ground of 
the Berger sheet-metal plant, erected some years 
jireviously by Canton men. The three plants 
erected in Canton l^y Mr. Carnahan represent 
an investment of one and one-half million dol- 
lars, and it was because of his decision to here 



establish these great industries that he removed 
with his family from Leechburg. Pensyh'ania. 
to Canton. 

While the subject was still active in oper- 
ations in connection with the oil and gas in- 
dustries in western Pennsylvania, he sought 
to invest his earnings in the steel and iron in- 
ilustry. With W. H. Steele, W. H. Blecker 
and others he built the now famous Mesta ma- 
chme plant at Homestead, Pennsylvania. Later 
they sold out their interests and prepared to 
establish a similar plant for the manufacturing 
of rolling-mill machinery. Some members of 
the company wished to establish the plant at 
Leechburg, Pennsylvania, but Mr. Carnahan, 
who had the controlling interest, had learned 
of the excellent location of Canton, and. 
through the board of trade, he determined to 
build the plant here. The plant was erected 
in 1899, in South Canton, and from the incep- 
tion the industry was successful. While the 
original company owned the plant, and for 
some time after its sale, in 1901, to J. B. Baird. 
of Chicago, it continued in operation twenty- 
four hoiu's a clav, the consideration recei\ed at 
the time of sale having been three hundred 
thousand dollars. About this time IMr. Carna- 
han, who had waxed e\-en more enthusiastic 
concerning Canton's eligibility as a manufac- 
turing and shipping point, planned to build a 
tin-plate mill here. In the home of the late 
President McKinley, who was the author of 
the famous McKinley bill, twelve years before, 
which made possible the successful prosecution 
of the tin industry in America, this action on 
the part of ^Ir. Carnahan was hailed with de- 
light, for the lamented President e\-er main- 
tained a deep interest in his home city of Can- 
ton. The local board of trade made Mr. Carna- 
han a proposition whereby he would receive a 
bonus of two hundred and ninety town lots and 
a site for the plant, on the Cook tract in East 
Canton. The board of trade bought the entire 
tract, containing twice that number of lots. 



364 



OLD LANDMARKS 



half of wliich were sold to citizens for one 
hundred dollars each. Each purchaser merely 
purchased a chance on some lot in the tract and 
at a great drawing contest in the Grand opera 
house the tract of land was divided among the 
purchasers by lot. By this means thirty thous- 
and dollars was raised and the same applied by 
the board to the paying for the tract. The re- 
maining two hundred and ninety lots came 
into the possession of Mr. Caniahan, who 
organized the Carnahan Land Improvement 
Association, which commenced to gradually 
dispose of them to workmen and others. The 
erection of the tin plant at a cost of half a mil- 
lion dollars, was soon inaugurated and it was 
placed in operation in 1901, while emplo_\-ment 
is now given to about six hundred hands, while 
the industry attracted here numerous Welsh 
tin workers from the east. Shortly afterward 
j\Ir. Carnahan planned to erect a stamping 
plant, in which to manufacture all kinds of tin 
ware from the product of the mill. In the 
meanwhile the company absorbed the patents 
of a large enameled-ware company in Cleveland 
and a large combination plant was erected, at a 
cost of a quarter of a million dollars. The 
building utilized is a great four-story brick 
structure adjoining the tin mill and here em- 
ployment is given to two hundred and fifty 
operati\es. The plants were independent of the 
United States Steel Corporation, which con- 
trolled practically all of the output of raw ma- 
terial, such as would be used in a large tin 
mill. -Mr. Carnahan's far-seeing judgment en- 
abled him to properly canvass the situation and 
he forthwith sought to forestall future tlifficulty 
in securing such raw material. In the winter 
of 1902 he and others became interested in a 
project to build an immense blast furnace in 
Canton, but it was later deemed expedient to 
join with other independent sheet-mill interests 
and establish the furnace in Cleveland. Ed- 
ward G. Langenbach. whom Mr. Carnahan had 
chosen as general manager of the allied Carna- 



han plants, kept close council with the latter in 
all of these projects, as he had previously done 
when Mr. Carnahan's other plants were erected. 
In the summer of 1902 the subject of this 
sketch became the chief one interested in the 
erection of an open-hearth steel plant, adjoin- 
ing his other plants in Canton, the same being 
completed at a cost of six hundred thousand 
dollars, the erection of the plant being initiated 
that summer, while the following summer it 
was in operation. This fine group of plants, 
commencing with the company's own coal 
mines and including its interest in the blast 
furnace at Cleveland, and its ownership of the 
open-hearth furnaces and the sheet mills in 
Canton, make the position of the Carnahan 
groupe of plants practically impregnal)le and 
independent of the trust. 

In addition io iiis immense interests in 
Canton, Mr. Carnahan still retains his interests 
in immense tracts of oil and gas land in West 
\'irginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and in future 
years these properties will doubtless constitute 
one of the chief sources of his wealth, as they 
ha\e been from almost the beginning of his 
business career. The desire to bore for oil 
Ijecame a ])assion with hiiu in his earlv years. 
He has a three-fourths interest in the oil and 
gas lease holds on forty thousand acres of land, 
scattered over a dozen counties from Marshall 
to Roane counties. \\'est Virginia. His lease- 
holds in Ohio have reached four thousand 
acres, while at times he has controlled thous- 
ands of acres in Pennsylvania, having at the 
present time fine oil producing properties in 
each of the states mentioned. For years he 
has had either the entire or part interest in a 
half dozen of more sets of tools for the boring 
of oir wells in West Virginia, and the same 
number in Pennsylvania, and these outfits have 
been constantly employed in testing territory 
where other prospectors have failed to tread. 
He became interested in the Ohio and West 
\'irginia oil lands in the middle '90s and has 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



365 



brought in some creditable producing tracts in 
each. 

Seeking for a favorable place in which to 
invest the earnings from their oil operations, 
]\Ir. Carnahan and Mr. John S. Robinson, a 
millionaire landowner and oil operator with 
whom he became associated in West Virginia, 
went to Mexico in 1900, planning to invest in 
mining land. While there they purchased forty 
thousand acres of land lying between the city 
of Mexico and the Pacific coast, the cleared 
portions being well adapted for tropical plan- 
tations and the forests rich in fine hard woods, 
while there were also prospects for oil in the 
tract. Later they increased their joint holdings 
there to one hundred thousand acres, in ad- 
dition to which Mr. Carnahan has individual 
and e;;clusive title to about forty thousand 
acres. In 1897 Mr. Carnahan took up a mining 
claim in the famous Colville group of gold and 
silver mines in Washington, eighty miles north 
of the city of Spokane. This claim turned out 
to be rich in gold and silver ore and the prop- 
erty is now being developed, the claim lying 
near the famous mines just across the line in 
British Columbia. Mr. Carnahan is also chief 
owner of a large steel plant "at Norwalk, Ohio, 
employing five hundred men ; is the owner of a 
large boiler works at Mannington, West Vir- 
ginia ; and large firebrick works at St. Charles, 
Pennsylvania, with hundreds of acres of fire- 
clay lands. He still owns several fine farms near 
his old home at Leechburg, Pennsylvania, said 
farms being underlaid with the best veins of 
Pittsburg coal. 

Mr. Carnahan was born in the family home- 
stead at Leechburg, Pennsylvania, on the loth 
of August, 1842, and while he has but recently 
passed the half-century milepost on the journey 
of life we find him a millionaire. He is in the 
ver}' prime of strong and vigorous manhood, 
having the agility of one twenty years his 
junior and remaining apparently unoppressed 
with the manifold responsibilities and cares of 



wealth and the endless demands placed upon 
him in an executive and administrative way. 
His strength seems to grow by what it feeds on 
and his distinctive individuality, his rare power 
of initiative and his extraordinary grasp of de- 
tails make him a really collossal figure in the 
financial and industrial world. He is a scion of 
one of the best known families of Armstrong 
county, Pennsylvania, the homestead in which 
he was born having been in the hands of the 
Carnahan family for more than eighty years. 
His father, John Carnahan, was of Scotch-Irish 
lineage and died a few years ago, at the age 
of eighty-three years. His mother, whose 
family name was Funk, was of French descent, 
and she also is deceased. The subject of this 
review was the youngest of ten children, five 
boys and five girls, and of the number five are 
still living. John E. attended, in his boyhood, 
a country school at Cochran's Mills and there- 
after attended a normal school for one term 
and passed the teacher's examination in his 
native county, all of which indicates his early 
ambition for an education. Like most boys of 
his time he left school at an early age, and he 
then went to work for his father, who at that 
time owned about five hundred acres of land 
between Leechburg and Kittaning. While he 
was still in his 'teens and working on the home- 
stead farm additional responsibility was thrown 
upon him by reason of the fact that his honored 
father met with an accident to his back which 
crippled him for life. From a very early age 
the subject manifested a remarkable business 
acumen and that indomitable energy which has 
conserved his magnificent success in later years. 
Thus he proved a most ^■aluable coadjutor to 
his father at the time of the unfortunate in- 
jury received by the latter, and it was largely 
due to his filial solicitude that he left school so 
young, in order that he might care for and 
assist his father. Even after leaving school 
his interest in educational affairs did not wane, 
and he was the leader of manv a debate in the 



366 



OLD LANDMARKS 



coiintrv- school liouses. whose walls resounded 
with his youthful eloquence, and he maile the 
most i)f the educational advantages which were 
afforded him, attending school during the short 
winter terms and laboring assiduously on the 
farm during the summer seasons. His father's 
farm was good agricultural land and was 
underlaid with coal, the deposit Ijeing to a 
degree developed by the father and his sons, 
William, J. L. and John E. All three sons 
aided in the early development of these lands, 
and eventually J. L. left the parental roof for 
the purpose of studying medicine and he be- 
came one of the successful physicians of the 
city of Pittsbvu'g, while William left the farm 
to operate a flouring mill at Apollo, Pennsyl- 
vania. The subject still remained on the farm 
for a period of ten years after his brothers had 
departed therefrom, and he aided his father 
in his declining years. His brother William 
repeatedly urged him to enter the flouring- 
mill business with him, but he preferred to 
stay on the farm. Had he left it at that time 
his entire career might ha\e l)een radically 
different, for it was his long experience in con- 
nection with mother earth that taught him con- 
cerning the treasures held in store within her 
bosom. He had alreatly laid the foundation 
for his wealth and the successful operations 
for oil and gas in western Pennsylvania caused 
him to bore for these products. 

In the meanwhile, at a very early age, Mr. 
Carnahan was united in marriage to IMiss ]May 
Thomas, who resided near Cochran's Mills, 
being an estimable young woman of Scotch- 
Welsh descent. Of tliis happy union it may be 
stated at this pomt that seven children have 
been born, tliere being only one son. Roy R.. 
who from his early boyhood has been so closelv 
identified with his father's large interests and 
who is individually mentioned on another page 
of this volume. The six daughters are as fol- 
lows: One who is the wife of \\'illiam Shoe- 
maker, of I^eechliurg, l^ennsvK-ania : Beatrice 



Pearl, Grace. Madge, Mabel and Xellie. Be- 
atrice attended college at Roanoke, \'irginia, 
and <jrace was graduated in Washington & 
Jefferson Semmary, at Washington, Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Mr. Carnahan purchased one hundred acres 
of farm land for himself, having husbanded 
his early earnmgs and accumulated a sufficient 
amount to justify his expenditure. With iiis 
capital represented in this holding and in the 
valuable experience he had gained on iiis 
father's farm, he gave himself with character- 
istic energy to the cultivation of his land and the 
development of the underlying coal deposits. 
This was in the early "sexenties, and the winters 
found him delving with his men about the small 
mines, while the summers showed him l)usily 
engaged in the culti\ation of his farm. With 
his hard earned money he acquired more land 
until he liad three hundred acres, all under- 
laid with two or three veins of coal. About 
1879 he determined to drill for oil on his farm, 
but at a depth of twelve hundred feet the 
well filled with salt water. Untlaunted by 
this failure, he continued his drilling opera- 
tions .in another locality, feeling certain that 
the first well had been drilled in either an oil 
or gas belt. His good judgment was shown 
when, eight years later, he drilled a well five 
hundred feet distant from the original one, 
since after reaching a depth of thirteen hundred 
and fifty feet he struck an immense gas well, 
developing a volume of ten million cubic feet 
daily. At the time he drilled his first well 
there was no oil or gas kncnvn to be nearer 
than twenty miles. In the meanwhile, after 
the failure of the first well, he resumed his 
farming and mining, continuing thus engaged 
until 1S85, when he again returned to drilling 
for oil and gas. Tlie great demand for gas in 
the steel works in and about Pittsburg and the 
general demand for oil prompted him to con- 
tinue his efforts. He leased about eight thous- 
and acres of land in the central part of Arm- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



367 



strong count}- and began drilling- tor oil and 
eas in earnest. He was duly conservatixe. 
however, and continued to draw on his farms 
for his support rather than being prodigal in 
the expenditure of his savings. This great 
held later turned out to be the Schellhanii-iier 
gas field, four miles long and two miles wide. 
He drilled several wells on the tract and most 
of them turned out to be large gas producers. 
About this time he met the officials of the Car- 
negie Steel Coiiipany at Pittsburg, who pur- 
cliased from hmi the leasehold rights of a por- 
tion of the tract for one hundred thousand 
dollars. This was the first of his big deals 
with that company and the first of a series of 
a half dozen such important deals which he 
made with different companies, thereby gain- 
ing the nticleus of his large fortune. After 
this initial sale Mr. Carnahan enlarged his out- 
fit of tools and drilled numerous wells for the 
Carnegie Company, which utilized the gas for 
its steel plants in Pittsburg. While most of 
his wells proved successful Mr. Carnahan real- 
ized, like all oil operators, that his was an un- 
certain business and that occasionally a dry 
hole would represent the only result of the ef- 
forts put forth. In the early days of his opera- 
tions he paid for bonuses on gas land nmney 
which ran well into four figures for as few as 
one hundred acres. His next move was to drill 
for oil about Delks Station, Butler county, 
Pennsvh-ania, and after proviiig a large tract 
(if oil he and his partner sold out for sixty 
thousand dollars. In the meanwhile he contin- 
ued drilling gas wells, which supplied glass 
factories and rolling- mills north of Pittsburg. 
After this, in the early 'nineties, came the oper- 
ations in the Crooked creek field, near Roljlis 
Landing. Pennsylvania, which still produces 
gas for Pittsburg and vicinity. The gas rights 
of this tract were sold to the Carnigie Company, 
the field being four miles long and over a half 
mile in width. After its sale, in 1895, Mr. 
Carnahan drilled on the propertv one hundred 



wells for the Carnegie Company, and these 
ha\-e supplied millions of cubic feet of gas for 
Pittsburg and its steel mills. While the oper- 
ations in this field were in progress Mr. Carna- 
han opened up another large gas field on the 
Armstrong and Clarion county line, event- 
uallv disposing of a portion of the tract to the 
Carnegie Company for their steel mills, while 
he retained possession of a part, which was 
utilized in supplying gas to plants and citizens 
north of Pittsburg. Another tract, of three 
thousand acres, which he opened was midway 
between Apollo and Leechburg. One of the 
three wells which he there drilled had the 
strongest flow of any gas well in the state up 
to that time. This well blew up when it was 
drilled in and the workmen narrowly escaped 
with their lives, and later it was gotten under 
control. This tract was sold to the American 
W^indow Glass Company, for seventy-fi\-e 
thousand dollars. Up to this tinie Mr. Carna- 
han's operations were almost entirely in gas 
territory. In the late 'nineties he extended his 
operations sotithward into Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, but not with success, though thip 
was ;iear the afterward famous McDonald oil 
pool. After this he concentrated his efforts in 
the locality of his former successes until 1897. 
At this time he chanced to forn-i the acquain- 
tanceship of H. L. Smith, of Virginia, whom 
he met in the ofifices of the Carnegie Company, 
in Pittsburg. Mr. Smith and his brother-in- 
law controlled the leases on six thousand acres 
of valuable oil and gas territory in Wetzel, 
Doddridge, Marion and Harrison counties. 
West \'irg-inia, and at that time there were 
several large gas wells on the tract, though it 
had been previously and falsely reported to the 
Carnegie Cornpany that there were several dry 
holes on the tract. Messrs. Smith and Robin- 
son were paying eight thousand dollars annual 
rental for leases there and were badly in need 
of a partner to assume this payment, and the 
Carnegies had been importuned by these men to 



368 



OLD LANDMARKS 



join them. Air. Carnahan immediately went 
to West Virginia, grasped the situation at once 
as he saw that it promised fine oil territory, and 
on his own account he leased four thousand 
acres more for iiimself. Tliis made a solid block 
of ten thousand acres. He then returned to Pitts- 
burg and reported to the Carnegie Company as 
to the action he had taken. Relying solely 
upon his judgment as to the value of the land 
the company assumed tlie payment of the an- 
nual rentals on the tract — twelve thousand dol- 
lars a year. Tlie company also agreed to test 
the tract for oil and gas, the stipulation being 
that in case a well should develop gas they 
would retain possession of the same, and that 
if oil should be struck the same was to become 
the property of Mr. Carnahan and his partners, 
who would then assume tlie cost entailed in 
drilling. Tlie Carnegie Company drilled six 
wells on the field— three gas and tliree oil. In 
the autumn of 1901 tlie oil and gas leaseliolds 
on the tract were sold to tiie South Penn 
(Standard) Oil Company, for one million, 
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. j\Ir. 
Carnalian held nine-si xteentlis of this interest. 
It was the largest single oil and gas deal con- 
summated in that state. W'itliin the present 
year (1903) this tract has been conceded by 
experienced oil men to be worth ten million 
dollars, there Ijeing at the time two hundred 
large producing wells with a daily capacity of 
two thousand barrels, while there was room 
for five hundred more wells and twice as much 
production. On this tract is the most costly 
oil well in the world, its drilling having re- 
quired two years' time and the incidental ex- 
penditure of forty thousand dollars. On the 
tract is also found the deepest producing oil 
well in the world, the same being- three thous- 
and five hundred and fifty-five feet in depth. 
Other business interests of most extensive or- 
der have never permitted Mr. Carnahan to take 
charge of the field operations on his great oil 



lands in West Virginia. The drilling of the 
half dozen test wells which defined the million- 
dollar tract were in charge of his only son, Roy, 
who, though a young man of but twenty-four 
years, has the supervision of all his father's 
vast interests in West Virginia. 



MAURICE E. AUNGST is a native son of 
the Buckeye state, his birth having occurred in 
Plain township, Stark county, on the nth of 
February, 1862, the son of David and Eliza- 
beth ( Harry ) Aungst. The maternal grand- 
father, James Harry, was born and reared in 
the far famed Cuml^erland valley, Pennsyl- 
vania, but in 1824 he migrated to Ohio, set- 
tling in Plain township. Stark county. Here 
he entered a tract of land which was at that 
time wild and unimproved, but he entered 
bravely upon the task before him and in the 
course of time succeeded in clearing his land 
and developing a fine farm, bringing it up to a 
high standard of excellence. He followed the 
pursuit of agriculture throughout his life and 
his last days were spent upon this farm. David 
Aungst was a native of Dauphin county, Penn- 
sylvania, but when a young man he came to 
Stark county, Ohio, settling in Plain township. 
He had learned the trade of a miller and fol- 
lowed that occupation all his life. He was a 
thorough master of his calling and was fairly 
successful from a financial standpoint. He re- 
tired from active bvisiness a few years ago and 
now makes his home in Canton ; his wife's 
death occurred in 1878. They were the parents 
of twelve children, three of whom died in in- 
fancy, and the subject is the third in order of 
birth. 

Maurice E. Aungst was reared under the 
parental roof and received his education mainly 
in the common schools and in the public schools 
o{ Canton. He supplemented this training by 
a course at the college at Ada, Ohio, and at 




M. E. AUNGST. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



369 



tlie age of sixteen years took up the profession 
of pedagogy. He was well qualified for this 
work and applied himself to it with marked 
success for eight years. On June i, 1886, he 
was admitted to the bar of the supreme court 
of Ohio. 

In 1887 Mr. Aungst was appointed to the 
position of deputy probate judge. So satis- 
factorily did he perform the exacting duties of 
his position that in 1899 he was elected pro- 
bate judge and now fills that oftice. The of- 
fice is one that demands qualifications of a pe- 
culiar order and gives abundant opportunities 
for e.xercise of wise discrimination and sound 
judgment, together with a broad grasp of the 
law applying to cases coming under its juris- 
diction. That ]\Ir. Aungst possesses these ele- 
ments in a marked degree has been abundantly 
evidenced in the thoroughly satisfactory man- 
ner in which he has handled the business com- 
ing to his court. Just and sound in his decis- 
ions, honorable in his methods and courteous 
in his demeanor, he has gained for himself a 
host of warm personal friends and an excellent 
reputation throughout the county. 

Politically Mr. Aungst has been a life-long 
Republican and has taken an active part in the 
campaign of his party. He has ever taken 
a keen interest in educational matters and has 
just completed two terms on the city board 
of school examiners. Fraternally he is a mem- 
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
the Junior Order of United American Mechan- 
ics and the Benevolent and Protective Order of 
Elks. He is also a member of the board of 
directors of the Citizens' Building and Loan 
Association. 

On the 13th of January. 1887. Maurice E. 
Aungst was joined in the holy bonds of wed- 
lock with Miss Lucy M. Pontius, the daughter 
of Andrew Pontius, a union which has been 
blessed by the birth of four children. Helen M., 
Grace E., James M. and Homer D.. who died 
April 13, 1903. 

23 



TIMOTHY C. PUTMAN.— Li the death 
of Captain T. C. Putman, on the 12th of Octo- 
ber, 1898, there passed away a representative 
of the sterling old pioneer stock through whose 
efforts Stark county was reclaimed from the 
wilderness, and one who had endeared himself 
to all those who had the pleasure of his friend- 
ship, and who was esteemed by those who 
claimed only his acquaintance. He was a man 
of wide and versatile experience and he com- 
manded respect for the best of all reasons — he 
deserved it. The Captain served with distinc- 
tion as a patriot soldier in the war of the Re- 
bellion, and in connection with public affairs 
in his native county he wielded no uncertain 
influence, while his strong and upright char- 
acter was a power for good in all the relations 
of life. 

Mr. Putman was born on the Putman pion- 
eer homestead, near the present village of Wil- 
mot, Sugar Creek township, this county, on 
the 30th of January, 1828, and that township 
continued to be his home until the time of his 
tleath, in Beach City, on the 12th of October, 
1898. He was the son of John and Charlotta 
(King) Putman, who were numbered among 
the earliest settlers in Stark county. John 
Putman was born in Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, and was of stanch English lineage, 
the original progenitors of the family in Ameri- 
ca having been two brothers who immigrated 
hither in the colonial epoch of our national 
history, the one settling in Vermont and the 
other in Pennsylvania, and it is from the latter 
that the line is traced to the subject of this 
memoir. John Putman was engaged in farm- 
ing in the old Keystone state for many years, 
and there his marriage was solemnized. In 
1 8 18 he came to Stark county, entering a tract 
of government land in the midst of the virgin 
forests of what is now Sugar Creek township, 
and there reclaiming a good farm upon which 
he passed the residue of his long and useful 
life, being one of the honored pioneers of the 



..370 



OLD LANDMARKS 



pounty, ^vllicll was scarcely more than a wilder- 
ness at the time when he here took up his abode. 
.His deed was signed by John Quincy Adams, 
President. He continued to be identified with 
ihe great basic art of agrjculture throughout 
Jiis life, and died on his old homestead in 1871, 
iit the venerable age of eighty-four years, hav- 
ing been a man of worth and prominence. His 
,wife, whose maiden name was Charlotta King, 
preceded him into eternal rest, her death hav- 
ing occurred in 1854. They became the parents 
of three daughters and two sons, all of whom 
are deceased. 

Captain Putman was reared under the en- 
jvironments of the pioneer epoch in his native 
.county, and his early labors were of the stren- 
•uous sort involved in clearing the wild land and 
rendering it available for cultivation, while his 
.educational advantages were such as were af- 
forded in the common schools of the locality 
and period. On the 3d of October, 1850, he 
.was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
^Griffith, who was born near Beach City, Sugar 
Creek township, this county, on the 6th of 
December, 1833, and wdio passed to the "land 
•of the leal" January i, 1903, having been held 
in affectionate regard by all who knew her, and 
having been a type of gracious and gentle 
womanhood. Of this union were born four 
children, the first two having been daughters 
•who died in infancy. M. Alice is the widow 
of the late Carrell B. Allman, who was one 
(Of the most prominent and honored business 
■men of Massillon and who is the subject of an 
individual memoir elsewhere in this work. 
Jolin C. Fremont Putman, who was associated 
in business with Mr. Allman, died a few months 
later, and tn him also is given a specific tril)ute 
elsewhere in this volume. 

, For a number of years after his marriage 
Captain Putman continued to reside on the 
.parental homestead, and he then purchased a 
•farm of his own, midway between Wilmot 
.and Beach Citv, and there he continued to be 



actively engaged in agricultural jjursuits until 
1892, having developed and improved one of 
the valuable farms of the county, and at the 
expiration of this period he retired from the 
more active labors which had so long been his, 
and removed to Beach City, where he pur- 
chased a pleasant residence, which continued to ' 
be his home until he passed forward to that 
"undiscovered country from whose bourne no 
traveler returns." At the time when the dark 
cloud of civil war spread its gruesome pall over 
the national firmament he tendered his ser- 
vices in defense of the Union, enlisting as a 
member of Company K, One Hundred and 
Sixty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which 
he was made lieutenant and with which he 
served one year, and later he was captain 
of a company of state militia. He came of 
Whig stock and was himself a stanch supporter 
of the principles of that party until the organi- 
zation of the Republican party, when he trans- 
ferred his allegiance to the same and ever af- 
terwards was a stalwart advocate of its cause 
and active in its local ranks. He was one 
of the most extensive land holders of Sugar 
Creek township, his estate comprising more 
than seven hundred acres, and there he wielded 
a definite influence through his hold on public 
confidence and esteem, and his mature judg- 
ment and marked business acumen. He 
served at various times as trustee of the town- 
ship, thotigh he never was a seeker for public 
office, and with the exception of one year he 
was consecutively a member of the Ixiard of 
directors of the county infirmary from 1871 
until the time of his death, his wise counsel 
and earnest efforts in this capacity proving of 
great value in conserving wise economy of ad- 
ministration and the proper care of the unfor- 
tunate wards of the county. He was a member 
of the board at the time of the erection of the 
building for the insane and also the hospital 
binlding. and it may consistently be said in the 
connection that the countv has never had two 



CANTON AND STARK CO.UNTY, OHIO. 



:Z7i 



other buildings of so great value erected at so 
small an expenditure, indicating careful man- 
agement on the part of the board, and to Cap- 
tain Putman. as one of the most active and in- 
fluential members of the board, is due a goodly 
^hare of credit for the wise administration of 
ibis department of the county affairs during his 
-long term of service. In business affairs Cap- 
tain Putman was active and diligent, and a 
model of steadfastness and determination, be- 
ing conservative in his methods and having a 
prescience which enabled him to carry his plans 
to successful completion, there being no vac- 
illation or uncertainty in his course at any time ; 
for he was methodical and systematic in all 
■'things. "He was' genial, earnest, and sincere, 
hospitable and kindly, and his popularity was 
of unequivocal order. He and his wife were 
devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and fraternally he was identified with 
.the Grand Army of the Republic, and the 
Knights of Pythias. Of him it may well be 
said that "His life was noble and the elements 
somixed in him that the world might stand up 
and sav. This is a man." 



HON. JOHN GRAHAM was born in Bed- 
ford county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1802, 
and was there reared to manhood and took 
unto himself a wife, in the person of Miss 
Susan Troup, who was likewise a native of 
the old Keystone state. In 1824 they came 
to Canton, Stark county, Mr. Graham having 
closed out his mercantile business in Pennsyl- 
vania, and here he located on a tract of land, 
on the Fulton road, in Jackson township, pur- 
chasing five hundred and twenty acres of his 
brothers-in-law, Henry and Jacob Troup, who 
had here entered claim to nearly one thousand 
acres of government land and had just begun 
the work of reclaiming the same. Mr. Graham 
and his wife made the trip from Pennsylvania 
On horseback, the latter carrying in her arms 



her infant child, Ella, who was but a few 
months old. Mr. Graham cleared off a small 
tract of ground and on the same erected a rud,e 
lodge of logs, according to the style in vogue 
in the pioneer days, and this log cabin continued 
to be the family home for several years, while 
the work of reclaiming the land to the uses 
of cultivation was pushed forward as rapidly 
as possible, history in those days being writ- 
ten with the ax and the rifle rather than being 
recorded on published pages. For a number of 
years after this noble couple took up their 
abode in the midst of the forest there were only 
two or three houses between their home and 
what is now the city of Canton. Indians were 
still in evidence and wild game to be had in 
abundance. Mr. Graham was successful in his 
efforts and eventually added considerably to the 
area of his landed estate. Entirely without 
solicitation on his part, 4ie was made the can- 
didate of the Whig party for the position of 
state senator, and the office was practically 
thrust upon him by his friends in the district. 
He was elected by a goodly majority and 
served with ability and fidelity during his term 
of four years, doing all in his power to further 
the best interests of the people of the Buckeye 
comm.onwealth. The year prior to his election 
he and his wife had made a visit to their old 
home in Pennsylvania, on this occasion utiliz- 
ing a carriage, as roads had been opened suf- 
ficiently to make this possible, though the jour- 
ney was not altogether an agreeable one even 
yet. In politics Mr. Graham was a stanch ad- 
vocate of the principles of the Democratic party 
as exemplified by Jefferson and Jackson, and 
both he and his wife were consistent meml>ers 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, taking a 
prominent part in the early religious work in 
this section. He died on his homestead farm in 
185 1, having nearly attained the half-century 
milestone' on life's journey. His wife survived 
him marty years, passing away in 1877, at the 
age of seventy-two years. Their eleven chil- 



372 



OLD LANDMARKS 



dren were as follows : William, who died in 
infancy, in Bedford county, Pennsylvania; Ella 
Olivia, who is the widow of Ira M. Allen, of 
Canton ; Lavinia, who resides in Canton and 
who is the widow of Jonathan Renick. of whom 
mention is specifically made on another page 
of this work ; Charles, who is engaged in the 
real-estate business in the city of Philadelphia ; 
Caroline, who is the widow of Lewis V. Bock- 
ius, of Canton : Hamilton, who is a successful 
farmer of Plain township, this county, and who 
married a Miss Letetia Webb; Edward, who 
married Aliss Fannie Cooley and who died in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; John, who died at 
the age of three years ; Susan, who became the 
wife of General Samuel Beatty, of Canton, both 
being now deceased; Alfred R., who married 
Sarah Kalembaugh ; George, who married 
Amelia Byrne, is a resident of Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania; and Marshall, who died in infancy. 
Captain Graham, father of the subject of 
this memoir, was likewise born in Bedford 
county, Pennsylvania, being of stanch Scotch- 
Irish extraction. In the town of Bedford 
Springs he married Mrs. \Villiam Hartley, a 
widow, her maiden name ha\ing l>een Shaw, 
while her marriage to Air. Hartley was 
solemnized in England, her native land. At 
the time of her marriage to Captain Graham, 
she resided on what was then known as the 
MouiTt Dalles farm, near Bedford Springs, hav- 
ing come hither from London, England, with 
her first husband, who died here. On this farm 
she entertained General Washington, and it 
is a matter of record that she had the distinc- 
tion of playing backgammon with this greatest 
of patriots. The Hartleys at one time owned 
Bedford Springs and the family was a promi- 
nent and influential one in Pennsylvania, and 
conspicuous in the social affairs of the old Key- 
stone state in the early days. She came to 
America about the time of the oj^ening of the 
war of the Revolution, leaving a little daugh- 
ter in England. The latter was there reared 



to maturity and there married a Mr. Harrison, 
and their son, William, a clergj-man of the es- 
tablished church, Ijecanie chaplain to Queen 
Victoria and rector of Birch, in Essex, while 
he was also private chaplain to the Duchess of 
Cambridge, proctor in the lower house of con- 
vocation, honorary canon of St. Albans' cath- 
edral and rural dean of the deanery of Coggs- 
well, standing high in ecclesiastical and social 
circles. He and his wife both died in England, 
where many of their children married into 
prominent families of the kingdom. Captain 
Graham, who was the second husband of Mrs. 
Hartley, was a valiant soldier and officer in 
the war of the Revolution. He died on the 
Mount Dalles farm, he and his wife having 
had one son and one daughter, namely : John, 
the immediate subject of this memoir: and 
Susan, who became the wife of Dr. Van Lehr 
and died in the state of Man,-land. After the 
death of Captain Graham his widow consum- 
mated a third marriage, becoming the wife of 
a General Simpson, and she passed the clos- 
ing years of lier life in or near Bedford Springs. 



JOHN M. SARVER.— Success in any line 
of endeavor, in anv field of human activity, is 
not a matter of spontaneity, but is rather the 
results of the application of talents and powers 
along the avenvie where lies the greatest po- 
tentialitv. He who has the judgment to flis- 
cern his own talents and to follow their bent 
through the exigencies of time and place is 
the one to whom success will come as a natural 
sequence. In one of the highest and most im- 
portant spheres of human effort the subject of 
this review has proved a power for good in the 
exercise of a strong individuality. He is at the 
present time the incumbent of the responsible 
position of superintendent of public schools of 
of Canton, Ohio. In the domain of education 
he has found personal satisfaction and has ex- 
erted a l)eneficent influence, being prominent in 






.^-i-^A-evt/ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



373 



the e«lucational circles of the state and being 
known as a man of fine executive abihty. In a 
compilation of this character it is certainly 
fitting- that there be included a brief account of 
the life and labors of Prof. Sarver. 

The genealogy of the family traces back 
to German 'origin, and the name has been long 
identified with the affairs of this country, the 
original representatives of the family in the 
ne\v world coming from Germany, about the 
time of the war of the Revolution, to take up 
their abode in Pennsylvania. John Sarver, 
grandfather of the subject, was a native of 
Pennsylvania, and passed the major portion of 
his life in Westmor'jland county, of that state, 
devoting his attention to agriculture and being 
known as a man of sterling integrity of char- 
acter, a worthy representative of the sturdy 
German type which has had so important an in- 
fluence in advancing the material prosperity of 
our great republic. He took upon himself a 
wife in the person of Margaret A. Kepple. who 
likewise was of German lineage and who passed 
her entire life in Westmoreland county. After 
her death John Sarver emigrated to Ohio, tak- 
ing up his abode on a farm in Wood county, 
about i860, where he continued to make his 
home until his death, which occurred in 1878. 
John Sarver was tlie father of six children, 
of whom two are living at the present time. 

Michael Sarver, father of the subject of 
this sketch, was born in Westmoreland county, 
Pennsylvania, on the 14th of January, 1835, 
and was there reared under the invigorating 
discipline of the farm, while his early educa- 
tional advantages were such as were afforded 
in the common schools of the locality and per- 
iod. He was a student at Mt. Pleasant College 
several years, but did not remain to graduate. 
On the 27th of September, 1859, he was united 
in marriage to Miss Eliza Jane Anderson, who 
was born at Mount Pleasant, that county, on 
the 23d of October, 1837, a daughter of Cun- 
ningh.am and Christina (Schall) Anderson, the 



former of whom was Ijorn in Mount Pleasant, 
Pennsylvania, in 1806, while his wife was born 
in the same county in 1809. She was a daugh- 
ter of John Michael Schall, who was born in 
Berks county, Pennsylvania, and died in West- 
moreland county, having been a farmer and 
cabinetmaker by vocation. James Cunning- 
ham, who was born in the north of Ireland, emi- 
grated thence to America in the Revolutionary 
period, and his daughter Jane married William 
Anderson, who figures as the maternal great- 
grandfather of Professor Sarver. \\'illiam An- 
derson was a native of Scotland, whence he 
came to America in the early part of the nine- 
teenth century. Michael Sarver was success- 
ful as a teacher in his early manhood, his peda- 
gogic experience including work in elementary 
and higher grades of schools. When the great 
oil fields of Pennsylvania were opened up, he 
became identified with the development of the 
industry in its initial stages, and through good 
judgment attained a high degree of success in 
oil operations. A man of fine mentality, he was 
not satisfied with a circumscribed field of en- 
deavor. Accordingly he began reading law in 
the office of Hon. Edgar Cowan, United States 
senator, at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and in 
due time secured admission to the bar of the 
state. His health finally became seriously im- 
paired and he determined to make a change of 
location and to abandon the practice of his pro- 
fession. In 1865 he came to Ohio and soon 
after his arrival purchased a farm of one hun- 
dred and twenty acres in Canton township. 
Stark county, and in connection with general 
agriculture he established a brick manufactory 
on his farm. His health was so precarious that 
he again felt constrained to seek a change of 
climate in the hope of recuperation. He ac- 
cordingly removed to Santa Barbara county, 
California, where he purchased a farm of fifty 
acres, which was notable for ha^'ing produced 
the mammoth grape vine which he placed on 
exhibition at the Centennial Exposition in 



374 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Philadelphia in 1876. It was 'Mr. Sarver's in- 
tention to take the same to the' Paris Exposi- 
tion of 1879, '^"'^ ^'i^ hand of death in- 
terposed, and he died at his home in Canton, on 
tlie 1 8th of ]\Iarch, 1877. He was a memljer of 
the Lutheran cliurch, as is also his widow, who 
still resides in Canton, and in politics he gave 
allegiance to the Democratic party. He was 
a man of strong personality, firm in convictions 
and well qualified for leadership in thought and 
action. His entire life was ordered upon a 
high plane of integrity and honor, so that at all 
times he commanded the respect and esteem of 
his fellow men. Alichael and Eliza J. Sarver 
were the parents of six children, concerning 
whom hrief data is as follows: Alary remains 
with her mother, having never married ; Harry 
D. is president of the Imperial Wall Paper 
Company of Sandy Hill, New York, this l^eing 
one of the largest concerns of the sort in the 
world: he married ]\[iss Ida Gibbs, of Canton, 
dnd ihey ha\e three children: John W.. the 
immediate subject of this review, was the next 
in order of birth ; the fourth child died in in- 
fancy: William E., a civil engineer by profes- 
sion, is a resident of Canton; and Edith died 
at the age of eleven vears. 

Prof. John i\I. Sarver is a native of Stark 
county, having been born on the homestead 
farm, south of Canton, on the 29th of Novem- 
ber, 1865. His early education was received 
in the district schools, and he was seven years 
of age at the time of his parents' removal to 
California, where he continued to attend the 
country schools for the ensuing three and one- 
half years. He then accompanied his parents 
to Philadelphia, where they were in attendance 
at the exposition for a period of six months. 
They returned to Canton where the subject con- 
tinued his studies in the public schools, graduat- 
ing from the high school as a member of the 
class of 1884. He early identified himself with 
the pedagogic profession, teaching in the coun- 
try schools, in the winter, and continuing at 



other times his studies in the Ohio Normal 
University and graduating in the classical 
course as a member of the class of 1886. In the 
following year, when nearly twenty-one years 
of age, he was elected principal of the North 
Cherry Street school in Canton, the prefer- 
ment being notable considering his age. but 
he proved his capacity in an unmistakable way, 
retaining this position a period of five years 
and doing effective work. Then he Ijecame a 
teacher in the high school, and at the expiration 
of his first year evidence of his ability and fidel- 
ity to the interests of the schools of the city 
was accorded in his selection as principal of the 
high school, a position which he held for a pe- 
riod of seven years. In 1901 there came to him 
the distinguished preferment implied in his ad- 
vancement to the superintendency of the public 
schools of the city, in which office he is serving 
at the present time. He is known as a man of 
attainments, of scholarship and of executive 
capacity, having achieved success in his profes- 
sion because he has worked for it. His pres- 
tige in the field of education serves as a voucher 
for intrinsic worth of character. He has used 
his intellect to the best purposes and directed 
his energy in legitimate channels, his career 
having teen based upon the assumption that 
nothing save industry, perseverance, integrity 
and fidelity will lead toward the goal of suc- 
cess. The profession of teaching offers no 
opportunity except to such determined spirits. 
It is too arduous and exacting as a vocation for 
one who is unwilling to subordinate all other 
interests to its demands, but to the true and 
earnest worker it offers a sphere of action whose 
attractions are unequaled and whose rewards 
are unstinted. Prof. Sarver has never allowed 
his devotion and enthusiasm to wane. and. as 
he has made his own way in the world, he is 
deserving of the greater meed of honor for the 
distinction he has gained in one of the most 
responsible spheres of endeavor. He has ever 
held his profession as worthy of his best efforts. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



375 



and his inrluence as an educator has constantly 
broadened. From 1895 until 1901 he was a 
member of the board of school examiners of 
Stark county, and for eight years he has been 
a member of the executive committee of the 
Stark County Teachers" Association, of which 
lie was president in 18(89-90. While acting as 
principal of the North Cherry Street school he 
utilized his vacations in taking a course of 
study in Clark University, at Worcester, Mas- 
sachusetts, he also passed one summer in the 
L'niversity of Buli'alo, New York, and several 
summers in the College of Liberal Arts, in 
Chautauqua, New York. In 1889 he was 
granted a state life certificate of the highest 
grade, and in 1889- 1900 he was I'etained dur- 
ing the summer seasons as a teacher in Wooster 
L'niversity, Ohio. He is a member of the Ohio 
State Teachers' Association and the National 
Educational Association, and he spares no pains 
to keep fully informed of the advances made 
in the science of pedagogy. 

In politics, though nominally a Democrat 
and advocating the basic principles of the party, 
he maintains an independent attitude and is in 
no sense strictly partisan, supporting those men 
and measures meeting the approval of his judg- 
ment. Fraternally he is identified with the Ma- 
sonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, the Knights of Pythias and the Junior 
Order of United American Mechanics. He is a 
memlier of the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion and has served for the past ten years as a 
member of the board of managers of the local 
organization. Mr. Sarver is a member of 
Trinity Lutheran church, in which he has been 
a deacon for ten years, while for a decade also 
he has given faithful service as superintendent 
of the Sunday school. He is a director in the 
Citizens' Building and Loan Conipany, of Can- 
ton, of the Vera Cruz Development Compan3% 
of Canton, and is identified with various other 
enterprises of importance. He is frequently 
invited to deliver addresses at educational 



meetings and to contribute articles to educa- 
tional journals. He enjoys marked personal 
popularity in his native county and state, which 
he has honored and dignified b}- his earnest 
and eminently successful efforts as one of the 
workl's noble army of workers. He still clings 
to the life of a celibate, having his home with 
his mother, whose devotion to him is warmly 
reciprocated. 



^^•ALTER M. ELLETT was born on a 
farm in Lexington township, this county, on 
the 1 2th of August, 1870, being the only child 
of John E. and Rebecca Brooks (Millard) El- 
lett, the former of whom was born in the same 
township, on the 26th of June, 1845, being a 
son of Elias and Almira Ellett, who were num- 
bered among the sterling pioneers of that town- 
ship, having come to Stark county from the 
state of New Jersey, where the respective fam- 
ilies were founded at an early epoch in our na- 
tional history, the Ellett lineage tracing back to 
Irish origin. John E. Ellett was reared to the 
sturdy discipline of the farm and received a. 
common school education. After his mar- 
riage he settled on a farm in Lexington town- 
ship, belonging to his brpther William, and he 
continued to remain in charge of the same un- 
til his death, in 1874, at the early age of twenty- 
nine years. He was a stalwart advocate of the 
princi])]es of the Republican party and he was 
known as a young man of fine mentality 
and unbending rectitude of character, com- 
manding uniform esteem. His wife was born 
in Lexington township, in 1844, being a daugh- 
ter of David B. Millard, who was born near 
the town of Mauch Chunk, Carbon county, 
Penn.sylvania, in the picturesque Lehigh val- 
ley. He came to Stark county in the pioneer 
epoch, first purchasing a tract of wild land in 
Randolph township and later removing to a 
farm in Lexington township, where he passed 
the later vears of his life. On this old home- 



376 



OLD LANDMARKS 



stead the mother of our subject has resided 
since the death of her husband. 

Walter ]M. Ellett passed his boj-hood clays 
on this homestead of his maternal grandfather, 
ha\ing been but four years of age at the time 
of the death of his father. His early educa- 
tional discipline was recei\ed in the district 
schools, and supplemented by a course in the 
high school of Alliance, in which he was grad- 
uated in 1889, being valedictorian of his class. 
When but sixteen years of age he proved him- 
self eligible for pedagogic honors, having 
taught successfully in the school of his home 
district. In the autumn of 1889 he was matric- 
ulated in Mount Union College, this county, 
and during- the time he was pursuing his stud- 
ies in this institution he did not attend the col- 
lege during the winter months, spending these 
intervals teaching, in order to support himself 
and earn the funds with which to defray the 
further expenses of his collegiate course. Not- 
withstanding this seeming handicap, such was 
his individual application to his studies that not 
only did he complete the four years' course 
with the class of which he was a member, but 
also advanced himself sufficiently far in his 
studies to have seven months to utilize as he 
chose prior to commencement day. While thus 
awaiting for his classmates to finish the work 
which he had already covered satisfactor- 
ily, he found employment in a clerical capacity 
in the treasurer's office of the Solid Steel Cast- 
ing Compan)-, of Alliance, returning to his 
alma mater for the commencement day. Within 
his college course he had the distinction of 
winning the oratorical contest in the institu- 
tion itself, as well as third place in the Ohio 
state contest, in which twelve colleges com- 
peted with the men who had likewise gained the 
honors in the individual contests of the re- 
spective institutions, Mr. Ellett was also 
chosen orator of the Linaean Literary Society, 
and attained still farther prestige by winning 
the faculty classification, this implying that in 



the grading of all speeches of the students of 
the class during the four years' course he gained 
the highest standing of all, Mr, Ellett was 
graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Phil- 
osophy, and his standing was most e.Kcellent 
in all departments of his college work, hi 
Mount Union College he became affiliated with 
the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. In the au- 
tumn following his graduation in this institu- 
tion he entered the law department of the Uni- 
versity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and here 
he became a member of the Delta Chi, the fra- 
ternity of said department. About the niitldle 
of his senior year his health became so seriously 
impaired that he was compelled to leave the uni- 
versity, and he passed the ensuing year in re- 
cuperating his wasted energies. In January, 
1896, Mr. Ellett identified himself with the 
Johnson Insurance Agency, of Alliance, Incom- 
ing a partner of J, Howard Johnson, who is 
now one of the most prominent insurance un- 
derwriters in the city of Cleveland, and he con- 
tinued to be associated in this enterprise about 
three years. In 1898 Mr. Ellett effected the or- 
ganization of the Crystal Case Company, of 
which he was made president and treasurer, 
and under his personal management and direc- 
tion the enterprise has grown from modest pro- 
portions to a status as the largest manufactory 
of revolving show cases in the Union, the pro- 
ducts being shipped to every state in the 
republic, while the annual output is very large 
and constantly increasing, and the trade is 
penetrating into many foreign countries. The 
company ha\e a large and well equipped plant, 
in which employment is afforded to a numerous 
corps of mechanics and assistants, and the 
products are recognized for their superior ex- 
cellence, pro\ing the best possible advertisement 
for themselves and for the company, while the 
name of the city in which they are manufac- 
tured is thus given still further prestige. The 
progressive policy inaugurated and maintain- 
ed by the company has insured a consecutive 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



m 



expansion of the business, and the president 
has gained the confidence and good will of the 
local community, while unstinted commenda- 
tion has been accorded him for his executive 
and administrative ability and honorable meth- 
ods in all things. In politics he gives an un- 
equivocal allegiance to the Republican party, 
taking a lively interest in the questions and 
issues of the hour, and keeping in close touch 
with the same and with the best in science 
and literature, notwithstanding the thronging 
cares of his business affairs. He is a member 
of the Duodecemvirate and Unity Clubs, promi- 
nent social orders of the city, and both he and 
his wife take an active part in the best social 
life of the community. 

On the 25th of January, 1896, Mr. Ellett 
was united in marriage to Miss Jennie H. 
Lemmon, who was born in Barnsville, Ohio, 
being a daughter of Rev. John S. Lemmon, one 
of the most distinguished and beloved clergy- 
men of the Eastern Ohio and Pittsburg con- 
ferences of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and of this union have been born two winsome 
daughters. Harriet Kathleen and Eleanor. 



CAPT. URIAS ROYER REINHOLD.— 

The family of which Captain Reinhold is a 
worthy descendant had its origin in Heil- 
brun, Germany, and was first represented in 
America by two brothers who landed at Phila- 
delphia as early as the year 1700, one of them 
locating in what is now Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania, the other settling somewhere in 
the South. ne\er to be heard of afterwards, 
Christopher Reinhold, the former, built his 
home on what is known as "Black Horse Hill" 
in the county of Lancaster, having been one of 
the first settlers in that portion of the state. He 
was a married man and became the father of 
three sons and three daughters and, according 
to the most reliable information, from him have 
descended all the Reinholds now li^■ins■ in the 



United States. Among his lineal descendants 
was one Henry Reinhold, \\'hose birth took 
place in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, March 
14, 1786, and who was there united in mar- 
riage to Susan Conrad. She was born on the 
15th of February, 1784, in the county of Lan- 
caster, her antecedents having settled there at 
an early period in the history of the colonies. 
Both families contributed sons to the American 
cause during the Revolutionary struggle, the 
Reinholds in particular achieving considerable 
distinction as daring soldiers. Henry Rein- 
hold was a man noted in his county, having 
held the oftice of justice of the peace for over 
forty years. He spent all his life in his native 
state, dying in Lancaster county in the year 
1856, his widow surviving him until 1867. 
They were the parents of six children, all of 
whom became well settled in life, several of 
them achieving distinction in private life and 
official stations. The oldest of the nuinber. 
Col. Jesse Reinhold, a son of Henry, was sev- 
eral times elected to the general assembly of, 
Pennsylvania and made an honorable record 
as an able and discreet legislator. He finished 
his earthly course in Lancaster county, and 
.sleeps in the old Swamp burying ground, hal- 
lowed by the dust of several generations of his 
ancestors. Elizabeth, the second of the fam- 
ily, married Joel Sherrick, of Lancaster county 
and died in Indiana, to \vhich state they re- 
moved about the year 1865. John, the father 
of the subject of this sketch, was the third in 
succession and after him came Rev. Jacob 
Reinhold, a Baptist minister of much more 
than local repute, who departed this life a num- 
ber of yeai's ago in the county and state of his 
birth. Benjamin, who also lived and died in 
Lancaster county, served several terms as coun- 
ty treasurer and was a man of much more than 
ordinary mental ability and high social stand- 
ing. Anna, who married William T^Iuth and 
moved to Myerstown, Pennsylvania, where she 
still resides, is the onlv member of the familv 



378 



OLD LANDMARKS 



now living. All the above sons and daughters 
were far alx)ve the average in their physical 
make-up. their combined weight exceeding 
fourteen hundred and fifty pounds, or an av- 
erage of over two hundred and fifty pounds 
each. ' 

John Reinhold, the Captain's father, was 
born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, about 
the year 1817. When a young man he learned 
the tanner's trade and for a number of years 
carried on the manufacture of leather in con- 
nection with agricultural pursuits. He con- 
tinued farming and tanning on his own place 
until about 1849, when he purchased the old 
homestead, after which he devoted considerable 
of his attention to the raising of live stock, 
especially cattle. He also bought and shipped 
cattle upon an extensive scale and for quite a 
number of years did a large and thriving busi- 
ness, but meeting with financial reverses in 
1872 was obliged to retire from active life. In 
1882 he came to Canton, Ohio, and from that 
time until his death, ten years later, lived with 
his son, the subject of this review. His wife, 
who bore the maiden name of Leah Royer, was 
born in Lebanon county. Pennsylvania. Feb- 
ruary II, 1815, the daughter of Jacob Royer. 
whose forefathers came from Germany prior 
to the American struggle for independence 
and settled at what was afterwards called Roy- 
er's Ford, near the city of Philadelphia. One 
of the battles of the Revolution was fought on 
his forefather's farm, the family being eye 
witnesses of the action. Jacob Royer. father 
of Leah, settled at Millbach, Lebanon county, 
Pennsylvania. Mrs. Reinhold died in Mill- 
bach in 1 88 1 and the year following Mr. Rein- 
hold changed his abode to Canton, as stated 
above. The family of John and Leah Rein- 
hold consisted of eight children, whose names 
in order of birth are as follows : Susan, now 
]\Irs. Peter Cockley. of Richland. Pennsyl- 
vania: Urias R.. of this sketcli ; Kate, wife of 
Samuel H. Adams, of Canton : Martin, who 



entered the service as orderly sergeant of Com- 
pany E, Seventeenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, in 
the late Civil war. was subsequently promoted 
second lieutenant, still later was made captain 
of Company I of the same command and in 
1864 fell while leading his men against the 
enemy in the battle of Cedar Creek; Benjamin, 
also a soldier, enlisted in Company E, of the 
above regiment, served until the close of the 
war and at the present time lives in ^Mexico; 
Harry resides at Reading, Pennsylvania ; Jesse 
died at Richland, Pennsylvania, in 1896, and 
I.yizzie, who is unmarried, lives with her sister, 
Mrs. Adams, of Canton, Ohio. 

Referring to the life of Captain Urias R. 
Reinhold, it is learned that he was born at the 
old Royer home in Lebanon county, Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 26th of March, 1837. When he 
was three years old his parents moved to the 
county of Lancaster and there he attended the 
public and private schools until a youth of 
sixteen, meantime becoming acquainted with 
the more practical part of life by working at 
various kinds of manual labor. Desiring a 
more thorough intellectual training than could 
be acquired in such schools as he had been at- 
tending, he entered, at the age of sixteen. 
Rockville Academy, Chester county, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he pursued his studies one year 
and in 1836 became a student of Mt. Joy Acad- 
emy in the county of Lancaster. After at- 
tending the latter institution about the same 
length of time he turned his attention for one 
year to teaching and then assisted his father 
on the farm and in the tannery until attain- 
ing his majority. On reaching manhood's es- 
tate Mr. Reinhold, in partnership with a young 
gentleman of his acquaintance, engaged in the 
general mercantile trade at Myerstown. Penn- 
sylvania, and continued there doing a good 
business until the fall of 1861, when he sold out 
his interests in the establishment for the pur- 
pose of entering the arm\'. \\'hen the war 
cl(iud darkened the national horizon, he consid- 



CANTON And STARK- 'county , OHIO. 



379- 



ered it the duty of every able bodied young man 
to tender liis service to the country, consequent- 
ly he did not long stand upon the order of his 
going, but at once, with Captain Tice, pro- 
ceeded to enlist a company, raising in less than 
two weeks a force of one hundred and twenty 
men. the majority of them from Myerstown 
and vicinity. Upon the organization of this 
company, which was subsequently assigned to 
the Second Pennsylvania Cavalry. ]Mr. Rein- 
hold was elected second lieutenant, his cousin, 
Reuben Reinhold, having been made first lieu- 
tenant. When the latter was promoted major 
by Gov. Curtin, the subject succeeded to the 
first lieutenancy, his younger brother, Martin, 
being commissioned second lieutenant of the 
company, while Reuben. !)efore mentioned, was 
promoted major. Mustered into the service 
at Camp Curtin, the regiment at once proceed- 
ed to the front, from which time until the close 
of the struggle its history is a part of the his- 
tory of the war and need not be attempted in 
detail in an article of the character of this re- 
view. Briefly stated, however, the command 
experienced its full share of service during the 
darkest days of our national history, having 
been assigned to the Army of the Potomac in 
time to take part in all the noted battles of the 
several Virginia campaigns. With a single 
exception, Mr. Reinhold participated in every 
battle in which his command was engaged, the 
exception being the rout at W^inchester, during 
whifch he was detailed on special duty else- 
where, although he reached the field in time to 
witness the termination of the battle. It is 
doubtful it any survivor of the great Rebellion 
can point to a record of so many battles as can 
the subject of this sketch, as witness the fol- 
lowing, in all of which he nobly bore his part 
as a brave defender of the flag and at times 
performed such duties of daring as to entitle 
him to the lasting gratitude of the American 
people. To make the list more explicit as a 
matter of reference, not onlv the names of the 



engagements but the dates of their occurrence 
are also given, to wit : Chancellorsville, April 
30th to May 2d. inclusive, 1863 ; Beverly Ford, 
June 9th; Aldie, June i6th; Upperville, June 
2 1st; Goose Creek, June 22d; Gettysburg, July 
1st and 2d; Williamsport, July 6th; Beaver 
Creek, July 8th ; Brownsboro, July 9th ; Fall- 
ing Waters, July 14th; Brandy Station, August 
1st; second action at Brandy Station, Septem- 
ber 14th; Beacon Fort, September 14th; Bar- 
nett's Station, October nth; Rappahannock 
Station, October 12th; Oak Hill, October 13th; 
Thoroughfare Gap, October 13th; Liberty, Oc- 
tober 24th; Belton Station, October 28th to 
30th; Ricksyville, November 8th; Mine Run. 
November 9th and December ist. All of the 
foregoing engagements having been fought in 
the year 1863. In the following year he took 
part in the battles of Barnett's Ford, February 
3d, after which he was absent from his com- 
mand on special duty during General Kilpat- 
rick's raid to Richmond. Later he joined the 
company and participated in the fights at 
Todd's Tavern, May 7th and 8th; Yellow 
Tavern, May nth ; Meadow Bridge, May 12th ; 
Hanovertown, May 27th; Hawes Shop, Mav 
28tli; Old Church, May 30th; Cold Harbor. 
May 31st to June ist, inclusive; Trevillian 
Station, June nth and 12th: White House, 
June 2ist ; Jones Bridge, June 23d ; Darlington, 
July 28th; White Post, August nth; Cedar- 
ville, August 15th; Berryville, Augtist 22d; 
Kernesville, August 25th; Leeton, August 
28th ; Smithville, August 24th ; Cedar Creek, 
October igth; Gordonsville, December 22d. 
During the years 1865 he was in Sheridan's 
raid to the James river canal and White House 
from February 29th to iVLarch i8th; Dinwid- 
dle Court House, March 30th and 31st; Scott's 
Cross Roads, April 2d: Drummond Hill, April 
4th ; Sailors Creek and Appomattox Station, 
April 6th ; Appomattox Court House, April 
Qth, which witnessed the downfall of the Con- 
federacv. To face death so manv times and un- 



38o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



der so many different circumstances and es- 
cape with but slight injury seems little less than 
miraculotis, but such is the record of this brave 
soldier, who in all these battles never shirked 
a responsibility nor shrank from a danger. For 
gallantry and praiseworthy conduct leading his 
men, he was promoted, February 13, 1865, 
captain of Company I, succeeding his brother, 
]\Iartin R. Reinhold, who was killed in action, 
which position he held at the time of his dis- 
charge. ]\Ir. Reinhold was twice captured by 
the enemy, the first time while escorting a 
wagon train from Martinsburg to Winchester, 
but. thanks to the strength and fleetness of his 
horse, a noble animal of remarkable endur- 
ance, he succeeded in breaking away from his 
captors and leaving them far behind in his 
race for libert}'. lie and his men were twice 
surrounded Ijy Alosby, but would not surrender 
and fought themselves out. At the battle of 
Dinwiddle Station he was struck in the left 
ankle by a ririe ball, which inflicted a painful 
but not dangerous wound, and in several other 
engagements he was slightly injured, but never 
sufficiently serious as to cause him to 
be absent from duty. How many times 
he narrowly escaped death during his 
military experience may be inferred from 
the thirteen rents in his cuat made by 
as many bullets, to say nothing" of the 
close proximity of thousands of missiles which 
cut down his comrades around him like grain 
before the reaper in harvest time. 

Air. Reinhold was discharged at Clcnids 
Mill. Virginia, on the i6th day of June, 1S65. 
and nine days later he returned home with a 
herd of twenty-five horses, which he purchased 
for the purpose of speculation. During the 
following year he dealt quite largely in live 
stock and then accepted a position as traveling 
salesman for a Philadelphia wholesale house, 
which- he represented on the road dinging the 
greater parts of 1867 and 1868. While in the 
employ of this firm, he traveled over Ohio, 



with Canton as a base of operations, and on 
severing his connection with the house he de- 
cided to make this city his permanent place of 
residence. Securing a position as salesman with 
a mercantile firm, he moved his family here 
in 1869 and from that time until 1874 he served 
in the capacity of clerk, becoming familiar with 
even,- detail of the mercantile business the 
meantime. Resigning his clerkship, he again 
took the road for a wholesale house, and after 
spending three years in his territory at a lib- 
eral pecuniary consideration gave up the posi- 
tion to become agent for a dealer in metallic 
goods, in which he continued two years and 
later took up the tombstone business and hand- 
led all kinds of granite and marble work for 
Banhof & Bros., of Canton, in which capacity 
he continued during the ensuing seven vears. 
In the year 1882 Mr. Reinhold op- 
ened a small general grocery and pro- 
vision store m Canton, since which time 
it has steadiiy increased until he has now 
a large and lucrative business at his 
present stanil. his stock being now about two- 
thirds larger than when he began. In addi- 
tion to the above lines, he also carries a full 
stock of notions and is in the enjoyment of a 
patronage that taxes to the utmost the capacity 
of his establishment, requiring all of his own 
time, besides the services of several additional 
salesman. As a business man Mr. Reinhold 
has long occupied a conspicuous place among 
the successful tradesmen of Canton and by 
careful attention to the demands of the public, 
as well as by sound judgment and superior 
management, has ne\er been without a lucra- 
tive patronage. He has accumulated a com- 
fortable competence and as a citizen he stands 
high in the esteem of the people, occupying as 
prominent a position in social circles as he 
does in the commercial world. Mr. Reinhold's 
wife, whose maiden name was Rebecca Groh, 
is a native of Lebanon county. Pennsylvania, 
and a daughter of Christian and Rebecca (Im- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



381 



mel) Gi'oh, botli parents born and reared in the 
Keystone state. The first of Mr. and Mrs. 
Reinhold's children, a daughter by tlie name of 
Rebecca, died when quite young; the second, 
SaHie, departed this Hfe at the age of five years ; 
Martin U., the third, met his deatli in a rail- 
road accident, April 10, 1890, when twenty- 
three years old: Mary Ann, born August 2, 
1868, is the wife of Thomas S. Gulp, of Can- 
ton ; Kate, whose birth occurred on the 30th 
of August, 1870, is still at home; John Chris- 
tian, born in the year 1872, was a locomotive 
engineer on the Wheeling & Lake Erie Rail- 
road, but was killed in an accident, his engine 
running into an open switch ; Urias George, 
the youngest, was born October 12, 1882, and 
has never left the parental roof. 

^Ir. Reinhold takes an active interest in 
public and political affairs and on state and 
national issues votes with the Republican party, 
being independent in matters local. He re- 
ceived the nomination for the office of member 
of the board of public service in March, of 
this year 1903. He is a member of the Ma- 
sonic and Odd Fellows fraternities and a zeal- 
ous worker in McKinley Post No. 12, Grand 
Army of the Republic, his name appearing on 
the charter of that organization. By an up- 
right, manly course of conduct he has made 
his presence felt in the city of his adoption 
and all who know him bear testimony to his 
sturdy qualities, generous nature and genuine 
patriotism. Liberal, kind hearted and public 
spirited, he is warm and unsuspecting in his 
friendships and stands four square to every 
wind that blows, a man whom his fellow citi- 
zens love and whom his county delights to 
honor. 



SILAS BENHAM POST, M. D.— This 
distinguished physician and surgeon springs 
from a very old family, the history of which in 
this country is traceable to the early settle- 



ment of New Jersey. Munson Post, the Doc-, 
tor's great-great-grandfather, was born in Es- 
sex county, that state, and there married and 
became the father of five children : Jeremiah, 
Joseph, David, Benjamin and one daughter 
whose name is not known. In the year 1781 
Munson Post removed with his family to Mor-r 
ris township, Washington county, Pennsylvan- 
ia, making the journey in wagons and spending 
several weeks on the way. Politically he was 
a pronounced Democrat, which has been large- 
ly the belief of his descendants to the present 
day. Just what his religious faith was is not 
known, but he is supposed to have been a mem- 
ber of the church of England ; many of his de- 
scendants have been communicants of the sev- 
eral branches of the Presbyterian church, not 
a few of whom were noted for their piety and 
religious zeal. 

Jeremiah, the oldest son of Munson Post, 
was born in Esse.x county. New Jersey, Sep- 
tember 10, 1769, and was a lad of twelve years 
when his parents migrated to Pennsylvania. 
His education was somewhat limited, but he 
appears to have been a man of strong mental 
powers, as is evident from the influential po- 
sition he occupied in the community in which 
he lived. Li 1794 he married Martha, daugh- 
ter of Dr. Charles Cracraft, who bore him four 
children, namely: William, Deborah, Charles 
and Joseph. His first wife dying, he subse- 
quently, in 1804, entered the marriage relation 
with Mary Enlow. daughter of Abraham En- 
low, a union which resulted in the birth of the 
following children : Martha, Jemima, Martin, 
Jesse, Luke, Sarah, Mary A., James R. and 
Phoebe. Jeremiah Post lived for the first few 
years of his married life on a small farm near 
Van Buren, Washington county, Pennsylvania, 
but. selling that place, moved to an estate be- 
longing to his father-in-law. Dr. Cracraft, 
where he made his home the remainder of his 
days, the place being still in possession of his 
descendants. He was one of the charter mem- 



3«2 



OLD LANDMARKS 



bers of the old Bethel C. P. cluirch, and, dying 
June I, 1848, was huried in the Bethel ceme- 
tery, as was also his wife, who entered into rest 
on the 30th day of November, 1854. 

William Post, eldest son of Jeremiah, was 
born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, Xo- 
vember 12, 1795, and. when a young man, 
married Margaret Lindley, daughter of Benja- 
min Lindley. a well-known resident of Morris 
township. To this union were born six sons 
and three daughters, Charles, Benjamin L., 
Jeremiah, Sarah, who died in early woman- 
hood, Martha, Jackson, ;Mary A., Joseph and 
Clark C. 

Charles, tlie oldest of these children, was 
born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 
the year 1825, and there grew to maturity, 
meantime learning the tailor's trade. -He mar- 
ried in his native county Miss Jane Hays, who 
bore him seven children, namely : Lindley and 
Margaret, deceased; INIanda, wife of Will Mc- 
Curdy, of Washington, D. C. ; James, who lives 
in Montana; Dr. Silas B., of this review, and 
William and Harry, the last two making their 
homes in Washington. Peimsylvania. Charles 
Post and his wife ended their earthly careers 
in the county and state of their birth and, with 
others of their kindred, are sleeping in the old 
family burying ground, near which they liyed 
so long and well. 

Dr. Silas Benhani Post was born in Wash- 
ington county, Pennsylvania, his natal day be- 
ing the 3d of January, 1858. He spent his 
childhood and youth amid the pleasant sur- 
roundings of his home, attended the district 
schools until completing the prescribed course, 
after which he became a student of the high 
school in the town of Washington. The in- 
tellectual discipline thus received stimulated 
him to greater exertion in the matter of schol- 
astic training, and accordingly he entered, in 
1874, Washington and Jefferson College, from 
which institution he was graduated five years 
later with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. With 



a well-cultivated mind he now l>egan prepar- 
ing himself for his life work, entering the of- 
fice of Dr. Grayson, of Washington, where he 
pursued his medical studies for one year, at 
the expiration of which time, in the fall of 1880, 
he enteretl the medical department of the same 
college from which he had previously been 
graduated. The Doctor's record in this in- 
stitution was an honorable one and immediately 
after his graduation, in the spring of 1882, he 
began the practice of his profession in the town 
of New Brightori. Pennsylvania. After remain- 
ing in the above place until the spring of 1885, 
and obtaining a liberal share of patronage, he 
decided to locate in a larger and more favor- 
able field, and .in March of that year he opened 
an otifice in Canton^ whither his well-known 
professional reputation had preceded him.- 

After practicing alone one year. Dr. Post 
became associated with Dr. R. P. Johnson, who 
was his partner about the same length of time, 
but since the dissolution of this firm he has 
conducted his professional business alone. In 
every department of the medical profession he 
easily ranks with the. ablest and most- schol- 
arly of his compeers, his success both as a 
physician and surgeon having won- for him 
much more than local distinction. He has 
spared neither pains nor expense in preparing 
himself for the noble work to which his life is 
being devoted, and the commanding position he 
now occupies among his professional brethren 
of Canton and Stark county has been achieved 
by merit, representing years of patient, con- 
scientious, intellectual discipline and untiring 
scientific research. In the treatment of diseases 
Dr. Post is fully abreast of the times, employ- 
ing only the latest and most approved meth- 
ods of practice^ whose efficacy he has demon- 
strated, also keeping in close touch with ad- 
vanced professional thought in everything 
pertaining to modern discovery in the 
realm- of medical science. The Doctor 
is- , pre-eminently a -scholar and thinker, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



383 



and he avails himself of every legiti- 
mate means to increase his knowledge and 
perfect his practice, and to these ends has sup- 
plied his office not only with a voluminous li- 
brary of the best medical literature, but also 
with a full assortment of the finest instruments 
and appliances used in the healing art. His 
original investigations have led to important 
and far-reaching discoveries, in which respect 
he is perhaps without a peer in this part of the 
state, a fact freely conceded by his associates 
here and elsewhere. The Doctor's pecuniaiy 
success has been commensurate with the abil- 
ity and energy displayed in his professional 
work, as is attested by the handsome compe- 
tence which he has accumulated since locating 
in the city of Canton. He wears his well-earned 
honors becomingly, being modest in his inter- 
course with his fellow men and easily approach- 
able by the humblest citizen desiring his serv- 
ices or advice. 

In 1887 Dr. Post was appointed physician 
of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at this 
point and during President Harrison's admin- 
istration he served on the Stark county board of 
pension examiners. He also held the position 
of health officer two years and for the same 
length of time served as city physician, in addi- 
tion to which he was for some time a meml>er 
of the Aultman Hospital medical staff, and at 
this time is a physician of the Stark county in- 
firmary. He belongs to various medical socie- 
ties and associations, in all of which his abil- 
ities are duly recognized and appreciated. 
Among these organizations are the Stark Coun- 
ty Academy of Medicine, the Canton Medical 
Club, the Ohio State Medical Society and the 
American Medical Association, in additioi^ to 
which he was elected, in 1898, a fellow of the 
American Academy of- Medicine, one of the 
most eminent professional bodies in the Union. 

Dr. Post is a gentleman of refined tastes 
and possesses decided literary abilities. In 
recognition of his scholarship and literary work 



he received from Washington and Jefferson 
College, in 1882, the degree of Master of Arts, 
a well-earned honor as well as a fitting and 
graceful compliment to one of the most dis- 
tinguished alumni of that institutiun. Politic 
cally the Doctor is a Republican and as such 
has figured conspicuously in the affairs of the 
county and state, but not as an aspirant for. 
public distinction. In religion he subscribes 
to the Calvinistic creed, being a member of the 
Presbyterian church of Canton. 

Referring to Dr. Post's domestic history, 
it is learned that he is a happily married man 
and the father of two bright children. Miss 
Anna L. Bucher, who became his wife on the 
Tgth day of January, 1887, is the daughter of 
J. G. and Lucy (Kitzmiller) Bucher; the chil- 
dren are Lucy B., born July 26, 1890, and Will- 
iam Hawk, whose birth occurred Tanuarv 30, 
1892. 

« ■ » 

FRANK DaHINDEN, M. D., son of 
Jacob and Charlotte DaHinden, is a native of 
Stark county, Ohio, born at the old family home 
on South Market street in the city of Canton; 
September 15. 1875. It is a fact worthy of 
note that from his early manhood the future 
physician was of a studious nature, and after 
learning to read, which he did at an early age, 
he would frequently absent himself from his 
companions ami playmates to indulge his de- 
sire for knowledge. This liking for books be- 
came almost a passion, in consequence of which 
he made rapid advancement in his studies, at- 
tending the public schools of the city until his 
eighteenth year. The training thus received 
was afterwards supplemented by a full course 
in the Canton Commercial College ; but a busi- 
ness life ha\-ing no inducements for him, he 
wisely decided to turn his attention to the medi- 
cal profession, for which he had long mani- 
fested a pronounced preference. Yielding, at 
length, to this desire, the young man entered 



384 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the office of Dr. O. E. Portnian, of Canton, un- 
der whose instruction he continued until Sep- 
tember, 1895, ^vhen he became a student of the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons at Cleve- 
land. He prosecuted his studies in that in- 
stitution until his graduation, in j\lay, 1898, 
after which he engaged in the practice at 
Wheeling, West Virginia, in partnership witli 
Dr. R. M. Ran, a relationship lasting a little 
more than one year. Leaving- that city he re- 
turned to his native place and established him- 
self in a practice which from the beginning" has 
been signally successful, professionally and 
financially. 

Dr. DaHinden is deservedly popular with 
the people with whom he is brought in contact, 
not only in a professional way, but as a friend 
and citizen. His reputation as a representa- 
tive of the school of medicine to which he be- 
longs is wide-spread and exalted and he can 
with complacency consider the long list of suf- 
ferers whom his skill has relieved and the 
large number that now rely upon his services 
for aid in their time of need. 

Dr. DaHinden combines with a knowledge 
of his profession the sympathizing nature and 
tender touch of the true healer and in the sick 
room inspires the confidence of his patients, 
without which success in most cases is largely 
a matter of doubt. He also possesses good 
business tact and by diligence and careful judg- 
ment as well as by faithful application has se- 
cured not only a lucrative practice, but a com- 
petence of a magnitude seldom acquired by one 
of his age and professional experience. He 
holds membership with the Stark County ^led- 
ical Society, the Medical Society of Canton, the 
Stark County Academy of ^ledicine and other 
organizations whose objects are to promote a 
higher standard of efficiency to the end that 
suffering humanity may be relieved and a bet- 
ter type of physical manhood developed. Fra- 
ternally he belongs to Canton Lodge Xo. 589, 
Knights of Pythias, and he is also identified 



with the order of Ben Hur, a benevolent or- 
ganization with life insurance as its principal 
object. 

Politically Dr. DaHinden is a man of broad 
and liberal views. He exercises the right of 
elective franchise with little regard for party 
behests, voting his principles in whatever or- 
ganization found, in local and state affairs sup- 
porting the man who in his judgment combines 
the best qualifications for the office sought. He 
is still a wide reader and his acquaintance with 
the world's best literature is general and in 
many respects profound. His medical library 
contains many of the best works extant, in ad- 
dition to which he keeps himself in toucii with 
modern discoveries and methods through the 
medium of the leading medical publications 
of the day. The Doctor's standing in society 
is commensurate with his standing in the med- 
ical world, as is attested by his intimate rela- 
tionship with the best social circles of tlie city 
in which his life has been spent. 



LEONARD KUEBELE was born in Ful- 
ton. Austria, on the 9th of November. 181 7, 
the place being at that time under Hessian rule. 
He is a son of Frederick and Mary Kuebele, 
of whose five children he is one of the two sur- 
viving, his sister, Flora, being the wife of Jo- 
seph Gehring, of Wheeling, West Virginia. The 
father of the subject was born in the same 
place in Austria, in the year 1793, and there 
grew up on a farm and continued to be identi- 
fied with agricultural pursuits in his native 
province until the year 1837 when he emigrated 
with his family to the United States, coming 
forthwith to Ohio and taking up his abode on 
a farm in Tuscarawas county, where he died 
in 1838, at the age of forty-four years. His 
first wife, the mother of the subject, entered 
into eternal rest in 1825, and he later married 
]\Iiss ALary Klitch, no children being born of 
this marriage. The subject remained at the 




^jurvi-CvT^ /<Ci>^^^^^-e^ . 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



3«5 



paternal home until he had attained the age of 
twenty years, having received his early educa- 
tional training in the excellent schools of the 
fatherland, while he early became familiar with 
the various duties involved in the cultivation 
and other work of the farm. At the age noted 
he secured employment in connection with the 
construction of the line of railroad between 
Madison and Indianapolis, Indiana, receiving 
twenty dollars per month and his board and 
being thus engaged for a period of nine months, 
within which time occurred the death of his 
honored father, of which sad e\-ent he did not 
receive tidings until more than six months later, 
the family not knowing where he was located. 
His father died in October, and when the sub- 
ject returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, in the follow- 
ing May, he found two letters awaiting him, 
and through one of these he learned that there 
was severe illness in his home and that the fam- 
ily were on the verge of starvation. He at 
once made all haste to go to their relief, and 
he became the main support of the family. He 
remained in Tuscarawas county, where he fol- 
lowed such occupations as he could secure, 
digging ore, farming, etc. In 1846 he was uni- 
ted in marriage to Miss Emily Limecruber. and 
within the same year he became associated w-ith 
his brother-in-law. Calep Limecruber, in leasing 
a tract of timber land, the provisions of the 
lease being that they should have as their own 
all products which they succeeded in raising on 
the land which they cleared for a period of sev- 
en years. They cleared five acres the first 
spring and planted the same to corn, and there- 
after vigorously continued the arduous work of 
reclaiming the land to cultivation. After the 
expiration of the original lease Mr. Kuebele re- 
mained on the place for five years further, pay- 
ing his rent in a share of the crops. His brother- 
in-law continued to be associated with him only 
one year. After leaving the farm which had 
thus been the scene of his herculean la1x)rs Mr. 
Kuebele purchased of his father-in-law a farm 

24 



of forty acres in Paris tow^nship, Stark county, 
together with an adjoining tract of sixteen 
acres, which was owned by another person. In 
the following spring he removed to his new 
farm, and here his earnest and indefatigable 
efforts were attended with success, and as pros- 
perity came to him he added to the area of his 
place until the farm comprised one hundred and 
twenty-seven acres. In 1870 he disposed of 
this farm and purchased his present place, com- 
prising one hundred and six acres, in section 3, 
Osnaburg township, where he has one of the 
valuable and finely improved farms of the coun- 
ty and he still gives a more or less active super- 
vision to the work, his years resting lightly 
upon his head. He is held in the highest es- 
teem and veneration as one of the patriarchal 
citizens of the county, having so ordered his 
life as to be worthy of all honor and esteem 
and having attained prosperity through his own 
persevering and well-directed efforts. In poli- 
tics he gives an unfaltering allegiance to the 
Democratic party, and his religious faith is that 
of the Catholic church, of which he is a com- 
municant, as w^as also his devoted and cher- 
ished wife, who was summoned into the life 
eternal on the 8th of August, 1872. They be- 
came the parents of seven children, of whom 
only one survives, George, who has the active 
charge of the home farm and who is one of the 
able and honored citizens of this section. 



\T.\THAN HOLLOWAY.— The subject 
bears the full patronymic of his honored grand- 
father, Nathan Holloway. who was of fine old 
English stock and a native of Virginia, where 
the family was founded in the colonial era of 
our history. He served with distinction as a 
soldier in the war of 1812. and. as before inti- 
mated, was a planter and slaveholder in the Old 
Dominion up to the time of the war of the Re- 
bellion, through whose ravages he met with tlie 
grievous reverses which attended so large a pro- 



386 



OLD LANDMARKS 



portion of the generous and cliivalrous landed 
proprietors of tliat must patrician of all the 
states of tlie I'nion. In i860, and onl\- a short 
time before the ontl)reak of the Rebelhon, our 
subject passed three months with his grand- 
father on the old plantation, and his sympathies 
were even then distinctively with the Union 
cause, since he had been reared in Ohio, where 
the institution of human slavery was generally 
held in abhorrence and where he had grown 
tip in the midst of abolition sentiments. While 
he was thus in Virginia the subject's letters 
from the north were opened and perused and 
were not allowed to come into his hands for 
some time, and he finally decided to make an 
efifort to be no longer denied his rights in this 
direction. The mail was customarily brought 
to the plantation by a bright negro, and to this 
employe of his grandfather the subject said one 
day, "Jim, I'll go after the mail this morning." 
and he accordingly proceeded to carry out his 
plan. Going to the village he found the neigh- 
boring planters gathered about the postoftice. 
stores and rum shops vigorously discussing the 
.all-pre\ailing topic of impending conflict be- 
tween north and south. Mr. Holloway worked 
liimself into their good graces by frequently 
tendering the appreciated compliment of pur- 
chasing "rounds of drinks," and they therefore 
tliibbed him a good fellow, and thereafter he 
had no further difficulty in securing his mail 
regnlarl}'. The grandfather of the subject died 
in Fauquier county, Virginia, in 187 1, at which 
time he had reached the patriarchal age of 
ninety-two years, while his wife, who was sev- 
eral years older than himself, died in 1864. at 
the age of ninety-two. They became the par- 
ents of two children, Isaac, the father of the 
s-ubject, and I.orinda. who became the wife of " 
William Smith, and who died on her planta- 
tion, in Fauquier county, Virginia, in 1891, at 
the agie of ninety- four years,. so that it may be 
seen that the subject of this sketch is a scion of 
long-lived stock. 



Isaac Holloway was born on the old hunie 
plantation, in Stafford county, \'irginia. on the 
j/th of December, 1S05, and his educational 
training was received inider the direction of the 
itinerant teachers so connnon to that locality in 
the early days. In 1828 he left home and started 
out to face the battle of life on his own respon- 
sibility, his equipment for the valiant crusade 
as a soldier of fortune being the sum of one 
hundred dollars and his horse, saddle and bri- 
dle. He came through on horseback to Ohio, 
stopping at Wrightstown (now Belmont), in 
Belmont county, where he joined his 
uncle, and there he attended school for 
six months, after which he became a 
teacher in the pioneer schools of that 
section of the state. He later engaged in 
the general merchandise business at Rockhill, 
Belmont county, where he remained five years, 
and thereafter he removed to Flushing, same 
county, where he continued to be engaged in 
the same line of enterprise until within a few 
years of his death, having been one of the lion- 
ored and influential citizens of the county. He 
died in 1885, at the age of eighty years, secure 
in the esteem of all who knew him and iiaving 
lived a life of signal usefulness and honor. He 
served for a quarter of a century in the office 
of justice of the peace, and in 1848 he was a 
delegate to the national convention of the bVee- 
soil party, held in the city of Buffalo, which 
nominated Van Buren for the presidency. In 
1857, as a candidate of the Republican party, 
whose cause he espoused at the time of its in-' 
ception. he was elected to the state senate, in 
w hich he rendered most efficient service, being 
one of the active and influential members of this 
deliberative body of the state government. He 
was an appreciative member of the Masonic 
fraternity. In Belmont county, in the year 
183T. was solemnized the marriage of Isaac 
Holloway to 'Miss Harriet Sheetz. who was 
hour in that county, being of German descent, 
and she died in 1847. leaving three children. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



387 



namely: Otho S.. wlio died in Belmont coun- 
ty, in 1891, at the age of sixty-nine years; 
Anna N., who is the wife of Thomas Atkin- 
son, of Denver, Colorado, and Nathan, who fig- 
ures as the immediate subject of this review. 
Isaac Holloway subsequently consummated a 
second marriage, being united to Miss Ann 
Eliza Norton, of Belmont county, who sur- 
vived him, her death occurring in 1890. No 
children were born of this marriage. 

Nathan Holloway was born in the town of 
Flushing, Belmont county, Ohio, on the 6th of 
October, 1837, and he secured the best educa- 
tional advantages afforded in the locality and 
period. x-\s a boy he began to assist his father 
in the store, and he continued to be identified 
with this enterprise until his father closed out 
the same and established himself in the pri\ate 
banking business m Flushing, and our subject 
then assumed an executive position in the bank. 
Later he read law under the preceptorship of 
his elder brother, who was a leading member 
of the bar of that county, and in i860 the Cap- 
tain was duly admitted to the bar of the state, 
upon an examination before the supreme court. 
He has, however, never devoted his attention 
to the practice of his profession, although his 
technical knowledge has proved of inestimable 
value to him in his long and successful career 
as a man of affairs. 

In 1861 came the clarion call to arms, sum- 
moning the loyal sons of. the republic to go 
forth in defence of the Union whose integritv 
was menaced by armed rebellion, and, notwith- 
standing the position of his grandfather, who 
was a slaveholder, as before noted, both our 
subject and his elder brother tendered their 
services. Otho Holloway organized in Bel- 
mont county Company K of the Fifteenth Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, of which he was made cap- 
tain, and our subject enlisted as a private in 
the same company, in the same year. The reg- 
iment was assigned to the Arniy of the Ohio 
auf! went to the front under command of Gen- 



eral Buell. The subject was in active service 
for eleven months and his health had then be- 
come so seriously impaired as to render him in- 
eligible for further duty, so that he was granted 
an honorable discharge, at Florence, Alabama, 
having participated in the \arious engagements 
in which his command had been involved up to 
practically that time. His brother remained in 
the service about one and one-half years and 
made a gallant record. After the close of his 
military service Mr. Holloway returned to his 
home, and shortly afterward established him- 
self in the mercantile business at Rockhill, in 
his native county., Six months later he dis- 
posed of the business and remo\-ed to Prince- 
ton. Scott county, Iowa, where he was en- 
gaged in the same line of business for the en- 
suing three years, being successful in his ef- 
forts. He then removed to Loganville, Wis- 
consin, located in the midst of the hop grow- 
ing district of that state, and there opened a 
general store. Hops commanded a high price 
that season, selling for sixty-five cents a pound, 
and Mr. Holloway purchased the product in 
large quantities and sold at a good profit. He 
conducted a credit business to a large extent, 
as the hop-growers were usually somewhat 
prodigal of their money, and he had to carry 
many of their accounts on his books until they 
realized from the crops of the next season. 
The next year witnessed the production of a 
fine crop of hops throughout the country, and 
our subject felt justified in offering twentv- 
five cents a pound for the same, but the sequel 
proved to his disadvantage, since the product 
depreciated in price until practically no market 
existed for the same, the result being that Mn. 
Holloway met with a serious loss. He according- 
ly gave up the Wisconsin business in 1870 and 
returned to Ohio, again engaging in the mer- 
cantile business and at this time locating in the 
town of Belmont. By good management he 
succeeded in soon liquidating his entire indebt- 
edness; entailed bv his Wisconsin re\erses, and 



388 



OLD LANDMARKS 



he built up ;i riourishing enterprise in tlie new 
location. In 1882 he removed to the city of 
Chicago, wliere he was engaged in tlie grocery 
business nearly three years, also operating on 
the stock markets until 1885, when his father 
died, and he returned home to look after the 
estate, his family remaining in Chicago until 
the following year. He next took up his abode 
in Xew Philadelphia. Tuscarawas county, 
where he remained until the autumn of 1887, 
when he came to Canton and engaged in the 
real-estate business, to which be dexoted bis 
attention for a short time. In 1888 be became 
identified with the manufacturing of brick, 
being at the start associated with Colonel Percy 
Sowers and John ^IcGregor, and they built the 
Standard Brick Works at North Industry, Col- 
onel Sowers purchasing the interests of liis 
partners about the time the plant was ready to 
be put in operation, and the Colonel then pro- 
ceeded to organize a stock company for the car- 
rying on of the enterprise. In the autumn of 
1889 Captain Holloway built what is still 
known as the Holloway brick plant, at North 
Industry, placing the same into operation and at 
the end of the first year admitted Ralph Spiro 
and George Rex to partnership in the business. 
In iSqi the subject sold bis interests to Aaron 
!Muman, and in the fall of that year he pur- 
chased a china store in Canton, conducting the 
same one year. i\X the present time be is secre- 
tary of the Diamond Light Company, repre- 
senting a flourishing business, in tlie ownership 
of w'hich he is associated witii his son-in-law. 
Ira H. Everhard. Mr. Holloway has ever been 
known as a progressive and broad-minded busi- 
ness man and a loyal and ])ublic-spirited citi- 
zen, while be has ne\er lacked the fullest 
measure of popular confitlence and esteem. In 
politics be was stanchly arrayed with the Re- 
publican party until the presidential campaign 
of 1896, when he found his convictions not in 
harmony with the party's financial platfomi, 
and transferred his allegiance to the Democ- 



racy, of wbo.'^e cause he has since been a stanch 
supporter. I'raternally he is identified with 
George D. Harter Post No. 335. Grand Army 
of the Republic, and with Canton Lodge No. 
60, Lree and Accepted Masons. 

In I'elmont county, this state, on the 4th 
of March. 1863. Captain Holloway was united 
in marriage to Miss Geoi-giana Stewart, who 
was born and reared in that county, being a 
daughter of John M. Stewart, an honored pio- 
neer of that section. Of this union have been 
born four children, namely: Dora H., who is 
the wife of Ira H. Everhard, of Canton: Na- 
than C., who is engaged in business in the citv 
of Columlius, this state; Josephine H.. whc) 
married Charles F. W'allraff, of Washington 
City, died January 17, 1901 : and (leorgia 
Grace, who remains at the parental home, 
which is a center oi gracious hospitality. 



IRA M. ALLEN was for many years a 
prominent educator of eastern Ohio. He was 
born in Rensselaer county. New York, on the 
I ith of May, 1821, and comes of an old family 
of New England. His grandfather, Samuel 
Allen, was born in Rhode Island and was of 
Scotch-Irish extraction. He married Patience 
Six)on, whose father, a sea captain, was of 
English and Welsh descent. Caleb Allen, 
father of the subject, was torn in Rensselaer 
county. July 15, 1787, and married Hiilda 
Dawley. who was born in Rhode Island on 
the 1 8th of Octoljer, 1788, and was of Welsh 
lineage. They began their domestic life in his 
native county, where they spent several years, 
when they removd to Cayuga coiuity. Later 
they l)ecame residents of Ontario county. New 
York, where they resided until their deaths. 
Mr. Allen lived the quiet, retired life of a 
farmer and was a man of sterling worth. 

The subject was the fifth in a family 
numbering four sons and two daughters, of 
whom all are now deceased. His boyhood wa? 




IRA M. ALLEN. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



389 



spent upon liis fatlier's farm and his early edu- 
cation, acquired in the district schools, was 
supplemented by study in Skaneateles Academy. 
At the age ol eighteen years he began teach- 
ing- in Ontario county. New York, where he 
followed his chosen profession until 1842. In 
the spring- of that year he started for Ken- 
tucky via canal route, stopping in Ivlassillon to 
visit an uncle. A vacancy being open in a 
school there, he was asked to take charge of the 
same, which he did. He was employed there 
as a teacher until 1847. Coming to Canton, 
he then took charge of a select school, which he 
carried on until 1850, when the city adopted the 
union-school law, the third city in the state 
to take advantage of this law. In 1854 Mr. 
Allen went to Massillon and took charge of the 
Charity Rotch School, of that place, which he 
superintended until 1864. In that year he gave 
up his school work and turned his attention to 
farn-iing, which he followeil until 1869, when 
he was elected treasurer of Stark county, for a 
tern-i of two years. Faithfully did he perform 
liis duties, and on the expiration of his term he 
was re-elected, serving in all for four years. 

Mr. Allen found a faithful companion and 
helpmate in his estimable wife, whom he wed- 
ded ]\Iay 29, 1844. In her maidenhood she 
was Ella O. Graham, daughter of Hon. John 
and Susan (Troop) Graham, both natives of 
Pennsylvania, the former of whom served as 
state senator from Stark county. Unto them 
have been born five children : Alice, who died 
in 1875; John C. married Mary Feather, of 
Canton, and died in October, 1890, leaving a 
wife and two sons; Florence H. ; Emma S., 
wife of L. Sollmann, a druggist of Canton ; and 
Ella O.. now deceased. The family resides at 
No. 1800 South Market street, where they have 
a good home in the midst of pleasant surround- 
ings. 

After retiring from the treasurer's office, 
Mr, Allen was variously employed until 1878, 
when he again went to Massillon and had 



charge of the Charity Rotch School for another 
decade. He was a most excellent educator, 
possessing superior ability in instructing youth- 
ful minds, and many who have been success- 
ful in various walks of life have reason to thank 
him for the aid he gave in younger years. His 
life has been devoted to school work and he has 
done much in the interests of education in this 
comnumity. For more than thirty years he was 
a member of the county board of school 
examiners. 

On attaining- his majority, Mr. Allen affili- 
ated with the Democratic party, which he con- 
tinued to support until the organization of the 
Republican party, of which he was a stanch 
advocate. He was a prominent citizen of this 
coinmunity, widely and favorably known, and 
highly respected by all. The following obitu- 
ary^ notice, referring to the honored subject, 
is here reproduced : 

On the evening of the 26th of December, 1897, the 
spirit of Ira M. Allen, at peace with God and man, 
crossed the vale to rest from his earthly labors. He was 
blessed with the conscientiousness of a life that never 
shirked its duty to his fellow men. Ever mindful of 
divine precepts, he pointed upwards, guided by his un- 
faltering trust in universal brotherhood and faith in 
the Kingdom of Christ. He felt within that peace which 
passeth understanding, and such as can only be ob- 
tained from a life spent in noble deeds, with charity for 
all and malice toward none. His remains were laid to 
rest in the Westlawn cemetery of Canton, which holds 
many of the old pioneer residents of the state and the 
nation's illustrious dead. His wife still survives, living 
in the old homestead on South Market street, being in 
her eightieth year, still blessed with health and strength. 

In concluding this biography we quote from 
an editorial in a local paper regarding a refer- 
ence inade to the subject by the late lamented 
President McKinley. who was his life-long 
companion and friend : 

Among the happiest of President JNIcKinley's front- 
door responses during the presidential campaign of 1896 
was that which he made to his old political associates on 
the Stark county Republican ticket of 1896. There is 
fond memory in the words he spoke for many Stark 



390 



OLD LANDMARKS' 



co'.mty friends : but the fond recollections of his political 
campaign, when he ran for prosecuting attorney, had 
these words in reference to the late Ira M. Allen, who 
passed from life to the great beyond on Friday night: 
''That other good friend of us all, another of the pio- 
neers, Ira M. Allen, was on the ticket for county treas- 
urer, with whom I think I traveled in every nook and 
corner of the county during that campaign." "Good 
friend of us all." What a happy tribute of him then in 
life was this to the "good friend of us all." who has 
now passed away. Ira ^I. Allen was indeed a "good 
friend of us all." Whether it was to be poor or well-to-do, 
Ira M .Allen was a good friend, a thoughtful friend, 
a charitable friend, a hearty friend, and a faithful 
friend, whose greatest happiness was in the happiness 
of his family and his friends. He was the "friend of 
lis all." They tell of life's good deeds. They speak of 
a husband's love, of a father's devotion, of a neighbor'.-; 
regard, of a citizen's public spirit. They tell of an hon- 
est man, "the noblest work of God.'' 



HAR\'EY R. DITTEXHAFER.— Just 
when Mr. Dittenhafer's ancesUjrs settled in 
Pennsylvania is nut kndwii. hut it is supposed 
to have been at a \ery early period in the his- 
tory of that commonwealth. Ilis grandfather. 
Christian Dittenhafer, was born rmd reared in 
Adams county, that state, and lived there a 
great many years as an enterprising and suc- 
cessful agriculturist. The wife of Christian be- 
fore her marriage was a Miss Hart and came 
of a family of distinguished artists, several of 
whom achieved national reputation as painters. 
Christian Dittenhafer was a man of considera- 
ble prominence in his county and for a number 
of years fig'ured f|uite conspicuously in its public 
affairs. Living near the southern border of the 
state, where there was a great divergence of 
opinion in relation to the question of slavery 
and the matter of secession, it was but natural 
that he should have very decided views upon 
issties of such great moment. To a certain e.x- 
tent his sympathies were with the South at the 
breaking out of the great Rebellion, but he was 
conservative in the expression of his opinions 
and took no acti\"c part in the troubles growing 
out of the disturbed conditions of those times. 



When the Conferlerate forces under General 
Lee invaded sinitiiern Penns\l\ania, a detach- 
ment of the army encamped on Mr. Ditten- 
hafer's farm and took possession of his house 
for a hospital. They also appropriated his 
horses and when expostulated with concerning 
th.e matter replied that they did not care a l)ig 
d — d whether the owner was friendly t'j the 
South or not. the live stock was needed and 
would be taken regardless of consequences. 
This action of the Confederate officers com- 
j)letel\' changed the views of the honest old 
farmer and froin that time on he was a warm 
and uncompromising friend of the L^nion cause. 
Christian Dittenhafer was a man of remark- 
able physical strength and lived to a ripe old 
age. dying in 1868 after reaching the century 
mark. For many years he was interested in the 
puljlic improvements of his part of the state 
and. with Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, built one of 
the first railroads through .\dams county. In 
his younger clays he served as a soldier in the 
war of 1812 and was made a prisoner l)y the 
Uritish at the surrender of Detroit. The chil- 
dren of Christian and Mrs. Dittenhafer, five in 
number, were John H.. father of the subject 
of this sketch; Betsey married Samuel Lahr. 
who ser\ed as captain in the Mexican war and 
died while in the service: Henry married Chris- 
tie Hassler and lives in Seneca county. Ohio; 
Joseph is a resident of Bryan, this state, and 
George, whose home is in .\dams count\-. Penn- 
sylvania. 

John H. Dittenhafer was born near what is 
locally known as "Seven Stars." Adams coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, and there grew to manhood 
as a tiller of the soil. He attenfled such schools 
as the country at that time afforded and when 
a voung man learned the shoemaker's trade, 
which he plied for a number of years at dif- 
ferent places, eventually turning his attention to 
agricultural pursuits. In his youth he became 
a great hunter and would frequently spend days 
in the pursuits of his faxorite pastime, deer and 



CANTON AND STARK X:OUNTy, OHIO. 



■i9i- 



olher wild game being plentiful in the country 
and easily obtained by the skillful marksman. 
For four years he worked at his trade in the 
summer time and of winter seasons taught 
school in the old log' cabin near his father's 
place, in which he received his own educational 
training. About 1839 '^^ came via the l^jkes to 
Ohio and while euroute visited relatives by the 
name of Hart, living at Rochester, New York, 
who advised him to remain in that city, hold-' 
ing out as an inducement an offer to set him up 
in business. 'nfected with what was then 
termed the "Ohio fe\'er," the young man de- 
clined this iiattering inducement with thanks 
and. proceeding on his way, in due time reached 
Canton, near which ])lace he taught a term of 
school the winter following. This was formerly 
known as tlie old Lautzenhauzer school, the 
building being a delapidated log structure, 
through the roof and sides of which the snow 
and rain came at will, while the pupils were 
nearly all young men and women as old and 
some of them much larger than the teacher. 
At that time the German and English tongues 
were al)out equally used in the neighborhood 
and Mr. Dittenhafer found himself under the 
necessity of teaching both, languages, which he 
did ^successfully, being as conversant with the 
one as with the other. Among his pupils were 
a number of boys who subsequently became the 
leading men of the county, while others moved 
to distant states and attained honorable dis- 
tinction in their \-arious vocations and profes- 
sions. Mr. Dittenhafer was married in Canton 
to Miss Catherine Petree, wiiose birth occurred 
in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, in the }'ear 
1819. Mrs. Dittenhafer's paternal grandfather, 
a native of France, came to America prior to 
the Revolutionary war, starting with a large 
share of the wealth which he had inherited, but, 
by reason of shipwreck, landed on the shores 
of the new world with no possessions other than 
the raiment with which he was attired. He lo- 
cated in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, and 



then married and reared a familw among his 
children being a son by the name of Har\e\-. 
the fatiier of Mrs. Dittenhafer. Harvey Petree . 
married in his native county and about the year 
1839 moved his family to Stark county, Ohio, 
settling in Canton, where he subsequently 
achieved quite a reputation as a manufacturer of 
counterpanes and other textile fabrics. He 
worked into these articles many beautiful ar- 
i tistic designs and wherever his products were 
exhibited they at once commanded high prices. 
Some of his counterpanes found their way to' 
France, where they are still preserved, while 
others are retained as valuable heirlooms in a' 
number of households in Stark and other coun-' 
ties of Ohio. After plying his trade for some 
years in Canton Mr. Petree went to li\e with 
a married daughter near Dayton, Ohio, and it 
was there that his death afterwands occurred, 
at the age of eighty-six, his wife preceding him 
to the other world by some years. 

-Mrs. Dittenhafer was a young woman of 
about twenty years when her parents moved to 
Stark county and she bore her share in the long 
tiresome journey by wagon across the moun- 
tains. .Vfter his marriage Mr. Dittenhafer re- 
sumed his trade and it is a fact worthy of note 
that he made the first pair of shoes which his 
son, Harvey R., wore to the front in the dark 
days of 1861. One of these was afterwards 
pierced by a musket ball and is still kept as a 
memento of the war, its companion being left 
on the field of battle. Har\ey Dittenhafer con- 
tinued shoemaking a number of vears and de- 
parted this life in 1896. He was a man of 
sterling worth, actix'e in aiding e\erv enterprise 
for the material advancement of his commu- 
nity and his influence was generally exerted on 
the right side of e\'ery moral qtiestion. Po- 
litically he was always a staunch Democrat, 
but his local pride induced him to support his 
fellow citizen, William McKiuley, for the vari-' 
ous iiffices which that distinguished statesman 
hekl, Tn matters religiotis he was a Alethodist, ' 



392 



OLD LANDMARKS 



his wife being a meinber of the Evangelical 
cliiircli and an acti\e worker in the same until 
her "Icatli. which occurred on the i8th of Feb- 
ruary. 1902. Mrs. Dittenhafer was widely and 
favora1)ly known in Canton and throughout 
Stark county, having for many years run the 
largest dressmaking esta'bblishment in the city. 
This was before the advent of the sewing ma- 
cliine and as she employed only the most skill- 
ful seamstresses, the product of her establish- 
ment became celebrated throughout this sec- 
tion of the state. She invented various dia- 
grams and devices for cutting and fitting ladies" 
and children's garments, which were after- 
wards generally adopted and at one time she 
w.Ts involved in litigation growing out of an in- 
fringement upon a patent, the late President 
McKinley being her lawver. She was pri^mii- 
nent in business circles, stood equally promi- 
nent socially and will always be remeinbered as 
one of the most enterprising and highly es- 
teemed women the city of Canton has e\"er 
known. 

Harvey and Catherine Dittenhafer reared a 
family of three children, namely: Frances .\.. 
wife of U. B. Shanafelt ; Harve}- R.. of this re- 
view, and Irene, an unmarried ladv living in 
C:uiton. Harvey R. Dittenhafer was born 
where the liank building now stands. No. 521 
North I\Iarket street. Canton. Ohio, on the iC^th 
day of January, 1844. Like the majority of 
city lads, he was put to school at the proper age 
and continued at his studies until his se\-en- 
teenth year, when he laid aside his books for 
the purpose of responding to President Lin- 
coln's call for Aolunteers. Although a mere 
youth at the time, his patriotism was of the 
kind of which heroes are made and he felt it 
incumbent upon him to oi¥er his life if need be 
in defence of the country he loved so well. On 
the TTth day of August. i86t. he enlisted in 
Company L Sixty-fourth Ohio A'olunteer In- 
fantry, for three years or during the war. and 
immediately thereafter went into camp at Mans- 



field where the regimental organization was ef- 
fected through the efforts of the late Hon. John 
Sherman, one of Ohio's favorite sons antl one 
of the nation's greatest statesmen. In due time 
the Sixty-fourth was sent to the front to bear 
its part in the campaign conducted by General 
Ciram. the first noted battle of which was 
fought at Pittsburg Landing. Mr. Dittenhafer 
participated in that bloody engagement and la- 
ter took part in the siege of Corinth, battles of 
Stone Ri\er and Peri\\\ille. receiving a severe 
wound in the left hip at the latter place. After 
being struck he continued to load and fire until 
a second shot pierced his ankle, when his suf- 
ferings became such as to render him unalile 
for further duty. While lying helpless on the 
field after the fightiing had ceased, trying Ijy 
every means at hand to stanch the bleeding of 
his wounds, Mr. Dittenhafer was discovered by 
a couple of vampires who were bent upon rifiing 
the pockets of the dead and wounded and strip- 
ping their bodies of such articles of clothing 
as attracted their greedy eyes. Seeing that he 
wore pretty fair footwear one of the ghouls 
said. "Say. Yank, this is a good pair of boots 
you have on. and we must ha\e them." ' Suit- 
ing the action to the word, he at once ]:)roceeded 
to jerk rather violently at one of the boots re- 
gardless of the pain it caused, but before he 
could accomplish his fell purpose a \olley from 
a squad of Lhiion men near by caused him to de- 
sist and seek safety in flight. A little later in 
the evening two Englishmen belonging to the 
Confederate force, passing over the field, dis- 
covered the wounded man and taking pity upon 
him bandaged his hip. cut the 1)Oot from the in- 
jured foot .•uid made him as comfortable as tlie 
circumstances would allow. Sul)sequently a 
squad of Union men. detailed to bring in the 
wounded, bore him to a place of safety, after 
which he was convcved to the hospitable home 
of a planter living hard by where eveiwthing 
possible was done to alleviate his suft'eriug. 
But f(^r the kindiv ministration and the inter- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



393 



est tnjcen in liini In* the two friendly English 
men jMr. Dittenhater would not be living today 
to tell the story of his agony on the liloody Held 
of conflict. In the planter"? home, which had 
been converted into a hospital for the treatment 
of fioth I.'nion and Confederate wounded, many 
pathetic incidents occurred, but the dull monot- 
ony and suffering were occasionally enlivened 
by things of a more pleasing and agreeable na- 
ture. One of the latter was the interest taken 
in the wounded by a daughter of the household, 
who not on)v assisted in ministering to the 
w.'mts of the sufferers, l)ut lnoked after their 
correspondence, reading letters fnim their 
friends, writing for those who were unable to 
hold pens and in many other ways showing her- 
self an angel of mercy in time of need. After 
remaining one month at the above ])lace, the 
subject was sent to the convalescent hospital 
at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for a short time 
and was then offered a discharge. Not wishing 
to leave the army until the war closed, he de- 
clined the discharge. acce])ting instead a fur- 
lough with the hint that his services would no 
longer be re(|uired on account of the natiu'e of 
his wounds. After spending a few weeks at a 
hotel in Nashville, he came home and never 
again returned to his command, his physical 
conclition precluding the possiliility of further 
service in the held. 

During the six years following his dis- 
charge Mr. Dittenhafer suffered greatly from 
his wound and it was fully that length of time 
before he could get about with any degree of 
comfort. In 1S65 he went to Fort \\'ayne. 
Indiana, and engaged in jiainting. devoting es- 
pecial attention to sign painting and other lines 
of work which could be done indoors. Subse- 
quently he opened shops at various places in 
northern Indiana and along the great lakes, 
developing great skill with the brush and meet- 
ing with satisfactory financial returns for his 
labors. Finally he returned to Canton and es- 
tablished a comfortable business, which he has 



since conducted, meantime by thrift and good 
management accumulating a sufficiency of this 
world's goods to place himself and family in 
independent circumstances. 

In the year 1869 Mr. Dittenhafer was 
united in marriage with Miss Sadie E. Ortt, of 
New Philadelphia, Ohio, daughter of George 
L. and • — •— (Shriever) Ortt, the ceremony be- 
ing solemnized in the Old Baptist church of 
Canton. Rev. Mr. Smith officiating. This 
union has been blessed with two children, Percy 
S., torn July 18, 1871, married Miss Grace Me- 
rose, and is the father of one son, Paul ; Percy 
Dittenhafer is his father's business partner and 
is one of the rising young men of Canton. 
Pearl, the second in order of birth, has been 
twice married, the first time to George Petersen, 
by whom she had two children, Mary and 
Georgie, and after the death of Mr. Petersen 
she became the wife of August Schopp and at 
the present time lives in the city of Alliance. 
Mr. and Mrs. Dittenhafer are popular in the 
best social circles of Canton, besides having 
many warm friends among all classes and con- 
ditions of the city's popular citizens. Thev li\e 
in a beautiful and tastefully arranged home on 
North Walnut street, before which the grand 
old stars and stripes continually swing to the 
breeze, attesting the loyalty and love the owner 
has for the country to which he gave several 
of the best years of his life and for which he 
freely sacrificed the strength of a robust man- 
hood. When Mr. Dittenhafer learns of a com- 
rade's death, his flag is placed at half mast as 
a token of the high esteem in which he holds 
the brave boys who in time of the government's 
extremity went forth to do battle that the in- 
stitutions which the fathers established should 
not perish from the face of the earth. He is a 
member of McKinley Post, Grand Army of the 
Republic, his name appearing at the head of 
the list of charter members of this organization. 
He was a life-long friend and great admirer 
of the late President McKinlev and serve'd 



394 



OLD LANDMARKS 



with him on the committee appointed in 1896 
to receive the Confederate soldiers upon the oc- 
casion of their third visit to Canton. It is need- 
less to say in this connection that Mr. Ditten- 
hafer is a supporter of the party that prose- 
cuted to successful issue the late Civil war and 
which has always stood for the hest interest 
of American industries and the highest type 
of American citizenship. While active in his 
support of Republican principles, he is by no 
means intolerant in his political views nor has 
he ever had an)- amliition to stand for office or 
public distinction of any kind. Religiously he 
and his good wife are faithful members of the 
First Baptist church of Canton and as such 
have lived lives consistent with their professions 
Mr. Dittenhafer is identified with the Order 
of United American Mechanics, in which he 
has been honored with important official sta- 
tions. 

The career of Mr. Dittenhafer has been an 
acti\e and eventful one and throughout he has 
ever been true to himself and lived as nearly 
as possible accorduig to his high ideals of man- 
hood and duty. As a citizen he has been in- 
terested in whatever tended to the material, 
social and moral good of the community and 
in every relation with his fellow man he has 
discharged his obligations in that worthy and 
upright manner bespeaking the Christian gen- 
tleman. In the days that tried men's souls he 
proved on many bloody Ijattle fields the material 
of which he was made and in the quiet life of 
the private citizen he has earned the unbounded 
esteem of the good j^eople among whom he now 
lives. 



ABSALOM KITT.— The original progen- 
itors of the Kitt family in America were three 
brothers who emigrated hither from Wales in 
the early part of the se\enteenth century, be- 
ing young men at the time of their arrival in 
the new world, where each of them apprenticed 



himself at a trade. Of these the one to whom 
our subject traces his direct lineage located in 
York county, Pennsylvania, where he became 
an apprentice to a German, whose daughter he 
subsequentlv married, and from this worthy 
couple the line is traced directly, through the 
several generations, to him of whom we write. 
Jacob Kitt. the grandfather of the subject, was 
born on a farm in York county, Pennsyh-ania. 
and there he was reared to years of maturitv. 
In that county he married and after the l)irth 
of their first child, George, father of the sub- 
ject of this review, they emigrated to the wilds 
of the nev/ state of Ohio, the date of their ar- 
rival in Stark county being not definitely es- 
tablished, though it is certain that it was prior 
to the year 1806. Jacob Kitt took up a tract 
of one hundred and sixty acres of heavily tim- 
bered land in what is now Osnaburg township, 
this county, the place being now known as the 
Ake farm. L'pon coming to the state he was 
accompanied by three other men. and wliile 
they were looking over the various tracts in the 
land office in Steubenville. with a view of 
choosing locations, they noticed that a spring 
was indicated as exi.sting on the tract mentioned 
and the same discovery was simultaneously 
made by a stranger who was aLso seeking a 
location and who seemed anxious to take a 
hurried departure. ]\Ir. Kitt and his com- 
]ianions anticipated his design, and forthwith 
set forth on horseback for Osnabiu'g township, 
and .'UM-ixed a half hour in advance of the 
stranger, thus securing the claim to the land 
desired. Many years later Grandfather Kitt 
went to Indiana and in Huntington county, 
where he purchased a farm for each of his 
children who cared to avail himself of the op- 
portunity, and it may be stated that all save 
tv.'o or three of the thirteen children were thus 
]irovided for by their faithful and de\oted 
father, the others preferring to remain in Ohio. 
Upon taking possession of his land in Os- 
naburg township Jacob Kitt's first labor was to 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY , OHIO. 



395 



erect a primitive log cabin in the midst of the 
forest, that his wife and son might have suit- 
able shelter, and it is interesting to record that 
his second child, Polly, was the first white 
child born in that township. He set himself 
valiantly to the work of clearing his farm, and 
as the years passed by the results of his labors 
were to be seen in the cultivated fields and the 
various improvements made on the place. In 
the early "fifties he removed to Huntington 
county, Indiana, to join his children, and there 
he passed the remainder of a signally honorable 
and useful life, attaining the patriarchal age of 
one hundred and two years and passing away 
secure in the esteem and veneration of all who 
knew him. His devoted wife preceded him 
into eternal rest by many years. Of their 
thirteen children we enter the following brief 
record: George was the father of the subject 
and of him further mention will be made ; 
Polly, who became the wife of Josejili Doll. 
died in Osnaburg township, at the age of nine- 
ty-two years ; Ann. the widow of Phelix Binck- 
ley, resides in Huntington county, Indiana, and 
is about ninety-three years of age at the time 
of this writing: Isaac, who married a Mrs. 
]\Iyers. of Osnaburg township, died in Hunt- 
ington county. Indiana ; Sarah died when a 
young woman ; Jacob died in Indiana ; Rachel ; 
Barbara became the wife of a Mr. Sprenkel : 
Peter died in Indiana, leaving a family, and 
the same facts are true of Jesse, the next son ; 
Daniel went to the southwest many years ago, 
and there his death occurred : Eliza married ; 
and ]\Iatilda is the wife of David Lichtenwal- 
ter and resides in Indiana. 

George Kitt, the honored father of the 
subject, was born in York county. Pennsyl- 
vania, in the year 1800, and was a child at the 
time of his parents' removal to Stark county, 
Ohio, where he was reared to manhood, and he 
died in Harrison county, this state, in 1833. 
In Osnaburg township was solemnized his mar- 
riage to Miss Elizabeth Kent, a daughter of 



Joseph Kent, who was one of the pioneers of 
Harrison county, where she was born, and 
her death occurred in Lawrence county in 1891. 
After the death of her first husband she became 
the wife of George Graham. George Kitt de- 
voted his entire life to agricultural pursuits, 
and resided for many years in Osnaburg town- 
ship, later removing to Sandy township, whence 
he went to Harrison county, where he died, as 
has already been noted. He was an industrious, 
honorable and intelligent man. growing up un- 
der the conditions and environments of the 
pioneer epoch, and he ever held the respect of 
his fellow men. In politics he was a Jack- 
sonian Democrat, and though not identified 
with any religious organization had a deep 
reverence for the true spiritual \-erities and 
lived in accordance with the golden rule. His' 
wife was a dex'oted member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. They became the parents 
of fi\e children, namely: Joseph, who is a 
resident of Texas ; Rachel, who became the wife 
of Samuel Gilbert, died in Harrison countv. 
Ohio : Absalom, subject of this sketch, was the 
next in order of birth : Lucina is the widow of 
James Low and resides in Kansas ; and Hester 
is the widow of Solomon Glass and is residing 
in Cadiz. Harrison county ; her first husband 
was George Low. 

Absalom Kitt. whose name initiates this 
article, was born on the parental homestead, 
near Mapleton. Sandy township. Stark countv. 
on tlie 2d of August. 1827. and he was but six 
years of age at the time of his father's death. 
His educational privileges were such as were 
afiforded in the little log school house of the 
pioneer days, and he continued his studies dur- 
ing the winter months until he had attained his 
legal majority, in the meanwhile assisting in 
the work of the farm. The mother had mar- 
ried George Graham and removed to Tuscara- 
was county, and there the subject remained 
with his mother for a time. Later he eame to 
live with his uncle in Harrison countv and with 



396 



OLD LANDMARKS 



liis paternal grandfather, in Osnalnirg town- 
ship. Soon afterward he entered upon an ap- 
prenticeship at the tailor's trade, under the di- 
rection of Nicholas Bour, of Canton, and he 
stion became a thoroughly skilled workman in 
all departments of the business. In 1849 ^^^ 
Ijegan his independent career in this line of en- 
terprise, in Cadiz, and in 1851 he established 
himself in business in Canton, as the first regu- 
lar merchant tailor of the city, which was then 
but a village. Here he has ever since been en- 
gaged in this line of enterprise, and his business 
grew and for more than thirty years he was the 
leading tailor of Canton. He has ever main- 
tained the highest reputation as an able busi- 
ness man. reliable and conscientious in all 
transactions and turning out the best class of 
work, the prestige of his establishment never 
having- been permitted to wane with the ad- 
vancing years, so that he has ever catered suc- 
cessfully to a discriminating patronage. In 
politics Mr. Kitt is a stanch adherent of the Re- 
publican party, and he has at all times main- 
tained a public-spirited attitude, taking a deep 
interest in all that touches the welfare of his 
home city. He is one of the honored and 
prominent members of the First Methodist 
Episcopal chiurch. with which he has been 
identified since 1846. and is a deacon in the 
same, having ever taken an active part in for- 
warding its spiritual and temporal welfare. 

On the 29th of August. 1849, Mr. Kitt 
was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Jane 
Blair, who died two months later. Fourteen 
years afterward, in March. 1863. Air. Kitt was 
married to her half-sister. Airs. Lydia Patter- 
son, who was born in Canton township. Stark 
county. Ohio, being the daughter of Rev. E. 
C. and Susan D. Patterson. Her mother's 
first husband was Edward Blair. To them 
were born five children, namely: Howard G., 
who is in the employ of the wholesale house of 
Church & Dwight Company, of New York 
citv. married Miss Harriet Tones: Millard 



B., who is a resident of Minneapolis. Minnesota, 
married Miss Jarda Bergstrum and they have 
one son, Elias Patterson Kitt. a resident of San 
h'rancisco, California, who married Miss Gene- 
viave Brown : he is captain of one of the largest 
Pacific Mail Steamship Company's vessels. 
Mrs. Kitt died in April. 1890, an<l since then 
he has run a ladies' tailiirinp- estal)lishment. 



HON. ANTHONY HOWELLS is a man 
of indefatigable energy and fertility of re- 
source, and in many ways has impressed his 
strong individuality upon the state and won a 
name second to that of few of her distinguished 
sons. Like many of the influential factors in 
our composite nationality he is an American by 
adoption, having been born and partiallv reared 
amid the rugged scenery and bracing airs of 
southern Wales. He first saw the light of day 
April 6, 1832, in Dowlais, Glamorganshire, and 
is the son of Howell and Rachael 1 Evans) 
Howells. both nati\es of Wales, as were the 
ancestors of their respective families for gener- 
ations beyond the memory of any of the de- 
scendants now living. Of the early history of 
his family Mr. Howells knows little, save that 
they were well-to-do agTiculturists. and that 
for many years the names of both Howells and 
Evans have been known in Leandebeia. Car- 
marthshire. South Wales. A short time prior 
to the birth of the subject his parents moved 
from tlie latter i)Iace to Dowlais. near which 
town the father was for some years engaged in 
mining, and subsequently became superintend- 
ent of certain mines in the same locality. He 
a])pears to have been a man of energy, quick 
perception and great decisive character, and as 
superintendent demonstrated unusual capacity 
in the management of the workmen under his 
charge and in looking after the interests of his 
employers. 

The opportunities for acquiring an educa- 
tion, such as the youth of the present genera- 




\JT7%^ln^^^/Y^^oi^(2t^ 




CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



397 



tion enjoys, were not e\'en open to young An- 
thony during the formative period of his hfe. 
To make up for this deficiency, however, his 
surroundings and the nature of his early em- 
ployment were jjieculiarly conducive to \agorous 
physical development and manly growth, which 
in the long run are of much greater value as 
adjuncts to success than knowledge obtained 
from schools or universities. Being endowed 
with good health and fine bodily powers, our 
subject was not long in developing an independ- 
ence of mind and a reliance on self which as the 
years went by enabled him to grapple with life's 
most difficult problems with every promise of 
successful solution. He was not entirely with- 
out the means of intellectual discipline during 
his youth, as he attended for some years such 
free schools as his native town afiforded and his 
natm'al aptitude for study led him to endeavor 
to devour eagerly all books and papers that he 
could procure. Leaving the free schools at the 
early age of twelve, he subsequently attended 
for one year a private school at Le- 
andebeia, his father's old home, after 
which he began the struggle of life as 
a coal miner. While thus employed he 
kept up his study and reading, devot- 
ing every leisure moment to his books, the re- 
sult being a large store of valuable knowledge, 
remarkable for one of his years. In fact, Mr. 
Howells has never ceased being a student. 
From his early youth to the present time he 
has been a wide but close and critical reader, 
not only of the world's best literature, but near- 
ly everything within the range of history, sci- 
ence, politics, economy, sociology and kindred 
subjects, besides keeping himself well informed 
upon current events, especially those pertaining 
to state and national legislation. 

At the age of fourteen Mr. Howells was 
obliged to make his own way in the world, and, 
as already stated, he began the struggle of life 
as a coal miner. His father following that vo- 
cation, he naturally drifted into the same pur- 



suit, and for a period of four years he labored 
und :r the ground near his home, meantime de- 
vising plans whereby he might rise superior to 
such environment. Realizing that better op- 
portunities for young men of his stamp lay in 
the new world, he decided to go thither as 
soon as be could arrange his affairs to that end. 
By industry and economy he succeeded in earn- 
ing sutticient money to pay his passage to the 
United States, and accordingly, in the spring of 
1850, he set sail, and in due time reached his 
destination, proceeding directly from the port 
at which he landed" to Youngstown, Ohio. 
There he soon found employment in the mines, 
engaging first with David Tod, who afterwards 
became governor of the state, working for him 
for the greater part of two years. 

Mr. Howells continued mining near 
Youngstown until the spring of 1852, when he 
went to California, but after one year in that 
state returned to Ohio and resumed his former 
occupation in Mahoning county. After work- 
ing thus until 1855 he concluded no longer to 
be subordinate, but to engage in undertaking 
for himself, having in the meantime accumu- 
lated sufficient means to enable him to embark 
in the grocery trade. Purchasing a modest 
stock of general groceries and provisions, he 
opened, in the fall of the above year, a store in 
Youngstown, and soon built up a prosperous 
business which grew in volume as the years 
went by. He continued merchandising with 
encouraging financial results until 1865, when 
he disposed of his establishment and engaged 
in coal mining at DuQuoin, Illinois. After 
spending one year there he sold his interest in 
the mines, and. returninp' to Youngstown. again 
engaged in the mercantile pursuits to which he 
devoted his attention until April, 1869, when 
he sold out and permanently retired from that 
line of business. In the latter part of the same 
year he was offered an interest in two coal mines 
in the Massillon district, together with the man- 
agement of the same, wliich offer he accepted. 



398 



OLD LANDMARKS 



entering upon the practical duties of his posi- 
tion. 

A little later Mr. Howells added the ro"i 
industry to his mining business, but that enter- 
prise proved disastrous, by reason of the pariic 
of 1873. durmg which so many failures oc- 
curred and so many fortunes were swept away. 
Notwithstanding this reverse, he continued 
working the mines and developing the rich min- 
eral territory, until, in the course of a few 3fears, 
he was recognized as one of the largest and 
most successful coal operators in this part of 
the state. His career since beginning opera- 
tions in the Massillon district has been a series 
of successes seldom equalled, and today, as 
president and general manager of the large 
corporation known as the Howells Coal Com- 
pany, he undoubtedly stands at the head of the 
industry in Ohio. To supply the immense and 
constantly increasing demand for th^ output 
of the mines owned and operated by this corpo- 
ration r-. :,uires the labor of about six hundred 
workmen, all of whom, together with the 
clerical force and others connected with the 
enterprise, are under the immediate supervision 
of the general manager, whose knowledge of 
the business and familiarity with every detail 
of mining enables him to obtain the largest 
possible results. 

Mr. Howells is not only a practical and ex- 
perienced miner, but has made a scientific study 
of the coal industry in all its learnings, so that 
he is now recognized as a high authority on 
o'crything relating thereto. His valuable prac- 
tical knowledge has been utilized by many 
operatoi and his name is perhaps as widely 
and favorabh' known as that of any other man 
in tlii United States similarly engaged. 

Aside from his extensive private interests, 
Mr. Howells has long been a power in local 
and state politics. He is a Democrat, not 
more in the partisan .sense than in the higher 
and broader view of democracy wiiicli em- 
bodies faith in man's capacity •for^self-govem7 



ment and which always stands for the iarge.^t 
personal liberty as conditioned with the law, 
and he is recognized as a leader in shaping 
government, municipal, state and national, and 
he lias sought always from the most patriotic 
motives the enactment of laws which tend to 
advance the general welfare. In 1866 he re- 
ceived the nomination for treasurer of Ma- 
honing county, but the Republican party having 
an overwhelming majority, he failed of elec- 
tion, though running far ahead of any other 
candidate on his ticket. Two years later he 
made the race for state senator in the ninth dis^ 
trict, composed of the counties of Mahoning 
and Trumbull, one of the strongest Republi- 
can dis "icts in the state, but the opposition was 
too f(Tinidable to be overcome. In 1875 ^^'^ 
name was presented to the state convention as 
a candidate for state treasurer, but he failed by 
a few votes of receiving the nomination. Sub- 
sequently, in 1877. he was nominated by a 
large majority of the delegates and at the 
ensuing election and led every candidate on the 
Democratic state ticket with the single ex- 
ception of R. M. Bishop, the gubernatorial 
nominee. He was triumphantly elected, and, 
as custodian of the state public funds, dis- 
charged his duties with sound business methods 
and straight-forwardness of purpose that he has 
always displayed in conducting his private 
enterprises. His official record was above the 
breath of susi)icion, and at the expiration of 
his term, he retired with the confidence and 
good will of the people irrespective of party. 
He was re-nominated, but, with the rest of 
the candidates of his party, sustained defeat in 
the great Republican landslide of 1879. In 
recognition of eminent party services. Mr. 
Howells, in 1886, was rppointed postmaster of 

. Massillon, but the pressing claims of his busi- 
ness affairs were so great that he could hardly, 
give the office the attention it should receive, 
consequentlv he resigned the )osition two years 

1 later, much to the regret of his friends of 



CANTON. AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



399 



both parties. In 1888, the same year in which 
he gave up the postmastership, he was chosen 
presidential elector by the Democratic state 
convention, but the Republican national ticket 
being victorious that year, his defeat was a 
matter of course. 

At the Democratic convention held at Car- 
roliton, September, 1889, to select a candidate 
to represent the district composed of Stark and 
Carroll counties in the state senate, Mr. How- 
ells was nominated by acclamation, and in the 
following November he defeated his opponent 
by an overwhelming vote, although the dis- 
trict had long been Republican. In January, 
1890, w-hen the senate convened, although con- 
fined to his home by illness, Mr. Ho wells was 
placed on several of the most important com- 
mittees, his reputation as an able and thor- 
oughly reliable business man being well known 
to most of the members of the body. He was 
made chairman of the committee on benevolent 
institutions, mines and mining, public expend- 
itures, besides being honored with a place on 
the finance committee. He was at his best in 
the committee room, where his straightforward- 
ness, business methods, good sense and sound 
judgment were especially valuable: he also 
took an active part in the deliberations in the 
chamber, participating in the general discus- 
sions and proving one of the strong leaders of 
his party on the floor. In September, 1891, 
he was re-nominated by acclamation, but at the 
ensuing election fortune went against him, al- 
though h? carried his own county, the oppo- 
sition being in the ascendancy in the other part 
of the district, and he suffered defeat with the 
rest of the Democratic nominees of that year, 
but accepted his retirement as legislator with 
becoming grace, bowing with easy submission 
to the will of the majority. 

Mr. Howells has always been held in the 
highest personal esteem by the people of Mas- 
Dillon, and upon divers occasions he has been 
honored by them with important trusts. He 



served two terms as president of the Ohio 
Institute of Mining Engineers, his last term 
expiring in 1893, and was the first 
president of the Massillon Board of Trade, serv- 
ing as such for two years, resigning at the expi- 
ration of his second term. In 1893 he was ap- 
pointed by President Cleveland United 
States consul to Cardiff, Wales, in which 
post he represented the government for 
four years, devoting his attention closely 
to the business in hand and winning 
the confidence and warm personal regard of 
the people of that city. In 1901 he was 
nominated for lieutenant-governor and made a 
brilliant canvass and gallant fight, but knew 
from the beginning that there was little or no 
hope of election, Ohio being strongly and re- 
liably Republican. Notwithstanding his activity 
as a politician and the duties of the various 
positions of honor and trust to which he has at 
different times been called, Mr. Howells has 
never lost sight of his large and far-reaching 
private business, nor permitted any of his in- 
terests to suffer. He is first of all a business 
man, and entered politics only from a sense of 
duty, believing that every citizen with the in- 
terest of the country at heart should be in the 
best sense of the term a politician. He has 
never been an office seeker and the various 
nominations with which iie has been honored 
and the positions he has held were accepted at 
a decided sacrifice and with no desire whatever 
for public distinction. 

Mr. Howells has been influential in pro- 
moting the material prosperity of Massillon by 
aiding liberally all comrhendable enterprises 
calculated to advance the citj^'s business, in- 
dustrial and public growth. He is a rnan of 
broad and liberal ideas, belieies in progress, 
and is willing to make sacrifices and lose sight 
of self, in his desire to serve his fellow men 
and thus insure a better social condition and 
a higher order of citizenship., 

Mr. Howells was initiated into the Odd 



400 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Fellows order in 1887, and one year later be- 
came a Knight of Pythias. He also is a mem- 
ber of the Welsh Irorites lodge at Youngstown, 
and deeply interested in the object which the 
organization is designed to accomplish. Mr. 
Howells was married, in 1854, to ]\Iiss Eliza- 
beth James, who has borne him three sons and 
one daughter, namely : IMelvina, married J. C. 
Albright, of JMassillon; William E., now in 
California; Byron and Edwin S. 



PHILIP SONNHALTER.— Like many 
of the most enterprising and progressive men 
of the great American republic, Mr. Sonnhal- 
ter is of foreign birth. He was born near the 
city of Sarbrucken, Prussia, on the 8th day of 
January, 1848, the son of John Sonnhalter, 
whose ancestors have lived in (iermany from 
a very remote period in the history of that 
country. The njaiden name of the subject's 
motlier was Catherine Luzemburger. She was 
also a native of the Fatherland, as were her 
antecedents for generations beyond the memory 
of any of her kindred now living. John 
Sonnhalter learned the stone mason's trade with 
his father and became a successful contractor 
for various kuids of stone work, following the 
business in Germany until 1855. Li the spring 
of that year he brought his family to the L'nited 
States and settled near x^kron, Ohio, where he 
followed agriculture the remainder of his life, 
dving about 1862. John and Catherine Sonn- 
halter were the parents of five children : John, 
accidentally killed while operating the Pigeon 
Run mine near .Massillon, of which he was 
superintendent ; Mrs. Catherine Burgess, of 
Summit county, this state : Mrs. Mary Brandt, 
who lives in Brookfield; Philip, the subject 
of this review, and George, a member of the 
Seventy-sixth Ohio Infantry in the late Re- 
bellion, who served until the close of the war 
and subsequently departed this life in the town 



of Brookfield. The mother of these children 
died in 1856 ni the county of Sunmiit. 

The childhood and youth of Philip Sonn- 
halter were spent in the neighborhood of his 
birth place and he attended the public schools 
until 1855, when he bade adieu to the father- 
land and came to the United States. Mr. Sonn- 
halter made the voyage to this countrj- in the 
sailing vessel "St. John," which left the port 
of Hanover and was thirty-three days on the 
ocean., He accompanied his parents to Summit 
county, Ohio, and during the ensuing four 
years assisted his father in running the farm, 
meantime of winter seasons attending the dis- 
trict schools in which he soon mastered the 
English language and in addition thereto made 
substantial progress in the usual branches of 
study. Leaving home in 1859. he went to 
Brookfield, Stark county, where he engaged as 
a coal miner and as such worked until 18G1, 
when he laid aside the pick and shovel and took 
up arms to aid in suppressing the great Rebel- 
lion, which at that time threatened to disrupt 
the American union, enlisting September 23d 
of that year in Company H, Thirty-seventh 
Ohio Infantry, under Captain Charles Messner 
and Colonel Edward Siber. this being the third 
German regiment raised in Ohio. 

Mr. Sonnhalter was mustered into the ser- 
\ice at Cleveland, Novemlx^r 23, 1861. and 
immediately thereafter accompanied his com- 
mand to the front, where he was not long in 
meeting the enemy in battle. He assisted in 
driving the rebel general Floyd from the 
Kanawha valley and then went into winter 
quarters at Clifton, where the regiment drilled, 
performed guard duty and took part in some 
skirmishes. It was later assigned to the Second 
Brigade, Second Division. Fifteenth Corp>. 
Army of the Tennessee, and took part in the 
following engagements : Princeton, Wyoming 
Court House. Fayetteville. Cotton Hill, siege 
of Vicksburg. Jackson, Chattanooga, Lookout 
Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, Dallas. 




MR. AND MRS. PHILIP SONNHALTER. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



401 



Kencsaw Alountain, siege of Atlanta, Jones- 
boro, Ezra Church, the march to the sea, siege 
of Savannali, campaign of the Carolinas, in- 
cluding the battles of Cheraw and Bentonville. 
The_v participated in the grand review at Wash- 
ington, May 24, 1865, and later did military 
duty in Kentuck}' and Arkansas. Mr. Sonn- 
halter was promoted corporal December 11, 
1 86 1, for meritorious service. For two weeks 
after the final battle of \"icksburg he was con- 
fined to the hospital because of sickness, re- 
joining his command at Bridgeport, Alabama, 
He received an honorable discharge at East 
Point. Alabama, after which he returned to 
Ohio, where he resumed the peaceful pursuits 
of civil life, coming to Massillon. For a period 
of one year after leaving the army he was em- 
ployed by the Rhodes Coal Company, of Cleve- 
land, and at the expiration of that time engaged 
.in mining upon his own responsiliility, leasing 
two mines near Clinton, Summit county. He 
operated these with fair success during the 
four years following, when he disposed of his 
interests in the county of Summit and in 1870 
came to Massillon, where for a period of one 
year he served as superintendent of the Craw- 
ford Coal Mines. Resigning his position with 
that company, he became superintendent of the 
Rhodes mines and after continuing in that 
capacity for three years organized, in 1874, an 
independent company, which he managed dur- 
ing parts of that and the year following. Sell- 
ing out his interests in this concern, Mr. Sonn- 
halter, in 1880, organized the Massillon Coal 
Company, of which he became manager and 
treasurer. While this mining property was be- 
ing developed he organized the Massillon Cen- 
tral Coal Company, of which he was chosen 
president. In due time this company became 
one of the largest and most successful enter- 
prises of the kind in eastern Ohio and much of 
its prosperity was. due to the straightforward 
business council and safe management of Mr. 
Sonnhalter, who devoted all of his energy and 

25 



splendid business abilities to its interests. In 
June, 1901, the Central Coal Company was 
sold to the Haines syndicate, under which 
management it is now being operated. In 
October, 1901, the subject purchased the Rip- 
ple and Goetz farms, of fifty and fifteen acres 
respectively, on both of which have been dis- 
covered large deposits of the valuable glass 
sand rock known as the "Pink Ornamental 
Rock," used extensively in the manufacture of 
glass, also various kinds of fine building stone 
in comparitavely inexhaustible quantities. Mr. 
Sonnhalter has already opened large quarries 
and supplies different contractors with the best 
of building stone and has erected a large plant 
for the production of this and used in the 
manufacture of bottles, window glass and 
various other articles. At the present time his 
sons, Philip J., Adam F. and Earnest H., are 
associated with him in business under the firm 
name of The Sonnhalter Sand & Stone 
Company, the works of which are situated just 
within the corporate limits of Massillon on the 
west on the farm he purchased, as mentioned 
above. 

Mr. Sonnhalter was married in the city of 
Massillon, November 15, 1864, to Miss Mary 
E. Eberly, a native of Alsace, who came with 
her parents to Stark county, Ohio, when about 
four years of age. This union has been blessed 
with seven children, namely : Mrs. Mary 
Heiman, of Brookfield: Cecelia, a teacher in 
the public schools of Stark county; Anna, at 
home; Philip J., educated in St. Vincent's 
College, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, 
and now associated with his father in business ; 
Adam F., also a member of the Sonnhalter 
Sand & Stone Company ; Gertrude, still under 
the parental roof, and Ernest, who, with his 
brothers, is interested in the father's present 
business enterprises. 

As may be readily inferred from the fore- 
going brief outline, Mr. Sonnhalter is a man of 
ripe intelligence and remarkable ability, whose 



402 



OLD LANDMARKS 



enterprising spirit no difficulties can discourage 
and whose judgment in matters of business is 
seldom or never at fault. , By a strict observ- 
ance of the ethics of business life, in all of his 
dealings, he has reaped large financial gains, 
the world havnig used him kindly in the matter 
of material wealth. Aside from the capital in- 
vested in his business and personal property at 
his command, his real estate in Massillon rep- 
resents nearly one hundred thousand dollars, 
all of which has been earned by his own in- 
dustry. Politically he is a Democrat, though 
not from desire for public distinction or official 
gain. In religion he is a zealous Catholic, 
and ever since coming to Massillon he has been 
identified with St. Joseph's church of this city, 
being at this time a member of the building 
committee of the same. The only fraternal 
organization to which he belongs is Hart Post 
No. 134, Grand Army of the Reptiblic, in 
the sessions of which he is not only an inter- 
ested spectator but an active participant. He 
has served his township as trustee, sewer com- 
missioner and as a member of the board of 
hospital directors. 

In this connection is is fitting to refer 
briefly to Mr. Sonnhalter's sons, who are as- 
sociated with him in business and upon whose 
shoulders the weight and responsibilities of 
his various enterprises are destined ere long 
to rest. Philip J., the eldest of these, has al- 
ready demonstrated unusual abilities for one of 
his years and he promises at no distant day to 
bear an important part in the industrial affairs 
of Massillon. Much of the more active busi- 
ness of the company with which he is connected 
has fallen to him and thus far his steady, 
straightforward course has fully met the high 
expectations of his parents and many friends. 
He was married, in 1894, to Miss Minnie 
Schively, daughter of John and Catherine 
Schively. of Canton and Pittsburg, respectively, 
and is the father of one child, a son by the 



name of J. Donald. Philip J. Sonnhalter began 
life for himself as a railroader when twenty- 
one years old, first as a fireman, in which 
capacity he served three and one half years and 
during the two and a half years following he 
ran a freight engine on the Cleveland, Lorain 
& Wheeling line. Later he took charge of a 
passenger engine and in that responsible posi- 
tion continued until sevenng his connection 
with the road and becoming associated in busi- 
ness with his father. He is now secretary and 
treasurer of the Sonnhalter Stone & Sand Com- 
pany, his father being president. 

Adam Sonnhalter, superintendent of the 
Sonnhalter quarries, is also one of the rising 
young business men of Massillon and has al- 
ready shown abilities as a manager such as 
few possess. Shrewd and farseeing, he has 
been entrusted with one of the most important 
departments of the company and the able and 
satisfactory manner with which he has attended 
to his duties abundantly demonstrates his 
ability to manage worthily large interests. In 
the year 1900 he was united in marriage with 
Miss Clementine Hammer, daughter of John 
and Mary Hammer, of Stark county, the union 
resulting in the birth of a daughter, Helen. 

Ernest Sonnhalter, the youngest of the 
brothers, has charge of the engineering de- 
partment of the quarries. Like the two already 
referred to, he subordinates every other con- 
sideration to his business afTairs and his success 
thus far is proof that no important interest will 
ever suffer in his hands. He has a clear prac- 
tical mind, good judgment and his other 
qualities of head and heart are in keeping with 
the high order of these attributes. He is a 
fine specimen of young American manhood and 
that he will succeed and add luster to the 
family name and reputation in the future is 
a matter of easy phophecy to all who are cog- 
nizant of the excellent mental and moral fiber 
of his make-up. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



403 



SIMON JOHNSON was born in Wash- 
ington township. Stark county; Ohio, on the 
I2th of December, 1825, being a son of Simon 
and Keziah (White) Johnson, of whose nine 
children live are Uving at the present time, 
namely : Eliza, who has never married and who 
maintains her home in Marshall county, Iowa, 
being eighty-three years of age at the time of 
this writing; White, who resides in Holt, Ne- 
braska, and is eighty-one years old ; Simon, Jr., 
who is the subject of this sketch; Rebecca, who 
is the widow of Oliver Logan, resides with 
her sister Eliza; and Mary K. is the wife of 
Josiah Hartzell, of Canton. The original an- 
cestor in America was the great-grandfather of 
the subject. He was a native of England, where 
he was reared and educated and -when he emi- 
grated to the United States prior to the war of 
the Revolution, settling in Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, where he reared his children. His 
son Caleb, grandfather of the subject, was there 
appointed justice of the peace by Jolin Quincy 
Adams, and he remained incumbent of this 
ofhce for fifty-four consecutive years, while he 
was very intiuential in public affairs in that 
section of the old Keystone state, where he 
gave his attention to agricultural pursuits, ac- 
cumulating a tine property. He died at the 
age of eighty-five years, honored by all who 
knew him. In politics he was a stanch advocate 
of the principles of the Whig party. He had 
four sons and three daughters, namely : Ellis, 
Simon, Caleb, Jr., Job, Rebecca, Emily and 
Susan. Rebecca died unmarried, and her two 
sisters married and settled in Washington coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, while the four sons all came 
to Stark county, Ohio. Ellis Johnson came 
to this county in 1822 and located on a tract 
of land which had been entered from the gov- 
ernment by either himself or his father, and on 
a portion of this farm he later laid out the vil- 
lage of Mount Union, passing the remainder of 
his life here and being known as an upright 
man and influential citizen. He was a promi- 



nent temperance advocate in the early days and 
frequently delivered public lectures in behalf 
of the cause which lay so close to his heart. 
In 1824 Simon Johnson, Sr., father of the sub- 
ject, also came to this county and he settled a 
mile south and one-half mile east of the little 
village of Mount Union, having acquired three 
quarter-sections of wild and heavily timbered 
land prior to his removal to the county. He 
built his primitive log cabin and established 
his home in the forest wilds, and as the years 
passed by he succeeded in re-claiming and de- 
veloping his land, becoming the owner of one 
of the valuable farms of Washington town- 
ship. In 1862 he retired from the farm and 
took up his residence in Alliance, where he died 
about 1865, at the age of seventy-nine years. 
The Fairmount Children's Home is located on a 
portion of the land which he originally owned. 
He was a Whig in his political proclivities, 
but never sought the honors or emoluments of 
public office. He early became a member of the 
Christian, or Disciples, church, with which he 
continued to be actively identified until his 
death, his wife likewise being a devoted mem- 
ber of the same. The third of the brothers to 
come to Stark county was Caleb, who removed 
to Washington township from Pennsylvania 
some few years after the father of the subject 
had come thither. Caleb located on a quarter 
section of land one-half mile east of Mount 
Union, the track having been entered by his 
father. After remaining here a few years he 
returned to his old home in Pennsylvania, 
where he cared for his venerable father during 
the latter's declining years, while after an in- 
terval of about a decade he again came to Stark 
count)% where he passed the residue of his 
life, having been a Whig in politics but not 
prominent in public affairs in any way. Job 
Johnson, who was a prominent and influential 
member of the bar of Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, was the last of the four brothers 
to come to Stark countv. the exact date of his 



404 



OLD LANDMARKS 



arrival here being not ascertainable. He lo- 
cated in the vicinity of Alount Union, having 
secured from his father one hundred and sixty 
acres of land in Lexington township, where 
Mount Union College is now located. He was 
not only actively engaged in the practice of 
his profession but also conducted a mercantile 
business in Washington county, Pennsylvania, 
whither he returned after a few years' resi- 
dence in Stark county. While a resident of 
Stark county, he built the first house in Mount 
Union, in which he conducted a dry goods 
store. He founded the town of California, in 
Washington county, that state, and was a lead- 
ing member of the Pennsylvania bar, being a 
man of forceful individuality and gaining a 
high reputation as a public speaker, lx)th in the 
field of politics and that of temperance. 

Keziah (White) Johnson, the mother of 
the subject, was born in Washington count}', 
Pennsylvania, being one of the two children of 
Benjamin and Keziah White, the former of 
whom was a prominent clergyman of the old 
"hard-shell" Baptist church. He was twice 
elected to congress from his district, prior to 
the removal of the capitol to Washington, and 
was a man of fine ability and noble character. 
After the death of his wife he came to Stark 
county, and the closing years of his life were 
passed in the home of his daughter, ]Mrs. John- 
son. 

Simon Johnson, whose name initiates this 
ai'ticle was reared on the old homestead farm 
and secured his early educational training in 
the pioneer schools, later supplementing this 
by attending the ]\Ioimt Union select school 
for one term, under Professor O. N. Harts- 
horn, the founder of Mount Union College. 
He thereafter taught school for one term, af- 
ter which he continued to be identified with 
agricultural pursuits in his native township 
until his marriage, in 1851, in the autumn of 
which year he purchased what was known as 
the Simon Peiiple farm, in Knox township. 



Columbiana county, where he continued to re- 
side about eight yeai's. In 1859 he rented his 
farm and returned to Stark count}-, \\here he 
took up his residence in the city of Alliance, 
which was then but a village. Here he de- 
voted his attention for the ensuing three years 
to buying horses for the cavalry of the Union 
armies. In the meanwhile he had accumulated 
property in Alliance, and in 1S62 he exchanged 
these real-estate holdings for the old home- 
stead farm, to which he removed. Three years 
later, ho\\ever, he returned to Alliance, where 
he purchased his present spacious and attractive 
residence, on Union avenue, and this has been 
his home consecutively from that time. In 
1866 Mr. Johnson established himself in the 
insurance business in Allinace, and later his 
son Howard was admitted to partnership. They 
held the agency for the Royal and the Liverpool 
fire insurance companies and for the Traveler's 
Life Insurance Company, of Hartford, Con- 
necticut, and the firm became one of the leading 
ones of the sort in the county, continuing op- 
erations for the long period of thirty-one years 
and doing a large and important underwriting 
btisiness. In 1887 Mr. Johnson was elected 
legal ad\-isor of the Alliance Water Works 
Company, and a1x)ut fi\e years later he was 
made superintendent of the works, remaining 
in teinire of this position uiuil 1890, when the 
plant was sold to the city. While residing 
in Kno.x township, Columbiana county, ^Ir. 
Jolmson was elected justice of the peace and 
served three years. In i860 he was elected 
mayor of Alliance, and later he was four times 
again chosen to this chief executive office, his 
entire term of service covering a period of more 
than ten years, while his being repeatedly called 
to the mayoralty indicates how strong has ever 
Ijeen his hold on the confidence and esteem of 
the community. His policy was ever a pro- 
gressive one and yet he ever aimed to con- 
serve true economy in the administration of the 
municipal government in all its departments. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



405 



The water works were installed within his 
regime, while many other public improvements 
were also made. He administered the affairs 
of the office with mature judgment and with 
rigid grasp of details, and his record as mayor 
is one which will ever merit a place of honor 
on the pages of the city's history. Since com- 
ing to Alliance Mr. Johnson has been three 
times elected to the office of justice of the peace, 
and his third term will expire in December, 
1906. He is essentially and insistently public- 
spirited and takes a lively interest in all that 
makes for the progress and material prosperity 
of his home city and county. In politics he 
has ever given an unequivocal allegiance to 
the Republican party, and while he was serv- 
ing as mayor of Alliance the late lamented 
President McKinley was prosecuting attorney 
of the county, and thus they had many business 
affairs in common, cementing a personal friend- 
ship which remained inviolate until the dis- 
tinguished President met his martyrdom. In 
1 86 1 Air. Johnson became a member of the 
Chri.stian church, and he has been a zealous and 
consistent worker in the same, having held the 
various official positions in the church, of which 
his wife likewise is an active member. Fra- 
ternally he is identified with Conrad Lodge No. 
271. Free and Accepted Masons. 

On the 3d of April, 1861, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Johnson to Miss Jane Teet- 
ers, who was born in Alliance, being a daugh- 
ter of John and Mary (Cook) Teeters, who 
were honored pioneers of the county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Johnson became the parents of five 
children, two of whom are deceased : Lodge 
M.. who died at the age of twenty-five years, 
and Rosetta, w-ho passed away at the age of 
seven. The three li\ing children are as fol- 
lows : J. Howard, who is a prominent insur- 
ance agent in the city of Cleveland; Mary K., 
who was for eight years superintendent of the 
Bell telephone exchange in .\lliance, being 
the only \\oman ever incumbent of such posi- 



tion in the state, and she is now the wife of 
Jesse Grimes, of Alliance; and William, who 
is superintendent of the Bell Telephone Com- 
pany's interests in Alabama and Florida, main- 
taiiiing his headquarters in JNIontgomery, Ala- 
bama. 



MARK HAMBLETON is a native of the 
Buckeye state, havnig been born in Letart 
Falls, Meigs county, Ohio, on the 24th of 
May, 1879. There he received his early edu- 
cational training, and in 1889, when he was 
ten years of age, his parents removed to the 
city of Columbus, Ohio, where he continued to 
attend the public schools until he had attained 
the age of sixteen years, after which he com- 
pleted a course of study in Lixingston's Busi- 
ness College, in that city. He then initiated 
his business career by entering the employ of 
a memorial supply house in the capacity of trav- 
eling representative, the headquarters of the 
establishment being in the city of Muncie, In- 
diana. He remained with this concern for one 
year and then became a collector for the in- 
stallment house of C. R. Parish & Company, of 
Columbus, Ohio, being identified with this con- 
cern until coming to Canton, in 1899. At the 
time of leaving the employ of the firm of C. R. 
Parish & Company, -Mr. Hambleton was in- 
cumbent of the responsible position of state 
auditor of the same, having familiarized him- 
self with the various departments and details 
of the business and having gained the confi- 
dence and esteem of his employers through his 
efficient and discriminating service. In June, 
1899, in Canton, Mr. Hambleton brought 
about the organization of the Alark Hamble- 
ton Company, for the purpose of handling fur- 
niture on the installment plan, and in November 
of the following year other persons became in- 
terested in the concern, and an extensive busi- 
ness has been built up throughout this part of 
the state, the thorough business ability and pro- 



4o6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



gressive meiliods of tiie subject of this sketch, 
as combined witli liis intimate knowledge of 
the details of enterprises thus conducted, hav- 
ing been the potent factors in insuring so grat- 
ifying success, in ^larch, 1902, Mr. Hamble- 
ton purchased an interest in the business of the 
Southern Gum Company, manufacturers of the 
well known and popular brand of chewing gum 
known as "Try Me." Of this company he was 
made secretary and treasurer, as is he also of 
the company first mentioned, and he has gained 
an enviable reputation as a straightforward and 
enterprising yonng business man of marked 
executive and administrative ability. In poli- 
tics he gives his allegiance to the Republican 
party, and his religious views are in harmony 
with the faith of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, in which he was reared. 

In the city of Canton, on the nth of No- 
vember, 1 90 1. Mr. Hambleton was united in 
marriage to !Miss Delia Steinbaugh, daughter 
of George Steinbaugh, of this city, and of this 
union has been born one child, Nellie Doris. 

The first representative of the Hambleton 
family in America was the great-grandfather 
of the subject, who immigrated hither from 
England, taking up his residence in Pennsyl- 
vania in an early day. From that state 
Wyley Hambleton, grandfather of the sub- 
ject, came to Ohio with his family soon after 
the establishment of the old fort at Marietta, 
remaining at that place a short interval and then 
taking up his abode in the wilderness of what 
is now Morgan county, becoming one of the 
earliest settlers in that section of the state. 
The maiden name of his wife was Wood, she 
being- a representative of an old and honored 
Quaker family residing in the vicinity of the 
city of Philadelphia. Wyley Hambleton be- 
came a typical pioneer of the sterling sort, hav- 
ing been a great hunter and Indian fighter. 

Oscar Hambleton, father of the subject of 
this review, was born on the old homestead in 
Morgan county, Ohio, and became a cooper by 



occupation, and he now resides in Canton. At 
the time of the Ci\'il war he tendered his ser- 
vices in defense of the Union, enlisting as a 
member of the Third West Virginia Volunteer 
Cavalry, with which he served three years, hav- 
ing been aide-de-camp on the stafif of General 
Sheridan during the memorable Shenandoah 
campaign, and having- an intimate knowledge 
of the conditions existing at the time of that 
general's famous ride from a distance "forty 
miles away." In Meigs county, Ohio, he mar- 
ried Miss Lavina Sayer, and they became the 
parents of six children, of whom the subject 
was the fifth in order of birth. 



ISRAEL G. TOLERTON is a native of 
Columbiana county, Ohio, born October 4, 
1838, in the city of Salem, being the son of 
Robert and Zilpha Tolerton. The father, a 
native of County Antrim, Ireland, was brought 
to the United States by his parents when a small 
boy and grew to maturity in the town of Salem, 
marrying there when a young man Miss Zilpha 
Rozell Gaskill. who bore him three children, 
two of whom survive, the subject of this re- 
view^ and Frances A., wife of A. H. Phillips, of 
Columbiana county. Shortly after his mar- 
riage Robert Tolerton settled on a farm in the 
alxive county and from a small beginning grad- 
ually pushed to the front as an energetic agri- 
culturist, becoming in a few years one of the 
largest land owners and successful real estate 
dealers in that section of the state. He pos- 
sessed unusual business capacity and in addi- 
tion to his agricultural and landed interests 
turned his attention to various other enter]5rises, 
becoming one of the heaviest stockholders in 
the Farmers National Bank of Salem, an in- 
stitution to which he sustained the relation of 
director tor a number of years and to 
the success of which he contributed by his in- 
fluence and able advice as well as by means of 
his financial investments. Mr. Tolerton was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



407 



not only a successful financier and shrewd, far- 
seeing man of affairs, but he was also a power 
in the politics in his part of the country, having 
been one of the leading Republicans of Col- 
umbiana county although the only one of his 
father's family to ally himself with that party. 
He manifested a lively interest in public mat- 
ters, was instrumental in formulating and di- 
recting the policy of his party in local affairs 
and as a leader of opinion his influence was per- 
haps as great, if not greater, than that of any 
of his compeers. Born in the society of 
Friends, he remained a faithful and consistent 
member of the same to the end of his days, his 
life at all times corresponding with the plain, 
simple teachings in which he was reared. This 
able, resourceful business man and excellent 
citizen lived a long and useful life and had 
passed the age of four score when called from 
the scenes of his earthly labors in the year 
1886. He left as the most enduring monu- 
ment to perpetuate his memory a good name 
and an honorable reputation, both of which are 
still cherished not only by his immediate de- 
scendants but by the people among whom he 
so long associated and who profited so much 
by his helpful influence and material assis- 
tance. 

The early life of Israel G. Tolerton was 
spent under the excellent infiuences of his 
parents' training and after completing the com- 
mon branches he pursued the more advanced 
branches of learning for some years in the 
Salem Seminary, an educational institution of 
high repute, conducted by the Society of 
Friends. On attaining his majority he began 
his career as a teacher and after filling that line 
of work for three years abandoned the profes- 
sion for the more satisfactory and remunera- 
tive vocation of agriculture. In i86_^ he chose 
a companion and helpmate in the person of 
Miss Esther Koll, daughter of the late Daniel 
Koll. of Salem, for many years a prominent 
business man and influential citizen of that city. 



and immediately thereafter settled on a farm 
of one hundred and five acres in Columbiana 
county belonging to his father, which he cul- 
tivated until acquiring sufficient means to pur- 
chase the place. 

Mr. Tolerton spent twenty-four busy and 
successful years on this farm, during which 
time he not only prosecuted agriculture with 
encouraging results but also devoted his atten- 
tion largely to other means of acquiring wealth, 
among which were a grist-mill, a threshing 
machine, a cane-mill, and in addition to operat- 
ing these he also dealt quite extensively in real 
estate and all kinds of live stock, realizing 
from all of his undertakings liberal financial 
gains. Mr. Tolerton inherited his father's re- 
sourceful nature and capacity for business and 
everything to which he addressed himself seems 
to have prospered. In order to find a larger 
field for the exercise of his talents he left the 
farm in 1887 and moved to Alliance where he 
engaged in the real estate business, investing 
his available capital in farm lands and city 
property, which, increasing in value with each 
recurring year, soon grew into a fortune of 
considerable magnitude. In 1888 he purchased 
a half interest with C. G. Burns in an enterprise 
for the manufacture of building blocks, drain 
and sewer pipe, drain tile, etc., which business, 
under the firm name of Burns & Tolerton. soon 
took its place ann)ng the most important of the 
city's industries. Subsequently he turned his in- 
terest in the concern over to his son, the late Ed- 
gar R. Tolerton, and buying out his partner, 
Mr. Burns, conducted the business for some 
time under the style of Tolerton & Son. Dis- 
posing of the machinery, the firm made a 
specialty in handling coal and timber and it was 
while dealing in these lines that the junior mem- 
ber. Edgar R., died in 18Q4, his younger 
brother, Howard D., succeeding to his interest 
that year. Six years after the latter date a 
complete planing-mill was added to the estab- 
lishment, since which time the firm of Tolerton 



408. 



OLD LANDMARKS 



& Son have done a large and flourishing busi- 
ness in that line, in addition to which they also 
deal extensi\eh' in all kinds of plain and fin- 
ished hnnher and building material, wood and 
coal. etc. 

]\Ir. Tolerton, in 1892, took an active part 
in establishing the City Savings Bank of Alli- 
ance and upon the organization of the institu- 
tion he was made a member of the discount 
board. Subsequently, 1897, he succeeded C. 
C. Davidson as vice-president of the bank and 
this position he has since held, discharging the 
duties of the same in an able, business-like man- 
ner which implies a practical knowledge of 
banking and a familiarity witli financial ques- 
tions in' their relation to the commercial and 
industrial interests of the country. While es- 
sentially a busmess man, and as such easily 
the peer of any of his c^jntemporaries, Mr. Tol- 
erton has always exhibited a commendal^le pul)- 
lic spirit and a pardonable pride in everything 
relating to the material prosperity, social im- 
provement and moral and intellectual advance- 
ment of the city of his residence. 

Mr. and Mrs. Tolerton are the parents of 
six children, only three of whom are living, 
namely: Rose, wife of J- C. Northend, of 
Canton; Howard D., his father's business 
partner, and Martha J., who is the wife of S. 
A. Kinsey, of the firm of Walse & Kinsey, shoe 
dealers. Mr. Tolerton is a birth-right member 
of the Society of Friends, but of recent years 
he has attended the Disciple church of Alli- 
ance. With him religion is largely a matter 
of conscience and to li\e according to one's best 
light and do as he would be done by, is his best 
and most comprehensive creed. 



HORACE G. McDowell was born on 
the farm where he now resides. September 7, 
1853. His father was James McDowell, born 
September 9. 1809. in Cinnberland county. 



Pennsylvania, and his mother's maiden name 
was Elizabeth Hildenbrand, born in what is 
now Jackson township, then Plain township, 
Stark county, Ohio, in 1812. They were mar- 
ried in April. 1836, in Stark county, and im- 
mediately settled upon the farm where the sub- 
ject now resides. She died in Noveml)er,i868, 
and he in February, 1900, on tlie same farm 
whereon they settled at the time of their niar- 
riag^e, he being at the time of his death in his 
eighty-first year. They were the parents of 
eight children, viz.: Henry, deceased; Mar- 
garet, wife of Hiram \V. Firestone, both now 
deceased; James K., a farmer of Jackson town- 
ship; Adam C. cashier of the Farmers' Bank 
at Canton; Thomas C. was the leading spirit 
in the organization of the Farmers' Bank of 
Canton in 1874, but is now deceased ; Elizabeth, 
deceased; Horace G., the subject of this sketch, 
and Sarah, deceased. 

Upon the farm whereon he was born and 
where he now resides Horace G. McDowell was 
reared. His life was devoid of other interest 
than that which fills up the measure of boyhood 
life g^enerally on the farm. He attended the 
common schools and the knowledge and infor- 
mation which he secured through them speak 
well for his intelligence, industry and assiduity. 
In 1874 he began teaching school in his native 
township, but followed that calling only two 
winters. Even as a boy he was deeply inter- 
ested in the work of the farm and the raising 
of stock and having aljandoned the calling of 
an instructor, applied himself more closely to 
agricultural pursuits. Li 1885 he became act- 
ing cashier of the Farmers' Bank of Canton and 
served in that capacity for two years and on 
the death of his brother, Thomas C he was 
elected cashier and a member of the Iward of 
directors. For five years he performed the 
duties of that position, when, becoming weary 
of the confinement, responsibility and nervous 
strain which financial positions always entail, 
he sold his interest and resigned his position 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



409 



in the bank, and since then he has given his 
entire attention to agricuUural pursuits. 

On April 14, 1887, Horace G. McDowell 
was united in marriage to Miss Huber, a native 
of Plain township, bom April 22, 1868. She 
was a lady of intelligence, refinement, good 
education and many accomplishments, the 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ulrich Huber, who 
were among the oldest settlers of the county. 
To Mr. and Mrs. McDowell four children ha\e 
been lx)rn, viz. : James H., Thomas C, Beulah 
M. and Horace G.. Jr- 

During his lifetime, James McDowell, 
father of the subject, was an extensive breeder 
and feeder of stock of all kinds, but for many 
years made a specialty of sheep. A flock of the 
famous Dickinson Spanish Merino sheep was 
raised by him which was of such excellent 
quality that a national register was established 
for it in 1894, it being mainly through the ef- 
forts of the subject that the register was se- 
cured. His farm consists of six hundred and 
forty acres, improved to the highest degree 
and supplied with every necessary appliance 
which modern invention has produced. The 
buildings are all that could be desired for a 
farm so large, well stocked and amply equipped. 
Few residences in the smaller cities of the state 
are as handsome, well finished and richly 
furnished as is the splendid home upon 
the McDowell farm. The barn for such 
a farm must necessarily be large, but it 
is in tlie arrangement, ventilation, pro- 
visions made to promote cleanliness and 
the convenience of every detail that this 
substantial structure which adorns this 
farm excells. After viewing the premises one 
cannot but commend the judgment of Mr. Mc- 
Dowell in escaping from behind the bank 
counter and taking up the life of the agricultur- 
ist. He always keeps a flock of from five hun- 
dred to one thousand head of sheep of the 
breed referred to above, and also breeds on an 
extensive scaie polled Jersey and Shorthorn 



cattle and standard-bred Percheron draft and 
trotting horses. Of every head of stock upon 
the farm the owner is justly proud. 

In politics, up to 1888, Mr. McDowell affili- 
ated with the Democratic party and took a very 
active part in pulilic affairs. That year de- 
termined him to become a Republican and 
each successive year since then has still more 
firmly welded him to that party. He identifies 
himself with no religious denomination, but 
commends the good in every religious creed 
and devotes a snug sum each year out of his 
income to charitable and religious purposes. 
For many years he has been a member of the 
Grange, but has never joined any other fra- 
ternal order. He is secretary of th« Dickinson 
Merino Sheep Record Company, vice-president 
of the Farmers' Bank of Canton and has been 
a member of the board of directors of the bank 
for several years. As his career indicates, he 
is a student not only of letters and of men, but 
of life in every form, particularly in the animal 
kingdom. Personally he is genial and kind, 
approachable and hospitable, one of those suc- 
cessful men in whom inordinate vanity has not 
been engendered because of the splendid ap- 
plication they have made of the gifts which 
nature bestowed upon them. In his case the 
opportunity to succeed may not have sought 
the man, but most certainly the man sought and 
took advantage of the opportunity. He has 
been on the board of education of Plain town- 
ship for eight years, and it at present president 
of the board. 



D. E. ROGERS.—The spirit of a pure, 
noble and earnest life burned in the mortal 
tenement of the late D. E. Rogers, than whom 
no more able young attorney was ever engaged 
in practice at the bar of Stark county, and 
when he was called from the scene of life's 
labors in the very flower of his manhood all 
who had known him or of him felt that the 



410 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ways of Providence was indeed inscrutable, 
while in his home city of Alliance there was 
manifest an almost uniform sense of personal 
bereavement. In this publication no better 
tribute can perhaps be paid than that which 
appeared, at the time of his death, in the col- 
umns of the Alliance Daily Review of January 
Id, 1903, his death having occurred on the pre- 
ceding day. 

" 'Death loves a shining mark,' and Thurs- 
day evening, at fifteen minutes past seven 
o'clock, came the inexorable summons to D. E. 
Rogers, one of tlie most brilliant attorneys who 
e\er practiced in Alliance. On Saturday, De- 
cember 27, Mr. Rogers was suddenly bereft of 
reason while attending the hearing of an equity 
case in Youngstovvn. He was. brought to his 
home in Alliance and given every possible care. 
His trouble could not be accurately diagnosed, 
but all of his friends were of the opinion that 
he was suffering from overwork. He was 
kept here a few days and then sent to a private 
sanitarium at Cuyahoga Falls for treatment. 
Here the specialists decided that he was suffer- 
ing from anemia of the brain, the nerve cells of 
the brain not receiving adequate nourishment 
from the blood and thus causing" the collapse. 
Tiie specialist gave slight hope of his ultimate 
recovery, and on Thursday afternoon he began 
to sink, and a few hours later he died, with his 
faithful and heartbroken wife by his side. His 
death was not unexpected, but its announce- 
ment was met with universal regret. As a man 
J\Ir. Rogers stood high in the estimation of his 
fellows. Bold and fearless in the advocacy of 
his convictions, he stood out from the common 
run of men as one who acted on principle 
from principle. He was a public speaker of 
ability and a politician of power. As an ora- 
tor few men of his age could surpass him. and 
as a logical thinker he took rank among the 
highest. His early education was of the com- 
mon school order, but from the time of his 
graduation he was an indefatigable student, in- 



terested in scientific and theoretic subjects to an 
unusual degree, and it is possii)le that his 
early demise is due m some measure to his pro- 
clivity for reading heavy literature. Poring 
over such authors as Darwin and Huxley and 
works on psychological subject robbed him of 
many a night's rest, until at last nature cried 
out in distress, snapi)ing the golden cord of life. 
He is survived by his wife and one son, Floyd, 
aged eleven years.'" 

In its editorial columns of the same issue the 
Review spoke in part as follows : "In the death 
of D. E. Rogers Alliance loses a man of the 
highest moral worth — one whose daily life was 
an ispiration to all who are trying to lead 
Chrisrian lives. Of the firmest belief in the 
teachings of the lowly Nazarene, he ever lab- 
ored to bring others to repentance, that they 
also might receive the promised reward of a 
life well and truly spent. Of unquestioned 
ability, integrity and worth, he received at the 
hands of his fellowmen just recogition in busi- 
ness and social affairs. He was a leader among 
men. 'His life was gentle, and the elements 
so mixed in him that nature might stand up and 
say to all the world. "This was a man !" ' " 

D. E. Rogers was born in Randolph. 
Portage county, Ohio, on the i6th of May, 
1 868, being the son of Volney and ^lary E. 
(Perkins) Rogers, both of whom were natives 
of Ohio. He was strong in his convictions and 
permitted no compromise Avith conscience in 
thought, word or deed, but lie understood the 
wellsprings of human sentiment and action and 
was thus ever tolerant in his judgment of others. 
After availing himself of such educational ad- 
vantages as were afforded in the public schools 
of his nati\e town Mr. Rogers entered the com- 
mercial department of the Normal University 
at .\da, Hardin county, where he was gradu- 
ated as a member of the class of 1886. He had 
previously been associated with his father in the 
stock business, in which connection he gained 
valuable experience, while he early manifested 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



411 



that self-reliant spirit and self-control Avhich 
later gained him so distinctive prestige. 

After leaving school he began reading law 
in the office of John H. Dussel, of Ravenna, and 
in October, 1890, upon examination, he was 
duly admitted to the bar of the state. He be- 
gan the practice of his profession in company 
with his former preceptor, and later, in 1893, 
entered into partnership with Sheldon F. 
Hanselman, of Ravenna. Upon the forma- 
tion of this partnership he went to Alliance, 
where he opened an office, under the firm name 
of Hanselman & Rogers, his partner still re- 
maining in Ravenna, and this alliance continued 
about three years, at the expiration of which 
time the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Rog- 
ers thereafter continuing the office in his own 
name. 

In March, 1898, William L. Hart was ad- 
mitted to partnership, and thereafter the firm 
was known as Rogers & Hart until the death of 
its senior member. Mr. Rogers was elected 
to the office of city solicitor of Alliance in 1898 
and served consecutively until the spring of 
igo2. In this exacting position he distinguished 
himself by his remarkable knowledge of munic- 
ipal law. Of his labors in this connection the 
Alliance Review gives the following apprecia- 
tive estimate : "He performed the duties of 
the office as he saw them, and that without fear 
or favor, and he was especially zealous in his 
efforts to prevent the illegal or ill-advised ex- 
penditure of the city's funds. In doing this he 
was frequently brought into controversy with 
the entire council. He never flinched, however, 
and maintained his position against all odds. 
When he was elected solicitor the city was en- 
gaged in litigation in nearly all courts, and 
when he retired there was not a case on any 
docket. His wise and conservative rulings not 
only secured the settlement of suits but also 
averted many which might have been 
started." 

In politics Mr. Rogers was a stalwart sup- 



porter of the Republican party, and he did 
much efl:'ective work in behalf of the party 
cause, in which line his services as a public 
speaker on the issues of the day were in fre- 
quent requisition. Fraternally he was identi- 
fied with Conrad Lodge No. 271, Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons; Lone Rock Lodge No. 23, 
Knights of Pythias; the Junior Order of 
United American Mechanics; and the Alliance 
Camp No. 4688, Modern Woodmen of Ameri- 
ca. In these social organizations his genial 
personality made him most popular, as did it in 
all the relations and walks of life, while he in- 
variably commanded the respect of all with 
whom he came in contact, no matter how con- 
flicting their views on various subjects. His 
was a fine and well balanced mentality and his 
erudition was broad and comprehensive, as the 
result of constant study and research. 

The tribute from which we have previously 
quoted continues as follows : "He was in con- 
stant demand as a public speaker, owing to hfs 
great ability as an orator and his high standing 
as a scholar. Rarely a week passed that he did 
not have a call from some source to deliver a 
lecture on biblical subjects. He also delivered 
many lectures in the interest of the Anti-Saloon 
League, which represented a movement with 
which his well known principles naturally allied 
him. In his church work he was constant and 
earnest, following the tithing plan in his sup- 
port of the church, that is, diverting one-tenth 
of his income to religious work." He was for 
nearly five years superintendent of the Sunday 
school of the First Methodist Episcopal church, 
with which he identified himself upon coming 
to Alliance, and he retired from this office to 
accept a position as teacher of the largest class 
of young ladies in the school, continuing as 
their instructor until the time of his final illness. 

On the 2 1 St of December, 1890, Mr. Rogers 
was united in marriage to Miss Florence M. 
York, who was lx)rn and reared in Randolph, 
Portage county, being, a daughter of John B. 



412 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and Margaret (Clock) York, of that place. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Rogers one son was born, 
Floyd Alfred, born April 12, 1892. 



SAMUEL SELL was born in the midst of 
the primitive forest of Osnaburg township, 
this county, on the 14th of January, 182 1, the 
home in which he was born having been a rude 
cabin of round logs, with clapboard doors 
fitted with wooden hinges and the customary 
latch string of the pioneer tlays. His father, 
David Sell, was a millwright by trade, and as 
there were two others of exactly the same name 
he was customarily referred to as David Sell the 
millwright. He was bom in Adams county, 
Pennsylvania, in 1789. and was there reared to 
manhood, learning the trades of millwright 
and cabinetmaker. He first came to Ohio in 
the year 1809, and for a time lived in the home 
c^f Da\iil Bachtel, in Canton township, this 
county. He then returned to Peimsylvania. 
where he remamed until 181 1, when, in com- 
pany witli his three brothers, he again came to 
Stark county, all settling on wild land east of 
Canton, which was then a straggling village in 
the midst of the virgin forest. In 18 14 there 
came to the county, from a point near Reading, 
Berks county, Pennsylvania, Lewis Moon and 
his family, and at a neighborhood flax-pulling 
it was the privilege of the father of our subject 
to form the acquaintance of Miss Elizabeth 
Moon, a daughter of the pioneer mentioned, 
and the outcome was that this acquaintance 
ripened into mutual affection and regard, and 
soon the community witnessetl the marriage of 
the two young folks, who began their married 
life in the woods of Osnaburg township, where 
Mr. Sell had secured a small tract of land, upon 
which no impro\-ements had been made. He 
erected the first mill in that section of the 
coimty, and there passed the remainder of his 



life, his death occurring in 1835. while there- 
after his widow and sons remained on the farm, 
which they developed and improved. Both he 
and his wife were devoted members of the Ger- 
man Reformed church, and in politics he was 
a stanch advocate of the principles of the Dem- 
ocratic party. He was a man of fine mental 
gifts, having lieen well educated in both Eng- 
lish and German, and he was honored by all 
who knew him, while his influence was ever 
exerted in behalf of the advancement of the 
community along all mora! and legitimate lines. 
His wife was summoned into eternal rest at the 
age of seventy-seven years, her death having 
occurred on the old homestead. Of their eight 
children we enter the following data : Chris- 
tina married Samuel Shultz and is now de- 
ceased; Samuel, subject of this sketch, was the 
next in order of birth ; John, who is now eighty- 
one years of age, still resides in Osnaburg 
township; Catherine is the wife of John Shef- 
fer, of Louisville, this cnunty ; David died in 
the prime of manhaotl ; Lewis died in April, 
1903; Daniel died in his seventy-fourth year; 
Elizabeth died in childhood; and Jacob is a 
resident of Wayne c<iunty, Ohio. 

Samuel Sell was reared to the strenuous dis- 
cipline <)f the pioneer farm upon which he was 
l>orn. and was but fourteen years of age at the 
time of his father's death, and upon him and 
his elder brother fell the greater portion of the 
responsibility of carrying on the farm work 
from th.it time. His scholastic training was 
limited to an attendance in the primitive log 
school-house of the locality, where he pursued 
his studies during the three-months winter 
terms for eight years, but thereafter his ambi- 
tion and appreciation led him to individually 
continue his application at home, where he 
often studied after the day's work until one or 
two o'clock in the morning. When but ten 
years of age he began to assist in the work of 
clearing and otherwise improving the home- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



413 



stead farm, and later he was employed at in- 
tervals on neighboring farms. 

On the 25th of January, 1849, Air. Sell was 
united in marriage to Miss Catherine Reed, 
daughter of Jacob Reed, commonly known 
as Captain Reed, who came to Stark county 
from Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 1840. 
He was a fine marksman with the rifle, 
as was also the subject, and they par- 
ticipated in many contests to determine their 
respective skill. Mr. Sell was known as an 
enthusiastic and successful hunter in his day, 
and brought down much game, which was then 
plentiful. It is a matter of record that he 
killed twenty-one 'squirrels in twenty-two shots, 
and in the various contests in the county, where 
hogs, turkeys and other such trophies were of- 
fered as prizes for the best markmanship, he 
won many such rewards. 

After his marriage Mr. Sell located on one- 
half of the old homestead farm, which included 
one hundred and sixty acres, and he cleared 
and improved his portion, becoming one of the 
successful farmers of the locality and there 
continued to reside for the long period of 
thirty-three years, having disposed of the prop- 
erty m 1882, while he had taken up his resi- 
dence in his present home in Canton the pre- 
ceding year, and here he has since lived retired. 
In politics he is a stalwart Republican, and 
while living on the farm he served for many 
years as township trustee, being held in the 
highest regard in the community and having 
the confidence of all who knew him. He is a 
member of the German Reformed church, as 
was also his cherished and devoted wife, who 
remained his companion and helpmate for near- 
ly a half century, being summoned into eternal 
rest on the loth of March, 1893, her gentle and 
noble womanhood having endeared her to a 
wide circle of friends. Of her six children four 
survive: Mary A., who is the wife of Daniel 
Tice, of Osnaburg township; Sarah A., whore- 
mains with her father; Ellen, who is the wife 



of John Byler, of Nimishillen township, this 
county; and Wallace, who resides with his 
father. Oliver died at the age of thirty-eight 
years and Emeline at the age of twenty. 



JOHN A. SCHELLHASE.— Among the 
worth}^ and honored citizens of Canton who 
have fought their way to success through in- 
dividual effort is Mr. Schellhase, who conducts 
a large and prosperous business as a maiui- 
facturer of and dealer in wagons, buggies, car- 
riages and spring wagons, while he also makes 
a specialty of wagon and carriage smithing, 
horseshoeing and general repairing in wood 
and iron, his well-equipped shop being located 
at 114-116 Commerce street. When Mr. Schell- 
hase came to Canton, in 1874, his capitalistic 
resources were represented in the sum of about 
seven and one-half dollars, and within the 
quarter of a century which has elapsed he has 
gained precedence as one of the progressive 
and influential business men of the county and 
is in control of an enterprise which gives him 
a place in the representative industrial circles 
of the city of Canton. Upon locating in Can- 
ton, Mr. Schellhase rented a small room and 
started a modest shop in the handling of all 
kinds of repairs upon vehicles. This shop 
was located on East Fourth street, was sixteen 
by twenty feet in dimensions and had previously 
been known as the Joshua (jibbs plow shop. 
There he continued operations until 1877, and 
within the intervening time he had saved enough 
money to enable him to make the purchase of 
a city lot, a partial payment lieing- made on the 
same. In 1876 he erected a residence on this 
lot, at 1 014 Washington avenue, this lieing at 
that time considered a practical suburban sec- 
tion of the city, but few houses having been 
erected on the street, and our subject recalls 
the fact that at the time he took up his abode 
in his new domicile the view from the same 
through to North street was entirelv unob- 



414 



OLD LANDMARKS 



stracted by bniklmu-s. In 1877 he closed his 
wagon sliup and accepted a position in the 
wood-working department of the shops of the 
C. Aultman Company, mannfactnrers of agri- 
cultural machinery, and thereafter he contin- 
ued in the employ of this concern for a period 
of eleven years. In 1888 he entered the employ 
of the Banner Manufacturing Company, but 
shortly afterward he was prevailed upon to 
again establish himself in an independent busi- 
ness and to lease, frx3m Henry Bierwirth, Jr., 
a portion of the ground on which his present 
shop is located. His cash capital aggregated 
only one hundred and twenty-hve dollars at the 
time, but he was reinforced by a thorough 
knowledge of his trade, being a skilled work- 
man, antl l)v an indomitable energy and that 
self-reliance of which success is the natural 
concomitant. On his leased land he erected 
a small frame building, having in \'iew' the 
plan that if his \enture did not succeed accord- 
ing to his expectations, he could remove the 
building to anothen location and convert the 
s'ame into a dwelling. His first year's business 
proved most gratifying, and instead of trans- 
forming his shop into a residence he found it 
practically imperative to make an addition to 
the same in order to properly accommodate his 
increasing Inisiness. At this time he effected 
the purciiase of one-half of the ground now 
owned and utilized, and erected a two-story 
building, thirty-eight 1)_\' thirty-two feet in di- 
mensions, \\hile he here established a painting 
and trimming de])artment to his enterprise, 
which had formerly consisted only of iron and 
wood work. Later he purcliased his present 
blacksmith shop, which was originally a one- 
story liuilding, the second story having been 
added by him to meet the demands placed upon 
the business, and his ])resent plant has an ag- 
gregate frontage of eighty feet, on Commerce 
street, with a depth of forty feet, while the 
buildings are all two stories in height and of 
substantial order. In the blacksmith shop Mr. 



Schellhase employs one jnan who devotes his 
entire attention to wagon and carriage smith- 
ing, and another whose time is given to horse- 
shc^ieing. while during the major portion of the 
\ear the corps of employes numbers about 
se\en skilled operatives. Mr. Schellhase still 
resides in the home on Washington avenue, in 
what is now one of the thickly settled sections 
of the city, marked by attractive and valuable 
homes, and upon his own original dwelling he 
has made many improvements, so that it is one 
of the pleasant residence properties in this divis- 
ion of the city. He is also the owner of two 
other city lots and another dwelling, which he 
rents, and he is known as a loyal and progres- 
sive citizen, taking a deep interest in all that 
concerns the welfare of the place in w hich he 
has so long made his home and in which he has 
attained so noteworthy success through well 
directed endeavor, while he commands the un- 
qualified esteem of all who know him. 

John A. Schellhase comes of stanch German 
lineage and is a native of the old Keystone 
state of the Union, ha\'ing been born in Cham- 
bersburg, Franklin county, Pennsxhania. on 
the 2 1st of July, 1852. There he attended the 
public schools until he had attained the age of 
fourteen years, when he entered upon an ap- 
prenticeship at the trade of wagon and carriage 
making, receiving his instruction tinder the di- 
rection of his uncle, John A. Schellhase, at 
Staufiferstown, a small village in his nati\e 
county. In 1872 he started forth as a journey- 
man, proceeding to Indiana in search of em- 
ployment, and there remaining until the tVillow- 
ing year. In the autumn of 1873 he returned 
home and there remained until the following 
spring, when he again set forth to seek a posi- 
tion, and finding nothing promising came to 
Canton and started his little independent busi- 
ness enter])rise, as has been already noted in 
this cc^ntext, as have also the successive stages 
in his business career from that time forward. 
In politics Mr. Schellhase is a stanch advocate 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



4>5 



of the specific principles achanced by the Pro- 
hibition party, wliile he has also given his sup- 
port at times to the Labor party, being- inde- 
pendent of strict partisan dictates. He is a 
prominent and \alued member of Trinity Re- 
formed clnnxdi, in which he is incumbent of the 
office of deacon, his wife likewise being a de- 
voted member. Fraternally he is identified 
with the Knights and Ladies of Security, of 
the local organization of which he has been 
treasurer for the past fifteen years. 

Adam Schellhase, the father of the subject, 
was born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany, in the 
year 1832, and when seventeen years of age he 
came to the United States, settling near 
Chambersburg, state of Pennsylvania, where he 
still maintains his home. He is a wagon- 
maker iiy trade and was actively engaged in the 
work of the same for fully thirty years. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Ber- 
ger, was likewise born in Germany, in the year 
1836, and both are worthy members of the Re- 
formed church. They became the parents of 
twelve children, of whom eleven are still living. 

In the city of Canton, on the i8th of May, 
1876. was solemnized the marriage of John A. 
Schellhase to Miss Emma E. Riegler, who was 
born in Canton, being' a daughter of George 
and Elizalieth Riegler, and of this union ha\e 
been born two children, Flora, wdio remains at 
the parental home, and Hattie, who is the wife 
of C^harles Barker, of Canton. 



CHARLES W. KEPLINGER.— The 
Keplinger family in America appeaiis to have 
had its origin in Pennsyh-ania. in various parts 
o[ which state the name has been familiar from 
a very early day. Daniel Keplinger, the sub- 
ject's grandfather, a native of Lancaster coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, migrated to Stark county. 
Ohio, prior to the year 1833 and settled on a 
farm in Osnaburg township, where he lived for 
some time as an industrious tiller of the soil. 



subsequently remo\-ing to the county of Craw- 
ford. There he became a man of considerable 
local note, having been elected to the oftice of 
sheriff, in which position he was serving his 
second term, when accidentally killed by being- 
thrown from his buggy while in the discharge 
of his oihcial duties. He married and had 
eight children, four sons and four daughters, 
the eldest of whom was Jacob, the father of 
the subject of this review. Jacob Keplinger 
w-as born and reared in Stark county, Ohio, 
grew to maturity on his father's farm and re- 
ceived such educational training as the common 
schools could impart. When a young man he 
engaged in railroad work and has been identi- 
fied with that business ever since, having spent 
over forty-six years in the employ of the Penn- 
s}-l\ania Company, din-ing the greater part of 
which time his residence has been at Ft. Wayne, 
Lidiana, where he now lives. He is one of the 
oldest and most experienced as well as one of 
the most trusted employes of that large and in- 
fluential system, standing high in the confidence 
of his superiors and dis(iharging worthily every 
trust reposed in him by those in authority. 
Jacob Keplinger married Elizabeth Carper and 
is the father of nine children, the subject of 
this sketch being the oldest of the number. 

Charles W. Keplinger was born September 
12, 1859. in Ft. Wayne, Lidiana, and spent 
his childliood and }-outh in that city, acquiring 
a fair educational discipline in the graded 
schools. When a lad of fifteen he entered the 
eniploy of George Dewald, a prominent mer- 
chant of Ft. Wayne, and was soon made book- 
keeper of the establishment, which posititin he 
held with credit to himself and satisfaction to 
all concerned for a period of five years, when 
he resigned and came to Canton. Here he be- 
came bookkeeper in Isaac Harter & Sons' bank 
and after continuing in that capacity during the 
twelve 3-ears ensuing, was promoted cashier, 
which responsible position he is holding at the 
present time. Diu'ing the }ears of his connec- 



4i6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tion with the bank tlie affairs of the institution 
have lieen most creiUtably managed and not a 
htlle of its popularity and success are due to 
the able and satisfactory manner in which he 
has discharged his official functions. Mr. 
Keplinger is an accomplished business man. 
famdiar with e\'ery dctad oi Ijanking. and as 
a financier ranks with the ablest of his com- 
peers. 

In additiiMi to his connection with tlie bank- 
ing business. .Mr. Keplinger is identified with 
several other industries, being a director in the 
Metropolitan r'a\ing Brick Company, a director 
of the Canton Artificial Ice Company, in which 
he also hijlds the two-fold ofiice of secretarv and 
treasurer, besides ha\ing large interests in the 
Canton I'ole and Shaft Company and the Can- 
ton Hard Rubber Coni[)any. His life has been 
a very busy one and that it has also been 
crowned with a large measure of success is 
attest e<l by his present important ])ositions in 
financial ami manufacturing circles. Mr. Ke])- 
lin,ger is a member of the Benevolent and Pro- 
tective Order of Elks and of the Masonic fra- 
ternity. In matters religious he subscribes to 
the Lutheran creed. Iiimselt and wife belonging 
to Trinity church. Canton, of which he is a 
member of the board of trustees. In his politi- 
cal \iews he is a Democrat. 

The marriage of Mr. Keplinger and Miss 
Fannie Barr, daughter of Dr. P. H. Barr. of 
Canton, was celebrated in the year 1885. the 
union resulting in the birth of two sons. Roliert 
and lohn M. 



WILLIAM H. HOOVER was born in 
Plain township, August 18. 1849. His parents 
were Daniel and Mary (Kryder) Hoover, 
residents of Plain township, to which place 
they moved in 1827 from their native state of 
Pennsylvania. Like many another man who 
has accomplished a noble work in life, 
William LI. Hoover spent his youth upon the 



farm, performing each day's duties with a 
promptness and energy- that gave assurance of 
some of the characteristics which have made his 
life successful. His education was procured in 
the common schools and at Mt. Union College. 
When he began working for himself he de- 
voted the first year to farming. He then went 
into, the tannery at Hoover's Cross Roads, 
where he remained some three years, becoming 
famiiiar with every detail of the business. 
About this time the tannery of John Lind, at 
New Berlin, was offered for sale and after some 
negotiations he succeeded in making the pur- 
chase. For the next fifteen years he devoted 
himself most assiduously to the operation of this 
tannery, steadily increasing the capacity of the 
plant. In the meantime he branched out in 
another line, one perfectly compatible with the 
tanning business. He manufactures, on quite 
an extensive scale, horse collars and patent 
leather saddlery goods, giving steady employ- 
ment to about two hundred men. This business 
was incorporated January i, 1903, and is now 
operating as the W. H. Hoover Company. 
In addition to all of the other work he had 
on hand he became largely interested and. as 
is admitted by those who know, instrumental 
in the building of the electric line of railroad, 
known as the Canton & Akron Railroad, and 
running between Canton and Akron. He was 
elected president of the company, in which 
capacity he has served up to the present 
time. 

Mr. Hoover was united in marriage. No- 
vember 21, 1871, to Miss Susan Troxel, a 
native of Plain township, a lady of many ac- 
complishments and excellent judgment. Her 
])arents were Peter and Catharine Troxel. 
both of whom are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hoover are the parents of six children, viz. : 
Mary, Carrie, Herbert, Frank. Daniel and 
Alice. Mary is the wife of Harley Price; Alice 
died when six years old and Carrie is married 
to George C. Berkey. .Ml ha\e received a good 




W. H. HOOVER. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



417 



common school education and are intelligent 
and worthy. 

In all local affairs and matters calculated 
to advance the interests of the community, Mr. 
Hoover is deeply interested. To secure his aid 
and influence to any enterprise it is only neces- 
sary to convince him of its benefit to the com- 
munity. In the education of the young he is 
especially interested, and that he might be in 
a position to better know the wants and supply 
the needs of the schools, he consented to be 
made a member of the New Berlin school board 
and has served in that capacity many years. He 
is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and of 
the Maccabees, and of the Knights of Pythias. 
His is indeed a busy life and with all of his 
vast and varied interests demanding his per- 
sonal attention and supervision it is surprising 
how he finds time for necessary repose. A 
small part of the work which he accomplishes 
each month would afilict an ordinary individual 
with nervous prostration. The secret of his 
getting through it without difficulty, even with 
ease, is found in the systematic, methodical 
methods of the man. It is by the energy, in- 
fluence and ability of such men that communi- 
ties are built up. 



HOWARD DANIEL TOLERTON, a 
member of the firm of I. G. Tolerton & Son, 
dealers in coal, lumber, building material, also 
proprietors of a large planing mill, is one of 
the leading business men of Alliance and as 
such enjoys worthy prestige among the most 
enterprising and successful of his compeers. 
He is the second son of Israel G. and Esther 
K. Tollerton, whose family history will be 
found elsewhere in these pages, and was born 
in Knox township, Columbiana county, Ohio, 
on April 19, 1872. The time prior to his 
fourteenth year he spent on the family home- 
stead in Knox township and as soon as old 
enough was assigned his duties in the field, 

26 



spending his winters the meanwhile in the pub- 
lic schools of the neighborhood. In 1887, when 
his parents left the farm and moved to Alliance, 
young Howard entered the city schools with 
the object in view of fitting himself for a 
college course and he had all arrangements per- 
fected to this end when the deatli of his elder 
brother materially interfered with his plans 
for acquiring a higher education. Meantime, 
1892, he entered his father's office as the lat- 
ter's assistant and when not attending school 
continued in a clerical capacity until July, 1890, 
when, by reason of his elder brother's death, he 
was made full partner in the firm of I. G. Tol- 
erton & Son, succeeding the deceased brother 
in that relation. 

Mr. Tolerton's early experience in business 
affairs under the able tutelage of his father, 
proved a valuable preparation for the respon- 
siWe duties which he subsequently assumed as 
a partner, and since becoming a member of the 
firm his career has been a series of continual 
successes, more than meeting his own expec- 
tations and fully justifying the confidence 
which his father and others had formerly re- 
posed in him. The business with which he 
is identified and the management of which rests 
very largely upon his shoulders is the largest 
of the kind in Alliance and under his personal 
supervision it is constantly growing in mag- 
nitude and importance, not only in the city but 
throughout a large area of surrounding coun- 
try as well. Mr. Tolerton is an accomplished 
business man, and is recognized by all who 
know him as one of the most influential citi- 
zens of the community in which he lives. For 
several years he was engaged quite extensively 
in the real estate business, but recently he has 
devoted his attention mainly to the interests of 
the hrm of which he is a member, with the re- 
sult that it has steadily grown in public favor 
and won the high reputation it now sustains in 
the commercial and industrial circles of this 
part of the state. Mr. Tolerton is a stanch 



41! 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Republican and for two years was a member 
of the county central committee, in which re- 
lation he did valuable service for the party. 

On December 24, 1896, Mr. Tolerton was 
happily married to Miss Minnie E. Aiken, 
daughter of William Aiken, a retired contractor 
of Alliance, and his home is now brightened by 
the presence of two children, Robert I., born 
April 24, 1900, and Mary E., whose birth oc- 
curred on the 25th of November, 190 1. In his 
religious belief Mr. Tolerton is a Methodist, be- 
ing a member and a trustee of the church in 
Alliance, his wife also belonging to the same 
congregation. His interest in the social life 
of the city has been marked and few have ex- 
ercised a more helpful influence in bringing its 
moral status up to the high standard for which 
it is now distinguished. He is a leading 
spirit in the Duodecemverate Club, an exclusive 
social organization into which none but men 
of good character, correct deportment and ex- 
ceptionable standing are admitted, and in ad- 
dition to this agency he gives an unwavering 
support to all movements for the betterment of 
social conditions generally. Mr. Tolerton has 
worthily upheld an honored ancestral name and 
in every relation of life has been faithful to 
duty, loyal in his friendship and devoted to 
principal. 



THOMAS B. ALBERT.— Jacob Albert, 
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was 
born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, in 
whicli locality the family was founded in the 
colonial days. Jacob Albert was reared to 
manhood in his native state anfl there learned 
the trade ot- locksmith and gunsmith, while as 
a young man he removed to Hagerstown, Ma- 
rvland, where he continued to reside until about 
1B23, when he came \\ith his family to Oliio 
and took up a tract of land in Pike township. 
Stark county, where he reclaimed a farm in 
the midst of the svlvan wilds and where he 



continued to reside for a number of years, 
e\entually removing to Medina county, this 
state, \\here he continued to devote his atten- 
tion to agricultural pursuits, attaining notal)le 
longevity and there passing to his reward about 
1S49, ''^ tli^ ^§'s ^^ ninety years, his wife hav- 
ing died while residing in Pike township. Their 
son, Elias D., father of the subject, was born 
in Hagerstown, Maryland, in the ^-ear 1809, 
and was thus about fourteen years of age at the 
time of his parents" removal to Stark county, 
in 1823. and he grew to matttrity under the 
stiu'dy discipline of the pioneer farm, while lie 
attended the primitive schools of the neighbor- 
hood during the winter terms, when his serv- 
ices were not in requisition at home. .\s a young 
man he came to the village of Canton, where 
he served an apprenticeship at the trade of hat- 
making, and after completing this apprentice- 
ship he went to Roscoe, Coshocton ciMinty, 
where he remained for a few years, within which 
time he married. He then returned to Cantnii 
and here erected a two-story brick building, on 
the site of the present George D. Harter Bank, 
having sold the property to Mr. Harter aboiu 
the year 1863. in this building he established 
himself in the btisiness as a manufacturer of 
hats, utili?ing' the ground floor for this piu"- 
pose, while the second floor was fitted up as his 
official headquarters in his capacity of justice 
of the peace, to which office he was elected 
soon after his rettirn to Canton, while he re- 
mained incumbent of the same for the li>ng 
period of twenty-one years, practically in a 
consecutive service. Upon selling his business 
building he retired from active labors and alnmt 
two years before his decease moved tp a farm 
on the then outskirts of Canton, on what is 
now Jackson street, in the southwestern part 
of the city, where he resided until liis death, in 
1883. at the age of seventy-four years, lie 
was n mm of fine mentality and sterling integ- 
ritv and was honored by all who knew him. 
In ])olitics he was a stanch advocate of the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



419 



principles of the Democratic party and his re- 
hgious faith was that of the Universahst 
church, of whicli his wife also was a devoted 
member. While at Roscoe, Coshocton county, 
was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mai'garet 
Speaks, who was born at Harper's Ferry, Vir- 
ginia. After the decease of her parents, she 
came to Roscoe, Coshocton county, Ohio. She 
died in Canton in the year 1869. Of the chil- 
dren of this union we enter the following brief 
record : Caroline died in childhood ; Eliza- 
beth, who became the wife of George Gibbs, 
died in Santa Rosa, Califormia ; Thomas B., 
the immediate subject of this review, was the 
next in order of birth; Emma died in child- 
hood, and Manford, who married Miss Jose- 
phine Muller, died in the state of Mississippi, 
in 1S9.3, his home having been at Bradford, 
Pennsylvania. 

Thomas B. Albert was born on East Tus- 
carawas street. Canton, on the 14th of August, 
1837, the residence having been on the site of 
the present Bauhoff bakery. At the proper age 
he beg^an his studies in the public schools and 
eventually completed the course in the high 
school, being studious and appreciative and thus 
fully availing himself of the advantages thus 
afforded him. As a boy he began to assist in 
his father's hat factory, and became familiar 
with all details of the business, having perfected 
himself in the practical work of the trade by his 
services at irregular intervals. About 1857, 
when twenty years of age, he initiated his inde- 
pendent business career by opening a hat store 
in a building on the west side of the Public 
Square, \vhere he conducted a successful enter- 
prise for two years, at the expiration of which 
he disposed of the business and went to the city 
of (New York, where he became manager of the 
fur department in the wholesale establishment 
of Justice, Coller & Company. This firm be- 
came iiisdKcnt about six months later and Mr. 
Albert then engaged with the house of Nichols, 



Burtnett & Company, manufactures of ladies' 
furs, at 51 Maiden Lane, continuing in the em- 
ploy of this concern until the autumn of 1865, 
when he became associated with others in the 
establishing a hat factory and store, under the 
firm name of Wheaton, Albert & Company, the 
factory being located in the city of Newark, 
New Jersey, which has e\er been a center for 
this line of industry, while the New York store 
of the concern was located at the corner of 
Broome and Mercer streets. In 1869, owing 
to his impaired health, Mr. Albert disposed of 
his interests in this business, and in 1870 he 
came again to Ohio and opened three retail 
stores for the handling of hats and general lines 
of men's furnishings, while merchant tailoring 
was also made a department of each, the estab- 
lishments being located respectively in Canton, 
Akron and Youngstown. Mr. Albert returned 
to the national metropolis, where he remained 
as purchasing agent for the three stores. In 
1879 he disposed of the establishments and in 
the following year returned to Canton, and 
here, in 1886, he engaged in the real-estate 
business, opening an ofifice over the Sollman 
drug store. Later he became associatel with 
Charles W. Strohn in the purchase of the Rex 
property at the corner of Rex and East Tus- 
carav.'as street, and to that location he removed 
his ofifice in 1890, and in April of the 
year 1901, having disposed of the Rex 
street property, he established himself 
in his present quarters, in the Folwell buildii^, 
ha\'ing built up a large and representative busi- 
ness, many desirable investments being at all 
times recorded in his lists, while he is known as 
an excellent judge of realty values and as a 
man upon whose judgment, fidelity and in- 
violable integrity absolute dependence may be 
placed, so that success has come to him with 
popular appreciation and approval. Though 
never an aspirant for political preferment he 
has ever accorded a stanch allegiance to the 



420 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Democratic party, taking an active and in- 
telligent interest in the questions and issues of 
the hour. 

in the city of (.."anton, on the 9th of I'ebru- 
ary, 1876, Air. Albert was united in marriage 
to Miss Mary G. Renick, who died October 25th 
of the .same }ear. On the 12th of October, 
1889. he wedded Miss Edith M. Spicer, who 
was born in New York City, and who is a rep- 
resentative of fine old Knickerbocker stock in 
the state of New York, while many of her an- 
cestors and collateral relatives have attained 
distinction in public and civic life. Her pater- 
nal grandfather, General Peter W. Spicer, was 
a midshipman in the navy during the war of 
1S12, and he died in Springfield, Illinois, 
whither he had been sent on a private commis- 
siim by President -Jack-son, and during his last 
illness he was nursed b_\' Mrs. Herndon, mother 
of Richard Herndon. well known as the law 
partner of President Lincoln in the early days 
of his professional career in Illinois. The wife 
of General Spicer was a daughter of General 
John Meade, who won distinction as an officer 
in the war of the Revolution, while he was also 
one of the eminent public men of the state of 
Connecticut. The original ancestors of the 
Spicer family in America were two brothers 
who emigrated hither, from Holland in the early 
colonial epoch. Commodore William F. Spicer, 
of the United States navy, was an uncle of Mrs. 
Albert. She is a daughter of John W. and 
Ellen (Mansfield) Spicer, both of whom were 
born in New York city, where Mr. Spicer was 
engaged in mercantile pursuits during the 
greater portion of his active and distinctively 
successful business career. He served with gal- 
lantry as first lieutenant in the Seventh New 
York Volunteer Infantry during the war of the 
Rebellion. Mrs. Albert is a woman of gracious 
presence and distinctive refinement and the 
family home is a center of marked hospitality. 
Mr. and Mrs. Albert have four children, name- 



ly : Margaret Mansfield, Edith Spicer, Rudi 
Benton and Nellie Randolph, all of whom re- 
main at the parental home. 



REV. JACOB D. WYANDT comes of 
stanch German extraction in the agnatic line, 
the family having been founded in the state of 
Pennsylvania in the colonial epoch of our 
national history. He was born on a farm in 
Sugar Creek township, Stark county, Ohio, on 
the 1 8th of October, 1859, being a son of David 
and Mary (Fribley) Wyandt. His father was 
born on the farm on which is located the present 
thriving village of Wilmot, in Sugar Creek 
township, in the year 1820, being a son of 
Henry Wyandt, who emigrated from Penn- 
sylvania to this county in the early pioneer 
days, as did also his brother Christian W., and 
on the land which they here secured was later 
established the village mentioned, while both 
passed the remainder of their lives in this town- 
ship, being numbered among the influential men 
in the pioneer settlement. Henry Wyandt 
married Miss Elizabeth W'arner, who was a 
first cousin of William Henry Harrison, and 
she likewise died in the village of W'ilmot. 
having been a true type of the noble women 
who played so important a part in the early 
settlement of this section of the state. The 
maternal grandparents of the subject were 
Abraham and Hester Fribley. both of whom 
were Ijuni in Pennsylvania, whence they came 
to Stark county and became numbered among 
the very first settlers in old Bethlehem town- 
ship, and Mr. Fribley had the distinction of 
being the first blacksmith in Stark county. In 
1824 he settled on a farm of eighty acres, and 
about the first coal mined in the county was 
taken out by him. on this farm, where his death 
occurred about 1850, while his wife survived 
him bv about six vears. 




J. D. WYANDT. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



421 



David Wyandt, the father of the subject, 
was reared to the sturdy discipHne of the 
pioneer farmstead, while he made the most of 
the advantages afforded in the primitive 
school of the locahty and period. He was one of 
a family of thirteen children, and of the number 
only two are living at the present time. He 
became one of the pioneers of Henry county, 
where he engaged in farming and assisted in 
clearing the timber from the sites of the present 
flounshmg towns of Napoleon and Florida, 
and while he was first established in his primi- 
tive log'-cabin home his nearest neighbor was 
three miles distant. Wild game was plentiful, 
and he had a high local reputation as a hunter, 
being an excellent shot and by means of his 
trusty rifle he furnished much of the provender 
for the family table. He remained in Henry 
count)- until 1854, when he returned to Sugar 
Creek township, Stark county, passing his de- 
clining days on the farm now owned by the 
subject. He passed away in 1861, at the age 
of forty-two years, and his wife survived him 
by more than a quarter of a century, being 
summoned into eternal rest on the 12th of July, 
1894, at which time she had attained the vener- 
able age of seventy-five years.' She was a 
consistent and devoted member of the United 
Brethren church, and in this faith carefully 
reared her six children, concerning whom 
brief mention is as follows : Daniel F. enlisted 
as a member of Company K, One Hundred and 
Sixth-third Regiment of Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, at the outbreak of the Civil war, and 
met his death while in the service of his coun- 
try: Hester died in 1873. ^t the age of twenty- 
nine years; Elizabeth resides in Sugar Creek 
township; Rebecca A., who became the wife of 
Abram Kanaga, died in 1897; Annetta is the 
wife of Henry P. Fisher, of Sugar Creek town- 
ship; and Jacob D. is the immediate subject of 
this review. 

Jacob D. Wyandt was reared to maturity 
on the farm upon which he now maintains his 



home, and while he attended the district school 
in his boyhood, it may be consistently said that 
he is self-educated, having applied himself with 
marked zeal and devotion to study of a wide 
range of subjects. His theological studies were 
conducted most carefully and conscientiously 
and he was able to pass the required exami- 
nations before the church authorities and was 
duly ordained to the ministry of the United 
Brethren church, of which he has been a de- 
voted member from his fourteenth year, the in- 
trinsic spirituality of his nature having led him 
to early become most appreciative of the verities 
of the Christian religion and to make it his 
dominant aim in life to follow as closely as 
possible, and with due humility and utmost 
reverence, in the footsteps of the lowly Xazaf- 
ene. Mr. Wyandt has been presiding elder of 
the Canton district of East Ohio conference of 
the church a number of years and his minister- 
ial labors have been earnest and devoted and 
have been fruitful in goodly results. He re- 
sides on his finely improved farm in Sugar 
Creek township, and divides his attention be- 
tween supervising the same and attending to 
his official duties in the church, while he exer- 
cises his pastoral function in such a way as 
to be helpful to all who come within the sphere 
of his influence. He has always been a Prohi- 
bitionist in his political proclivities, having been 
the first person to become identified with this 
party in Sugar Creek township, while it is 
largely through his efi:orts that the local con- 
tingent has been so notably augmented in mem- 
bership. He has never sought the honors or 
emoluments of public office, but has taken a 
deep interest in all that concerns the general 
welfare, while he has been active in promoting 
the best possible educational facilities in his 
home community, having served for many 
years as a member of the school board and be- 
ing now incumbent of this office. 

On the 9th of April, 1884, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Wyandt to Miss Regena 



422 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Ruegsegger. who was born in Holmes county, 
Ohio, a daughter of Fredrick Ruegsegger, an 
honored pioneer citizen of that section of the 
state, and the four children of this union are 
still living, namely: Efiie R., Daniel D., Mary 
Pleasant and Muriel Isabel. 

In conclusion it seems fitting to enter a few 
statements of a somewhat recapitulatory na- 
ture. Mr. Wyandt was but two years of age 
at the time of his father's death, and the prob- 
lem which faced the family was a serious one, 
when its head factor was thus removed, for 
his mother was left with an indebtedness of 
two thousand five hundred dollars, besides the 
responsibility of providing for her children. 
The subject, though a mere boy, took upon him- 
self the burden thus imposed and assumed the 
management of the home farm, and by the time 
he was twenty-four years of age had succeeded 
in wiping out the indebtedness and clearing the 
property of all encumbrances. In the same 
year he entered the active work of the ministry, 
his first pastoral charge having been in the vil- 
lage of IMagnolia, this county, where he re- 
mained four years, doing most efYective service, 
and he was then assigned to a pastorate at 
New Rumley, Harrison county, and three years 
later he assumed charge of the church at Canal 
Fulton, Stark county, while later he was estab- 
lished at Beach City for two years, for a similar 
period at North Lawrence, and in the Navarre 
circuit for three years, at the expiration of 
which he was elected to his present ofifice of 
presiding elder, in which he is now entering 
\ipon his fourth year of service. The name 
which he bears has been indissolubly linked 
with the history of the nation from the early 
colonial days, and it may be said that his great- 
grandfather, Cornelius Wyandt. went forth 
from Maryland as an officer in the naval arm 
of the Continental service during the war of 
the Revolution, and met his death at sea while 
thus laboring valiantly for the cause of inde- 
pendence. 



WILLIAM H. MORGAN.— On other 
pages of this work appears a memoir of Thomas 
R. Morgan. .Sr.. the father of the subject of 
this sketcli and the honored founder of the 
]\lorgan Engineering Company, of Alliance, 
one of the greatest industrial concerns in the 
L'nifm. In the article mentioned is given an 
outline of the history of the company as well 
as of the family genealog}-, and therefore we 
sliall not recapitulate in the present connectinn, 
since ready reference may be made to the re- 
sume already entered. Colonel W. H. Morgan 
is serving as aid-de-camp on the personal staff 
of Governor Nash, of Ohio, being appointed to 
that office in 1901, has been the president of the 
Morgan Engineering Company from the time 
of his father's death, in 1897, and as one of the 
representative citizens of Alliance and one who 
has well upborne the prestige of an hon(5red 
name it is fitting that he Ije accorded personal 
recogtiition in this publication. 

'\Vi!liam H. Morgan was born at Pittston, 
Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, on the ist of 
June, 1865, and he was but six years of age at 
the time when his parents took up their resi- 
dence in .Mliance, Ohio, with whose grow'th 
and magnificent industrial development the 
family name was destined to be so conspicuous- 
ly and honorably linked. In this city he has 
I)assed the major portion of his life, and here 
he has made a record that redounds to his credit 
and to his precedence as a far-sighted and en- 
ergetic business man, while, as may be inferred, 
he has had to do with aftairs of wide scope and 
importance in the industrial world. After com- 
pleting the curriculum of the pul)lic schools he 
entered Mount Union College, where he secured 
the greater portion of his subsequent literary 
education. Another writer has outlined his fur- 
ther career in the following language: "But 
it is not the delving into classics which has dis- 
tinguished Colonel Morgan, for early in life he 
showed a tendency to interest himself in those 
things which had formed the most important 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



423 



factors in the life of his father, whose whole 
mind was devoted to mechanics. As a young 
man Colonel Morgan took a place in his father's 
shop, and there he began the development of his 
excellent talents as an electrician. Up through 
the different steps of advancement did the 
young mechanic climb until he became the head 
of the immense factory's drafting department, 
having complete charge of the designing for the 
great plant which had alread}^ gained an envied 
position among the manufacturing institutions 
of the country. Branching out into the field 
ot electricity, he developed, by study and ex- 
perimentation, several most important inxen- 
tions, which gave him a place among well 
known authorities and inventors. Over one 
hundred patents have been taken out on inven- 
tions perfected by Colonel Morgan, among 
them an electric controller, which instantly 
pro\'ed its value and which is now in general 
use in all parts of the world where electricity 
is generated for mechanical purposes. Several 
inventions bear his name, among them the Mor- 
gan controller, the Morgan-Gordon disappear- 
ing gun-carriage, mortar carriage and electric 
crane. 

"Not only did Colonel Morgan de\elop 
wonderful mechanical ability but he also 
s'nowed as he advanced that he possessed execu- 
tive talents of high order. He w'as on this ac- 
count, in 1894, made vice-president of his fa- 
ther's corporation, known as the Morgan En- 
gineering Company. Three years later the en- 
tire management of the company was placed in 
his hands. Scarcely six months after his as- 
suming control his father suddenly passed 
away, and despite this loss of the head coun- 
selor in the great establishment, through his 
son, the plans he had laid have been carried on 
without interruption. At the time of his fa- 
tiier's death Colonel Morgan was made presi- 
dent of the company, and under his direction it 
has advanced until it is now the largest of all 
corporations in its line. The interests of the 



company are closely identified with those of the 
government, as its plant is constantly employed 
in furnishing the government with some of its 
most important supplies. Of such great im- 
portance was the safety of the property of the 
Morgan Engineering Company to the govern- 
ment that during the war with Spain the works 
at Alliance, then busily engaged in filling gov- 
ernment contracts, received a special guaid for 
the protection of the plant, a company of sol- 
diers being detailed for this purpose. Colonel 
Morgan can be safely mentioned as one of 
Ohio's brilliant citizens who has brought into 
the state the threads of an extensive commercial 
relation, while in the perfection of his com- 
pany's product the city has gained fame abroad. 

"By such men as these the honors which a 
commonwealth has to bestow are richl}' de- 
served, and in Colonel Morgan's case his com- 
mission as a colonel in the Ohio National 
Guard is luidoubtedly only a predecessor of 
other honors yet to come. He is a director of 
the First National Bank and the City Savings 
Bank, a trustee of Mount Union College, and 
has served six years as a member of the city 
council, during five of which he was president 
of that body. He has always taken a great in- 
terest in the progress and welfate of the fire 
department and in all else that tends for munici- 
pal development and progress." 

Mr. Morgan is a Republican in politics, be- 
longs to the Masonic order and is also a mem- 
lier of the Knights of Pvtiiias and the Elks. 



THOMAS R. MORGAN, SR.— None can 
doubt that the late Thomas R. Morgan, in- 
ventor, engineer and founder of the Morgan 
Engineering Company, of Alliance, Ohio, was 
a man who accomplished a great work, while 
his life was one of exalted integrity and honor. 
The men of deeds are the men whom the world 
delights to honor, and among those who ha\'e 
stood as distinguished types of the world's 



424 



OLD LANDMARKS 



\\orkers and as veritable captains of industry, 
introducing" new eras of thougiit by inventions 
of great utility, no une is more worthy of men- 
tion than is the subject of this memoir. An 
outline of his career is succinctly given in the 
following excerpt from a recent local publi- 
cation : 

Thomas R. JNIorgaii, Sr., was born March 31, 1S34, 
at Pen.vdarren, Merthyr Tydvil, Glamorganshire, Wales. 
He was the youngest of a family of six children, and 
at the age of eight years he commenced work in a coal 
mine, first as door boy and later as teamster with his 
father, who was a coal mining contractor. At the age 
of eleven years he met with a serious accident in the 
mine, the result being the loss of his left leg below the 
knee. After his recovery from the accident he was 
sent to school for three years, his teacher being Talie- 
sen Williams, of Merthyr Tydvil, the father of Edward 
Williams and the former president of the Iron and 
Steel Institute in Great Britain. At the age of four- 
teen Mr. ?ilorgan left school and thereafter served an 
apprenticeship of five years in the machine shop of the 
Penydarren Iron Works. He next accepted a position 
at the Dowlais Iron Works, then the most extensive 
concern of the sort in the world, where he continued 
to be employed for several years. He also worked in 
Cardiff, and for five years was in charge of the lead- 
ing machine shop in Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales, 
and he made for himself an enviable reputation as a 
skilled mechanic. 

Deeply imbued with a love of liberty and possessing 
a strong desire to become a citizen of the United 
States, he left a good position, contrary to the advice 
of his friends, and came to this country in 1865, arriv- 
ing in April of that year, in company with his family. 
He located at Pittston, Pennsylvania, and secured em- 
ployment in the Lackawanna & Bloomsburg railroad 
shops, where he remained for a short time. Next ho 
accepted a position with the Cambria Iron Company at 
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where he received the high- 
est pay of all machinists in the shops. He was there- 
after employed in various shops until 1868, having been 
superintendent of the Allegheny Valley railroad shops, 
the Atlas Iron Works and Smith & Porter's machine 
shops, all of Pittsburg. In 1868 Mr. Morgan laid the 
foundation for the present magnificent enterprise in 
Alliance by engaging in business for himself in the 
manufacture of steam hammers and other special ma- 
chinery in Pittsbiirg. In August, 1871, he removed his 
business to Alliance, Ohio, under the firm name of 
Marchand & Morgan. This firm continued until 1877, 
when Mr. Marchand retired and was succeeded by Silas 
J. Williams, the firm name becoming Morgan, Williams 



& Co. In 188.4 this firm was dissolved and the Morgan 
Engineering Company was organized and incorporated, 
Mr. Morgan being the principal owner. The products 
of this great manufactory are mostly of Mr. Morgan's 
own design and construction and are largely covered by 
patents. This immense plant is known in nearly all 
parts of the civilized world and is a lasting monument 
to its founder. The articles manufactured by the con- 
cern are mainly specialties, many of them being new 
productions, to meet the demands of an ever-varying 
trade. Some ot the machines are steam hammers, 
punching and shearing machines, steam, hydraulic, elec- 
tric, pneumatic and power machinery for government, 
railway, iron, steel and engineering work; gun and mor- 
tar carriages; electric traveling cranes; locomotive, 
gantry, jib and derrick cranes; hydraulic presses for 
forging and other purposes ; bending, flanging and riv- 
eting machines; charging machines; ingot extractors; 
feed tables ; electric controllers for series-wound mo- 
tors; hydraulic valves, and special machinery for the 
quick handling of material for Bessemer and open- 
hearth furnaces, etc. 

Mr. Morgan was a member of the American Insti- 
tute of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute 
of Mining Engineers, the Iron and Steel Institute and 
the Society of Mechanical Engineers of Great Britain. 
He was one of the city's most energetic and enterpris- 
ing citizens and did all in his power for its advance- 
ment. He was a member of the city council, president 
of the City Savings Bank, president of the board of 
trade, vice-president of the Mutual Electric Light and 
Power Company, trustee of the Alliance Building Com- 
pany and a member of the board of trustees of Mount 
Union College, here located. Mr. Morgan was instru- 
mental in organizing the Solid Steel Casting conipapv, 
which subsequently became the parent concern in the 
combination known as the American Steel Casting Com- 
pany. He was president of the Solid Steel Casting 
Company until 1S89, when he disposed of his interest 
in this concern to J. K. Bole, of Cleveland. 

Thomas R. Morgan, Sr.'s indomitable energy was 
undoubtedly the most potent agent not only in the up- 
building of the great works which perpetuate his name, 
but also in the betterment, advancement, prosperity and 
welfare of the city of Alliance. Andrew Carnegie said 
of him upon hearing of his demise : "Our country 
loses one of her foremost men of affairs." Mr. Morgan 
died September 6, iSg7, in Alliance, beloved, respected 
and uniformly lamented. 

The Morgan Engineering Company's shops have been 
the nucleus for a number of like establishments. Boys 
who received their training in this institution have now 
become men and hold responsible positions in some of 
the leading works in the country, which speaks well 
for this company. The Morgan concern is the leading 
institution of its kind in the country, and its products 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



42s 



are scattered all over the world. The policy of the con- 
cern, past and present, is to lead and never to follow. 

White he was employed in tlie Do\vlai.s Ifoii 
\\'orks. Wales, Mr. Morgan borecl the cylinder 
and did most of the machine work for the 
mechanism utilized in operating the converter 
used by Sir Henry Bessemer in his tirst experi- 
ments on Bessemer steel, at Dowlais. He took 
a deep interest in the welfare of his employes. 
Having been a practical workman himself, he 
was well able to sympathize with the aims, am- 
bitions and feelings of those in his emplov. had 
not his temperamental endowment been of itself 
sufficient to cause this. He took special pride 
in their being able to command good wages 
and to have neat and comfortable homes, while 
to the accomplishment of these results he con- 
tributed more than was generally known, for 
in his manifold acts of kindness and in his bene- 
factions and charities he was unassuming, hav- 
ing great repugnance to notoriety of any de- 
scription. He was a public-spirited citizen, and 
everything for the advancement and develop- 
ment of his city had his early and hearty sup- 
port as a contributor, investor and worker. He 
was particularly active in securing the establish- 
ment of the water-works system, the sanitary 
sewer system, the gas and electric plants, proper 
street paving and other municipal improve- 
ments, while he was a supporter of financial in- 
stitutions as projected to meet the demands of 
the growing community and was a warm friend 
of the public schools and the cause of higher 
education. He became thoroughly American in 
his ideas and methods, and greater loyalty to 
our national institutions no man could have 
shown. He once said to a friend that he was 
a good republican before he came to America, 
and that he advocated republicanism before he 
had experienced its beneficent influences. In 
this connection it is interesting to revert to the 
fact that Mr. Morgan arrived in the L'uited 
States on April 15, 1865, the morning follow- 
ing the assassination of President Lincoln. He 



often related to his intimate friends how deeply 
he was moved when his boat lay at anchor and 
he discovered the flags at half-mast and sable 
draperies in evidence on every side, while the 
news of the assassination soon reached the ship. 
As he heard of the dastardly crime which ended 
the life of a strong and noble man he burst into 
tears, and standing at the rail of the ship was 
not ashamed of the emotion which thus agitated 
him, so deeply was he affected by the news he 
had received. 

Although not active i:i politics when he 
first came to this country, Mr. Morgan was 
for years identified with the Republican party, 
being a close student of the issues and questions 
of the day, and bringing to bear his mature 
judgment and vigorous intellectual powers in 
forming his opinions, which were invariably 
well fortified. He eventually became one of 
the ardent workers in the ranks of his party, 
while he long since became a warm personal 
friend and stanch admirer of the late lamented 
President McKinley, taking a great interest in 
all of the latter's campaigns for congress, for 
governor and later for the higher honors which 
crowned his life. That the feeling of respect 
and high esteem was reciporcated can not lietter 
be shown than by quoting the words uttered by 
President McKinley in a speech delivered from 
his special train which passed through Alliance 
on the 1st of November, 1897, only a short 
time after the death of Mr. Morgan. He said : 
"Fellow Citizens, Ladies and Gentlemen : I 
thank you sincerely for this demonstration. 1 
will never be able to look into the faces of an 
Alliance audience again without thinking of 
that tried and true friend of mine, your friend 
and fellow citizen of Alliance, Thomas R. Mor- 
gan, Sr. A man so noble, with so much integ- 
rity and charity, let us all try to emulate the 
example set before us by him. I mourned with 
vou in your loss, my loss, the city's, county's, 
state's and country's loss, and had not public 
business pressed me to return to Washington I 



426 



OLD LANDMARKS 



would have been in Alliance to pay tribute to 
his memory. I shall ah\a}s remember him as 
one of the stanchest and best friends I had. 
Such friends can not be replaced. If ever a 
man deser\ed an immortal crown Thomas R. 
Morgan, Sr., deserved one.'' These are strong 
words, and when we realize how perfect a judge 
of men was the lamented President and how 
impossible were equivocation and dissimulation 
to him. we need say nothing more as indicating 
the character of the subject of this memoir. 
The above tribute from the President is placed 
on the merworial tablet and bronze relief un- 
veiled at the works of the ^lorgan Engineering 
Company October 28, 1899, while on the other 
end of said tablet, after giving the dates of 
birth and death of -Mr. ]\Iorgan, appear these 
words : '"He was an indefatigable worker and 
one who had the courage of his convictions. 
He was an example of what in this great coun- 
try may be attained by honesty, skill, energy 
and perseverance. He died in the midst of his 
family, beloved, respected and universally la- 
mented. Tn two weeks after his demise his be- 
loved wife was laid beside him. After a com- 
panionship on this earth of over forty years, 
God, in his great wisdom and mercy, deemed it 
best to reunite them in the great beyond." The 
remains of both rest in a beautiful mausoleum 
in the .\lliance cemetery, and the entabliture 
bears this inscription : "Erected to the memory 
of Father and Mother, who on the rough fron- 
tier of human progress toiled and suffered and 
died that their children and cominunitv might 
inherit the benefit." 

Mr. Morgan had no desire for official 
preferment of any order, and though often im- 
portuned to serve his city in an official capacity 
he consented to serve but a single term as a 
member of the council, after which he requested 
his party and friends Id relieve him from farther 
duties of the sort. Tn 1892 he was nominated 
bv the Republicans of the "eighteenth district 
for representative in congress, and he made the 



campaign against Dr. Ikert, of East Liverpool, 
but in the universal landslide which that year 
resulted in the election of Grover Cleveland to 
tlie presidency. ^Ir. Morgan was carried to de- 
feat with the remainder of the party ticket. He 
accepted the situation most gracefully, his de- 
votion to the party cause remaining unshaken. 
On 'Sir. Morgan's removal to Alliance he 
gave emitloyment to about twenty mechanics, 
and from the infant intlustry of which this 
statement stands significant has been Iniilt up 
the magnificent industrial concern of the pres- 
ent day, the same affording employment to 
about one thousand men. The great hammer, 
of eighty-ton capacity, used in the Midvale 
Steel Works, at Nicetown, Philadelphia, Penn- 
sylvania, was manufactured in his shops and 
the same weighs nine hundred tons. There is 
hardly a large steel-rolling mill or a factory in 
the Union in which heavy machinery is used 
that products of the Morgan shops are not 
found. Mr. Morgan was a pioneer in the man- 
ufacture of hydraulic machinery in the United 
States, and his concern has supplied all the ship 
and navy yards in this country with work of 
this description. He was the first to construct 
electric traveling cranes, and of these the Mor- 
gan shops have built more than a thousand for 
the work shops of the United States. In the 
different plants of the Carnegie Steel Ccimpany 
alone there are sixty-eight great traNcling cranes 
designed and built by Mr. Morg^an. Two 
traveling cranes of one hundred and fifty tons 
capacity were designed and erected for the gov- 
ernment and placed in the navy yard at Wash- 
ington and in Watervliet arsenal. Among 
other heavv machines built by him are more 
than fifty steam plate-shears, with knives from 
sixtv to one hundred and forty-four inches long. 
These are utilized to cut steel plates into re- 
quired tlimensions and will thus cut plates up to 
two inches in thickness when the same are cold. 
These machines weigh from seventy-five to two 
hundred tons each. One hydraulic shear with 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



427 



a capacity of thirty-five hundred tons, the larg- 
est ever constructed, was built in tlie ^Morgan 
works, and the same has slieared steel blooms 
forty-two inches wide and twenty-three inches 
thick, and that with ease. The first automatic 
gun-carriage for firing around a complete circle 
was ijuilt in the Morgan works, and is known 
as the Gordon-Morgan disappearing gun-car- 
riage, the same weighing about three hundred 
tons. Within the last three years of his life 
Mr. Morgan built three of these gun-carriages 
for the government. It was genius not talent 
that invented the steam hammer, the mammoth 
shears and the traveling crane, and how much 
of Mr. Morgan's soul was put into these titanic 
mechanical de\ices'we can not conjecture, but 
certainly enough to etch his name on the death- 
less roster of the greatest mechanical engineers 
of the nineteenth century. 

Mr. Morgan had the capacity of winning 
and retaining friends, and his own loyalty never 
wavered. He counted among his personal 
friends such men as William McKinley, John 
Sherman, William R. Day, now a member of 
the supreme court of the United States ; Asa 
Bushnell, governor of Ohio; Senator Marcus 
A. Hanna: Andrew Carnegie; and B. F. 
Jones, ex-chairman of the national Republican 
committee, besides hosts of others prominent 
in public and civic life. At the time of his 
death the family recei\'ed cablegrams, telegrams 
and letters of condolence from statesmen and 
men of aftairs from almost every part of the 
civilized world. His was a noble and prolific 
life, and it signalized the truth of the words, 
"The bravest are the tenderest ; the loving are 
the daring." 

Mr. Morgan was united in marriage at 
Merthyr Tydvil. Wales, July 4. 1856, to Miss 
Elizabeth Nicholas, of Glan y Cym, near 
Llandovery, Wales, and to this iniion were 
born ten children: John R., Thomas R., Mar- 
garet, ^^■i!liam H.. Edwin, Arthur and four 
that died in infancy. Mr. Morgan and wife 



were both members of the W^elsh Congrega- 
tional church, and fraternally he was a mem- 
ber of the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias. 



REV. CHARLES NEWTON CHURCH. 
— The subject of this sketch is a representative 
of an old New England family that settled in 
Connecticut many years prior to the war for 
independence and the name Church has long 
been a familiar one in that and other eastern 
states. Tracing his genealogy, it is learned 
that his great-grandfather, Ebenezer Church, 
was born and reared in Connecticut and that he 
spent all of his life in that commonwealth as a 
tiller of the soil. Among the children of the 
above Ebenezer was a son by the name of Na- 
thaniel, who was also a native of Connecticut 
and a physician by profession. He married a 
Miss Wheeler, of his state, and appears to have 
been a man of wide intelligence and high social 
standing and to a considerable extent a moulder 
of opinion in his community. For some years 
he ^vas attached to the American army in the 
capacity of physician and surgeon and later 
followed agricultural pursuits in connection 
with the practice of his profession. 

A number of years ago Nathaniel Church 
moyed his famih' to Ashtabula county, Ohio, 
where he purchased a farm, a part of which is 
now included in the corporate limits of Geneva, 
the place being still known as the old Church 
Llill farm. He spent the rest of his life on this 
place and died at a good old age; his wife also 
lived to be quite old and entered into rest about 
the year 1863. Nathaniel Church reared a 
family of three sons and three daughters, 
among the former being Nathan Ebenezer 
Church, who was born on Bedloe Island, New 
York, September 16. 1829. 

At the time of his son's birth Dr. Church 
was stationed with his regiment on Bedloe's Isl- 
and, his family residing temporarily at that and 
other places, when his duty took him. Nathan 



428 



OLD LANDMARKS 



E. Church receixed liis prehminary education 
in his native state and after the family moved 
to Ohio he attended for several years the graded 
schools of Geneva. He was reared to agricul- 
tural pursuits and, when a young man, married 
Miss Susan Pierce, whose birth occurred in 
Oberlin, Ohio, on the i6th of March, 1829. 
Mrs. (Hiurch was educated in the public schools 
of lier native town and Oberlin College, taught 
for a number of years in Geneva and it was 
while thus engaged that she met the gentleman 
who afterwards became her husband. She was 
also an accomplished musician and taught the 
art in connection with her work in the public 
schools. After his marriage Nathan ¥.. Church 
mo\ed to the old homestead in the vicinity of 
Geneva and there followed farming until 1869, 
when he sold his place and went to Tennessee, 
settling near the town of McMinnville. He 
purchased a fine estate not far from that place, 
erected a beautiful residence with the intention 
of spending the remainder of his life in the 
south, but not being satisfied he disposed of his 
farm in 1871 and returned to Ohio, locating- at 
Akron where one of his brothers, a prominent 
and infiuential man of that part of the state, 
was then living. He entered the employ of 
Aultman & Miller, one of the largest manufac- 
turing firms of the above city, and continued 
with the companv for a number of vears. finallv 
retiring from acti\e life. Mr. Church is a man 
of much intellectual force, and his integrity is 
as unbending as his religious faith, though he 
is ever charitable in his judgment of others and 
ready to extend symijathy and aid to his fel- 
low man. In > early life he united with the 
Methodist Episcopal church and- has ever re- 
mained a zealous and, ; devout' disciplnrie of" the 
Nazarene, making his dailyhfe andnoonver.sa- 
tion correspond with .his religious' :fftith. Of 
Mrs. Church much in the way of praise may be 
said. She was a superior woman intellectnaHy 
and her beautiful Christian clraractei'impressfe^l 
all with whom she came in contact. She neg- 



lected not the higher duty of rearing her chil- * 
dren in the nurture and admonition of the Lord | 
and in after years enjoyed the satisfaction of 
seeing the seed of truth and virtue which she I 
implanted in their young minds and hearts 
bear rich fruitage in strongly developed Chris- 
tian characters. She was a fluent writer and 
frequently gave expression to her feelings in 
poetry which elicited high praise for elegance 
of diction and beauty of thought. She also 
wrote much for the papers and many of her 
articles were widely copied and favorably com- 
mented upon by competent literary critics. 
Nathan E. and Susan Church were the parents 
of four cb.ildren, namely: Adella T., wife of 
F. O. Payne, of Glencoe, New York ; Frank E. , 
of Akron, this state; Charles Newton, of this 
review ; and Willner Elroy, of Brooklyn, New 
York, who is a salesman for a large wholesale 
house of New York City. 

Charles Newton Church was born on the 
old Church Hill farm, near Geneva, Ashtabula 
county, Ohio, November 15, 1862, and was 
signally favored in his early surroundings. 
Having the care and attention of intelligent, 
loving Christian parents, it was natural that 
his life should be directed into a proper channel 
and that the influence of such a home as his 
should have a tendency to mould his character 
for good. At the age of six he entered the 
schools of his native town and after attending 
there one year, his studies were continued at 
McMinnville, Tennessee, to which place his 
parents remo\'ed when he was about se\-en years 
of age. His first teacher in the latter place was 
his own mother, who for some time had charg:c 
of a private school, and later he attended the 
first public school organized in the city of Mc- 
Minnville. Owing to his northern birth he was 
obliged to contend against much prejudice, and 
to .say the least his educational experience under 
the new regime in the south was anything but 
satisfactory. The teachers were illy qualified 
for the positions they held and the majority of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



429 



the pupils, being restive under restraint, were 
so skillful in playing tricks and practical jokes 
and withall so neglectful of their studies that 
it is a question whether the schools resulted in 
good or the opposite. When Mr. Church's 
parents moved to Akron he entered the schools 
of that city and made rapid progress in his 
work, graduating from the high school in 1881 
at the age of eighteen. The training thus re- 
ceived was afterwards supplemented by a full 
course at Buchtel College, in which he pursued 
his studies four years and from which he 
was graduated with an honorable record in 
1885. 

Mr. Church's nature was essentially stu- 
dious and somewhat contemplative and he early 
decided that there was laid open before him the 
field of greatest usefulness in the ministry of 
the church. Looking to the "mark of his high 
calling," he joined, in September, 1885, the 
East Ohio conference and began his labors as a 
preacher of the gospel by taking charge of the 
church at Adamsville, Muskingum county, 
where he exercised the duties of his holy office 
for one year and from there he was sent to 
Hampden, Geauga county, for one year. Ac- 
tuated by a laudable desire for more thorough 
intellectual and professional tr,aining, he en- 
tered, in the fall of 1887, Drew Theological 
Seminary, Madison, New Jersey, where he took 
the regular three-years course, graduating with 
the class of 1890. During his senior year, he 
served as president of the "Seminary Club." 
The following year he took a post-graduate 
course in church history and while there served 
as pastor of the Stanley Congregational church 
of Chatham, New Jersey. In the fall of 1891 
he was appointed to the charge at Bedford, 
Ohio, where he labored with acceptance and 
success for a period of four years. During the 
succeeding four years he served the Scoville 
Avenue church in the city of Cleveland and at 
the expiration of that time was appointed pastor 



of Simpson Methodist church at Canton, enter- 
ing upon his duties with this charge in Septem- 
ber, 1899. 

To say that Rev. Church's pastoral labors 
in this city were successful but feebly expresses 
the character of his work and its results in the 
community, its widely reaching influences be- 
ing incalculable. Within the little over three 
years of his pastorate the membership had 
largely increased and the work has taken a 
much more healthful tone .than formerly, while 
the average congregation is much greater nu- 
merically than at any other period in the history 
of the organization. In September, 1902, Bish- 
op Warren appointed him as pastor of the First 
Methodist Episcopal church of Alliance, which 
charge he at present holds and which church is 
considered one of the best in the East Ohio con- 
ference. As a speaker Rev. Church is forcible 
and eloquent and his every utterance rings with 
the sincerity of his honest conviction. His 
carefvilly disciplined mind, ripe scholarship, 
profound theological training, keen perception 
and lively sympathy, together with his mastery 
of the art of public discourse, make him a power 
in his chosen field of labor. Wherever he has 
gone his work has been greatly blessed and with 
God's grace sustaining him he hopefully looks 
forward to still larger results in the field to 
which he has been called. 

On the 14th of August, 1900, while prose- 
cuting his theological studies, Rev. Church was 
united in marriage to Miss Nellie May Hous- 
eum, of Clinton, Ohio, daughter of Henry A. 
Houseum, and immediately thereafter took up 
his residence in Chatham. New Jersey, where 
lie preached the remainder of that year. Rev. 
and !Mrs. Church ha\e four children, whose 
names and dates of birth are as follows; Mar- 
garet D., July 14, 1891 : Burnette, November 
17, 1S92; Murill Francis, February 18, 1895, 
and Doris, who was born on the 13th of De- 
cember, 1898. 



430 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ALBERl' B. RIKER, A. M., D. D., presi- 
dent of Mt. Union College, is descended from an 
old Pennsylvania family whose representatives 
were among the earliest pioneers of southern 
Ohio, his grandfather, Samuel Riker, having 
migrated to what is now Hamilton county 
shortly after that part of the state was opened 
for settlement. On his way to his new home in 
the west Samuel Riker passed through Cincin- 
nati, at that time a mere backwoods hamlet, and 
while in tlie village he was offered one hundred 
acres of land, now in the very heart of the 
city, for five hundred dollars, but he did not for 
a minute consider the proposition favorably. 
He entered land in Hamilton county, cleared 
and improved two good farms near the town 
of Montgomery and died many years ago 
where he originally settled. Among his chil- 
dren was a son by the name of Samuel C, 
whose birth occurred in the above county in 
• the vear 1819. He was reared to agricultural 
pursuits, acquired a good education for the 
times and when a young man served an appren- 
ticeship at saddlery and harnessmaking. Fin- 
ishing his trade, he opened a shop in Montgom- 
ery, but after a business career of eight years 
duration he closed his establishment for the pur- 
pose of entering the ministry of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. Mr. Riker began the active 
work of the ministry when thirty years old and 
devoted his time exclusively to the preaching 
of the word until his sixty-seventh year when 
he moved to a farm near the city of Columbus, 
where he spent the evening of his life in com- 
fortable and honorable retirement, dying De- 
cember 14. 1893, at the age of seventy-four. 
He was married to Amanda S. Cochran. Four 
children were born to them, of whom the sub- 
ject of this sketch is the only living representa- 
tive. The mother died on August 3, 1899. 

Dr. A. B. Riker was born October 19, 1852, 
in I'rnnklin county. Ohio, and spent his child- 
hood and youth in the town of New Albany, 
where his parents were then living. Trained 



to habits of industry, he early learned by prac- 
tical experience the meaning of honest toil and 1 
with this as a stimulus he grew up with well 
defined plans as to his future course of action. 
After finishing the common school course he 
entered, at the age of seventeen, the Ohio Wes- ' 
ieyan University and while attending that in- 
stitution his financial condition was such that 
he was obliged to spend his vacations in teach- 
ing and working on the farm to earn means 
with which to pay his tuition and other ex- 
penses. He made a creditable record as a stu- 
dent, was graduated with the class of 1879 and 
in the fall of the same year united with the 
Ohio conference of the. Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

Dr. Riker's first charge was at Worthing- 
ton, where he spent two years, and during the 
ensuing three years he served as pastor of a 
church in the city of Columbus, his labors in 
both places being fruitful in spiritual results as 
well as greatly beneficial in a material way. 
From Columlnis he went to Athens, where he 
labored' three years with a large measure of 
success, and at the expiration of that time was 
transferred to the Holston conference, Ten- 
nessee, and given charge of the first Methodist 
Episcopal church in the city of Chattanooga. 
During his pastorate of four years in that city 
he built up the congregation numerically and 
by his earnest and able preaching and untiring 
eftorts in personal work succeeded in awaken- 
ing a deep and abiding interest in the church. 

In the fall of 1891 Dr. Riker was trans- 
ferred from Holston to the West Virginia con- 
ference and became pastor of the Fourth Street 
church in the city of Wheeling, where he la- 
bored with great acceptance for a period of five 
years. He was then stationed at Charleston 
and after a successful pastorate of tw'O years 
duration there, he was called to the presidenc\- 
of Mt. Union College, which high and resjxin- 
sible position he has since held. 

Dr. Riker's ministerial career is replete with 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



431 



duty ably and conscientiously performed, nor 
is it without the honor which a man of his ripe 
scholarship and deep spirituality would natur- 
ally bring to ser\-ice so nolile and dignitied. By 
close stud}', wide reading and experience he 
continually added to his ability as a sound, forc- 
ible, logical and eloquent preacher and estab- 
lished his reputation as a faithful and untiring- 
pastor, whose enei"g}- succumbed to no obstacle 
however formidable and whose optimism noth- 
ing could dim or discourage. Thus far his 
record as an educator and executor of the in- 
stitu.tion with which he is connected has fully 
met the high expectations of the official man- 
agement, patrons and students and of his num- 
erous friends as well, and being in the very 
prime of his usefulness, thoroughly educated 
and endowed with force of character, it is safe- 
ly predicted that he will rise to still greater 
eminence and exert a more potent influence 
than heretofore upon educational interests of 
the state. The degree of Doctor of Divinity 
was conferred upon him by the Ohio University 
located at Athens, at the commencement follow- 
ing the close of his pastorate in that city, with- 
out petition and without his knowdedge. 

Dr. Riker, in 1881, contracted a matri- 
monial alliance with Miss Mary E. Davis, of 
Dublin, Ohio, daughter of Charles Davis, a 
prominent farmer and stock raiser living near 
that town, the issue of the union being four 
children, Charles R. and S. Clark, students of 
Mt. Union College, and Olive and Marie, who 
are still pursuing their studies in the puljlic 
schools. Politically the Doctor is independent, 
yet he has broad and deep views upon the lead- 
ing questions of the day, national and inter- 
national, and is thoroughly familiar with the 
history of parties and the principles upon w hich 
they are founded. He exercises his judgment 
in the matter of the elective franchise and gives 
his support to the candidates who are intellect- 
ually and morally best qualified for the posi- 



tions to which they aspire. Fraternally he is a 
member of the Masonic order, belonging to 
Magnolia Lodge No. 20 at Columbus. 



JOHN G. YOST was born in Canton, on 
the 26th of October, 1845, and was here reared 
to maturity, having received his education in 
the common schools of the day. In 1862, 
when but sixteen years of age, he enlisted as a 
drummer in Company B, One Hundred and 
Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which 
he served until victory crowned the Union 
arms, having ever been found at the post of 
duty and being ready to lead into the thickest 
of the fray as occasion demanded, his regi- 
ment being attached to the Army of the Ten- 
nessee and participating- in many of the im- 
portant battles of the great fratricidal conflict. 

After the close of the war Mr. Yost re- 
turned to his home in Canton, whence he soon 
afterward went to Oberlin College, this state, 
where he completed a course in the commercial 
department. He then returned to his home city 
and became bookkeeper in the George D. Harter 
Bank, with which well-known financial insti- 
tution he continued to be identified as a trusted 
and efficient employe for the long- period of 
fifteen years, being teller of the same at the 
time of his death, which occin-red on the nth 
of April, 1 88 1. He was a man of genial nature 
and utmost courtesy and kindness, and his cir- 
cle of friends in this county was exceptionally 
wide, while he was true and loyal in all the 
relations of life and was valued as a citizen. 
In politics he gave an unqualified support to the 
Republican party, taking a lively interest in 
public affairs and the issues of the day, and 
his religious faith was that of the German 
Lutheran church. He was a member of Mc- 
Kinley Post No. 25, Grand Army of the Re- 
public, and was one of its most honored com- 



432 



OLD LANDMARKS 



rades, while for many years he also was a 
drummer in the G. A. R. band. 

On the 7th of October, 1869, Mr. Yost 
was united in marriage to Miss Lavinia E. 
Barber, who was born and reared in Canton, 
the place of her nativity having been the family, 
home near the present city hall, on North 
Cleveland avenue. Her father, William Bar- 
ber, was born in the state of Virginia, on the 
i6th of January, 1814, and when he was a child 
his parents removed to Stark county, locating 
on a farm a short distance south of Canton and 
becoming well known pioneers of the county. 

Philip Yost, father of the subject of this 
memoir, was born in the pro\ince of Alsace, 
France, now a portion of the German empire, 
and came thence to America when a young 
man, locating in Buffalo, New York, where he 
married Miss Caroline Myrtle, a native of Ger- 
many. From New York state they came to Can- 
ton, here passing the remainder of their lives, 
while the parents of Mrs. Yost also died here, 
her mother's maiden name having been Fred- 
erica Haut. Mrs. Yost survives her honored 
husband, as do also their three children, Philip, 
who is first lieutenant of Company D, of the 
Regular Coast Artillery of the federal army, 
being stationed in Port Caswell, North Caro- 
lina, and John G. and Emma, who remain at the 
old home with their mother. Mr. Yost was a 
man of excellent business ability, being a fine 
accountant, and his death was deeply felt by 
those with whom he had been so long and close- 
ly associated in business, while in the home, 
whose associations were of the most ideal 
character, his memory remains as a benediction 
and as a measure of consolation for seemingly 
unmitigated loss and bereavement. 



REV. FREDERICK STRASSNER.— 
The subject of this review is an honorable rep- 
resentative of the large and influential German 
element that has had much to do in shaping our 



industrial growth and giving character and sta- 
bility to man)' other callings, not the least being u 
the holy ministry, in which may be found many I 
learned divines who were born in the Father- t 
land. Charles A. C. Strassner, father of the 
subject, was a native of Bremen and by occu- 
pation was a merchant tailor. He ran quite a 
large establishment in Bremen and many of 
his manufactured goods were exported to the 
United States, where they had an extensive 
sale. He spent all of his life in the land of his 
nativity, dying about 1855, at the age of eighty- 
four years. His father was also a merchant 
tailor and departed this life in the city of Brem- 
en when about fifty-eight years old. The maiden 
name of the subject's mother was Mary 
Coelmn. She was the second wife of Charles 
A. C. Strassner and bore him eight children, 
there having been seven children of the pre- 
vious marriage. Of this large family all re- 
mained in Germany except two brothers and 
one sister, namely: Christian, who died some 
years ago in St. Louis, Missouri; Mrs. Hannah 
Gehle, who now resides in that city, and the 
subject. 

Re\-. Frederick Strassner was born Febru- 
ary 22. 1 83 1, in Bremen, at that time one of 
the five independent cities of Germany, and un- 
til the age of fifteen he attended the parochial 
schools under the auspices of the German Re- 
formed church. On quitting school he took 
up the study of architecture and frescoe paint- 
ing and after acquiring a practical knowledge 
of each, decided to find a field for the exercise 
of his talents in America, where a brother and 
sister were already living. Accordingly, in 
1849. ^vhen but seventeen years of age, he 
started on the long journey to what he consid- 
ered the land of opportunities, taking passage 
at Bremen on a sailing vessel, which was at 
sea about sixty days before reaching New Or- 
leans, its destination. From that city he made 
the trip to St. Louis on a Mississippi river 
steamer and there joined his relations, who had 




REV. F. STRASSNER. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



433 



been anxiously awaiting' liis arri\al. His broth- 
er-in-law. Air. Gehle, being engageil in work 
similar in many respects to his own, gave him 
employment at remunerati\'e wages and during 
the succeeding nine months the young man was 
ke])t (|uite busy owing to the demand for skilled 
artisans in St. Louis. Before Mr. Strassner 
had been in this ccmntry a year the terrible 
^Cl>urge of cholera broke out in the cities along 
the Mississippi, Ijeing especially violent in St. 
Louis, where at times as high as two hundred 
deaths occurred in one day. Determined if 
possible to escape the disease, young Strass- 
ner ded the plague-stricken city, taking a ves- 
sel which in due time landed -him in Cincinnati, 
where he also had friends and relatives living. 
Before coming to America Mr. Strassner 
had no knowledge whatever of the English 
language and, realizing how \'aluable it would 
be to him, took lessons while on the way over, 
from the steward of the vessel, who, being an 
irishman, spoke the tongue with a most pro- 
imunced Hibernian brogue. The subject inade 
good progress while en route and when he met 
his sister in St. Louis and accosted her in what 
he supposed to be fair English, she at first took 
him for a son of Erin and for some time could 
hardly l)elieve him a German, much less her 
brother. He landed in the L'nited States poor 
in purse, but rich in the elements of sturdy 
young manhood, which in the end never fail of 
winning success. In Cincinnati he took up car- 
])eniry and worked at the trade in that city dur- 
ing the five years following, earning good wag- 
es, which he husbanded with the greatest care. 
\\hile there he formed the acquaintance of 
Rev. Herman Rust, a well known minister of 
the Reformed church, afterwards a professor 
in Heidelberg Theological Seminary, between 
whom and himself a very warm friendship soon 
sprung up. At the solicitation of Mr. Rust, 
who was not long in recognizing the young- 
man's ability and religious zeal, Mr. Strassner 
became an assistant in church, missionary and 

27 



Sunday school work and soon developed great 
efficiency in these lines of religi.ous endeavor. 
Convinced that it was his duty to enter the 
Christian ministr)-, but being without sutificient 
means to take the theological course required 
by the church, he accepted a position with the 
American Tract Society and for a period of 
nine months traxelled o\-er \-arious parts of the 
country distributing literature of that organi- 
zation and doing much personal religious work 
among the people with whom he came in con- 
tact. This proved a very valuable experience 
in many w-ays, as it gave him confidence in 
himself, besides imparting a practical knowl- 
edge of the world such as he could not have 
received in any other way. Resigning his po- 
sition with the Tract Society, Mr. Strassner 
entered Franklin Marshall College, Lancaster. 
Pennsylvania, where he prosecuted his literary 
studies for three years and then began the study 
of theology in the seminary at Mercersburg. 
Completing the prescribed course in the latter 
institution, he became assistant to Rev. George 
Wolfe, pastor of the Reformed church at Para- 
dise, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania. 
Owing to the ill health of Rev. Wolfe the bur- 
den of preaching fell to the assistant during the 
first nine months of his connection with the 
church and it was while thus engaged that the 
young divine received his license from the Sus- 
quehanna classis, the document bearing the 
date of 1858. At the conclusion of his labors 
at the above place Air. Strassner became pastor 
of the congregation at \Vilkesbarre, Pennsyl- 
vania, w^here he labored with great acceptance 
for a period of five years, during which time 
he preached in both the English and German 
tongaies and was instrumental in accomplish- 
ing much good in the service of God and hu- 
manity. His next field of later was in the vi- 
cinity of Tiffin and Berwick, Seneca county, 
Ohio, moving to the latter place in 1861 and 
preaching to the church there and to three con- 
gregations in the county for about three years. 



434 



OLD LANDMARKS 



At the expiration of that period he took up the 
work at Lancaster, where existed at that time 
a peculiar and unfortunate state of affairs grow- 
ing out of tiie pohtical partisanship of those 
days. Owing to the bitter feehng between the 
RepubHcan adherents of Abraham Lincohi 
and the Democrats under the leadership of 
Clement L. Vallandigham, the local congre- 
gation was divided and a spirit of animosity 
engendered wiiich for a time threatened to ter- 
minate in the disruption of the congregation. 
It was with the laudable desire of uniting the 

, two factions and restoring harmony that Mr. 
Strassner undertook what at first appeared an 
almost impossible task, but which under his 
superior tact and generalship was successfully 
inaugurated at the very beginning of his la- 
bors. Both sides, recognizing his scholarly at- 
tainments and persuasive powers as a preacher, 
were desirous of securing his services, in view 
of which they unanimously accepted his propo- 
sition to cease further political strife and unite 
as formerly in harmonious relationship for ef- 
fective work. The times, however, were un- 
propitious, as party spirit ran high and the ut- 

. most care was required to cope with the em- 
ergency and restore the church to its normal 
condition. In less than a year this much de- 
sired object was consummated and, harmony 
being restored, the work took on new life, which 
continued unabated until Mr. Strassner re- 
signed the pastorate at the expiration of his 
second year with the church. He then accepted 
a call to Baltimore, Ohio, where he took charge 
of three congregations, all in a very weakened 
condition, materially and spiritually. Here he, 
perhaps, did some of his most effective work, 
his labors along all lines being blessed with 
most signal results. Many accessions were 
made to the different congregations, a greater 
spirit of devotion replaced the former condition 
of apathy and indifference replaced by one of 
life and energy, and in due time two new houses 
of worship were erected, one representing a 



cost of over nine thousand dollars. A par- 
sonage was also purchased and remodeled 
which, with the other evidences of material 
prosperity, bore eloquent testimony to the spirit 
of union which was brought about by the ef- 
forts of the untiring pastor, who hesitated at 
nothing short of the accomplishment of his 
purpose. After three years of most success- 
ful labor at Baltimore, Mr. Strassner resigned 
and took charge of what is known as the Boun- 
dary chai-ge, consisting of the churches at 
On'ille and Marshallville, the former a newly 
organized congregation whose members were 
exceedingly desirous of securing his services. 
During his labors in this important field, which 
extended over a period of eighteen years, Mr. 
Strassner greatly strengthened both churches, 
building a fine temple of worship at Marshall- 
ville and adding much to the scope and influence 
of the congregations in their respective com- 
munities. He also preached from time to time 
at various other points, and acquired much more 
than local reputation as an able preacher and 
faithful, devoted worker, sparing no pains to 
disseminate the great truths of religion among 
his fellow men and win souls to the higher life. 
After five years service the Marshallville con- 
gregation was given up and Orville church 
formed a self-supporting congregation. 

In 1890 Mr. Strassner accepted a call from 
the First Reformed church at Canton and after 
breaking the bread of life to the congregation 
for a period of six years and six months, re- 
signed the pastorate to take charge of the mis- 
sion at South Market street, entering upon his 
duties on the 3d of May, 1896. Services were 
held in the old United Brethren edifice on 
Charles street, but in a few months a lot on 
South Market street, containing a story-and-a- 
half house, was purchased and the building re- 
constructed for church purposes. Subsequent- 
ly a new temple of worship in keeping with the 
requirements of the rapidly growing congrega- 
tion was erected and dedicated to the service of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



435 



God, the event taking place in December, 1900. 
The ceremony was conducted by Revs. Meyer, 
of Youngstown, Henning, of Osnaburg, and 
Faust, of Massillon, assisted by the pastor, and 
the day marked an important epoch in the his- 
tory of one of the most important as well as one 
of the most successful religious movements in 
the city of Canton. 

Under Mr. Strassner's administration the 
mission had progressed satisfactorily in all of 
its departments, the building, which represents 
a capital of over six thousand dollars, standing 
as a monument to his zeal and untiring energy 
in the cause whicli lies so near his heart. Few 
preachers have accomplished as much as has 
Rev. Strassner, his career from the beginning 
presenting a series of successes in building up 
the kingdom of Christ seldom paralleled in the 
community with which he is identified. He has 
literally spent his time and energy in the noble 
work of saving men and although well ad- 
vanced in life, is still animated by the same zeal 
and enthusiasm which marked the labors of his 
earlier years. Strong in the faith, fearless in 
the denunciation of sin, persuasive and eloquent 
in presenting the claims of the Gospel, he has 
indeed been a true champion of the cross and 
expects to continue calling sinners to repentance 
until he is called by the Master to come up 
higher and receive the approbation, "Well done, 
good and faithful servant." 

Rev. Strassner was married at Lebanon, 
Pennsylvania, March 28, 1861, to Miss Mar\' 
G. Gleim, daughter of Joseph Gleim, of Leba- 
non, that state; the children of this union are 
as follows : Mary, wife of A. A. Sharp, now 
living in St. Paul, Minnesota, is the mother of 
three children. Mary, Blanche and Lester 
Sharp ; Charles F., the second in order of birth, 
lives in Kansas, is a married man and the father 
of one daughter, Josephine; Grace E., who mar- 
ried Daniel Frantz, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, 
has three children. Edith, Frederick and Susan ; 
Edgar, the second son, is a resident of Canton ; 



his wife, formerly Miss Belle Schlabach, of this 
city, has borne him two daughters. Bernice and 
Margaret ; William, also living in Canton, mar- 
ried Grace Karnes ; Pearl B., wife of John 
Burkhart, lives in Canton, as do also Doris, 
Lillian and Frank J., with their parents. 

In his political views Rev. Strassner is inde- 
pendent, acknowledging allegiance to no party. 
The degree of Doctor of Divinity was confer- 
red upon Rev. Strassner by Heidelburg College 
about 1895. 



WILLIAM K. FOGG, manufacturer and 
financier, is a native of Mahoning county, 
Ohio, and whose parents, Josiah and Emmeline 
Fogg, were both born near Salem, New Jersey, 
When quite young Josiah Fogg and Emmeline 
Shinn were brought by their respective parents 
to eastern Ohio, and they grew to maturity and 
were married in Mahoning county, where the 
two families settled in an early day. Josiah 
Fogg was a farmer and followed his chosen 
calling in Berlin township, of the above county, 
until 1893, when he retired from active life and 
took up his residence in the town of Beloit. 
After living there until 1902 he came to Alli- 
ance, where he and his good wife are now spend- 
ing their closing years, the former having 
reached the ripe old age of eighty-three, the 
latter being his junior by one year. In early 
life, in addition to agriculture, Josiah Fogg 
dealt quite extensively in live stock and prose- 
cuted his business enterprises so successfully 
that in due time he was enabled to retire with an 
ample competence. He figured conspicuously 
in the early political history of eastern Ohio and 
it is a matter of 'record that he was one of the 
first three abolitionists in the county of Mahon- 
ing. Fearless in the expression of his opinions, 
his radical views concerning human slavery 
■naturally incurred the enmity of many of his 
neighbors and friends. He persisted in his 
course, however, regardless of consequences 



■ k 



436 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and iiot onlv maintained his highest convictions 
but by more material means assisted fugitive 
slaves on their way to Canada, having for years 
been connected with what was known as the 
"underground railroad.'" By birthright a mem- 
ber of the Society of Friends, a religious body 
unalterably opposed to unrequited servitude, he 
became a most pronounced enemy of the whole 
nefarious system of human bondage and dur- 
ing the antebellum days many poor blacks 
were assisted on their way to freeilom across 
our northern borders through his instrumen- 
tality. He and his good wife have always re- 
mained true to the plain simple faith in which 
they were born and reared and are still ortho- 
dox members of the society, upholding its prin- 
ciples and precepts with the tenacity of purpose 
that characterizes the Friends of a generation 
long past. Of the three children born to this 
excellent couple two are living at the present 
time, William K., the subject of this sketch, 
and Aaron, who resides in Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania. 

The bu'tli lit William K. Fogg occurred on 
the 25th day of June, 1852, in Berlin township, 
Washington county, Ohio, and he was reared to 
young manhood at the paternal homestead, re- 
ceiving his first practical acquaintance with life 
as a farmer boy familiar with the varied phases 
of healthful outdoor work. His educational 
advantages were (|uite limited, as he was 
obliged to C{ui_t school when about fourteen 
years of age in order to help his father, who 
stood greatly in need of assistance to carry on 
the farm and provide for the family. ^luch 
of the labor fell to the subject as soon as he 
was strong enough to assume the responsibility, 
and during the years that followed his life was 
one of constant toil, with hut little leisure for 
recreation or luental miproxement. \\\\.h true 
filial regard he pro\ed loyal to his parents and 
continued to labor for them and louk after their 
interests until 1871, when he chose a wife and 
hel])meet in the person of Miss Narcissa Webb, 



of Mahoning county, and started in life for 
himself, moving the same year to Stark county 
and purchasing a farm alx>ut two miles south- 
east of Marlboro, in the township of Lexing- 
ton. William Fogg had no cai)ital worthy 
of mention at the time of his marriage and he 
went in debt for the entire purchase price of his 
farm, determined if there were any virtue in 
hard work and good management to clear the 
place of incumbrance at the earliest possible 
date. Animated by this laudable ambition to 
succeed, he bent all of his energies to the task, 
labored early and late and exercised the most 
frugal thrift as well as excellent judgment in 
his endeavors. After four years of strenuous 
effort, during which his success in e\'ery line 
of agriculture was most encouraging, he suc- 
ceeded in paying the last dollar of indebtedness 
on the farm, the land the meanwhile, by 
reason of thorough culti\ation, continuing to 
increase m \alue far in excess of the price he 
originally paid. At the expiration of the fnur 
years. he made another fortunate investment in 
real estate, purchasing what is locally known as 
the old Web!) farm, consisting of one hundred 
and si.xty acres in (lOslien township, Malmning 
county, to which he at t»nce removed and which 
he made his home during the four years follow- 
ing. While living on the latter place Mr. Fugg 
did not follow agriculture exclnsix'ely. hut in 
connection therewitli started a cheese factory, 
the first enterprise of its kind in the county of 
Mahoning. With no experience whatever in 
the manufacture of cheese, and not. being able 
to ppicure a ca])ahle man to take charge of his 
factorv, he sent to Switzerland for an experi- 
enced cheesemaker. who, arriving in due time, 
soon hail the enterprise in fine working order. 
The high reputation of the product created a 
great demand in the local markets, from which 
it rapidly extended to the general trafle and it 
was not long until the factory was taxed to 
its utmost capacity, and that too w itliout nearly 
satisfving the constant demand. The better 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



437 



to liandle liis product, Air. Fogg, in tlie fall 
of 1883, turned his farm over to other hands 
and moved to Alliance, where he engaged in the 
wholesale cheese business, to which he devoted 
his attention with success and financial profit 
until the spring of 1902, when he sold out his 
establishment for the purpose of embarking in 
another and different enterprise. In that year 
he organized the Standard Bolt Manufacturing 
CDnipany for the manufacttu'e of all kinds of 
bolts, nuts, rivets, car forgings and other 
articles of similar character, an enterprise which 
proved successful from the beginning and 
which has steadily grciwn in favor, taking its 
place among the leading industries of the city 
and gaining for the promoters the reputation of 
able, far-sighted business men. Mr. Fogg, be- 
ing the leading spirit in the organization of 
the company, was made its president and treas- 
urer and he still hoUls that oftice. besides giving 
personal attention to the enterprise and render- 
ing valuable service in other than ofBcial ca- 
pacities. Prior to his removal to Alliance Mr. 
Fogg l>ecame interested in one of tlie city's most 
important financial institutions, the saving tenk, 
whicli he assisted to organize in 1892 and of 
whicti he was made president six years later, 
a relation he still sustains. 

The remarkable adxancement of the subject 
in the xarious enter])rises with which he has 
been identiheil. mark him as a man of much 
more than ordinary mental power and business 
ability and his experience as farmer, manufac- 
turer and financier demonstrates unusual 
capacity for inaugurating and pushing to suc- 
cessful ctimpletion large and important under- 
takings. He has been fortunate in all liis en- 
terprises, as the above record attests, and his 
opinions and judgment are only formed after 
the most careful and painstaking consideration. 

Mr. Fogg's first wife was the daughter of 
R. S. \\'el)b. formerly a well known citizen of 
Mahoning county, but now lix'ing a retired life 
in the city of Alliance. She died in 1893. lea\-- 



ing, besides her husband, a daughter by the 
name of Bertha, who at this time holds the 
position of assistant cashier in the City Savings 
Bank. In the year 1897 the subject married 
his present companion, formerly Miss Laura 
Leeters, but at the time noted Mrs. Kay, Mr. 
Fogg being her second husband. 

Politically Mr. Fogg is a Republican, but 
he is extremely liberal in his views and in local 
matters frequently votes for the man regardless 
of party. He has ne\er had any political 
aspirations, being essentially a business man 
with no time to devote to any thing outside his 
specific spheres of activity. He is also a self- 
made, educated man and coming from a physi- 
cally and mentally robust race, enjoys a strong 
constitution, a clear, incisive mind and a re- 
sourceful, powerful nature. No one in the city 
of Alliance bears a better reputation for sterl- 
ing worth, few- ha\e been as faithful and ener- 
getic in business and none stand hig-her in the 
confidence and esteem of the public. 



JOSEPH M. BALL came of stanch Ger- 
man extraction, his parents, having emigrated to 
.\merica and taken up their resilience in the 
state of Pennsylvania, where they passed the 
remainder of their li\es. two of their children, 
Joseph M. and a younger sister, having been 
born in this country. Joseph M. Ball was born 
in Butler county. Pennsylvania, on the 23th of 
March, 1844. and was there reared to the age 
of eighteen years, ha\ing recei\ed a common 
school education. .\t the age noted he went to 
the city of Pittsburg, where he servetl an ap- 
prenticeship at the trade of tinsmith. At the 
outbreak of the war of the Rebellion he went to 
the state of Tennessee, where he was employed 
in construction work for the government for 
a short time, and he then enlisted, at Nashville, 
that state, as a private in the First Kansas Light 
Artillery, with which he continued in active 
service until the close of the war. having made 



43^5 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tlie record of a loyal and valiant soldier of the 
republic, and ha\ing always been found at the 
post of duty. After victory had crowned the 
Union anus he received his honorable discharge 
at Fort Worth, Kansas. After the termination 
of his military career Mr. Ball came to the city 
of Columbus, Ohio, where he remained a few 
weeks and then came to Canton, in 1865. Here 
he established a tin shop at the corner of Mul- 
berry and Cherry streets, where he conducted 
business for a period of two years, at the expi- 
ration of which he erected the Ball block, at 
825 South Market street, and there established 
himself in the grocery business, in which he 
successfully continued for nearly ten years, dur- 
ing a portion of which time he also operated a 
grist mill on South Court street. At the ex- 
piration of the time mentioned Mr. Ball dis- 
jjosed of his grocery and mill and purchased 
the Buckeye flouring mills, which he maintained 
at the highest standard and which he continued 
to operate until 1898, when he retired from 
active l;)usiness, and he died at his home on 
South Market street, on the 21st of May, 1902, 
honored by all who knew him. He had ever 
been careful and discriminating in his business 
affairs, and through his wise conservatism he 
accumulated fine properties, having been the 
owner of much x-aluable real estate in Canton 
and having at all times taken a deep interest in 
the progress and material prosperity of his 
home city. In politics Mr. Ball gave an un- 
swer\ing allegiance to the Democratic party 
and he was one of the prominent members and 
devoted communicants of St. John's church, 
Roman Catholic, as was also his devoted wife. 
Fraternally he manifested his abiding interest 
in his old comrades in arms by retaining mem- 
bershi]i in the Grand Army of the Republic, 
being identified with McKinley Post No. 25. 
In the city of Canton, on the 12th of May, 
1868. Mr. Ball was united in marriage to Miss 
Lucinda Richard, who was born in this place 
on the 24th of March, 1848, a daughter of 



John and Sarah (Shanabrook) Richard, 
honored pioneers of the county. She received 
her educational training in the public and paro- 
chial schools of Canton, and here her entire life 
was passed, her demise occurring on the 14th 
of May, 1882. Five children were born to this 
union, namely: Frank J., who is mentioned in 
another paragraph; Sadie is the wife of Will- 
iam E. Melchior, member of the firm of Ball 
& Jennings, of Canton; Howard M. is indi- 
vidually mentioned in an appending paragraph ; 
Jennie I. is the widow of Richard J. Jennings, 
of Canton, who died April 28, 1902 ; and Harry 
A. will be more specifically mentioned at a later 
point in this context. 

Frank J. Ball was born on the 29th of 
January, 1869, and attended the public schools 
until sixteen years of age, after which he took 
a course in a business college. He remained 
with his father until April, 1894, when he pur- 
chased the United States Auction Syndicate, 
located in East Tuscarawas street, which he 
still owns. Religiously he is aftiliated with St. 
John's church, while in politics he is a Demo- 
crat. In July, 1894, Mr. Ball was married to 
Miss Frances Bissler, of Alliance, but they 
have no children. 

Howard M. Ball, the second son of the 
honored subject of this memoir, was bom in 
the parental homestead in Canton, on the 14th 
of August, 1872, and he received his early 
educational discipline in the public and private 
schools of his native city, while at the age of 
fifteen years he entered the Canton Business 
College, where he completed a thorough course 
and thus fortified himself for the duties of an 
active business career. Thereafter he continued 
to be associated with his father in the operation 
of the Buckeye flouring mills until 1897, when 
he entered into partnership with his brother-in- 
law, Richard J. Jennings, and opened a general 
store at No. 833-837 South Market street, 
where he has since continued to be successfully 
engaged in business, the firm name having been 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



439 



Ball & Jennings until the death of his partner, 
since which time operations have been con- 
tinued by him individually, though the interest 
of his sister is still retained in the establish- 
ment. The building now occupied was erected 
by the firm in 1900, the store being spacious 
and well equipped, while he utilizes the second 
story for residence purposes. In politics Mr. 
Ball gives his support to the Democratic party 
and he and his wife are communicants of St. 
John's church, while fraternally he holds mem- 
bership in the Knights of Columbus and the 
Catholic Mutual Benefit Association. He is a 
progressive and capable young business man 
and has the respect of the people of his native 
city. On the 15th of April, 1894, in Canton, 
Mr. P>all was united in marriage to Miss Mar- 
garet Peffer, daughter of Solomon and Cather- 
ine (Walters) Peffer, of this city, and of this 
union have been born four children : Joseph S., 
aged eight years ; Catherine Lucinda, aged six 
years: Howard F., aged four years; and Susie, 
aged two years. 

Harry A. Ball, youngest child of John M. 
and Lucinda (Richard) Ball, was born in the 
old home in Canton, on the 4th of November, 
1876. and he received excellent educational ad- 
vantages, having attended tiie public and paro- 
chial schools and the Canton Business College, 
after which he took a course in the Ohio Nor- 
mal L'niversity, at Ada. At the age of eigh- 
teen \ears he became connected with the oper- 
ation of his father's mills, and was identified 
with the same until the retirement of his father, 
in 1898, when he became a partner in the firm 
of Ball & Jennings, in the ownership of the 
South End Bargain Store, in which he has since 
brcen concerned, while through his efforts he 
has done much to further the upbuilding of 
the representative trade controlled by the firm. 
Like his brother, he is a Democrat in his po- 
litical proclivities, a communicant of St. John's 
church and a member of the Knights of Colum- 
bus. 



FRIEND E. MYERS.— Edwin C. Myers, 
the subject's father, was a native of Colum- 
biana county, Ohio, and a farmer by occupation. 
He married, in Portage county, Miss Anna 
Stretch, who was also born in Salem, Colum- 
biana county, and for a number of years carried 
on the pursuit of agriculture near the town of 
Industry. 

Friend E. Myers, city engineer of Canton, 
Ohio, and a well known civil engineer, was born 
at Industry, Portage county, Ohio, June 27, 
1870, and there grew to young manhood, 
spending the intervening years on the farm, at- 
tending at intervals the public schools. Sub- 
sequently, in 1889, he entered the Ohio Normal 
University at Ada, the scientific course of 
which institution he completed in 1894. and 
the following year was graduated fnim the 
engineering department, standing at the head 
of his class m all lines of professional study^ 
and delivering the valedictory address at the 
close of the term. Mr. Myers on leaving the 
luiiversity accepted the position of deputy sur- 
veyor of Hardin county, Ohio, and continued 
to exercise the duties of the same for a period 
of three years, during which time he added 
greatly to his practical knowledge of engineer- 
ing and became skilled in every branch of his 
chosen calling. Resigning the above place at 
the expiration of the time noted, he entered 
the employ of the Champion Iron Company, at 
Kenton, Ohio, as expert engineer, which po- 
sition he held three years with credit to himself 
and to the entire satisfaction of the firm. Mr. 
Myers next became engineer for the Massillon 
Bridge Company, which responsible position 
he filled two years, when he gave up the place 
and for some time thereafter was engaged by 
the Interurban Construction Company to as- 
sist in the surveying and engineering work of 
the Stark County Electric Trolley Line. No- 
vember, 1902, he came to Canton and effected 
a co-partnership with ex-county surveyor John 
Holl, which still exists, the firm thus consti- 



440 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tilled doing ;i large and lucrative business in 
all kinds of engineering and surveying. The 
liigli re])Utation of both parties as accomplished 
engineers creating a continuous demand for 
their services, not only in Canton. Inn through- 
out the county and in other cities as well. For 
some time past Mr. Myers has held the respon- 
sible position of city engineer of Canton, dis- 
charging the duties of the same in an able and 
satisfactory manner, being employed at fre- 
quent intervals to do expert engineering work 
for various industrial concerns, where only the 
* highest order of efficiency is required. 

Mr. Myers was married in Kenton, Ohio. 
December 23, 1897. to Miss Dee Armstrong, 
a native of Columbus, this state, the union be- 
ing blessed with one child by the name of Ma- 
rion. In his political affiliations Mr. Myers is 
a Republican, and as such has pronounceti 
views and decided opinions, though not a par- 
tisan in the sense the term is generally accepteil. 
Religiously he belongs to the First Christian 
church of Canton, with which congregation his 
wife is also identified. 



REV. HIRAM MILLER was a native of 
the old Keystone state of the Uniim, ha\ing 
been born in W'illiamsport, Lycoming county. 
Pennsylvania, on the T6th of June, 1820. His 
father, Cornelius Miller, was likewise born in 
that count\-. whicli fact is significant, as indi- 
cating that the family must have been there 
establishefl within the colonial epoch of our 
national history. Cornelius Miller retained liis 
residence in his native county until well ad- 
vanced in years, and then removed to the vicin- 
ity of the present town of Newcastle, Lawrence 
county, that state, and a number of years later 
after the death of his wife, he emigrated to the 
state of Iowa, where he passed the residue of 
his life, attaining the patriarchal age of ninety 
years. He was a man of intellect and sterling 
character, and the major portion of his long 



life was devoted to agricultural jiursuits. Of 
his children we are able to give the following | 
brief data : Cornelius died in Iowa ; Hiram, 
subject of this memoir, was next in order of j 
birth: Jemima was married and died in Beaver 
county, Pennsylvania ; Martha Jane married a 
man named Wilson, and lives in Lyons, Iowa; 
the next was a son named Daniel, who met his 
death while serving in the Confederate army 
during the Rel^ellion : Xewton. who married in 
Beaver county, Penn.sylvania, removed thence 
to Iowa, and his death occurred in Maquoketa, 
that state. 

Of marked historic interest, and pertinent 
in this connection, are the following data. Sir 
Francis Drake, of England, ujjon his death de- 
vised much property to his sister Martha, who 
came to the United States when a girl and lo- 
cated near Harrislnirg. Penns}l\ania, where 
she married the maternal grandfather of the 
subject of this sketch, and her heirs are still 
endeavoring to secure the fortune l)equeathed to 
her h\ her brother, the litigation having been 
protracted and complicated, while there is some 
assurance that justice will yet l)e done in the 
case, which has been in the English courts for 
years. 

Lliram Miller, to wh<ini this memoir is dedi- 
cated, received his ]>reliminary educational 
discipline in the schools of his native county, 
and later continued his studies in Beaver coun- 
ty. Pennsylvania, w'here he completed an aca- 
demic course, having been endowed with those 
alert and recepti\-e intellectual faculties which 
enabled him to make the best use of the oppor- 
tunities aiTorded him. He also had marked 
musical talent, and had devoted careful atten- 
tion to the study of the "divine art." becoming 
a particularly excellent \-ocalist. After leaxing 
schools he remained for a time with his father 
on the farm, and then removed to the south, 
where he was for man\- }ears engaged in teach- 
ing music, a vocation which led him into many 
dift'erent sections. He also passed some time 




REV. HIRAM MILLER. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



441 



at the home of his brother Daniel, in Missis- 
sippi. After his return home, being naturally 
of reverent antl spiritual tendencies, he was led 
to the faith m the divine Master which guided 
and goxerned his entire life thereafter, and he 
was a humble and appreciatix-e follower in the 
steps of the lowly Nazarene who became the 
light of the world and the Savior of men. He 
was converted in the* Methodist Episcopal 
church, and his interest was so quickened and 
vitalized as to become a dominating- factor, 
and he determined that his duty lay in conse- 
crating his life to the work of the Master's 
A'ineyard. He accordingly began the study of 
theology, applying himself with great diligence, 
fervor and reverence, and completed his eccle- 
siastical studies in the divinity school in his na- 
tive state, where he was duly graduated, and in 
1847 l^s ^^■'is ordained to the ministry of the 
church, in the Pittsburg conference. In the con- 
nection It is interesting to recall the fact that 
his initial pastoral charge was at Salem, Ohio, 
where he did effective work, and thence he went 
to Manchester, Pennsvhania. now a part of the 
city of Pittsburg, and later laliored in the Mur- 
raysville circuit of the church in Westmore- 
land county. Pennsylvania. Here it was his 
good fortune to form the acquaintance of the 
noble and gracious woman who Ijecame his 
wife and who pro\ed a true helpmeet and co- 
adjutor to him until the hour when death set 
its seal upon his mortal lips. 

In the city of Pittsburg, on the 15th of 
June, 1852, Mr. Miller was united in marriage 
to Miss Margaret Elizabeth Gilchrist, con- 
cerning whom further mention will be made 
in this context. After serving as pastor of 
different churches in Pittsburg, Mr. Miller 
continued his work in turn at Braddock and 
Rostraver, Pennsylvania, and returned to Pitts- 
burg, while later he was stationed at Sharps- 
burg and Brownsville, in tiu'n, and then came 
to Ohio aiid for four years he was presiding 
elder of the church at JMcConnellsville, whence 



the conference sent him to Washington, Wash- 
ington county, where he remained until 1865, 
when he came to Canton, as pastor of what is 
now the First Methodist Episcopal church. 
Here he was successful in infusing vigor into 
the spiritual anti temporal work of the church, 
increasing its membership materially and labor- 
ing with devoted zeal in this charge for a per- 
iod of three years, when, in accord with the 
policy of the church authorities, a change was 
made, much to the sorrow of those to whom he 
had so faithfully ministered. From Canton 
Mr. iMiller went to the Smithfield church, in 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and thereafter was in 
tenure of pastorates in Monongahela City and 
Beaver, that slate, the three charges consuming 
the internal up to 1878, when he once more 
identified himself with the Ohio conference, 
coming again to Canton and here resuming 
pastoral charge of the church in which he had 
previously labored so elYectively. After a suc- 
cessful pastorate of three years, he was assigned 
to the chinxh at Massillon, where he remained 
for two years, and then became pastor of the 
church at Wellsxille. Here his pastorate con- 
tinued one year, and about this time his health 
became so seriously impaired as to necessitate 
his retirement from the active later of the min- 
istry, much to his regret and sorrow, for his 
zeal was unflagging and his consecration to the 
uplifting of his fellow men represented the 
ultimate aim of his life. Upon retiring, at the 
age of sixty-five years, the honored subject 
returned to Canton, where he purchased a home 
at the corner of Clexeland avenue and Lake 
street, and here he remained, secure in the love 
and solicitude of his family and of the com- 
munity and sustained and comforted by that 
faith which makes faithful, until the hour when 
he was summoned into eternal rest, his death 
occurring' on the 26th of February, 1891, at 
the age of seventy-one years, eight months and 
ten days, so that he had attained the psalmist's 
span of three score years and ten. Standing 



442 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in the pure \\hite light of a life and character 
like this, ail may find revelation and inspira- 
tion, for his was, indeed, "pnre religion and un- 
detiled before God," and his aim, and that real- 
alized in its amplitude, was "to visit the widows 
and the fatherless in their affliction and to do 
good to all men." The veil of the infinite was 
lifted to gain a new glory when came the trans- 
lation of this noble, valiant soul, and his name 
will be held in lasting reverence and honor by 
all who came within the sphere of his beneficent 
influence. In politics Mr. Miller was stanchly 
arrayed in support of the Republican party 
from the time of its organization, and fratern- 
ally he had been for many years identified with 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the 
Sons of Temperance. As a speaker he was 
forceful, earnest and convincing, perfervid in 
his simple faith and his love for his fellow men, 
and broad in his intellectuality, while his ad- 
ministrative ability was distinctive and potent. 

Rev. Hiram and Margaret E. (Gilchrist) 
Miller became the parents of seven children, 
concerning whom we enter the following epit- 
omized record : Mary is the wife of George 
V. L. Mellinger. of Canton; Edmund M. died 
at the age of eight years; Horace H. resides in 
Canton; Flora is the wife of Dr. Marcus M. 
Catlin, of this city ; George Maurice died at the 
age of nineteen; Wilbur G. is a resident of 
Washington, D. C, and Margaret died at the 
age of five months. The only grandchild is 
IVIargaret Gilchrist, now wife of E. W. Lewis, 
of Canton, she being the daughter of George 
and Mary Mellinger. 

Margaret Elizabeth (Gilchrist) Aliller, 
widow of the honored subject of this memoir, 
still retains her home in Canton, endeared to 
her by the memories and associations of the 
past. She was born in Murrysville, Westmore- 
land county, Pennsylvania, on the 13th of 
March, 1829, the town having been founded 
and named by her maternal grandfather. Jer- 
emiah Murrv. He was born in Ireland, in 



1744, and as a young man, without financial 
reinforcement or influential friends, emigrated 
to America, and made his way to the wilds of 
Westmoreland county, which was then con- 
sidered far west, and there entered large tracts 
of land, on a portion of which he laid out the 
town which bore his name. Loyal to the land 
of his adoption, he became a patriot soldier 
in the Continental line during the war of the 
Revolution, in which he rendered yeoman serv- 
ice. He was twice married. His first wife 
bore him six children, and after her death he 
married Keziah Setwart, of Scotch descent, 
who survived him by se\'eral years and who 
died without issue. From the founding of the 
town of Murrysville until his death Grand- 
father Murrv was there engaged in mercantile 
pursuits, and he lived to the age of ninety 
years, passing away in 1834. He was active in 
public affairs and zealous in furthering all en- 
terprises and projects for the general good, be- 
ing essentially public spirited and progressive 
and a man of fine mental caliber, while his 
genial and gracious personality gained to him 
the esteem and affection of all with whom he 
came in contact. He was a man of fine phy- 
sique and classic features, and was a striking 
figure at all times, even at venerable age. In 
his later years his hair, which was snowy 
white, hung long upon his shoulders, his ruddy, 
handsome face being always clean shaven, 
while to the last he wore the picturesque garb 
of the gentlemen of the colonial epoch. — ruftled 
shirts, knee breeches, with silver buckles, low 
shoes, etc. During the Indian wars he con- 
structed a block house in Murrysville, and in 
time of danger this was the refuge of the set- 
tlers for miles around. He served as justice 
of the peace for many years, was guide, coun- 
selor and friend to the people of the community, 
and was familiarly and affectionately known as 
'Sf|uire Murrv. His children were as follows: 
James, who was a general in the war of 1812 
and who was a prominent business man in Mur- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



443 



rysville, where he conducted a liotel for many 
years, and where he died, married Priscilla 
Shaffer and they reared a numter of children ; 
Nancy, who became the wife of John Cowen, 
died in 1836, in Allegheny county, Pennsyl- 
vania ; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Mun- 
go Dick, died in Pennsylvania ; Rebecca was the 
mother of Mrs. Miller, wife of the subject; 
Sarah, who became the wife of John Burrell, 
died in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where their 
son, Judge Jeremiah Murry Burrell resided 
until his decease some years ago, being an hon- 
ored and influential citizen; Jane became the 
wife of John Carpenter, a lawyer, and both died 
in Mur rysville. 

The Gilchrist family is of English descent, 
John Gilchrist, grandfather of Mrs. Miller, 
having been born in England but having been 
reared in Scotland. The family is collaterally 
allied to the great cutlery manufacturers of the 
name in England. John Gilchrist came to 
America and was killed while serving as a Con- 
tinental soldier in the Revolution. He had 
located in Pennsylvania, and there married 
Ellen Berryhill, who after his death took up 
her abode in Harrisburg, that state, and it is 
pathetic to recall an incident in her life, for so 
insistently did she weep upon receiving the tid- 
ings of the death of her loved husband, that the 
result was total blindness, which continued un- 
til her death. Her great regret was that she 
could not be able to see which one of her chil- 
dren grew to most resemble their father. 
She finally removed to New Alexandria, 
in Westmoreland county, where she died 
about 1837, at the age of four score 
years or more. John and Ellen Berry- 
hill became the parents of four children, name- 
ly: Lucy became the wife of James Latta, a 
saddler of Blairsville, Pennsylvania, and one 
of their children was Gen. James Latta, a gal- 
lant soldier of the Civil war, the parents both 
dying in Pennsylvania: Hannah, who became 
the wife of James Paur, died in Pennsvlvania, 



and her son John was likewise a soldier in 
the LTnion army, rising to the rank of colonel ; 
Matilda died in early youth, and John Andrew 
was the father of Mrs. Miller. 

John A. Gilchrist was born in the city of 
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and was but five 
years of age at the time of his widowed moth- 
er's removal to New Alexandria, where he was 
reared to maturity. After receiving a good 
common-school education he took up the study 
of law, and was duly admitted to the bar of his 
native state, but he never engaged to any con- 
siderable extent in the practice of his profes- 
sion. He became the owner of a large number 
of farms near Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and 
also operated salts works on the Allegheny 
river. His estate was known as the Manor 
Farms, and the spacious and attractive resi- 
dence was located in the center of the estate. 
He superintended the construction of what was 
known as the Northern pike, from Philadelphia 
to the western portion of the state, was ever 
active in promoting the march of improvement 
and accumulated a fortune. His was a strong 
personality and his poAyers of initiative were 
enormous, while for every thought and action 
of his life he demanded the approval of con- 
science, so that the fullest measure of confi- 
dence and esteem was always his. He finally 
located in Murrysville, and that continued to 
be his home until his death, which was caused 
by accident. He was riding on horseback in 
company with a friend. Dr. Stewart, when a 
tree fell in such a way as to cause his instant 
death, this occurring in 1831. 

In Murrysville Mr. Gilchrist was united 
in marriage to Miss Rebecca Murry, and she 
survived him by three years, passing away in 
1834, at the age of forty-four years. Of their 
children the following record is offered : Ann 
Jane, who became the wife of William Hun- 
ter, died in 1889. at her home in Memphis, 
Tennessee : Nancy became the wife of Rev. 
Samuel McClung, and both died in Pittsburg, 



444 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Pennsylvania: John C. enlisted for service in 
the Mexican way and was killed in the battle 
of Pueblo: six months previonsly he had re- 
ceived a captain's commission in the United 
States navy, and this commission, with other 
papers, was fonnd on the battle field and were 
sent to his mother : Sarah, who became the wife 
of Capt. Matthew Woods, died in 1899. in 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania: Helen, who 1)ecame 
the wife of Riley McLaughlin, died in Alle- 
gany county, Pennsylvania, in 1881 : Mar- 
garet E., wife of the subject, is the sole sur- 
^•i\ing member of the immediate family; and 
Rebecca, who became the wife of Matthew 
Shields. remo\ed to the west, where l)oth she 
and her husband died. 

Mrs. Miller remains in the old homestead 
purchased by her husband, and is one of the 
\enerable and loved ladies of Canton. Her 
strong and abiding Christian faith has sustained 
her through years of vicissitude and trial and 
has inspired the fullest appreciation of the beau- 
tiful elements in life, so that in the golden 
e\ening of her days she is an example of gra- 
cious womanhood, and well mav her children 
rise up and call her blessed. 



FR.\XK TR.VXSCE is president of the 
Transne & \\'illiams Drop Forging Company, 
an im])()rtant manufacturing concern, and \ice- 
president of the Alliance Bank Company, one 
of the solid financial institutions of the Buck- 
eye state. He is a native son of Ohio, having 
been born in Xorth Benton, Mahoning county, 
on the 17th of June, 1842, the second in order 
of birth of four children born to Samuel and 
Margaret (Santee) Transue. and one of the 
two now snr\i\ing. his sister, Marv H.. being 
the widow of .\l\in .Stone and retaining her 
home in .Alliance. The two decea.sed are Reu- 
ben, who sacrificed his life on the altar of his 
country durmg the war of the Rebellion, being 
killed in the battle of Chickamanga : and John. 



who died m infancy. Samuel Transue was 
born in Berks county. Pennsylvania, in which 
state the family was foundetl at an early period 
in its history, the name having been specially 
prominent in the \-icinity of Lancaster, where 
ha\e lixed numerous representatives, the line- 
age tracing back to French origin. In his 
native state the father of the subject was reared 
and educated, and there he learned the trade uf 
tailor. As a young man he came thence to Ohio 
and located in Xorth Benton. Mahoning coun- 
ty, where he engaged in the tailoring business 
and where he was shortly afterward married. 
He continued to be successfully engaged in this 
line of enterprise in Xorth Benton until 1852. 
while he was also for a number of vears in- 
cumbent of the office of postmaster of Xorth 
Benton. In the year mentioned he came to 
Alliance, which was then but a village, locat- 
ing in the section then known as Freedom but 
now a part of the city of Alliance, and here he 
continued in the work of his trade. In \^y) 
he entered into partnership with a Mr. Such 
and opened a tailoring business in the heart of 
the city, and the same was continued under the 
firm name of Transue & Such, until the out- 
break of the Civil war. when the subject of this 
sketch ;md his elder brother. Reuben, enlisted 
for- service in the L'nion ranks and the family 
home was l)r()ken up. The father then retired 
from business and drifted back to Pennsyl\'ani;i. 
locating in Harrisburg. where he likewise en- 
listed in the government service, becoming an 
attache of the commissarv dep.artment in 
that ])lace. his wife and daughter in the mean- 
while remaining in Alliance. After the close 
of his service in the capacity noted he returned 
to Alliance, and here his wife died the follow- 
ing year, she having been born in Mahoning 
county. Ohio, and having been fifty-six years 
of age at the time of her demise. Soon after- 
ward TlK.mas Transue removed to .\rkon. 
Ohio, where the latter was united in marriage 
to a Mrs. McMasters. one child being born of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



445 



this union, Xellie. who is now tlie wife of 
Henry CalchveU. of Oil City. P^ennsylvania. 
Mr. FransHe passed the remainder of his Hfe 
in Arkon. where he died on the 4tli of March, 
1892. at the age of seventy-seven years, his 
widow sin"vi\'ing' hiui h\ only ahout eighteen 
months. He was a man of strong mentality and 
marked individuality, and while ne\'er an as- 
pirant for office he became influential in the 
councils of the Know-nothing party and later in 
the Whig party, with which he remained identi- 
fied until the organization of the Republican 
part} . w hen he became a stalwart advocate of 
its principles and so continued until the time 
of his death. 

Frank Transue. the immediate subject of 
■ this re\'iew, was reared in the parental home, 
having- accompanied his parents on their re- 
moval to Alliance, and his educaltional ad- 
vantages were such as were afforded in the 
public schools of the day. At the age of six- 
teen years he apprenticed himself to learn the 
trade of machinist, for which purpose he 
entered the shops of Fisher & Shallters Com- 
I)any. in Alliance. After completing his ap- 
prenticeship he continued in the employ of this 
concern, as a journeyman, for several years, 
gaining a reputation as a skilled and reliable 
artisan. In 1861. in response to the President's 
first call for volunteers to aid in suppressing the 
Rebellion, Mr. Transue tendered his services 
in defen.se of the Union, enlisting as a private 
in Company H, Thirteenth Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantry, for a term of three months. His term 
of en.listment expired, however, before his com- 
mand reached the front, and he then resumed 
the work of his trade. In 1863 he went to 
Galion, Ohio, where he was employed about a 
year in the shops of the Bellefontaine & Indian- 
apolis Railroad, now a portion of the Big 
Four system, and he then returned to Alliance, 
where he remained until 1865, when he went to 
Kent. Ohio, to accept a position in the shops 
of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad, 



which is now known as the Erie Railroad. He 
was there employed about three years, at the 
expiration of which he again came to Alliance 
and once more accepted a position with the 
Nixon Company, formerly Fisher Shallters & 
Company, in whose works he had ser\-ed his 
apprenticeship. In 1872 the company failed 
and Mr. Transue then went to Massillon to 
superintend the placing in operation of the 
works of the C. Russell Company, manufac- 
turers of threshing-machine teeth, and he re- 
mained with this concern until the plant was 
in good worknig order, and he then -returned to 
Alliance and entered the employ of the Stark 
Manufacturing Company, whose enterprise was 
an "infant industry," the ct)mpany having been 
organized after the failure of the Nixon 
Company. The life of this new concern was 
not prolonged beyond its infancy, and the 
company was succeeded by J. S. Craft, who 
immediately afterward also purchased the old 
tow mill in Freedom, as that section of th^ 
city still continued to be desigiiated. At this 
juncture ]\Ir. Transue practically inaugurated 
his independent career, since he entered into a 
contract with Mr. Craft, who furnished the 
material, delivering the same to the factory, 
and our subject then, according to the specifi- 
cations of his contract, turned out the finished 
products at a stipulated price. In 1879 he be- 
came associated with Dr. Johnson Armstrong 
in the purchase of the plant and business, and 
the enterprise was continued under the name 
of the Keystone Spike Company, the products 
of th.e establishment being threshing machine 
teeth and general forging. Mr. Transue now 
assumed the entire management of the business, 
and through his wise and <liscriminating ef- 
forts the business was materially advanced in 
scope and importance and made one of the sub- 
stantial industries of the state. In 1887 the 
firm sold the plant to the Whitman-Barnes 
Company, which was at the time a Canton 
concern, but now of .\kron, a stipulation in 



446 



OLD LANDMARKS 



connection with the sale of the property being 
that our subject should continue as superin- 
tendent of the works for one year after the 
transfer. At the expiration of this year Mr. 
Transue returned from Canton to Alliance and 
somewhat later accepted a position in the ex- 
perimental department of the Solid Steel Cast- 
ing Company, of this city. In 1892 he directed 
the assembling- of an exhibit for this concern 
and took the same to the World's Columbian 
Exposition, in Chicago, where he had charge 
of the exhibit durmg the course of that memor- 
able fair. After his return from Chicago he 
resumed his experimental work in the interests 
of this company, liut about six months later 
its interests were secured by the syndicate or 
trust, and Mr. Transue then severed his con- 
nection with the business. Somewhat later 
he became associated with Silas J. Williams in 
the organization of the Alliance Manufacturing 
Company, for the purpose of manufacturing 
stump-pullers. Iieavy dragging machinery and 
other special products, but this venture did not 
prove a financial success and the project was 
finally abandoned. In 1895 the Transue & 
Williams Company was incorporated under the 
laws of the state, the same having been organ- 
ized about a year prior to incorporation, and 
the enterprise which this company took in hand 
was the manufacture of drop forgings of all 
descriptions. The company began operations 
in the old Nixon shops, but with the rapid 
expansion in business these quarters soon 
proved entirely inadequate, and in 1898 the 
ground was broken for their present large and 
finely equipped plant, which was completed in 
the spring of 1899, since which time the shops 
have been in operation both night and day, in 
order to keep pace with the demands of the 
trade, while employment is given to a corps 
of about two hundred and fifty workmen, from 
which fact it may be seen that the industry is 
one which has distinctive value to the city, 
aside from the direct financial transactions im- 



plied in the sale of its products. Mr. Transue 
has been president of the company from the 
time of its incorporation, and the other mem- 
bers of the executive corps are as follows : 
Silas J. Williams, vice-president; J. M. Sey- 
mour, secretary and treasurer; and O. F. Tran- 
sue, general manager. For the past thirteen 
years Mr. Transue has been a member of the 
directorate of the Alliance Bank Company, of 
which he was elected vice-president in 1899, 
and has since been incumbent of that position. 
On May 6, 1903, Mr. Transue was appointed 
one of three members of the board of pub- 
lic works of Alliance, for the term of two years. 
He takes a lively interest in all that conserves 
the welfare of Alliance and is one of its most 
progressive and public-spirited citizens and one 
in whom is reposed the most unqualified trust 
and esteem. 

In politics Mr. Transue accords an un- 
wavering allegiance to the Republican party, 
and he served for two terms as a member of the 
city council, and for the past several years he 
has been a ^•aIued member of the board of edu- 
cation. Fraternally he is identified with Alli- 
ance Lodge No. 266, Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, and with the local organizations 
of the Knights of Honor and the Royal 
Arcanum. 

C>n the 19th of February, 1863, was 
solemnized the marriage of Mr. Transue to 
Miss Amanda J. Aultman. who was born and 
reared in Alliance, where her father, the late 
Jacob Aultman, was for many years a promi- 
nent miller and leading citizen. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Transue have been 1x)rn four children, 
concerning whom we enter the following brief 
record : Minnie B. is the wife of Frank Kings- 
bury, night foreman with the Transue & 
Williams Company; Oliver is the general man- 
ager -with this company ; Charles R. is day 
foreman of tlie works of the company; 
and William II. is a die-sinker in the estab- 
lishment. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



447 



WASHINGTON B. SHANAFELT.— 
The original representative of the Shanafelt 
family in America was the great-grandfather of 
the subject. He emigrated hither from the 
German fatherland when a young man, settling 
in Maryland, \vhere he passed the remainder of 
his life. Near Hagerstown, that county, was 
born Daniel Shanafelt, father of him whose 
name initiates this article, and about the year 
1836, in company with his wife and one child, 
Henry, and the cousins Peter and Henry, he 
came to Ohio, the journey being made by the 
overland route with teams and covered wagons. 
They came to Stark cotuity and all located near 
Greentown, where they became identified with 
agricultural pursuits, as pioneer farmers of 
that section of the county. Daniel Shanafelt 
married Miss Sarah Funk, who was born near 
Hagerstown, Maryland, on the historic Antie- 
tam creek, and her father came to Stark county 
about the same time as did the Shanafelts, and 
he likewise located in the vicinity of Greentown. 
Daniel and Sarah (Funk) Shanafelt became 
the parents of eight children, of whom five are 
living at the present time. Their son Henry, 
who accompanied them on their removal from 
Maryland, removed to Illinois in his early man- 
hood, and there passed the remainder of his life, 
his death occurring at Grove City, Christian 
county, in 1902. About 1850 Daniel Shana- 
felt removed from Stark to Medina county, 
where he was engaged in farming until his 
death, which occurred in 1869. His wife died 
in the same county, in 1885. She was born in 
1808. They were persons of sterling character 
and both were members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. 

Washington B. Shanafelt, the immediate 
subject of this sketch, was born in Greentown, 
this county, on the 15th of September, 1840, 
and here received his preliminary education in 
the common schools, having been about ten 
>ears of age at the time of the family removal 
t'l Medina countv, where he was reared to ma- 



turity, having there continued his studies in the 
public schools of Sharon Center. Thereafter he 
served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's 
trade, to which he was devoting his attention at 
the time when the ominous cloud of civil war 
spread its pall oven the national firmament. He 
was among those who responded to President 
Lincoln's first call for volunteers, having en- 
listed, in August, 1861, as a private in Company 
D, Twenty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantiy, 
witli which he served three years, having taken 
part in a number of the most notable engage- 
ments of the great conflict, including the fol- 
lowing: ^Vinchester, Port Republic, Lookout 
Mountain and many incidental skirmishes 
through the Shenandoah valley, after which he 
was through the Atlanta campaign, receiving 
his honorable discharge in the city of Atlanta 
in 1864, at the expiration of his term of enlist- 
ment. He then returned to Medina county, 
and in the spring of 1865 came to Canton, 
where he followed his trade for a time, after 
which he engaged in the shoe business, opening 
a store on the east side of the public square, in 
the original Cassilly building, which was de- 
stroyed by fire in 1868. ]\Ir. Shanafelt later 
occupied a room in the new building erected on 
the same site, where he continued in this line of 
enterprise until 187S, when he sold the business 
to O. ¥. Clouser. J. D. Frank becoming the 
owner of the store about two years later. The 
subject thereupon entered his employ in a cler- 
ical capacity and continued to be thus identified 
with the business until 1890. In the meanwhile 
he had effected the purchase of a portion of the 
old Shorb farm, in the northwest part of the 
city, first ward, and he platted the same and 
gave to it the name of the Shanafelt addition. 
In 1890, in company with his cousin. H. H. 
Stanafelt. he purchased sixty-two acres of the 
.Smith farm, and here laid out another addition, 
while in 1901 they bought a half interest in the 
remainder of the Shorb farm, comprising sev- 
ty-four acres, platting it in two additions. 



IM 



448 • 



OLD LANDMARKS 



known respectively as tlie Shdrb and Shanafelt 
additions to the city of Canton. Of these funr 
additions Mr. Shanafelt now has charq;e, and 
the nian_\- desiraljje in\'estments nffereil liave at- 
tracted a most gratifying number of purciiasers. 
and the improvements in the way of V)uildings 
are of excellent order. 

Mr. Slianafelt has e\cr been found inval to 
all the duties of citizenship, and is stanchly ar- 
rayed in the ranks of the Republican party, 
while both he and his wife are valued members 
of the First Methodist Episcopal church. Fra- 
ternally he holds membership in McKinley 
I'ost Xo. 2^, tjrand .\rmy <:'f the Re])ubhc. and 
in the Masonic order, with which he has l)een 
identified since iS/O. 

In Canton, in 1869, Mr, Shanafelt was 
united in marriage to Miss Frances A. Ditten- 
haffer. of Canton, a daughter of John and Cath- 
arine Dittenhaffer and a sister of Harxey Dit- 
tenhaffer, who is indixidually mentioned nn 
other pages of this work. Of the six children 
of Mr. and INIrs. Shanafelt we enter the fullnw- 
ing brief record: Catherine is the wife of 
Charles H. Schlabach. cashier of the Canton 
Savings and Trust Company, John A. is en- 
gageil in the ofrlce of the Berger Manufacturing 
Company: Arthu'^. E. is here engaged in the 
manufacture of leather fillet, under the firm 
name of Canton F'illet Company, in which en- 
terprise his father is associated with him: Hen- 
rv W. and Fred C. are also identified with the 
latter business and Fanny remains at the paren- 
tal home. 



JOHN E. JOHNS.— One of the leading 
representatives of the insurance Inisiness in 
the city of Massillon is the enterprising and 
courteous gentleman wln)se name furnishes the 
caption of this article, a man who occupies a 
prominent place in business circles, besides 
commanding a wide influence in various other 



relations outside his specific sphere of action. 1 
John E. Johns is a native of Allegany county, 
Maryland, and the son of John and Harriett 
(W'aite) Jones, both parents Ixirn in England, 
the father in Cornwall and the mother in Glou- 
cester. When the elder Johns came to the 
United States he was thirteen weeks en route, 
the delay being caused by a shortage of coal 
on the steamer. He settled in western Mary- 
land, and still lives in that state, being at this 
time jiroprietor of Bethel Cottage, at a popular 
summer resort known as "Mountain Lake 
Park," which is every year visited by num- 
bers of people from the larger cities who find 
amid its cooling shades and other attractive 
features a pleasant home during the hot season. 
Mr. Jones served in the late Civil war as a 
member of Company A, Third Maryland In- 
fantry, a regiment which entered the service 
one thousand strong but was mustered out with 
only three hundred names on the roll, having 
lost <luring its varied experience over seven 
hundred men, a record for casualties such as 
few I'egiments can show. Mr. Johns was an 
English subject when he enlisted, but became 
naturalized while in the armv and has ever 
since been a loyal citizen of his adopted coun- 
try and a great admirer of its institutions. His 
parents, W'illiam and Jennifer (Blight) Jones, 
were natives of England and sjient all their 
lives in Cornwall. 

Of the eleven children constituting the fam- 
ily of John and Harriet Johns, the subject of 
this review is the third in order of birth. As 
already stated he was born in Allegany coun- 
ty, Maryland, which event took place on the 
,3(1 of March, i860. He received his prelim- 
inary education in the public schools of his na- 
ti\e place and with a laudable desire for more 
thor(^ugh scholastic training, he subsequently 
entered Dickinson Seminary, \\'illiamsport, 
Pennsylvania, an institution of excellent re- 
pute, through which he worked his way, paying 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



A49 



his expenses by various kinds of manual labor 
at the institution and during his vacations. 
Mr. Johns made a creditable record as a stu- 
dent, stood well in all of his classes and was 
graduated in 1886 with the degree of Bachelor 
of Science, with as high honors as any of the 
alumni of that year. While in college he took 
an active interest in athletics and all manly 
sports, was captain of the military company, 
composed of students, also held a position on 
the editorial staff of the college paper and for 
a time was assistant editor and business man- 
ager. 

Immediately after graduating, Mr. Johns 
went to Youngstown and engaged in the life 
insurance business, but a little later sought 
a new field in the city of Massillon where he 
purchased a lucrative and well-established agen- 
cy that had formerly been conducted by Joel 
Core. It is needless to state in this connection 
that he has greatly enlarged the business or 
that he has steadily added to his reputation as a 
safe, resourceful, far seeing business man, both 
facts being apparent to those at all acquainted 
with him and the circumstances under which 
he has built up his large and lucrative patron- 
age. He now represents thirty of the lead- 
ing fire companies in the United States, and his 
agency is recognized as one of the largest 
of the kind in Massillon and one of the best 
conducted and most successful in the state. 

In addition to insurance, Mr. Johns has 
been connected with other business enterprises, 
including the Peoples Building and Loan Asso- 
ciation of Massillon, in the organization of 
which he was a leading factor and with the 
subsequent history of which he has been ac- 
tively identified. This association was estab- 
lished in 1892 and from a modest beginning 
has steadfastly grovm to its present enlarged 
proportions, its assets at this time amounting 
to five hundred thousand dollars, with well as- 
sured prospects of a still greater increase of 



business m the future. Mr. Johns now holds 
the responsible position of secretary, conse- 
quently the practical affairs of the enterprise 
are under his immediate supervision and to him 
as much as to any other individual connected 
therewith is the association indebted for its 
success and present high standing in business 
circles. As a public-spirited citizen Mr. Johns- 
has been deeply interested in the affairs of Mas- 
sillon, having represented the third ward for 
three terms in the city council, besides serving 
for a considerable time as president of that 
honorable body. This position came to him 
unsolicited and was a graceful recognition 
of his ability and worth as an able public serv- 
ant, who spared no effort or pains to prove 
worthy of the trust reposed in him by the peo- 
ple. In politics he is a Republican and as such 
wields a potent influence for his party, being 
recognized as one of its leaders in Massillon, 
with a strong personal influence throughout 
the entire county. 

Fraternally Mr. Johns belongs to Clinton 
Lodge No. 47, Free and Accepted Masons, 
^lassillon Conimandery No. 4, Knights Temp- 
lar, and he is also a member of the Junior Or- 
der of United American Mechanics. Mr. Johns, 
in the year 1887, formed a matrimonial alli- 
ance with Miss Myra B. Merwin, daughter of 
Joseph K. and Emmaline (Mussulman) Mer- 
win, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and 
Ohio, the union resulting in the birth of chil- 
dren as follows : Homer M., Helen, J. Edward, 
William P. and Jennifer. Mr. and Mrs. Johns 
have many friends in Massillon and are popu- 
lar in the society circles of the city; they are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church 
and as such are interested in religious and 
charitable enterprises, to which they give not 
only their encouragement and influence, but 
also their material support in proportion as the 
Great Dispenser of all good has prospered 
them. 



28 



450 



OLD LANDMARKS 



GENERAL GEORGE STIDGER was 
among the first of the pioneers to take 
up his abode in the wilds of Stark connty, 
having located in what is now the city of Can- 
ton. \\hen it was a mere straggling hamlet in 
the midst of the virgm forest. Here he played 
an important part in civic and business and pub- 
lic afifairs, wielding a wide and beneficent in- 
fluence and leaving to posterity that most price- 
less of all heritages, a good name. Of the par- 
ents of General Stidger the only facts of a 
definite nature now known are that his father 
was a native of Germany and his mother of 
Holland and that they were married in Europe, 
whence they emigrated to America prior to 
the war of the Revolution, sooner or later tak- 
ing up their residence in the city of Baltimore, 
Maryland, where it is supposed both passed the 
remainder of their lives. They became the par- 
ents of nine children, of whom the subject of 
this memoir was the youngest. He was born in 
the city of Baltimore, in the year 1781, and re- 
ceived good educational advantages in his 
youth, becoming a man of fine intellectuality 
and distinctive force of character. In Lewis- 
town, Alifflin county, Pennsylvania, (jeneral 
Stidger was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Riley, concerning whose ancestry it is ascer- 
tained. that her mother was born on the island 
of Jersey and that after the death of her first 
husband. Mr. O'Reiley, as the name was then 
spelled, she married a man named Moore. Her 
son Edward settled in the state of Virginia in 
an early day. 

In the year 1807 General Stidger came with 
his wife from Pennsylvania to Stark county, 
Ohio, the journey being made overland with 
teams and wagons, while the progress was slow 
and harrassing, as a matter of course, as few- 
roads had been established and the way led 
principally through the virgin forests after 
crossing the mountains. General Stidger built 
the first hotel in Canton, the same having been 
located on the site of the present Hurford 



hotel. The original caravansary was a small 
frame house of four rooms, and a story and 
a half in height, and yet in this litfle pioneer 
dwelling was found a place to afford accom- 
modations to the wayfaring man who needed 
the same, Avhile we can well understand that 
the hospitality of the little tavern was gracious 
and cordial, thus compensating for the lack in 
temporal and structural conveniences. The 
General became the owner of all the land on the 
east side of the public square lying between 
Tuscarawas and Fifth streets, but eventually 
disposed of all except the central portion. The 
corner on East Tuscarawas street was sold to 
a merchant named Sterling, while a saddler 
named Reed purchased the Fifth street corner. 
General! Stidger, soon after estalilishing his 
home in Canton, became prominently identified 
with its business and civic affairs, and here he 
eventually opened a general merchandise store, 
handling all classes of goods demanded in the 
pioneer community, while he also conducted a 
tin and cooper shop next to his home in the 
center of the block mentioned. On the portion 
of this block which he retained he erected a 
large brick house, one of the most pretentious 
buildings in the town at that time, while a por- 
tion of the building was utilized for his store. 
Back of the place of business was the spacious 
dining room, and across the hall were two 
large parlors. His energy and jirogressive 
ideas were manifesterl in divers directions, and 
it may be noted that in addition to the enter- 
prise mentioned the General also conducted a 
tan yard, which was located to the east of what 
is now Piedmont street. He extended the field 
of his operations, establishing stores in Mans- 
field and several other points and becoming the 
owner of several farms, while he gave employ- 
ment to a large number of men, considering the 
place and period and the conditions that existed. 
To each of his five children who attained ma- 
turity he presented a farm, while his kindness 
and generosity were not confined to his own 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



431 



family but reached out and permeated the en- 
tire communitv in whose welfare he ever took 
so deep an interest. He was given many evi- 
dences of popular confidence and esteem, and 
among other positions of trust to which he was 
called was that of judge of the court of com- 
mon pleas, in which capacity he rendered that 
faithful and efficient service which alone adds 
dignity to the bench. He served under Gen. 
William Henry Harrison in the war of 1812, 
and was colonel of his regiment. He also 
took a lively interest in the state militia of the 
olden times, being a conspicuous figure in the 
same and holding the rank of general. Here 
the "training days" were occasions of import- 
ance and marked popular interest, the same 
plan being followed as that adopted in the east 
prior to and after the war of the Revolution. 
Both the cavalry and infantry companies would 
assemble in Canton for parade and tactical drill, 
and a special honor was paid to General Stidger 
at such times by the firing of a salute over his 
house. He was a man of sturdy physiciue and 
pleasing facial lineaments, while his urbanity, 
cordiality and unvarying kindness won him a 
high place in the afifectionate regard of all with 
whom he came in contact. He was a noble, 
loyal and God-fearing man, ever demanding the 
approval of conscience for every thought and 
action and never being known to compromise 
for the sake of personal ends or self-aggran- 
dizement. The General gave an unfaltering 
allegiance to the Whig party, being an able 
exponent of its principles and a leader in its 
local councils. 

General Stidger was summoned into eternal 
rest in the year 1826, his death occurring in the 
city of Baltimore, where his remains were in- 
terred, in the Kirk churchyard. His wife's 
health had become impaired and they had gone 
to the east and after making a tour of the eastern 
cities in a barouche they arrived in Baltimore, 
and there he was attacked with the illness which 
terminated in his death, his life havino- thus 



begun and ended in the same city. His widow 
survived him by many years, her demise taking 
place in Canton, in 1840, while she was laid 
to rest in Westlawn cemetery, having been fifty- 
four years of age at the time of her death. 
Of the children of this worthy couple we are 
able to enter the following brief record : Judith 
became the wife of James Allen, who served 
as a captain in the Mexican war and who was 
a printer and editor, having followed this line 
of work in Canton, Cincinnati and Columbus. 
His wife died in California. Louis died in in- 
fancy. Eliza died in the state of Florida, at 
an advanced age. Oliver Perry, who married 
twice, died in California, whither he went as 
one of the argonauts of 1849. Mary Abigail, 
who became the wife of Jonathan Green Lester, 
died in Canton, at the age of seventy-eight ' 
years. Harriet K., who is the widow of Julius 
Whiting, Sr., still maintains her home in Can- 
ton, where she has pased her entire life, and 
of her husband more specific mention is made 
in the sketch of their son, Julius, Jr., appearing 
on other pages of this work. John went to 
California in 1850, making the overland trip 
and enduring many hardships and encountering 
many dangers while en route, and he died in 
that state. He married Mary Kiefer, of Stark 
county, and she too is deceased. George and 
Mary, twins, died in infancy. Margaret Beale 
died at the age of twenty years, in Canton. 

Harriet K. (Stidger) Whiting, who is now 
one of the revered pioneer women of Canton, 
was born in the old homestead mentioned, on 
the 8th of January, 1818, and thus she has 
witnessed the various stages which have 
marked the advancement and upbuilding of the 
beautiful city in which she is passing the golden 
evening of her days. She secured her early 
educational training in a little school-house 
which stood on the site of the present county 
jail, and her fondness for the discipline in- 
volved was not so great but that she would 
manage to take "French leave" of the school 



452 



OLD LANDMARKS 



room and escape across the way, where she 
would join her brothers and sisters, while the 
teacher used frequently to take her home in 
her arms. She later attended the academy 
where the high school building now stands, 
and by this time she succeeded in curbing her 
turbulent spirits, so that she made good use of 
the advantages afforded, though she finished 
her school days when fifteen years of age, her 
last training in the line having been in the 
boarding school conducted by Dr. Beatty in 
Steubenville, this state. Her religious faith is 
that of the Presbyterian church, and her life 
has been one filled to the full with kindly 
thoughts and kindly deeds, so that it is her 
portion to retain the inviolate love of " hosts 
of friends" as she begins to see the opening of 
the sunset gates of her life so far out in the 
crimson west. 



HARRISON H. SHAXAFELT.— Henry 
Shanafelt. father of the subject, was born in 
Hagerstown, \\'ashington county, ]VIar\land, in 
i<So9, and in 1832 he came to Stark county in 
company with his brother Peter and his two 
cousins, Andrew and Daniel Shanafelt. He 
settled in Greentown. A\here he established a 
modest home, his wife, whose maiden name 
was Elizabeth Funk, having accompanied him 
to the pioneer hamlet in the midst of the forests 
of Stark countv, while the trip of the party was 
made overland with teams and covered wagons 
of the usual emigrant type of the day. Henry 
Shanafelt had learned the millers trade in his 
native state, and after remaining for a time in 
the village of Massillon, until he could make 
ready the home on his farm at Greentown, he 
brought his wife In the new domicile, which 
was constructed of logs and scarcely as commo- 
dious as the farmers of the county demand to- 
day. All of the children were born after he and 
his wile came to this county. In addition to 
clearing and improving his farm he also con- 



ducted the village tavern at (jreentown and 
there operated a small foundry, in which he 
manufactured sto\'es and other needed articles 
of cast iron demanded in the community. In 
1 845 he was elected to the ofiice of county ' 
sheriff, as candidate on the Whig ticket, serving 
efficiently but being defeated for a second term, ' 
owing to the fact that the normal political com- 
plexion of the county was at the time xtry > 
strongly Democratic. In fact he was the only 
Whig sheriff here elected for many years. 
After his return from Canton, at the expiration 
of his term as sheriff", he continued to conduct 
the Greentown tavern for a few years, then re- 
tiring from this line of enterprise and devoting 
his attention to his foundry and farm, while ' 
he also became a quite extensive dealer in live 
stock, being a man of marked business acumen 
and mature judgment, while his intellectuality 
was of high order. Though not a member of 
the bar he had acquired a good practical knowl- , 
edge of the law and its application, and was 
called upon to settle many cases and ilisputes in 
the communitv in which he so long resided, 
lie died at his home in Greentown, in tlie year , 
1 868, his wife surviving him by a number of 
years and passing away in Canton, at the home 
of the subject. Both were laid to rest in the 
ccmeterv of Zion church, at Xew Berlin, this 
county, their religious faith haxing been that of 
the German Reformed cinnx'h, of which they 
were consistent members. Of their nine ciiil- 
dren two died in infancy, and of the others we, 
offer a brief record at this point : Elizabeth 
died at the age of eighteen years; Harrisnn H., 
suljject of this sketch, was the next in order of 
birth ; Oliver P. is a resident of Greentown : , 
George is a resident of Canton : Horace died at 
the age of tiiirty-five years, and Harriet at the. 
age of twelve years : and Charles is a resident 
of Kenton, Hardin county, this state. 

Harrison H. Shanafelt was born in tlie old 
homestead at Greentown, Lake township, this 
cnumy, on the i8th of April, 1839, and he se- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



453 



cured his early educational discipline in the vil- 
lage schools of his native place. He assisted 
in the w ork of the farm and in the handling of 
the live stock purchased and sold by his father, 
and continued in this sort of occupation until 
he had attained the age of twenty-two years, 
when he entered upon an apprenticeship at 
the moulder's trade, in his father's foundry, 
later receiving farther practical training and be- 
coming an expert workman. He followed his 
trade in Canton from 1859 for five years, and 
then went to Davenport, Iowa, where he had 
charge of a foundry for one season, and he 
then returned to Canton, where he had charge 
of the foundry of the Peerless mower and reaper 
works for the ensuing seven years, while for the 
next six years he was successfully established 
in the grocery business on South Market street, 
finally disposing of his interests in this line. 
He then, in 188S, engaged in the real estate 
business in company with his cousin, Washing- 
ton B. Shanafelt, in which their activity and 
good management have Iieen as pronounced as 
has been their success gratifying. There have 
been made three Shanafelt additions to the city, 
the same being mentioned somewhat more in 
detail in the sketch of the life of Washington 
E. Shanafelt, appearing elsewhere in this vol- 
ume. In politics Mr. Shanafelt gives an un- 
qualified allegiance to the Republican party, and 
his wife was a member of tlie First Methodist 
I'piscopal church. Fraternally he has been a 
member of the Masonic order, since 1868. He 
is a man of excellent initiative and executive 
ability, one in whom confidence is placed with 
utmost safety, and as a citizen and man of af- 
fairs he is well known and highly respected in 
th.e citv and cotintv in \\-hich he has passed his 
life. 

In Canton, on the 2d of October, 1862, 
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Shanafelt 
to Miss Martha H. Hays, who was born in this 
county, being a daughter of Hugh and IMary 
N. (Pollock) Havs. both of whom are now de- 



ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Shanafelt had two chil- 
dren, Willis, who is employed in the legal de- 
partment of the Bucher 1.^- Gibbs Company, rep- 
resenting one of the extensive manufacturing 
industries of Canton, and ]May S.. who is the 
wife of John Danner, Jr., of Canton. ]\Irs. 
Shanafelt died June 24, 1897. She was born 
June 6, 1839, in New York city, her parents be- 
ing natives of Ireland, who came to America 
when young, and resided in Stark county for 
many vears. 



JOHN H. SHERRICK.— In the fair little 
mountain republic of Switzerland was born the 
paternal great-grandfather of the subject, and 
he it was who figures as the original represen- 
tative of the family in America, whither he em- 
igrated when a young man, taking up his abode 
in Maryland, where he passed the remainder 
of his days. His son John, grandfather of the 
subject, was also born in Switzerland, and was 
a boy when brought to America. He married 
Annie Wyant, who was of German descent. He 
owned and operated a mill in Hagerstown, 
Maryland, for a number of years, the property 
finally being destroyed by fire, after which, 
about the year 1812 or '13. he came with his 
family to Stark county as a pioneer, making the 
long overland trip with teams and wagons, 
while he also drove a number of cattle through 
to the new home. He secured a tract of six or 
seven hundred acres of land just east of the 
present village of Waco, in Canton township, 
and there erected a log dwelling of the primi- 
tive type common to the locality and period, 
and a few years later he erected a substantial 
brick house and barn. He cleared and placed 
tmder cultivation a considerable portion of his 
land, and in addition to farming also owned a 
distillery, which was among the first in the 
county. He hauled his whiskey by wagon to 
Cleveland, where he received in payment for 
the same partly cash and partly supplies of 



454 



OLD LANDMARKS 



various kinds. He was a man of energy and 
good business ability and was prominent in the 
affairs of the community, continuing to reside 
on his liumestead until his death, which oc- 
curred about the year 1845, ^t which time he was 
seventy-five years of age. His wife survived 
him by about two years and was seventy-tiiree 
years of age at the time of her death. They 
were folk of sterling character and both were 
members of the ^Meinionite churcli, while he 
gave his support to the Democratic party. We 
are able to ofil'er the following data in regard 
to the children of these honored pioneers : 
Joseph died in Canton, Mississippi, where he 
was a planter and slaveholder; Jacob, who died 
in Canton, Ohio, in 1896, remained a bachelor 
and was nearly eighty years of age at the time 
of his demise ; David was the father of the sub- 
ject of this sketch; John died at the age of 
twenty-six years ; Christian, who was a farmer, 
died in Canton, about the year 1880; Elizabeth 
married Michael Rohrer; and Sarah became the 
wife .of Conrad Booze. There were several 
other children, none of whom lived to attain 
maturity. 

David Sherrick was born in Hagerstown, 
Maryland, on the i8th of January, 1807, and 
accompanied his parents on their removal to 
Stark county, where he was reared to manhood 
on the old homestead farm, having received 
limitex:! educational advantages in the subscrip- 
tion schools of this city. He was, however, a 
man of alert mentality and by personal appli- 
cation and careful reading effectivelv supple- 
mented the training of his bovhood, having- 
been a particularly zealous biblical student, al- 
though he was never formally identified with 
any religious body. He married Miss Rebec- 
ca Longsdorf, who was born in Womelsdorf, 
Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, being a daugh- 
ter of Hem-y Longsdorf, one of the pioneers 
of Stark county and of German lineage. Prior 
to this he had run a raft of lumber down the 



Ohio to Cincinnati, where the cholera epidemic 
was raging at the time, and he was compelled 
to remain there for six weeks before he could 
effect a sale of his stock. After his marriag. 
he removed to Dayton, Ohio, from which pciii 
he was engaged in boating on the canal for 
two Acars, at the expiration of which he re- 
turned to the old home farm, but shortb 
afterward came to Canton and took u^ 
his residence at the corner of Third and 
Walnut streets, and on the same lot he 
operated a pottery about four years. He then 
sold this property and purchased one hundred 
and sixty acres of land adjoining Canton on the 
south, and there he continued to devote his at- 
tention to farming for the ensuing five years, at 
the expiration of which he returned to town 
and established his home at Walnut and Fourth 
streets, where his devoted wife died in the year 
1 861, while later he resided on the corner of 
Walnut and Tenth streets, and he was engaged 
in the buying and shipping of live stock for 
eighteen years, doing a large and profitable busi- 
ness. He then returned to his farm, where he re- 
mained for a few years, finally returning to the 
farm, where he died in 1887, secure in the es- 
teem of all who knew him and known as an 
able and progressive business man. He was a 
Democrat m his political proclivities and his 
wife was a devoted member of tlie Lutheran 
church. He served one term in the city coun- 
cil and ever, took a deep interest in local affairs 
of a public nature. Of his children we record 
that Sarah, who became the wife of Lewis 
Miller, died in Canton, in 1873; David died 
at the age of twenty years, and William at the 
age of twenty-six years ; and Emma, who be- 
came the wife of Bert Kitzmiller, died in 1885. 
Thus the subject of this review, who was the 
eldest of the children, is now the only survivor. 
John H. Sherrick was born in Dayton, 
Ohio, on the 24th of November, 1837, and was 
about two vears of age at the time when his 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



455 



parents returned to Stark county, where he 
jecured his early educational discipline in the 
jiulilic schools of Waco and Canton. When 
)Ut ten years of age he began to assist in the 
vork of the farm, and he well recalls the stren- 
lous labors which fell to his portion in guiding 
he plow through the maze of stumps which 
jjbstructed the newly opened fields, while he 
assisted in clearing much of the home farm. 
In 1864 he secured a position as fireman on 
the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Rail- 
road, running between Laporte, Indiana, and 
the city of Chicago. He reverts to this as hav- 
ing been the coldest experience of the sort he 
e\er encountered, on one occasion his train hav- 
ing been for three days snowbound and unable 
to reach Chicago. He was thus engaged until 
the winter of 1865, when a strike was inaugur- 
ated and lie retired from the service and found 
empkiyment on a street railway in Chicago, 
bemg thus engaged two years, at the expiration 
of which he went to Leavenworth, Kansas, 
and became a fireman (jn the Missouri Pacific 
Railroad, later being' similarly engaged on the 
Kansas Pacific, and finally he was made an 
engineer on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, re- 
taining this position until 1868 or 1869, when 
he returned to Stark county and took charge 
of the home farm, where he has ever since con- 
tinued to reside, the same being- one of the 
finely improved and valuable properties of the 
county, since the same is contiguous to the cor- 
porate limits of the city of Canton. He is well 
known in the city and county and has the con- 
fidence and g-oofl will of the people among 
whom he remains as the only representati\-e of 
the third generation of one of the honored 
pioneer families of the county. In politics he 
accords an unwavering allegiance to the Demo- 
cratic party. 

On the 4th of March, 1876, in Canton, was 
solemnized the marriage of Mr. Sherrick to 
Miss Flora Pfau, who was born and reared in 
this county, being a daughter of John and Caro- 



line (Hepp) Pfau, who were numbered among 
the pioneers of this section of the state, and 
I>oth of whom are now dead. 



JOPIN C. B'REMONT PUTMAN was 
born on the old Putman homestead ( his grand- 
father's) at Beach City, this county, on the loth 
of July, 1856, being a son of the late Captain 
Timothy C. Putman, to whose memory and 
services a tribute is paid elsewhere in this vol- 
ume, so that a recapitulation of the family his- 
tory is not demanded at this juncture. Mr. 
Putman received his preliminary educational 
discipline in the district schools, after which he 
attended the Massillon high school and later 
became a student in Mount LTnion College, near 
this city. He initiated his business career at 
Wilmot, near his birthplace, having there en- 
gaged in the dry -goods business in company 
with Charles Wyandt, under the firm name of 
Putman & Wyandt. There he continued in 
business for a period of three years, at the ex- 
piration of which time he came to Massillon and 
became associated with Eli Leighley in the pur- 
chase of the genera! marchandise business of 
Allman & Wetter. Two years later his brother- 
in-law, the late Carrell B. Allman, purchased 
the interest of Mr. Leighley, and the business 
continued under the title of Allman-Putman 
until January i, 1902, when it was incorpor- 
ated under the title of the Allman-Putman 
Company. At the time of the reorganization 
~S]\-. Putman became general manager, and dur- 
ing the few months intervening between the 
death of ^Ir. Allman and that of himself he had 
entire charge of the business, which had grown 
to be one of extensive proportions. The Bee 
Hive, as the establishment is known, is con- 
ducted on the department principle and the 
stock carried is large and comprehensive, while 
the store occupies a fine brick building f' mr 
stories in height. In the building up of this 



456 



OLD LANDMARKS 



noteworthy enterprise the business acumen 
and alert and progressive methods of Mr. Put- 
man were most potent, and he showed a master- 
ful grasp of details and a capacity for unre- 
mitting and fruitful application, proving an 
able coadjutor to his associate and long-time 
friend, Mr. Allman, with whom his business 
and social relations were of the most intimate 
and mutually pleasant order. Genial and kindly 
to all and ever considerate of others, he held 
the esteem of not only those whom he had busi- 
ness dealings, but also the afifectionate regard of 
his employes, who looked upon him as a friend 
and benefactor. He was distinctively a lead- 
er in local business circles, and his aid and 
influence were ever given in support of all 
measures and undertakings for the general 
good of his home city, to whose interests he was 
most loyal. He was identified with the Ma- 
sonic fraternity, including the Knights Tem- 
plar and Mystic Shrine, while he was also a 
valued member of the Knights of Pythias, hav- 
ing been at the time of his death colonel of the 
Eighth Regiment of the Uniformed rank of 
this order, and was likewise prominent and pop- 
ular in the Benevolent and Protective Order of 
Elks. He was treasurer of the Merchants' 
Street Fair & Carnival Association and one of 
its most able and enthusiastic promoters. At 
the time of his death this association, at a called 
meeting, passed the following resolutions of 
respect and condolence : 

Whereas, In view of the loss we have sustained by 
the decease of our friend and associate, J. C. F. Put- 
man, and of the still heavier loss sustained by those who 
were nearest and dearest to him ; tlierefore, be it 

Resolved, That it is but a just triliute to the mem- 
ory of the departed to say that in regretting his removal 
from our midst we mourn for one who was in every 
way worthy of our respect and regard. 

Resolved, That we sincerely condole with the family 
of the deceased upon the dispensation with which it 
has pleased divine Providence to afflict them, and com- 
mend them for consolation to Him who orders all 
things for the best, and whose every act is meant in 
niercv. 



Resolved, That copies of this heartfelt testimonial 
of our sympathy and our sorrow be forwarded to the 
family and to the daily papers of the city. 
William Martin, 
Frank A. Vogt, 
William A. Pietzcker. 
Bernard Bell, 
Jacou J. Wise, 

Commiltcc. 
Massillon, April 29, 1903. 

At Orville, Wayne county, Ohio, on the 
1st of January, 1885, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Putman to Miss Clara Beidler, 
daughter of Joseph Beidler, a sterling pioneer 
of that county. She survives her husband, as 
does their only child, Helen Beidler Put- 
man, born June 2, 1891. Mrs. Putman was 
born in Holmes county, Ohio, near the Stark 
county line, within five miles of where her hus- 
band was born. He father was born in Holmes 
county, Ohio, and died September 9, 1903, 
aged fifty-nine years. He was the son of Jacob 
and Barbara Beidler. He married Barbara 
Mumaw, who was born in Holmes county, 
Ohio, the daughter of John and Rachel 

Mumaw. 

*-—* 

MARCUS M. CATLIN, M. D.— A man 
of marked ability and ripe experience in both 
ci\-il and military aff^airs, whose life has been 
consecrated to the noble work of alleviating 
human suffering, it is eminently proper in this 
connection to invite attention to the career of 
the distinguished physician whose name appears 
above. Thirty-four years of active practice 
bear testimony to the success that has attended 
his efforts and a residence of over twenty- 
seven years in the city of Canton has placed him 
in the front rank of the profession in this part 
of the state. In the histor\' of Herkimer and 
Oneida counties, New York, the name Catlin 
has been familiar for many generations and 
representatives of the fainily are supposed to 
have been among the earliest permanent set- 



OLD LANDMARKS 



uusniess acume: 
■ ' Mr. Pui 
■\ maste; - 
I'or unre- 
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derate o' •'- ■ " he nc- 
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c;aier, ii 


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Licinig the Knif;' 



>S9i. Mrs. Pulnian wa 
:'i!!ic- L'Miray, Ohio, near the S"' 
'. Vi-itl:in five mile? of ^Yhere he 

a in He 

Sepieinljer 9, i 

was the son of 1 

Ke marriefl Rn- 





rank 


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iu! anU Kaclu- 



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ili^v md rine cxncricn^c i' 



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respcci ana cjii-ioiencc. 



ik iii allevi 
uig. ic .-> t.. '■■ nroper ii 

' invite nttf- ^he care 

1 whose name ap; 
ur }uars of active prr 
. . ■:■.' the <;mcip^^ fli;ii !in^ jif 
nrl a r> 



any gcUcration> 
•'•• are suppose., i 
f permanent set- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



457 



tiers in those parts of the Empire state. Roger 
Cathn, the Doctor's father, was born in the 
former county and there married Ehzabeth No- 
ble, whose ancestors were also among the pion- 
eers. By occupation Roger Catiin was a farmer 
and his death occurred when the subject of this 
sketch was a lad of nine years of age ; his wife 
survived him a number of years, departing 
this life in her native county and state at the 
age of sixty years. 

Dr. Catiin was born in the town of Win- 
field, Herkimer county, New York, August 15, 
1846, and, owing to the death of his father, was 
early in life thrown upon his own resources. 
Left with a family. of seven children, the wid- 
owed mother experienced great difficulty in 
caring for her little flock and keeping the 
hungry wolf from the door. In this she was 
assisted l)y her son Marcus, who earned his first 
money when nine years old by working on a 
farm in the neighborhood of his humble home. 
By a lad so young but scanty wages could be 
expected, but such as they were, he retained 
barely sufficient to keep himself respectably 
clothed, generously turning- over the little sur- 
plus to the support of his mother and the chil- 
dren dependent upon her. While thus engaged 
he availed himself of the public schools of Avin- 
ter seasons, but so great was the responsibility 
resting upon him at the time, that he would 
frequently run home from his employment at 
school recess and the noon hour and assist with 
the labor of the household, run errands, cut 
wood, and attend to other chores which his 
hands found to do. During the first three years 
his employer, a man by the name of Tylor, paid 
him meager wages, but the fourth year he was 
allowed, in addition to his clothing, forty dol- 
lars in money, which proved quite a god-send to 
tlie family. Young Catiin continued to labor 
by the year with constantly increasing remun- 
eration until the age of thirteen, when he hired 
by the month, attending the winter seasons for 
several vears thereafter an academv in his native 



town. Meanwhile the great Civil war had 
broken out, but thinking himself too young and 
too small for a soldier, he made no attempt to 
enter the service until the spring of his six- 
teenth year. Imbued with a spirit of patriotism, 
the lad mentioned the matter to his mother, who 
said one so young as he should not try to en- 
dure the hardships and dangers of a soldier's 
life. Loth to give up his cherished desire of 
helping the country in its time of need, he 
again broached the subject; the mother, taking 
the matter to her heavenly Father in prayer, 
finally gave her consent and blessing, telling 
him to go and prove himself true to every duty 
that should come to him as a defender of the 
nation's honor. 

In April, 1863, young Catiin enlisted in 
Company D, Forty-sixth New York Volun- 
teers, a regiment that had already served since 
the beginning of the war and at the time men- 
tioned its members were, looked upon as veter- 
ans. Immediately following his enlistment, 
the Doctor was sent direct to Vicksburg, and it 
was not long until he experienced the horrible 
realities of war in some of the hardest fought 
battles of the Rebellion. He took part in the 
siege of Vicksburg, the Confederate strong- 
hold, and the battles in the vicinity, witnessed 
its surrender and participated in the rejoicing 
wiiich followed the e\'ent. Subsequently his 
regiment was transferred east to Tennessee in 
time to assist in the reduction of Knoxville, 
in addition to which it took part in other fight- 
ing in that state, besides experiencing its full 
share of hard service incident to warfare in 
an enemy's country. Still later the Doctor ac- 
companied his command to Virginia where, 
under the leadership of the matchless Grant, he 
participated in the long list of bloody battles 
in the vicinity of Richmond which finally ter- 
minated in the surrender of Lee's army at 
Appomattox. He passed through all his try- 
ing experience as a brave soldier should, never 
shirking a duty nor flinching when danger or 



45» 



OLD LANDMARKS 



death threatened. His record is iintinged by 
the slightest suspicion of dishonor and from the 
heg-inning of his mihtary career until its ter- 
mination at Washington, D. C. in 1865, his 
life was ever ready to be sacrificed for the good 
of the country he loved so well. 

The Doctor returned home in somewhat 
broken health and it was while recuperating 
his worn-out energies that he was induced by 
a physician to come to the latter's house and 
take up the study of medicine. After looking 
o\cr the doctor's librar)- and perusing with 
much interest several medical works, he de- 
cided to act upon the advice given him and de- 
vote the rest of his life to the healing art. 
In due lime he began a preliminary course of 
study in the office of Doctor Nathaa Spencer, 
of Winfield, New York, remaining under that 
gentleman's instruction about three years, and 
in the meantime became a student in the Cleve- 
land Homeopathic College. He was graduated 
from that institution in 1868 and in the spring 
of the same year began the practice at Brook- 
field, Madison county. New York, where he re- 
mained until 1 87 1, building up a lucrative busi- 
ness. In the latter year Dr. Catlin opened an 
office in Massillon, Ohio, and after practicing 
in that city and vicinity for a period of four 
years removed, in I*"ebruary. 1875, to Canton, 
of wiiich place he is now one of the oldest 
physicians in point of continuous residence. 
The only representatives of the profession now 
in practice who came to the city before or with 
the subject are Drs. Portman and Conklin. all 
the rest having chosen this field since the A-ear 

1875- 

Dr. Catlin's long residence in Canton has 
made his name a household word in the ma- 
jority of homes in the city and many through- 
out the country and everywhere he is spoken 
of in terms of praise, not only as a i>h_\-sician 
and surgeon but as a man and citizen. Since 
the war his life has been very closelv inter- 
woven with his profession and the amount of 



suffering he has alleviated and the good cheer 
he has brought to many households cannot be 
expressed in words. He has devoted his ener- 
gies, physicial and mental, to the good of his 
kind, losing sight of .self in the one absorbing 
desire of rescuing humanity from the many 
ills to which it is heir. His practice has been 
signally successful, professionally and finan- 
ciall}-, and he stands today one of the leading 
representati\es of the Homeopathic school in 
this part of the state, also occupying a respect- 
able position among the well-to-do men of the 
city in which he lives. Dr. Catlin stands high 
in the estimation of his professional associates 
of Canton, and is well and favorably known 
by the leading physicians of his school in Ohio 
and throughout the entire country. His name 
appears on the records of the principal Homeo- 
pathic organizations, among which are the 
State Medical Society, Northeastern Ohio 
Homeopathic Society, the American Institute 
of Homeopathy and others. He served one 
term of the Northeastern Ohio Society and has 
been an active participant in the deliberations 
of the different organizations with which he is 
identified, not infrequently presenting his views 
and the results of his practical investigations 
in papers which have gained wide publicity. 
Dr. Catlin was the first physician of the Homeo- 
pathic school in this locality to demonstrate the 
feasibility of the system, which in the last 
thirty years has made remarkable strides, tak- 
ing a strong hold on public favor. He still 
keeps alive his interest in matters pertaining 
to the terrible crisis through which the govern- 
ment passed from 1861 to 1866, being a mem- 
ber of McKinley Post No. 25, Grand .Army of 
the Republic, on the roster of which are the 
names of many of Ohio's bravest sons. In bis 
political adherency he is a Republican, but the 
pressing claims of his profession have prevent- 
ed him from trd<ing a \-ery active interest in 
party affairs. 

Dr. Catlin was married at Brookfield, New 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



459 



York, in 1869, to Miss Rozella Clark, daugh- 
ter of Anson and Elmira (Crandall) Clark, a 
union terminated by the death of the wife in 
1896, after she had borne three- children, 
namely : Grace, now Mrs. John Miller, of 
Bellefontaine. Ohio; Homer C, an accom- 
plished ci\il engineer of Canton, who departed 
this life ^larch 10, 1902, and ]\Iary, who 
married Fred Green, a resident of this city. 
The Doctor's second marriage was solemnized 
on the 25th of May, 1898, with Flora Belle 
jMiller. daughter of Hiram Miller, of Stark 
count}', of whom mention will be found 011 
another page of this volume. 



H0\. JOHN SHIM P.— Honored and es- 
teemed by his contemporaries and for a number 
of years closely identified with the material 
development of Canton, also an influential fac- 
tor in the public as well as the civic affairs of 
the city, few men enjoyed as marked prece- 
dence as the late John Shimp. a brief review 
of whose career is herewith presented. He 
was a native of Columbiana county. Ohio, 
where his birth occurred about the year 1834. 
After a preliminary mental discipline in the 
public schools, he entered, when a youth. Mt. 
Union College, where he prosecuted his studies 
for some years, and on leaving that institution 
turned his attention to teaching, in which pro- 
fession he soon acquired much more than local 
repute. His experience as an educator covered 
a number of years, during which he became 
widely and favorably known as a capable and 
popular instructor, and his success may be in- 
ferred from his repeated periods of service in 
the same locality. In connection with educa- 
tional work, he also devoted much of his time 
to mechanical pursuits, having when a young 
man become skilled at carpentry, which voca- 
tion he followed more or less during the greater 
part of his life. 

^^^^en about thirty-two years of age. Mr. 



Shimp was married, in Alliance, Ohio, to IMiss 
Susan Teeters, daughter of Elisha Teeters, a 
well-known resident of that city, and shortly 
thereafter located at Canton, as local agent of 
the Ft. Wajaie Railroad. He served in that 
capacity for some years and discharged his 
duties in an eminently satisfactory manner, 
proving a faithful as well as capable employe, 
whose relations with the public were always 
marked with courtesy, and who looked after 
the company's interests with the same pains- 
taking exactness he would have manifested in 
prosecuting a like important enterprise of his 
own. Mr. Shunp was one of the leading Demo- 
cratic politicians of Canton, and stood high in 
the councils of his party, not only in the city, 
but in the county and throughout the district 
as well. He was elected mayor and filled that 
responsible ofilice with dignity and ability, 
his administration of the municipal government 
being' characterized by a devotion to duty and a 
strict enforcement of the law, which made him 
one of the most popular executives the city 
has ever had. 

Fraternally Mr. Shimp was an honored 
member of the Masonic brotherhood and his 
name also appears on the records of the Odd 
Fellows lodge of Canton. In his religious be- 
lief he was a Lutheran, and his daily life cor- 
responded with the faith he professed and 
afforded a striking example of its principles and 
precepts, practically applied. In eveiy rela- 
tion with his fellow men his conduct and bear- 
ing were those of the upright Christian gentle- 
man, and he discharged the duties of citizen- 
ship as became a loyal American and true lover 
of his country and its institutions. A man of 
high ideals and worthy purpose, possessing 
broad, generous sympathies and actuated by 
laudable desires to benefit his kind, he strove 
by every means at his command to advance the 
moral as well as the material interests of the 
cily of his residence, in consequence of which 
he gained the warm friendship of those with 



460 



OLD LANDMARKS 



whom he associated and won a high place in 
the confidence and esteem of the pubhc. 

The hfe of this good man and estimable citi- 
zen terminated at the age of fifty years, his 
death being deeply deplored in Canton, where 
he had so long and actively labored and where 
his efforts, civil and official, had been crowned 
with a high degree of success and honor. His 
widow died in Canton in May, 1890. The 
two sons reside in the city and both have be- 
come prominent in business and social circles, 
being at this time proprietors of one of the 
leading commercial enterprises of the place, 
the Shimp Brothers Gents' Furnishing Store. 



EDWARD D. KEPLINGER was born on 
the homestead farm in Canton township, this 
county, on the 21st of November, 1841, being 
a son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Slusser) Kep- 
linger, both of whom were likewise natives of 
Stark county, with whose early annals the 
names of both families were prominently and 
intimately identified. Daniel Keplinger became 
one of the successful farmers of the county, 
his homestead being just east of the present 
city of Canton, and he became a man of promi- 
nence in local affairs of a public nature. He 
e\'entually removed with his family to Crest- 
line, this state, and later to Bucyrus, Crawford 
county, \\here he was serving as sheriff at the 
time of his death, which resulted from injuries 
received in being tlirown from a horse. His 
A\ife was a relative of the late Dr. Lew Slus- 
ser. of Canton, from whose writings have been 
gained much of the valuable history appearing 
in this work. She still resides in Bucyrus, 
having attained the venerable age of eighty- 
six years. The Slusser family is of German 
extraction, while tiie original progenitors of the 
Keplinger family in America came from Hol- 
land. 

The subject of this memoir gained his ele- 
mentarv education in the district schools of 



Canton township, while later he continued his 
studies in the old Canton Academy, his boy- 
hood days having been passed in the home of 
his uncle. Jacob Keplinger, in Canton, where 
he remained after the removal of his parents 
to ^the points previously mentioned. In 1859 
he initiated his independent career by securing 
a clerkship in the mercantile establishment of 
Dei,trich & Kimball, of Canton, with whom he 
renjained until the spring of 1861, when he 
accepted a similar position in the store of Schil- 
ling & Herbruck, remaining until July of the 
following year. In August, 1862, he ten- 
dered his services in defense of the Union, en- 
listing as a member of Company M, One Hun- 
dred Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but 
he was assigned to detail duty in the office of 
the adjutant general in Cincinnati, where he 
remained until 1863. In the early part of 
1864 he was commissioned captain of Company 
B, One Hundred and Ninth Ohio \'oluntecr 
Infantry, serving in this capacity until 1866, 
his command having been with General Grant 
at Appomattox at tlie time of General Lee's 
surrender. Captain Keplinger received a gun- 
shot wound while in the battle of Fort Harri- 
son, Virginia, but it was not so severe as to 
incapacitate him for active service. After the 
surrender of Lee his command was sent to 
Texas, and there he served as brigade quarter- 
master for a time, at Indianola. Upon being 
relieved from this duty he was sent to Port 
Lavaca, that state, where he was detailed as 
provost marshal. I'eniaining ther,e until his 
command was ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, 
to be mustered out of the service, his honorable 
discharge being received in February, 1866. 
In a special memorial issued by the colonel of 
his old regiment at the time of the death of 
Captain Keplinger appear the following words 
of deep appreciation : "Perhaps the announce- 
ment of the death of no one of our companions 
ever has or ever will cause more profound re- 
gret, for Captain Keplinger added to his sol- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



461 



dierly qualities such gracious social powers, 
such courtesy and charm of manner and such a 
cheerful, sunny disposition as knit him to all 
our hearts. He was always prompt in the per- 
formance of every duty and was beloved by 
both officers and men." 

After the close of his exemplary and gal- 
lant military career Captain Keplinger proceed- 
ed to the home of his parents, in Bucyrus, Ohio, 
where he remained one year, having been em- 
ployed by a mercantile establishment there. In 
1868 he returned to Canton, where he engaged 
in the general merchandise business in com- 
pany with Abraham Shane under the firm name 
of Keplinger & Shane, this partnership con- 
tinuing until the summer of 1873, when he pur- 
chased the interest of Mr. Shane and thereafter 
individually and successfully conducted the 
enterprise until 1890, in which year he removed 
to New York city, where he held a position as 
salesman for one year in the dry goods estab- 
lishment of Sweetzer, Pembrook & Company. 
He then returned to Canton and engaged in the 
manufacture of paving brick, here effecting the 
organization of the Imperial Shale Brick 
Company, of which he was chosen secretary, 
treasurer and general manager, retaining these 
positions until the time of his death, while 
through his able and discriminating efforts the 
industry became one of wide scope and im- 
portance in its line, the company having been 
among the first to engage in the manufactur- 
ing of this type of products in the county, 
while the plant is the largest of all in the city of , 
Canton. After a lingering illness, during 
which he bore his suffering with resignation 
and gentle patience. Captain Keplinger was 
finally summoned into eternal rest on the i6th 
of May, 1902, and the community felt a sense 
of personal bereavement, for he had beeij well 
known and had retained the affectionate regard 
of all those with whom his relations had been 
in the least intimate. He was a zealous and 
consistent member of the Presbyterian church ; 



was identified with Eagle Lodge No. 431, Free 
and Accepted Masons ; and also held member- 
ship in the Knights of Honor and the Royal 
Arcanum, while his political allegiance was 
given to the Republican party, of whose princi- 
ples he was a stanch advocate. 

In Minerva, this county, on the i8th of 
September, 1866, was solemnized the marriage 
of Captain Keplinger to Mrs. Frances (Kelly) 
Miller, who was born in Salem, this state, on 
the 25th of January, 1845. She was reared to 
the age of ten years in her native town and then 
accompanied her parents on their removal to 
Minerva, where she attained years of maturity. 
There, on the 6th of May, 1863, she was united 
in marriage to Dr. David H. Miller, who died 
on the 23d of December, 1864. He was gradu- 
ated in the Cleveland Medical College, having 
been born and reared in New Lislx)n, Colum- 
biana county, his father having- been Jacob 
Miller, who was a prominent farmer in that 
locality. Mrs. Keplinger is a daughter of 
William and Sarah fKitzmiller) Kelly, the 
latter havmg been a sister of Mrs. Rebecca 
Buckius, who still resides in Canton, a repre- 
sentative of one of the pioneer families. Will- 
iam Kelly \y!Z5 born in Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, in which state the original 
American progenitors settled many generations 
ago, having come to the new world from the 
north of Ireland. William was a son of John 
Kelly, who passed his entire life in Washing- 
ton county, Pennsylvania, having been a farmer 
by vocation, while his farm is now included 
in the village of Little Washington, that coun- 
ty. The maiden name of his wife was Nancy 
Bell. The father of Mrs. Keplinger Avas reared 
to the age of twenty in his native county, hav- 
ing received good educational advantages, and 
he then came to Canton, Ohio, and engaged in 
the manufacture of carriages, under the firm 
name of Kelly & Shipe, the factory of the con- 
cern being located on the site of the present 
First Methodist Episcopal church. Here his 



462 



OLD LANDMARKS 



marriage occurred, and tliree years later he re- 
moved to Salem, Columbiana county, Oliio, 
where he engaged in the livery Imsiness. In 
April, 1855, he removed to his farm near 
?»linerva, Stark county, where he remained 
until 1873, when he returned to Salem, where 
he lived retired until his death, which occurred 
on the 5th of September, 1899. His wife died 
in Salem, in 1882, at the age of seventy years. 
Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church and in politics he was a Democrat. They 
became the parents of five children, concerning 
whom we enter a brief record : Louisa is the 
widow of Abraham Shane and resides in Can- 
ton ; Frances is the widow of the subject of 
this memoir; Amelia, wife of Dr. Frank Conk- 
lin, died in the city of Cleveland, in 1892 ; John 
died in Salem, in 1892, and William is a resi- 
dent of the citv of Pittsburg. 



WARREN EDGAR KEPLINGER, who 
is president of the Metropolitan Pa\-ing Brick 
Company, of Canton, was born in the city of 
Fort Wayne, Indiana, on the 2d of April, 1871, 
and as he was deprived of his parents by death 
when he was but six years of age, he was 
reared in the home of his uncle, M. D. Fulton, 
of Bucyrus, Oliio, where he secured his early 
educational training in the public schools, be- 
ing graduated in the high school of that city 
as a member of the class of June, 1888. After 
leaving school he became a clerk in the drug 
store of his uncle, in Bucyrus, and was thus as- 
sociated with the business until the death of 
I^lr. Fulton, in December, 1888. During the 
ensuing two years he devoted his attention to 
supervising the affairs of his uncle's estate, in 
Ijehalt of his widowed aunt, and from 1890 
until 1892 he held the position of clerk in the 
office of J. F. Angel] . superintendent of the 
Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad, with head- 
quarters in Bucyrus, Ohio. 

In the month of June, 1892, Mr. Keplinger 



came to Canton and here assisted his uncle, 
Edward D. Keplinger, in the erection of the 
plant of the Imperial Shale Brick Company, 
which is the largest of the soft in the city, 
and of this concern he acted as superintendent 
until 1896, in which year the firm of J. L. 
Higley & Company was organized, for the pur- 
pose of handling the entire output of all the 
brick plants in Canton, and Mr. Keplinger was 
then placed in charge of the sales agency. In 
1900 the firm was re-organized under the title 
of Higley, Keplinger & Company, the subject 
of this sketch being retained in the firm as 
manager of the sales department. In Febru- 
ary, 1902, he effected the organization of The 
Metropolitan Paving Brick Company, of Can- 
ton, which absorbed all plants here conducting 
business under the sales-agency plan. Of this 
important concern Mr. Keplinger was elected 
president, and he has manifested marked dis- 
crimination and ability in the management of 
the important executive aft'airs thus placed in 
his charge, and his entire career illustrates in 
no uncertain or equivocal way the potentialities 
of youth. He has shown distinctive initiative 
power, and in his business judgment is ever 
free from obliquity or vacillation. In addition 
to his association with this important enterprise, 
Mr. Keplinger is also vice-president of the Can- 
ton Hard Rubber Company, while he was vice- 
president of the Canton Pole & Shaft Company 
until its absorption by the Pioneer Pole & Shaft 
Company. In politics he was reared in the 
Democratic faith, but is not guided along strict 
partisan lines, preferring to maintain an inde- 
pendent attitude. He is a member of Trinity 
Lutheran church, and fraternally he is identified 
with the local lodge of the Benevolent and Pro- 
tecti\e Order of Elks. 

On the 23d of March. 1898. at the hmne of 
the bride's parents, in the city of Cincinnati, 
Mr. Keplinger was united in marriage to ]\Iiss 
Ethel Mae Peters, daughter of Orrin E. Peters, 
])resident of the Peters Cartridge Company, of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



463 



that city, and of this union has been l)orn one 
child, Margaret, who first saw the hght of day 
in ilie city of Canton, on October 30, 1900. 



ROY R. CARNAHAN was born in Coch- 
ran's Mills, eight miles northwest of Leech- 
burg, Pennsylvania, oiVthe 25th of July, 1879, 
and he is closely connected with Canton's busi- 
ness interests, being a stockholder in the Carna- 
han Tin Plate Company, and a member of the 
directorate of the Carnahan Land Lnprovement 
Company, of which specific mention is made in 
tlie sketch of the life of his father, previously 
mentioned. He is also interested with his 
honored father in the gold and silver mines 
near Colville. Washington, and in several oil 
fields. Although still a young man, he seems 
to have inherrited much of his father's business 
ability and acute administrative and executive 
talent, while he has been favoreil in the practi- 
cal training which he has achieved under the 
flirection of one of the most able of business 
men. He developed 'early that sturdy physical 
manhood which has served him to so great a 
purpose in later years and enabled him to fol- 
low in the footsteps of his father as a capable 
business man and one with distinctive capacity 
for the handling of aft'airs of broad scope and 
importance. 

The fami'ly removed to Leechburg, Penn- 
sylvania, early in the 'eighties and there the 
subject passed his boyhood days, attending the 
])ul)Iic schools and showing marked aptitude in 
his studies. On the advice of his uncle. Dr. 
J. L. Carnahan, then a successful and promi- 
nent physician in the city of Pittsburg, he com- 
menced the study of medicine in 1898, being at 
that lime matriculated in the medical depart- 
ment of the Western University of Pennsyl- 
vania. He there continued his technical studies 
one year and then entei'ed the Jefferson Medical 
College, in Philadelphia. The next year he 
withdrew from college and went to the oil 



fields of Pennsylvania to look after his father's 
interests. Several years before this, at the time 
of his graduation in the high school, the class 
prophet predicted that he was certain to follow 
in the footsteps of his father and that he would 
at sometime become a millionaire oil operator, 
and that this prediction will be justified in fact 
it IS not difiicult to imagine in view of the po- 
sition which he today holds. 'Boring for oil 
proved a great fascination for him, and he ac- 
cordingly entered into business with his father 
as an oil and gas operator in several counties 
in western Pennsylvania, — chiefly Butler and 
Armstrong counties. 

On the 13th of September, 1901, shortly 
after leaving medical college, Mr. Carnahan 
was imited in marriage to Miss Fannie Kling- 
ensmith, who was born and reared in Pennsyl- 
vania, being the daughter of Joseph K. and L. 
C. Klingensmith, the former of whom was a 
prominent resident of Leechburg, Pennsylvania, 
at the time of his death. After his marriage 
Mr. Carnahan took up his residence in Leech- 
burg, but within the same year he removed 
to Smithfield, West Virginia. He and his 
gracious young wife are the parents of one 
son, John E., Jr., named in honor of his pa- 
ternal grandfather. The town of Smithfield. 
where our subject took up his abode, is in the 
heart of the greatest oil and gas section of 
West Virginia, and there he took charge of 
his father's extensive interests in Wetzel, Dodd- 
ridge, Marion, Harrison, Tyler, Lewis and 
several other counties. His first great work 
was the opening of the famous Folsom oil dis- 
trict, at the e.xtreme points of which he had 
charge of drilling a half dozen wells. His 
father had the controlling interest in the oil and 
gas leaseholds of this tract, which was sold to 
the Standard Oil Company in 1902, for a con- 
sideration of two million two hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars. The tract embraces 
seven thousand acres and practically the entire 
area has turned out to be valuable oil territorv. 



464 



OLD LANDMARKS 



there being in operation on the same at the time 
of this writing two hundred wells with a total 
production of two thousand barrels a day. 
The tract is at the junction of Harrison, 
Doddridge, Wetzel and Marions counties, and 
its sale to the Standard Oil Company was the 
largest single oil deal ever consummated in 
West Virginia, while much credit has been 
given the subject of this review for the rare 
judgment which he displayed in drilling the 
test wells. 

For the past decade Mr. Carnahan has had 
a varied experience in the oil fields of Pennsyl- 
vania, West Virginia and Ohio, commencing 
the work while still in his 'teens, ^^'ithin this 
time he has had either entire or partial charge 
of the drilling- of one hundred and tifty gas 
and oil wells, and in West Virginia he has 
drilled in twelve large gas wells for the Car- 
negie Steel Company, of Pittsburg. He has had 
numerous narrow escapes at oil wells, and by 
the explosion of a large gas well in Pennsyl- 
vania he was carried with the derrick floor 
thirty feet into the air. 



PROF. WILLIAM JOHNS, who is prin- 
cipal of the high school at Massillon, this coun- 
t\\ and who is one of the successful and best 
known educators in this section of the state 
of Ohio, was born on the 14th of February, 
1858, in Prideville, a picturesque little village 
on the Cheat river and east of Morgantown, 
Monongalia county, \Vest Virginia, which 
state was at that time still a portion of the 
Old Dominion. His parents are John and 
Hannah (Waite) Johns, the former of whom 
was bom in Gitchell, Ludgran parish, near 
Penzance, county of Cornwall, England, 
whence he came to the United States in 1854, 
in October of which year he arrived in Frost- 
burg, Allegany county, Maryland, which be- 
came his first place of residence in this country. 
By occupation he was a miner, having been 



reared in the great mining district of Cornwall, 
and for some time after his coming to America 
he continued to follow this vocation, but in later 
life turned his attention to agricultural pur- 
suits. His wife was born in Forest Dean, 
Gloucestershire, England, on the 28th of 
March, 1840, and accompanied her parents on 
the emigration to America, in August, 185 1, 
the family settling 'near Frostburg, Maryland, 
where she was reared to maturity and where 
her marriage was solemnized. Of the chil- 
dren of John and Hannah Johns we enter 
the following brief record : The first born, a 
daughter, died in infancy; William is the im- 
mediate subject of this sketch; John E. is a 
resident of Massillon. this county; Mary E. 
is the wife of John A. Wagner and they still 
reside in Frostburg, Maryland; Harriet is the 
widow of Dr. George Chenoweth and resides 
in Huntington, Indiana ; Herbert S. is engaged 
in real estate and insurance business in the 
city of Cleveland, Ohio ; Samuel B. is con- 
nected with the Wall Street Journal, in New 
York city ; Oscar U. is engaged in the real 
estate and insurance business in Cleveland, be- 
ing associated with his brother Herbert S. ; 
Joseph L. is likewise a resident of that city ; 
Eva M. is the wife of Charles O. Yost, who 
holds a position in the First National Bank 
of Massillon ; and Walter G. is likewise identi- 
fied with the real estate and insurance business 
in Cleveland. The father of these children 
rendered valiant service in the Civil war as a 
member of Company A, Third Maryland Vol- 
unteer Infantry. His parents were William 
and Jennifer (Blight) Johns. 

Professor Johns was reared in Frostburg, 
Marvland, where he attended the common 
schools. Becoming imbued with a desire for 
a higher education, he passed some time in 
securing the necessary funds to enable him to 
continue his studies, and finally he entered 
Dickinson Seminary, at Williamsport. Penn- 
svlvania. where he was graduated on the iQtli 




t;»"«vw^»">;!^ " 




CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



465 



of June, 1884, with the degree of Bachelor of 
Sciences. While a student in this institution 
he became business manager of the Dickin- 
son Liberal, a college paper. At the time he 
assumed control the financial affairs of the 
paper were in a most deplorable condition, the 
efficiency and value of the same being much 
hampered by the imposed burden of indebted- 
ness. By careful and discriminating manage- 
ment Professor Johns placed the paper on a 
sound financial footing, and his brother, John 
E., who succeeded him as business manager, 
was thereby enabled to leave the control of the 
paper with a balance in its treasur)'. 

After leaving Dickinson the subject began 
teaching school at Cumberland, Maryland. 
where he was thus engaged for two years, the 
latter of which he was principal of the Union 
street school. The following year he assumed 
the principalship of the AInunt Savage public 
schools, in the same county, and here likewise 
he made a most excellent record as an instruc- 
tor and executive. In September, 1887, Pro- 
fessor Johns, in the capacity of principal, took 
charge of the State Orphans' School at Ches- 
ter Springs, Chester county, Pennsylvania, re- 
taining this incumbency two years, or until the 
institution was closed by the state, in 1889. 
He then returned to Allegany coimty, Mary- 
land, where he remained about one year. In 
1890 he came to Massillon and accepted a po- 
sition as assistant in the high school, and in 
September. 1895, ^^ was promoted to the po- 
sition he now holds, that of principal of the 
high school, this advancement being a well 
merited recognition of faithful and effective 
service. He is a member of the Stark County 
Teachers' Association, of which he served as 
president during the years 1901-2, and he is 
also a member of the Ohio State Teachers' 
Association and of the Northeastern Ohio As- 
sociation. He is a member of the First Metho- 
dist Episcopal church of Massillon, in whose 
Sunday school he has long been a teacher, while 

29 



he holds the office of superintendent of the same 
at the present time. He is identified with the 
Masonic fraternity, the Junior Order of United 
American Mechanics and the Tribe of Ben Hur. 
Professor Johns was united in marriage to 
Miss Virgin Lenore Dart, who was born in 
Cumberland county, Maryland, on the 17th of 
July, 1864, being a daughter of Lewis and 
Mary N. (Cresap) Dart, both representatives 
of old and prominent Maryland families. Mrs. 
Dart is still living, having celebrated her sev- 
enty-third birthday on the 4th of May, 1903, 
while her husband is deceased. Professor and 
Mrs. Johns are the parents of three children, 
namely : Lucile W., born September 30, 1889 ; 
Alary O., born July 30, 1895; and an infant, 
born May 22, 1903. 



REV. O. P. FOUST.— Paternally Rev. 
Foust is descended from an old Pennsylvania 
family, the history of which dates from a very 
early period in the annals of the commonwealth. 
His father, William Foust, was the son of 
Philip Foust, the latter being the son of John 
Foust, all of whom lived and died in the above 
state. The Fousts for many generations have 
been farmers and producers, not a few of them 
having attained honorable stations in their re- 
spective localities. Philip Foust,, the subject's 
grandfather, died from the effects of a fall, at 
the advanced age of eighty-three, and William 
Foust departed this life when about fifty-seven 
years old, meeting his death also by acci- 
dent. The latter's wife, who bore the maiden 
name of Marietta Fretz, is a native of Pennsyl- 
vania and a daughter of Solomon Fretz, who 
passed into the life beyond at the ripe old age 
of ninety-two years. Mrs. William Foust is 
still living, having reached the sixty-seventh 
milestone on life's journey; she bore her hus- 
band eleven children, the subject of this review 
being the fifth in order of birth. 

Rev. O. P. Foust was born in Clarion 



466 



OLD LANDMARKS 



county, Pennsylvania, on the 22(1 day of 
November, 1S65. At the proper age he entered 
the district school near his home, and such was 
his progress that while still a mere youth he 
completed the studies constituting the course 
and became a student in the high schools at 
St. Petersburg. In due time he was graduated 
from that institution with the highest honors 
of his class, after which he taught two terms 
in his native county. At the expiration of that 
period he entered the Clarion Collegiate Insti- 
tute, where he gave especial attention to Latin 
and Greek, preparatory to taking a collegiate 
course. While thus pursuing his studies, he 
was induced to take charge of several classes in 
the above institution and as student and tutor 
he continued his labors until entering Heidel- 
berg College, in the fall of 1889. Mr. Foust's 
record" in the collegiate institute was indeed a 
creditable one. and there, as in the high school, 
he took the highest honors, graduating as vale- 
dictorian of his class. His career at Heidel- 
berg was no less honorable, as he stood high 
in all his studies and he left that institution 
after two years of close, painstaking work 
with laurels, well and nobly earned. Actuated 
by a laudable desire further to increase his 
scholastic knowledge, he matriculated in the 
fall of 1 89 1 at Wooster University, and after 
spending a little over two years there was 
graduated with high honors for scholarship and 
literary work, completing the prescribed course 
in the spring of 1893. 

Leaving the university Mr. Foust was elec- 
ted principal of the Wapakoneta high school 
and on the same day this choice was made came 
a tender of the principalship of the schools at 
Orrville. At first he was somewhat undecided 
as to which position he w^ould accept, but the 
term of school at Orrville being longer than at 
A\^apakoneta, he decided to accept the position 
at the latter place, and entered upon his labors. 
It was not long until the schools under his 
charge were thoroughly reorganized and the 



system placed upon the solid basis which has 
marked their subsequent history. Mr. Foust 
made a creditable record as a teacher and man- 
ager and at the end of his first term at Orr- 
ville was unanimously re-elected for another 
year. Meanwhile his reputation as an educator 
spread beyond the bounds of his held of lal)or, 
as witness the fact of his having been selected 
teacher of Latin by the Akron school board 
about the time of his re-election as principal 
at Orrville. He entered upon his second year's 
work at Orrville at a greatly increased salary 
and at the expiration of the term was again 
chosen his own successor with another con- 
siderable advance in salary, but declined to ac- 
cept by reason of a more remunerative position 
l>eing offered him as teacher of mathematics 
in the Akron high school. Resigning his prin- 
cipalship, he took charge of his especial work 
in Akron, and it may not be out of place in 
this connection to state that in order to pro- 
cure his services the school board of that citv 
were obliged to pay him a larger salary than 
that received by any other teacher there em- 
ployed. 

While connected with the educational wcirk 
of Akron, Mr. Foust took up the study of 
Hebrew with Rev. Mr. Philo, a scholarly and 
erudite rabbi, under whose instruction he con- 
tinued as long as he remained in that city. He 
made rapid advancement in this ancient and 
difficult language and before dispensing with the 
services of his tutor became quite ;i proficient 
Hebrew scholar. Mr. B'oust held the chair of 
mathematics two years, but resigned at the end 
of that time to enter upon the study of theology, 
of which he had long cherished an ardent de- 
sire. After successfully passing the exami- 
nation entitling him to admission to the second 
year's work in the theological seminary at Tif- 
fin, this state, he bent all his energies to the 
task before him, and made a record which ga\'e 
him prestige among the highest students of 
tliat institution. While prosecuting his studies 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



467 



he was elected pastor of the Reformed church 
at Carrothers, Ohio, and as such continued to 
preach for the congregation every ahernate 
Lord's day until after his graduation. During 
the first summer's vacation he, with two fellow 
students, conducted a summer school at Heidel- 
berg University, which was well patronized, 
the high standing of the instructors giving the 
enterprise an impetus to the end that it became 
quite remunerative to those in charge. In Oc- 
tober, 1898, Mr. Foust was tendered a call to 
the First Reformed church at Massillon. which 
in conjunction with his charge at Carrothers he 
served alternately until completing his theo- 
logical course. He was graduated in April, 
1899, with the degree of Bachelor of Divinity, 
being one of only two in his class to receive 
that honor. Meantime, 1897, in recognition 
of his scholarship and satisfactory educational 
and literary work he received from Wooster 
University the degree of Master of Arts, which 
with the degree from the seminary bears glow- 
ing testimony to the high standard of his in- 
tellectual and professional attainments. 

Rev. Foust was formally licensed as a min- 
ister of the gospel of the Reformed church on 
the 2d day of May, 1899, and immediately 
thereafter entered upon the duties of his sacred 
office at Massillon, resigning his charge at 
Carrothers the year in which he graduated. On 
coming to this city he found the church in only 
fair condition, but under his able ministration 
it has greatly prospered, both in material and 
spiritual things. Over one hundred communi- 
cants having been added to the congregation 
since he took charge of the work. A deeper 
spirit of devotion has been aroused and the 
progress in every line of endeaA'or has been 
eminently satisfactory, attesting not only the 
ability with which the pastor performs his 
functions, but also the deep and abiding place 
which he has found in the hearts and affections 
of his people. Rev. Foust has inaugiu'ated a 
general system of church improvements which 



are being successfully carried out as rapidly 
as circumstances will admit. He has already 
lifted a debt of two thousand dollars which 
hung over the congregation many years to its 
detriment, besides greatly beautifying the 
church propert}^ by planting a number of shade 
trees around the building and remodeling the 
interior of the structure. Recently, through 
his efforts, the floor has been carpeted, a new 
and fine pulpit and other furniture supplied and 
the room in which the kindergarten school is 
held, reseated with chairs suitable to pupils in 
attendance. Rev. Foust's parishioners show 
their high appreciation of his earnest, self- 
sacrificing services in many ways, not the least 
of which is the promptness with which they pay 
his salary every Monday morning, in this re- 
spect setting a commendable example to other 
churches that do not pursue sucii a course. 
As a preacher Rev. Foust has attained eminent 
distinction, being a clear, forcible and logical 
speaker, apt in illustration and truly eloquent 
when discussing the grand themes of Scripture 
or presenting to the minds and hearts of his 
hearers the claims of the gospel. His oratory 
is of that pleasing kind which appeals to the 
understanding as well as to the imagination and 
he never fails to impress his auditors with his 
earnestness, deep conviction and profound con- 
secration to the ser\ice of the Master. He has 
received a number of flattering calls to much 
larger and more influential congregations than 
the one to which he now ministers, but de- 
votion to duty will doubtless induce him to re- 
main with his present charge until certain pre- 
arranged work is completed and results long 
anticipated are accomplished. Among the 
churches desirous of securing his services are 
wealthy congregations in Kansas City, Mis- 
souri, and Denver, Colorado, the calls from 
both having Ijeen politely but firmly declined. 
Rev. Foust has long maintained a lively 
interest in college fraternal organizations, hav- 
ing been elected in 1892 to represent the A. 



468 



OLD LANDMARKS 



T. O. (Greek) society in the national biennial 
gathering at Nashville, Tennessee. In 1896 he 
represented the same society in a convention at 
Cleveland, Ohio, for the purpose of attending 
to some especially important matters, which 
through his instrumentality were properly and 
satisfactorily adjusted. Two years later he was 
a delegate to the World's Students' Federation 
at Chicago, in which the colleges and universi- 
ties of twenty-four of the leading nations of the 
world were represented, and in 1902 he was 
further honored as the accredited represent- 
ative of the Tuscarawas class to the tri-annual 
meeting of the synod of the Reformed church 
which convened in the city of Baltimore. Dur- 
ing the sessions of the latter body the dele- 
gates, by special invitation of the President of 
the United States, visited ^Vashington City, 
where they were extended every courtesy, not 
the least of which was a magnificent reception 
at the White House. 

Rev. ]\Ir. Foust was married July 17, 1893, 
to Miss Eliza Covert, the accomplished daugh- 
ter of Ithamar and Sarah (Burd) Covert, 
residents of Ashland county, Ohio. Like 
her husband, Mrs. Foust also comes of 
an old and highly respected Pennsylvania 
family, the genealog}- running back to the 
pioneer period of that state, also to the early 
days of Ohio. Her mother, a daughter of 
Sparks and Eliza (Long) Burd, was born in 
Pennsylvania and early removed to Holmes 
county, Ohio, where her father purchased land, 
cleared a farm and otherwise took an acti\-e 
part in the material development of the locality 
in which -he settled. Airs. Eliza Long is re- 
membered as a woman of great physical cour- 
age and daring. l)ui withal a most excellent 
wife and devoted mother. The story is related, 
that one night during the absence of her hus- 
band, she heard a number of wolves prowling 
around the little cabin home and, fearing for 
the safety of a young calf which had been tied 
to a tree some distance from the house, she 



rose from her bed, armed herself, and went 
alone into the darkness of the woods and res- 
cued the poor creature before it had been dis- 
covered by the ferocious beasts. Ithamar 
Covert was the son of Enoch Covert and the 
latter's father was named John, all of whom, 
with several generations of ancestors, were 
either natives of or lived in Pennsylvania. The 
Coverts have long been noted for longevity, a 
number of the family having lived to great 
ages. 

Rev. Foust was exceedingly fortunate in the 
selection of a wife and helpmate, the one of 
his choice being in every respect fitted for the 
companionship of such a talented and dis- 
tinguished husband. She has been his faithful 
assistant and co-laborer in the noble work in 
which he is engaged and to her judicious coun- 
sel and faithful co-operation is he indebted for 
much of his success. Mrs. Foust is a well 
educated lady, cultured and refined, a willing 
and cheerful worker in the church and a 
favorite in the social circles in which she and 
her husband move. She taught successfully 
several terms of school, after which she became 
an expert stenographer and typewriter, and had 
made cor.siderable progress in the study of 
law when her marriage took place. She had 
intended making the legal profession her life 
wiirk. Init changed her mind with the changing 
nf her name. Her father is still living, l)eing 
now in his seventy-second year, and her uncle. 
\\'illiam Co^■ert, is in his eighty-eighth year. 
Her mother died in 1896. 

The home of Rev. and Mrs. Foust has been 
brightened by the advent of four children : 
Lloyd, Dwight, Roy, and one other. Two of 
the children are deceased, Roy d_\-ing in 
November, 1902, aged eight months, and a 
daughter unnamed dying at birth. In closing 
this brief review it is well to refer to the deep 
interest the suliject has taken in his youngest 
brother. ^\^ \\'. Foust, who was under his care 
from the time of their father's death. He pro- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



469 



vided him the best educational advantages ob- 
tainable, provided liberally for his maintenance, 
paid the expenses of his collegiate training and 
supported him while he prosecuted his theo- 
logical studies in the seminary connected with 
Heidelberg "University. He graduated April 
29, 1903; was licensed May 7, 1903, and was 
ordained by his brother (subject) on May 21, 
1903. W. W. Foust is a young man of high 
intellectual attainments and gives much promise 
of an honorable career as a minister of the 
gospel. 

Thus have been set forth the leading facts 
of the life of one of the talented and useful 
ministers of the gospel in the state of which he 
is an honored resident. His career has been 
signally brilliant and successful, and, judging 
the future by the past, it is eminently proper 
to predict for him a still more distinguished 
station among the leading divines of the church 
which he has the honor of representing. He 
has won many souls to the higher life and his 
coming years are replete with promise and re- 
ward. 



EDWARD S. FOLK, M. D., is of stanch 
German ancestry in the agnatic line, and the 
patronymic was originally spelled Faulk. The 
original representative of the immediate family 
in America was John Faulk, grandfather of the 
subject, v>'ho emigrated from the fatherland 
to the Unitd States about the year 1812, first 
settling in the state of New York, where he 
remained for a number of years and then came 
westward to Ohio, taking up h's abode in Stark 
county, where he passed the remainder of his 
life, engaged m agricultural pursuits. He was 
a man of sterling integrity of character and in 
all the relations of life was signally true and 
honorable, being held in uniform esteem by all 
who knew him. He was one of the pioneers 
of the county and here lived and labored to 
goodly ends, — an unassuming but worthy 



citizen. His wife was likewise a native 01 
Germany, their marriage ha\-ing been solem- 
nized, however, after coming to America. They 
became the parents of nine children, and Sam- 
uel F., father of the Doctor, was one of the 
five sons. He was born on the paternal farm- 
stead in Sandy township, Stark county, Ohio, 
on the 22d of June, 1836, and he was reared to 
maturity on the old homestead, early beginning 
to contribute his quota to the work of the same 
and receiving such educational advantages as 
were afforded in the district schools of the lo- 
cality and period. As a young man he learned 
the carpenter trade, becoming a capable work- 
man. His parents removed to Illinois when he 
was a young man, but he decided to remain in 
his native state, where he was engaged in the 
work of his trade at the time when the dark 
cloud of civil war spread its grewsome pall over 
the national horizon. The intrinsic loyalty and 
patriotism of his nature was aroused to respon- 
sive protest, and he valiantly offered his ser- 
vices in defense of the Union, enlisting as a 
private in Company I, One Hundred and Fif- 
teenth Ohio Volunteer Infantr}-, with which he 
served two years, taking part in a number of 
the important battles incidental to the greatest 
of all internecine conflicts and proving- a leal 
and loyal son of the Republic. 

After the close of the war Samuel F. Folk 
returned to Stark county where, in 1866, was 
solemnized his marriage to ]\liss Sarah Van 
Voorhis, who was likewise a native of this 
county, having been born in Osnaburg town- 
ship, on the 3 1 St of December, 1844, a daugh- 
ter of Peter Van Voorhis, who migrated from 
the old Keystone state to Ohio in an early day, 
taking up his abode on a tract of land in the 
inrmediate vicinity of the present village of 
Mapleton, where he reclaimed a good farm 
from the primitive wilds and where he passed 
the residue of his life, honored for his intrinsic 
integrity and ordering his life upon a high 
plane. He died well advanced in years, having 



470 



OLD LANDMARKS 



become tlie fatlier of fourteen children. After 
his marriage Samuel F. Folk located on a farm 
of ten acres at Mapleton, placing his little tract 
of land under cultivation, but devoting the 
major portion of his time and attention to the 
work of his trade, in which his efforts were at- 
tended with a due measure of success. After 
a period of about fifteen years had elapsed he 
had sufficiently conserved his resources to be 
able to purchase a farm of eighty acres, in the 
same vicinage, and there he took up his abode, 
making the best of improvements on the place 
and eventually having one of the most prolific 
and valuable farms in this section of the state. 
No man in the community commanded a great- 
er measure of confidence and esteem, while his 
influence was ever exerted in the furtherance 
of all worthy objects and enterprises. He was 
as true to the duties of citizenship during the 
"piping times of peace" as he was when he 
followed the old flag on the sanguinary bat- 
tlefields of the south, and he passed to his re- 
ward in the fulness of years and honors, his 
death occurring on the 14th of January, 1892. 
In politics he gave an unecjuivocal support to 
the princi])les and policies of the Republican 
party and his religious views were in harmony 
with the tenets of the Christian church, while 
fraternally he retained his interest in his old 
comrades in arms and was a valued member of 
the Grand Army of the Republic. His widow 
still sur\i\es, residing on the old homestead so 
hallowed by tlie memories and associations of 
the past, while she has been for years a de- 
voted member of the Christian church, as was 
also her husband. Of their children we enter 
brief record, as follows: George W., who 
married Kate Creighton and has two children, 
remains on the old homestead with his \-ener- 
able mother and is known as one of the pro- 
gressive and influential farmers of Stark coun- 
ty: Margaret died in infancy; Edward S., the 
immediate subject of this sketch, was the next 



in order of birth and is the youngest of the 
children. 

Dr. Folk was born in Mapleton, Stark 
county, Ohio, on the 28th of March, 1877, and 
thus he is numbered with the younger gener- 
ation of physicians in his native county. The 
day has passed when there obtains a preju- 
dicial animus against youth in connection with 
what are customarily designated as the "learned 
professions," and prestige is not denied to the 
one whose merits and abilities are not the con- 
tingents of extreme or middle age, and thus in 
the case of the subject of this sketch we find 
that he has gained marked precedence in his 
profession, even though a great number of 
years have not elapsed since he served his brief 
novitiate in the practical work of his profession. 
The Doctor received his preliminarv* educational 
discipline in the public schools and earl}' formu- 
lated definite plans for his future life work, as 
is evident when we revert to the fact that in 
1895 he was matriculated in the Ohio Normal 
Uni\ersity, at Ada, Ohio, where he continued 
his studies for one year, at the expiration of 
which he began the specific work of preparing 
himself for that profession to which he is now 
devoting his attention. He began his technical 
reading upder the preceptorship of Dr. E. O. 
Bell, of ]\Iapleton. with whom he continued his 
studies for two years, after which he entered 
the Ohio Medical University, in Columbus, 
where he completed the prescribed course and 
was graduated on the 15th of April, 1902, re- 
ceiving his coveted degree of Doctor of INIedi- 
cine. Thoroughly fortified for the work of 
his chosen ]:)rofession. Dr. Folk located in Can- 
ton in the following June, establishing an office 
and entering upon the practice of medicine and 
surgery under favorable auspices, for his gra- 
cious personality, and unmistakable ability have 
gained to him a representative support and he is 
rapidly building up a large and gratifying 
practice and enjoys the confidence and esteem 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



4/1 



of all. He is a member of the Ohio State Medi- 
cal Society and also the county organization, 
and through these connections and his constant 
study and investigation he keeps constantly 
abreast of the advances made in the sciences to 
which he is devoting his life, being thoroughly 
en rapport with his profession and fully appre- 
ciating the responsibilities and exactions in- 
volved. In poHtics the Doctor accords alle- 
giance to the Republican party, and his re- 
ligious faith is that of the Christian church, in 
which he was reared. 

On the 6th of November, 1898, Dr. Folk 
was united in marriage to Miss Effie C. McCall, 
daughter of Theodore and Sarah Margaret Mc- 
Call. and they have one child, Margaret Helen. 
Mrs. Folk was born in Stark county, and her 
father is one of the representative citizens of 
the comnninity, having devoted his life princi- 
pally to the vocation of horticulturist, owning 
a fruit farm of one htmdred and sixty acres in 
Sandy township. 



CHARLES H. SCHLABACH is a native 
son of Canton, having been born in the family 
homestead on South Market street, on the 26th 
of December, 1867, and being a son of William 
F. and Anna (Heingartner) Schlabach. the 
former of whom was born in Plain township, 
this county, while the latter is a native of Ger- 
many, whence her parents came to America 
when she was a child. Isaac Schlabach, grand- 
father of our subject, was born in Pennsylvania 
and came of stanch German extraction, the 
original representative of the name in America 
having emigrated hither from the Fatherland 
at an early period in our national history, es- 
tablishing homes in the state of Pennsylvania, 
with whose annals the name has been long and 
honorably linked. In the old Keystone state 
was born Isaac Schlabach. as was also his wife, 
wiiose maiden name was Smith, and they be- 
came numbered among the pioneers of Stark 



county, having located in Plain township, and 
having passed the remainder of their lives 
in the county. Isaac Schlabach was engaged 
in farming until well advanced in age, when he 
retired from active labors, taking up his resi- 
dence in Canton, where he died. He and his 
wife became the parents of two children, both 
living at the present time. William F. Schla- 
bach was reared on the homestead farm in 
Plain township, and continued to devote his 
attention to agricultural pursuits for many 
years, while he and his wife now reside in 
Canton, he being one of the well-known and 
highly honored pioneer citizens of Stark county. 
He rendered valiant service in the Union cause 
during the war of the Rebellion, having been 
a member of Company B, One Hundred and 
Fifteenth Ohio Vohmteer Infantry, and he re- 
tains a deep interest in his old comrades in 
arms, exemplifying the same by retaining mem- 
bership in McKinley Post No. 25, Grand Army 
of the Repttblic, in Canton. He is a stahvart 
advocate of the principles and policies of the 
Republican party and Ixith he and his \\\it are 
members of the Reformed chtuxh. 

Charles H. Schlabach was reared to maturi- 
ty in Canton, where he received his educational 
discipline in the public .schools, which he con- 
tinued to attend until he had attained the age 
of fifteen years, when he initiated his business 
career. He first became a clerk in the establish- 
ment of the Canton Pa])er Company, and later 
"was in turn bookkeeper for the Princess Plow- 
Company, secretary and treasurer of the Can- 
ton Steel Roofing Company, and secretary and 
treasurer of the Diebold Safe and Lock Com- 
pany, another of the extensive industrial con- 
cerns of Canton. L'pon the organization of the 
Canton Savings and 'I'rust Company in Sep- 
tember. 1902, Mr. Schlabach was elected to 
the office of cashier, and he has shown marked 
discrimination and aljility in formulating and 
systematizing the affairs of the institution and 
in guiding its policy along progressive but safe- 



472 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ly conservative lines. He is a member of the 
directorate of the bank, and the officers of the 
same at the present time are as follows : 
Zebulon W. Davis, president; Jeremiah H. 
Kenny, vice-president, and Charles H. Schla- 
bach. secretary and treasurer. The bank is 
capitalized for one hundred thousand dollars 
and its stockholders are numbered among the 
most prominent and substantial citizens of the 
county. The institution has its well ec|uipped 
and modern counting rooms in the McKinley 
hotel block, one of the finest of the newer 
buildings in the business center, and all de- 
partments of the enterprise are established and 
conducted upon a solid basis. In politics Mr. 
Schlabach exercises his franchise in support of 
the Republican party and both he and his wife 
are members of the First Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

On the 14th of September, 1892. I\Ir. 
Schlabach was united in marriage to Miss 
Katherine Shanafelt, one of Canton's popular 
young ladies, she having been born in this city 
and being a daughter of Washington B. Shana- 
felt, one of our influential citizens, of whom 
specific mention is made on other pages of this 
work. Mr. and Mrs. Schlabach have two 
children. 



HERMAN C. BLUM.— Mr. "Blum's 
family history is traceable to the kingdom of 
Bavaria, Germany, in which countiy his father. 
John F. Blum, was born on the 22d of Febru- 
ary, 181 1. He grew to maturity in the town of 
Waldmore, and was twice married, his second 
wife, the mother of the subject, having borne 
the name of Catherine Lindemann. She was 
born July 29, 1824, in Newhausel, Prussia, the 
daughter of Philip Lindemann, a member of a 
very wealthy and highly connected family of 
that city. F^is father inherited great wealth, 
but through adverse business ventures finally 
lost his entire fortune and was almost reduced 



to the verge of penury, in consequence of which 
Philip was obliged when quite yovmg to shift 
for himself. He learned to make spinning 
\\heels and after working at this trade for some 
years finally became head forester for the king 
of Bavaria, a position which earned him con- 
siderable money. He married in his native 
land Catherine Behler, and later, at the instance 
of his only sister Wilhelmina, who came to 
America in 1828 and settled at Canton, Ohio, 
was induced to seek his fortune in the new 
world. Accordingly, he and his family took 
ship at Havre, France, and, after a long and 
exceedingly irksome voyage of forty days 
duration, the)- finally landed at New York city. 
From there he came via Buffalo, the great 
lakes and canal to Canton, and soon after his 
arri\-al here secured employment in the print- 
ing ofiice of Peter Kauft'man as a type-setter. 
Subsequently he worked in other printing 
establishments and when not thus engaged 
turned his attention to various occupations, 
having been skillful at almost any kind of handi- 
craft. Philip Lindemann lived to be a very old 
nam, dying at the age of eighty-nine. 
They were members of the German Lutheran 
church, and in every respect most estimable, 
upright people. Catherine, their oldest child, 
and mother of the subject of this sketch, was 
born in Germany, as were also Christian, who 
li-\-es in Kansas, and Adam, deceased. Fred- 
erick, Jacob and John were liorn in the ITniteil 
.States. 

Mrs. Catherine Blum was six years old 
when her parents moved from Prussia to 
Bavaria. She received the greater part of her 
education from her father, who was quite a 
learned man, l)ut after coming to the Laiited 
States she attended for several years the pub- 
lic school of Canton, and also private schools. 
She married Mr. Blum in this country and bore 
him children as follows: Herman C. : Edith, 
who was graduated from Canton high school, 
tauyht for ten vears in the citv schools, and 




HERMAN C. BLUM. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



473 



finished her earthly career when twenty-eight 
years old ; Charles, who died when a youth 
of seventeen ; Laura E. ; Emma and Susan, 
twins, both dying at the age of seven years; 
and Edward, the youngest, who died in early 
childhood. 

Herman C. Blum was born on the 2d of 
October, 1855, and after acquiring a good edu- 
cation in the public schools of Canton, he ac- 
cepted, at the age of fifteen, a clerical position 
in the office of the First National Bank of this 
city. At seventeen he entered the employ of C. 
Aultman & Company, and remained with the 
firm for twenty-five years, or until his death. 
From office boy upward to the head of the 
collection department he worked his way, al- 
ways with the same unswerving loyalty to his 
employers and conscientiousness and pains- 
taking effort in every part of his work. One 
of his boyhood friends who had risen to a re- 
sponsible place in the business world said he 
thought it indeed remarkable that with so many 
other interests. Mr. Blum was able to accom- 
plish so much in a purely business line and that 
if he had given his whole time and attention to 
this, as do so many of our young men, there 
was scarcely a limit to what he might have at- 
tained. But his personal ambitions lay in other 
directions. While faithfully fulfilling every 
trust reposed in him by his employers, and per- 
forming his work with a zeal and fidelity 
entirely to their satisfaction, his real life work 
was accomplished in the fragments of time 
which he could count his own outside of busi- 
ness hours. From early boyhood he had the 
pure, unswerving religious faith which was a 
part of his very being. His mind was deep, 
thoughtful, powerful, logical ; the combination 
of mind and soul made an unusual character. 
It exalted liim above the common plane, and his 
face glowed with the beauty and strength of 
his inner soul. No one in his presence failed 
to be conscious of the nobility and beauty of the 
man. Slight in stature, physically frail, his 



presence was ne\ertheless commanding, im- 
pressive and con\incing. Huml)le as a little 
child, holding himself as but a feeble instru- 
ment, his soul was lofty and pvu^e, his great- 
ness the greatness inexpressible of a noble man. 
His heart was tender and sympathetic, over- 
flowing with compassion towards the weak, the 
unfortunate and little children. He hated evil 
as he loved the good, instinctively, and yet 
following the footsteps of his Teacher and 
Friend, he was only sorrowful for the sinner, 
yearning to draw him towards the things he 
himself loved. With such a temperament, his 
activities turned into the channels most natural 
for them. As a bo}- and a young man he had 
felt his own needs and cravings, and could ap- 
preciate most fully what a banding together of 
young men mto a social, mental, moral and 
spiritual union might mean for the formation 
and development of character, its uplifting and 
upbuilding, by means which at the same time 
satisfied a normal craving for companionship, 
an outlet for animal spirits in sports and games, 
a spiritual environment released from the 
sexere formalities wliich sometimes accom- 
pany it. 

An elder in the First Presbyterian church 
for many years, a Bible student and teacher, 
prominent in the young people's society, and in 
every interest connected with the church, 
temporal as well as spiritual, yet buoyant with 
the springs of youth which years could never 
Cjuench, he was, perhaps, best fitted among all 
his associates for inspiring- an interest in the 
Young Men's Christian Association. From its 
very inception his was the strong moving spirit, 
and to the day of his death, through dis- 
couragements that would have appalled a less 
brave, less faithful soul, the welfare of the 
Young- Men's Christian Association was most 
precious to him. Only those most closely as- 
sociated with him. perhaps not even all of 
them, ever realized the extent of his labors 
and the nature of his sacrifices for this insti- 



474 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tution. From his own limited means he gave 
with a hberahty that often meant a sacrifice 
of personal necessities, and because of its needs 
he overcame natural sensitiveness and ap- 
proached many, asking for contributions which 
were never refused him. Of his time and 
thought he gave without stint, without measure. 
No sacrifice was a sacrifice to him that in any 
way counted for good to his beloved associ- 
ation. Position and honors he shunned where 
possible, and when made jiresident of the insti- 
tution, he only felt it an added responsibilhy, 
made the greater sacrifices and assumed the 
greater burdens. W'hen the new building lor 
w iiicli he had worked so hard was finally a 
reality instead of only a dream, he said to those 
\\\x\\ whom his intimacy was closest, "I would 
like ihat to be my monument." Yet his zeal 
was only liecause of his deep interest in the 
sa\ing of young men, and his beloved associ- 
ation was a means to that end. By every safe- 
guard he would protect and defend them e\en 
against themselves. Thus he began to fight the 
saloons and the gambling houses and the kin- 
dred evils, seeking their downfall, and identi- 
fied himself with the Law and Order League. 
His work in this capacity was the hardest, be- 
cause the most distasteful he ever did. JNIuch 
of it was single handed and alone. He was 
discouraged because of indift'erence of friends 
as well as alertness of foes. He made enemies, 
and his sensitiveness felt this keenh'. He was 
caricatured and derided in the newspapers, and 
those on whom he had counted for assistance 
failed him. h'inancial drains upon him made 
the work still more difficult, but, faithful to his 
trust, the protection and salvation of young 
men, he never faltered in his course, and death 
found liim faithful. And towards the same 
end was his work in connection with the 
People's Lecture Course, a permanent institu- 
tion of Canton. This was almost entirely his 
inception and the result of his personal efforts. 
Thousands who have attended these lectures 



and entertainments have been given pleasure, 
inspiration and encouragement, and it was a 
source of gratification to him that many whose 
limited means prevented opportunities for 
culture of this character, were thus given ad- 
vantages in this direction and thoroughly ap- 
preciated them. 

Mr. Blum was married, in 1891. to Mi-ss 
Minnie C. Palmer, and died six years 
later. As a friend, a son. a brother, a 
husband, he ^\■as fidelitv. tenderness and truest 
affection. All respected him. but his friends 
and those most closely associated with him 
knew him as the best and truest and manliest 
•of men, and those whose ties were closest and 
who knew him in the most intimate relation- 
ship, felt, reverently, that as a follower of 
Christ he did not "follow afar off", but so 
near, indeed, that his face caught the very 
shining and his life the veiy perfectncss of the 
Master. 

Li this connection it is proper to give in 
brief outline something of the life and charac- 
ter of Laura E. Blum, a sister of Herman C, 
who has been identified with the public scliools 
for a number of years and who has earned dis- 
tinctive prestige as a teacher, while her stand- 
ing in the social world is equally worthy and 
pronounced. Those who know her well, and 
their name is legion, testify to her sterling 
worth of head and heart, and man}- young men 
and women of this city and elsew here attribute 
to her faithful instruction and gentle hut firm 
guidance much of their success in life. 
Peculiarly gifted in her chosen field of labor, 
possessing superior education and wide culture, 
she lives to noble purposes and enjoys life as 
one can whose abilities are unselfishly conse- 
crated to the work of making the world in- 
tellectuallv and morally better. Slie was born 
in the old hdmc which stood on the site oc- 
cupied by the present dwelling. No. 409 West 
Fifth street. Canton, and has always lived in 
the citv of her birth. When six vears of age. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



475 



she entered tlie public schools, and at the age 
of sixteen was graduated from the high school, 
being one of the youngest alumni of that insti- 
tution. One year later she began her work as 
a teacher, and since that time has taught in 
various schools in the city, all of her work being 
eminently satisfactory. Miss Blum long ago 
learned the valualile lesson that confidence 
begets trust. Realizing this fact, she seeks by 
gentleness and kindness to gain the good will 
and love of her pupils, and these once secured, 
the result is a matter of easy prophecy. 

In addition to her work in the secular 
scho(.ils. i\liss Blum has a large class of young 
peoi)le in the Sunday school in connection with 
the l'"irst Presbyterian church. Her services 
in this capacity are duly recognized and ap- 
preciated. Deeply interested in religious work, 
she exerts a strong influence for good over the 
lives of the young people with whom she is 
associated. Miss Blurn is as well liked in 
social life as she is popular in educational and 
religious circles, but time to her is a sacred 
trust, and as such she uses it, primarily for her 
own mental and spiritual improvement, but in 
a wider and nobler sense, for those with whom 
she is associated. Her life has been fruitful 
of much good, and her personality, winning and 
faithful as friend and daughter and in ever}' 
relationship in life, has won her a high place 
in tlie circle in which she moves. 



PROF. GEORGE W. YOHE.— The rec- 
ord of a busy life is found in tlie history of the 
distinguished educator and prominent citizen 
whose name furnishes the caption of this re- 
view. Prof. George W. Yohe, principal of tlie 
AVest North school of Canton, is a worthy rep- 
resentative of tAvo very old families of Stark 
county, tracing his lineage on the father's side 
to German origin and on the mother's side to 
English ancestry. The history of the Yohes 
in America dates from the colonial period, the 



first of the name to leave Baden being the Pro- 
fessor's great-grandfather, Michael Yohe, who 
settled in Northumberland county, Pennsyl- 
vania, as early as the year 1757. When the 
war against the mother country broke out he 
joined the American army and did valiant ser- 
vice in the cause of liberty and it is a matter 
of record that he served with the force under 
General Washington that was afterwards sent 
to Pennsylvania to quell what is known as the 
Whiskey Rebellion. Being pleased with the 
country in which that insurrection took place, 
he finally moved his family there and spent the 
remainder of his life in Monongahela City. 
Michael Yohe reared a large family, among his 
children being a son by the name of Michael, 
who was born and reared 'in the state of Penn- 
sylvania. As long ago as 1810 Michael Yohe, 
Jr., traversed the wilderness of eastern Ohio 
and being fa\orably impressed with certain 
lands in Stark county entered section thirty-six 
in what is now Canton township, and section 
thirty-one in the township of Osnaburg. Four- 
teen years later he moved his family to his 
land in the latter section, making the journey 
from Pennsylvania in tlie old fashioned Cones- 
toga wagon, cutting a road part of the way 
through the dense wilderness of this county in 
order to reach his destination. He was one of 
the early permanent settlers in Osnaburg, there 
being but a few rude cabins scattered here and 
there at the time of his advent. For a number 
of years he lived remote from neighbors and his 
family shared the hardships and dangers for 
which the pioneer period of eastern Ohio was 
noted. The patents for the lands entered by 
Mr. Yohe bear the signatures of President 
James Madison, and on the tract in Osnaburg 
township his death occurred aliout the year 
1832. The wife of Michael Yohe, Jr., was 
born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, 
and before her marriage bore the name of Cath- 
erine Sickman; she survived her husband about 
twenty-nine years, departing this life in 1861. 



476 



OLD LANDMARKS 



They had children as follows : Peter, a farmer 
of Stark county, died a number of years ago; 
Barnett died in this county in 1865; William, 
father of the subject; Philip, who went to Illi- 
nois in an early day, and died in that state about 
the year 1893; Maria married William Flick- 
inger and died in Canton township; Margaret, 
wife of David Smith, of North Manchester, 
Indiana, and Mrs. Catherine Skelton, who de- 
parted this life in the state of Illinois, Mrs. 
Smith being the only one living. 

William Yohe, the third of the above chil- 
dren, was born in Alonongahela City, Penn- 
sylvania, in 1816, and when eight years old was 
brought by his parents to Stark county. With 
the exception of six weeks" attendance at school 
in his nati\e place, be enjoyed no educational 
advantages worthy of mention, his early life 
being a continuous round of hard work, clear- 
ing land and cultivating the farm. He was a 
youth of sixteen when his father died and from 
that time on much of the responsibility of sup- 
porting the faniil)- rested upon his shoulders. 
He took charge of the home place and like a 
dutiful son soon looked carefully after his 
mother's interest, and ministered to her com- 
fort as long as she lived, meantime bringing 
the farm to a high state of cultivation, and earn- 
ing the reputation of an enterprising and pro- 
gressive man of afl'airs. Durmg the late Civil 
war he manifested a truly patriotic spirit and 
while not able to go to the front himself, used 
his inHuence to induce young- men to enlist. 
He cast his first presidential vote for General 
William Henry Harrison, and when the old 
Whig party ceased to exist became a pro- 
nounced Republican and as such continued to 
the end of his life. He was a sincere Chris- 
tian and for many years gave liberally of his 
means to the support of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church, of which he was a faithful and zeal- 
ous member. Miss Phoebe Wilson, who be- 
came the wife of \Villiam Yohe, was born in 
Osnaburg township. Stark county. Ohio, in 



the year 1819, her parents being among the 
earliest comers to this part of the state. The 
arrival of the Wilson family antedated by some 
years that of the Yohes and, like the latter, 
they also came from Pennsylvania. Mrs. 
Yohe's parents, in company with .JNIichael Ing- 
ler and family, left their home in Washington 
county, Pennsylvania, some time prior to 1819, 
and after a long and tiresome journey, not en- 
tirely devoid of danger from Indians and other 
causes, finally arrived at their destination in 
the wilderness of what is now Osnaburi'- town- 
ship. Mrs. Yohe literally grew up in the 
woods and experienced her share of the vicis- 
situdes of pioneer life. She became familiar 
with the homefy virtues of those early days and 
her whole life was a grand, simple poem of 
rugged, toilsome duty, faithfully and uncom- 
plainingly done. She was a fit companion and 
helpmate to her husband, contributed much to 
bis success in material things and, animated by 
the same religious faith, cheered him along 
life's journey until he was called to the other 
world. She survived him about six years, dy- 
ing in the month of March, 1901. 

The marriage of William Yohe and Pin lelie 
Yohe was blessed with nine children, namely : 
Catherine, now Mrs. George Ridgeby, of Xorth 
Manchester, Indiana; Douglass W., who died 
in 1 861 ; Harriett, wife of Alexander Waddell, 
of Pluntington, Indiana; Prof. George W. ; 
Hiram, who died in Stark county in the year 
1887; Ellen died in 1888, unmarried; Lavina 
married John Maple and died in 1893; James 
T., a resident of Osnaburg township, and Flo- 
rence, wife of J. C. Sycafoos, of Stark county. 

Prof. George W. Yohe was born on the old 
homestead in Osnaburg townshij). Stark coun- 
ty, Ohio, September 12, 1847. O^ l^'s child- 
hood and youth it is not necessary to make 
specific note as they were in the main pretty 
much like those of the majority of country- 
boys, therefore devoid of any e\ent of especial 
interest. As he grew to the years of young 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



477 



manhood he became practically acquainted with 
the various phases of farm labor and in the dis- 
trict schools received his first instruction in the 
mysteries of books. After completing the ele- 
mentary branches, he entered Mt. Union Col- 
lege, from which institution he was graduated 
with the class of 1870, meanwhile beginning 
his career as an educator by teaching three 
terms in the public schools of his native county. 
The year following his graduation Prof. Yohe 
taught in the high school at New Lisbon, 
Columbiana county, and for the same length 
of time was principal of the high school at 
Navarre. Resigning his position at the latter 
place, he accepted the principalship of the 
A\'aynesi)urg high school, where he labored 
successfully for a period of five years, at the 
expiration of which time he was induced to take 
charge of a special department in the Central 
school of Canton. Prof. Yohe began his labors 
in this city in 1878 and with the exception of 
four years has been closely identified with the 
public schools ever since, achieving the mean- 
time worthy distinction as an able and popu- 
lar educator. In 1890 he retired temporarily 
from his chosen calling and built a hotel which 
bears his name, and the following year was 
elected to the office of city clerk. Prior to the 
above date he had been appointed school ex- 
aminer, but the law specifically stating that no 
person can hold two offices at the same time, he 
resigned the clerkship at the end of four months 
feeling it his duty to continue his services as 
examiner. Prof. Yohe held the latter position 
nine years and during his incumbency did much 
to advance the standard of teaching by licensing 
only those whose scholarship and professional 
attainments entitled them to places in the 
schools. In 1892-3 he was principal of the 
Louisville schools and the following year re- 
turned to Canton and accepted the principal- 
ship of the West North school, which position 
he still holds. During his vacation Prof. Yohe 
devotes considerable time to the real-estate 



business, in which, as in his chosen field of en- 
deavor, his success has been most encouraging. 
As a teacher he easily ranks with the most pro- 
gressive men of the profession in the state and 
as a manager of schools he had long stood in 
the front rank of his contemporaries. A man 
of high intellectuality, broad scholarship and 
superior professional training, his work in Can- 
ton and elsewhere has been eminently satis- 
factory and the opinion prevails that in mental 
discipline and in all that enters into the make- 
up of the well equipped, thoroughly up-to-date 
educator, he has few equals and no superiors 
in this part of the state. Not content to re- 
ceive his authority year by year from superin- 
tendents and local examiners, as the manner of 
the majority is, the Professor, in 1880, re- 
ceived from the state board of education a life 
license, one of the very few instruments of the 
kind in the possession of Stark county teachers. 
He is identified with the various educational 
associations of the city, county and state, and 
while attending their sessions is no passive 
spectator, but rather an active participant, tak- 
ing a leadmg part m the discussions and de- 
liberations, his prominence and protracted ser- 
vice as a school man giving weight and in- 
fluence to his opinions. Like the majority of 
enterprising men, Prof. Yohe belongs to the 
Masonic fraternity and in his relations with 
his brethren and fellow citizens endeavors to 
square his life in harmony with the beautiful 
and sublime precepts of this time-honored or- 
der. In politics he has been an earnest sup- 
porter of the Republican party ever since old 
enough to wield the elective franchise, but he 
has little sympathy and no use whatever for 
the wiles and methods of the professional par- 
tisan. He is a broad-minded man and has 
made a careful study of political, social, eco- 
nomic and kindred subjects, to the end that he 
may intelligently, and as becomes a true Ameri- 
can, discharge the duties of citizenship. 

On the 3rd of July. 1873, in the city of 



478 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Steubenville, Ohio, Prof. Yohe was united in 
marriage with Miss Mary Gassett, of that 
IDlace, a union terminated by the death of the 
wife in 1882, after she had borne him three 
cliildren, namely: \MlHam S., of Canton; 
John \V., of New York, and NelHe, who hves 
with her father. 



DOMINIC TYLER.— The hneage of Mr. 
Tyler traces back to Swiss extraction, and from, 
the fair land of Switzerland his ancestors in the 
direct line emigrated to Thann, in the province 
of Alsace, France, in the year 1662. For many 
generations the family name has been identified 
with the weaving and dying of woolen goods, 
in which line a high reputation was long main- 
tained in that French province, which is now a 
portion of the German empire. Jacob Tyler, 
grandfather of the subject, was born and reared 
in Alsace, where he passed his entire life, and 
there he successfully operated a woolen mill, 
the products of which he took, twice each 
week, to the city of Muhlhouse, a place noted 
the world over for its fine fabrics. In Alsace, 
Jacob Tyler was united in marriage to Miss 
Catherine Cul)er, who likewise died in that 
place. They were the parents of three children, 
namely : Jacob, who served for a period of ten 
years in Napoleon's army, taking part in the 
Russian campaign and being present at the 
burning of Moscow, returned with the army 
and later took part in the liattles of Dresden 
and Leipsic, receiving his discharge in 18 14. 
after Napoleon's exile to St. Helena, and he 
died within a year afterward ; Mary married 
in Alsace, and there passed the remainder of her 
life, and Joseph, who was the second in ortler 
of birth, was the father of our subject. 

Joseph Tyler was born in Thann, Alsace, 
France, in the year 1789. and there learned the 
trade of weaving under the direction of his 
father, and after the retirement of the latter he 
continued the operation of the mill for a num- 



ber of years, his educational discipline ha\ing 
been received in the schools of his native prov- 
ince. In 1824 he was united in marriage to 
Miss Theresa Stucker, who was born in a village 
located two miles distant from Thann, and in 
1836. accompanied by his family, lsh\ Tyler 
emigrated to America, having embarked at 
Havre, on the sailing vessel "Natchez," and 
having arrived in the port of New Y'ork after 
a voyage of thirty-two days. From the national 
metropolis the family came to Canton with as 
much expedition as possible under t'le primi- 
tive methods of transportation then in vogue. 
From Albany they proceeded by canal to Buf- 
falo, where they embarked on a steamer and 
came to Cleveland, via Lake Erie, and from the 
Forest City they proceeded by canal boat to 
Massillon, Stark county, and thence by wagon 
to their destination in Canton, where they 
arrived in the latter part of September, 1836. 
Here for a time Joseph Tyler was employed 
in the fulling mill of Jacob Sprankle, and when 
the property was finally sold he engaged in con- 
tracting in mason work, in which he was a 
capable artisan, and he thereafter was success- 
fully engaged in business along this line until 
his final retirement, his death occurring on the 
19th of April, 1869, in his home, at the corner 
of Cleveland avenue and Second street. His 
devoted wife survived him by about a decade, 
her death occurring on the 20th of No\-ember, 
1879, at the age of seventy-nine years and 
eleven months. Both were communicants of 
the Catholic church, in which faith they reared 
their children. They stood exponent of the 
utmost integrity of character, were folk of 
broad mental ken, and held the unequivocal 
confidence and regard of all who came within 
the sphere of their gracious influence. Joseph 
Tyler was a stanch Democrat in his political 
proclivities, and ever maintained a lively and 
intelligent interest in the questions and issues 
of the day. 

Of the children of Joseph and Theresa Ty- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



479 



ler we offer brief record, as follows : Catherine, 
who became the wife of a Mr. Thierry, died 
in Canton; Joseph removed to the state of 
Michigan, where his death occurred; Theresa, 
who became the wife of John Wernet, likewise 
died in Canton ; Dominic, the subject of this re- 
view, was the next in order of birth and the 
youngest of the children, all of whom were 
born in France. 

In the town of Thann, province of Alsace, 
France, on the 31st of January, 1820, Dominic 
Tyler was born, and he was but six years of 
age at the time of his parents' emigration to 
America. He secured his preliminary edu- 
cation in the modest schools of the city of 
Canton, which was at that time but a village, 
and supplemented this training by a course of 
study in a private German school, taught by 
George Hekl, while he also was for a time a 
student in the academy conducted by Isaac 
Hartmann, the same having been located on the 
site of the present Union school building. At 
the age of fourteen years he began an ap- 
prenticeship at the drug business, entering the 
establishment of C. C. A. Witting, one of the 
pioneer business men of Canton, and continu- 
ing in his employ until 1848. Within this 
time the subject had acquired a good technical 
and practical knowledge of pharmacy, and after 
leaving Mr. Witting he went to the city of 
Cincinnati, where he was employed in a drug- 
store for the ensuing three years. He then went 
to Newport, Kentucky, where he engagetl in the 
drug business on his own responsibility. The 
enterprise proved very successful and Mr. Ty- 
ler accumulated sufficient to be in a position of 
indejaendence at the time when he closed out 
the business, in the autumn of 1862, when he 
returned to his old home in Canton. In Mav 
of that same year he had enlisted as a member 
of the Forty-second Kentucky Volunteers, the 
regiment being organized for state defense and 
and being at that time the only organized body 
of soldiers between the citv of Cincinnati and 



the headquarters of tiie Confederate general, 
Kirby Smith, who finally retreated. On several 
occasions the command was called out to re- 
pulse Morgan, the famous raider, but never en- 
gaged in battle. Air. Tyler received his dis- 
charge in November, 1862, at which time he 
secured a permit to come to Canton. 

As early as 1857 Mr. Tyler had purchased 
a tract of two hundred acres of valuable land in 
Canton township, and the same now adjoins 
the city limits on the south, a fact which implies 
that its appreciation in value naturally was 
marked as the city advanced toward metropoli- 
tan proportions. He continued to hold this 
valuable estate in his possession until 1898, 
when he sold the property, the farm having 
been operated under his supervision during the 
intervening years, while he had made the best 
of improvements on the same. In the mean- 
time he resided in a commodious and attractive 
residence which he had erected at the corner 
of South Market and Williams streets, and later 
resided on North Cleveland avenue, his present 
home. For a period of fifteen years Mr. Tyler 
was a stockholder of the Diebold Safe Works. 
one of the principal industrial concerns of the 
city, having closed out his interest in the same 
in 1896. Since disposing of his farm he has 
li\'ed retired, but he finds in the golden evening 
of his days a demand for his time and attention 
in looking after his \*arious real estate and cap- 
italistic interests, for he has not been denied 
the due rewards of his efforts and is one of the 
well-to-do citizens of Canton, where he has 
for so many years maintained his home, being 
known as a man of marked business tact and 
sagacity and as one who has never infringed 
in the slightest degree the high ethical princi- 
ples which make for strong and noble manhood, 
so that to him has ever lieen granted the un- 
qualified esteem of all with whom he has come 
in contact in the various relations of life. In 
politics he has long been arrayed in the ranks 
of the Republican party, though his first presi- 



48o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



dential vote was cast in support of Buchanan. 
He has not been an extreme partisan, and in 
local affairs, where no national issue was in- 
volved, he has shown an independent attitude 
and has voted for the men whom he considered 
most worthy and eligible for otTice. 

In Newport. Kentucky, in i860, Mr. Tyler 
was united in marriage to Ivliss Catherine 
Leftonville, a daughter of Elijah Leftonville, 
an honored citizen of that place, whither he re- 
moved from Virginia in the pioneer days, there 
passing the residue of his life. Mr. and Mrs. 
Tyler have but one child, Mary Theresa, who 
is the wife of William J. Piero, who is engaged 
in the law business in Canton, being one of the 
representative citizens of that place. 



JOSEPH MEYER was born in the city of 
Baltimore, Maryland, about the year 181 5. and 
in 1818 his parents came westward and took 
up their residence in Stark county, Ohio, where 
his father took up a tract of wild land, which he 
eventually reclaimed to a large extent, placing 
the land under effective cultivation. It is 
needless to siieak in detail of the arduous toil 
involved in the connection, for the tales of the 
pioneer epoch have been often told and the 
hardships and privations which the early set- 
tlers were compelled to undergo have been the 
sul))ect of narration, though later generations' 
can scarce realize how much was implied in 
thus carrying forward the march of civilization. 
Joseph grew to maturity on the pioneer farm, 
and early began to assist in the work of re- 
claiming the land and preparing it for the plow- 
share, by which it has now been furrowed and 
re-furrowed lor years, bearing slight resem- 
blance to the sylvan wild which was in evidence 
when his parents took up their abode. His 
educational advantages were perforce of lim- 
ited scope, being such as were to be had in a 
desultory attendance in the little log school- 
house, with its slab benches, puncheon floors 



and yawning fireplace, but for these primitive 
institutions no apology needs be made, for 
from them have been "graduated" many of the 
most eminent men of our great republic; in 
them was oft begotten the sturdy self-reliance 
and indomitable perseverance which led to 
greater things, and it is the glory of our nation 
that its sons have been and are able to rise 
from lowly position through their own efforts 
and to become important factors in the public, 
civic and industrial life of the republic. Mr. 
Meyer continued to devote his attention to the 
great basic art of agriculture, eventually 
purchasing and improving land of his own and 
becoming a successful and prosperous farmer of 
Canton township. A portion of the land which 
he there acquired is now in the possession of 
his son and is one of the line farms of the 
county. In 1846 Mr. Meyer was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Catherine Meyer, a cousin, and 
a native of Baltimore, Maryland, where their 
marriage was solemnized. Shortly afterward 
he returned to Stark county, in company with 
his bride, and here they continued to reside 
until the death of Mr. Meyer, which occurred 
on the nth of July, 1869. During the later 
years of his life he resided in Canton, and here 
his widow has ever since maintained her home, 
being now venerable in years and being 
honored as one of the pioneer women of the 
county and as one whose life h^is been animated 
by the noblest principles and by the deepest 
human sympathy, so that she has ever retained 
the friendship of all who have come within 
the sphere of her gracious influence. Mr. Mey- 
er was a Democrat in politics and was a com- 
municant of St. John's Catholic church, ever 
taking- a deep interest in its spiritual and tem- 
poral affairs, as has also his widow, who is like- 
wise a devoted member of the church. 

Mrs. ?kleyer was Ixirn in the parental home- 
stead, on High street, in the city of Baltimore, 
Maryland, on the 30th of December, 1824, and 
was there reared and educated, having the best 





^^A / c^^ 




CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



481 



aehantages afforded in the church and private 
schools of the day, there having" heen no pnhhc 
school system in that period. She is a daugh- 
ter of Godfrey and Catherine (Isers) Meyer, 
the former of whom was born in Baden, Ger- 
many, whence, as a young man, he emigrated 
to America, being accompanied by his brother, 
.Andrew, both locating in Baltimore, where they 
became successful business men. Two other 
brothers. Col. Francis and Ignatius, came to 
America somewhat later, and the latter of the 
two came to Canton in an early day and was 
one of the pioneer teachers of this section of 
the state, having been a man of fine presence 
and high scholastic attainments. He died in 
this city, honored by all who knew him. God- 
frey and Andrew Meyer were for many years 
in the brass foundry business in Baltimore, and 
there the former died in 1848, his wife passing 
away in 1844. Of their seven children, the wife 
of the subject of this memoir is the only sur- 
vivor. 

Joseph anil Catherine (Meyer) Meyer be- 
came the parents of five children, namely : 
Elizabeth O., who is the wife of John F. Blake, 
of Canton; Edward J., a successful farmer of 
Canton township; George W., of Canton; 
Catherine C, who remains with her mother in 
the homestead; and Henry C, who died in 
1894. The family are members of St. John's 
Catholic church and all of the children have 
proved an honor to their worthy parents. 



CAPTAIN RICHARD B. CRAWFORD. 
— Distinguished as a soldier and civilian and 
filling worthily high official positions, few men 
in Massillon have so stamped the impress of 
their individuality upon the community as has 
Capt. R. B. Crawford, a veteran of the late 
Civil war. and late a commissioner of Stark 
county. 

Captain CrawtVird's native land is the beau- 
tiful but unfortunate Emerald Isle, a domain 
30 



hallowed by story, song and historical asso- 
ciation, but, under the oppressive rule of 
Britian, kept from assuming its proper place 
among the nations of the earth. He was born 
on the 30th day of October, 1834, in county 
Fermanagh, the son of Michael and Ann Craw- 
ford, both natives of the same part of the coun- 
try, as were their ancestors before them, 
Michael was the son of George Crawford, who 
li\ed and died in his native country, and Mrs. 
Crawford was a daughter of Richard Bracken, 
long a prominent citizen of county Fermanaglv 
and for a number of years its treasurer. Tlie 
subject's father died in Ireland and there 
sleeps with his ancestors ; the mother departed 
this life in England and lies buried in the 
cemetery at St. Helens. 

The childhood and early youth of Captain 
Crawford were spent amid the quiet beauty of 
his native place and he remained there until 
about sixteen years old. Some years previous 
one of his uncles emigrated to America and re- 
turning to Ireland on a visit, detailed to the lad 
the many advantages which the land beyond 
the sea afforded young men with any ambition 
to rise in life. By this and other persuasive 
arguments he induced the boy to accompany 
him lo the United States, a movement which 
radically changed the entire course of the lat- 
ter's life. Young Crawford and his relative 
arrived at the former's home in Carroll county, 
Ohio, on a Saturday night, and the following 
]\londay the boy started to school under con- 
ditions to which he was a stranger, but to 
which, with his native vivacity and aptitude in 
taking advantage of circumstances, he soon 
adapted himself. He continued to attend the 
public schools, preparatory to taking a course 
in pharmacy. By reason of ill health he was 
obliged to forego his desire to become a drug- 
gist, but when sufficiently recovered he came 
to Massillon and apprenticed himself to learn 
the trade of carpentry. After serving his time 
and becoming efficient in his chosen calling he 



45: 



OLD LANDMARKS 



found work at remunerative wages in this city 
and continued liis trade with success and profit 
until the firing on h'ort Sumter disarranged 
his plans and effectually changed the nature of 
his employment. Mr. Crawford was among 
the first of Stark county's loyal young men to 
respond to the President's call for volunteers. 
In 1862 he enlisted in Company A, Thirteenth 
Ohio Infantry, entering the service as a pri- 
vate, but six days later was made second lieu- 
tenant and as such discharged his duties until 
promoted first lieutenant in the summer of 
1863, but was in command of his company 
from January i, 1863, until they were mustered 
out in 1864, at the expiration of their term of 
service. He served with distinguished gal- 
lantry until wounded almost to the death, when 
he was obliged to retire from the scene of con- 
flict. Captain Crawford was with his com- 
mand in all the campaigns and hard-fought 
battles in which it took part and under all cir- 
cumstances proved himself a brave and intrepid 
.but cool and collected officer. He participated 
in many noted engagements, his regiment being 
part of the famous "Fighting Westerners," 
the Army of the Cumberland, that took such 
a promment part at Shiloh, Corinth, Stone 
River, Liberty Gap, Chickamauga, Mission 
Ridge, and the numerous engagements inci- 
dent to the Atlanta campaign. At Missionary 
Ridge he commanded the consolidated compan- 
ies A and F of his regiment and his fearless 
conduct in the face of danger, leading his com- 
mand up the ridge at Signal Hill, inspired his 
men with renewed zeal and valor in the gal- 
lant charge that made that battle forever mem- 
orable and added greater laurels to themselves. 
The distinguished honor of planting the first 
Federal colors on the ridge, as seen from Gen- 
erals Grant and Thomas's positions at Orchard 
Knob, belongs to his regiment, as verified by 
documents now in his possession, bearing the 
signature of that and great and good man, 
General George H. Thomas. The subject was 



among the first over the Confederate works, at 
the side of his orderly sergeant, Daniel Ritter, 
of Massillon, who was the first man over the 
enemy's works, the latter being killed at the 
side of Color Sergeant J. G. Lloyd. Both 
these heroes now lie in the national cemetery at 
Chattanooga. Captain Crawford was with the 
force sent to the relief of General Burnsidc at 
Knoxville and later took part in the battles of 
Louden, Kingston, Dandridge and Blaine's 
Cross Roads, re-enlisting at the last named 
place. He also shared with his comrades all 
the honors of war in the Atlanta campaign, and 
received a severe gunshot wound in the right 
leg at the battle of Pickett's Mills. He lay for 
some time unable to move and while in this 
helpless condition a Confederate regiment 
charged over his body, much to his discomfort 
and danger. At the battle of Stone River he 
was severely wounded in the chest but in due 
time recovered from the injury. He was with 
his command through all its varied expe- 
riences, except while in the hospital or on de- 
tached duty, but after receiving his wound at 
Pickett's Mills was no longer fit for active ser- 
vice. He was discharged in June, 1864, at 
Chattanooga, Tennessee, having earned a repu- 
tation for bravery and gallantry of which any 
soldier might well feel proud. 

Recently Captain Crawford was appointed 
by (Governor Nash a member of the commis- 
sion to locate and mark the positions of the 
Ohio regiments at the battle of Mission Ridge, 
and to select and erect a suitable monument to 
Ohio's heroes who fell during this engagement, 
only those who took part in the battle being 
eligible to such service. The commission 
visited the battle field in the fall of IQ02 and 
performed the duty assigned in a praiseworthy 
manner, the occasion bringing vividly to mind 
the terrible conflict in which the members took 
part so many years ago. 

At the close of the war Captain Crawford 
engaged in the manufacture of sash, doors, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



483 



building material, etc., buying out the estab- 
lishment owned and operated by the gentleman 
with whom he formerly learned his trade. The 
enterprise proved financially successful and un- 
der his able management the business prospered 
until 1873, when the entire establishment was 
destroyed by fire. As soon as possible there- 
after a company was organized under the firm 
name of the Massillon Contracting and Build- 
ing Company, of which the Captain became 
general manager. The shops were rebuilt upon 
a much larger scale than formerly and the 
business increased greatly, the establishment 
eventually becoming the leading enterprise of 
the kind in the city. Captain Crawford con- 
tinued to manage the company's affairs until 
appointed by President Arthur postmaster of 
Massillon, when he sold out his interest in the 
business so as to give his entire time to the 
duties of the office. He proved an able and 
obliging public servant, discharging his official 
functions with credit to himself and satisfac- 
tion to the people for a period of four years 
and two months, at the expiration of which 
time he turned his attention to other matters. 
The Captain has long been an influential factor 
in local politics and for a number of years has 
been one of the trusted leaders of the Republi- 
can party in Stark county. He has done much 
to promote the interest of the party and not a 
little of its success in city, county, state and 
national campaigns has been due to his wise 
counsel and judicious leadership. In the year 
1887 he made the race for sheriff, and no doubt 
was fairly and honestly elected but by reason 
of a technicality was counted out by thirty-seven 
votes. Shortly after this he was appointed 
assistant sergeant at arms of the Ohio state 
senate, in which capacity he served until 1895. 
when he resigned, although importuned by the 
members of that body to continue in the posi- 
tion. 

In 1895 Captain Crawford was elected to 
the important and responsible office of county 



commissioner, a position for which his sound 
judgTnent and excellent business training pe- 
culiarly fitted him. So well did he discharge 
his duties as custodian of the people's most 
vital interests that he was chosen his own suc- 
cessor in 1898, and continued in the ofiice until 
the expiration of his second term in September, 
1902. During the administration of the board 
of which he was a member much important 
business was transacted and a number of pub- 
lic improvements inaugurated and carried to 
successful completion. Not the least among 
the various enterprises projected was the letting 
of tlie contract for a woman's building at the 
county infirmary, to cost the sum of forty-six 
thousand dollars, the credit for which is largely 
due the efforts of the Captain, who especially 
championed the measure. 

Captain Crawford is a wide-awake, progres- 
sive man of fine business abilities and has suc- 
ceeded well in whatever he has undertaken. In 
the broadest and best sense of -the term, he is 
a self-made man ; coming to this country a poor 
boy and obliged to rely entirely upon his own 
efforts for advancement, he went about the mat- 
ter with a will and the position which he today 
occupies in the world of affairs is the legitimate 
result of wisely directed energy, supplemented 
by correct principles and integrity that has 
ever been above reproach. In the main he has 
been successful in temporal things, owning a 
beautiful home on East Main street, not far 
from the business center of the city, besides 
other city property. He is a zealous member of 
the Loyal Legion and the Grand Army of the 
Republic, and maintains an active interest in 
everything relating to the old soldiers. He has 
also been identified with the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows since 1856. 

Captain Crawford has been twice married, 
the first time on the 21st of October, 1858. to 
Miss Margaret Jane Clark, a beautiful and ac- 
complished lady born in Stark county. Ohio, 
the daughter of James and Margaret Clark. 



484 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Her father was a native of Ireland. Slie Ijore 
her hus1)and one daughter, Ella J., and died 
August 19. 1862. The Captain's second mar- 
riage was solemnized on the 13th day of No- 
vember. 1866. with Eliza, daughter of John and 
Mary W'ertzbaugher. a union blessed w ith five 
children : George Thomas is secretary of the 
Tuxtepec Development Company, of Colum- 
bus, Ohio: Richard B.. Jr.. is conducting a life 
and fire insurance agency in this city and doing 
a prosperous business : John M. is connected 
wnh the Standard Horseshoe Nail Company of 
New Brighton, Pennsylvania; W. Harry, a 
graduate of the law department of the Ohio 
State University, is assistant secretary of the 
Diebold Safe and Lock Works, Canton, Ohio ; 
and .Mary A., a young lady of superior intel- 
lectual attainments and culture, departed this 
life on the 26th of March. 1898, in her seven- 
teenth year. 



LEONARD BETZ.-- -Unfortunately there 
is available at the present time but little specific 
information concerning the ancestry of the sub- 
ject, for botn his parents died when he was a 
mere child and he had never secured any defi- 
nite genealogical record in his later years. 
Leonard Betz was of German lineage, as the 
name clearly indicates, and the original Ameri- 
can representatives of the family took up their 
abode in Pennsyhania in_ the early colonial 
epoch. Leonard was born in Northumberland 
county, that state, on the 28th of December. 
1828, being a son of Henry Betz, who was un- 
doubtedly a native of the Keystone state, where 
he was reared to maturity and where he was 
married, the maiden name of his wife having 
been Long. Henry Betz went forth as a sol- 
dier in the war of 181 2, and it is certain 1>e- 
yond peradventure that he met his death while 
thus serving his country, and while he was thus 
absent, and -Aithin a short time after leaving 
his home, his wife ga\'e l)irth to their son. Leon- 



ard, who was never seen i)y his father, and who 
was soon left to the care of his widowed muther. 
She returned to the home of her pareiUs after 
the death of her husband, and when the sub- 
ject of this memoir was a lad of seven years 
she assigned him to the charge of a Mr. Dod- 
ridge, in whose home Mr. Betz was reared, his 
foster father having been a valiant soldier in 
the war of the Revolution. He was the own- 
er of a good farm, located about seven miles 
distant from Allentown, Lehigh county, and 
there young Betz earh' became familiar with 
the strenuous work of agriculture, working 
assiduously and availing himself of the some- 
what primitive educational advantages which 
were afforded him in the common schools of 
the locality. He had an alert mentality and 
a retentive memory and was thus able to profit 
by these opportunities to a greater degree than 
the average farmer boy of the locality and pe- 
riod. When he was twelve years old his moth- 
er, died, and he thereafter continued with ]\Ir. 
Dodridge until tlie death of the old gentleman, 
who was a tailor bv trade and who devoted 
more or less attention to work in this line, in 
connection with the operation of his farm. 
Thus Mr. Betz was enabled tn partially learn 
the trade under the direction of his kind old 
master, and later he practically completed an 
apprenticeship at the trade and became a skilled 
workman. He followed this vocation as a 
ji>in"neynian ni TVnnsyl\-ania for a numl)er of 
years, and while thus engaged he was married, 
in the town of Longswamp. Lehigh county, on 
the T3th of October. 1833, to Miss Elizabeth 
Steffy. They soon afterward took up their 
residence in Berks county, and after an interval 
removed thence to Adanistown, Lancaster 
county, ^^■herc they maintained their home for a 
period of nine years. Mr. Betz being there suc- 
cessfully engaged in the work of his trade. 
His health finally became so seriously impaired 
that he was compelled to abandon his trade for 
a time, and for a few vears he conducted a 




LEONARD BETZ. 











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1 


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w 


'^^^^^1 







ELIZABETH BETZ. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



485 



hotel in Aclamstowii. From that place they re- 
moved to Schaefferstown. Lebanon county, 
where Mr. Betz conducted a successful busi- 
ness as a dealer in butter, eggs and other farm 
produce, continuing in this line of enterprise 
for about a decade, at the expiration of which, 
in the fall of 1857, he came with his family to 
Canton. In the following spring he purchased 
property at the corner of Cherry and East Tus- 
carawas streets, and made excellent improve- 
ments on the house and grounds, so that the 
home was made a comfortable and attractive 
one. ^Ir. Betz engaged in the produce busi- 
ness in the Cassidy block, handling butter, eggs, 
poultry, etc., on an extensive scale and be- 
coming one of the leading business men of the 
town, which then had a population of about 
one tliousand. After the destruction of the 
Cassidy buildmg by fire he removed to Pied- 
mont street, wdiere he continued in the same 
line of business for a number of years, prac- 
tically up to the time of his death. He eventu- 
ally expanded the scope of his enterprise, hand- 
ling- pro^'isions and later making improvements 
on his building and there installing a stock of 
groceries, so that his establistiment represented 
one of the leading mercantile concerns of the 
town, while h\ his honorable methods and un- 
flagging energy he succeeded in building up a 
profitable enterprise, he ever holding the im- 
plicit confidence and esteem of all who knew 
him. In politics Mr. Betz was an uncompro- 
mising Democrat, but he never sought the 
honors or emoluments of public ofiice. He was 
a zealous and consistent member of the Ger- 
man Evangelical church, and in all the re- 
lations of life he was true and loyal, ha\ing a 
high sense of his stewardship and guiding his 
course according to the highest princi]iles of 
integrity and honor. He became tlie owner 
of a good farm in Stephenson county, Illinois, 
and there he resided for a short time, believ- 
ing that the out-door life would jirove of bene- 
fit to his somewhat fragile health. He e\'entu- 



ally disposed of this property and thereafter 
resided at his home in Canton until his death, 
which occurred on the 7th of September, 1869. 
He was distinctively kn-al to the Union cause 
during the Rebellion, and at the time of Mor- 
gan's celebrated raid through Ohio and Indi- 
ana, when the local excitement was intense, 
he had in his possession eight horses, which he 
promptly turned over to the volunteers who 
set forth in pursuit of the doughty raider. 

Of the children born to Leonard and Eliza- 
beth Betz brief record is entered as follows : 
Caroline, born on the 22d of February. 1835, 
Ijecame the wife of Israel Meyers, who came 
here from Pennsylvania, and she died in Can- 
ton in 1863. They had three children: John 
Leonard died in infancy, John Henry, now a 
blacksmith in Canton, and L)-man Eugene, who 
died when about one year of age. Sarah, born 
September 20, 1836, was married, in 1859. at 
Canton, to John Heckman. and they became 
the parents of two children. Ixith ()f whom are 
now deceased. Emeline. born September 7. 
1838, was first married to F. Ream, by whom 
she had one child, now ^Irs. Alice Lichten- 
walter, who is now a widow with two daugh- 
ters and two sons. She later married Daniel 
Maser. whom she also survives, and maintains 
her home in Canton. Henry, who was born on 
the 7th of April, 1841, went forth in defense of 
the L'nion as a member of the Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, and while in the service was taken ill, 
being brought to his home by his father. He 
had previously married Charlotte Glass, and 
his death occurred in Canton in 1870: he had 
four children, of whom three are living, Cora, 
now Mrs. Clark: Laura Betz. and Leonard, 
who married a ^liss Cassidy, of Canton. 
George, born on the loth of ^larch. 1843, 
died in Canton, in 1882, and is survived by his 
wife (nee Kate Emrick) and two of their chil- 
dren,, Mary, now Mrs. Eckhart. and Elmer, 
who married Rosa Deckert. John, born on 
the 25th of December, 1845, married Sarah 



486 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Royer, and lie died in Canton, in 1880. Mai'y 
Elizabetli. born July i, 1854, was the wife of 
Gottlieb Eicher, of Canton. She died January 
5, 1901. leaving two children, Bertha, who 
married \\'illiam Schrock, and Leonard, un- 
married, both residing in Columbus, Ohio. 

Elizabeth (StefTy) Betz was born in Le- 
high count}', Pennsylvania, on the 9th of 
November, 1809, being a daughter of Frederick 
Steft'y. who was likewise a native of Pennsyl- 
vania and a representative of one of the early 
pioneer families of the state, being of German 
extraction, as the name indicates. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Polly Smith, was 
born in the Keystone state, being a daughter 
of Melchor Smith, and both passed their entire 
ii\'es in Pennsylvania. The daughter, Eliza- 
beth, was reared under the conditions of 
pioneer days, her early educational discipline 
ha\ing been received in a primitive log school- 
house, and she was able to attend school about 
one month in each year, her services being de- 
manded at home during the greater portion of 
the time, while she became adept in spinning, 
knitting and weaving- home-spun cloth, from 
which the most of the family clothing was 
manufactured. She still had in her possession 
at the time of her decease a Ijedspread which 
was spun and woven by her mother, and it is 
needless to say that she highly prized this relic 
of the pioneer days, particularly by reason of 
its association -with one whose life was one 
of utmost devotion and self-abnegation. Mrs. 
Betz had the distinction of being the oldest 
inhabitant of Cantun at the time of her death, 
which occurred April i, 1903, and in her ven- 
erable age her memory remained peculiarly 
alert and she retained her mental and physicial 
vigor to a most remarkalile degree. This 
honored pioneer lady contributed much of the 
data utilized in the compilation of this sketch 
and her reminiscences of the early days in 
Pennsylvania and Ohio were replete with in- 
terest and shijuld have been recorded fullv in 



a way not possible in a compilation of this 
pro\'ince. When young she became a member 
of the German Reformed church, but after her 
marriage she identified herself with the Ger- 
man Evangelical church, of which she ever re- 
mained a consistent member, having been an 
active worker in the same until the infirmities 
of advanced age rendered this impossible. She 
was a woman of gentle and kindly nature, and, 
in the golden evening of her long and worthy 
life, she was sustained and comforted by an 
unwavering Christian faith and by the love and 
devotion of her children and a wide circle of 
friends to whom she had become endeared dur- 
ing the long years of her r-isidence in Canton. 
Of Mrs. Sarah Heckman, who co-operated 
with her mother in supplying the subject 
matter for this sketch and memoir, it is but 
consistent that more specific mention be made 
in these concluding paragraphs. She was 
born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, and was 
reared to maturity in the old Keystone state, 
her educational discipline being secured in the 
schools of Adamstown and of Lebanon county, 
and during the greater portion of her early 
years she devoted the major portion of her 
time to assisting in the household duties of 
her home. She accompanied her parents on 
their removal to Canton, in 1847, and here, on 
the 13th of November, 1859, she was united 
in marriage to John Heckman, a native of Can- 
ton, having been born in the parental home- 
stead at the corner of Cherry and East Tusca- 
rawas streets, on the 19th of April, 1838, a 
son of John and Ehzabeth (Houtz) Heckman. 
the former of whom was born in Chambers- 
burg, Pennsylvania, whence he made the trip 
to Ohio on horseback in the early pioneer days, 
remaining a short time and then returning to 
Pennsylvania. A few years later he again 
came to Ohio, and located in Canton, where 
was solemnized his marriage to Elizabeth 
Houtz, who was born on the old Houtz farm, 
a portion of which is now within the city limits 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



487 



of Canton, the family having settled here in 
a very early day. John Heckman, Jr., was 
reared in Canton, where he had such edu- 
cational advantages as were afforded by the 
common schools of the day, and here he 
learned the trade of chairmaker and painter, 
to which he devoted his' attention until about 
1890. lia\ing been successful in his efforts and 
being known as one of the worthy and honored 
citizens of his native place. He is now living re- 
tired from active business. In politics he ac- 
cords an unequivocal support to the Republican 
party. Mr. and Mrs. Heckman had two chil- 
dren, both of whom are dead, William Alfred 
and Leonard Harvey, the former dying at 
the age of fourteen and the latter at the age of 
six vears. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN RAFF was 
born in the village of Navarre, Paris township, 
this county, on the 15th of April, 1837, being 
a son of William and Mary Raff, who were 
pioneers of the county and who removed to the 
city of Canton when he was a child of four 
years, here passing the residue of their lives. 
He received his early educational discipline in 
the Canton schools, the now populous and at- 
tractive city being then little more tlian a 
country village, and at the age of sixteen years 
he here entered upon an apprenticeship at the 
printer's trade, a discipline which has been con- 
sistenth- termed equivalent to a liberal educa- 
tion. He learned the trade under the direction 
of Archibald McGregor, who was a promi- 
nent figure in the affairs of the county at that 
time, and aljout the time of his majority Mr. 
Raft' made the overland trip to what is now the 
city of Denver, Colorado, the gold excitement 
in that state being then at its height, while the 
locality was on the veritable frontier of civili- 
zation. In Denver Mr. Raft" associated him- 
self with anotlier young man in the establish- 
ment of a newspaper, the same being one of 



the first to be published in that place, and 
later he joined his two brothers, William and 
Daniel, in prospecting for gold in that region, 
the three locating a number of claims and being 
fairly successful in their quest for the precious 
metal. His brother continued to be identified 
with mining and prospecting for several years, 
but the subject disposed of his interest in the 
line and enlisted in a regiment of Colorado 
cavalry, engaged in battling with the Indians 
when necessity demanded and also in warding 
off the attacks of the bands of border ruffians 
who infested the state at the time. He con- 
tinued in the miHtary service until the expira- 
tion of his term of enlistment, after which, in 
the summer of 1864, he returned to his old home 
in Canton, where he was married on Christmas 
day of the following year, shortly after which, 
in company with his bride, he went to Trenton, 
New Jersey, and near that city became associated 
with his two brothers previously mentioned, in 
th.e milling business, an enterprise with which 
he continued to be identified for the ensuing 
five years. At the expiration of this period 
he disposed of his interests in the mill and re- 
turned to Canton, where he entered into part- 
nership with his father-in-law in the same line 
of business, the firm having one of the finely 
equipped flouring-mills of this section of the 
state and building up a large and profitable 
business. Witii this important industry ]\Ir. 
Raff continued to be identified until he was 
summoned from the scene of life's activities, 
his death occurring on the 17th of March. 1880. 
He was a man of impregnable integrity, kindly 
and courteous in all the relations of life, saga- 
cious and progressive in his business methods 
and fond of the ideal associations of his home, 
where the intrinsic nobility of his character 
shone with its utmost refulgence, cheering and 
brightening all who came within its genial and 
grateful iniluence. He was a devoted husband 
and father, and to those nearest and dearest to 
him his memory will ex'er rest "like the bene- 



488 



OLD LANDMARKS 



diction that follows after prayer." Though 
without any ])er.sonal ambition in a political 
way, he was a standi Democrat of the Douglas 
school and was well fortified in his convictions 
in this line as in all others. He was baptized in 
the Lutheran church and continued tO' attend 
its services throughout his life, his views l^eing 
in harmony with the tenets of this faith, while 
his widow has been a devoted member of the 
church from her youth up. 

On tile 25th of Decemter, 1865, Mr. Raff 
was united in marriage to IVIiss Elizabeth 
Davis, who was born in Chester county, Penn- 
sylvania, whence her parents removed to the 
city of Philadelphia when she was a child. In 
the Ijeautiful old "City of Brotherly Love" she 
was reared to the age of twelve years, and there 
she secured her preliminary educational train- 
ing in select schools and afterward continued 
her studies in the public schools. When she 
was twelve years old her parents came to Can- 
ton, Ohio, and liere she attended a select school 
taught by Mrs. Saxton, Mrs. McKinley, widow 
of the late lamented President and loved citizen 
of Canton, having been one of her schoolmates, 
while their frienrlship remained inviolate dur- 
ing all the intervening years. Mrs. Raff is a 
daughter of Zachias M. and Sarah (Essig) 
Davis, both of whom are now deceased, the 
closing years of their lives having been passed 
in Canton where they held the highest esteem 
of all who knew them. The father passed awa\' 
in i8(S7 at the age of seventy years, having long 
been one of the representative business men of 
this city, while liis wife was summoned into 
eternal rest in i8<)3. at' the age of seventy-six 
years. Of the five children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Raff lirief data is as follows: Clara 
Mabel died at the age of five years ; Herbert, 
who is engaged as chemist and in construct- 
ing and operating cemfent mills in various parts 
of the United States, married Miss Edna Cox 
and they have two children, Richard D. and 
Catherine E. : Rav Melville, secretary of the 



Gold Hill Mining Company, of Canton, resides 
at the maternal home, as do also the two 
younger children. Howard Lee and Helen May. 
The family residence is one of the many attrac- 
tive homes which grace the city of Canton, is 
located on Logan avenue and is the center oi, 
gracious and refined hospitality. 



JOHN SAWYER MELBOURNE was 

known as one of the most progressive and ener- 
getic business men and worthy citizens of Can- 
ton, where his death occurred on the 13th of 
April, 1902. He was a native son of tbe fair 
Emerald Isle, having been born in Mountrath, 
Queens county, Ireland, on the I4tli of Janu- 
ary. 1848, a son of Henry and Jane (Sawyer) 
IMelbourne. both of whom were bom in that 
same county, of stanch Irish lineage, and there 
the former passed his entire life, his death oc- 
curring in Mountrath, in igoo. at the age of 
seventy-four years. He was a man of promi- 
nence in that locality, where his interests were 
of varied nature, since he was engaged in farm- 
ing and milling and also in the mercantile busi- 
ness. His widow still lives in ]\Iountrath. hav- 
ing attained the age of seventy-four years, and 
there also reside her two daughters. Mesdames 
Lizzie Kerr and Jane Ellis. John S. Melbourne 
was reared in his native county, receiving his 
educational discipline in the schools of Mount- 
rath. while as a voutli he aided his father in 
the work of the farm and mill, gaining excel- 
lent ideas in regard to practical business 
methods. In 1869. upon attaining his legal 
majority, he set forth to seek his fortunes in 
.\nierica. where he felt convinced he would 
find superior advantages for the gaining of, 
definite success through individual efforts. He 
sailed from Oueenstown and in due course of 
time laufled in New York city, where he re- 
mained onI\- a short time, coming thence 
directly to Canton, for the jiurpose of joining 
his cousin, John ^Meredith, through whose 





Kpti^' 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



489 



solicilation and advice he had been induced to 
come to the United States. His cousin was a 
stone-cutter by trade and lie persuaded the sub- 
ject to engage in the same hne of business with 
him. Mr. Melbourne accordingly learned the 
trade and for a number of years he was associ- 
ated in business with Mr. Meredith. In 1870 
his marriage occurred, and within the same 
3^ear he engaged in contracting and building 
on his own responsibility, and in this line he 
ultimately attained marked precedence, having 
secured many important contracts and having 
erected many fine private and public buildings 
in this locality, as well as in other sections of 
the state. He enjoyed the liighest reputation 
for reliability and for utmost fidelity to the 
terms of contract, and upon his entire business 
career there rests no shadow, for he was true 
to himself and thus true in all- the relations of 
life, having the power of a self-respecting and 
noble manhood. — an exalted power, no matter 
what may be a man's station in life. His first 
individual contract was in the erection of the 
Ogden hotel, in Canton, now known as the 
Barnett hotel, and among other important 
buildings erected by him mav be mentioned 
the following: The city hall, the market 
house, the Central engine-house, the First 
Methodist Episcopal church, the Meyer block, 
the Garfield avenue school building, the 
stone work of the great plant of the Deuber- 
Hampden Watch Company. He also erected 
and owned the Melbourne hotel, which he 
rented until a short time prior to his decease. 
His energy was untiring and he was indefati- 
gable in his efforts, alert, vigorous and full of 
initiative power, so that to him success came 
as a natural sequel. He continued in active 
business up to the time of his death, and when 
he was called from the scenes of life's endeavors 
the community realized the loss of a valuable 
citizen, an upright business man and one whose 
integrity was beyond cavil. In 1889 Mr. 
Melbourne was one of the organizers of the 



Canton & Malvern Fire Brick Paving Com- 
pany, of which he became the principal stock- 
holder, and he continued to be identified with 
this enterprise for a period of about thirteen 
years. In 1889 he erected a beautiful and com- 
modious modern residence at 191 7 West Tus- 
carawas street, taking up his abode in the same 
in January. 1890. and there he continued to 
make his home until the close of his life, 
while his widow still resides in this fine resi- 
dence which her lamented husband took so 
great pride and satisfaction in providing, for 
his home life represented the most ideal phase 
of his life, and mutual devotion made the same 
one of utmost consecration on his part and 
that of his wife, who was his true companion 
and helpmeet and upon whom falls the heav}' 
burden of berea\-ement. To her, however, 
must there e\er be a measure of recompense 
and solace in the memory of the noble life of 
intimately linked with her own, and the "dear, 
dead days beyond recall" have not failed to 
leave their benediction, though she is denied 
the "touch of a vanished hand and the sound of 
a voice that is still." Mr. Melbourne was 
thoroughly alive to the duties and responsi- 
bilities of citizenship, and took an active in- 
terest in public aft'airs, having given an un- 
compromising allegiance to the Republican 
party. He was reared in the faith of the 
established church of England and retained his 
membership in the Episcopal church after com- 
ing to the United States, ever showing the 
highest reverence for the true spiritual verities. 
On the 2d of Jnne. 1870. in Canton, was 
solemnized the marriag^e of Mr. Melbourne to 
Miss Mary C. Latimer, who was born in this 
city, her place of nativity having- been the 
building now occu])ie(l by the Homer Clothing 
Company. This building, which is a veritable 
lan.dmark, was erected in 1819, by John Ster- 
ling, who was the first husband of Mrs. Eliza- 
beth (Sailor) Gitchell. who was the maternal 
grandmother of Mrs. IMelbourne. After at- 



490 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tending- the public schools of Canton for three 
years, within which time one of her teachers 
was Miss Anna AIcKinley, a sister of the late 
lamented President McKinley. Mrs. Mel- 
bourne contmned her educational discipline in 
a select school conducted by the Misses Kate 
Saxton and Mary Hazlett, and here she com- 
pleted her academic course. Her father, Robert 
C Latimer, was born in Osnaburg, this county, 
on the 14th of May, 1820, from which fact 
it becomes patent that she is a representative 
of one of the early pioneer families of Stark 
county. Her uncle. George Latimer, was the 
first white male child born in the county. 
Roljert C. Latimer remained on the pioneer 
farm until he had attained maturity, and when 
a young man located in Canton, where he was 
engaged in the carriage manufacturing busi- 
ness until his death, which occurred on the' 
26th of August, 1864. He was a man of up- 
right character and became one of the repre- 
sentative business men of the city in the early 
days. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Cordelia Gitchell, was born on the nth of 
May, 1827. in the same building in which her 
daughter, Mrs. Melbourne, was later ushered 
into the world and to which reference has al- 
ready been made. Cordelia (Gitchell) Latimer 
was a daughter of Levi and Elizabeth (Sailor) 
Gitchell, the latter having been the widow of 
John Sterling, previously mentioned in this 
context. Levi Gitchell was a native of Scot- 
land, whence he emigrated to America, taking 
up his residence in Canton in the early pioneer 
epoch, when the i)lace was but a straggling 
village in the midst of the primitive forest. 
Here he became a prominent merchant, being 
associated with his wife in carrying on the 
general store established by her previous hus- 
band in the old building to which reference has 
lieen made. Mr. (litchcll died in Canton, in 
1833. He was a man of many social graces 
and was a great favorite in the social circles of 
the town, as was also his wife, who was a 



woman of gracious refinement. They became 
the parents of three children, namely : Cor- 
delia Ann. mother of Mrs. Melbourne; Samuel, 
who is an honored pioneer resident of Canton, 
having atained the age of seventy-four years; 
and Remus, who died at the age of eighteen 
years. Elizabeth (Sailor) Gitchell was born 
in AVashington county, Pennsylvania, on the 
6th of June. 1786, and her death occurred in 
Canton on the 21st of April, 1864, both she 
and her husband being laid to rest in Westlawn 
cemetery. In Pennsylvania she was married to 
John Sterling, and in 1806. only two years 
after the admission of Ohio to the statehood, 
they came to Stark county, the journey being 
made on horseback, while Mrs. Sterling's two 
little daughters rode on the horse with her, 
being strapped securely at her back. Mr. 
Sterling entered a tract of government land, 
upon a portion of which the present city of 
Canton now stands, and here, in addition to 
becoming the pioneer merchant of the town, 
he also operated a tannery, the same being lo- 
cated on the present site of the depot of the 
Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad, while his 
general store was located at the corner of what 
is now East Tuscarawas street anil the public 
square. He here continued in active business 
until his deatli, in 1823. His children were as 
follows : I'anny. who made a romantic mar- 
riage at the age of fourteen years, becoming 
the wife of George Binkley. died at the age of 
thirty-three years, leaving thirteen children; 
Eliza, who became the wife of Daniel Dewalt, 
died in Canton, her home being located on the 
public square, and she is survived by one 
daughter, Mrs. Henry Bowen, of South Cleve- 
land avenue; Maria, who became the wife of 
David Rowan, also died in Canton; Margaret, 
the wife of John C. Hart, died in East Akron, 
Ohio: Marinda and Matilda were twins, and 
the former, who liecame the wife of John 
Smith, died in New Philadelphia. Ohio, while 
the latter, Mrs. George Kirk, died in Cleveland; 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



491 



Jolm married Mary Ann Todd and his death 
occurred in Canton ; Jacob, who married Jane 
Moffet, is a resident of Canal Dover, Ohio; 
Catlierine died in childhood, as did also 
Samuel. 

Robert Latimer, grandfather of Mrs. Mel- 
bourne, was born on a farm near Sewickley, 
Pennsylvania, on the 3d of June, 1777, and in 
that state she was reared to maturity and there 
married Anna \\'att, who accompanied him on 
his removal to Ohio. He was a grandson of 
Arthur Latimer, who was born and reared in 
England, whence he came to America in 1736, 
being a widower and being accompanied by 
his live children, namely: Robert, James, 
George (great-grandfather of Mrs. Mel- 
bourne), Susan and Sarah. George Latimer 
married Margaret Potter, who died in Osna- 
burg. Stark county, on the 12th of May, 1810, 
her tombstone being the oldest marker in 
\^'estlawn cemetery, in Canton. The various 
members of the Latimer family were and are 
identified principally with agricultural pur- 
suits. Robert and Anna (Watt) Latimer be- 
came the parents of ten children, namely : 
Benjamin, who died in Sharon, Pennsylvania; 
George, who was the first male white child 
born in Stark county, Ohio, and who was the 
father of Dr. J. P. Latimer, a representative 
physician of Newark, Ohio ; Parkinson died in 
Massillon, this county; John is also deceased, 
ne\ er having married ; Margaret, who' became 
the wife of John Sellers, died in Massillon; 
Sarah, wife of William Sellers, died in Can- 
ton ; Maiy died at the age of twenty-two years, 
unmarried, as did also Martha; Rachel, the 
wife of Peter Gallagher, died in the state of 
Illinois ; and Robert C. was the father of Mrs. 
Melbourne, wife of the subject of this memoir. 
Robert C. and Cordelia (Gitchell) Latimer be- 
came the parents of four children, concerning 
whom we incorporate the following brief 
record : Elizabeth died at the age of seventeen 
years; Mary C. is the widow of the subject; 



Robert died in childhood; George, who died in 
Canton, in 1890, married Mary F. Lab, who 
survives him. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Melbourne were born 
four children, namely: Frank J., who was 
born on the 19th of December, 1871, married 
Miss Jennie Gibbs, of Cleveland, and now re- 
sides in Canton; Beatrice J., born October 19, 
1872, completed the course in the Canton high 
sciiool and remains with her mother in the 
beautiful home; Corwin, born in 1874, died at 
the age of three months; and Grace G., born 
March 8, 1884, remains at the maternal home, 
being a student in the private school of Miss 
Beckingham five years and is now a graduate 
from that school. Mrs. Melbourne is a mem- 
ber of the First Baptist church, in whose affairs 
she maintains a deep and active interest, and 
she has ever held a prominent place in the best 
social activities of the city in which her entire 
life has been passed, her home having been a 
center of gracious and refined hospitality. 



AUGUSTUS DANNEMILLER is a na- 
tive son of Canton, Ohio, having Ijeen born in 
the old homestead on North Market street, on 
the 27th of April, 1846, jjeing a son of Bene- 
dict Dannemiller, one of the representative 
business men of Canton for many years. Of 
him individual mention is made on another 
page of this work, and to the article in question 
reference may be made for further ancestral 
data in regard to the son. Augustus received 
his early educational discipline in the public 
schools, and when but twelve years of age he 
began to assist in the work of his father's grain 
elevator, continuing to attend school at inter- 
vals. Li 1869 Benedict Dannemiller estab- 
lished himself in the wholesale grocery l)usi- 
ness in Canton, and the subject and his brother 
William were given an interest in the enter- 
prise at the time, while later the other two 
brothers, Edward and lulius, also became 



492 



OLD LANDMARKS 



identified with the husiness as members of the 
firm. In April. 1902, tiie business was re- 
organized and was duly incorporated under the 
laws of the state, under the title of the Canton 
Grocery Company, and at this time Augustus 
Dannemiller was made president and general 
manager of the concern. The trade territory 
of the company is of wide scope and is constant- 
ly expanding under the effective methods 
brought to bear, antl has representation in 
sections where competition is most active and 
where only true merit and reliability could ob- 
tain recogiiition of so notable a character as 
is accorded to the house. The company have 
commodious and well equipped quarters and 
carry full and comprehensive lines of staple 
and fancy groceries, provisions and grocers' 
supplies, while a large corjjs of traveling men 
represent the concern throughout its trade ter- 
ritorv. I'he interested ]irincipals are thoroughly 
experienced in their line tif industry and are so 
intimately conversant with the intrinsic values 
of lines handled as to enable them to purchase 
and supply stock upon the most expedient terms 
and with particular facility. These facts are 
most clearly demonstrated l)y the notable suc- 
cess in catering to the large wholesale patron- 
age, the business in all departments being 
thoroughly systematized. Tn addition to his 
interests in this concern Augustus Dannemiller 
is also a member of the directorate of the ]"'irst 
National Bank of Canton. 

Tn politics Mr. Dannemiller is a stanch ad- 
vocate of the principles and policies of the Re- 
publican party. 1^'raternally he is identified 
with the Bene\-olent and I'mtective Order of 
Elks. He is known as a public-spirited citi- 
zen and representative business man of his na- 
tive city, and the success which has attended 
his efforts is shown in the definite ])recedence 
and prosperity recorded in his career. 

In the city of Canton Mr. Dannemiller was 
united in marriage to Miss Julia Thierry, who 
was born in Stark county, being a daughter of 



Francis Thierry, who was an honored citizen 
of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Dannemiller 
have si.x children, namely : Catherine, w"ho 
still remains at the parental home; Augustus 
F., who is second lieutenant in the Twenty- 
ninth United States Regular Infantry in the 
Philippines: Mary, at home; Robert, who is a 
student in Notre Dame University, at South 
Bend, Indiana; and Frank and Julienne, who 
remain at the parental home. 



DENVER C. HUGHES.— One of the 
able young representatives of the bar of Stark 
county is Denver C. Hughes, who is engaged 
in the practice of his profession in Canton, 
w'here he is also incumbent of the responsible 
position of city solicitor. On both sides of the 
agnatic line he is identified with old and hon- 
ored families of the ]3uckeye state, both the 
Hughes and Shre\-e families having also been 
concerned with the annals of the nation since 
the early colonial epoch. 

Denver C. Hughes is a nati\'e son of 
Holmes count v. ha\ing been burn in Washing- 
ton township, on the ist of November, 1870, 
and Ijeing a son of John S. and Lavenia 
(Quick) Hughes, of whose children the follow- 
ing is a brief record : Charles Wellington, born 
Jinie 24, 1858, is a resident of Eleanor, Penn- 
sylvania; Carrie Edith, born February 14, 
i860, is the wife of Dr. Edgar J. March, who 
is engaged in the practice of medicine in Can- 
ton, and they ha-\-e two children, Chandos and 
Thorald ; Bert, born June 22, 1861, is a resi- 
dent of .Stark county, and Denver C. is the im- 
mediate subject of this sketch. Ezram Hughes, 
grandfather of Denver C, was born in Har- 
ford county, Maryland, in 1798, and was there 
re;u"C(l ancl educated, the family ha\ing long 
been established in that commonwealth. In 
1815 he came to Ohio, locating in Wayne 
county, where he remained until 1824, when 
ho removed to Holmes countw where he en- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



493 



tered eighty acres of wild land which he 
eventually reclaimed into a valuable farm, and 
tliere he passed the residue O'f his life, his death 
occurring ni 1871. In 1826, at Shreve, Wayne 
county, was solemnized his marriage to Miss 
Rosanna Shre\'e, who was born in Fayette 
county. Pennsylvania, on the 15th of October, 
1810. and of whose ancestral line definite 
record will be made in following paragraphs, 
the history of the Shreve family in America 
being peculiarly interesting. Of this union 
were born the following children, all being na- 
tives of Holmes county: Mary, who married* 
John N'ance and who still resides in Nashville; 
Hannah, who died in 1840, at the age of 
eleven years ; Margaret, who is the wife: of 
John McMillen, of Nashville; John S., who is 
the father of the subject; Thomas W., who 
maried Alary Greenawald and who resides in 
Toledo, Ohio ; Judson, who married Mary 
Josephine Ivendall and who died in Nashville, 
Holmes county, in 1895; Louis D., who mar- 
ried Ellen Drake and now resides in LaGrange 
county; Eliza, who is the wife of Paul Drake, 
of Nashville, Ohio, and Franklin, who married 
Emma C. Melott and who resided near Nash- 
ville. The mother of these children died in 
1878. 

John S. Hughes, father of the subject, was 
born near Nashville, Holmes county, Ohio, on 
the 2d of September, 1833, and was there 
reared and educated, grow'ing to manhood on 
the old homestead. In his early manhood he 
devoted his attention to teaching in the district 
schools for a number of years, and since that 
time he has been consecutively identified with 
agricultural pursuits. In 1900 he removed to 
Stark county and now resides on his fine farm- 
stead, five miles west of Canton, on the Massil- 
lon road. On the 8th of October, 1857. he was 
united in marriage to Miss Lavenia Quick, who 
was born in Holmes county, Ohio, on the 8th of 
October. 1857, being a daughter of Cordelius 
Quick, who was one of the honored pioneers 



of that county, whither he came from his native 
state of Pennsylvania. Of the children of this 
union mention has already been made. In 
politics John S. Hughes is a stanch Republican 
and both he and his wife are worthy members 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

The American ancestors of the Shreve 
family were of English and Dutch birth, were 
Quakers in religion and were dwellers in the 
colony of Rhode Island and also on Long 
Island, whence they emigrated to New Jersey, 
where, at an early period in its history, they 
purchased large tracts of land and became 
known as planters. Many of their descendants 
are still to be found in New Jersey and New 
York, and the simple and noble faith of the 
Society of Friends has continued to find many 
adherents in the family to the present day. The 
following qutation is from a genealogical work 
compiled by L. P. Allen, of Greenfield, Illinois : 
"The ancestry of the Shreve family emerges 
from tradition when the annals of Plymouth, 
Massachusetts, and Portsmouth, Rhode Isl- 
and, at an early date after the landing of the 
Mayflower, record the name of 'Sheriff.' De- 
cember 7, 1641, at Plymouth. Thomas Sher- 
iff was a complainant in the action of tres- 
pass, and twenty-five years later. December 10, 
1666, he was grantor in a conveyance at 
Portsmouth. An, inventory of his estate was 
filed at Portsmouth June 11, 1675. In those 
vicinities, then, he must have lived and died. 
He was very probably born before 1620, and 
his wife, Martha, not later than 1635. His 
death occurred May 29, 1675, when he was 
aged fifty-five years or more, while she survived 
at least sixteen years, marrying a second and 
third time, respectively Thomas Hazard and 
Lewis Hues. The traditional ancestry of the 
Shre\'e family is very interesting and entertain- 
ing, as presented by the late Samuel H. Shreve, 
civil engineer of New York city, who, during 
the latter years of his life, devoted much time 
and labor to the studv of the ancestrv of the 



494 



OLD LANDMARKS 



family. In 1883 he wrote as follows: 'I have 
been interested in the subject of the Shreve 
family for some years and have embraced every 
opportunity to add to my stock of information, 
from the time Caleb Shreve, who settled at 
Mount Pleasant, Mansfield township, Burling- 
ton county, New Jersey, I am satisfied that 
what I have is authentic. Previously to that it 
is traditional but I believe mainly correct. The 
first Shreve of whom I have any account was 
Sir William Shreve, who came from the south- 
eastern part of Europe, — some say Greece, oth- 
ers hint at Turkey, in both of which countries, 
especially in the latter, the name of Sheriff was 
not uncommon, but borne only by Mohamme- 
dan families. I can not fix the time of Sir 
William. He married Elizabeth Fairfax (tra- 
dition says Lady Elizabeth, but I always sus- 
pect titles, etc., in family traditions) and had 
a son William, who married a young lady of 
Amsterdam by the singular name of Ora Ora, 
or Oara Oara, the daughter of a wealthy noble- 
man. 1 have no doubt of Oara being an ances- 
tress of the family. After their marriage, the 
story of which is quite romantic, they came 
to Portsmouth, Rhode Island. They had posi- 
tively, two sons, Caleb and John, and probably 
a third, who left no descendants. We are now 
able to make a guess at the date of Caleb's 
birth, from an old deed still in the family. The 
deed is from John Cooke, of Portsmouth, in 
the colony of Rhode Island, to John Shreve, of 
the same town, and conveys three- fourths of 
all his right and property at Shrewbury, New 
Jersey. Deed is dated January 9, 1676-7; on 
the back is a transfer from the same John 
Shreve to his beloved brother, Caleb Shreve. 
Caleb Shreve received warrants for land from 
tlie East Jersey proprietors as early as 1676. 
He was certainly of age at this time, and it 
would be safe to assume that his birth occurred 
about 1650 to 1655. Allowing thirty years to 
a generation, we would have the date of the 
birth of Sir William 1590. which is confirmed 



by the traditions that he was born in the latter 
part of the sixteenth century. * * * I do 
not think that Caleb Shreve ever lived on Long 
Island, but he married there Sarah, daughter of 
Derick or Deidrick Areson, of Flushing. I do 
not know the date of his marriage nor when 
he removed to Shrewsbury township. New Jer- 
sey; both events occurred probably about 1680. 
His name is spelled in various ways, but by 
himself always Shreve. He lived on Narum- 
sunk, now miscalled Rumsom Neck. He served 
as grand juror in the years 1692-3-4. Before 
coming to Burlington county he resided in Free- 
hold, New Jersey, for a few years, probably 
removing there from Narumsunk about 1692. 
He purchased Mount Pleasant, in Mansfield 
township, the old homestead that has been in 
the possession of the family ever since, in April, 
1699, and moved there immediately. A portion 
of the house in which Caleb Shre\'e lived is 
still standing. I do not known whether the first 
Caleb was a Friend or not. I am inclined to 
think he was. He was rich enough to provide 
handsomely for his sons, except Benjamin, be- 
fort his death. He left Benjamin by his will the 
homestead and considerable other property. Of 
his sons, Benjamin; Caleb; William, who was 
a colonel in the state service; Israel, colonel in 
the Second New Jersey Regiment, Continental 
line; and Samuel, who was a lieutenant colonel 
in the state service, all took a very acti\-e part 
in the Revolutionary war. Caleb, who was 
often called Colonel, though I do not know 
he had any commission, with a few militia re- 
sisted the British at Crosswick, and in a person- 
al encounter lie shot the British officer. Israel 
Shreve received his first commission in 1775 
and was in the attack on Quebec. In 1776 he 
was made colonel of the Second New Jersey 
and was in active service throughout the war. 
He was a man of noble character and a pure 
patriot, of whom all the Shreves may well be 
proud, and who was an honor to his state. Is- 
rael's son John was a lieutenant in his father's 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



495 



regiment. His son Henry M. distinguished 
himself in improving the western steamboats 
and clearing out the Red river raft. Shreve- 
port, Louisiana, was nained after him. He com- 
manded a battery at the battle of New Orleans. 
My grandfather was a captain and saw active 
service during the Revolutionary war. There 
were also two or three others of the family who 
were soldiers, so that, notwithstanding their 
Quaker blood, the family was well represented 
among the American patriots. The ancestry 
of Thomas Sheriff, of Rhode Island, may be 
traditional, but the early records of the prov- 
ince show conclusively that he had eight chil- 
dren and was a property owner when he died. 
As late as 1737 the members of the family that 
remained in the vicinity retained the name Sher- 
iff, while Caleb, who married and emigrated 
to New Jersey, adopted the form Shreve.' " 

Caleb Shreve, son of Thomas Sheriff (or 
Shreve) of Rhode Island colony, was born 
about 1652, and was married to Sarah Areson 
about 1680, as before noted, and he died in Bur- 
lington county. New Jersey, in 1741. He and 
his wife became the parents of seven sons and 
three daughters, and through the youngest of 
the children, Benjamin, the lineage is traced to 
Denver C. Hughes, the immediate subject of 
this sketch. For several generations the de- 
scendants of Benjamin remained in the vicinity 
of the old homestead, and the genealogical 
records of this branch have been more carefully 
kept than those of other branches of the family, 
representing the descendants of his brothers 
and sisters. Benjamin Shreve was born June 
9, 1706, and on February 23, 1729. he married 
Rebecca, daughter of Richard French, the cere- 
mony being performed in the Friends' meeting- 
house, at the upper end of Springfield town- 
ship, Burlington county, New Jersey, and he 
died in the old homestead, devised to him by 
his father's will, as already noted, in the year 
1 75 1. Benjamin and Rebecca Shreve became 
the parents of six sons and two daughters, and 



the line of descent to Mr, Hughes is traced 
through the third son, William, representing 
the fourth generation of the family in America. 

William Shreve was born in Burlington 
county. New Jersey, on the 4th of August, 
1737, and there he married Miss Anna Ivins, 
while more than twenty years after her death 
he married Mrs. Ann Reckless. He died in 
1812, in his native county. In September, 
1776, he became first major of the First Regi- 
ment, in Burlington, and in March of the fol- 
lowing year was made lieutenant-colonel of the 
same, while he was promoted to a full colonelcy 
in April, 1778, Little has been definitely as- 
certained as to his career prior to the war of 
the Revolution. After that period he was a 
man of business, and at one time was the owner 
of a number of seagoing vessels. It appears 
that during his military career he was a 
widower. His second wife w-as the w'idow of 
Joseph Reckless and a daughter of Joseph and 
Hanna Woodward. While he was absent with 
the army the British plundered, burned and 
destroyed his property, including all buildings 
and entailing a loss of more than thirteen hun- 
dred pounds sterling. This property was lo- 
cated in Burlington county. New Jersey, and 
its destruction occurred in June, 1778. After 
the close of the war he was engaged in mercan- 
tile pursuits in [Mansfield, New Jersey, but in 
1782 disaster overtook the enterprise and he 
and his wife assigned all their real and personal 
estate in trust for his creditors, a fact that 
showed the exalted honor of the man. It is 
evident that he accumulated a competency be- 
fore his death. He became the father of four 
sons and three daughters, and of this fifth 
generation the direct line to ]\Ir. Hughes was 
through Richard, the third child and second 
son. 

Richard Shreve was born in Burlington 
county. New Jersey, September 25, 1760, and 
in 1783 he married Margaret Newbold, of 
Philadelphia. He died in Bloomfield township, 



496 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Crawfortl county, I'ennsyhania, September 12, 
1822. He was captain of a troop of liglit 
horse during the latter part of the Revohition. 
He emigrated to Pennsylvania soon after the 
war and became one of the early settlers and 
prominent citizens ol Crawford county. Dur- 
ing the war of 1812, three of his sons took 
part m guarding the fort at Lake Erie, at the 
time of the campaign of Commodore Perr)-. 
He became the father of nine sons and four 
daugliters, and the third son. Thomas, was the 
maternal great-grandfather of Mr. Hughes. 

Thomas Shreve, the first representative of 
the family m Ohio, was born in Fayette 
county, Pennsylvania, July 2'/, 1787, and there 
married Mary Wigle, and he died in Clinton 
township, \\'ayne county. Ohio, on the 4th of 
July, 1857. He lived for several years when 
a boy, in the home of his uncle. Thomas Xew- 
bold. in the city of Philadelpliia, and then re- 
turned to the parental home and learned the 
milling business, continuing in the one mill 
until T821, when he removed with his wife and 
family to Wayne county, Ohio, where he l^e- 
came the owner of a grist and saw-mill and 
about twenty-five hundred acres of land, be- 
coming a prominent and intiuential citizen. 
The town of Shreve was named in his honor 
and he was its first postmaster, keeping the 
office at his residence. He represented ^^'ayne 
county in the state legislature one term, being 
a man of fine physique and marked intellectu- 
ality. He and his wife became the parents of 
ten children, Rosana, the grandmother of !Mr. 
Hughes, being the eldest, her birth having oc- 
curred in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, on the 
13th of Octol^r 1810, while of her marriage 
and children mention has pre\iously been made 
in this context. Mr. Hughes represents the 
ninth generation of the Shreve family in 
America. 

Denver C. Hughes was reared on the old 
homestead farm in Holmes county. Ohio, and 
his educational discipline in his youth was re- 



ceixed in the public schools of tlie locality, 
where he made such use of the adxantages 
afforded as to become personally eligible for 
pedagogic honors, and for seven years he was 
numbered among the successful and popular 
teachers in his county, while through his ef- 
forts in this line he earned the money with 
which to defray the expenses of his collegiate 
course. Fie was matriculated in Mount Union 
College, in the city of Alliance. Stark county, 
in 1888. and was there graduated as a mem- 
ber of the class of 1893, "i"'! while carrying 
forward his college work he registered himself 
as a law student in the office of Housel & 
Webber, a prominent law firm in the city of 
Canton, and simultaneously carried on his 
technical studies with such devotion and dis- 
crimination that he secured admission to tiie 
bar in the same year that marked his gradu- 
ation. Shortly afterward he entered the law- 
department of the University of Michigan, at 
Ann Arbor and was graduated in this famous 
institution as a member of the class of 1895. ^^' 
ceiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Soon 
afterward he opened an office in Canton, and 
later entered into a professional partnership 
with AX'illiam H. Snyder, this association ob- 
taining until the deatli of the latter, in 1898. 
Later ]\'Ir. Hughes became a member of the 
firm of Case. Monnot. Whitacre & Hughes, 
from which ]\Ir. Case withdrew in 1900, since 
I which time the subject has been associated in 
practice with Mr. Monnot. under the firm name 
of Monnot & Hughes. They have retained a 
representative clientage and Mr. Hughes has 
been concerned in no small amount of import- 
ant litigation since initiating his professional 
labors in Canton, while by his devotion to bis 
work and by liis unmistakable ability as an 
advocate and counselor he has gained a high 
reputation among his professional confreres 
and the respect and confidence of the public. 
\\'hile a resident of Holmes county he was 
candidate on the Republican ticket for repre- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY; OHIO. 



497 



sentau\'e in the state legislature, but met de- 
feat through normal political exigencies. In 
1 90 1 he \\as elected to his present olHce as city 
solicitor of Canton, in which he is giving most 
capable arid satisfactory service to the muni- 
cipality, having been re-elected in 1903 for 
another term of two years. In politics he ac- 
cords an unequivocal allegiance to the principles 
and policies of the Republican party, and he 
has been an active worker in its cause. Fra- 
ternally he is identified with McKinley Lodge 
No. 431, Free and Accepted Masons : Canton 
Lodge No. 589, Knights of Pythias ; Oliver 
Wendell Holmes Council No. 41, Junior Order 
of United American Mechanics ; Canton Coun- 
cil No. 60, Royal League, and the Greek-letter 
fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega, of Mount L'nion 
College. 

On the 25th of November, 1S96, Mr. 
Hughes was united in marriage to IMiss Loretta 
Moore, who was born in Holmes county. Ohio, 
a daughter of Bryson and Mary (Esselburne) 
Moore, and they are the parents of one son, 
Charles Victor, who was born on the ist of 
November, 1897. 



ADAM EISENHAUER was born on a 
farm near the town of Randolph, Portage 
county, Ohio, in the year 1847, ^"d there grew 
to maturity under the beneficent influences of 
the great fundamental industry of agriculture. 
He received a good education in the common 
schools and remained in his native county until 
he had reached the age of nineteen years, when 
he came to Canton, where his first employment 
was m connection with the operation of a dray 
wagon for John Werndt, and later he secured 
employment in the freight department of the 
Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad in 
this city, where he rose to a responsible position, 
remaining with this company until his death, 
which occurred on the 5th of July, 1896. He 
was ever courteous and obliging, genial and 

31 



kindly in his intercourse with his fellow men, 
and he commanded unequivocal esteem in the 
community in which he lived and labored for so 
many years. In politics he gave his allegiance 
to the Democratic party, and his religious faith 
was that of the Catholic church, his membership 
being in the parish of St. Peter's church in 
Canton, while his life was in harmony with his 
profession of faith. 

John Eisenhauer, father of the subject of 
this memoir, was born in Germany, as was also 
his wife, and both died on their old homestead 
in Portage county, Mr. Eisenhauer having been 
a tailor by trade and having followed this voca- 
tion until the time when he engaged in farming 
in Ohio, whither he came upon his emigration 
from the fatherland. 

In the city of Canton, on the 4th of July, 
187S, Adam Eisenhauer was united in marriage 
to Miss Katie Adrian, a daughter of Franz 
Adrian, of this city. She was born in Germany, 
whence her parents came to the United States 
when she was a child, locating in Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania, where she was reared and edu- 
cated, having been seventeen years of age at the 
time of her parents' removal from that city to 
Canton. Mr. and Mrs. Eisenhauer became the 
parents of one daughter. Lulu, who is now the 
wife of Charles Harding, and they reside in the 
home of her mother. Mr. Harding being en- 
gaged in the store with the subject. During the 
lifetime of her husband Mrs. Eisenhauer at- 
tended St. Peter's church, though she was 
reared in the Protestant faith. 

After the death of her honored husband 
Mrs. Eisenhauer opened a small grocery in the 
home of her father, on East Lake street, later 
removing to a store at the corner of Lippert 
and Gibbs streets, where she continued busi- 
ness until April, 1900, when she purchased her 
present property, at the corner of Lake street 
and Cutter avenue, where she has since con- 
tinued successfully in the same line of enter- 
prise, having an attractive and well equipped 



498 



OLD LANDMARKS 



grocery, in whicli are handled the best hues of 
:staple and fancy groceries, table delicacies, etc., 
ivhile the trade is of the most representative 
character. She has shown marked discrimina- 
tion and business capacity, and is popular with 
lier man\- customers and in the social circles 
in which she moves, being a woman of gracious 
presence and one whose self-reliance and earn- 
est efforts have gained her unqualified com- 
mendation in the city which has so long been 
her home. 



ANTHONY GRESSER was born in the 
kingdom of Wurtemburg, Germany, on the 
6th of April, 1856, being a son of Joseph and 
Johanna (Raiber) Gresser, both of whom were 
likewise born in that attractive kingdom of the 
fatherland, whore they were reared and edu- 
cated, the father being a stone-cutter by trade 
and vocation. In 1869, in company with three 
of their children, they set forth for the United 
States, to join their son Charles, who had pre- 
viously emigrated hither and located in Can- 
ton, this county. They embarked at Ham- 
burg, on the ship "Silesia," this being the 
maiden trip of that vessel, and they landed in 
New York city on the 5th of July, 1869. Their 
son Charles had come two years earlier and 
had secured employment in Canton, where the 
family were thus re-united. Here the father of 
the subject continued to work at his trade until 
1889, when he retired from active labors, his 
death here occurring on the 17th of February, 
1891, at which time he was seventy-three years 
of age. His cherished and devoted wife passed 
away on the i6th of November, 1880, at the 
age of sixty-six years. Of their children we in- 
corporate the following brief record : Mary is 
the wife of Martin Gabel, of Canton ; Charles 
is engaged in the Aultman works in this city ; 
Lizzie is llie wife of John Duerr, of Canton; 
and .-\nthony, the immediate subject of this 
sketch, is the youngest of the children. 



Anthony Gresser was reared to the age of 
thirteen years in his native place in Germany, 
and he there attended the excellent schools until 
the emigration of the family to America. After 
locating in Canton he continued his studies in 
the parochial schools for three years, his in- 
structor for two years of this period having 
been Miss Lizzie Bour, who was at the time a 
teacher in the German parochial school of St. 
Peter's churcii. After leaving school Mr. Gres- 
ser secured emplojment in a local paper factory, 
where he was engaged for eight years. In 
1875-6 he was a clerk in the grocery store of 
Philip Karme, in South Market street, and at 
the expiration of these two years he passed a 
year as an employe of a safe works. There- 
after he rendered efficient service for five years 
as an employe in the cutter-bar department of 
the works of the C. Aultman Company, the 
extensive manufacturers of threshing ma- 
chines in Canton. He then secured a clerkship 
in the grocery establishment of the firm of Lee 
& Menegay, on South Market street, and in 
1888 he became associated with his brother-in- 
law, John Duerr. in the conducting of a gro- 
cery business in a building a few doors distant 
from his present place of business, which is 
located at 820 South Market street. In i8gi 
the partnership was dissolved, the subject pur- 
chasing Mr. Duerr's interest, and he thereafter 
individually continued the enterprise until 1893, 
when he admitted to partnership Charles Mene- 
gay, in whose employ he had formerly been, 
as noted above. On the ist of January. 1900. 
Mr. Gresser again secured full conlm! (if the 
business, by purchasing his partner's interest, 
and within the present year, 1903. he has made 
extensive repairs and alterations on his store, 
having removed to more commodious build- 
ings, two doors north of his original head- 
quarters, and here he has a model and attractive 
modern sit ire with the best of facilities and 
with a select and comprehensive stock, adequate 
to meeting all demands on the part of his large 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



499 



and appreciative patronage. In politics Mr. 
Gresser is aligned as a stalwart Democrat, 
though he has never sought or desired public 
office of an}' description, and both he and his 
wife are communicants of St. John's church, 
Roman Catholic. Fraternally he is identified 
with the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association, 
the Knights of St. John, the Schwaben Verein, 
the Order of Heptasophs and the Order of 
Eagles, wliile he also holds membership in the 
Grocers' League, of Canton. 

In his home city, on the 29th of June, 1880, 
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gresser 
to Miss Mary E. Socie, who was bom in 
Holmes county, Ohio, of French parentage, 
and of this union have been born six children, 
namely : Clara, who is the wife of Charles 
Becherer, of Canton ; Joseph and John, who re- 
main at the parental home; Henry and Antho- 
ny, Jr., who are attending school in the city; 
and Paul, who is five years of age at the time of 
this writing. 



JOHN A. LIECHTY.— The family of 
which the subject of this review is a repre- 
sentative had its origin in Switzerland and is 
of French descent. His father, Jacob Liechty, 
a native of Switzerland, was born September 
II, 1822, and some time in the early 'sixties 
came to the United States and located at Can- 
ton, Ohio, near which city he was for several 
years a tiller of the soil, having been reared to 
agricultural pursuits. On February 11, 1864, 
he married, in Stark county. Miss Elizabeth 
Rich, who was also born in Switzerland, her 
native place being Ceshlach, where her birth oc- 
curred on the 2d of Sei)tember, 1846. She 
was the daughter of Joseph and Barbara (Ram- 
seyer) Rich, the former dying in his native 
country in 1853. the latter subsequently im- 
migrating to America with some of her chil- 
dren, others having preceded her to the United 
States, while several members of the family 



afterwards followed her to the new home 
across the water. Mrs. Rich located in Marsh- 
allville, Ohio, thence moved overland to Iowa 
where she died, the widow having subsequently 
married a man by the name of Joseph Zehr. 
Mrs. Rich's parents were John Ramseyer, born 
at Eckenweil, Canton Bern, Switzerland, in- 
1776, and Barbara Kauffman, who was born 
in the year 1777 at Ft. Andrew, in the province 
of Alsace, at that time French territory but 
now a part of the German empire. These an- 
cestors of the subject spent their married life 
in Switzerland, i\lrs. Ramseyer dying in 1844, 
her husband in 1853. 

After his marriage Jacob Liechty settled 
at Leo, Indiana, where he lived some years and 
then changed his abode to Marshallville, Ohio, 
still later moving to Sterling, this state, where 
himself and wife spent the remainder of their 
days, the former dying April 5, 1895, the latter 
on the 17th day of November, 1900. They 
were quiet, estimable people, highly respected 
by their neightors and friends and their mem- 
ory is cherished by the people of the different 
communities in which they resided. They 
reared a family of seven children, the subject 
of this review being the first in order of birth. 

John A. Liechty was born near the town of 
Leo, Allen county, Indiana, December 13, 
1864, but at the age of two years was taken 
to Marshallville, in the county of Wayne, where 
his parents remained for a limited period. He 
grew up on his father's farm, about two' miles 
east of Sterling, in the county of Wayne, early 
became accustomed to the varied duties of ag- 
riculture and of winter seasons attended the 
public schools, in which he made rapid advance- 
ment. Realizing the need of more advanced 
training than the common schools could im- 
part, Mr. Liechty, at the age of twenty, en- 
tered the \Vestern Reserve Normal School at 
Waclsworth, where he pursued his studies for 
some time, with the object in view of becom- 
ing- a teacher. Beginning his career as an edu- 



500 



OLD LANDMARKS 



cator, he continued the same until 1897, teach- 
ing two years in the schools of Medina county, 
three years in Wayne and five years in the coun- 
t}' of Stark, closing his services as principal 
of Prairie College in the latter county. 

Retiring from the teacher's profession, Mr. 
Liechty purchased an interest in the Harrison 
Avenue Feed Company, of Canton, and to this 
line of business devoted the ensuing years, 
during which time he also completed a com- 
mercial course in the Canton Actual Business 
College, giving his nights to study and graduat- 
ing in the summer of 1901. In January of that 
year he became bookkeeper and assistant man- 
ager of the Artificial Ice Company, of Canton, 
which position he still holds, discharging the 
duties of the same in a manner satisfactory to 
all parties concerned in the enterprise. 

On December 24, 1891, in Orville, Ohio, 
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Liechty 
and Miss Isadora Snavely, daughter of Amos 
and Mary (Martin) Snavely, a union blessed 
with three offspring, namely : Laura, Grace and 
Evaline. Politically the subject is what may 
be termed an independent, as he refuses to 
vield allegiance to any particular party, pre- 
ferring to exercise his own judgment as to the 
principles he upholds and the men and meas- 
ures he supports with his ballot. Being an edu- 
cated man and widely informed relative to pub- 
lic measures and party issues, he has pro- 
nounced convictions and hesitates not to de- 
fend the soundness of his opinions whenever it 
becomes necessary to do so. In every relation 
of life Mr. Liechty is known as an honest, in- 
corruptible man. who has ever tried to do his 
duty as he sees and understands it and wherever 
he is known his word has all the sanctity of a 
written obligation. 



J. ROYAL SXYDER is a native son of 
Stark county, having lieen born on the old 
homestead farm of his srrandfather, in Osna- 



burg township, on the nth of February, 1876, 
and being a son of John J. Snyder. \\"hen he 
was five years of age his parents removed to 
the village of Paris, this county, where he se- 
cured his early educational training in the pub- 
lic schools, after which, in 1895, he was ma- 
triculated in ]Mount L'nion College near the city 
of Alliance, this county, where he graduated as 
a member of the class of 1899, having com- 
pleted the classical course. In 1898 Mr. Sny- 
der received the scholarship prize, having the 
highest average grade throughout the entire 
course of any of his class. That he made good 
use of the advantages afforded him in a schol- 
astic way is evident when we advert to the fact 
that when he was but fifteen years of age he 
proved himself eligible for pedagogic honors, 
and for several years he was a popular and 
successful teacher in the district schools, and 
through the medium of his efforts in this line 
he earned the funds with which to defray the 
e.xpenses of his collegiate course. 

In 1898 j\lr. Snyder was appointed deputy 
county treasurer under Thomas H. Smith, who 
was then in charge of the county's fiscal affairs, 
and in the autumn of 1901, as candidate on the 
Republican ticket. Mr. Snyder was elected to 
succeed ]\Ir. Smith in the office of treasurer, 
his opponent in the race being Edward S. De- 
Ford, of Minerva. He continued to serve as 
deputy until assuming the duties as treasurer. 
on the 1st of September, 1902. Not only by 
reason of his native ability, but also on account 
of his technical experience in the office, Mr. 
Snyder is particularly well equipped to ad- 
minister the affairs of the county and he is 
proving an able and painstaking executive, 
thoroughly justifying the choice of the electors 
of the county. In the spring of 1903 he was 
renominated by his party for the treasurer- 
ship, and will undoubtedly be again the choice 
of the electors. He has been a stanch ad- 
vocate of the principles of the Republican 
]>arty from the time of attaining his majority. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



501 



and has been an active worker in its local 
ranks, while it was his privilege to cast his first 
presidential vote for the martyred President 
McKinley, Stark county's most distinguished 
citizen. In a fraternal way Mr. Snyder is iden- 
tified with the Masonic order, the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks and the Junior Order 
of United American Mechanics. He is a 
member of the Evangelical church, in whose 
faith he was reared. He is one of the progres- 
si^•e and popular young men of his native coun- 
ty and is well entitled to the ofirce of which he 
is incumbent, while his election to the same 
gives evidence of the estimate placed upon him 
by the people of the county. 



WILLIAM VOLZER is a native of Ger- 
many and a brother of Christian Volzer, a 
well-known citizen of Canton to whose biogra- 
phy on another page of this work the reader is 
respectfully referred for the facts concern- 
ing the Volzer family history. The subject 
was born March 18, 1845, '" Wittenburg, and 
there spent his childhood and youth, attending 
until his fourteenth year the schools of his 
native city. At that age he entered a print- 
ing, office, but after working four years in the 
same resigned his place to become clerk in a 
hotel in the city of Stuttgart, which position 
he filled until 1865. when he bade farewell to 
the fatherland and came to the United States, 
his older brother. Christian, having preceded 
him by some years in this country. 

Mr. Volzer took passage at Hamburg, 
December 13. 1865. on the steamer "Saxonia" 
and after an une\-entful voyage of fourteen days 
landed in New York city, from which place he 
came direct to Canton, where his brother was 
then living. Shortly after his arrival in this 
city he accepted a position in a paper mill, but 
not being pleased with that kind of labor he 
soon abandoned it and entered the employ of 



C. Aultman & Company, in whose shops he 
worked during the three years following. 
Leaving the Aultmans, he spent the ensuing 
two and a half years with the Ball Manufactur- 
ing Company and at the end of that time en- 
gaged with the Diebold Safe & Lock Company 
for a limited period, after which he was for two 
years in the employ of the Russell Company 
machine works. 

Severing his connection with the last named 
firm, Mr. Volzer turned his attention to house 
paintnig, which calling he followed about two 
years, the meantime purchasing property on 
Habsel street, where, in 1877, he opened a sam- 
ple room, conducting the business in an apart- 
ment adjoining his residence. In 1881 he 
bought valuable property on South Cleveland 
avenue, adjoining the Ft. Wayne railway track, 
and transferring his business to the same con- 
tinued to run a sample room until taking the 
agency of the Raymond Brewing Company, of 
Wheeling, West Virginia, a year or two later. 
He remained with this company about seven 
years, during four of which he was manager 
of its interests at Meyer's Lake. While thus 
engaged, Mr. Volzer erected what is known 
as the "Casino," on the north shore of the lake, 
which in due time became a favorite resort, 
and about the same time accepted the local 
agency of the Moerlein Brewing Company of 
Cincinnati, which he still holds. 

In 1902 Mr. Volzer, with several other 
parties, organized the Stark Brewing Company 
at Canton, in which he is now the chief stock- 
holder; the enterprise was pushed rapidly for- 
ward and, backed by well-known and reliable 
business men. its success from the beginning was 
more than conjectural. Providing good build- 
ings and supplying the same with every facility 
for the manufacture of a high grade of beer, the 
company, in July, 1903, began operations on 
quite an extensive scale and at this writing the 
business, already large and lucrative, promises 
to meet fully the high expectations of the pro- 



502 



OLD LANDMARKS 



jectors and ihe brewery bids fair to become one 
of the leading establishments of the kind in the 
city. 

Mr. X'lil/er, in 18O9. was imited in mar- 
riage willi Miss Anna Spies, of Wheeling, 
West Virginia, daughter of Franz and Fran- 
ces Spies, natives of Germany. Air. and Mrs. 
Volzer arc the parents of nine children, whose 
names are as follows: Aloyes; Rose, wife of 
Frank Lindacher, of Canton; Lillie, who mar- 
ried Henry Bobsen, also of this city; Frank 
married Clara Weisert, is the father of a daugh- 
ter, Grace, and makes his home in Canton ; 
Cora, Herman, Albert Clarence and Laura are 
unmarried and still under the parental roof. 
Mr. X'olzer and family are members of the St. 
Mary's Catholic church and active in all kinds 
of religious and charitable work under the aus- 
pices of the parish. Politically the subject is a 
Republican, but not a very active politician, be- 
ing too much engrossed with business affairs 
to find time to devote to party matters. He is 
connected with several benevolent organiza- 
tions, among which may be noted the Catholic 
Mutual Benefit Association, the St. Peter's So- 
ciety, Swabian Society, Beneficial Aid Societ\- 
and the German Benevolent Union, in addition 
to which he also is an honorary member of the 
Militarv and Grand Annv Bands of Canton. 



CHARLES E. TLNKLER, chief engineer 
of the Canton Bridg'e Company, is a native of 
Stark cmint}-, Ohio, born in the city of Massil- 
lon on the 20th day of November, 1861. His 
father, Charles H. Tinkler, was a soldier in the 
Civil war, serving from 1861 until the close of 
the struggle and participating in many of the 
most noted battles in \'^irginia, in one of which, 
the bloody engagement at Chancellorsville, he 
received a gunshot wound through the right 
lung. He married Mary Hassler, alsO' of Stark 
county, and in 1887 removed to Cleveland 
where he lived during the ensuing sixteen years 



while holding a position in the railway mail 
service. The subject's paternal grandparents 
came from England a number of years ago and 
settled on a farm near Alassillon where the 
grandfather spent the remainder of his life, 
the grandmi'lher subsequently removing to 
Michigan, in which her death occurred at the 
advanced age of ninety-six. 

Charles E. Tinkler \A-as reared to young 
manlu 1(1(1 in his native city, attended for a mim- 
ber of years the public schools and later pre- 
pared himself for life's active duties by taking 
a special course in mechanical engineering. Af- 
ter finishing' his technical education he spent 
eight years with the Massillon Bridge Com- 
pany as draughtsman and at the expiration of 
that time accepted a similar position with a 
bridge company at Youngstown. After remain- 
ing two years with the latter concern he re- 
signed his place and on March 31, 1892, became 
chief engineer for the Canton Bridge Company, 
which position he still holds. Mr. Tinker's 
career has been eminently creditable and as a 
skillful mechanical engineer and accomplished 
draughtsman he has few equals and no supe- 
riors in the city where his talents are being 
exercised. 

Mr. Tinker was married at Massillon. in 
i(S84. to Miss Minnie Rogers, daughter of 
William Rogers, a well-known resident of that 
citv and for a long time a justice of the peace. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Tinkler have been Ijorn seven 
children, namely, Bessie, Ralph, Charles, Flelen, 
Alice, Francis and Willard, all living with their 
parents. Mr. Tinkler is a Republican in poli- 
tics rnid manifests a lively interest in party 
afifairs, being well posted relative to the leading 
questions and issues of the day. In religion 
he subscrilaes to the Presbyterian creed and 
since moving to Canton has been one of the 
active workers in the Calvary Presbyterian 
church of this city, being at this time a mem- 
ber of its ])oard of trustees. Mrs. Tinkler is 
also identified with the same congregation and. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



503 



like her husband, is first and foremost in every 
good work and endeavor to promote the moral 
and spiritual welfare of the con^munity. 



EDWARD SCOTT.— One of the leading- 
business men of his portion of the county, and 
who has won a high standing because of his 
sterling qualities, is the gentleman whose name 
appears at the beginning of this paragraph. 
His iiaternal father, John Scott, was a native 
of Ireland, while the subject's father, William 
Scott, was a native of Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in 
December, 1799. William Scott was reared up- 
on a farm and spent his boyhood and youth in 
his native county, early learning the lessons of 
practical industry. In 1833 he came west and 
located upon a farm near New Cumberland, 
Fairfield township, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, 
where he remained for a number of years, sub- 
sequently removing to New Cumberland, Ohio, 
where he conducted a hotel for two years, at 
the end of that time removing to Waynesburg. 
He remained in the latter place until 1843, '^^'^ 
in that year he removed to a farm near New 
Harrisburg, Carroll county, this state, where he 
remained until his death, which occurred when 
he was eighty-two years old. Politically he was 
a stanch Democrat and his religious belief was 
in harmony with the creed of the Presbyterian 
churcii. His wife, who in her maidenhood bore 
the name of Margaret Power, was a native of 
Maryland, born in 1801. and was a daughter of 
Robert and Margaret Power. Both of her par- 
ents were descended from Scotch ancestry and 
her paternal great-grandfather Power was the 
first Presbyterian minister west of the Alle- 
ghany mountains. Margaret Scott was a wo- 
man of deep piety and sweet womanly graces 
and was beloved by all. Her death occurred 
when she was eighty-two years old. 

Edward Scott, the immediate subject of 
this sketch, was born in Washington county, 



Pennsylvania, April 21, 1826, and was one of 
nine children born to his parents. Of these 
children, the five who survive are as follows : 
Margaret is the widow of James Gribben, de- 
ceased, late of New Harrisburg, Ohio ; the sub- 
ject is the next in the order of birth; Roljert P. 
resides in New Harrisburg; Clarentine is the 
wife of Ezra Boggs, of Piarrison township. 
Carroll county, this state; Eli A. resides in 
Kansas. The subject was reared under the 
paternal roof and assisted in the home duties 
imtil about the age of twenty years. In 1846 
he accepted a clerkship in a general store at 
New Harrisburg, and after remaining in this 
position for three years he went to Magnolia, 
Carroll county, where he filled a similar posi- 
tion for four years, having the management of 
the business at the latter place. Giving up 
this position, Mr. Scott went to Massillon and 
was employed in a wholesale dry-goods house, 
a portion of the time acting in the capacity of 
traveling" salesman. Severing his connection 
with this firm, he took a trip through the west- 
ern states and upon his i-eturn located in 
Waj'uesburg, being employed there for a few 
months as clerk. The same year, 1856, in com- 
pany with two other men, Mr. Scott opened 
a dry-goods store, but six months later sold his 
interest in the enterprise and took another west- 
ern trip, niainh- through Nebraska and Iowa. 
Upon his re'turn to Waynesburg he accepted a 
clerkship with G. P. Augustine, with whom he 
remamed for three years, and in the spring of 
1 86 1 he opened a drug store in Waynesburg. 
His genial and courteous manners and marked 
business ability soon gained for him a liberal 
share of the public patronage and he continued 
in the business imtil 1903, a period of forty- 
one years, when he sold his store and retired 
from active life. In 1861 Mr. Scott was ap- 
pointed postmaster of \\^a\"nesburg and held 
the office for twenty-four years, there being a 
break of but two years in his incumbency. In 
politics IMr. Scott has all his life been a firm 



504 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and uncompromising Republican and has taken 
an active part in advancing his party's inter- 
ests in the townsliip. He has been influential 
in the party councils and has served several 
years as a member of the town council. His 
religious principles are those of the Presbyter- 
ian church, while fraternally he is a member 
of Canton Lodge No. bo, Free and Accepted 
Masons. 

In 1858 Mr. Scott was united in marriage 
with Mrs. Mary Crevoisie Couch, who was born 
at Chavon Les Grandes, France, October 30, 
1826. Her parents, Joseph and Marie Cre- 
voisie, came to America soon after her birth 
and located at Hanoverton, Columbiana county, 
Ohio, where he was engaged in running a hotel. 
They subsequently returned to Delle, France, 
for the purpose of educating their son and 
daughter. Returning to America in 1840, they 
settled in Waynesburg, and in 1845 Mary Cre- 
voisie was united in marriage with John R. 
Couch, a promising lawyer of that village. Of 
this marriage there was one issue, a daughter, 
who became the wife of William A. Strayer, 
of Canton, Ohio. Mr. Couch died in 1853 ^^'^ 
in 1858, as before stated, his widow became 
the wife of the subject. Mr. and Mrs. Sco'tt 
have been blessed with three children, namel\- : 
William R., of Cleveland; Addie Marie, the 
the wife of Dr. John F. Price, of Wellsville, 
this state, and John C, of Canton. 



HENRY ADAM RUPP was born in the 
town of Guntersblum, Hessen-Darmstadt, Ger- 
many, on the 15th of April, 1837, the family 
name having long been identified with the an- 
nals of that section of the empire. He is a son 
of John and Mary Magdalena (Welder) Rupp, 
both of whom were born in the year 1806, in 
the village of Hochheim. Hessen-Darmstadt. 
Adam and Margaret Rupp, the paternal grand- 
parents of the subject, passed their entire lives 
in that same province, and the family was there 



identified with agricultural pursuits in the vari- 
ous generations. The father of the subject was 
engaged in farming in the fatherland until 1851, 
when he emigrated with his family to America 
and came to Stark county, settling in Osnaburg 
township, where he engaged in the lime and 
coal business and also dealt in real estate to a 
considerable extent,- handling coal land and 
owning a considerable amount of such land, on 
which he operated the coal mines. In 1868 he 
removed to Benton county, Iowa, where he pur- 
chased three hundred acres of land, and he 
thereafter li\ed practically retired from active 
business until his death, which occurred in 
1883, his wife having passed away in 1880, 
while both were laid to rest in the cemetery at 
Blairstown, that county. His marriage to Mary 
Magdalena Weber was solemnized in }vlav. 



183: 



She was likewise born in Hessen- 



Darmstadt, her father, John Jacob Weber, hav- 
ing been a resident of Hochheim, near the city 
of Worms. The parents of our subject were 
originally members ot what was known as the 
Protestant church of Germany, and after com- 
ing to Canton they became members of the Ger- 
man Reformed church, of which Rev. Peter 
Herbruck was for so long a time the pastor. 
They became the parents of the following 
named children: Henry, who died in infancy; 
John Franklin, who was born on the ist of 
December, 1835, and who is now a resident 
of Benton county, Iowa; Henrj'- A., who is the 
immediate subject of this review ; George and 
Philip, both of whom died in infancy; Mar- 
garet, who was born on the 17th of June, 1842, 
and who is now the wife of Henry Reisser. of 
Blairstown. Iowa, and Lena, who was born 
July 12, 1849. ''^"'1 ^^lio '^ ^^^^ \v\ie. of William 
Grunewald, of Blairstown, Iowa. 

Henry Adam Rupp was in his fourteenth 
year at the time when he accompanied his par- 
ents on their emigration to America, and thus 
he received his preliminary educational discip- 
line in the excellent schools of his native land. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



505 



After locating in Stark county he began to 
assist his father in his various business oper- 
ations, and he thus continued until he had at- 
tained the age of thirty-one years. In 1868 
he removed tO' Benton county, Iowa, where 
he purchased a farm of one hundred and six- 
ty acres, and there he continued to be engaged 
in agricultural pursuits and dairying for the 
ensuing twenty-four years, becoming one of 
the prosperous and influential citizens of the 
county and commanding unqualified respect in 
his community. In 1892 he returned to Stark 
county and purchased a farm of fifty acres in 
section 31, Plain township. He conducted this 
farm for eleven years, and also dealt to a 
greater of less extent in land in the county dur- 
ing this interval. ,\t the expiration of the 
period noted he removed to his present at- 
tractive little homestead of five acres, in the 
same township, where he has since lived re- 
tired from active business, enjoying the re- 
wards of his former years of toil and endeavor. 
His homestead is improved with excellent 
buildings of modern type and with the best of 
modern facilities, and is one of the pleasant 
rural homes of the county. He still retains in 
his possession five acres of his original pur- 
chase, having sold the remaining forty, and also 
has sixty acres in the western part of Jackson 
township, and one hundred and fort\- other 
acres in the same township. In politics he 
is a stanch advocate of the general principles 
of the Democratic party, and is also strongly 
in favor of the cause of prohibition of the 
liquor traffic, while he keeps well informed on 
the questions and issues of the hour, and takes 
a deep interest in all that tends to conserve 
the general welfare- H^ is a prominent and 
earnest member of the First Reformed church, 
of Canton, and a liberal supporter of its work, 
while he is an elder in the consistorv of the 
church, of which his wife likewise was a de- 
voted member. 

On the ist of March, 1868, Mr. Rupp was 



united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Platner, 
who was born in Osnaburg township, this 
county, on the 12th of August, 1842, being a 
daughter of John and Christina (Livelsberger) 
Platner, both of whom w'ere born in Pennsyl- 
vania, of German lineage, while they were 
numbered among the honored pioneers of Stark 
county, where they passed the closing years of 
their lives, both having been zealous members 
of the Reformed chucli. The cherished and 
devoted wife of the subject was summoned into 
eternal rest on the 14th of September, 1897, 
and her remains were interred in the beautiful 
cemetery of Westlawn, in Canton. She w'as 
a W'Oman of gracious character and held the 
affectionate reo'ard of all who knew her. 



AARON ^^^ ROSS is a native of the old 
Keystone state, having been born in Fayette 
county, Pennsylvania, on the r3th of March, 
1832, and being now the only survivor of the 
eight children born to John and Rhoda (Jones) 
Ross. His father was born in Greene county, 
Pennsylvania, in the year 1794, the original 
American progenitors having taken up their 
abode in that commonwealth prior to the war 
of the Rebellion. John Ross was reared to 
maturity in Greene county, Pennsylvania, and 
was there educated, and shortly after his mar- 
riage he removed to Fayette county, that state, 
where he became the owner of a farm of one 
hundred and twelve acres, which he developed 
into a fine property, and there he passed the 
residue of his life engaged in agricultural 
pursuits. He was a man of fine mentality 
and exalted integrity, and was one of the 
earliest and most uncompromising opponents of 
the liquor traffic, against which institution he 
waged a vigorous and unremitting warfare 
throughout his life, his influence in the line 
being widely felt. In politics he was a stanch 
adherent of the Whig party of the old line and 
took an intelligent and active interest in public 



5o6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



affairs, both national and local. He died on 
his homestead farm in 1835, the subject being 
at the time a child of but two years, so that 
it is his misfortune to have practically no 
recollection of his father, whose name he has 
ever held in the highest affection and filial 
honor. After the death of his father the sub- 
ject's devoted mother remained on the farm and 
bra\ely faced the responsibility of keeping her 
family together and rearing her children in the 
ways of truth and righteousness, she having 
been a zeaknis member of the ^Methodist Epis- 
copal (•hmxh, as was also her husband. She 
survived her husband by many years, being 
summoned into eternal rest in 1864, at the age 
of sixty-nine years, and having carefully reared 
to maturity seven of her eight children. She 
was a native of Virginia and was a daughter 
of Aaron and Sarah Jones, who were also 
among the early pioneers of Fayette cotinty, 
Pennsylvania. 

Aaron W. Ross grew to manhood on the 
home farm, and while a mere boy he began 
10 assist in its work, while as the years passed 
bv and he waxed strong in mind and body, 
more and greater responsibilities devolved upon 
hiiu in the connection, as the family was a 
large one and the task of securing the proper 
revenues from the farm one of no slight in- 
sistency. His early educational discipline was 
received in the district schools near his home, 
after which it was supplemented in the Morgan- 
town (\\'est Virginia) Academy and later at 
the Greene Academy at Carmichaels, Pennsyl- 
vania, and Allegheny College at ]\Ieadville, 
Pennsylvania. Pie later attended the Madison 
College in Uniontown. Pennsylvania, eight 
miles distant from his home, where he graduated 
in 1857. Shortly afterward he started on quite 
an extended tour through the south and middle 
west, in search of an elig-ible location and to 
secure a rest from his arduous scholastic ap- 
plication, as he had passed innumerable nights 
in close study. In 1859, after his return to his 



home, he was tendered and accepted the po- 
sition of assistant superintendent in the George's 
Creek Academy, in Fayette county, where he 
did very effective pedagogic work, gaining a 
reputation that lead to his being called, in 
1 86 1, to the principalship of the Greene Acad- 
emy, at Carmichaels, Greene county. Pennsyl- 
vania. In 1863, greatly to the regret of the 
managing body and the gtudents, he resigned 
his office, and for a number of years thereafter 
he gave a general supervision to the manage- 
ment of the old home farm, while simultaneous- 
Iv he successfully established himself in the fire 
and life insurance business. He came into pos- 
session of the homestead farm after the death 
of his mother, and in 1883 he disposed of the 
property and came to Stark county, where he 
effected the purchase of his present farm, which 
comprises seventy acres located in the en\irons 
of the city of Alliance, while the permanent 
improvements on the place are of the best order, 
including a spacious and attractive residence of 
modern design and equipments. He gives his 
personal supervision to the farm and is known 
as one of the model farmers of this section, 
bringing to bear scientific methods and those 
correct business principles which are as re(|- 
uisite in this line of industrial enterprise as 
in anv other field of business. In politics he 
g'ives an unequivocal allegiance to the Re- 
publican party, but has never desired the honors 
or emoluments of public office, though he main- 
tains a lively interest in the questions and is- 
sues of the hour. He and his wife are jM-omi- 
nent and honored members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church and he has followed in the 
footsteps of his father and has been a stanch 
advocate of the temperance cause, never having 
tasted liquor as a beverage. While residing in 
Pennsvlvania he was urged to become the 
candidate of liis party for state senator, but 
refused to permit his name to be considered in 
the connection. 

On the 24th of June, 18(14, in (ireene 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



507 



county, Pennsylvania, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Ross to Miss Elizabetli J. Horner, 
who was born and reared in Greene county, 
Pennsylvania, being a daughter of Amos and 
Rel^ecca (Grooms) Horner. Mr. and Mrs. 
Ross are the parents of three daug'hters, con- 
cerning whom we enter brief record, as fol- 
lows : Sarepta E. is a young lady of high in- 
teliectlial attainments, having pursued her 
studies in- the George's Creek Academy and 
having later continued her educational work 
in the Alliance high school, where she was 
graduated, after which she taught successfully 
for five years in the public schools of that city, 
and then went to Chicago, where she was 
matriculated in the Cook County Normal 
School, and there she was graduated as a mem- 
ber of the class of 1891, after which she was 
engaged as a teacher in the same school, where 
she d.id most eflicient work for the ensuing 
three years, and later she was for seven years 
a successful and ]iopular teacher in the city 
schools of Chicago. She is now a teacher in 
the State Normal School at Plattsliurg, New 
York. Effie F., the second daughter, is now 
the wife of Edwin Sebrell, of Bolton, Stark 
county, and Rhoda R., the youngest daughter, 
is a trained nurse and is now residing in the city 
of Brooklyn, New York, where she has proved 
most successful in the work of her nolile pro- 
fession, being a young woman of pleasing and 
gracious personality and tender sympathy, and 
having that self-control, equipoise and readi- 
ness of expedient which makes her so valuable 
a factor and one whose ministratir)ns are so 
much appreciated in the sick-room. 



JOHN BRACHER.— Jacob Bracher, the 
father of the subject of this review, was born 
in Germany in the year 181 5. He rose to a 
high position in the government service of that 
country, and for a number of rears held the 
important post of inspector of mines, the duty 



of which he discharged until immigrating to 
the United States in 1854. Coming to this 
country he located at Alliance, Ohio, where he 
followed various enterprises, his intelligence 
and practical experience in different business 
pursuits making him a valuable man in any 
undertaking to which he addressed himself. 
His lirst wife, whom he married in Germany, 
died shortly after the family settled in this city 
and later he contracted a matrimonial alliance 
with Aliss Salima Binkard, who bore him three 
children, two of whom survive, the subject of 
this review and Prank. The first marriage al- 
so resulted in three ofifspring. namely : Julius, 
of Gallion, Oliio; Victor, and Charlotte, wife 
of William J. Barr, of Los Angeles, California. 
Jacob Bracher departed this life in 1865 and 
sometime thereafter his widow married Mr. 
.\ndrew Hutif, of Alliance, who is also now de- 
ceased. She resides in this city. 

John Bracher was born July 11. 1858, in 
Alliance, Ohio, and spent his early years after 
the manner of the niajoritv of citv lads, at- 
tending as soon as old enough the public 
schools, in which the foundation of his literary 
education was laid. This training was after- 
ward supplemented by a literary and commer- 
cial course in Mount Union College and at the 
age of fifteen he entered the Morgan Engineer- 
ing" \\'orks at .\lliance for the purpose of learn- 
ing the machinist's trade. After serving an 
apprenticeship of several years, during which 
he made an exceptionally fine record as a skilled 
workman, he accepted a position in the 
establishment, first as a journeyman, but in due 
time his efticiency was such that he was pro- 
moted to the responsible post of foreman. Mr. 
Bracher served for some time in that capacity 
and developed not only great mechanical skill 
but also unusual capacity as a manager of men. 
His employers, fulh' appreciating his \'aluable 
services, subsequently made him assistant 
superintendent, the duties of which position he 
discharged in an able and satisfactory manner 



5o8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



for a number of years, a part of which time 
he spent on the road in charge of the expert 
work of the company. In the latter capacity 
he traveled quite' extensively over the United 
States, setting up machinery and superintending 
the construction of plants, his efforts in this 
line adding greatly to his high reputation as a 
finished mechanic and master of his calling. 

In the year iSoo Mn. Bracher severed his 
connection with the Morgan Company to be- 
come chief engineer and manager of the Alli- 
ance water works, which position he held until 
1898, \\hen he was made superintendent of the 
system, the duties of which responsible trust he 
has since ably discharged. Since taking con- 
trol of the water works he has added a number 
of valuable improvements and greatly increased 
the efficiency of the system, his management 
being able and business-like and fully meeting 
the expectation of the public. His thorough 
mastery of mechanical science enables him 
easily to detect the slightest flaw and to remedy 
it with dispatch. He gives personal attention 
to every detail of the plant, is untiring in his 
efforts to make it fully answer the purposes 
for which intended and today there are few 
cities in Ohio with as complete or as ably 
managed water works system as the plant in 
Alliance. Mr. Bracher, by his efficiency and 
devotion to duty, has earned the unbounded 
confidence of the people of his city and his 
tenure in the office he now holds is a matter of 
indefinite period, unless he sees fit to terminate 
it. 

Tlie domestic chapter in the life of ls\v. 
Braclier hears the date of December 24, 1883, 
at which time was solemnized his marriage with 
Miss Catherine Kolb, of Alliance, daughter of 
the late John Kolb, for many years a prominent 
moulder in the emi)loy of the Morgan 
Company, h^our children have been born to 
this anion, three of whom are living, namely: 
Mary, Olive and Blanche, all members of the 
happy home circle. Mr. Bracher is a friend 



of higher education and he has pro\ided his 
children the best advantages in this direction 
the country affords. The oldest daughter, after 
graduating from the Alliance high school, 
entered Mt. Union College, where she is now 
prosecuting her studies with an excellent record 
as a student. She is especially proficient in 
music, having received instructions from the 
best talent in this part of the state and as an 
expert pianist she has but few equals and per- 
haps no superiors in the city of Alliance. Olive, 
the second daughter, is also an alumnus of the 
city high school and a young lady of refined 
tastes and liberal culture. Her musical abili- 
ties are decidedly pronounced and she is now 
recognized as one of the most skillful violinists 
in this part of the country. The youngest 
daughter, like her sisters, is an apt student 
and gives every promise of excelling in her 
literary training and general accomplishments. 
Socially the family occupies a prominent po- 
sition and the different members are popular 
with their associates and useful in their re- 
spective spheres of activit}'. 

Politically Mr. Bracher is an uncompro- 
mising Republican and for some time past he 
has been an influential factor in the party in 
Alliance and Stark county. He served several 
years on the election board but is not himself 
an office seeker, although an active and zealous 
^\■orker for his friends with aspirations in that 
direction. He holds fraternal relations with 
the Masonic and Pythian brotherhoods and in 
religion subscribes to the Presbyterian creed, 
belong'ing to the First church of that denomi- 
nation in Alliance, in wliich he also holds the 
position of trustee. 



HERMAN KLORER was' born January 
26, 1836.' in Endingen, Baden, nermany, the 
son of John Klorer, a prominent grain dealer 
of that city. His mother was also noted for 
her business ability as well as for her high 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



509 



social standing, the family belonging to the 
better class of the populace of Endingen. Her- 
man enjojed the best educational advantages 
his native city afforded, completing the pre- 
scribed course of the public schools and subse- 
quently pursuing his studies in high institu- 
tions of learning until becoming a finished 
scholar. When a young man he turned his at- 
tention to business pursuits and continued the 
same in Paris, France, for a number of years, 
meeting with success in his undertakings. 
With the object in view of finding a broader 
field and better opportunities, he finally left 
his native land and came to the United States, 
proceeding direct to Canton, Ohio, whither a 
cousin by the name of Joseph Biechele had pre- 
ceded him by some years. After spending 
about three years in various kinds of business, 
Mr. Klorer became interested in the Berger 
Manufacturing Company, which enterprise he 
helped organize and of which he was elected 
treasurer. He took an active part in promot- 
ing the company's interests and making it one 
of the leading industrial establishments of the 
city and to his able and judicious financial 
management is largely due the success which 
has marked its history from inception to the 
present time. Mr. Klorer held the important 
position of treasurer as long as he lived and 
discharged his ofiicial functions in such a man- 
ner as to gain the implicit confidence of all 
connected with the concern. He was also' a 
large stockholder in the enterprise and at the 
time of his death owned a third interest in the 
company. He was an accomplished business 
man not only as a skillful accountant, familiar 
with every detail of his position, but possessed 
executive ability which proved of great value 
in the management of aft'airs of the enterprise. 
Mr. Klorer was twice married, the first time 
in Canton to Miss Marie Ruska and, after her 
death, to Miss Rosa Lang, who survives him. 
He was independent in his political views, but 
generally voted with the Democratic party on 



national issues; although a great admirer and 
warm friend of the late President McKinley, 
whom he supported for the office of chief ex- 
ecutive. Among his German fellow citizens of 
Canton, he was largely a moulder of opinion 
and, irrespective of nationality, the people of 
the city held him in the highest personal re- 
gard. By reason of failing health, superin- 
duced by too close application to business 
affairs, Mr. Klorer, in 1897, made a trip to 
Europe, hoping thereby to regain his wornout 
physical energies. This proved a fruitless 
quest, as he died in August of that year in the 
city of Munich, from which place his remains 
^vere taken to his former home in Baden and 
laid to rest in the burial ground of his ances- 
tors. Thus, at the age of sixty-one, passed away 
a manly man who had lived a useful life, 
achieved a large measure of success and made 
the world better by his presence. His name is 
sacredly enshrined in the memory of those with 
whom he mingled, both in his native land and 
the country of his adoption, and the record of 
an honorable, well-spent life is his most endur- 



HILLGREEN, LANE & COMPANY.— 
The city of Alliance offers great inducerrients 
for the prosecution of industries of wide scope 
and importance and in particular to manu- 
facturing enterprises, by reason of available 
supply resources, desirable facilities and ready 
fostering. That these advantages are recog- 
nized and appreciated in a practical way is 
shown in the securing to the city of so cele- 
brated an institution as that conducted by the 
firm whose name initiates this paragraph, — 
an institution which contributes a large quota 
to the prestige and material prosperity of the 
city and county. An industry of magnitude and 
with management all that experience and sci- 
ence can offer, it is assuredly not inconsistent 
that in this work be incorporated definite men- 



,io 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tioii of the magnificent enterprise conducted by 
Hillgreen, I.anc & Company in the manufac- 
ture of the iiigliest type of that most noble of 
all instruments, the pipe organ, and in con- 
nection we cannot do better than to enter in 
complete form an ai-ticle appearing in the Alli- 
ance Daily Leader of September 23, 1902 : 

"Perhaps no institution in Alliance develops 
abroad a more desirable phase of reputation 
for our city tlian that of Hillgreen, Lane & 
Company, whose organs are being constantly 
installed in the leading churches of our, land. 
With large financial resources and with every 
facility that experience can dictate and capital 
obtain, this firm have taken a position in the 
very forefront of the trade. Their factory here 
is one of the largest and most complete estab- 
lishments in the Lhiited States for the building 
of pipe organs. Jn the splendid brick structure 
erected by the Alliance Building Company and 
purchased later by Hillgreen, Lane & Company, 
are constructed all the component parts of the 
king of instruments. Artisans have been 
brought together from the four corners of the 
earth for the carrying on of this art industry. 
Skilled lalx)r of the most specific type is re- 
quired for the work. Only men of special ap- 
titudes, trained under long and rigorous ap- 
prenticeship, ;u-e available here. Perhaps in 
no branch of mechanical industry is a higher 
degree of intelligence demanded of employes. 
So correlated are the various parts of the in- 
strument, so interdependent all the divisions of 
the work of that function of every detail in re- 
lation to the general organism must l)e under- 
stood and intelligently treated. 

"Looking upon the completed instrument, 
with its numberless daintily constructed motor 
valves, its interminal)le wilderness of tubing, 
its complexity of mechanical construction, and 
its thousands of tuneful pipes that only wait 
the touch of some master at the keys that they 
mav utter their strains divine, one feels hat 
here the limit of mechanical effort has been 



reached and that beyond lie Art and the realm 
of Soul. 

"One source of surprise to the visitor at the 
factory is the wide variety of materials em- 
pluyed in the wcjrk'. Tribute is levied upon the 
wilds of Africa for ivory and upon the forests 
of ^\sia for their ebony. Central and South 
America pay their toll of mahogany, cocobolo 
and rosewood, while a score of indigenous trees 
contribute to the list. The mineral kingdom 
adds its iron, brass, lead, zinc, tin, gold and 
silver, — in tiny spring or heavy casting, in 
tube of pipe or ornament, all serve somewhere 
in the complicated anatomy of the instrument. 
Leathers, too, perform an important function 
in organ building. We were shown skins 
wrought to the softness and thinness of silken 
fal)rics, bleached to the snowy whiteness or dyed 
to the richest shades. Deer thong, rawhide, 
sheepskin, sole leather and cordo^■an, — all are 
employed. 

"Not the least interesting department of the 
work is that in which the metal sheets are cast 
from which the tin and 'spotted metal' pi])es are 
formed. The crude but effective process em- 
ployed in this casting is said to have impro\ed 
but slightly during the past three centuries. In 
a caldron mer a specially constructed stove or 
furnace, the metals, mi.xed in the required pro- 
portions, are melted. On a long table of stone, 
set to a perfectly level surface, over which is 
tightly stretched a sheet of linen treated with 
a paint of soapstone, the metal is spread. A 
wooden matrix or mould of the width of the 
table receives the molten mass from the cruci- 
ble. From the bottom of this receptacle the 
metal is jiermitted to issue as it is passed with 
appropriate speed along the table. The aper- 
ture through A\liich the metal escapes can be 
regulated with a thumb screw, and sheets of 
metal can l)e obtained in varying thickness, 
from that of a sheet of writing paper to that of 
the heaviest cardboard. As the metal in this 
attenuated fnnn hardens immediately u])on be- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



51' 



ing exposed to the air, there is of course no 
further running. The result of this process — 
a clothhke sheet of beautiful metal — is then 
rolled up as a scroll, to wait the manipulations 
of the pipe makers and the voicers. We were 
shown pipes having a speaking length of scarce- 
ly a quarter of an mch, and of diameter less than 
that of the ordinary commercial lead pencil. 
Contrasting with these were others, in the 
great assembling room of the factory, having a 
length of eighteen or twenty feet and through 
the ample hollows of which a man could 
comfortably pass. Wood is also used in the con- 
struction of organ pipes, the heavier or more 
pervading tones of the instrument being usually 
olitained from pipes of this material. 

"The pipes of an organ, we learn, are 
fashioned in similitude of the human vocal 
apparatus, — palate, lips, cheeks, teeth and lungs 
have each a counterpart. The distinctive 
qualities of tone desired are obtained not only 
by assigning particular sizes and shapes to the 
pipes but also by means of definite though deli- 
cate manipulations of the palate, teeth, cheeks 
and lips. Upon this process the voicer depends 
for differentiating the tones into string, flute, 
organ or reed qualities, and upon his success 
in this work depends largely the merit of the 
instrument. In the voicing room the organ has, 
in a sense, 'breathed into its nostrils the breath 
of life,' for here its voices first break from the 
dead eternity of silence into the world of life 
and song. In the churches of the cities of 
many states of the Union the instruments of 
this firm are constantly ministering to the 
people with the benedictions of their throb- 
bing chords and the caressings of their gentler 
melodies. Horace Bushnell once said : 'Im- 
agine the great singer of Israel and the vast 
company of the Levites hearing for the first 
time in the temple of God a newly invented 
organ. What emotions roll over his soul and 
the souls of his great choir of performers! 
He rises and goes forth saving: "I will alter 



now my psalms. I will say no more of 
trumpets and cornets. I will call no more for 
psalteries and instruments of ten string's. But 

this is the instrument of God. 

This firm consists of Messrs. Alfred Hill- 
green, Charles A. Lane and S. J. Williams. 
Business was commenced in the spring of 1898 
in y\.lliance, the firm being organized the same 
year under the name appearing at the head of 
this article. They had not before that time been 
engaged in the business and the growth of the 
enterprise has been simply mar\-elous. The 
firm is in no wav connected with any other 



organ building concern. 



JOHN A. ROACH, M. D.— The family 
which Dr. Roach represents is an old one, as 
his great-grandfather, Peter Roach, a native 
of Ireland, took passage on the first vessel that 
sailed from Cork after the American struggle 
for independence and, reaching the shores of 
the new world in due time, settled in Berks 
county, Pennsylvania. After spending a num- 
ber of years in that state, the above Peter re- 
moved to Columbiana county, Ohio, where he 
purchased land and developed a farm on which 
he spent the remainder of his clays as an in- 
dustrious tiller of the soil. Samuel Roach, 
son of Peter, was born in Pennsylvania, and 
when a }'outh accompanied his parents to 
Columbiana county. Ohio, where he grew to 
manhood's estate. He, too, was an agricultur- 
ist and devoted his active years to farming, 
realizing therefrom an ample competence for 
his old age. He married, near Carrollton, Miss 
Mary Biles and spent a number of years in the 
vicinity of that town, subsequently removing 
to Stark county, where he died after reaching 
the advanced age of four score years. His 
father was also past eighty when he died and 
the family from a remote period has been noted 
for longevity. 

Jason Roach, son of Samuel and Mary 



512 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Roach, was born June 22. 1S29, about six 
miles east of Carroliton, Oliio. and wlien an in- 
fant was brought to Stark county, his father 
carrying him the greater part of tlie way to 
the new home at RobertsviHe. where the family 
settled. When a young man Jason Roach went 
to Paris, where he learned cabinetmaking and 
ornamental painting, and after finishing his 
trades attended for some time the seminary at 
Marlboro, with the object in view of fitting 
hunself for some other calling. Later he be- 
gan the study of medicine at Augusta and after 
prosecuting the same for some }ears engaged in 
the practice of his profession, continuing the 
same with a large measure of success until 
1885. when he wound up his business and re- 
tired to Alliance, where he is now spending the 
e\ening of a long and useful life. Jason Roach 
served in the late war as a member of Company 
F, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment 
Ohio Volunteers, enlisting in 1862 and partici- 
pating in a number of battles. Before being 
assigned to the hospital service, some time later, 
he signalized himself by strict devotion to duty 
in that department and at the expiration of his 
period of enlistment, in August, 1865, was dis- 
charged with an honorable record. Previous 
to the war he took an actixe part in political 
affairs and in 1859 was elected to the legis- 
lature, being the first Republican from his dis- 
trict to serve in that body. He has always been 
a stanch partisan and in addition to his interest 
in politics has held several local official po- 
sitions, including among others, that of justice 
of the peace, in which he served for a period of 
twenty-four years, receiving his first commis- 
sion from Salmon P. Chase, at that time gover- 
nor of Ohio. The maiden name of Mrs. Jason 
Roach was Delila Ashbrook ; she lx)re him two 
sons and two daughters, namely : William M., 
a lawyer practicing his profession in Alliance; 
Olive, wife of David B. Turnipseed, a promi- 
nent business man of the same city; Eva, who 
married Matthew IMcEwing, government agent 



at Crookston, Minnesota, antl the gentleman 
whose name introduces this sketch. 

Dr. John Roach was born in Augusta, 
Carroll county, Ohio, on December 5, 1858. 
After attending school until his twentieth year, 
he spent the ensuing five years as a teacher, 
meanwhile, on attaining his majority, taking 
up the study of medicine under the direction 
of his father and prosecuting the same when 
not engaged in educational work, until entering 
the medical department of the Western Reserve 
University in 1882. He was graduated from 
that institution after two years of laborious 
study and had the distinction of serving as 
treasurer of the class which completed the 
course in 1884. 

After his graduation. Dr. Roach opened an 
ofifice in Sherrodsville. where he practiced until 
1886, when he closed out his business there 
and chose a larger and more promising field 
in the city of Alliance. Since locating in the 
city the Doctor's professional career has been 
a distinguished one and he now stands in rank 
with the leading physicians and surgeons of 
northeastern Ohio. His success has been com- 
mensurate with his ability and energy and, as 
stated in a preceding paragraph, his eminent 
services in the line of surgery have won him 
more than a state reputation. 

Personally, Dr. Roach is a refined gentle- 
man of pleasing address and agreeable man- 
ners and he impresses all with whom he comes 
in contact as possessing wide intelligence, 
liberal culture and remarkable strength of 
character. He belongs to the various medical 
organizations, local, state and national, and 
is also a Mason of high degree, being identi- 
fied with Blue Lodge No. 271 ; Alliance 
Chapter No. 83, Royal Arch Masons, in which 
he is now serving as high priest; Salem Com- 
mandeiy No. 42, Knights Templar; Emeth 
Grand Lodge of Perfection, at Canton, and 
the Al Koran Temple, Cleveland. He is one 
of the leading members of the Benevolent and 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



515 



Protectixc Order of Elks in Alliance and 
served as iirst exalted ruler of Lodge No. 467. 
In politics the Doctor is an unwa\ering Re- 
publican and while not a partisan in the strict 
sense of the term, he takes an active interest in 
the welfare of his party and has great influence 
in its councils. Religiously he adheres to the 
faith of the Christian (or Disciple) church and 
is one of the leading members of that com- 
munication in Alliance. 

In the year 1880 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Dr. Roach and i\Iiss ]\Iargaret A. 
Dunlap, of Salineville, Ohio, the issue of which 
is one daughter by the name of Rhea, who with 
her parents constitutes an unbroken domestic 
circle. 



JACOB E. McFADDEN, who is one of 
the well known and highly esteemed citizens 
of Alliance, is incumbent of the responsible 
position of supervisor of bridges and buildings 
for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He 
was born near \V'ilmington, Delaware, on the 
15th of b'ebruary, 1847. being a son of Israel 
and Esther (Young) McEadden, of whose ten 
children six are living at the present time, 
namely : Charles, who is a retired farmer, re- 
siding in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania ; Mercer, 
who is a farmer of Chester county, that state ; 
Jacob E., who is the immediate subject of this 
sketch; Henry A., who resides in New Bright- 
on, Pennsylvania, and who is a foreman on the 
road under the direction of our subject ; Joseph, 
who is a contractor of Little Rock, Arkansas : 
and Rosanna. who is the wife of Thomas Davis, 
of West Grove, Pennsylvania. The paternal 
great-grandfather of the subject came from 
Scotland to the United States, while the par- 
ents of his paternal grandmother came from 
England, their name Ijeing Mercer. She was 
distantly related to General ]\Iercer, of Revo- 
lutionary fame. 

Israel McEadden was reared in Chester 

32 



county, Pennsylvania, where he was born, and 
upon attaining manhood he engaged in the» 
manufacture of woolen goods, continuing to 
operate woolen mills during his entire active 
business career. Shortly after his marriage he 
removed to the state of Delaware, but after a 
short interval he returned to Chester county, 
Pennsylvania, while later he remo\ed to 
Georgetown, Lancaster county, that state, 
where he died at the venerable age of eighty- 
two years. He was originally a Whig in poli- 
tics but after the organization of the Republican- 
party he gave his support to the same until 
his death. He was never an office-seeker but 
was c[uite active in local politics and was a man 
of ability and sterling character. His wife was- 
likewise born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, 
her parents having emigrated thither from Ger- 
many. She is now deceased. 

Jacob E. McEadden, subject of this re\iew, 
remained at the parental home until he was 
fourteen years of age, his educational advant- 
ages being such as were afforded in the com- 
mon schools. At the age noted he secured a 
position on a farm, where he remained about 
two years, and in August, 1862, when not vet 
sixteen years of age, he enlisted as a private in 
Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for service in the 
Civil war. He continued to serve in the ranks 
for nine months and was then detailed as a 
member of the construction department, and in 
this capacity he continued to serve until the 
close of the war. He participated in the battles 
of Antietam, South Moimtain and Chancellors- 
ville, and at the last named point, on the 3d of 
May, 1863, he was captured by the eneni}- and 
was held in Libby and Belle Isle prisons about 
thirty days. During this time his term of en- 
listment expired and upon his release he Avas 
employed by the government in the construction 
of bridges, repairing railroads, etc., as implied 
in a foregoing statement. 

After the close of the war the subject had 



514 



OLD LANDMARKS 



no regular employment for nearlj' a year, and 
he then accepted a position with the Keystone 
Bridge Company, of Pittsburg. He worked 
but a brief time for this concern before there 
came a recognition of his superior ability and 
his fidelity, and he was made superintendent of 
bridge construction. He continued in the em- 
ploy of this company about fourteen years, at 
the expiration of which he was tendered and 
accepted his present position, in which he has 
since continued to render most discriminating 
and satisfactory service. In politics Mr. Mc- 
Fadden is a stanch advocate of the. principles 
and policies of the Republican party and fra- 
ternally he has risen to high degrees in the 
Masonic order, being a member of Conrad 
Lodge No. 271, Free and Accepted Masons; 
Alliance Chapter No. 83, Royal Arch Masons ; 
Salem Council, Royal and Select Masters, and 
Salem Commandery No. 42, Knights Templar; 
and also of Elida Lodge of Perfection, in Can- 
ton ; Lake Erie Consistory, of the Ancient Ac- 
cepted Scottish Rite, in Cleveland, and Al 
Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine, in that 
city, while he is also identified with Alliance 
Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks. 

On the 1 6th of July, 1878, Mr. McFadden 
■was united in marriage to Miss Frances E. 
Billings, of Athol, Massachusetts. They have 
no children. 



FRANCIS M. REED.— A worthy repre- 
sentative of one of the sterling pioneer fami- 
lies of Stark county and incumbent of the re- 
sponsible position of superintendent of the Can- 
ton city parks, Mr. Reed well merits recogni- 
tion in this compilation, which has to do with 
those who have been the founders and build- 
ers of his native county and the conservators 
of its progress and prosperity. Mr. Reed was 
born in Osnahurg township. Stark coun- 
ty, on the -ith of No^'embcr. 1857, and 



as a boy he began to lend his aid in 
the manifold duties pertaining to the 
work of the farm, while he conned his lessons 
in the district schools during the winter months, 
thus laying the foundation for the excellent 
fund of information and practical knowledge 
which he has since gained through the associa- 
tions and experience of an active and useful 
career. His father, John Emory Reed, was a 
cooper by trade, and was a native of Osna- 
hurg township. Stark county, Ohio, where he 
was born July 9, 1834. His death occurred 
in Pike township, this county, January 12, 
1866, at which time the subject was in his 
ninth year. The maiden name of the subject's 
mother was Amanda Smith. She was born in 
Pike township. Stark county, December 20, 
1838, the daughter of John Smith, one of Stark 
county's old and respected pioneers. She still 
resides on her father's old homestead in Pike 
township. To John E. and Amanda Reed were 
liorn three children. Emeretta, Mary A. and 
Francis M., the subject of our sketch, the eldest 
of the family. He remained at home until his 
twenty-fourth year, when he came to Canton, 
and took up the trade of carpenter and also 
that of stationary engineering, while in his boy- 
hood he had secured no little facility as a coop- 
er, through working in his father's shop, so 
that he was not ill prepared to assume the inde- 
pendent work of life upon attaining years of 
maturity. In 1881 he came to Canton, and here 
for a term of years he worked as a carpenter 
during the summer months, while during the 
winters he found employment as a stationary 
engineer, thus jiutting his technical knnwledge 
to practical and effective use. For seven years 
he held the position of janitor of the North 
Cherry street school house, and in 1894 he was 
appointed to the office of superintendent of the 
public parks of the city, in which capacity he 
continued until May 4, 1903. During former 
years he had gi\-en no little attention to garden- 
ing, and this experience, together with his 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



5^5 



knowledge of carpentering and engineering, 
made him peculiarly eligible for this prefer- 
ment. He fully demonstrated the wisdom of 
the choice made in selecting him for the office, 
and under his direction the beautiful park sys- 
tem of the city was greatly improved, while 
everything about the same shows the careful 
and scrupulous attention paid to keeping the 
parks in the best of order and rendering them 
attractive. Mr. Reed showed marked discrimi- 
nation and enthusiastic interest in his work, and 
that his efforts were not lacking popular and 
official appreciation is evident from his long re- 
tention as superintendent. He has a pleasant 
home at i6ig East Lake street, where he has 
a small green house, in which he propagates 
many choice varieties of flowering plants and 
shrubs. In politics he is independent and fra- 
ternally he is a prominent member of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Foresters, being identified 
with both the lodge and the Uniform Rank, in 
which latter he is past court deputy. 

On the 27th of September, 1883, in Canton, 
Mr. Reed was united in marriag^e to Miss Mary 
E. Frease, who was born in Washington coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, May 9, 1858, being a daugh- 
ter of George and Caroline (Saxton) Frease, 
and of this union two children were born, 
Harry E., wlio remains at the parental home, 
and Lester W., \\^lio died at the age of two 
years. 

John Smith, the maternal grandfather of 
the subject, was a member of one of the early 
pioneer families of Stark county, having re- 
moved hither from Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, in company with his parents, in the 
early years of the nineteenth century, being a 
mere child at the time. He was born in Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, in 1800, and he 
was reared to manhood in Stark county, Ohio, 
where he passed practically his entire life, his 
death occurring on the old homestead, in Pike 
township, in 1888. William Reed, the paternal 
grandfather, came to Stark countv with his 



father in the early days, having been born in 
Pennsylvania, where the family was estab- 
lished in the colonial epoch, and he located land 
in 0.snaburg township, where he improved a 
farm and where he passed the remainder of 
his life, passing away at advanced age, as did 
also his devoted wife, whose maiden name was 
Nancy Engle. 



JOSEPH CALMELAT.— The subject of 
this review, who is the present superintendent 
of streets of the city of Canton, is a native son , 
of Stark county, and in both the paternal and 
maternal lines is a representative of loyal and 
eminently sterling French stock, the former of 
whom were old established families of Bratan. 
and the latter of Romania, France, both fami- 
lies prominently identified with the annals 
of 'this section of the Lhiited States from the 
early pioneer epoch. 

The subject is a son of Peter Claude 
Calmelat, who was born in the province of Al- 
sace, France, which is now a portion of the 
German empire, the date of his nativity having 
been April 19, 1819. He was a son of John 
and Katherine Calmelat, and in 1833, when 
he was thirteen years of age, the family enji- 
grated to America, all of the children having 
been born in France. They landed in New York 
city, and thence came on to Stark county, Ohio, 
and located on a farm at Rome, Nimishillen 
township, where the majority of the French 
settlers had established their homes. There 
John Calmelat and his wife passed the remain- 
der of their lives. Peter C. Calmelat grew to 
manhood on the homestead farm and received a 
common school education. In his youth he 
learned the carpenter trade, to which he con- 
tinued to devote his attention for a number of 
years. He married Miss Magdalene Hadet, 
the only child of Jacob Hadet. She was born in 
France and there her mother died when she 
was but two years old. Her father afterwards 



5i6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



left her in care of his sister and came to the 
United States to' seek a h(jine. He undoubtedly 
came directly to Stark county, knowing of the 
settlements of his countrymen in this section. 
He finally purchased a farm in the vicinity of 
the village of Louisville, and some time after- 
wards returned to France for his daughter, the 
mother of the subject, and after returning 
subsequently consummated a second marriage, 
being united with Miss Madalene Calmclat, an 
elder sister of the father of the subject, so 
that the relationship of the two families has 
become doubly intimate. As already noted, 
the mother of the subject was the only 
child of the iirst marriage, and of the second 
two children were born, n^amely : ]\Iary, who 
is the widow of a Mr. Bournicat, who was 
drowned while crossing the Atlantic, the boat 
on which he had taken passage having gone 
to the Ixjttom of the sea ; she now resides in 
Louisville, this county ; and Frances, who died 
in her girlhood. 

After this marriage Peter Claude Calmelat 
took up his residence at Louisville, where he 
continued in the work of his trade for a time, 
and later was similarly engaged in Buftalo, 
New York. He soon returned to Louisville, 
however, where his death occurred March lo. 
1898, at the age of .seventy-nine years and 
eleven months, honored by all who knew him. 
His wife, who was Ixirn on the 19th of April, 
1823. also died in Louisville, May 8, 1884. Lt 
the following- paragraph mention is made of 
their children. 

Nicholas, who was born in Rome, this 
county, was there reared to the age of twenty 
years, having recejved a common school edu- 
cation, and he then went to Fort Wayne, Indi- 
ana, where he found eniplnNincnt in the car 
shops, and became an expert car-builder. Li 
that city he married Miss Augustine LaCraw, 
and later removed to Chicago, Illinois, where he 
took charge of the building department of the 
South Side Street Railway Company, eventu- 



ally becoming general manager, while he was 
the invent(jr of many improxements in con- 
nection with car building, securing patents on 
many of his devices. Later he became incum- 
bent of a responsible position in the empluv 
of the Pullman Palace Car Company, at Pull- 
man, Illinois. While in Fort W'ayne he was 
joined by his brtjther Jacob, and in 1869 they 
went to the gold fields of California, eventually 
returning to Chicago to take up the work 
already noted. From that city he finally went 
to Seattle, Washington, where his death oc- 
curred. Jacob Calmelat, the second of the chil- 
dren of Peter C. Calmelat, was also born in 
Rome, this county, and, as already noted, went 
west with his elder brother and passed some 
time in the guld fields of California. Later he 
went to Arizona and from there, in 1S71. t(i 
old Mexico,' prospecting for gold, arriving there 
with but ten cents in his pocket. He securcfl 
employment in a Hour mill owned by an 
American, and several years later bought the 
mill, which he operaterl until 1885, when he 
disposed of the propertv and returned to his 
home in Stark county for a visit witli his 
famil}-. On his return to ^lexico he purchased 
an immense ranch, the same being twelve miles 
in length and six m width, in the slate of 
Sonora. which lies along the gulf of California, 
and there he still resides, having his ranch 
finelv stocked and conducting his operations on 
an extensi\-e scale, hr.ank'. who was burn in 
Plain township, this conntv, resides at the old 
home in Louisville. I''elicia, who was burn in 
Louis\ille, is the wife of James Gallagher, of 
Canton. Joseph, the subject of this sketch, w'as 
the next m order of birth. Peter died at the 
age of twentv-eight vears. l^ouis died in in- 
fanc\'. as tlid also two other children. 

Joseph Calmelat was born in Louisville, 
Stark county, Ohio, on the J9th of June. 1859. 
and his educational discipline was received in 
the public ;uul ])arochial schools of his native 
village. In 1873 his father, who was em- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



5'7 



pl(j}'e'l 111 railroad work, had liis hand Ijadly 
crushed, wliile his son Frank met with a 
similar accident a few weeks later, necessi- 
tating- amputation of the member. The rail- 
road C(jmpany, soon after this sent a represent- 
ative to the home and asked tha-t the subject, 
thijugh only fourteen \-ears of age, be allowed 
to take his father's place. He was thus com- 
pelled to cut short his school work and to as- 
sume heavy responsibilities. He was put to 
Wdi'k on a wrecking train, and his labors were 
of arduous character, such as loading gravel 
trains, handling steel rails, etc. The ambition 
of the }"outh was slio^^n in the fact that after 
a hard day's work he would devote the even- 
ing til studv, aiming to keep in touch with the 
progress made by his former classmates. He 
continued to be thus ein]:)loyed until 1877, on 
Novemlier 7th of which year he went to the 
city i)f Chicago, realizing that he must find 
employment which Avould offer him a chance 
for ad\'ancement, if he hoped to be other than 
a commi in laborer. He was taken ill in Chi- 
cago-, and his eldest brother advised him to 
seek outside employment. He accordingly se- 
cured a position as driver on the street car lines 
of that city, horses being utilized at that time. 
He continucfl tii be thus engaged about three 
years and then worked at the harnessmaking 
trade about two years in that city, having 
previousl}' served a partial apprenticeship at 
r.ouisville, Ohio. During these two years he 
continued his educational work under private 
tutors. In 1881 he returned to his iiati\'e town, 
where, on the 13th of October, of the same 
year, he was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie 
Rallay, who was born in Louisville, this county, 
being a daughter of T^eonard and Frances 
(Jillotl Baliay. .After his marriage he re- 
turned \vith his bride to Chicago, where he con- 
tinued in the work of his trade for the follow- 
ing three months, at the expiratiim of which 
time he again returned to I^ouisvillc. where he 
engaged in the harness and saddlerv business 



on his own responsibility, building up a good 
trade and continuing the enterprise until 1884, 
when he came to Canton, where he was em- 
ployed by the street railway company until 
April of the following year, when he took the 
position of plow inspector in the works of the 
Bucher-Gibbs Company, retaining this in- 
cumbency until 1888, after which he was in the 
employ of the Gilliam Manufacturing Company 
until August, 1890. In the meanwhile, in 1886, 
he took up the study of law in the office of 
W'ana & Bow, of this citv, and continued to 
devote his leisure time to technical reading in 
this line until 1890. He had been frugal and 
economical during these years of close appli- 
cation to work and had accumulated a small 
financial surplus, which he ni>w determined 
to devote to the supplementing of his education- 
al discipline. He was matriculated in Mount 
Union College in the fall of 1890, and there 
completed a three years course in special 
branches. He then passed a few months as 
salesman in the china and crockery store of 
Bour Brothers, in Canton, but his health be- 
came so impaired as to render it expedient for 
him to again seek outdoor employmeiTt. In the 
autumn of 1894 he again entered the employ 
of the Gilliam Manufacturing Company, re- 
maining with them until April, 1898, when he 
was elected justice of the peace, as candidate of 
the Democratic party. He served one term and 
refused a re-nomination. On the expiration of 
his term, in .April, 1901, he was appointed as- 
I sistant street commissioner, by David Sommer, 
the commissioner, and the appointment was 
duly confirmed by the council, and in this 
capacity he continuetl until the 4th of May, 
1903, when under tlie new law, he was ap- 
pointed by the board of public service to his 
present office, and in both has rendered effec- 
tive service. Iii politics he has ever given an 
unqualified allegiance to the Democratic part]', 
and his religicius faith is that of the Catliolic 
church, in which he was reared and of which 



518 



OLD LANDMARKS 



his wife is a communicant. They have one 
child, Gladys ^lercedes, who was born in Louis- 
ville, this county, on the 2ist of July, 1891, 
and who is now attending the public schools. 



JOHN MATTI is a nati\e of Switzerland, 
where he was boni in October, 1850, being a 
son of Emanuel and Catherine (Smith) Matti, 
the latter of whom died when the subject was 
a child of but four years, while he was eighteen 
years of age when his father passed away. He 
had received his educational training in the 
schools of his native canton and continued to 
assist his father in the work of the home farm 
and also learned the art of cheesemaking under 
his effective direction. In 1870, two years 
after the death of his father, being' entirely 
dependent upon his own resources and feeling 
assured that the United States would afford 
superior opportunities for the attaining of a 
position of independence through individual 
effort, Mr. Alatti emigrated to America, land- 
ing at Castle Garden, New York, and thence 
coming to Holmes county, Ohio, and locating 
in the village of Black Creek, where he at once 
set about finding an occupation which would 
aft'ord him a living. He secured employment 
on the construction work of the Cleveland, 
Mount Vernon & Columbus Railroad, and 
continued in this work for a period of about 
sixteen months, at the expiration of which he 
came to the city of Alliance, Stark county, 
where, for about the same length of time, he 
was employed in the steel-rolling mill, and 
then hired out as a farm hand in the vicinity. 
However, he found it impossible to maintain 
amicable relations with his eniployer and a 
short time later secured work at cheesemaking, 
being employed on salary for one year and 
then, in the autumn of 1874. he returned to 
Switzerland to collect a sum of money there 
due him and also to transact other business. 
After giving his attention to these affairs he 



invested his money in merchandise of varied 
kinds, for which he believed he could find a 
ready and profitable sale m the United States, 
and with the same he embarked for the return 
voyage, on the French steamship "Europe," 
and when the boat was about mid-ocean, having 
passed through heavy seas and been irreparably 
damaged, it v/ent to the bottom, the passengers 
escaping in the small boats but losing practically 
all their possessions, Mr. Matti having nothing 
but the clothes which he was wearing at the 
time. The imperiled passengers were finally 
rescued by another vessel and in due time 
reached their destination in New York city. Mr. 
Matti forthwith returned to Ohio and located 
in Columbiana county, where he engaged in 
the manufacture of cheese on his own respon- 
sibility, having contracted for milk from vari- 
ous farmers prior to going abroad. A year later 
he came again to Stark county and located on 
the farm adjoining his present homestead on 
the south, and here he successfully continued 
the manufacturing of cheese for the ensuing 
three years, carefully conserving his resources 
and beginning to descry the dawning of defi- 
nite prosperity as the reward for his assiduous 
and well directed efforts. At the expiration of 
the period noted he removed to the village of 
New Berlin, where he continued in the same 
line of industry, securing milk from the farm- 
ers of the vicinity and ever giving most scru- 
pulous care to the process of manufacturing, 
so that the superior products of his establish- 
ment found a ready demand on the markets. 
There he made his headquarters for an inter- 
val of eleven years, and simultaneously main- 
tained two branch factories at other points, 
employing capable persons to conduct the prac- 
tical work of the same. In 1889 he purchased 
his present homestead farm, of one hundred and 
eighty-five acres, in Marlboro township, and 
about three years later he effected the purchase 
of eighty acres lying contiguous on the north, 
so that his landed estate now comprises two 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



519 



hundred and sixty-five acres. He has made 
excellent improvements on the places, includ- 
ing the erection of two large and substantial 
modern barns, and his land is maintained under 
a most effective state of cultivation, being- 
devoted to diversified agriculture, while he 
has also devoted no little attention to the rais- 
ing of high-grade live stock, especially hogs, 
and has also continued the manufacture of 
cheese upon a somewhat extensive scale, the 
insistent demands for his products in the line 
rendering it expedient for him to continue 
the enterprise. He has been progressive in 
his ideas. e\-er energetic and indefatigable in Ms 
labors, annnated by the most sturdy integrity 
of purpose. In politics Mr. Matti gives his 
support to the Democracy so far as national 
issues are involved, but in local affairs he is 
liberal in his views. 

In 1873 Mr. Matti was united in marriage 
to Miss Louisa Halde, who was born in Switz- 
erland, being a daughter of Jacob Halde, who 
emigrated thence to the United States. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Matti have been born eleven children, 
of whom the following eight are living : Emma, 
John, Mary, Flora, Ella, Hulda, William and 
Caroline. 



REUBEN WISE SHRIVER, dealer in 
agricultural implements and all kinds of ma- 
chinery, is one of the leading business men of 
New Baltimore, and his reputation as a suc- 
cessful salesman has given him wide publicity 
throughout Stark and adjoining counties. Mr. 
Shriver is a native of Portage county, Ohio, 
and the son of Elias and Eliza (Wise) Shriver, 
both parents descended from old families of 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, the former born 
about 1818 in Canton township, the latter in 
1821, one mile east of Middlebranch. These 
parents spent their lives in the state of their 
birth, the father dying in 1890, the mother 



in 18S9, both being buried in the cemetery at 
Marlboro. 

Reuben Wise Shriver was born August 10, 
1856, in Randolph township, and at the proper 
age entered a select school at Randolph, which 
he attended until his sixteenth year, the mean- 
while of summer seasons assisting his father in 
cultivating the farm. He devoted his attention 
to agriculture during his youth and young 
manhood, and after attaining his majority con- 
tinued its pursuit as his principal vocation until 
1901, at which time he moved to New Balti- 
more and engaged in the sale of agricultural 
machinery. Mr. Shriver has built up a lu- 
crative business in the handling of farm ma- 
chinery and in:plements, and at this time com- 
mands as extensive trade in these as any man 
in the county. He represents some of the larg- 
est companies in the United States, notably 
among which are the Bucher-Gibbs Plow Com- 
pany, of Canton, the Thomas Manufacturing 
Company, of Springfield, Ohio, the Piano Man- 
ufacturing Company, of Chicago, D. Y. Hal- 
lock & Son, York, Pennsylvania, besides hand- 
ling the products of many other leading con- 
cerns. In his capacity of salesman he has vis- 
ited every locality in Stark county, in addition 
to which his territory includes large portions 
of the counties adjacent thereto, the volume of 
his business being so great at certain seasons 
as to require the help of a number of assistants 
to set up the machinery, which he sells. A man 
of sound business sense, clear judgment, keen 
sagacity and possessing executive ability of a 
high order, he seldom fails in any of his plans 
and foresees with remarkable clearness the fu- 
ture outcome of present action. While highly 
regarded as a safe, reliable and eminently hon- 
orable business man, he is also respected as a 
citizen, being greatly esteemed in the commun- 
ity of his residence, throughout the county and 
wherever known. 

Mr. Shriver is a Republican in politics and. 



520 



OLD LANDMARKS 



like all intelligent and enterprising citizens, 
manifests a liNX'l)- interest in the qnestions of 
the day, keeping himself well informed rela- 
tive thereto. He is identified with the Macca- 
bees fraternity, and belongs to the Christian 
chnrch of New Baltimore, his children also 
being members nf the same congregation. 

Mr. Shriver was married, in 1884, to Miss 
Bertha D. Maxwell, whose birth occurred in 
Portage county, three miles east of Randolph, 
in the year 1861. Her parents, John and Elsie 
Maxwell, were members of old and highly 
respected families of Ohio and for many years 
the father followed agriculture for a livelihood, 
as did his ancestors from an early period. Mrs. 
Shriver departed tliis life on April 5, 1901. 
leaving three children, whose names and dates 
of birth are as follows: Ethel L., September 
25, 1885; Ruth E., June 12, 1887, and Milton 
E.. August 28, 1893, '^ll living at home with 
their father, constituting a most agreeable fam- 
il\- circle. 



CORWIX D. BACHTEL.— The Bachtel 
iamih' is one of the oldest and most honoi'ed 
in Stark county, where it was established ninety 
years ago, and the genealogy is fully outlined 
in the exhaustive article appearing on other 
pages of this work and indexed under the title 
of Moses A. Bachtel, the venerable uncle of 
the subject. Corwin 1). Bachtel was born in 
the city of Canton. Stark county, Ohio, cm the 
9th of April. 1862, being a son of John Menry 
and Elizabeth B. (Welch) Bachtel. who now 
reside at 819 Liberty street, this city, where 
they have long maintained their home, the fath- 
er being one of the representative citizens of 
the county. He was born in Pike township, 
this county, on the 25th of November, 1830, 
and in 1832 accompanied his parents on their 
removal to ITuntington county, Indiana, but 
in 1856 he retm^ned to Canton and entered the 
em]>liiy of the .\uUnian Compau}'. with which 



concern he remained for the long period of 
thirty-seven years, being now retired from ac- 
tive business. He was married on the ist of 
January, 1861, to ^^liss Elizabeth B. Welch, 
who was likewise born in this county, and they 
became the parents of two children, Corwin D., 
subject of this review, and Helen, who is now 
a teacher in the shorthand and stenography de- 
partment of the Union school of Canton. 

Corwin D. Bachtel received his educational 
training ni the public schools of Canton, and 
was graduated from the high school in the class 
of 'y^. On the 14th of November of the same 
year he entered the George D. Harter & 
Brother Bank as messenger, and worked his 
way up until he became George D. Harter's 
chief assistant. The death of Mr. Harter oc- 
curred in December, 1890, and the Ij.ank was 
re-organized in 1891', as the George D. Harter 
Bank, of which Mr. Bachtel was elected cashier. 
It was through Mr. Bachtel's efforts that the 
re-organization of the bank was accuniplislicd, 
he securing tiie co-operation of many promi- 
nent financial men of Stark county as directors 
and stockholders. Mr. Bachtel left the George 
D. Harter bank in January, icpo, and almost 
immediately took up the organizalicm of the 
Canton State Bank, which organization was 
under headway, and on May 21. 1900, the 
Canton State Bank began business with Mr. 
Bachtel as the cashier. 

Mr. Bachtel is one of tlie ])iiimlar and 
honored citizens ;ind business men of Canton, 
wliere he has passed his entire life, and where 
he has attained success through his own efforts. 
In politics he is a stanch Repulilican so far 
as state and national issues are in\o]\e(l. but 
in local affairs he maintains an independent at- 
titude. He was a memljer of the board of edu- 
cation from 1894 to 1898, inclnsi\-e, and served 
as tt'easurer of the board for three years and 
also as chairman of its finance committee dur- 
ing a portion of tlie time, having been con- 
tinuouslv a member of saitl committee, while he 




C. D. BACHTEL. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



C.2 I 



was also chairman of the teacher's committee 
for two years and a memher of the ^ame for 
his full term of four years. He has been a 
member of the Simpson Methodist Episcopal 
church from liis boyhood, while he has for 
many years been an officer in the same, serv- 
ing as steward, trustee, etc., and being at the 
present time chairman of the board of trustees, 
and also chairman of the finance committee. 
He has taken a deep interest in all departments 
of the church work, and has long been active 
in its Sunday school, in which he has a class 
at the present time. ^Irs. Bachtel is also a 
zealous and devoted member of the church. 
Fraternally the subject is identified Avith the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having 
been a member of the Nimisella Lodge No. 39, 
for the past twenty years, and also \vith the 
Junior Order of United American Mechanics 
and the Knights of Honor. 

In Canton, on the 17th of September, 1884, 
Mr. Bachtel was united in marriage to ]\Iiss 
Alice S. Stone, who was born in this city, be- 
ing a daughter of William S. and Kate (Bell) 
Stone, who now resides at 1002 West Fourth 
street. Mr. and Mrs. Bachtel have four chil- 
dren, namely: Raymond I., who was born 
August II, 1885, and who is a member of 
the class of 1903 in the Canton high school; 
Kate E., who was born June 13, 1888. and is 
now in her second year in the high school ; 
Arthur D., who was born Feljruary 14, 1894, 
and who is a student in the public schools, as 
is Margaret A., who was born August 9, 1896. 
The family is prominent in the social life of the 
community and I\Ir. Bachtel has well upheld the 
prestige of a name which has long been honored 
in Stark countv. 



WILLIAM E. MELBOURNE.— During 
the dark and bloody epoch of persecution of 
the French Huguenots in the days following 
the revocation of the edict of Nantes, many 



of those unfortunate and noble people fled to 
other lands lor safety and among the number 
were the paternal ancestors of the subject of 
this sketch. They escaped from their native 
land and made their way to the friendly shores 
of Ireland, securing tracts of land in Queens 
county and becoming powerful and influential 
landlords of the Emerald Isle. Lord Mel- 
bourne, whose name is well known in history, 
was a cousin of the grandfather of him whose 
name initiates this sketch. A number of the 
members of the family became members of the 
Society of Friends in Ireland, and of this simple 
and noble faith was John Melbourne, grand- 
father of our subject. John Melbourne mar- 
ried a Miss Colclough. who was a communicant 
of the estalilished church of England, and by 
reason of having married outside the Quaker 
church he was excommunicated and also lost 
his property, though he in time became prosper- 
ous through his own eft'orts and recouped the 
losses of earlier days. He continued to reside 
in Queens county. Ireland, until his death, 
when well advanced in years. 

His son, Henry, father of William E.. was 
born in Queens county, about 1823, and he 
there followed farming and milling and also 
conducted a mercantile business in the town of 
Mount Rath. His wife, whose maiden name 
was Jane Sawyer, was likewise a native of 
Queens county, being a daughter of Frank and 
Catherine (Hugo) Sawyer, the latter being 
likewise of French Huguenot stock and of the 
same family line as the late Victor Hugo. 
Henn- Melbourne died on his old homestead, 
in Queens county, Ireland, in 1896, and there 
his widow still resides, being about eighty years 
of age at the present time. George Melbourne, 
a great-uncle of our subject, was an officer in 
the English army during the Crimean war, and 
during his service had sc\'en horses shot from 
under him, while the name has been of promi- 
nence in civic and public affairs in Ireland for 
several generations. Of the children of Henry 



52^ 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and Catherine (Sawyer) Melbourne we enter 
the following brief record : John, now de- 
ceased, was a resident of Canton and is individ- 
ually mentioned on other pages of this work. 
Matilda is the wife of Thomas Murphy, of 
Cleveland, Ohio. Jane became the wife of 
Arthur Ellis, who was an officer in the English 
army, and after his death she married a Mr. 
Stokes, and they now reside in Australia. 
Elizabeth is the wife of John Kerr, of Water- 
ford, Ireland. Caroline is the widow of John 
Foster, and she resides in the state of Cali- 
fornia. Frank came to America and it is sup- 
posed that he located in the west, the family 
having- lost trace of him. Henry remains on 
the old homestead farm in Ireland. William 
E. is the immediate subject of this review. 
Marian is the wife of a Mr. Mackey, of Pitts- 
burg, Pennsylvania. Emma is the wife of 
John Colclough. George F. S. is the subject 
of an individual sketch appearing elsewhere in 
this work. Herbert and Gertrude were twins, 
the former having died at the age of twenty- 
four years, while the latter remains on the old 
homestead with her venerable mother. 

William E. Melbourne was born on the 
home farm, in Queens county, Ireland, on the 
25th of February, 1862, and was reared under 
the sturdy discipline implied, while his early 
educational training was received in excellent 
public and private schools. At the age of 
twenty years he came to the United States to 
join his brother John, \vho had established a 
home in Canton, and upon his arrival in this 
place the subject entered the employ of his 
brother, who was at that time engaged in the 
erection of the city hall. Under the direction 
of his brother he learned the trade of brick and 
stone mason, and after remaining there between 
two and three years he returned to his home, 
in the Emerald Isle, where he continued to re- 
side for the following five years, at the expi- 
ration of which, in 1889, he returned to 
America and once more took up his abode in 



Canton, where he engaged in contracting and 
building on his own responsibilitj', and here 
he has since continued to be identified with 
this important line of mdustrial activity, while 
he has been concerned in the erection of many 
important buildings in this section. He erected 
the school buildings on East Fourth street and 
Aultman avenue; made extensive repairs on the 
Bass building, which was practically re- 
modeled ; erected the Scherer building, at the 
corner of T'ourth and ^larket streets; the 
county workhouse and the west part of the 
court house, in which lines he saved to the 
county fully thirty thousand dollars in the 
work and incidental transactions. In August, 
1901. he entered into partnership with his 
brother, George F. S., and they ha\-e since 
carried on a large and important contracting 
business under the firm name of Melbourne 
Brothers. In 1901 they erected the building 
of the local electric-light plant; in 1902 built 
the McCurdy block and the afldition to the 
school house on West North street, while at 
the time of this writing the}" have in course of 
construction the Auditorium and Market House 
building, at the corner of Third street and 
Cleveland avenue, this being one of the most 
important contracts awarded in Canton in late 
years. The firm ha^•e the highest reputation 
for ability and correct business methods, and 
their every contract is carried out according to 
specifications and with absolute fidelity to all 
terms of agreement. Our subject is a man of 
distinctive business acumen, is progressive in 
his attitude and is known as one of the leading 
contractors and representative business men of 
Canton. 

In politics Mr. Melbourne advocates the 
principles of the Republican party, to whose 
candidates he usually gives his support, though 
he is not so strongly partisan that he will not 
sunprirt the men and measures appro\-e(l bv his 
judgment simply because they appear in con- 
nection with an opposing ticket. He and his 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



523 



wife are communicants of the Protestant Epis- 
copal church, holding membership in the Can- 
ton Episcopal church, of whose vestry he was 
formerly a member. He became identified 
with the Masonic fraternity while a resident of 
Ireland, and is at the present time affiliated 
with Canton Lodge No. 60. Free and Accepted 
Masons. 

In this city on the 9th of August, 1894, 
Mr. Melbourne was united in marriage to Miss 
Frances E. Waters, who was born and reared 
in Queens county, Ireland, and to this union 
have been born four children : Frances J., Her- 
bert Sidney, William Henry and Mildred Edith. 



WILLIAM Mackenzie.— In the pic- 
turesque town of Glenluce, situated at the head 
of the bay of Luce, in Wigtownshire, the south- 
ernmost county of Scotland, William MacKen- 
zie was ushered into the world on the 23d of 
August, 1857. His parents were both born and 
spent their youth in Wigtownshire. On his 
mother's side all the grandparents sprung from 
a race of Macks, McKies and McKeans, their 
native towns being Newton, Stewart and Wig- 
town. William McKie was a gardener and 
also kept store and hotel in Glenluce for many 
years. He died in Glenluce at the age of sev- 
enty-three. The grandmother, whose maiden 
name was Agnes McKean, died with the chol- 
era at the age of fifty-five years, having taken 
the cholera while nursing a sailor who had 
contracted the disease while returning from a 
foreign trip. 

William MacKenzie, the immediate sub- 
ject of this review, attended the schools of his 
native town until he was about twelve years 
of age, having also devoted as much time as 
possible to prosecuting his studies at home, 
both prior and subsequently to this age. There- 
after he was engaged in selling newspapers, 
acting as messenger boy and doing such other 



work as came to hand until he was fourteen 
years of age, when he secured employment in 
a dry-goods establishment in his native village, 
where he remained four years, gaining a val- 
uable knowledge of business methods and of 
the details of this particular line of enterprise. 
He then secured a position in a large dry-goods 
establishment in the city of Glasgow, being as- 
signed to the dress-goods department and re- 
ceiving forty pounds per year in compensation 
for his services, and continuing" to be connected 
with this emporium for nearly four years. 
While serving his apprenticeship in the business 
in his native town Mr. Mac Kenzie had formed 
the acquaintance of a fellow employe, Robert 
S. Bell, who is his present partner, and the 
acquaintanceship thus made led to their final 
association in business in a locality far distant 
from their native land. In 1877, believing that 
better advantages for attaining independence 
through individual effort were to be found in 
the United States, Mr. MacKenzie, who was 
then twenty-one years of age, erhbarked in 
Glasgow on the steamship Ethiopia, of the 
Anchor line, and set sail for America, landing 
in New York city as a stranger in a strange 
land and with just enough money to pay his 
fare to his destination, the city of Rochester, 
New York, where he had been assured of a po- 
sition in the establishment of Sibley, Lindsay 
& Curr. With this well-known firm he re- 
mained for a period of eighteen months, re- 
ceiving six hundred dollars for his annual sal- 
arv and an honorarium of one hundred dollars 
if he remained the full year. He became im- 
bued with the western fever and at the expira- 
tion of the eighteen months he went to St. Lou- 
is, Missouri, where he secured a position the day 
after his arrival, entering the employ of the 
dry-goods house of Scruggs, Vandervoort & 
Barnev. and he continued his residence in that 
city for three years and nine months, during 
six months of which interval he was in the 
employ of B. Nugent & Brother. At this time 



524 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Peter Goudie, who was born and reared in the 
same locahty as our subject and who was in 
business in a small town in the state of New 
York, decided to make a change of location 
and accordingly came to Canton, in the mean- 
while writing Mr. MacKenzie a request to 
join him here. This he did, arriving in the 
city in March, 1882, in which year Mr. Goudie 
here established himself in the dry -goods busi- 
ness in the location now held by the firm of 
MacKenzie & Bell. Mr. MacKenzie was placed 
in charge of the dress-goods and thus continued 
for a period of thirteen years, at the expiration 
of which, in 1896, Messrs. MacKenzie & Bell 
purchased the business, which they have ever 
since continued, having built up one of the 
most important retail enterprises of the sort 
in the city and securing a representative pat- 
ronage. Their establishment is located at 224 
North [Market street, is spacious and well ar- 
ranged, metropolitan in all its appointments, 
while the stock carried is of a select and com- 
prehensi\-e order, comprising all lines usually 
handled in a high-class dry-goods house. Mr. 
Goudie had enlarged the store two years before 
his withdrawal from business, and the stock 
carried by the present firm is far more extensive 
than that originally demanded, which fact in- 
dicates the cunuilative tendency of the enter- 
prise under the effective and honorable manage- 
ment of the mterested principals. 

Though Mr. MacKenzie is essentially and 
distincti\'ely a business man be does not hedge 
himself in with his individual interests but 
manifests a lively concern in all that touches 
the wellbeing of his home city and keeps in 
touch with the questions of public policy. In 
national affairs he gives his support to the Re- 
pul)lican party, but in local matters, where no 
issue is involved, he is independent of strict 
]);utisan lines and lends his influence in the 
furthering of such measures and the supporting 
of such men as meet the appro^■al of his judg- 
ment. He was reared in the faith of the Pres- 



byterian church, and ■ after his marriage he 1 
identified himself with the Methodist Episco- 
pal church. Iiolli he and his wife being active 1 
and valueil members of the First ^Methodist 
Episcopal church of Canton, of whose board of ' 
trustees he is a member at the present time. ' 
He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity. 
On the 26th of April, 1889, Mr. MacKen- 
zie was united in marriage to Miss Carrie 
Krause. a daughter of John I'Crause, a well 
known and honored citizen of Canton, in whose 
public schools Mrs. MacKenzie had been a sue- | 
cessful and popular teacher up to the time of 
her marriage. Of this union have been born 
six children, namely : Ruth Agnes, who died 
in infancy; William, who is now (1903) 
twelve years of age ; Mary, who died at the age 
of foin^teen and one-half months; Robert, aged 
seven ; (irace, aged five ; and Jessie, aged two. 



HARRY S. RENKERT.— The Renkert 
family is of standi German extraction and was 
early founded in America, the original 
progenitors settling in the state of Pennsyl- 
vania, whence its representatives came later as 
pioneers of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, settling 
in the immediate vicinity of Canal Dover. 
There Jacob J. Renkert, father of the subject, 
was born, in the year 1847, and he was reared 
on the homestead farm, while he secured such 
educational advantages as were to be bad in 
the common schools of the locality and period. 
At the age of eighteen years he became identi- 
fied with the manufacture of brick in his native 
county, securing an interest in a brick yard at 
Canal Dover, and he continued to be engaged 
in the manufacturing of building brick until 
he had attained the age of thirty years, when 
he directed his attention to the manufacturing 
of fire-brick, continuing operations in this line 
at Canal Dover until 1888, when he disposed of 
his interests there and came to Canton, where 
he l)ecame one of the organizers and a leading 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



525 



stockliolder of tlie Royal Brick Company. He 
continued to be acti\ely identified with iliis 
concern until its interests Avere merged into 
the ]\JetropoHtan Paving Brick Company, in 
■Nlarcli, 1902, when he became a stockholder in 
the new company- and a meni1)er of its director- 
ate, while he has since retained the executive 
otiice of manager of the Royal plant of the 
concern, in Canton, being one of the honored 
business men and representati\e citizens of Can- 
ton. He gave his support to the Democratic 
party in 1892, when he found himself so out 
of accord with the heretical financial policy of 
the same that he showed the courage of his 
convictions by arraying himself in the ranks 
of the Republican party, of whose cause he has 
since been a stanch advocate. He is a valued 
member of the Lutheran church. As a young- 
man he was united in marriage to ]\Iiss Emma 
Lahm, who was born in Canal Dover, Tuscara- 
was county, in 1854, and she died in Canton, in 
1896, having been a woman of noble attributes 
of character and gracious presence. She is 
survived Ijy- her three children, namely: Harry 
S.. the subject of this sketch; Oliver W., who 
is engaged in the practice of dentistry in Akron, 
this state, and Addie C, who remains at the 
parental home. 

Harry S. Renkert was liorn in Canal Dover, 
Tuscarawas county, Ohio, on the 27th of Janu- 
ary, 1875, and there he continued his studies in 
the public schools until he had attained the age 
of sixteen years, -xvlien he accompanied his par- 
ents on their removal to Canton, where he was 
for two terms a student in the Canton Busi- 
ness College. Thereafter he was employed for 
two years in the private bank of John Kime, 
in the village of Louisville, this county. In 
1896 he became bookkeeper and stenographer 
with J. L. Higley & Company, sales agents for 
the several paving brick plants of Canton, 
simultaneously acquiring ah interest in the 
same, and in 1899 he became a stockholder in 
the Royal Brick Company, serxing- as treasurer 



of the same in 1900 and 1901, in the mean- 
while continuing his connection with the 
general sales agency. Upon the organization 
of the Metropolitan Paving Brick Company-, in 
]March, 1902, he was elected to his present dual 
ofifice of secretary and treasurer of the concern, 
and his executive and administrative abilities 
are proxing of marked value in furthering the 
interests of the business, which is rapidly ex- 
panding in scope and importance. In politics 
he gives an unqualified allegiance to the Re- 
publican party, his religious faith is that of the 
Lutheran church, and fraternally he is an ap- 
preciative and popular member of the Benevo- 
lent and Protective Order of Elks. 

On the 6th of October, 1897, Mr. Renkert 
was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Schlem- 
mer, who was born in Canton, being a daughter 
of Philip and Alice (Beacher) Schlemmer, 
and they have a fine little son, Donald J., who 
was born on. the 13th of May, 1899. 



JAMES C. LANTZ is a native of the state 
of ^Maryland, ha\-ing' been born in Hag-ers- 
town, Washington county, on the loth of June, 
1839, and being the son of Christian and 
Caroline Lantz. He was the only child and 
his father died a few months before the birth 
of the son, after which the mother of the sub- 
ject returned to her parental home. She lived 
to attain the venerable age of eighty-seven 
years, her death occurring in Hagerstown, in 
1902. Christian Lantz. Sr., grandfather of the 
subject, was engaged in the tanning business 
in Hagerstown until the time of his death, and 
his father was a native of Germany, whence he 
emigrated to America in an early day, taking 
up his abode in Mandand, where he passed the 
residue of his life. The mother of the subject 
continued to reside in the home of her father, 
until his death, Hagerstown having been her 
home throughout her entire life. 

James C. Lantz was reared to manhood in 



526 



OLD LANDMARKS 



his native town, whence he received excellent 
educational advantages in the public schools, 
\\ liile at the age of sixteen years he entered 
upon an apprenticeship at the trade of carpen- 
ter, serving three years and becoming a 
thoroughly skilled artisan in the line. He con- 
tinued to follow his trade in his native state 
until 1863, which year witnessed his arrival 
in Canton. Previously to this time, on the 5th 
of November, 1861, in Waynesboro, Maryland, 
was solemnized his marriage to Miss Jemima 
Price, who was born in that place, in the year 
1843, being a daughter of George Price, who 
was there successfully established in the hotel 
business for many years. Mr. Lantz was a 
member of the First Regiment of the state 
militia of Maryland, serving under Colonel 
Kenly, who later became a general, and in this 
command he served during the Civil war, 
participating in important battles and receiving 
a musket-ball wound in the right cheek during 
the progress of the battle of South Mountain. 
He was with the state militia during John 
Brown's memoral)le raid, and he witnessed the 
execution of this redoubtable zealot, being 
probably the only man in this section of Ohio 
who was present- at this occasion. 

For two years after coming to Canton Mr. 
Lantz was employed in the manufactory of 
E. Ball, and for the ensuij\g three years he was 
engaged in the work of his trade, as a con- 
tractor and builder. In 1868 he founded his 
present enterprise, beginning operations on a 
modest scale in the manufacturing of boxes and 
having his plant on South Rex street, the 
original building having stood upon a portion 
of the ground occupied by his present large and 
well equipped plant. By honorable business 
methods and unflagging energy Mr. Lantz has 
succeeded in building up an extensive industry, 
the products of his establishment 1>eing in de- 
mand throughout a wide trade territory, while 
he commands the unstinted confidence and 
esteem of the people of Canton, in Vt'hich city 



he has so long made his home. In politics he 
is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party 
and he has at all times shown a loyal interest 
in public atYairs of a local nature. He served 
two years as a representative of the fifth ward 
in the city council, and for two terms, of three 
years each, was a valued member of the board 
of education. Fraternally he is identified with 
the blue lodge, chapter and commandery of 
the Masonic order, and also is a noble of the 
Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine. 
He and his wife are worthy and zealous mem- 
bers of the Trinity Lutheran church. They 
became the parents of eight children, only two 
of whom are now living, Maggie, who remains 
at the parental home, and Lulu, who is the 
wafe of Charles G. Gimbel, of Wooster, Ohio. 



NEWTOX K. BOWMAN was born on a 
farm in Tuscarawas township, this county, on 
the 7th of October, 1856, being the first in 
order of birth of the twelve children of Sam- 
uel S. and Margaret (Kibler) Bowman, the 
former of whom was born in the state of Penn- 
sylvania and the latter in \'irginia. When 
Samuel S. Bowman was an infant his parents, 
Adam and Elizabeth (Spicer) Bowman, came 
to Stark county from the old Keystone state, 
and became pioneer settlers of Paris township, 
where they passed the remainder of their lives. 
Adam Bow^man had two brothers, John and 
Michael, the farmer of whom removed to Vir- 
ginia, where he passed the residue of his life, 
while the latter died in Liberty. Guernsey coun- 
ty, Ohio. Elizabeth (Spicer) Bowman was a 
daughter of Richard Spicer, who was a soldier 
in Burgoyne's army during the war of the 
Revolution, in w-hich he was captured by the 
forces under General Washington. After the 
war he signified his allegiance to the new re- 
public and settled at Fort Littleton, Pennsyl- 
vania, in which state he continued to reside un- 
til his death. His children, in addition to Eliza- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



527 



beth, were Richard, Samuel, Nancy and Mollie. 
Adam and Elizabeth Bowman became the 
parents of three sons and two daughters, Sam- 
uel S., Adam, Richard, Mary and Margaret. 
The original ancestor of the Bowman family in 
America was the subject's great-grandfather, 
who emigrated hither from Germany, the land 
of his nativity. 

Samuel S. Bowman was reared and edu- 
cated in Stark county, his parents having lo- 
cated near the village of Osnaburg, in the 
township of the same name, and in his youth 
he learned the trade of carpenter, in which he 
continued to be engaged during his entire active 
business career, while he and his wife now 
reside on their attractive little farm in Tuscara- 
was township, this county. He rendered yeo- 
man service as a soldier in the war of the Re- 
l:>ellion, having been a private in the Seventy- 
sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He is one of 
the sterling pioneer citizens of the county and 
he and his estimable wife hold the highest re- 
gard of all who know them. In politics he 
gives his support ta the Republican party, 
fraternally he is identified with the Grand Army 
of the Republic, and both he and his wife have 
long been attendants in the United Brethren 
church. 

Newton K. Bo•\^■man, whose name initiates 
this review, was reared to maturity in his native 
township of Tuscarawas, and his early edu- 
cational training was secured in the district 
schools, being eflectively supplemented by in- 
dividual study and application and by the ex- 
perience gained as a teacher. He also learned 
the trade of carpenter under the effective di- 
rection of his father, and thus became well for- 
tified for the acti^•e duties and responsibilities 
of life, while his career has been one of well 
directed and self-reliant endeavor. At the age 
of nineteen he began teaching in the country 
schools, in the meanwhile carrying forward his 
studies in the branches higher than those de- 
manded in pedagogic work. He continued to 



teach for ten years, working at his trade during 
the vacation periods. He had initiated work 
as a contractor in this line, and in 1886 he 
entered into a contract to erect a large school 
building in the village of Canal Fulton, this 
county, and as the same was not completed un- 
til the winter term of school had opened, he then 
gave up teaching and continued to devote his 
attention to contracting, in which he was suc- 
cessful, while in 1885, in connection with this 
enterprise, he purchased a combined saw mill 
and planing mill at North Lawrence, the prod- 
ucts of the same greatly facilitating his con- 
tracting and conserving his success. In 1896 
Mr. Bowman invented an automatic mine door, 
which he patented, and he then enlisted further 
capitalistic support in beginning the manu- 
facture of the new and improved device. In 
1902 a stock company was formed and was duly 
incorporated under the title of the American 
Mine Door Company, though the article had 
been manufactured and placed on the market 
as early as 1896, the inventor having been 
superintendent of the concern from that time 
to the present except for a short interval dur- 
ing which liis attention was otherwise de- 
manded. He has invented a number of other 
useful devices, having secured a total of twentv- 
three patents on his inventions, the latest of 
which is a metal splice to take the place of the 
old-fashioned device so long in use in fastening 
together the common wooden barrel hoops. 
The new method insures greater firmness and 
neatness and tlie device as utilized will prove 
cheaper than the old one. This invention is 
to be placed on the market within a short time. 
Mr. Bowman still retains his residence in North 
Lawrence, being the president of the North 
Lawrence Improvement Company aind having 
other local interests, while he also acts as 
superintendent of the American Mine Door 
Company, whose well equipped plant is located 
in Canton. In politics he maintains an inde- 
pendent attitude, exercising his franchise in 



528 



OLD LANDMARKS 



support of the men and measures meeting the 
approval of his judgment, though he was for 
several years allied with the I'rohiljition party. 
being an uncompromising advocate of the cause 
of temperance and being known as a sincere 
and public-.spirited citizen and as one whose in- 
fluence is ever exerted in the support of all 
legitimate enterprises for the general goofl. He 
and his wife are valued and zealous members 
of the United Brethren church, in whose work 
they take an active part. 

On the 2d of February. 18S2, in North 
Lawrence, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Bowman and Miss Catherine Lawrence, daugh- 
ter of Peter and Elina (Gesaman) Lawrence, 
the former of whom was a member of one of 
the most prominent and influential pioneer 
families of Lawrence township, which was 
named in honor of the family, as was also the 
town of North Lawrence. Mr. and Mrs. Bow- 
man are the parents of eight children, namely : 
Charles L., Una C, ]\Iabel R., Leroy D., Edna 
M., Florence £., Pearl M. and Daisv S. 



WILLL-^M J. PIERO was born on a farm 
in Canton township, this county, on the 8th 
of September. 1852, being a son of Francis and 
Julia Ann ( Krantz) Piero, the former of 
whom was born in the famed old city of Strass- 
burg, in lower .Alsace, France, now a portion 
of the German empire, on the 3d of November, 
1820, while his wife was born in Hesse. Ger- 
many, on the 30th of June of the same year, 
both having come to America when young. 
They became the parents of nine children, of 
whom William J. was the fifth in order of 
birth, and of whom eight are living at the 
present time. Francis L Piero emigrated to 
the United States in 1833, disembarking in the 
port of New York city and thence coming to 
Cantou on July 5th of that year, growing to 
maturity in this county and being here married. 
Fie renio\'ed from the fanu to Canton and here 



he was for many years engaged in the boot and 
shoe business, disposing of interests in this line 
in i86o and thereafter de\dting bis attention 
to the bakery and confectionary business until 
1880, when he retired from active business 
and he and his wife resided in their pleasant 
hiinie. at 724 North McKinley avenue. Mrs. 
Piero died May 27, 1895. Both were members 
of the Catholic church, and in politics Mr. 
Piero has ever given his support to the Demo- 
cratic parly. He is held in high esteem as one 
of the patriarchal citizens and pioneer busi- 
ness men of the citv in which he has so long 
made his home. 

\\'illiam J. Piero was seven years of age at 
the time of liis parents' removal from the 
farm to the city of Canton, and they took up 
their residence in a dwelling which stood on 
the site of Duebel's jewelry store, on the pub- 
lic scpiare. FTe secured his early educational 
training in the parochial school of St. Peter's 
German Catholic church, and later entered the 
public schools, being graduated in the Canton 
high school as a member of the class of 1870. 
Prior to this he became office boy for Judge 
Seraphim Meyer, a representative member of 
the Canton bar at the time, and after remaining 
in tliis office two years he passed an equal 
period as a clerk in a local clothing" establish- 
ment. He then returned to the office of Judge 
]Meyer and began a careful and discriminating 
reading of the law under the direction of this 
able preceptor, and that he fully availed himself 
of the advaiitages thus afiforded is evident when 
we revert to the fact that he was duly ad- 
mitted to the bar on September 17, 1874. after 
which he continued in practice with Judge 
Meyer until April, 1875, when he was elected 
to the office of justice of the peace, of which 
he continued incumbent for a term of three 
years, in the meanwhile continuing his legal 
studies with mdefatigable zeal and thus greatly 
amplifying his technical and practical knowl- 
edge of the science of jurisprudence. After 




WILLIAM J. PIERO 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



529 



his retirement from this office he entered into 
a professional partnership with C. Turenne 
Meyer, a son of his preceptor, and they were 
thus associated in general practice, under the 
title of Meyer & Piero, until March, 1885. In 
the spring of 1881, Mr. Piero was elected to the 
office of mayor of Canton, which was at the 
time under village government, and so able and 
satisfactory was his administration that he was 
chosen as his own successor in the spring of 
1883, thus serving two terms. His policy 
as chief executive of the municipality was a 
distinctively progressive one and dominated by 
wise conservatism and business judgment, and, 
as was natural, there was some criticism of his 
aggressive course in furthering public improve- 
ments, but time has clearly proven the wisdom 
of his action and the city has reaped inestimable 
benefits through his earnest efforts in regard 
to the installing of proper sewerage systems, 
paving of the streets and providing other 
facilities demanded with the increase of popu- 
lation, so those who harped at his policy have 
since had reason to offer unqualified commen- 
dation. Within his regime a number of ad- 
ditions to the town were platted, the market 
house and city hall erected and also the city 
engine house. By the people in general he was 
at the time regarded as one of the best mayors 
the city has ever had, and his administration 
will ever stand as a model one in the records 
of Canton. In 1882 he brought about the 
organization of the Humane Society, in Can- 
ton, and its work has I^een prolific in good re- 
sults. In politics Mr. Piero has ever given 
an unqualified allegiance to the Democratic 
party and has taken an active interest in its 
cause. He is a valued member and communi- 
cant of St. John's church, Roman Catholic, 
his wife being an Episcopalian. 

After retiring from the mayoralty Mr. 
Piero resumed the active practice of his pro- 
fession in Canton, and he controls a large and 

representative business and has had to do with 
33 



much important litigation. He is known as 
an able and forceful advocate before court or 
jury and as a safe and thoroughly well equip- 
ped counselor. His clientage is of an important 
order, and both as a lawyer and a man he com- 
mands the esteem and confidence of the com- 
munity. He has been, as in justice due, 
financially successful in his profession, and has 
shown keen business in the investments which 
he has made, being concerned in a number 
of important industrial enterprises in his home 
city, including the following: The Canton' 
Combination Lock Company; the Canton 
Fertilizing Company, of which he is president;: 
the Canton Buggy Company, of whose direc- 
torate he is a member; the Crystal Springs 
Ice Company; the Ohio Volks Zeitung Com- 
pany; and the Canton Board of Trade. His. 
public spirit has been manifested in many ways 
and he takes a lively interest in all that touches- 
the progress and material prosperity of his 
home city. 

On the 20th of December, 1883, Mr. Piera 
was united in marriage to Miss Minnie T. 
Tyler, who was born in Newport, Kentucky, 
whence her parents, Dominic and Catherine 
Tyler, removed to Canton when she was about 
two years of age, and here she was reared and 
educated, being a woman of gracious presence 
and presiding with dignity over their attract- 
ive home. Her father became secretary and 
treasurer of the Diebold Safe & Lock Com- 
pany, of this city, and here he and his wife 
still maintain their home. Mr. and Mrs. Piero 
have no children. 



HENRY L. GARAUX was born in the 
picturesque canton of Bern, in the Alpine dis- 
trict of Switzerland, on the ist of November, 
1834, and was there reared and educated, .^.t 
the age of eighteen years he severed the home 
ties and started forth to seek his fortunes in 
America, landing in due time in the port of our 



530 



OLD LANDMARKS 



national metropolis, whence he soon afterward 
■came to Stark county, locating in Massillon. 
in the vicinity of which place he was engaged in 
farm work for the ensuing two years. He then 
went to Mount Eaton, Wayne county, where, 
in 1858, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Pauline Maschler, who was likewise born in 
Canton Bern, Switzerland, on the 31st of 
December, 1836, being a daughter of Francis 
and Susan (Rudolph) Maschler, who emi- 
grated thence to America in 1841, making the 
voyage on the sailing vessel "New Orleans," 
and landing in New York city. Mr. Maschler 
came to Ohio and located on a farm near 
Mountain Eaton, where his wife died a few 
years later, and he eventually removed to the 
gtate of Virginia, where he passed the re- 
mainder of his life. After his marriage the 
subject of this memoir remained for a time in 
Mount Eaton, then removing to Bristol, Mor- 
gan county, and later returning to Mount 
Eaton, where he resided until* 1870, when he 
came Avith his family to Canton, where he was 
employed for the following eleven years in 
the shops of the Canton Bridge Company, while 
later he was made street commissioner of the 
city, in which capacity he rendered effective 
service for a long term of years. He died at 
his home, 2419 South Market street, on the 
30th of June. 1900. He was a .stanch Republi- 
can in politics and was a member of the German 
Reformed church at Mount Eaton, his wife, 
who survives him, having long been a member 
of this church. Of their children we enter the 
following brief record : Emma, the wife of 
John Schir, died in Canton ; Edward died at 
the age of twenty-seven years; Frank is a resi- 
dent of Canton; Susan is the wife of Jacob 
Slusser, of this city; Charles died at the age of 
twenty-eight years; Louis resides in Canton; 
Julia died at the age of twenty years ; August 
is individually mentioned in appending para- 
graphs ; and Henry and George still maintain 
their home in this citv- 



August Garaux was born in the family 
homestead on South Market street, in the city 
of Canton, on the 30th of August, 1874. and 
his early education was received in the district 
school in what is called Raynoldstown, a suburl) 
of the city. He continued his school work 
until he was alx)ut eighteen years of age, and 
thereafter was employed in brick yards and 
various shops, and also as a fireman at the 
works of the Sewer farm, while he has since 
been engaged in various lines of work. He is a 
stanch adherent of the Republican party and 
has taken an active interest in its cause. On the 
6th of April, 1903. he was elected a member of 
the city council, under the new municipal code, 
being a representative of the fifth ward and 
being well qualified for the office. He is a 
member of the Junior Order of United Ameri- 
can Mechanics and is a young man of sterling 
character and one who merits the trust reposed 
in him by the voters who called him to office. 
His religious views are in harmony with the 
tenets of the German Reformed church, in 
which faith he was reared. He is not married. 

Louis Garaux was born in the family home- 
stead, in Canton, on the 28th of June, 1869, 
an.d he continued to attend the public schools 
until he had attained the age of sixteen years, 
when he entered the employ of the Elbel Com- 
pany, while later he was employed in various 
other shops in the city, having been for sixteen 
years an employe of the C. Aultman Company, 
one of the most important industrial concerns 
of the city and state. He continued to be en- 
gaged in work of a mechanical nature until 
T901, when he opened a bowling alley and retail 
liquor business at 124 Charles street, where he 
has since continued business. In politics he 
is a stanch Republican and he was reared in Ihe 
faith of the Reformed church, of which the 
family are members. 

On the 9th of November, 1891. in Canton, 
Mr. Garaux was united in marriage to Miss 
Emma Anderson, daughter of Robert and An- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



531 



nie (Stark) Anderson, the former of whom 
was an able newspaper man, his death occurring 
in Canton, in Septemter, 1885. Her mother 
is still living in this city, having- been born in 
the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. and 
Mrs. Garaux have three children : Ethel May, 
Purcel! Harold and Arthur Louis. 



AUGUST BARCHFELD. — Claiming 
Canton as his birthplace and here holding pres- 
tige as a successful business man, Mr. Barch- 
feld is well deserving of representation in this 
compilation. He conducts a successful market 
at 720 West South street, where he has a well 
equipped establishment, catering to a large and 
discriminating patronage and being held in 
high estimation in his native city, which has 
been his home during the major portion of his 
life. He is a son of Andrew and Margaret 
(Klos) Barchfeld, and was bom on the 24th 
of June, 1862, in the old frame house, on South 
Market street, where Joseph Ball so long re- 
sided. Mr. Barchfeld secured his early edu- 
cational training in the school maintained here 
under the auspices of the German Reformed 
church, the same being located on East Tusca- 
rawas street, and later he attended the public 
school on South Market street, supplementing 
this discipline by a course in the business col- 
lege then conducted in Canton. In his youth 
he learned the trade of butcher under the di- 
rection of his father, and later followed the 
same in Wooster, Ohio, for a period of two 
years. In 1884 he began business on his own 
responsibility, having in the meanwhile re- 
turned to Canton. Here he entered into part- 
nership with Henry Nagel, and they secured a 
stall in the market house, where they succeeded 
in building up a good trade. About two years 
later Mr. Barchfeld purchased property on 
South Cleveland avenue, but still continued to 
conduct his market business in the old location, 
also putting a peddling wagon into operation 



in the selling of meats through the outlaying 
districts of Canton. He finally traded his 
South Cleveland avenue property for his 
father's old homestead, where he took up his 
residence, and then opened a market on South 
Market street, where he continued operations 
for six years, at the expiration of which, in 
February, 1900, he opened his present attrac- 
tive place, at 720 West South street. His 
parents reside in Canton, and his father is en- 
gaged in the butcher business. They had ten 
children, of whon six are living at the present 
time, while the name has ever stood as a syno- 
nym of integrity and honor. The family is of 
stanch German lineage, and was early founded 
in the state of Pennsylvania. In his political 
attitude the subject of this sketch is independ- 
ent, supporting men and measures rather than 
following strict partisan dictates. Fraternally 
he is a member of Canton Lodge No. 589, 
Knights of Pythias, and Hiram Lodge, Free 
and Accepted Masons. Both he and his wife 
are worthy members of the Reformed church, 
in whose affairs they take an abiding interest. 
In the city of Mansfield, Ohio, on the 3d 
of December, 1886, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Barchfeld to Miss Elizateth A. 
Schlopf, who was born in Wooster, Wayne 
county, this state, Ijeing the daughter of Jacob 
and Katie (Baer) Schlopf, both of whom were 
born in Germany, whence the former came to 
America as a young man, while the latter was 
brought hither by her parents when a child of 
two years. Mr. and Mrs. Barchfeld have one 
child, Earl W., who was bom on the 23d of 
January, 1889, and who is now attending the 
puiilic schools of Canton. 



JOSEPH S. OYSTER was born on a farm 
in Smith township, Mahoning county, Ohio, on 
the 29th of May, 1841, being the son of John 
and Susanna (Landis) Oyster, of whose five 
children three are living at the time of this 



532 



OLD LANDMARKS 



writing, namely : Nancy, who is the wife of 
Peter Shell, of Washington township, Stark 
county; John, a successful farmer of Osna- 
burg township, and Joseph S., subject of this 
sketch. The father was born in Bucks county. 
Pennsylvania, in the year 1815, and when he 
was a boy he accompanied his parents on their 
removal to Mahoning county, Ohio. His 
father, Samuel Oyster, who was of stanch Ger- 
man lineage, and who was a blacksmith by 
trade, entered a tract of government land two 
miles east of the present town of Mount Union, 
Mahoning county, where he erected a log cabin 
as a home for his family, and also a similar 
structure for a shop, in which he continued at 
the work of his trade, finding a ready demand 
for his services among the pioneer settlers and 
drawing his trade from a wide radius of coun- 
try, as the settlers were few and widely scat- 
tered. He had eleven sons and two daughters, 
and the former carried forward the work of re- 
claiming and cultivating the farm, while he de- 
voted his time to his trade. He eventually ac- 
cumulated a landed estate of eleven hundred 
acres, his ambition being to provide each of his 
thirteen children with a farm of one hundred 
acres. He finally made a trip to Indiana for the 
purpose of buying more land, and while return- 
ing encountered a severe rain storm, from 
which he could not shelter himself and from the 
effects of which he contracted typhoid fever, 
his death occurring shortly after his return 
home. He was a poor man when he arrived in 
Ohio, but he was a hard worker and succeeded 
in gaining a competence, while his estate of 
course advanced greatly in value with the de- 
velopment of the country, so that his descen- 
dants have profited greatly from the effects of 
this noble pioneer, whose life was one of probity 
and distinctive honor. The father of the sub- 
ject was reared on the homestead farm, early 
begining to lend his aid in the work of improv- 
ing and reclaiming the land and having limited 
educational priviledges, owing to the fact that 



the schools were of the most primitive type and 
precariously maintained. After his marriage 
he located on a ninety-acre farm belonging to 
his father and located one and one-half miles 
northeast of Alliance, contiguous to ihe line Ije- 
tween Stark and Mahoning counties, the prop- 
erty becoming his own upon the death of his 
father, whose will provided for this dispo- 
sition. He there continued to make his home 
for a period of eight years, at the expiration of 
which he sold the property and for the follow- 
ing eighteen months was engaged in farming on 
rented land in that locality. He then removed 
to Hillsdale county, Michigan, where he pur- 
chased a farm of ninety acres, of which he dis- 
posed a year later and, as an investment, pur- 
chased another tract of one hundred and twenty 
acres, in the same county, after which he re- 
turned to Mahoning county, Ohio, where he 
was engaged in farming on rented land for the 
ensuing five years, at the expiration of which he 
traded his Michigan land for a smaller farm 
in Knox township, Columbiana county, Ohio, 
where he continued to reside about seven years. 
He then sold the property and purchased a farm, 
in Washington township. Stark county, devot- 
ing his attention to its improvement and culti- 
vation for the following four years, and then, 
after several removals he finally bought a small 
place of twehe acres in the same township and 
within a half-mile of the village of Freeburg, 
and there he pas.sed the remainder of his life, 
his death occurring on the 6th of November^ 
1873. He was- a Democrat in his political pro- 
clivities and his religious faith was that of the 
Reformed church, of which his. wife likewise 
was a devoted member. Her death occurred on 
the 1 6th of February, 1898, aged seventy-nine 
years and six days, in \\''ashington township, 
Stark county. 

Joseph S. Oyster, to whom this sketch is 
dedicated, was reared to the life of the farm 
and his youthful days were filled with hard 
work, while, owing to the exigencies of the time 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



533 



and place, his educational advantages were 
limited in scope, being confined to a desultory 
attendance in the district schools in the different 
localities where the family lived, while even 
such advantages as offered he could not em- 
ploy tu the full, owing to the fact that he was 
afflicted with constantly recurring and severe 
headaches. 

On the first of March, 1866, Mr. Oyster 
\\ as united in marriage to Miss Eliza Grimes, 
wlici was born in Washington township, this 
county, Ijeing a daughter of Reuben Grimes, 
will) w as one of the pioneers of the township, 
where he died many years ago. The only son 
of this marriage died in 1885, and Mrs. Oyster 
^\■as summoned into eternal rest on the i8th 
of August, 1894, at the age of forty-seven 
years, ten months and twenty-one days, having 
been a true helpmeet and faithful wife. On the 
25th of November, 1895. Mr. Oyster was 
united in marriage to Miss Laura Vernier, who 
was born in Osnaburg township, a daughter of 
Louis \''ernier, who is now a resident of Nimi- 
shillen township, and of this union two children 
have been born, Nola P., in November, 1897, 
and Forrest E. L., June 30, 1901. 

For five years prior to and one year after 
his first marriage Mr. Oyster was in the employ 
of the Pittsburg & Fort Wayne Railroad 
Compan}-, at Louisville, this county, and he 
then purchased his present homestead farm, 
upon which he took up his abode in January, 
1868. Here he has since made his home, and 
the effects of his well directed endeavors are 
manifest in tlie conditions in evidence about the 
place, wliich is constantly mentioned as a model 
farm. He has studied the science of agriculture 
from a practical as well as experimental stand- 
point and has used such luethods and acces- 
sories as have met the approval of his judg- 
ment, and thus has secured the maximum re- 
turns from the cultivation of the land, which he 
maintains under the highest state of produc- 
tivitv, ^hile he is recognized as one of the sub- 



, ^hi 



stantial and progressive farmers of the county. 
His farm is improved with excellent and well 
kept buildings and comprises thirty-five acres 
of valuable land. Li politics he gives an un- 
faltering allegiance to the Republican party, 
and both he and his wife are members of the 
Reformed church, in the village of Louisville, 
giving a liberal support to the various depart- 
ments of its work. 



JOHN B. ANDERSON, who holds the re- 
sponsible position of chief engineer of tthe 
Canton-Akron Railway Company, whose well 
equipped interurban lines are operated by elec- 
trical power, ■\\'hile he had previously held other 
important positions and is thoroughly well 
versed in the scientific and practical details of 
his chosen vocation. He came to Canton in 
September, 1902, to accept the oflice of which 
he is now incumbent, and he has proved an 
efficient and thoroughly acceptable executive, 
bringing the service of the system up to the 
highest standard. 

John B. Anderson was born at Mill Creek, 
Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, on the i8th 
of August. 1874, being a son of Stephen A. and 
Alice (Wilson) Anderson, and of English and 
Scotch descent, while he is a lineal descendant 
of Major Robert Anderson, of Fort Sumter 
fame. His parents were born in Pennsylvania 
and still reside at Mill Creek, that state, where 
his father is retired. The subject attended the 
public schools of his native city until he had 
attained the age of sixteen ^-ears, while in the 
meanwhile he had also become a competent 
telegraph operator. At the age noted he went 
to New York city, where he secured a position 
as operator in an office of the Western Union 
Telegraph Company, retaining this incumbency 
one year, at the expiration of which he found 
employment in the office of the North Hudson 
Company, one of the first to introduce the 
electric trollev svstem in that section. He re- 



534 



OLD LANDMARKS 



mainefl with this company four years, within 
which time he completed a thorough electrical 
course in a correspondence school of Cleveland, 
Ohio. He then took a position with the General 
Electric Company of Xew York city, and one 
year later took charge of the plant at Edge- 
water. Xew Jersey, for the Bergen County 
Traction Company, in whose ei1iplo\- he con- 
tinued for five years, after which he became 
erecting engineer for the Hamilton-Corliss 
Engine Company, in their oftice at 3<)4i Cort- 
landt street. New York, and there he continued 
until September, 1902. when he came to Canton 
to accept the position he at present occupies. 

In politics he is an ardent sujjporter of the 
principles of the Republican party, and his re- 
ligious views are in harmony with the teach- 
ings of the Alethodist Episcopal church. Fra- 
ternally he is affiliated with Lodge No. 362. 
Knights of Pythias, in Canton, and he is popu- 
lar in lioth business and social circles. Mr. 
Anderson is not married. 



JOSEPH J. ACREDENN.— At the head 
of the \\'est End Notion Company, represent- 
ing one of the successful retail business enter- 
prises of Canton, stands ]\Ir. Auredenn. He is a 
native of the state of Kentucky, having been 
born in the city of Newport, on the 8th of 
November, 1875, ''"^^ being the son of John 
and .\sche Lisetta Auredenn, both of whom 
were born and reared in the city of Cincinnati, 
Ohio, the father there learning tlie trade of ma- 
chinist, while he was for many years engaged 
in the hosiery business in that city, where he 
still resides, his wife having died there in the 
year 1878. She was a devoted communicant of 
the Catholic church, as is also her husband, 
who is a man of sterling character and one who 
has been duly prospered in his temporal affairs. 

Joseph J. Auredenn received his early edu- 
cation in the public and parochial schools of 
his native town, continuing his studies until he 



had attained the age of sixteen years, when he 
entered upon an apprenticeship at the trade of 
joining, in the watchcase factory of the Dueber 
Company, nuw of Canton, and he C(.)ntinue(l in 
the employ of this concern for thirteen years, 
[n i888 he came to Canton with this company, 
and when not at work in the factory he put his 
time to good use. selling notions, newspapers, 
etc., and sparing no pains or labor in his effort 
to add to his income. In i8c)7 he associated 
himself with E. C. Earwick in the present line 
of enterprise, and they have built up an ex- 
cellent business. A more complete descri[)tion 
of the enterprise will be found in the sketch of 
the subject's partner, appearing on another page 
of this volume. It should be said that the same 
self-reliance, energy and initiative power which 
Mr. Auredenn manifested in his youth have 
been potent factors in forwarding the success 
of the undertaking with which he is now identi- 
fied, and he merits approval and commendation 
for the efforts which he has put forth and for 
the honorable business policy which has domi- 
nated his course. In politics Mr. Auredenn 
gives his allegiance to the Republican party, 
and his religious faith is that of the Catholic 
church, in which he was reared, both he and 
his wife being communicants of St. Peter's 
church. Fraternally he is connected wSth the 
local organization of the Catholic ^lutual Bene- 
fit Association. 

On the loth of September, 1892, ]Mr. Aure- 
denn was unitefl in marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
Zimmer. of Canton, and to them have been bom 
three children. Clarence, who is eight years 
of age at the time of this writing; I'lorence, 
who died m infancy, and Thelma, who is two 
years and a half of age. 



JACOB N. SHAUB comes of fine old 
Swiss stock, the original orthography of the 
name having been Schaub. His grandfather. 
John Jacob Schaub, was born in the £ity of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



535 



Basel, Switzerland, and March 7, 181 7, in com- 
pany with his family, he emigrated to America, 
landmg at Philadelphia, July 25, 181 7. The 
family went thence to Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania. He was a man of energy and in- 
tegrity and felt that in America he could secure 
better returns from his labors, and that his 
financial resources were at low ebb at the time 
of his emigration to the United States is evi- 
dent from the fact that he was unable to pay 
for the passage of himself and his family, 
entering intij an agreement to defray this ex- 
pense by his labor after arriving in America, 
the requisite money being supplied by a friend. 
The family landed in the city of Philadelphia, 
after a long and weary voyage on a sailing- 
vessel, and then proceeded to Lancaster coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, where Mr. Schaub entered the 
emplo\- of Henry Baer, for whom he worked 
until he had paid the passage money advanced 
to him. About the year 1835 ^^ came with his 
wife and two children to Canton, whither his 
daughter Mana, the wife of Adam Blinn, had 
])receded them. He soon afterward secured 
employment on the Shock farm, south of Can- 
ton, and later worked on the farm of John 
Trump, while finally he removed into Plain 
township, and there he passed the remainder of 
his life, passing away about 1843, while his 
wife whose maiden name was Maria, died about 
1842. They became the parents of seven chil- 
dren, all of whom are now deceased. 

Jacob Shaub, Jr., father of the subject of 
this review, was born in Switzerland, in 1804, 
and was thirteen years of age at the time when 
the family came to America. He had attended 
school in his native land and continued his 
studies in the common schools after coming 
to the United States. He was reared to farm 
work in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania : he 
served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith 
trade, which he followed for a short time, after 
which he resumed farming, which continued 
to be his vocation throughout the remainder of 



his life. In Lancaster county was solemnized 
his marriage tO' Miss Eliza Nixdorf, who was 
born in that county, being a daughter of Henry 
and Catharine Nixdorf, both of whom were 
, natives of the Keystone state. Jacob and Eliza 
Shaub liecame the parents of five children, three 
of the number dying in childhood, while the 
two living are the subject of this sketch and 
his sister Susan, who is the wife of Samuel 
Frankford, of Petersburg, Pennsylvania. The 
mother of the subject died when he was about 
eight years of age, and his father subsequently 
married Miss Anna Kinch, who preceded him 
into eternal rest. To the second union was born 
one child, Lizzie, the wife of John Burkhart, of 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. The father 
died in Petersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1867. 

Jacob N. Shaub, whose name introduces 
this sketch, was born in East Hempfield town- 
ship, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the 
27th of June, 1829, and grew to maturity on 
the liomestead farm, to whose work he early 
began to contribute his quota, while his edu- 
cational advantages were such as were afforded 
in the district schools, which he attended during 
the winter terms and at such other times as 
his ser\'ices were not demanded on the farm. 
He \^as fond of study and made excellent pnig- 
ress by studying at night, so that he laid a 
good foundation for that broad fund of knowl- 
edge which he lias since gained in connection 
with the active duties and responsibilities (if 
life. At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Shaub 
married and he then initiated his independent 
career, latoring in any capacity which would 
render him an honest living. For a period of 
three years he lived in the home of a w'agxni- 
maker, in whose shop he learned the trade, 
to which he devoted his attention only a short 
time. He then returned to the old homestead 
farm, of which he continued in charge for the 
ensuing ten years, at the expiration of which. 
in 1864, he came to Canton, and forthwith 
began to look about for a farm to suit him. 



536 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Finally he became associated with his brother- 
in-law. Christian Singer, in the purchase of the 
Hull farm, in Canton township. He gave his 
attention to the cultivation of this place for 
two years, having in the meanwhile purchased 
Mr. Singer's interest in the same, and at the 
expiration of the time noted he sold the prop- 
erty to John Carnes, and then returned to Can- 
ton and purchased three acres of land, on which 
St. IVIary's Catholic church now stands, on 
South Market street. He there resided for two 
years and then disposed of the property and 
purchased a portion of the Menzer farm, ad- 
joining his old Hull place, in Canton town-- 
ship. This he sold three years later and pur- 
chased thirty-three acres of the Raynolds farm, 
in the same township, and here he erected good 
buildings and made one of the best farms in 
the county, his idea being that successful farm- 
ing does not depend so much upon the number 
of acres owned as upon the methods brought to 
bear in securing the maximum productiveness, 
while his success amply justified his theory. 
He remained on this farm fifteen years and then 
sold the same to the Brillhart sisters, receiving 
three hundred dollars per acre, which fact indi- 
cates the high state of cultivation under which 
he had brought the place. He then bought fifty 
acres of the Long farm, in Plain township, and 
this continued to be his home for the following 
seven years. He sold the farm to George Heil- 
denbrand at the expiration of this period and 
then came to Canton, where he lived retired for 
a few years, then purchasing the Blake flour 
mill, on Navarre street, which he operated suc- 
cessfully about four years, selling the property 
to his son Hiram, in the fall of 1902, since 
which time he has been retired from active 
business, and in his attractive home, at 141 2 
Logan avenue, he is enjoying the rewards of 
his many years of earnest toil and endeavor. 

In politics Mr. Shaub is independent in his 
attitude, and he has always shown a deep in- 
terest in public affairs of a local nature. He 



served one term as trustee of Canton township, 
and he was for a number of years a member of 
the board of directors of the Stark County 
Agricultural Society, of which he was president 
for one year, while at other times he lield the 
various other official positions on the board, 
doing much to further the interests of the soci- 
et\'. F"or about twenty years he served as a 
member of the board of education of Canton 
township. He and his family are members of 
Trinity Reformed church. 

On the 1 2th of December, 1850, Mr. Shaub 
was united in marriage to Miss Maria Kinch, 
who was born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
vania, being a daughter of Jacob Kinch. Of 
this union have been born eleven children, con- 
cerning whom we enter record as follows : 
Amelia married Crysvillis Smith, now de- 
ceased; Iliram married jVIary Meyers, of In- 
diana, and is engaged in milling in Canton; 
Ambrose married Lucretia Lloyd, and is en- 
gaged in milling in Louisville, Stark county; 
Ulvsses G. married Polly Thomas, and li\es in 
Canton ; Calvin ; Elizabeth married M. A. 
W'eidler, who is in the harness business in Can- 
ton ; Ella N. married Clyde Hayhurst, and they 
live in Canton; Addison, the eldest child, died 
December 23. 1893; Milton died, aged fifteen 
years, in Ohio; one son and one daughter died 
in infancy in Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. 
Shaub celebrated their golden wedding anni- 
versary December 12, 1900. 



PETER HOLTSEL.— Among the early 
residents of Stark county who had much to do 
with the development of the country and the 
advancement of its material interests, the late 
Peter Housel, of Canton township, is worthy 
of especial notice. The Housel family 
had its origin in Holland and was first repre- 
sented in the United States by the subject's 
grandfather, who sailed from his native land 
in a very early day and, with others of his 





^.- ^<- 



A^. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



537 



countrymen, located in Northumberland coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania. Like his ancestors for many 
generations, he was a tiller of the soil and fol- 
lowed agricultural pursuits in the above county 
until his death, which occurred not long after 
the colony of Pennsylvania became a state of the 
r'ederal Union. Anthony Housel. father of 
Peter, was born and reared in the county of 
Northumberland and when a young man there 
married Miss Mary Murphy, whose parents 
were also among the pioneer settlers of that part 
of the state, her father moving to this country 
from the north of Ireland. In 1816, the year 
following the birth of their second child, the 
subject of this review, Anthony and Mary 
Housel moved to Ohio, making the journey on 
horseback, the mother carrying her infant son 
in her arms while the father looked after the 
stock and cared for the daughter, a little girl 
of about two or three years old. On reaching 
his destination Mr. Housel settled on a quarter 
section of wild land in what is now Plain town- 
ship and immediately addressed himself to the 
tasks of improvement. In' due time he im- 
proved a good farm, which he made his home 
to the end of his days, the meanwhile taking an 
active interest in the general development of 
the coimtry and earning the reputation of an 
honorable, industrious man and an enterpris- 
ing public-spirited citizen. When the First 
Presbyterian church of Canton was organized 
Mr. and Mrs. Housel became charter members 
and continued faithful communicants of the 
same as long as they lived, besides contribut- 
ing liberally of their means to the material sup- 
port of the congregation. 

Anthony Housel was three times married, 
his first wife, as already stated, being Mary 
Murray, after whose death he formed a matri- 
monial alliance with Mary Hoover and still 
later with Mary Kerr. By his first marriage 
Nvere born the following children: Peter, the 
immediate subject of this review; Charity, 
m.Trried John \'\^erner, but both died at Louis- 



ville, this county ; Thomas married Mary Neise 
and is now, at the age of eighty-seven years, 
living in Uniontown, this county ; Mary became 
the wife of Anthony Spangler, and is now liv- 
ing near Columbia City, Indiana; Catharine 
became the wife of John Sunday; Hannah is 
the wife of Samuel Laird, of Plain township; 
Sarah became the wife of S. C. Shamers, and 
is now living at Bloomington, Indiana; Percilla 
married Jacob Snyder, of Plain township; 
John died at the age of eighteen years ; Hiram 
H. married Alice Firestone, and is now liv- 
ing at Los Angeles. California; Amanda be- 
came the wife of J. H. Spangler, and is now 
living in Canton ; Loucetta married H. C. 
Mentzer, and they \'\\e in Cherokee county, 
Kansas. 

Peter Housel was born September 30, 181 5, 
in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, and, 
as already stated, was about one year old when 
his parents took up their residence in Ohio. 
He was reared to agricultural pursuits on the 
home farm in Stark county, attended school as 
opportunities offered and made such advance- 
ment in his studies that before reaching the age 
of twenty he was qualified to teach, which line 
of work he followed a number of years with 
gratifying success. When a young man of 
twenty he went to Pennsylvania and for two 
years thereafter clerked in his vmcle's store 
at Danville, returning home at the expiration 
of that time and again devoting his attention 
to educational work. In 1842 he married Miss 
Julia Ann Smith, and. renting a part of the 
home farm, continued to live in Plain town- 
ship until 1847, when he purchased a place of 
his own near Hurfords Hill, in the township of 
Canton. After living several years on the 
latter farm. Mr. Housel sold it and in 1854 
bought seventy-eight acres of land near the 
town of Canton, all of which is now included 
in the citv limits, the present site of the place 
extending from the South Market street school 
southward to the creek and embracino- n num- 



538 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ber of valuable lots and improvements. About 
two or three years after moving to his last 
purchase he platted an addition to the city, con- 
sisting of a number of fine building lots which 
soon found ready buyers ; the city continuing to 
encroach upon his home, he frequently laid out 
other lots which were sold at liberal prices 
and in this way he disposed of the greater part 
of his land, realizing from the same a fortune 
which ])laced him and his family in independent 
circumstances. Mr. Housel was a successful 
farmer and a shrewd, far-sighted business 
man. as his various transactions abundantly 
attest. He was successful in the accumulation 
of wealth and wise in its expenditure for legiti- 
mate ]iurposes, but, as indicated above, he laid 
by sufficient to insure a comfortable competence 
besides making liberal provisions for his chil- 
dren. In politics he was originally a WHiig, 
but when the Republican party came into 
existence he gave his allegiance to the same 
and remained one of its zealous supporters as 
long as he lived. At the age or forty-four he 
united with the First Presbyterian church of 
Canton, later was elected an elder of the con- 
gregation and he served as such for a number 
of years, during which his course was e\'er that 
of an honorable, faithful Christian, zealous in 
upholding the cause of the Master and untiring 
in his efforts to benefit bis fellow men. He 
lived a useful life, accomplished much good in 
his various relations and so impressed his indi- 
\'iduality upon those with whom he came in 
contact as to win their cunfidence and lasting 
regard. As a neighbor he was obliging in all 
the term implies and ever ready to accommo- 
date those who ap])lie(l to him for fa\-iirs; as 
a friend he was loyal and the soul of honor, and 
as a citizen he labored earnestly for the com- 
mon good and hesitated not to lose sight of 
self and self interests in his endeavors to pro- 
mote the welfare of those among whom his 
lot was cast. Air. Housel dei)arted this life 
at his home in Canton on the 19th day of June, 



1885, and left to mourn his loss five children 
and a host of friends who had learned to ap- 
preciate him for his manly character and ster- 
ling worth. His wife, who had long been 
his faithful companion and true helpmate on 
life's journey, was called to her reward in the 
year 1889. She was a loving mother, a sincere 
Christian and a devoted friend, and, with a 
peace of mind prexadin.g her soul like the placid 
flow of a tranquil stream, she sank sweetly into 
her last quiet sleep and fearlessly entered the 
^■ailey of shadows, assured of a Heavenly 
Father's w elcome on the other side. 

The following are the names of the children 
born to Mr. and Airs. Housel : Johana, who 
died in childhood; Alalinda also died young: 
Alary Ann, deceased ; Eva resides in Canton : 
Ella, the widow of H. \\'. Thomas, also make> 
her home in this city; Daniel, who died at the 
age of nine years, ^\as the third person to Ijc 
buried in Westlawn cemetery ; Laura, who de- 
parted this life at the early age of eighteen 
months ; Anthon}-, l)y profession an attorne\', 
resides in Cincinnati ; Cora, now Airs. C. J. 
Everhart, of Canton; an<l Thomas, the 
youngest of the family. 



HENRY W. THOAIAS.— On the old 
homestead farm, in Pike township. Air. Thom- 
as was ushered int(i the world on the 9th of 
Xovember. i^2>7'' said homestead being located 
two miles north of the now thriving village of 
Sparta. There he was reared to maturity un- 
der the beneficent inllucnces of farm life, while 
he received his earh- educational training in the 
district schools and supplemented the same liy 
a cour.se of study in Alount Union College, 
which has long held high rank among the edu- 
cational institutions of thus section of the Buck- 
eve state, and there he made the best use of the 
opportunities afforded him. At the age of 
eighteen years he began teaching in the pub-, 
lie schools of the countv and continued success-: 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



5 39. 



fully in the pedagogic profession two years, 
wliile he tnrned from the vocations of peace 
to face the stern duties involved in the de- 
fense of tlie Union when its perpetnation was 
threatened hy armed rebelh(in. He was among 
the first to enHst from Stark county, having be- 
come a private in Company F, Fonrth Ohio 
A'olnnteer Infantry, in 1861. His company 
was commanded by Captain James Wallace, 
and at the close of his temi of enlistment Mr. 
Thomas gave further evidence of his intrinsic 
lovalt\' and patriotic devotion In- veteranizing, 
still retaining membership in the same conv 
pan_\- and regiment, with which he served until 
the close of the war, the command having been 
attached to the Army of the Potomac during 
the greater part of the time and having- partici- 
pated in many of the notalile engagements of 
the great fraternal conflict. During' the term 
of his service he received one slight wound, but 
was not long incapacitated for service, and 
thereafter continued at the post of duty until 
victor}- cro\\-ned the L'nion arms. After the 
close of the \\ar Mr. Thomas resumed his 
studies in Mount Unicm College, near Alliance, 
and later devoted his attention to teaching- for 
a few years, after which he turned his attention 
to the trade of carpenter, to which he devoted 
his attention until the time of his marriage, 
which Mas solemnized on the 29th of December, 
1868, when Miss Ella E. Flousel became his 
wife. He then took up his residence on the 
Housel farm, which originally comprised one 
hundred and sixty acres and which is now sub- 
divided into city lots in the southwest section of 
Canton. Here he continued to devote his at- 
tention to agricultural pursuits for the ensuing 
seven years, at the expiration of which he again 
became identified with the work of his trade, 
as a contractor and builder, gaining marked 
precedence through his efforts in this line and 
continuing to be thus engaged until the time of 
his death, which occurred on the 20th of July, 
1900. He was a consistent and valued member 



of the l^resb}-terian church and was an elder in 
the Euckingham mission, an auxiliary of the 
church mentioned. In politics he gave an un- 
qtialified allegiance to the Republican party 
and was e\-er actively interested in, public af- 
fairs, though he never manifested any ambi- 
tion for public office. His life was an unblem- 
ished one and it was but natural that to hin-i 
should have been accorded the fullest measure 
of public confidence and esteem, so that in the 
county in which he maintained his home from 
the tinie of his birth until he was summoned to 
the eternal life, his friends were in number as 
his acquaintances. 

Mr. Thomas was a son of Nathaniel Thom- 
as, who can-ie to Stark county from \Vestmore- 
land county, Pennsylvania, in the early days, 
entering- one hundred and sixty acres of land in 
Pike township and there developing a good 
farm. In this comity he married a Miss \\'elk- 
er, and they became the parents of ten chil- 
dren, namely: Henry W., Barnett, Harriet, 
Lewis. Mary, Ellen, John, Lizzie, AMlliam and 
Eliza. Of the number six are living at the 
present time. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas became 
the parents of seven children, of whoi-n two died 
in inlanc}-, while of the others we enter the 
following brief record : Charles died at the age 
of four years ; Herbert, who is now a resident 
of the city of Columbus, Ohio, married iNIiss 
Agatha Hayes, and they are the parents of two 
children; Edgar, who is bookkeeper in the First 
National Bank of Canton, married Miss Carrie 
Sheaffer, and they have one child ; Eva is the 
wife of Clifford Beaumont, and they reside in 
the attractive old hon-iestead with her mother, 
on Denber street, and have one child: ^linnie 
is Ii\-ing at biTme with her mother. 

Mr. Thomas became a successful and repre- 
sentative business man of Canton, and was con- 
cerned in the erection of many important build- 
ings in the countv, while in all the relations of 
life he held every trust inviolable and demanded 
the approval of conscience for every action. 



540 



OLD LANDMARKS 



He stood four square to every wind that blows, 
was loyal in his friendships, a devoted husband 
and father and a man whose memory remains 
as a benediction to those who were nearest and 
dearest to him. 



HARRY E. FIFE.— The Fife Brothers 
Company, of which the subject of this sketch 
is secretary and treasurer, conduct an enter- 
prise which in its line is tantamount in import- 
ance to any other of similar character in this 
section of the Buckeye state. The interested 
principals aside from the subject are his broth- 
ers, James A. and Frank R., the former of 
whom is president of the corporation and the 
latter vice-president, while all have gained dis- 
tincti\-e recognition as energetic, progressive 
and reliable business men. while through their 
concerted efforts has lieen built up the exten- 
sive business now controlled in the line of 
plumbing and pipe-fitting; hot-air and hot-wa- 
ter heating; slate, tin, paper and gravel roofing; 
and in the handling of sto\-es, ranges, mantels 
and grates ; natural-gas and builders' supplies 
and gas and electrical fixtures. The business 
was established in 1892. and the same was 
originally conducted imder title of the Yost & 
Fife Company, of which the present corpora- 
tion became the successor in 1898. the business 
lieing duly incorporated under the laws of the 
state. The offices and salesrooms of the com- 
pany are located in a commodious and substan- 
tial two-story brick and stone structure at 212- 
2t6 East Third street, where an aggregate floor 
space of twelve thousand square feet is utilized. 

Prior to his identifying himself with this 
enterprise, Harry E. Fife was employed with 
the plumbing concern of 'i'heobald & Company 
in the capacity of bookkeeper, and eventually 
became a member of the firm, and of those at 
present identified with the plumbing business 
in Canton he holds priority over all other in 
point of continuous connection with the indu.s- 



try, though he is still a young man. Mr. Fife 
is a native of the old Keystone state, having 
been torn in the city of Allegheny on the 4th 
of January. 1864. When he was but six weeks 
of age his parents removed to Ohio and located 
in Canton, and here he was reared to manhood, 
securing his early educational discipline in the 
public schools and being graduated in the Can- 
ton high school as a member of the class of 
1879. He then entered the Canton Business 
College, where he completed a thorough course 
in the commercial branches. Upon leaving this 
institution Mr. Fife secured employment in the 
office of George W. Dillon, one of the pioneer 
plumbers of Canton, and later he became identi- 
fied with the firm, of Theoliald & Company, as 
has been previously noted, as have also the 
more salient points in his business career since 
that time. In politics Mr. Fife is a stanch ad- 
vocate of the principles of the Republican 
party, and his religious faith is indicated by 
his. retaining membership in the First Presby- 
terian church, of which his wife also is a de- 
voted adherent. Fraternally he is a member 
of Canton Lodge No. 60, Free and Accepted 
Masons, and was one of the incorporators of 
what is now known as the Savings & Loan 
Company, one of the prominent financial insti- 
tutions of Canton. 

On the 2nd of September, 1891. Mr. Fife 
was united in marriage to Miss Anna Reed, 
who was Ixirn and reared in Canton, being a 
daughter of John P. and Eliza Reed, well 
known and honored residents of this city for 
mnnv vears. 

James ]\L Fife, father of the subject, was 
born in Columbiana county, Ohio, being a rep- 
resentative of stanch pioneer stock, and he 
learned the trade of molder, to which he was 
devoting his attention in. Allegheny, Pennsyl- 
vania, at the time of our subject's birth. After 
coming to Canton he was employed for some 
time in the molding department of the works of 
the C. Aultman Company, and thereafter rep- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



541 



resented the company as a traveling agent for 
the long period of twelve years, within which 
time he visited the most diverse sections of the 
Union as well as various European countries, 
in the interests of this important concern. In 
1896 he established himself in the fire-insur- 
ance business in Canton, and has since been 
successfully identified with this line of enter- 
prise, conducting the business under the name 
of the J. M. Fife Insurance Agency. The Fife 
family is of pure Scottish lineage. The maiden 
name of our subject's mother was Elizabeth 
McClure, and she was born in Allegheny, 
Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish descent. She 
and her husband are prominent and valued 
members of the First Presbyterian church, and 
the latter is a member of the Masonic fraternity 
and a radical Republican in his political pro- 
clivities. Of the children of James M. and 
Elizabeth Fife we may say that they have four 
sons and three daughters, namely: Harry E., 
Frank R., James A., Arthur G., Clara J., Grace 
and May P. Grace is now the wife of Otto 
Giessen, of Canton. 



HENRY HA AG was born in Jefiferson 
county, Pennsylvania, in March, 1833, being 
one of the six children bom to Christopher and 
Marilla Haag, of which number two survive at 
the present time, namely : Philip, who resides 
in Punxsutawney, Jefferson county, Pennsyl- 
vania, and Mary, who is the widow of Moses 
Ireley and resides in the state of Texas. The 
parents were lx)th born in Germany, where three 
of their children were born, and in 1832 they 
emigrated to America, one of their children dy- 
ing en route and being buried at sea. On their 
arrival in the United States they proceeded to 
Ebensburg, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, and 
there the father secured employment in con- 
nection with the construction of the first rail- 
road which traversed that section of the state. 
A year later he removed to Jefiferson county 



and located in the immediate vicinity of the 
present little city of Punxsutawney, where he 
became the owner of a farm of eighty acres, be- 
ing numbered among the first settlers in the 
county, wdiere but a few families had antici- 
pated him in locating. In his native land he 
had learned the trade of wagon-maker, and to 
this he continued to devote his attention in con- 
nection with his farming operations, passing 
the remainder of his life in Jefferson county, 
where he died, his wife also passing away in 
that county, the other three of their children 
having been born after they took up their resi- 
dence there. 

Hemy Haag, the immediate subject of this 
sketch, grew up on the homestead farm and 
early began to materially aid in its work, while 
he also learned the wagon-making trade under 
the direction of his father, his services in these 
lines being so insistent as to preclude his regu- 
lar attendance at school, even had the advan- 
tages been greater than they were. He man- 
aged to attend the subscription school, three 
miles distant from his home, for brief intervals, 
and thus gained a knowledge of the more rudi- 
mentar}' branches. He continued to work as 
a wagon-maker with his father until 1865, 
when he came to Stark county, locating iri 
Paris soon after his arrival here and there find- 
ing employment at his trade. He remained 
there about two years, and then, after passing 
a short time in Alliance, he went to Salem, Co- 
lumbiana county, where he continued to follow 
his trade for a period of about five years. He 
then passed a year in Alliance, and at the ex- 
piration of this period came again to Canton, 
where he was consecutively engaged in the 
work of his trade up to 1889, having conducted 
his operations mdependently for a number of 
years. In the year mentioned he took up his 
abode on the present home farm, which he had 
purchased a year previously, the same being lo- 
cated in Osnaburg township. Stark county, and 
comprising one hundred and forty acres of ex- 



542 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ceptionally fertile and productive land, the 
place having substantial improvements of the 
best order, including an attractive residence. 
Mr. Haag was a Democrat in politics. Dur- 
ing the major portion of his life he belonged 
to the Lutheran church, but in later life be- 
longed to the Reformed church, of which his 
widow is a member. His death occurred Janu- 
ary 14, 1903. 

On the 29th of October. 1889, Mr. Haag 
was united in marriage to Miss Adaline Feud- 
ner, who was born in Lake township, this coun- 
ty, being a daughter of John and Dorothy 
( Househalter) Feudner. both of whom were 
born in Germany, whence the former emigrated 
to .America in the early forties, when a young 
man, while the latter came to this country with 
her parents m 1838. Mr. and Mrs. Haag are 
the parents of three children. Richard, John 
and Dorothy, all at home. On the ist of April, 
1903, Mrs. Flaag removed to Canton, where 
she still resides. 



CHARLES R. ROTH.— Another of the 
native sons of Stark county who has here 
passed his entire life and who has gained pres- 
tige as an able and enterprising young business 
man, is Mr. Roth, who is the senior member of 
the firm of Roth & Hug. who conduct a well 
equipped drug store at Xo. 333 East Tuscara- 
was street, in the city of Canton, while they 
have received a gratifying and representative 
support from the public, which fact indicates 
their correct business methods and per.sonal 
popularity. Mr. Roth was born in the at- 
tractive village of Navarre, this county, on the 
i6th of May. 1873. being a son of Beda and 
Elizabeth (Hug") Roth, both of whom were 
born in Switzerland, from which fair little re- 
public they emigrated to /Xmerica in 1871, be- 
ing accompanied bv their three children, while 
the other four of their children were born in 
Stark county. The parents i^f the subject came 



at once to this county after landing in New 
^'ork, and took up their residence in the village 
of Navarre, where Mr. Roth engag'ed in busi- 
ness as a carpenter and contractor, there con- 
tinuing operations in this Ime until 1875. when 
he came to Canton, where he and his wife have 
since maintained their home and where he con- 
tinues to follow the trade as a cabinet maker 
and builder. 

Charles R. Roth was but one year of age 
when his parents thus removed from his native 
town to Canton, and here he was rearetl to ma- 
turity, continuing his studies in the public 
schools until he had attained the age of six- 
teen yea.rs. when he secvn"ed a position in the 
drug store of the firm of Stinchcomb & Port- 
man, and later continued in the same line of oc- 
cupation .with C. A. Portman & Company and 
later with H. H. Lik, respective successors, 
gaining an excellent knowledge of the practical 
fletails of the business and devoting careful at- 
tention to pharmacy. In order to ]>erfect his 
technical knowledge as a professional pharma- 
cist. Mr, Roth was matriculated in the New 
"N'ork College of Pharmacy in the city of New 
York, in i8c)6. and there completed the pre- 
scribed course of sttidy and was graduated as 
a member of the class of 1898, coming" forth 
thoroughly fortified for the business and pro- 
fession to which he has since so successfully 
devoted his attention. After his graduation 
he returned to Canton and was again in the 
employ of Mr. Ink about one year, at the ex- 
piration of which, in Septeml:)er, 1899, he es- 
tablished his present enterprise by entering into ' 
]>artner.ship with Casimir K. Hug, under the 
firm name of Roth & Hug. and they have by 
energy, enterprise and good management built 
up an excellent business, while their store is 
one of the metropolitan establi.shments of the 
sort in the city, l>eing modern in equipment and 
carrs'ing a comprehensi\'e and well selected 
stock in all lines. 

Li his political adherencv Mr. Roth was for- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



543 



nierly identified witli li:e Democratic party, but 
he now maintains an independent attitude and 
exercises his franchise in support of men and 
measures rather than following partisan dic- 
tates. He is a member of St. Peter's cliurch, 
Roman Catholic, and fraternally he is a mem- 
ber of the Woodmen of the World. 

In Canton, on the 28th of November, 1900, 
Ish'. Roth was united in marriage tO' Miss Lill- 
ian Harmony, who was born in Cairo, Ohio, 
being a daughter of Frank and Sadie Har- 
mony. Mr. and Mrs. Roth have one child, 
Bernice, who was born on the 30th of Septem- 
ber, 1 90 1. 



LORENZO M. KILLIAN.— One oi the 
native sons of the city of Canton who has here 
gamed a position of independence through his 
own efforts and who commands the confidence 
and respect of the community, is Mr. Killian, 
\\ho represents the fifth ward in the city coun- 
cil and who has conducted a successful business 
in the city for a number of years, having a well 
equipped meat market, where he caters to a 
large and discriminating patronage. His great- 
grandparaits in the paternal line emigrated 
from Germany to America and took up their 
abode in Pennsylvania in an early day. there 
passing the remainder of their lives, and the old 
Keystone state was likewise the residence place 
of the grandparents of the subject. His fa- 
ther, George Killian, was born in Pennsylvania, 
whence he came to Ohio when a yoimg man, 
in the early 'fifties, and he was for a time em- 
ployed at farm work, but soon took up his 
residence in Canton, where he was engaged in 
the butchering business until his death, which 
occurred in July, 1870, at his home. No. 1623 
South Market street. He was the owner of 
two markets at the time of his death — one be- 
nig located just east of the public square, on 
East Tuscarawas street, and the other on South 
Market street, immediatelv south of the Fort 



Wayne Railroad tracks. In the latter location 
there were then only two or three business 
places south of the railroad tracks, and the fa- 
ther of the subject acquired about twenty acres 
of land in the vicinity and eventually disposed 
of the same for business purposes, realizing a 
good profit, in politics he was a stanch Demo- 
crat, and his religious faith was that of the 
German Reformed church, to whose support he 
contributed a due quota, being a man of sterl- 
ing character and one whose fife was one of 
consecutive industry. After locating in Stark 
county he was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Immel, a daughter of Benjamin Immel, who 
was a pioneer farmer, located about twelve 
miles south of Canton. Mr. and Mrs. Killian 
became the parents of six children, nameh'' : 
Emanuel, who was established in the meat mar- 
ket business in Canton for a term of years, died 
here in about 1893, having been twice married, 
first to Christina Fleisher, and after her death 
to her sister, Frances, who survives hjm ; Jacob, 
a resident of Canton, married Miss Lorena My- 
ers ; Sarah is the wife of Michael Greminger, of 
this city; Joseph died, unmarried, at the age 
of thirty- four years ; George married Miss 
Alary Barnes and died in Canton, at the age of 
thirty-two years: and Lorenzo M., the immedi- 
ate subject of this review, is the youngest of the 
children. The mother of the subject eventually 
consummated a second marriage, becoming the 
wife of Anthony Smith, who died about 1894. 
She sur\-i\ed until July j6, 1901. her death 
occurring in the old family home, on South 
Market street. She likewise was a consistent 
member of the German Reformed church. 

Lorenzo M. Killian was born in the home- 
stead just mentioned, on the nth of December, 
i860, and his educational discipline was re- 
ceived in the public schools of this city. He 
was but ten years of age at the time of his fa- 
ther's death, and thereafter he became to a 
large degree dependent upon his own resources, 
having the self-reliance and common sense to 



544 



OLD LANDMARKS 



not waste such opportunities as came to him, 
and never being afraid of honest labor. When 
but nine years of age he went to work in the 
butcher sliop of his brothers, who were then 
associated in business, and continued in their 
employ until he was about eighteen, while the 
following four years were passed as an employe 
of the Aultnian Company. For the ensuing 
four years he was associated with his brother, 
Jacob, in the conducting of a meat market on 
South Market street, the partnership being then 
dissolved, the subject becoming the sole owner 
and having e\'er since continued the enterprise, 
building up a satisfactory business through fair 
and honorable dealing and careful attention 
to all details of the business. From the time 
of attaining his majority he has maintained a 
lively interest in the work and cause of the 
Democratic party, and his zeal not less than his 
eligibility led to his being made tlie nominee 
of his party for representative of the fifth 
ward in the city council, in the spring of 1899. 
He was elected by a satisfactory majority and 
was honored with a re-election in the spring 
of 1901, so that he is in tenure of this office at 
the present time. He has served on important 
committees of the municipal body and has at 
all times aimed to conserve good govern- 
ment in- all administrative departments, to 
further the progress of the city in all 
lines of civic advancement and to be 
a true representative of his constituency. 
Among the committees on which he has served 
may be mentioned that on claims, that on 
streets and alleys and the railroad committee, 
being assigned to the last named for both terms 
of oftice, while he has also held membership on 
minor committees. Fraternally he is identi- 
fied with the Independent Order of Foresters 
and the American Union, and his religious 
views are in harmony with the tenets of the 
German Reformed church, under whose di,sci- 
pline he was reared. 

In the city of Canton, on the 19th of June, 



1881, Air. Killian was united in marriage to 
Miss Anna Ware, and within the same year he 
erected his present attractive residence, at 
1617 South Market street. The union has 
l>een blessed with six children, namely : Marie 
\\'.. who is a graduate of the Canton high 
school ; Norman L., who assists his father in 
the market; and Beulah M., Maurice L., Cliff- 
ord J. and Lorenzo Donald, all of whom re- 
main at the parental home, to which they lend 
cheer and brightness, the elder children being 
also under the home roof, so that the happy 
family circle is still intact. 



ANDREW PONTIUS.— The subject of 
this sketch, better known as 'Squire Pontius, 
of Plain township, Stark county, is not a law- 
yer, but he has had much to do in legal matters 
for other people. He served for eighteen years 
as justice of the peace, and considers that the 
soundest piece of advice he ever gave a man 
in all that time was "avoid the law." Not con- 
tent with preaching by precept, he instructed 
also by example, and showed the confidence he 
had in his own counsel by never having had, 
durii'tg' the period of seventy-three years that 
he has lived, a law suit of his own. His pa- 
ternal grandfather was Fredrick Pontius, who 
was born in Pennsylvania, July 4, 1772, just 
four years to a day before the promulgation of 
the Declaration of Independence, and his 
grandmother was Margaret (Reedy) Pontius, 
who was also a native of Pennsylvania, and a 
year or two younger than her husband. The 
battles of the Revolutionary war were fought 
and won during their childhood, the first presi- 
dent of the United States was inaugurated 
while they were school children, and the bells 
tolled for the first time for the death of the 
immortal Washington about the time they 
were entering upon the first years of their mar- 
ried life. Their son, Jacob Pontius, father of 
the subject, was born in Union county, Penn- 




ANDREW PONTIUS GROUP. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



545 



sylvaiiia. in i8oj, and spent the first fourteen 
\-ears of his life there. In i8i') the parents 
nioveil to Stark county, Ohio, whence the lad 
accompanied tlieni. Thev settled in P'lain 
township, upon a farm, where they continued 
to reside until Ju!_\- j8, 1848, when Fredrick 
Pontius died, at the age of se\-enty-six years. 
His \\'ife Margaret then went to Wayne coun- 
ty to reside w ith one of her children, where she 
li\ed until i8(>i. aljout the time of the breaking 
out of the Rebellion, when she died at the 
age of eightv-six years. In his new home in 
Stark county Jacob Pontius grew to manhood. 
He was imited in marriage in February, 1827, 
to Miss Rebecca Essig, wIkj was born in Cum- 
berland count}'. Pennsylvania, ]\lay 6, 1806. 
Pier parents mined to Stark county, Ohio, in 
1808, before the countv was organized, and 
when she was but two years old. She was 
reared as were other girls of her time, their 
attention Ijeing occupied with far more work 
than ])leasure. Her educaticm was verv prac- 
tical as iri those days the spinning wheel and 
the weaving loom occupied the place of honor 
in the household, though their place has since 
been usurped by the easel, the mandolin or the 
])iano. The accomplishments of a young lady 
of that day were judged by the kind and 
amount of spinning that she was capable of 
doing, and, judged by this standard, Rebecca 
Essig was considered an accomplished belle. 
After marriage they settled down to the 
customary work of the farm. To Jacob and 
Rebecca Pontius three children were born, \iz. : 
John, Andrew and Margaret. John died in 
I'lain t(]\\nship, in December, 1890: Margaret 
is the widow of Jacob H. Bair, of North Can- 
ton, and Andrew- is the subject of this sketch. 
The father dierl in the flower of manhood, 
in 1832, when but thirty years of age, while 
liis wife died October 14, 1896. at the age 
of ninety years, five months and eight days. 

.\ndrevv Pontius was born in Plain town- 
ship. Stark county, Ohio, August 22. 1829, 
34 



and during all of the seventy-three years of 
his life he has been a resident of that town- 
ship, farming and stockraising having been 
the business of his life, b'ortv (jr more vears 
ag'o, when reajjuig machines first came in 
vogue, he tra\eled over the country a good 
deal as a representative of a manufacturing 
company. He did nuich to break down a cer- 
tain prejudice which prevailed at the time 
against such machines and was accorded much 
credit by his employers, not only by the sales 
made by him, but for starting the purchasers 
ofif with the machines all right and because of 
the general satisfaction expressed by the people 
with whom he did business. 

On May 22. 1851, Andrew Pontius was 
united in marriage to Misss Sarah Jane Correll, 
who was a native of Adams county, Pennsyl- 
vania, born March 31. 1828. Her parents 
were John and Elizal>eth Correll, natixes of 
Pennsylxania, who had emigrated to Stark 
county, Ohio, some years pre\-ious. After mar- 
riage the young couple established themselves 
upon a farm in l^lain township and there they 
continued to reside since. To them se\-en chil- 
dren were born, viz. ; Lorin W'.. who is a 
physician in Canton, Ohio; Jackson W., a busi- 
ness man of Canton; Glancy C, a farmer of 
Perry township; Lucy M., wife of Judge M. 
E. Aungst, of Canton; William J. and Charles 
.\. are farmers and dairymen, nperating the 
largest dairy in Stark county. 

Since reaching man's estate, Andrew 
Pontius has been of a cool, deliberate, dis- 
passionate temperament. Every situation that 
he encountered he weighed carefully and never 
acted until he was thoroughly convinced that 
he was right. It was possibly this disposition 
of deliberation that induced the people of Plain 
township to make him justice of the peace. 
He tried many law-suits and it is remarked 
by his neighbors that they were conducted with 
as much decorum as might iiave been expected 
from a higher court, but he ne\er issued the 



546 



OLD LANDMARKS 



preliminary papers in a case without strongly 
advising- against the proceeding. So well did 
he discharge the duties of the position, that 
time after time he was re-elected, until he 
absolutely and positively refused to serve 
longer. In the whole course of his long and 
active life he never had a law-suit of his own, 
and no decision of his has ever been reversed 
on appeal, the impartiality and fairness of his 
judgment being generally recognized. 

In politics Andrew Pontius has always been 
a Democrat and, while he has taken an active 
part in campaigns in the interest of his party, 
he has never aspired to public position or 
sought place at the hands of any party. Years 
ago he served his township as clerk, for which 
he received the munificent salary of fifteen 
dollars per year. He has also been elected and 
served a number of terms as township treasurer 
and was at one time placed in charge of the 
office of county treasurer, though never having 
been elected to the position, in which he served 
for two years. In church work he is very much 
interested and at this time is president of the 
board of trustees of the Lutheran church of 
Canton, of which he is a member. From any 
standpoint from which a person desires to view 
it, the life of Mr. Pontius has Ijeen a most suc- 
cessful one, even when looked upon from the 
financial side. He is the owner of three hun- 
dren and twenty acres of valuable land, besides 
a vast amount of personal property, enough to 
keep him in comfort and ease all the years of 
his life. Hence, in the midst of life-long 
friends, having long passed the p-^triachal 
period of three score and ten years, he is enjoy- 
ing the evening of a well spent life, hnppy in the 
love and respect of all. 



CVSIMIR K. HUG.— Casimir Thig. Sr., 
father of the subject, was born in Solothum 
canton. Switzerland, in the year 1842. ind there 



received a good common-school education, 
while he learned the trade of stone ma- 
son in his native land, becoming a thor- 
oughly skilled artisan in the line. About 
the year 1870 he emigrated to Amer- 
ica, landing in New York city, whence he 
soon afterward came to Stark county and 
took up his residence in the village of Navarre, 
where he engaged in contracting in the line of 
his trade. There he was united in marriage to 
Miss Alice Portman, a sister of Dr. O. E. Port- 
man, of Canton, in the sketch of whose life, 
appearing elsewhere in this work, is given gene- 
alogical data concerning the family. Four 
years after his marriage Mr. Hug came to Can- 
ton, in order to find a wider field of endeavor, 
and here he continued to follow contracting and 
building tintil his death, \\hich occurred in the 
year 1889. His widow still resides in Canton, 
both having become communicants of St. 
Peter's church, Roman Catholic, soon after lo- 
cating here, while in politics the father of our , 
subject was a stanch Democrat. To him and , 
his devoted wife were born seven children, all 
of whom are living except one. their names, in 
order of birth, being as follows: Lena, 
Charles, Casimir. Emma. Annie (who died at i 
the age of seventeen years), Clara and Alice. , 

Casimir Hug. Jr., was born in the family 
home, on Charles street. Canton, on the loth 
of December, 1875. and here he attended the , 
public schools until he had attained the age of 
sixteen years, when he secured a position as 
clerk in a drug store, continuing to be thus en- 
gaged for the following eight years, within 
which he prosecuted his studv of the business 
so carefully and effectively that he liecame eligi- 
ble for registration as a pharmacist upon ex- 
amination before the state board of pharmacy. 
In 1889 he entered into partnership with 
Charles R. Roth, and the two young men have 
since conducted a very satisfactory drug busi- 
ness at No. 333 East Tuscarawas street, having 
a modern and attractive establishment and the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



547 



best of facilities in all lines. Mr. Hug is a 
Democrat in politics, is a communicant of St. 
Peter's church, and fraternally is identitied with 
the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Mu- 
tual Benefit .Association. 



RAY F. HARBERT.— John Harbert. the 
great-grandfather of the subject, was a na- 
tive of Bavaria, Germany, where he devoted his 
life to the vocation of milling, having been a 
man of no little prominence in his native place, 
where he reared his children to lives of use- 
fulness and honor, even as had his father be- 
fore !iim, the name having been identified with 
the history of that part of the great German 
empire for many generations. The grandfa- 
ther of the subject likewise bore the name of 
John and was born in Bavaria, in 1810. There 
he was reared and educated and there he con- 
tinued to reside until 1834, when he severed 
the ties which bound him to home and father- 
land, and, like many another of his country- 
men, emigrated to America, that he might avail 
himself of the superior advantages here afford- 
ed for attaining independence and prosperity 
through individual efforts. In the year men- 
tioned, in company with his younger brother, 
Henry, he embarked, in the city of Bremen, on 
a sailing vessel, and one hundred and five days 
elapsed ere the weary young emigrants landed 
in the port of New York city, the vessel hav- 
ing drifted from its course and having thus 
been greatly delayed. From New York the 
brothers made their way to Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania, where they separated, and the grand- 
father then came on to Ohio, his brother se- 
curing employment on one of the Ohio river 
boats, from which he fell overboard and was 
undoubtedly drowned, as nothing was ever 
heard from or of him after that time. John 
Harbert found employment in Tuscarawas 
county, where he remained until 1836. when he 
came to Canton, where he maintained his home 



for a short interval, but within this time he had 
assumed connubial responsibilities, having here 
been united in marriage to Miss Margaret 
Schario. After his marriage Mr. Harbert pur- 
chased a tract of land about six miles south- 
east of the town, where he turned his attention 
to fa.rming and also engaged in mining coal 
upon a small scale. There he passed the re- 
mainder of his life, having made good improve- 
ments on his place, according to the standard 
of the time and locality, and having developed 
a valuable property before his demise, which oc- 
curred in .1S81, his widow surviving until 1889. 
Both were devoted members of St. Peter's 
Catholic church, in Canton, and in, politics 
Grandfather Harbert was an uncompromising 
Democrat. Of this union six children were 
born, namely : Margaret, who is the wife of 
John Hoilter, of Pike township, this county; 
John, a successful farmer of the same town- 
ship, as is also Barnet; Mary, who is the wife 
of John Martin, of Canton township ; Henry, 
the father of the subject of this review; and 
.A.ndrew, of Pike township, all the children be- 
ing married except the last mentioned. 

Henry Harbert, father of the subject, was 
born on the old homestead farm, in Canton 
township, on the 4th of April, 1851, and his 
early educational training was such as was af- 
forded in the district schools, which at that time 
were fairly well equipped for the work of in- 
struction. He continued to assist in the work 
of the home farm until 1874, when he started 
O'Ut on his own responsibility. In 1874, in the 
city of Canton, he was united in marriage to 
Miss Catherine Wertz, who was born here, on 
the 9th of September, 1852, being a daughter 
of George and Catherine (Thouvenin) Wertz, 
and after his marriage he continued to be iden- 
tified with farming in Canton township for a 
number of years, becoming the o^ATier of a 
good property. Then he was for a time en- 
gaged in the mercantile business at North In- 
dustrv, this countv. after which he returned to 



548 



OLD LANDMARKS 



his farm, where he remained for the ensuing 
seven years, at tlie expiration of which, in 1895, 
he came to Canton and opened a grocery store 
at 2105 South Market street, where he has 
since been successfully established in business, 
being well known to the people' of this section 
of the county and controlling a good trade, 
while he is animated by the highest principles 
of honor and integrity and commands une- 
quivocal esteem in the community. Hoth he 
and his wife are consistent CDmmunicants of 
the Catholic church, being members of St. 
Mary's parish, and in politics he has ever been 
a stanch Democrat. He has held minor town- 
ship offices, and was postmaster at North In- 
dustr}' for four years, under Cleveland's ad- 
mmistration. A brief record concerning- the 
children of George and Catherine (W'ertz) 
Harbert is as follows: Ray W'., the immedi- 
ate subject of this sketch, is the eldest; Laura 
is the wife of Henry Larson, of Canton; and 
George A., Louis, Austin, Albert, Helen and 
Zeima still remain at the parental home. 

Ray \\ . Harbert was born on the liome- 
stead farm, in Canton township, on the 25th 
of March. 1875. and he initiated his educational 
training at the age of live vears, when he stur- 
dily began to trudge to and from the district 
school, while he continued his studies dinging a 
portion of each year until he had attained the 
age of sixteen, so that he was well fortified in 
the knrnvledge essential to a successful career 
in connection with jjractical Inisiness. When 
a mere boy he began to assist in his father's 
store at North Industry, and this training 
proved of much \alne to him. He came to 
Canton with his ])arents in iS(j3, and has ever 
since been associated with his father in busi- 
ness. Tiie grocery is well equip])ed in the 
matter of accessories and tlie stock is always 
of the highest standard, including Ixjth staple 
and fancy lines and the varied specialties which 
are now demamled in every first-class establish- 
meiU of the sort. 



The precedence which the subject has at- 
tainetl in a public or political way is much to his 
credit and lionor, for his first [iresidential \'ote 
was cast in 189O, when he gave his support to 
Bryan, and he has taken an active interest in 
the cause of the Democratic party since that 
time, ha\ing been a member of the executive 
committee of the party contingent in Stark 
county, and also of the city committee. In the 
spring of igod he was made the nominee of his 
part)- for representatixe of tiie sixth ward in 
the cit\' council, and was elected by a gratifv- 
ing majorit}'. He jjroved an active working 
member of the municii)al body, ever aiming to 
use his best efforts in the furthering of the 
city's interests and so gaining the commenda- 
tion of his constituents that he was chosen as 
his own successor in the spring of 1902. He 
is at the present time a member of committees 
on ordinances, garliage and street crossings, lie- 
ing chairman of the one first mentioned. He 
is a communicant of St. Mary's Catln ilic 
church, as is also his wife, and fraternally he 
is identified with the Knights of St. John and 
the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association, in the 
work of each of which he takes a Ii\el\' interest. 
.On the 23d of July, 1901, Mr. Harbert 
was lunted in marriage to Miss Margaret (iajie, 
of Canton, to which cit\' her jjarents. Thomas 
and Mar\ ((jallagher) Ciajie. remo\ed from 
Kittanning. I^ennsylvania, in the autumn of 
]89-|. Mr. ;uid Mrs. Harliert have one child, 
Lawrence Ra\ niond. who w;is born on the 1 1 th 
of |nl\-. i(;02. 



JEROMK J. KUlDh'.R was b.irn on a farm 
in Washington townshi]), this count}', on the 
T3th of October. 1871. and there be continued 
to lia\e his home until he had attained the age 
of nineteen years. His ]ireliminary educational 
training" was received in the district schools 
in the \icinit}- and when twenty- four years of 
age he was matriculated in the Ohio Normal 



ii 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



549 



Scliool at Ada. where he continued his studies 
for two \ears. lla\ ing tliorouglily fortified 
iiimseif for pedagogic work so far as technical 
preparation was inNohed. he Ijegan teaching at 
the age of nineteen years, and that he proved 
successful fnini the mitiation of his efforts is 
evident fr' JUi the fact that for five years he was 
retained as teacher in district No. 2. Wash- 
ingtnn t()wnshi|). He was thoroughly earnest 
and enthusiastic in his work, and this fact, no 
less than !iis ahility. has conserved the excep- 
tiiina! success which he has won. In 1897 Mr. 
K rider came to Canton and effected tlie pur- 
ch.ase of the Canton Business College, located 
in tlie Wernet iilock. and in August of the same 
year tins college was consolidated witli the 
Actual Business College, the title of the latter 
heing retained tuider the new management. .\t 
the time of tlie merging of the two institutions 
the suhject of this sketch was elected to his 
present dual position as secretary of the college 
and principal of the commercial department. 
Under tlie new regime the numher of students 
in average attendance has practically increased 
threefold, and each department of the college 
is maintained under effective direction and with 
the hest of f.'icilities. so that its reputation is 
extending throughout a wide radius of coun- 
try and attracting a fine class of students, who 
are fully ai)])reciati\e of the advantages afford- 
ed. The future of the institution is one that 
can not fail to lie cumulative in precedence and 
success. The headquarters of tlie school for 
the first three years after tlie consolidation were 
in the \ oung Men's Christian Association 
huilding. hut in Jul\', 1900. the present si:)acious 
and eligihie ijuarters. in tlie Martin l)1ock. were 
secured. Mr. Krider enjovs marked ])opulari- 
ty in the community and among his students, 
wlio realize his earnest efforts in tiieir hehalf. 
Ill i>olitics lie liolds to tlie Repuliiican faith, so 
far as Insic principles are concerned, lint in 
practical affairs of a puhlic nature he is inde- 
pendent in attitude, sujiporting men and meas- 



ures, rather than heing guided along strict par- 
tisan lines. He and his wife attend the United 
I'.rethren church. 

On the 24th of July, 1901, Mr. Krider was 
united in marriage to Miss Blanche Diver, of 
Deerfield, Portage county, Ohio, where she 
was horn, heing a daughter of O. L. and Julia 
(Hough) Diver, who still reside in Deerfield, 
her father heing one of the prominent and in- 
fluential men (if that place. 

Henrv Krider. father of the suhiect. was 
horn in Canton, and in his boyhood days his 
father owned the Harter property on North 
Market street, and that was his home until the 
family removed to a farm two miles northwest 
of the town of Minerva, this county, he having 
heen twelve years of age at the time. There 
he was reared to maturity, aiding in the work 
of the farm and securing a good common- 
sciiool education. .A.s a young man he was 
united in marriag^e to Miss Elizabeth Byers, 
who was l)orn in this county and who resided 
near Miner\-a nearly all her life. After her 
death, about 1S57, he married her sister, Ra- 
chel, and about two years subsequent to this 
second marriage Mr. Krider removed to tlie 
old home farm in W^ashington township, where 
he remained until 1894. when he ptuxhased a 
farm of thirty-two acres, in the same town- 
ship, where he has since maintained his home, 
having practically retired from active labor. 
His second wife, the mother of the subject, 
died in September, 1881. and later he married 
Miss Mary Ann Saffer. who has borne him one 
child. I<"lorence, who remains at the parental 
home. Of the children of his first marriage 
brief record is entered as follows: John is a 
successful merchant at Malvern, this county: 
and T'^lmira is the wife of John V. Buck, of 
Carlton. Ohio. Of the second marriage were 
l)orn the following children : Loretta, who is 
the wife of Daniel Logsdon, a resident of the 
state of Kansas: Alice, who is the wife of 
Frank Burgett, of Marlboro township. Stark 



550 



OLD LANDMARKS 



county ; Melissa, wlio is the wife of Eugene 
Rollins, of Chicago, Illinois; George, who is 
engaged in the grocery business in Canton, 
married Miss Ella Lower, of this county ; 
Orella is the wife of Willianj O. Brien, and 
they now reside in the city of Chicago; and 
Jerome J. is the immediate subject of this 
sketch. It may be stated in conclusion that 
the original ancestors of the Krider family in 
America were the grandparents of the subject, 
who emigrated hither from Switzerland about 
the year 1822, uther children being l)orn to 
them after their location in Ohio, where they 
passed the closing years of tlieir earnest and 
useful lives, worthy of the honor so uniformly 
accorded them. 



JACOB KUNEMAN. — The paternal 
grandfather nf the subject was born in the 
pri>\ince nt Alsace, France, of German 
lineage, and there passed his entire life. 
Tliere also was born, in 1803, his son, 
Theobokl. the place of whose nativity 
was the \illage of Ramersmatt, located in the 
mountainous districts of the province. There 
he was reared to maturity, his life of toil begin- 
ning while he was a mere boy, and he was for 
some time employed in the mines of the local- 
ity. He was able through constant and as- 
siduous labor, to provide a home for his family, 
having become the owner of a house and a few 
acres of ground. In his native town he was 
married to Miss Barbara Stucker, who was 
born in 179Q, and they continued their resi- 
dence in Alsace initil 1846, in the autumn of 
which year ^Ir. Kuneman sold his house and, 
with scarcely more than sufficient money to 
pay for the transportation of the family to 
America, he emigrated to this country, embark- 
ing, at Havre, on the sailing vessel "Alabama," 
which did not drop anchor in the port of New 
York until after a voyage of more than forty 



days' duration. From the national metropolis 
Mr. Kuneman, with his wife and their eight 
children, i)rocecdcil westward, having gone by 
the Erie canal to Buffalo and thence, by steam- 
boat, on Lake Erie, to Cleveland, Ohio, from 
wliich point they came by canal to Massillon, 
Stark count}-, and from that point overland to 
their destination in Canton. The father of 
the subject was an honest, industrious, upright 
man, and he was true to his duty and made the 
best of the meager opportunities which were 
his portion. He continued to work as a day 
labc_)i"er until called to that rest which is eternal, 
his death occurring in Canton, in the year 1887, 
while his devoted wife, who had been a true 
helpmeet, survived him by only two years. He 
was a Democrat in his political proclivities, and 
both he and his wife were members of the Ger- 
man Catholic church, in whose faith they 
reared their children. 

Theobokl and Barbara Kuneman became 
the parents of eight children, concerning whom 
the following is a brief record : John, who 
was born on the 24th of June, 1827, renioxed 
to the state of Mississippi, where he married, 
and he now resides in Yazoo county, that state; 
Johanna, hovn on the 31st of August, 1828, 
is the wife of Maurice Gilling, of Maximo, 
Stark county, Ohio: Barbara, born on the 3d 
of April, 1830, is the wife of F. X. Boesch, of 
Brooklyn, New York ; Theresa, born June 9, 
1832, never married, and her death occurred, 
in Canton, on the ist of April, 1901 ; August, 
born on the nth of November, 1836, died in 
October, 1873, in Canton; Ambrose, born 
March 28, 1838, lives at Ashland, Ohio; Jacob, 
the immediate subject of this review, was the 
next in order of birth ; and Benedict, born on 
the 16th of September, 1841, is a resident of 
Mansfield, having been a member of the Fourth 
Ohio Volunteer Lifantry during the war of the 
Rebellion ; he married Annie Dolan, and they 
have five children. 

Jacol) Kuneman, the subject of this sketch. 




^n^ At) J:,'. C^ **C<itow 





nfA^ "i'k 





a 



-c- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



551 



was born in the old homestead in Alsace, 
France, ori the 5th of April, 1840, and was but 
six years of age at the time of the family's 
remo\al to America. He was reared to ma- 
turity in Canton, receiving his early educational 
training in the public and parochial schools and 
in a local German school, while as a boy he be- 
gan to assist in the support of himself and the 
other members of the family, having shown a 
\villingness to work from his youth up and hav- 
ing ever maintained the highest appreciation of 
the.dignity and honor of honest toil, in whatever 
sphere of, action. On the 9th of October, 1861, 
^\-hen twenty-one years of age, he responded to 
the first call fr)r volunteers to assist in putting 
down the rebellion, enlisting as a private in 
Company 1, Sixty-fourth Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantry, which was recruited from Canton and 
vicinity, T. C. Meyer being made captain of 
Company I, while the regiment went to the 
front under command of Colonel John Sher- 
nipu, who later became so distinguished in the 
public affairs of the nation. The command 
l)egan its active service under Colonel (later 
General) Hooker, and the subject participated 
in the battle of Shiloh, under Buell, while his 
command was with Rosecrans at Chickamauga 
and later with ' Sherman on the ever memorable 
marcli to the sea. At the battle of Franklin 
Mr. Kuneman received a severe wound, a mus- 
ket bullet penetrating his back and coming out 
through his mouth. He was taken to the field 
hospital and later sent to the hospital in Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, where he remained until the 
expiration of his term of service, receiving his 
honorable discharge on the 3d of March, 1865. 
After ha\ing made a record as a valiant and 
loyal soldier of the republic, Mr. Kuneman re- 
turned to his home in Canton, and here entered 
upon an apprenticeship at the carpenter trade, 
under the effective direction of William J. 
Poyser. His natural predilection for mechani- 
cal work enabled him to make rapid progress 
in the technical and practical knowledge of his 



trade, and he soon became recognized as a 
skilled artisan. F"or a number of years he 
worked as a journeyman, and then, in 1869, 
began contracting and building on his own ac- 
count, being progressive, energetic and pains- 
taking, and thus gaining a distinctive prece- 
dence and a liberal support, for his word was 
ever inviolable and he was signally true to all 
promises and to the letter of every contract into 
which he entered. He continued to l^e actively 
engaged in Inisiness until 1892, when he re- 
tired, having gained a competency through his 
earnest and honorable efforts and being now in 
the full enjoyment of the fruits of his toil and 
endeavor. In 1S70 he erected an attractive 
and commodious residence at 508 North Wal- 
nut street, and this has since been his home, be- 
ing a center of generous hospitality and a fa- 
vorite resort of a wide circle of warm and de- 
voted friends. In addition to this, Mr. Kune- 
man is the owner of other valuable realtv in 
the city, having made improvements on vacant 
properties and thus having a rental income of 
no inconsiderable amount. In politics he has 
ever given his allegiance to the Democratic 
party, and his religious faith is indicated in his 
membership in St. Peter's church, Roman Cath- 
olic, of which he has long been a communicant. 
Mr. Kuneman is a bachelor. 



MONTREVJFLI-: HENRY HASLER 
was descended from an old and highly re- 
spectable German family that settled in Penn- 
sylvania in an early period in the histor_\' of 
that commonwealth and later figured in the 
annals of Stark county, Ohio. Joseph Hasler, 
the subject's father, was a native of the former 
state and when a young man learned the black- 
smith'?; trade. Coming to Stark county in 
early life, he was married in Canton, to Miss 
Catherine Baxter, and shortly thereafter 
opened a blacksmith shop in Canton. From 



552 



OLD LANDMARKS 



there he moved to Franklin county, remaining 
a tew years, and again returned to Canton, 
wliere he fdllDued his trade until advanced age 
ohiiged him to retire from active life. He 
died in Canton m 1881. his wife preceding him 
to the other world a numher of vears prior to 
that date. Joseph and Catherine Hasler were 
the parents of children as t\)llows : Isaac, 
deceased; William: Montreville H.. of this re- 
view, and Alljert. deceased. 

Montrevdle Hasler was horn in h'ranklin 
comity. Ohio, on the i8th dav of January,' 
1859. Owing to the limited financial circum- 
stances of his parents, his early education was 
considerahly curtailed and at the early age of 
elex'cn years he was ohiiged to go to work 
to support himself. His first position was in a 
confectionary store in Cant(in and so small 
Avas he at the time that he was obliged to stand 
on a stool to wait on the customers who patron- 
ized the establishment. Endowed with natural 
business aljility. the sori outgrew the abo\e po- 
sition and at the age of twelve he entered the 
employ of the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, 
of this city, where from aii humble station he 
rapidly rose h\ regular gradation until in 
his seventeenth year he had the responsilile ])ost 
of sujjcrintendent of erection. This advance- 
ment is without parallel in the history of the 
com]jany and perhaps no other manufacturing 
establishment in tli£ coimtry can point to as 
signally successful career on the part of an 
emi)loye of the same age and in the same 
length of time. In the year 1878. in the ca- 
pacity of superintendent, Mr. Hasler had 
charge of the Morris Companvs works at 
Youugstown for a period of two vears, mean- 
time traveling over various jiarts of the state in 
the dischart^e of the duties incumbent ujion 
him. 

Severing his connection with the above 
company, Mr, Hasler accepted a similar po- 
sition but at a largelv increased salarx-. with 
the Dominion Ih-idge Company, of Canada. 



and after remaining with that concern some 
years resigned in order to engage in contract- 
ing' for bridge and other iron work u})on his 
own responsibility. In the latter capacity his 
success was marketl. his mode of pr(xedure 
being to take contracts, sublet to him l)y dif- 
ferent ciinipanies. on all of which he realized 
\-ery handsome profits. 

Alxiut i8c)f Mr. Hasler returned to Can- 
ton and C(jntinued contracting in that city as a 
l)asis of operations, until acce])ting the position 
of tra\"eling salesman tor the Canton W'rought 
Iron Bridge Company, later known as the 
.\merican Bridge Company. .\s representative 
of this large and well-known enterprise, he 
tra\eled extensi\el_\- over Ohio and many other 
states, greatlv enlarging the scope of his em- 
ployer's business and continualh' adding to his 
already well-estalilished reptitation as a master 
of the bridge and iron industries. He remained 
with the firm until ill health. sui)erinduced by 
rheimiatism. obliged him to .retire for a while 
and seek the rest and recreation in which he 
stood in stich pressing need : accordingly, in (Oc- 
tober, igoo. he resignerl his position, but the 
renewed health for which he longed failed to 
meet his ex])ectations. The following Decem- 
ber there was a recm'rence of his rheumatic 
trouble in aggravated form and in due tiiue 
it ileveloped into a severe case of ])neumonia. 
which in the course of a few days, terminated 
in bis death, this sad event occurring on the 
8tli of January. 1901, 

Mr, Hasler was married. June 1 r, 1881, to 
-Miss .Mary l-'ischer, a native of Carroll county, 
(^hio, and daughter of Charles Fischer, who 
came to this countrv from (iermany when a 
young man, J'he union was blessed with four 
children, namely: Jessie M. Clark, in the 
treasurer's office of Stark county: Chester, who 
died in infancy: Victoria C. and Montreville. 

.\lr, llnsler was an enterprising and suc- 
cessful m.in ni all the term implies and made 
his presence fell as a f<irceful factor in business 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



553 



and industrial circles. Strong' mental pmvers, 
sijund judgment, keen discernment and 
executive ahdit\- ol high order were among 
his more prominent characteristics, and to these 
niav he added strict integrity, earnestness of 
jnirpose and a high sense of honor, which won 
for liim not unly the unhoundetl confidence 
of the large business enterprises which he rep- 
resented, but the esteem of all with whom he 
had Imsiness or other relations as well. He 
was essentially the architect of his own suc- 
cess, beginning life's battles unaided by a 
finished education, destitute of worldly wealth, 
but well faxured with the energetic and enter- 
prising spirit that laughs at obstacles and hesi- 
tates at nothing short of the high position to 
which its ]3ossessor asjjires. .\n intelligent and 
close obser\er. with (|uick ])erceptions and keen 
intellect, his judgment almost intuitixely gave 
hiiri the power to analwe character and motive, 
an attribute which contributed much to his re- 
markable rise and e(|uall\- remarkable success 
as a broad minded l)usiness man. Generous 
and urbane, in |3ri\ate life and in the quiet 
atmosphere of the home circle he shone with 
a personalit)- \vholesome and elevating to the 
inmates and charmingly entertaining to the 
guests who partook of his open handed hospi- 
tality. 

Mr. Hasler was a stanch Republican in 
politics and ne\'er hesitated to give expression 
to his well formed opinions in friendly dis- 
cussion with those holding contrary \iews. As 
a member of the Odd Fellows and Pythian 
orders he exenijjlified their principles in his 
Community at heart and controlled his actions 
with that object in view. On the 8th day of 
January, igoi. this successful man of busi- 
ness, the model husband and father, the honor- 
able citizen .and liroad minded man of affairs 
lay down the biu'dcn of life at the earlv age 
of lorty-two and ]jassed away not forever, but 
to the resurrection of inimortalitv that knows 
no death. 



Mrs. Hasler was born in the town of 
Oneida, Carroll county, Ohio, and attended the 
public schools at that place until seventeen 
years of age, when her mother moved to the 
city of Akron. The maiden name of her 
mother was Victoria Slater. Both parents 
were natives of (Germany and came to the 
United States shortly after the Civil war, 
settling in Ohio. The father was a farmer and 
followed that calling in Carroll county until 
his death, after which the family took tip their 
residence in Akron, as stated alxne. the mother 
afterwards dying in that cit}'. 

Charles and A'ictoria l-'ischer reared eight 
chiklren, Mrs. Hasler being the youngest of 
the girls, and the names of the others are as 
follows: Bennet. who lives near Hastings, 
Michigan; Lotiis, a resident of Rochester, 
Montana: Adolph, deceased: Cieorge, deceased; 
Angeline, wife of Martin Halter, of Stark 
county; Rosa, now Mrs. l'"red Pfendler. of 
Canton, and Eiizaljeth. a single ladv living in 
Akron. 



MRS. CAROLINE TROUT.— As a rep- 
resentative of one of the most honored and dis- 
tinguished pioneer families of Stark county and 
the city of Canton, and identified through her 
marriage with another i)roininent family early 
settled in this favored section of the state, it is 
eminently j^iroper to here offer a brief review 
of the genealogical and personal history of 
jMrs. Trottt. widow of the late Joseph Trout, 
and a highly esteemed resident of Canton, 
where she has passed her entire life, and in the 
connection will, of course, be incorporated a 
trilnite to the memory of her honored husband. 

Joseph Trout was likewise a nati\'e of Can- 
ton, baxing been born in the fainilv homestead, 
which was located on the lot opposite the pres- 
ent McKinley Hotel, the date of his birth hav- 
ing been December lo, iSjj. Here he was 



554 



OLD LANDMARKS 



reared to nianliood, securing his early educa- 
tional training in the pioneer school of the little 
village in which he was born and which he 
lived to see developed into, an attractive and 
flourishing city. One of his first teachers was 
Mr. Held, and another was Mr. Hyman, both 
of whom will be recalled by the few of the last 
generation who still live in the city. Mr. Hy- 
ni;in \\as the father of Mesdames William Dan- 
nemiller and Nicholas Bour, both of whom still 
have their homes in Canton. Joseph Trout 
was a man of exceptionally alert and vigorous 
mentality, and he was so persistent and recep- 
ti\ e in his pursuit of knowledge that he secured 
a more liberal education than was common to 
the place and period. In his youth he learned 
the trade of carpenter, becoming an expert 
workman, and for many years he was one of 
the leading contractors and builders of his na- 
tive city, thus contributing much to its material 
progress and substantial upbuilding, having 
erected many of the first large buildings in the 
town, a number of which are still standing, in- 
cluding the public school building on East 
Eighth street. His parents. Joseph and Mary 
Trout, were natives of Germany, where their 
marriage was solemnized. Within a few years 
after their marriage they emigrated to Amer- 
ica, landing in the city of Baltimore, whence 
they came to Ohio and took up their residence 
in Canton, among its earliest pioneers, while 
theirs was the distinction of being the first per- 
sons of foreign birth to establish a home in the 
little town, which was then located in the midst 
of the primeval forests, which surrounded it on 
e\'ery side, tlie work of reclaiming the land for 
the puqjoses of cultivation being scarcely past 
the inceptive stages. Here they passed the 
remainiler of their lives, Joseph Trout, Sr., 
having engaged in farming ami also lia\ing fol- 
lowed the work of his trade, that of stone 
cutter. 

The marriage of Joseph Trout, Jr., to Miss 
Caroline Me\cr, Ihe immediate subject of this 



sketch, was .solemnized on the 15th of Novem- 
ber, 1847. and the young couple forthwith es- 
tablished their Lares and Penates in a house 
located at the corner of Second and Market 
streets, a portion of the building being still used 
as a residence. They began their wedded life 
with modest ideas, and their little home, with 
its impretentiousness and meager equipment, 
would seem altogether plain and unattractive 
ti> the average young couple of the present day. 
But they were secure in mutual trust and affec- 
tion and willing to work together for that in- 
dependence and success which eventually 
crowned their efforts, and they had no thought 
of complaining about conditions, having the 
courage to dare and to do and facing the re- 
sponsibilities of life with brave hearts and will- 
ing hands. They later removed from their first 
house to one which 'was located next to the 
present home of J. S. Saxton, on West Tus- 
carawas street, Mr. Trout acquiring the own- 
ership of the property and having erected a 
comfortable house on the lot. This continued 
to l)e their place of abode for a full decade, and 
in 1865 they removed to the substantial brick 
homestead which had been erected by Mr. 
Trout's father in 1838. at the corner of Cleve- 
land avenue and Third street. Here tliey made 
their home until 1870. when ^Mr. Trout erected 
a residence on the lot contiguous on the north, 
and this is the present home- of his widow, the 
place being doubly endeared and hallowed to 
her bv the memories and associations of the 
past. "Sir. Trout continued to be actively en- 
gaged in contracting and building up to within 
a vear prior to his death, which occurred on the 
27th of July, 1802. and he w-as known and hon- 
ored as one of the public spirited and thor- 
oughly representative business men of the city, 
his word having ever been inviolable and his in- 
tegritv of the most exalted order, so that he 
commanded the untpialified confidence and es- 
teem of all who knew him. He ever took a 
dee]") interest in all that concerned the wcllbeing 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



555 



of his native city and his influence and aid were 
ever extended in the furtherance of all worthy 
enterprises and projects tending to conserve 
the general good. In 1855 he was elected to 
the office of city clerk of Canton, and the fidel- 
ity of his administration of tiie office did not 
lack for popular appreciation, as is significantly 
evident when we re\-ert to the fact fliat he con- 
tinued in tenure of the position for eighteen 
consecutive years. He also served for many 
ye;n"s a.-^ a member of the board of trustees, be- 
ing incumbent of both of these offices simul- 
taneously for a decade. In politics he originally 
gave his support to the Whig party, but later 
transferred his allegiance to the Democratic 
party, with which he continued to be identified 
until his death, having been an active worker in 
the cause of his party. He was a man who 
stood "four square to every wind that blows," 
and he left that most priceless of all heritages, 
an honored name, no shadow darkening any 
portion of his long and useful life, which was 
as an open scroll, inviting and challenging the 
closest scrutiny. He was reared in the Catholic 
church and ever kept the faith with all sincerity 
and devotion, having been a communicant of 
St. John's church and one of the liberal sup- 
porters of parochial and general church work. 
His widow is likewise a communicant of this 
church and has been one of the zealous and de- 
voted workers in the same. e\-er striving to 
order her life in harmony with the teachings of. 
the divine Master. 

Joseph and Caroline (Meyer) Trout be- 
came the parents of eleven children, concerning 
whom we offer the following brief record : 
Ella IS a sister of the order of St. Joseph, and 
is at the present time stationed in Washington, 
Georgia ; Mary died at the age of two years ; 
.Rosa is the wife of James McGuire. of Pitts- 
burg. Pennsylvania ; Joseph died at the age of 
two years; Mary (second) is the wife of Den- 
nis Quinn, of Canton; Charlotte is the wife of 
Edward Biechele, of this city; Anne is the wife 



of Samuel Roberts, of Lexington, Kentucky; 
Eugenia is the wife of Howard McCorkle, also 
of Lexington ; Frances died in childhood ; Cath- 
erine is the wife of Robert Diebold, of Canton ; 
and Daisy remains with her mother in the old 
homestead. 

Caroline (Meyer) Trout, the immediate 
subject of this review, was born in the family 
residence, located on the site of the present 
Hanna building, on the 28th of May. 1828. and 
she received her education in a seminary here 
conducted in the early days by Re\-. Andrew 
Goshorn, a clergyman of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church, continuing her studies until she had 
attained the age of seventeen years. \Mien 
she was fi\'e years of age her father removed to 
his farm, located on the north side of wliat is 
now km.iw n as Meyer's lake, in Plain township, 
and here she grew to womanhood. Her grand- 
father is the agnatic line was Andrew ]\Ieyer, 
who was born in the picturesque city of Bonn,' 
on the Rhine, and there he was reared to nia- 
turit}'. Thence, in company with tvro elder 
brothers, he emigrated to the L'nited States in 
the year \\ hen its constitution was adopted, and 
the three located in Baltimore, where he was 
associated with his brother, Godfrey Meyer, in 
the conducting of a copper and brass foundry 
for many years, having learned the trade prior 
to his emigration to America. The family was 
one of distinction and prominence in Germany, 
the father of these three brothers having owned 
extensive vineyards on the Rhine. Col. Francis 
Meyer served under Napoleon, being present at 
the taking of the citv of Moscow and also tak- 
ing part in the e\er memorable battle of Water- 
loo. For his distinguished services the Em- 
peror, the great Napoleon, conferred upon him 
the cross of the Legion of Honor, the same be- 
ing elaborately jeweled, as was also the sword 
which his chief also presented him, both of 
these valuable and historic trophies being still 
retained in the possession of the family. Con- 
cerning the family history more complete detail 



556 



OLD LANDMARKS 



is found in tlie skelcii m' niemnir of Andrew 
Meyer. <^randtatlier of Airs. Trout, appcarint;- 
on ntlier i)ages of tliis work, saitl tribute Ijeing' 
accorded to one wiio stood as one of tlie most 
honored and influential pioneers of tliis section 
of the r.uckeye state. .\n(h-ew Meyer was a 
sohUer in the war of 1812. liaving assisted in 
the defense of Baltimore and ha\ing' come to 
Ohio ere the war closed, his first visit in the 
slate lia\ing' been made in 181-I. when be came 
to Stark county and here entered government 
land ,ind also jiurchased other tracts until he 
was the owner of sixteen Inindred acres, all 
]\ing in the \icinit\- of Canton. He then re- 
turned to l5altiniore for his w ife, whose maiden 
name was Cfjrdelia Gross and who was at the 
time of her marriage to Mr. Meyer a widow, 
her lirst husl)and basing been John Hassafrass. 
He resided in Canton until 1818. when he re- 
mcveil to his large farm, having rapidly pushed 
the work of reclaiming and otherwise im])ro\- 
ing the estate, and in 1838 lie erected the resi- 
dence now owned by his grandson, Edward 
Mever. near Mever's lake, in Canton township, 
\\here be coiilinued to make bis home until bis 
death, in |une. 1S48. at the venerable age of 
eighty-eight years, his wife ha\ing passed away 
in the ])receding year. He amassed a fortune. 
ba\ing a large Landed estate in this county and 
also owning valuable realty in the city of Balti- 
more. Maryland, to which he made }'early vis- 
its, at lirst b}' means of wagons and later b_\- 
public stages. He was one of the organizers 
of St. John's Catholic church and prominent in 
its work, and his descendants have retained 
identilication with the same. .\ndrew and 
Cordelia Meyer became the parents of five chil- 
dren, namely : b^rancis. father of Mrs. Trout ; 
Andrew, who married Miss Eliza Hazlett, of 
Baltimore, and who died in Canton; Joseph, 
concerning whom individual mention is made 
on another ])age of this xolume: Elizabeth, who 
became the wife of James Cassilly. and who 
died in Canton; ami .\lena. who became the 



wife of 1 homas I'atton. and who likewise died 
in Canton. 

b'rancis IMeyer. father of Mrs. Trout, was 
born in the city of Baltimore. Alaryland. in 
1795, and completed his education in the col- 
lege at Emmettsburg. that state. He came 
with the family to Ohio in 1818, and here he 
became an assistant in the office of the clerk of 
Stark county. Later he engaged in the mer- 
cantile business at .Mount Eaton, whence he 
removed to Bethlehem, this county, where he 
was engaged in the same line of enter])rise until 
1832, when he took up his alxide on a i)ortion 
of the old bome.'^tead. baxing in his ])ossession 
a farm of live hundred acres. He was a \aliant 
soldier in the Ci\il war. haxing enlisted first in 
the Thirty-second Regiment. Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, and later having become ;i member of 
Williams" Third Ohio Battery. He served 
until the close of the war. having participated 
in many of the most notable engagements, in- 
cluding the siege of Vicksburg and the battles 
of Shiloh and I'ittsburg Landing. .\fter the 
close of the war be served as deputy ])aymaster, 
inider Mullet, at the national capital and later 
in Milwaukee. Wisconsin. He was a man of 
marked e.xecutive ability, guiding his life ac- 
cording to the highest principles of integrity 
and honor and ablv upholding the standard 
of an unblemished family escutcheon. He 
died in February. 1S79. at the home of liis son. 
Joseph, on Clexelatid avenue. Canton, and the 
community mourned the loss of a nc^ble man 
and worth\- citizen. He was a member of St. 
John's church and bis life was ever in harmony 
with the faith which he so humbly and deeply 
])rofessed. 1 le was originally a DeuKKrat in 
politics, baxing given his support to Andrew- 
Jackson, but during the later years of his life 
he ga\e bis allegiance to the Republic;ni ])arty. 
He was a man of fine intellectuality and force- 
ful individuality and his influence was ever 
exerted in su])port of whatever is true and en- 
niiblin"- in life. .\bout the vear 1826 he mar- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



557 



ried Miss Caroline Bogan, who was born in 
Frederick. Maryland, a daug-hter of Dr. 
Antlmny lli.gan. a distinguished physician (if 
that state, antl one who served as surgeon in the 
Continental army, under W'ashington, during 
the war of the Revolution. Mrs. Caroline 
Meyer, nurther (jf the subject, died in 1878, at 
the age of eighty-six years, having' been a 
woman of gentle refinement and noble at- 
tributes of character. Her fixe children were 
as follows : Mrs. Caroline Tn nit, whose name 
initiates this article; Joseph, who married Miss 
Caroline Bleck, of Canal Do\er, Ohio, was for 
many years engaged in the mercantile business 
in Canton, where he died in 1886; Cordelia, 
who never married, died in 1875 ■ Francis mar- 
ried Miss Catherine \\'ise, and thev reside in 
Washington, D. C. : and Mary, the wife of 
\\"ilson Haines, is likewise a resident of the 
national capital. 



ROBERT .\. CASSIDY claims the old 
Keystone state as the place of his nativity, hav- 
ing been ixjrn in Blairsx'ille. Indiana countv, 
Pennsylvania, i.>n the 20th of December, 1839, 
and there he passed his boyhood days, receiv- 
ing his preliminary education in. the public 
.schools, though his final chploma was signed bv 
that wise headmaster. Experience. He re- 
tnained at the parental home until the spring of 
1855, when, though Imt fifteen years of age, 
he went to tlie state oi Iowa, which was then 
on the western frontier of civilization, and 
passed one year at P'ort Des Moines, with Rol)- 
ert J. Clark, one of the principal engineers who 
located the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, 
the celebrated Horse-shoe curve on that line 
having been an unprecedented piece of en- 
gineering work planned and carried out bv liim. 
After his return home Mr. Cassidv entered 
upon an apprenticeship at the printer's trade in 
his nati\-e town, and in the winter ol 1856-57 



he went to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, where 
he secured a pusitjun in the office nf the 'ild 
Centre Democrat, where he was empldved u\> 
to the time when he went forth in response to 
the call of higher duty, as the integrit\- and 
honor of the nation were menaced b\- armed re- 
bellion. In the meanwhile, on the _'4th of 
December, i860, he was there united in mar- 
riage to Mi.ss Caroline M. Johnson, a daughter 
of James M. Johnson, an influential citizen of 
Bellefonte. Scarcely had the young couple 
altered upon their happy married life when the 
subject withdrew himself from the ties which 
lx)unf' liim to home and lo\-ed ones, for in 
August, 1862. lie enlisted as a musician in 
Compaii}- H. One Hundred and Fortv-eighth 
Pennsylvania \'oluiiteer Infantry (of which he 
became principal musician at the organization ), 
which was assigned to the .\rnn- of the Po- 
tomac, and with w liicli be remained in active 
service until soon after the battle of (lettvs- 
burg, \\heii he was transferred to the \'eteran 
Reserve Corps, in winch he served until the 
close of the war. haxing participated in man\- of 
the notable conflicts which marked the jM-ogress 
of the war. Pie received his Imnorable dis- 
charge at Elmira, New ^'ork, on the 2nth of 
July, 1865, and on the 4tli of the following 
August he came t(.i Canton. He was so fa\'or- 
ably impres.scd with the little city that he deter- 
mined to locate here permanentlv, and was 
shortly afterward joined liy his wife. Here he 
became a compositor in the office of the Stark 
County Republican, where he remained until 
the following autumn, when he took charge of 
the office of A. [. Allen, who was engaged in 
the manufacture of patent roofing, and in this 
position he continued until the autumn of 1867, 
when he assumed a clerical position in the office 
of E. Ball (S: Company, manufacturers of agri- 
cultural machiner}-. ;nid bis abilit\- led to his 
being promoted to the position of business 
manager of this large concern, an incumbencv 
which he retained for a full decade. In 1880 



55« 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Mr. Cassidy again ulcntitied himself with the 
printing business, which invariably has a fasci- 
nation for those w In > ha\e been its. devotees 
for any consideral)lc period, and in 1885 he 
pnrcliased a building and equipped the same 
with a modern printing plant, and from that 
time he has contintiously devoted his attention 
to the "art preservative of all arts," having 
built up a very prosperous and gratifying busi- 
ness and having the best of facilities in all de- 
partments of his establishment. 

Mr. Cassidy has served as a member of the 
board of education, the board of health, the 
humane society, as a member of the city coun- 
cil, .and was elected mayor and served one term 
as such, giving a clean conservatixe and busi- 
nesslike administration, though he undoubtedly 
antagonized certain pernicious forces and 
agencies in both numicipal and civic affairs 
during his regime, lie was a member of the 
city council at the time when the paving of the 
streets was first advocated, and he warmly 
supported the measures for compassing needed 
improvements along this line. He has always 
been a stanch supporter of the Republican 
party, but such is his popularity among the 
people of the city that his name has frequently 
appeared on the Democratic ticket. Fratern- 
ally he is a member of McKinley Post No. 25, 
Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is 
past commander ; of Canton Lodge No. 60, Free 
and Accepted Ma.sons ; and of Nimisella Lodge 
No. 39, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
in which he has passed the various official 
chairs. 

At Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, in March. 
1857, Mr. Cassidy united with the Methodist 
Episcopal' church, in whose spiritual and tem- 
poral work he has ever since been most actively 
concerned. For more than a quarter of a 
century he has been a local preacher of the 
First Methodist Episcopal church. He identi- 
fied himself with the First church upon taking 
up his residence here and in its work he has 



been most zealous. He has been a teacher in . 
its Sunday school since 1865, and prior to 
this had done similar service in Pennsylvania, 1 
his C'hristian faith being one of consecration 
arid good works from the time he was led to ' 
the Dixine Master. In the present Sunday ' 
school there are grandchildren of persons who 
were in his class when he initiated his work 
in the churcii here. During the more active 
years of his ministerial labors in Canton, Mr. 
Cassidy was called upon to officiate at more 
funerals than any other clerg\-man exxept the ^ 
Rev. Peter Herbruck. of revered memory, and 
his words of faith and consolation have 
lightened the burdens resting on many a be- 
reaved heart. He is a stanch advocate ©f the 
cause of temperance, and has spared no effort 
to further the same by all legitimate and con- 
sistent means. He is a versatile writer, full 
of appreciation of the best in literature, and has 
force and facility as a public speaker. His 
noble wife still remains at his side, having 
e\'er l)een a svmpathetic companion and an able 
coadjutor in all good works. They have si.K 
children, and in conclusion of this brief 
tribute the following statements are entered 
concerning them : Wilbur is engaged in print- 
ing in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania; Grace is the 
wife of John Fosnaught; Margaret remains 
at the parental home ; Martha is the wife of 
Leonard Betz ; Lucy is the wife of Lowery 
Sobc": and Carrie is the wife of James A. 
W'elker, all of this city, so that .the subject and 
his wife still have about them, in a comparati\-e 
sense, all save one of their children. 



PETER MELCHIOR was l)orn in the 
province of Msace, France, now a part of the 
German empire, the year of his nativity having 
been 1816. His father, Nicholas Melchior, 
was likewise born in Alsace, and was a soldier 
under Napoleon Bonaparte seven years, and 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



5 59 



had a splendid record for bravery. He was 
wounded severely several times and was made 
a commissioned officer, obtaining four medals 
for distinguished deeds of valor. He emi- 
grated with his family to America when the 
subject of this sketch was a boy of fourteen 
years. Nicholas Melchior took up his abode in 
Canton when it was a mere hamlet in the midst 
of the primitive forests, but he eventually re- 
moved hence to Jasper, Dubois county, Indi- 
ana, where he established a brewery, which he 
continued to operate for a number of years, 
and there he passed the remainder of his life. 
His son Peter received his early educational 
training in the pioneer schools and in Canton 
he learned the trade of cooper, under the di- 
rection of an old gentleman named 'Fogel, one 
of the first to engage in that line of enterprise 
in this place. In the early 'thirties Peter 
Melchior became identified with the brewing- 
business in Canton, having for a time rented 
the Ixeighman brewery, while later he pur- 
chased three acres of land, on a part of which 
the old homestead now stands, the same being 
located on South Market street. On this land 
was an old log cabin of one room, and he 
selected the site because of its elevation, which 
was sufficient to afford the necessary fall to 
carry away the water from the brewery. He 
continued to be actively engaged in business 
until his death, which occurred on the 3d of 
December, 1864, and his entire career was 
one which showed the highest principles and 
the most inflexible integrity. He eventually 
sold portions of his land for residence 
purposes, and the old brewer_\- was long since 
razed, having been a familiar landmark for 
many years. His widow still resides on the 
old homestead, which occupies a portion of this 
site, as before noted. Mr. Melchior was a com- 
municant of St. John's Catholic church, in the 
erection of whose edifice he rendered material 
and liberal assistance, while he was ever de- 
voted to tlie faith in wliich he had been reared. 



In the year 1837 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Melchior to Miss Elizabeth Trout, 
and of their children the following brief record 
is entered : ^Margaret, who became the wife of 
Joseph Frantz, died in Canton, in 1872; John 
is still a resident of this city, where he is en- 
gagetl in the wholesale paper business ; Joseph 
is a successful real estate dealer in the state 
O'f Washington ; August is engaged as superin- 
tendent of the Joliet Manufacturing Company, 
in Joliet, Illinois; Mary is the wife of Jacob 
Smith, of Middle Branch, Ohio; Peter is lo- 
cated in the west ; and Nicholas is a represent- 
ative merchant of Canton. 

Elizabeth (Trout) Melchior was born in a 
log cabin wliich was owned by John Shorb and 
wliich stood on the site of the present court 
house in Canton, the date of her nativity having 
been September 2, 1818, and, as previously 
stated, she has the distinction of being one of 
the oldest living natives of Canton, whose en- 
tire growth and development she has witnessed, 
while she has had the high regard of not only 
her contemporaries but also those of later 
generations, who may well listen with interest 
and appreciation to her reminiscences of the 
pioneer days. She is a daughter of Joseph 
Trout, who came to Canton about the year 
1817, purchasing a tract of land adjoining on 
the north that of Mr. Shorb, of whom mention 
has been made. 'J'his land was largely within 
the present municipal limits, but was at that 
time but little improved, while it was reclaimed 
for farm purposes. Mrs. Melchior was not 
formally christened until she was about seven 
years of age, as no priest of the church had 
\-isited the town in the interim and none was 
accesssible except at considerable distance. 
Her mother died when Elizabeth was still a 
child, and she was taken into the home of her 
sister Charlotte, who had learned the trade of 
milliner in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 
and who had opened an establishment opposite 
the Hotel Com'ad, at the corner of North Mar- 



S6o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ket and Tliird streets, havint^' been a pioneer 
in thus catering- to the esthetic tastes of tiie 
laches in the little town. Mrs. Melcliior at- 
tended the school taught hy Mr. Monks, but 
her early advantages in an eilucational way 
were necessarily limited, owing to the exigen- 
cies of the time and place. She remained with 
her sister until her marriage to Mr. Melchior, 
upon whose death she was left witli a family of 
children, largely deiiendent upon her for main- 
tenance. She bra\'el\ assumed the burden thus 
in)])osed, and her struggle was a heroic and 
noble one. which has had its reward in the 
hhal lose and solicitude of her children in the 
later years. Sh.e disposed of the l)rewery 
equipment and ioxc down the building, and in 
1868 siie erected her present home on the site, 
on South Market street. She t'(|ui])])ed the 
house with a large dining room, antl for many 
years pro\-ided tor the family by taking 
boarders. She is well known to the people of 
Canton and has the affection of an exception- 
ally wide circle of de\'oted friends. 

Joseph Trout, father of ]\Irs. Melchior, 
was born in .\lsace, France, and as a mason 
w'as in the service of Xapoleon for seven years, 
aiding in the construction of forts. He finally 
wearied of his association with polemic affairs, 
and about 1817 emigrateil to America, in 
company witli his wife and their three children. 
They landed in the city of Baltimore, and there 
Mr. Irout formed the acquaintance of Joseph 
Shorb. with wliirui he came to' Canton, where 
he took up go\ernment land, as pre\iously 
noted, paying one dollar and twenty-five cents 
])er acre for the same. He was a devout mem- 
ber of the Catholic church and assisted in the 
organization of the congregation of St. John's 
and later in the erection of a church edifice. 
His first wife, whose maiden name was Mary 
TTafler, died in Canton, and he later married 
Catherine l')Our. who survived him by several 
years, no chiklren having been lx>rn of this 
union. Of the first marriage six children were 



born prior to the emigration to .\merica, and 
three of the number died in .\lsace, France, 
riie three who accompanied the i)arent- to 
.-\merica were as follows: Charlotte became 
the wife of Francis Buer, who, after her death, 
removed from Canton to California, accom- 
panied by his children: Kate died at the age 
of se\enteen years, unmarried: Mary married 
.Vnthony I'iero and she died in Canton. Of 
the five children Ihh'u after the emigration to 
Canton the following brief record is oft'ered : 
Flizabeth is the widow of the subject 
of this memoir: Lena went to I'itts- 
burg, I'enns\l\'ania. ;nid thence to Ken- 
tucky, where she married John Steere. 
and where she passed the remainder of her life: 
Joseph, who married Caroline Mver, died in 
Canton; John left his home and went to Cali- 
fornia in 1849, prospered, became sheriff (if a 
county, l)ut disappeared one day, and it is sup- 
posed he was murdered as all trace of him wa- 
lost. The fifth child was Caroline, who mar- 
ried .\nthony Conrad, ami the\' now reside in 
Chicago, Illinois. Mrs. Melchior is a devoted 
member of the Catholic church, and was actixe 
in the ])arish work of St. John's for many 
x'ears. until the infirmities of advanced age de- 
manded that she rest from her labors. In the 
golden evening of her life she is sustained and 
Comforted by an abiding faith in the divine 
Master and by the lo\-e of her children and her 
manv friends. 



BF.VJAJMIN 1'. SMITH w;is born on a 
farm in f^ake townshi]). .Stark county. Oliio, 
on the 3d of .\ugust. 1838. His parents were 
George E. and Sarah (Christ) Smith, the 
former of whom was born in Pennsyh'ania 
in 1799 and died in Canton township, this 
count}-, when eigiity years old, and the latter 
born in Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1809 and 
died in Canton townshi]) at the adx'anced age 
of eighty-eight years. Their union w.is blessed 




B. F. SMITH. 




MRS. B. F. SMITH. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



561 



by the birth of eight children, briefly mentioned 
as follows: Sarah is the wife of Israel Bixler; 
Susan is the widow of the late Christian A\'ine- 
gard: Christian, Andrew, Benjamin F.. Joel. 
Alonzo and Philo. 

The subject was reared under the parental 
roof in Lake township, where he remained un- 
til he had attained his majority. He was early 
taught the lessons of industry and frugality 
and, under his father's wise instructions, ac- 
quired a giiud practical knowledge of the 
mysteries of successful agriculture. In 1859 
he accompanied his parents upon their removal 
to Canton township, wdiere he resided about 
three years. Going the:n to Illinois, he reinained 
in that state about three years, but returned to 
Stark county, realizing that here lay just as 
good opportunities for a man of energy and 
ambition as anywhere else. He was here em- 
l)loyed at farm labor for other people until 
1871, when he purchased ninety acres of land 
in I^lain tijwnship, being the place upon which 
he now resides. He has also bought sixteen 
acres of good farming land in Canton town- 
ship and has brought his property up to a 
high standard of excellence, erecting good 
Iniildings and otherwise impro\ing- the 
property. He is thoroughly practical and up- 
to-date in his methods and has made a notable 
success as an agriculturist. 

On the 14th of March, 1871, Mr. Smith 
was united in the holy bonds of wedlock with 
iMiss Harriet Smith, who was born in Canton 
township, this county, on the 28th of February. 
1842. Fler parents, John J. and Nancy 
(Shriver) Smith, both died in Canton town- 
ship, the former when sixty years old and the 
latter at about the age of eighty-three. To the 
subject and his wife were born three children, 
as follows : George E. married Miss Eliza- 
beth Royer ; Jessie M. ; Cora E. is the wife of 
AViUiam C. Martin. In politics Mr. Smith is 
afliliated with the Republican party and takes 
a k-een intere.'-t in the trend of public events. 
35 



While active and influential in the interests of 
his party, he has no desire for the honors or 
emoluments of public office. Religiously he 
and his wife are identified with Trinity Re- 
formed church and are faithful and consistent 
in the performance of their religious duties, 
giving liberally of their time and material sub- 
stance in the support of the various interests 
of the church and lending their support to all 
movements having for their object the ad- 
vancement of the highest interests of the com- 
munity. 

Before closing this brief sketch, it will 
be of undoubted interest to refer to the mili- 
tary career of the subject. In August. 1862, 
when the nation was in the midst of that 
greatest of all civil conflicts, Mr. Smith, feel- 
ing that his country needed his services, offered 
himself upon the altar of his flag and enlisted 
in Company B, One Hundred and Fifteenth 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He participated in 
all the marches, campaigns, battles and 
skirmishes in which his regiment participated, 
and bravely bore his part of the hardships and 
privations incidental to the life of a soldier. An- 
drew H. Smith, brother of the subject, was also 
a volunteer in the Si.xth Ohio Cavalrv, serxinsr 
nearly five years. He died on his farm in 
Perry township, this county, about 1885. 



JOHN W. STIMMEL was born on a 
farm near the village of Paris, Stark county, 
Ohio, on the ist of February, 1840, and his 
youthful days were passed in this county and 
the adjoining county of Carroll, where he at- 
tended the public schools until he had attained 
the age of fourteen years, having been up to 
that time reared in the home of his maternal 
grandfather. The Stimmel family is of Ger- 
man extraction, and the name has long been 
identified with the annals of the old Keystone 
state, where the original American ancestors 



562 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tdok up tliL'ir allude upnii L'lnigratino; irom llie 
(iennan fatheiiaiicl. In Westmorelaml county. 
Penns3'l\-ania, Jolin Siininiel. g-randfatlier of 
the subject, was horn anil reared, havinsj heen 
a stone-mason hv tnide and vocation, hi the 
same countv the hither nf the suhject was like- 
wise horn, his name heing" Christopher, and as 
the family were in moderate circumstances and 
he was early compelletl to depend upon his 
o\\n resources, his educational advantages were 
very Hunted. He learned the trade of lilack- 
sniith in his native state and when a young man 
emigrated thence to Ohio, and thereifter lived 
in Carroll and Stark counties. In the former 
county was solemnized his marriage to Miss 
Rebecca Shults. daughter of Henry and Esther 
( Eachman ) Shults, the former of whom was 
born ni Pennsylvania, whither his parents emi- 
grated from Ciermany. He died in Brown 
township. Carroll county, Ohio, in 1854, 
having teen a prominent and influential 
farmer of th?it locality, and there also occurred 
the death of his de\oted wife, whose parents 
were likewise pioneers of Carroll county, 
whither they came from Pennsylvania. After 
his marriage Christopher Stimmel located in 
Paris township, Carroll county, where he was 
for a short period engaged in farming, also 
continuing the work of his trade. From that 
locality lie removed to Pekin village, where he 
engaged in the manufacture of axes by hand, 
'["hereafter he was located for an interval near 
Mahern. in the same county, and also con- 
ducted a blacksmith shop at Middle Run for 
a lime, lie then located on the farm of his 
father-in-law and there engaged in farming, 
also having a shop on the place and finding a 
ready demand for his ser\ices as a blacksmith. 
After several years had elapsed he came to 
Stark county, and located in Mapleton, where 
he was successfully engaged in the work of his 
trade until his death, in the summer of i860, 
at the age of forty-eight years. In politics 
he was a stanch Democr;it and his religions 



faith was that of the Disciples church. He was 
an honest, industrious and unassuming man, 
a good citizen and one whose life was such 
as to gain him unqualified confidence and re- 
s]iect wherever he was known. His wife sur- 
vi\ed him many years, her death occurring in 
Mapleton, about 1882, at die age of sixty-h\e 
years, she likewise having been a devoted mem- 
l>er of the Disciples church. Of their children 
brief record is entered at this juncture: Ji>hn 
W. is the immediate subject of this sketch ;' 
Esther is the widow of (jeorge Penrose and 
resides in East Liverpool, Ohio; Afartin re- ! 
moved to Kansas about 1870, locating on a [ 
farm and later removing to the town of New- | 
ton. where he successfully engaged in the black- , 
smith business, continuing operations for a ; 
number of years, while later he liecame under- , 
sheriff of the county and was incumbent of , 
this office for eighteen years ; he served with 
distinction durmg the war of the Rebellion, 
ha\irig been hrst a member of the Eighty-sixth 
Ohio \'olunteer Infantry and later of the One • 
Hundred and Fifteenth Regiment, while it was , 
his misfortune to have been taken prisoner ; 
on the 31st of August, 1864, during Wheeler's ) 
raid, Init he was soon afterward paroled; he • 
married Miss Linnie Ridinger and they are the , 
parents of numerous children; Mary is the, 
wife of John Stininicl, of Paris township, Car- 
roll county ; and Reuben is a successful clay 
miner near Malvern, that county. 

John W. Stnnniel, to whom this review is 
dedicated, remained in the home of his ma- 
ternal grandparents until he had att.'iincd the 
age of fourteen years, as has already been 
noted, and he then joined his p.nrcnts in Maple- 
ton. In the spring of 1853 he hired out as 
a farm hand, entering ihe eni])loy of John 
Shearer and receiving five dollars a month and 
board in reci^mpense for his .services, while 
while during the winter months he was enabled 
to continue his studies in the district schools. 
He remained in the emjiloy of Mr. Shearer for 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



563 



a period of three years, and in the spring of 
1859 lie entered the employ of Zedakiah Ake, 
of Osnaburg- township. The following spring 
Mr. Ake renio\-ed to Allen county, Indiana, 
and the subject drove his employer's team 
through to the new homfe, intending to remain, 
but he was not pleased with the outlook and 
consequently returned to Ohio. During a 
portion of the summer of i860 he was em- 
ployed in the McGregor brick yard, in the city 
of Canton, and in the autumn of the same year 
he here engaged in the blacksmith business, in 
which he was associated with Henry Stimmel. 
He was thus placed at the time when the great 
Civil war was precipitated upon a divided 
nation, and he showed his intrinsic loyalty and 
patriotism by tendering his services in de- 
fense of the Cnion upon the President's first 
call for \-olunteers. In the month of April, 
1861, he enlisted as a private in Company A, 
Nineteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under 
Captain ?\Ianderson and Colonel Beaty, and 
was e\entually promoted to the position of 
color bearer. He enlisted for a term of ninety 
days and remainetl in service for four months, 
taking ])art in the liattle of Rich Motmtain, and 
after the close of his service he returned to his 
home, but he was not content to thus hold him- 
self aloof when his country's integrity still bung 
in the lialance, and he re-enlisted on the 20th of 
August, 1862, becoming a member of Company 
B, One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, under Colonel Lucy and Captain L. 
F. Hake. The regiment was assigned to the 
Army of the Cumberland, becoming a part of 
the Twentieth Army Corps, under General 
Thomas, and Mr. Stimmel continued in active 
serxicc until victory crowned the Union arms 
and peace was declared. He participated in 
many of the memorable conflicts of the war 
and was e\er found faithful to duty, iieing a 
loyal and zealous son of the Republic and one 
who honored himself and his native state by 
hi> efficient services. He received his honor- 



able discharge, in the city of Cleveland, on 
the 5th of July, 1865, and then returned to the 
work of his trade, being located in North 
Industry until September i6th of the follow- 
ing year, when he came to Canton and entered 
the employ of the Aultman Company, being 
thereafter employed in the blacksmith depart- 
ment of the works of this concern for twenty 
years, within which time he was advanced to a 
position of trust and responsibility. His health 
finally became so seriously impaired that he 
was compelled to seek a change of occupation, 
and he left the employ of the Aultman concern 
on the 25th of September. 1886. He passed 
the winter in Kansas, as the guest of bis 
brother, and then engaged in the selling of 
nurser}' stock, to which he devoted his attention 
for one year, after which he was for a time 
associated witli Charles Ite in the putting in 
of door and window screens on contract. Dur- 
ing the following years Mr. Stimmel traveled 
through the south in the interest of the Sun 
\^apor Company, manufacturers of vapor 
lamps, and on Christmas day of the year 1894 
be established himself in the grocery business 
in Canton, his original c|uarters being nearly 
opposite his present equipped establishment, 
which is located on South Market street. By 
bis prc3gressi\'e methods, scrupulous care in 
catering to the demands of a discriminating 
patronage, and his thorough reliability, ]\lr. 
Stunmel has built up a very gratifying business 
and IS numbered among the prosperous and 
honored merchants of the city, enjoying un- 
equivocal "confidence and esteem in the com- 
munity. He has a commodious and attractive 
residence on Market street, the same having 
been erected by him in 1872. In politics he 
gi\-es a stanch allegiance to the Republican 
partv and his religious faith is indicated in 
his membership in the .South Market Street 
Reformed church, in which his wife likewise is 
a zealous worker. Fraternally ]Mr. Stimmel 
is an honored and valued member of IMcKinley 



564 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Post No. 25, Grand Army of the Republic, 
of Canton ; while in Freemasonry he has ad- 
vanced through the degree of the ancient-craft 
body, and he is also identified with the Pro- 
tective Home Circle, the Royal Arcanum, and 
U. S. Grant Council of the Senior Order of 
United American Mechanics. 

At North Industry, Stark county, on the 
7th of March, 1869, Mr. Stimmel was united 
in marriage to Miss Elizal^eth Friend, who was 
born in this county, being a daughter of Leon- 
ard and Margaret Friend, the latter of whom 
died three weeks after the birth of her daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Stimmel. Three other children were 
born oi the union, namely: John, who is a 
resident of Williams county, Ohio; Henry, 
who is likewise a resident of that county; and 
Margaret, who became the wife of Abraham 
Haines, and who died in Montpelier, Williams 
county, in 1899. Mr. and Mrs. Stimmel have 
one child, Ethel M., who remains at the 
parental home and who is one of the popular 
young ladies of Canton, where she received her 
education in the public schools. She is a 
graduate of Canton high school in the class of 
1899. 



CHARLES ITE.— The subject of this re- 
view is known and honored as one of the rep- 
resentative and public-spirited citizens of Can- 
ton, has the distinction of being a veteran of 
the war of the Rebellion, and his life record is 
one that can not fail of lesson and incentive. 
He comes of stanch German stock and may 
well take uride in this fact, and he is himself 
a native of ihe great German empire, though 
he was an infant at the time when the family 
severed the ties which bound them to home and 
fatherland and set forth to establish a new 
home as strangers in a strange land. The sttb- 
ject early assumed the practical responsibilities 
of life and has attained a worthy success dur- 



ing the years which have developed his powers 
and made him a valuable factor in the com- 
munity, [n tracing the genealogy of Mr. Ite 
we must turn to the old city of Wittenberg, 
in the kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, in which 
section of the empire the family name was one 
of honor during all the long years as one 
generation followed another onto the stage of 
life's activities. Mrs. Ite's grandfather was 
a small farmer and huckster in Bavaria, where 
he passed his entire life an industrious man 
and one whose integrity and honor were be- 
yond question. He lived to attain the age of 
eighty-four years, his death being the result of 
an accident. Moses Ite, father of the subject, 
was born in Wittenberg, in the year 1813, 
and was there reared and educated, having 
served six years as a soldier in the German 
army, while as a youth he learned the trade of 
carpenter, becoming a skilled workman. In 
his native province he was united in marriage 
to Miss Emerence Naval, and there they main- 
tained their home until 1846, in which year the 
father of the subject came to America for the 
purpose of securing a location before bringing 
his family to the new home. He finally de- 
cided to establish himself near Waynesburg, 
Stark county. Ohio, and in the summer of the 
following year (1847) 'i'^ wife, in company 
with her infant son, the subject of this sketch, 
who was but two and one-half years of age, 
set sail from the city of London and after a 
tempestuous and hazardous voyag'e of ninety 
days, finally dropped anchor in the port of New- 
York. A terrific storm overtook the vessel, 
which was driven far out of its course and de- 
layed for three weeks, and before it reached its 
destination the supply of food had become very 
low, so that the hardships of the voyage were 
further increased, the boat being badly crippled 
and luaking very slow progress. After the 
family was united the father located on the 
Whitney farm, in Sandy township, this county, 
where he remained two vears, after which he 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



565 



rented other farms in the county for varying 
intervals up to the year 1858, when he located 
on the Reynolds farm, in Canton township, 
where lie remained for the long period of thir- 
teen years, working industriously and doing all 
in his power to provide a good home for his 
family. At the expiration of the period 
mentioned the family, with the exception of 
the subject, remoA'ed to Clark county, Illinois, 
where Moses Ite purchased a farm, near the 
town of Marshall, and there continued in agri- 
cultural pursuits until 1896, when he disposed 
of his farm, which had greatly appreciated in 
value and through whose improvement and 
cultivation he had been deservedly successful. 
He died there February i, 1903, having at- 
tained the venerable age of eighty-five years. 
His devoted and cherished wife, who has been 
a true helpmeet to him during all the "changes 
and chances of this mortal life," died on the 
5th of May, 1898, at the age of eighty-three 
years, having been a sincere and consistent 
member of the C'atholic church, of which her 
husliand also was a communicant. They be- 
came the parents of eight children, namely : 
John, who (lied in Germany, in infancy : Har- 
riet died in Germany when young; Charles, 
the immediate subject of this sketch; Lucas, 
who died in Stark county, in infancy; Mary, 
who is the wife of Joseph Forbeck, of Mar- 
shall, Clark county, Illinois; Wiilliam, who 
also is a resident of that place; Louisa, who 
died at the age of seven years, in Stark county ; 
Sophia, who is the wife of Henry Bennett, of 
Terre Haute, Indiana ; and Adeline, who is 
the wife of Lyman Davidson, of that city. 

Charles Ite, to whom this sketch is dedi- 
cated, was born in Wentzland, Wittenberg, 
Germany, on the 3d of January, 1845, ^""^ 
of his having been brought in infancy to 
America mention has alread}- been made. He 
has passed practically his entire life in Stark 
county, excepting two and one-half years when 
he lived in Noble countv, Indiana, where he 



was married. He grew up under the sturdy 
discipline of the farm, while his early edu- 
cational advantages w^re such as were afforded 
by the district schools, which he attended in an 
irregular and intermittent way, as his home 
was at times far removed from any school. 
When seventeen years of age he came to Can- 
ton and entered uix)ii an apprenticeship to learn 
the trade of wood turning, under the direction 
of Samuel Cavanagh. He was thus engaged at 
the time when the dark cloud of civil war cast 
its gruesome pall o\'er the national horizon, and 
his patriotism was quickened to decisive action 
when, in the winter of 1864, at the age of nine- 
teen years, he enlisted as a private in Company 
I, Sixty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and 
soon afterward they wanted to choose him 
lieutenant marshal of his company, but he 
would not accept. The regiment proceeded to 
the front, being assigned to Sherman's army, 
and the subject was an active participant in 
many important engagements, being constantly 
at the post of duty until the clo.se of the war 
and making a valiant record as a faithful and 
loj-al soldier of the Republic. In the battle of 
Rocky Face Ridge he was struck in the right 
thigh by a bullet, but a serious \\-ound was 
averted through the ball ha\'ing been diverted 
from its course by a knife in his pocket. He 
thereafter took part in the battles of Resaca, 
Kenesaw Mountain. Peach Tree creek. Spring 
Hill, Franklin and Nashville, besides numerous 
other engagements of minor importance. A 
number of the members of his regiment were 
captured at the battle of Franklin, but he suc- 
ceeded in escaping this fate. In the summer of 
1865, his regiment was sent to Texas, being 
attached to General Thomas" army, and there 
he continued on duty until January, 1866, when 
he was mustered out, at Victoria, Texas. He 
returned with his command to Ohio, and re- 
ceived his honorable discharge, at Columbus, 
on the 2d of January, 1866. 

After thus having rendered yeoman service 



566 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in behalf of tlie Union, Mr. Ite returned to 
Canton, where lie resumed the work of his 
trade, hut shdrtl}- afterward, in September, 
18OO, he went to Noble county, Indiana, and 
there, on the 14th of the following February, 
he honored good Saint Valentine by taking 
unto himself a wife, being united in marriage 
to Miss Carrie E. Nave, who was born on a 
farm, four miles south of Crestline, Crawford 
county, Ohio, where she was reared to ma- 
turity. Her parents were Solomon and Susan- 
na Na\e, the latter of whom died when Mrs. Ite 
was but five years of age, and she was reared 
b\- her maternal grandparents. Mrs. Ite met 
with a tragic death, having been killed by a 
train on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad cross- 
ing at Market and Nevar streets, in the city of 
Canton, on the i [th of August, 1900. After 
his marriage Air. Ite returned to Canton and 
secured work at his trade in what was known 
as the Willis Benson & Comi)any shop, and 
aliuut eighteen months later he entered the em- 
ploy of the C. Russell Company. He was in- 
dustrious and frugal and with his savings he 
established a lathe in a small stable at the rear 
of his dwelling and there he engaged in wikkI 
turning at night, utilizing foot ]X)wer. while 
during this time he also continued his regidar 
work in the Aultman shops, h'roni this modest 
inception, however, he has built up a profitable 
and important business enterprise. His skill 
as a workman brought to him a good patronage 
in his little shop and eventually he resigned his 
position to devote his entire time to his own 
business. In 1887 he established a planing 
mill, which he equipped with steam power in 
1888, and here he continueil in business until 
the i)lant was destroyed by fire, on the i8th of 
March. 1902, the enterprise having grown to 
be one of wide scope and importance, while 
from his discriminating and well directed ef- 
forts he has attained marked success. Upon 
the site of his fonner mill he has erected a fine 



new i)lant, with the most modern mechanical 
e([uipment, and the establishment is now one 
of the best in its line in this section of the 
state, havmg facilities for turning out the best 
class of work with expedition, all kinds of 
builder's supi)lies in the way of wood finishings 
and dressed lumber being manufactured. This 
is one of the important industrial enterprises 
of the city and stands to the credit of the sub- 
ject, whose success has been won by earnest and 
consecutive application and liDnorable methods. 
He is known as a progressive and cai)able busi- 
ness man and is held in the highest confidence 
and esteem in the community where he has so 
long lived and labored. In politics Mr. Ite 
was formerly identified with the Democracy, 
but he now maintains an independent attitude, 
exercising his franchise in supi^rt of those men 
and measures which meet the approval of his 
judgment, without regard to strict partisan 
lines. Fraternally he is a valued member of 
AIcKinley Post No. 25, Grand Army of the 
Republic, and is also identified with both lodge 
and encampment of the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, and the Canton Chapter No. 80, 
having passed the official chairs in both bodies 
of this fraternity, and his name is also entered 
on the membership roll of the Protective Home 
Circle. 

Of the five children of Mr. Ite we enter the 
following brief recortl : Alary E. (Mrs. A. 
I. Henry), died in 1888: Allierta is the wife 
of Lewis C. Rnl)in, of Canton; Charles O., 
who is engaged in bricklaying in Canton, mar- 
ried Miss Mary Stinsacomb; Charity .Ann is 
the wife of .'Adolph Pohl, of Cleveland: and 
Hattie Af. rem;iins with her father in the at- 
tractive home, which is located at 1819 South 
Alarket street. She married Christian U. 
Sommer. Air. Ite many years ago became a 
member of the volunteer fire department of 
Canton, and was identified in this ca])acity for 
thirteen years, being eventually chosen captain. 





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MR. AND MRS. JOEL TREESH. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



567 



JOEL TRllESH.— The name Treesh is of 
( lernian origin. Christian Treesh, the subject's 
grantlfatiier, was torn in the old country, but 
some tune in the eighteeiitli century came to 
America, and settled in Pennsylvania, where 



his death occurred many years ag^o. 



Among 



his immediate descendants was a son b)' the 
name of William, who was bom in Pennsyl- 
A'ania, and he grew to maturity on a farm, 
marrying when a young man to Miss Catherine 
Berlin, whose parents were also early settlers 
of the Keystone state, .\bout the year 181 8 
William Treesh and family moved to Stark 
connty, Ohio, and located in what is now Jack- 
son township, where he purchased and de- 
\e)oped a farm and became a prosperous man. 
He accumulated quite a large estate, mostly in 
land, which subsequently increased greatly in 
value, and at the time of his death, in 1861, 
he w as considered one of the most enterprising 
farmers and ^vel]-to-do men in the township of 
Jackson. In pnhtics he was a Democrat, and 
for a number (it }-ears he held the office of 
justice of the peace, Ijesids tilling various minor 
public positions. The life of William Treesh 
is very closely identified with the pioneer his- 
tory and material de\elopment of the township' 
in which he settled, and he was also largely 
instrumental in introducing religion into this 
part of the ci mnty, having been a zealous mem- 
ber of the Lutheran church. ]\Irs. Treesh was 
also connected with that' religious Ijody, and, 
like her husjjand, was noted for piety and zeal. 
She was a woman of sterling Christian charac- 
ter and to the liest of her ability brought up 
her children in the nurture and admonition 
of the Lord, living long enough to see them 
profit by her instruction and faithful counsel. 
She ])receded her husband to the other world, 
dying about the year 1833. Of the eleven chil- 
dren constituting the family of William and 
Christiana Treesh, but two are li\-ing at the 
present time, the subject of the review and 
William, who resides in Indiana. Joel Treesh 



^vas born on the iit-h of February, 1823, in 
Jackson township, Stark county, Ohio, and 
grew to the full stature of well developed man- 
hood in the parental homestead, \^dlen old 
enough, he bore his full share in clearing the 
farm and cultivating the same, and, as oppor- 
tunities afforded, attended such schools as were 
common in this part of the state sixty and 
se\-enty years ago. While a youth he decided 
to become a farmer, and. after assisting his 
father a number of years, he l)egan cultivating 
the soil upon his own responsibility, continuing 
the same until retiri\ig from acti\e life at a 
comparatively recent date. Many years ago 
Mr. Treesh won distincti\e precedence as a 
successful farmer, and in due time became the 
possessor of several tracts of valuable real 
estate, the greater i)art of which was cleared 
and otherwise improved l)y the labor of his 
o\\ n hands. At one time he owned land to the 
amount of one hundred" and ninety-five acres, 
but some years ago gaxe eighty-two acres to 
his daughter and eighty-one and one-half acres 
to his grandson, retaining for his own use the 
home place, which now includes an area of 
eighty-one and one-half acres. 

The maiden name of Mrs. Treesh was Eliza 
Strohl. She was born in Pennsylvania, and her 
marriage with the subject, which was solem- 
nized in the vear 1845, residted in the birth <>f 
four children, but one of whom, Mrs. Cather- 
in.e Whitm.ever, is now living. For many years 
Mr. Treesh was a Democrat in politics, but of 
late years has gi\en his support to the Prohi- 
bition party, having always been decided in 
his opposition to the liquor traffic. He has 
served his township and for many years was a 
member of the school board, in which capacity 
he did much to arouse an interest in the cause 
of education in this part of Stark county. ]Mr. 
Tree.sh is one of Stark county's oldest and most 
\alued citizens, and he lias always stood four 
square to ever_\- wind that blew — a man in all 
the term implies. Trie has worked hard and 



568 



OLD LANDMARKS 



reaped abundantly from- his labors, both in 
material wealth and in the consciousness of 
duty bravely and uncomplainingly done. His 
life has been an open book, known and read by 
his fellow men, and throughout a long, active 
and successful career his integrity has never 
been questioned, nor has any suspicion of 
wrong doing ever been urged against his 
character or good name. He and his faithful 
companion have traveled life's pathway hand 
in hand for over fifty-six years, and now, as 
the days wane and the shadows deepen, they 
proceed gently towards the journey's end with 
the love and veneration of a host of friends 
whose prayers are that the dear old couple may 
be spared many years in which to bless their 
kind. 



WIJ.LIAM n. MARTIN,— An enumer- 
ation of those men of the present generation 
who have won honor and public recognition 
for themselves, and at the same time have 
honored the locality to which they belong, 
w<:iuld Ije incomplete were there failure to 
make mention of the one whose name forms 
the caption to this review. Williain H. Mar- 
tin is a native son of the old Buckeye state, 
ha\ing I)een Ijorn in Canton township. Stark 
connty, on the 2ist of January, 1855. His 
father was the late Charles Martin, whose 
sketch appears elsewhere in this volume, and 
the subject is one of four children, the others 
being George R.. who died in Canton town- 
ship; Edward, who died in Plain township; 
and Mary C. William H. Martin was reared 
in Canton townshp, remaining with his par- 
ents until seventeen years old, at which time he 
accompanied them to Plain township, remain- 
ing with them until his marriage. Tn his youth 
Mr. Martin acc|uired a knowledge of the 
science of surveying and has pursued that call- 
ing during most of his life. He soon won 



a reputation for accuracy, care and painstaking 
effort and was honored by the electors of the 
county with the office of county surveyor, the 
duties of which he faithfully performed for 
three years, further demonstrating his ability 
and strengthening the confidence of the peo- 
ple in him. By request of the school board of 
Plain township, he drew up a map of that town- 
ship, the work l)eing accepted and a copy placed 
at the meeting place of the board in the Center 
school house. So accurate was this map con- 
sidered that it was used by the publishers of 
the Stark County Atlas, published about i8()5. 
He also gives a part of his attention to farming, 
being the possessor of sixty-four acres of 
splendid land, which he has improved in many 
ways and brought up to a high state of excel- 
lence. He is painstaking and methodical in 
his operations and makes a point of adopting 
the latest agricultural methods, having been 
the owner of the first grain reaper and binder 
used in the t(.)\vn^hip. thus assuring himself of 
a reasonable profit in his transactions. He has 
surrounded himself with many of the comforts 
and conveniencies of life and is prepared to 
enjoy it to the fullest extent possible. He 
takes a deep interest in the welfare of those 
about him and lends -his support to all move- 
ments tooking to the upbuilding of his com- 
munity. 

Mr. Alartih has been twice married. On 
the roth of October, 1878, he married Miss 
Mary E. Pontius, who was born in Plain 
township, Stark county, on the loth of Novem- ' 
her, 1858, a daughter of the late John Pontius. 
To this union were born six cliildren, namely: 
William J. C, Edith B. (deceased), George 
E. J.. Mary B.. Thoburn T. and Thomas T.', 
the two last named being twins. Mrs. Mary 
Martin died in Plain township on the 17th of 
September, 1893, and Mr. Martin was again 
married. March 7. 1895. the lady of his choice 
being Mrs. Almina Pontius, the widow of 
Thomas J. Pontius and a daughter of the late 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



569 



Michael J. Holtz. She was born in Plain town- 
ship, this county. May 17, 1866, and received 
her education ni the common schools of the 
county. This marriage has been blessed with 
two children. James H,. deceased, and Charles 
C. In politics Mr. Martin has always been 
a Democrat and has taken an active part in the 
campaign work of his party. For twelve con- 
secutive years he served as school dii^ector in 
Plain township and has done much effective 
service in ad\ancing the cause of education. 
Religiously he is identified with the Trinity 
Lutheran church, and contributes liberally of 
his means to all movements looking to the ad- 
\ancement of the higher interests of the com- 
munity. B}- his courteous manners, genial dis- 
position and genuine worth he has won for 
himself a host of warm and loval friends. 



GEORGE HOLM.— The Holm family is 
of stanch German lineage, and the name has 
been identified with American history from the 
pre-Revolutionary epoch. ^lichael Holm, 
grandfather of the subject, was born in 
Hagerstown. Maryland, and was a successful 
farmer in that locality for a number of years. 
There he married Martha Hollinger. who was 
born in Washington county, that state, and 
there several of their children were born prior 
to the year 1812, when they emigrated thence 
to Ohio, and took up their abode in the sylvan 
wilds of Pike township. Stark county, this 
section of the country being at that time practi- 
cally an unreclaimed wilderness. The trip was 
made from Maryland in one of the old-time 
wagons commonly employed for such purposes, 
and the journey was a long and weary one, 
many miles being traversed, as a matter of 
course, while the mere fact of distance was the 
most insignificant part of the labor involved. 
In crossing the mountains it was frequently 
necessary to attach logs at tire back of the 



wagon, that in dragging they might prevent 
a too precipitous pace on the part of the primi- 
tive conveyence, while through the unbroken 
forests the way was made with great difficulty 
and with exasperating delay. At the time of 
the family's arrival in Pike township settlers 
were few and widely separated, and the little 
clearing about the primitive cabins represented 
tlie maximum impro\'ement, though an oc- 
casional field was found under cultivation, with 
manifold stumps yet marking the original lo- 
cation of the forest monarchs. The grand- 
father of the subject entered a quarter section 
of government land, upon which not a single 
tree had l)€en felled, the whole tract being a 
tangled forest wild. He made a little clearing 
and upon the same erected a log cabin, twenty 
by twenty-four feet in dimensions, and having 
but one room. In one end of the rude dwelling 
was the hugh fireplace, which was likewise con- 
structed of logs and rudely plastered over so 
as to avoid destruction by the Hames. In this 
the great sections of trees were burned, and 
the sight was more picturesque than was the 
comfort evident. The floor was of puncheon, 
light was supplied by two small windows, 
which were fitted with oiled paper in lieu of 
g'lass, while the doors swung on heavy hinges 
of leather. The grandfather of the subject had 
a large family, and he found it no easy task 
to supply the common necessities of life, but he 
held the faith that makes faithful, and ways 
were provided for the safeguarding and care 
of those near and dear to him. He succeeded 
in reclaiming his farm and placing the same 
under effective cultivation, and there he and 
his good wife continued to reside until the 
shadows of their lives began to lengthen in the 
glow of the golden evening and their steps 
grew feeble through the infirmities of age. 
Their reward for self-abnegation in the past 
v.-as not denied them, however, for in the filial 
solicitude of their children was it granted, and 
they were tenderly cared for in their declining 



y/c 



OLD LANDMARKS 



days 1)y tlic father of the subject, in whose 
home they remained until the "everlasting 
doors" were opened wide to reveal to them the 
glories of the life eternal. He died in 1837, at 
the age of seventy-seven years, and his noble 
wife survived him by several years, passing 
awaj- at a venerable age. They were consistent 
meml)ers of the Dunkard church, and in the 
early days signified their devotion by driving 
a distance of twentv miles, into Tuscarawas 
Cdunty, to attend the services of their church 
when iherc held. In politics he was an old- 
time Whig, giving a loyal support to the party 
cause. Of the children of this sterling pioneer 
couple the following is a brief record, all hav- 
ing been born in Stark county, and all beuig 
the offs])ring of the second marriage of the 
grandfather of the stibject : 

Michael remo\'ed tn W'hitlev county, Indi- 
ana, where he passed the remainder of his life; 
Hannah, who became the wife of Michael AV'or- 
ley, died in Pike township, where she was 
burn : Catherine, who became the wife of Will- 
iam Humbert, and she died in the state of Indi- 
ana : .Sarah, the wife of John Stands, died in 
Canton; Lydia, wife of Henry Stands, died in 
I'ike towMiship, this county; Samuel, a black- 
smith by trade, ilied in Canton, at the age of 
twenty-five years ; Martha, the wife of Leonard 
Schroyer, ilicd in I'ike township. John Holm, 
father of the subject, was born in Maryland, 
and was a child of his father's second marriage. 

John Holm, father of the subject, was born 
in Washington county, Maryland, in the year 
1792. He was about twenty years of age when 
his father set forth for Ohio, and he was reared 
to matuvitv on the old homestead farm, his edu- 
cational training having been only such as he 
had gained before coming to the wilds of the 
Buckeye slate. He was a youth of twenty 
when the family located m ( )hio, and here he 
.soon tcxjk \\\) a claim of a <|uarter section of 
heavdy timljered land not far distant from that 
of his father, in Pike townshin. Stark countv. 



He was too poor to employ aid. and nearly 
his entire lifetime was devoted to reclaiming 
his farm, as he was able to make progi-ess only 
by slow degrees. in this county was 
solemnized his marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
Shutt, who was likewise l)orn in Washington 
county. Maryland, in the year 1796, and who 
was about sixteen \cars of age at the time when 
she accompanied her father to Ohio, her mother 
ha\ing died in Maryland. Pier father. John 
Shutt. was likewise born in the same count_\' 
of Mnryland. wdiere as a bov it ^was his privilege 
to ha\e heard Otterbein, the founder of the 
United Brethren church, preach on several oc- 
casions. He entered a tract of wild land in 
Pike township, and there passed the residue of 
his life, his death occurring in 1862, in his 
ninety-seventh year. Elizalieth (Shutt) Holm 
died in 1825. and her husband subsequently 
married Miss Mary Coutts, who came to Stark 
comity from Shippen.sburg, Pennsylvania, and 
she died on the old homestead, in Pike town- 
ship, in 1865, having teen a devoted memljer 
of the German Reformed church. The chil- 
dren of the first marriage were as follows : 
Susan, who l^ecame the wife of Simon Sotiday, 
died in Pike township in 1868; George, the 
immediate subject of this sketch, was the next 
in order of birth ; and Jacob, a resident of Can- 
ton townshij). married Miss Morley. who is 
now* deceased. C^f the second marriage one son 
was born. Jeremiah, who enlisted in the One 
Himdred and First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 
under Colonel Myer. was wounded in the first 
day's battle at Gettysburg and died in the hos- 
])ital there, his remains being brought home by 
the subject, and being laid to rest in the 
cemetery in Pike township. 

(ieorge Holm, to w hom this sketch is dedi- 
cated, was ]yom on the old homestead farm, in 
Pike township, on the iCtih of October, 1820, 
and his earlv years were filled with earnest toil 
in connecti(~in of reclaiming the farm froui the 
wilderness. He desired to learn a trade, but 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



57' 



his father could not spare him from the farm. 
His first schoohng was received in the home of 
Ahsaloni Hines, on a neighljoring farm, this 
instructor being a bachelor and a man of no 
httle abihty, though it was his misfortune to ht 
curserl with an inordinate appetite for intoxi- 
cants, and his pay for his pedagogic efforts was 
no sooner received than he put it to immediate 
use, (^losing his school and indulging his con- 
■vi\'ial propensities until his cash was exhausted, 
when he \\nuld, ]ierforce. go to work again. 
.\iter the organization of the public schools 
the subject continued his studies under some- 
what more favorable auspices, being diligent 
and appreciati\e and making the best possible 
use of such advantages as came to him. During 
the winter of 1842-3 he attended the academy 
in Canton, the institution having laeen con- 
ducteil by I'rofessor Cowles. an able educator. 
After school hours and during vacations Mr. 
Holm de\'oted his attention to tiie work of the 
farm, having plowed among the stumps and 
roots of the newlv cleared fields at an age 
when he was barelv able to steady the plow. 
At the age of twentv-three vears he began 
teaching, his certificate having been signed by 
Messrs. E. P. Grant and A. McGregor, who 
constituted the board of examiners. He proved 
successful in his work as a teacher in' the dis- 
trict schools of his native countv. and con- 
tinued to remain at the parental home the 
greater portion of his time until his marriage, 
in 18.4.5. His father then removed to the farm 
wliicli had Ijeen secured b\- the grandfather of 
the subject, and after the death of the former 
the subject inherited the old homestead, upon 
which he made excellent improvements, erect- 
ing new buildings and doing much to augment 
the value of the place. In 1866 he removed to 
his farm in Canton township and eventually 
disposed of the land which had lieen entered by 
his grandfather so many years previously. ]\Ir. 
Holm remained but a short time on his farm, 
for within the same year. 1866, he took up his 



residence in the city of Canton and here ac- 
cepted a position as traveling salesman for the 
great agricultural implement concern of C. 
.\ultman .iv: Company, of this place, and that 
his services did not fall short of the maximum 
results possible and did not lack for definite 
appreciation is evident from the fact that he 
continued in the employ of the concern for 
the long period of thirty years. His first home 
here was in South Canton, but in 1875 Mr. 
Holm effected an exchange of properties and 
became the owner of his present attractive 
home, at 840 North Market street. He 
has been known as a most progressive and 
public-spirited citizen, e\"er taking a liveh' in- 
terest in all that touches the welfare of his 
iiome city and county. In politics he was 
originally arrayed with the Whig party, but 
upon the organization of the Republican party 
he transferred his allegiance to the same and 
has ever since been an advocate of its principles 
an.cl policies. In 1850 he' became a member of 
the INIethodist Episcopal church, of which his 
wife likewise became a member, having origin- 
ally been identified uith the German Reformed 
church, ot which she l)ecame a member when 
but fourteen years of age. About 1861 IMr. 
Holm was elected to the oflice of township trus- 
tee of Pike township, and of this office he con- 
tinued incumbent for twelve years. In 1855 
the Republicans of this district nominated the 
late Judge Underbill for the legislature, this 
being the first convention of the party in the 
district, and the subject was a delegate to the 
same. 

On the 30th of March, 1845. ^'i'- Holm 
was miited in marriage, in Bethlehem town- 
ship, this ci unity, to Miss Catherine Buchtel, 
the (ifficiating clerg\inan lieing Rev. R. R. 
Salters, of the German Reformed church. Mrs. 
Holm was born in the same township, on the 
1 8th of Augtist, 1822, and here her education 
was received in the district schools of the 
pioneer epoch. Iler father. John Buchtel, was 



57^ 



OLD LANDMARKS 



born in Center county, Pennsylvania, where he 
was reared to manhood, and in 1811 he ac- 
companied his parents on their removal to 
Stark county, Ohio, the family being numbered 
among the first settlers of Bethlehem township. 
Mr. Buchtel married Martha Sherman, who 
was a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania. 
He entered a quarter section of wild land in 
the township mentioned and forthwith insti- 
tuted the work of reclamation and improve- 
ment, and there he continued to make his home 
until his death, in 1S68, at the age of seventy- 
four }ears, his wife surviving until 1877, 
when she passed away at the age of seventy- 
seven. Of ihe children of John and Martha 
Buchtel ihe following is a brief record : 
Catherine, wife of the subject: Reuben, a resi- 
dent of this county; Joseph, who died in May, 
1902. was a representative farmer of this 
county ; 'Sarah is the widow of David Krieg- 
baum, and resides in Canton, where her son 
Charles is a leading attorne\' : Elizabeth is the 
wife of John Kriegbaum, of this county, where 
also resides Samuel, the youngest of the chil- 
dren. Tile great-grandfather of Mrs. Holm 
was John Buchtel, who \\'as bom in Wurtem- 
burg, Germany, whence he emigrated to 
America and took up his residence in Franklin 
county, Penrtsylvania. where he passed the 
residue of his life. His son Jolm. grandfather 
of Mrs. Holm, was born in Franklin county, 
and one of his Itrothers was a soldier in the war 
of 181 2. in wliich he undoditedly sacrificed his 
life, all trace of him being lost from the early- 
period of his service. He was the father of 
John Buchtel, who was the father of John R., 
the founder of Buchtel College, in Akron. 
Ohio. John Buchtel. grandfather of Mrs. 
Holm, was married, in his native country, to 
Miss Catherine Snyder, who was likewise born 
in Franklin county. Pennsylvania, whither her 
parents emigrated from Holland. Upon 
coming to Stark county. John Buchtel (grand- 
father) entered claim to a half section of land 



in Bethlehem township, and there he died prior 
to the year 1822. 

To Mr. and Mrs. lioim have been born six 
children, concerning whom the following is a 
brief record : Almira is tlie wife of William 
K. Gallagher, of Cleveland. Ohio; Elizabeth 
is the wife of William W. Pumphrey, of Can- 
ton; Sarah is the wife of Robert \\'. Mc- 
Gaughey, of Massillon, this county; Elmer re- 
mains at the parental home; Olive, who became 
the wife of Isaac \^^ Stauffer, of Canton, died 
in 1896, and Edith is the wife of Valentine L. 
Xye, of Canton. The family have a large circle 
of devoted friend? in the city and county, where 
they are well known, and l)Oth Mr. and Mrs. 
Holm are honored representatives of sterling 
pioneer families, prominently identified with 
the founding and building of one of the most 
prosperous and attractive cc)uiities of the old 
Buckeve state. 



GEORGE W. BUTLER is a native of the 
state of W^est Virginia, having been born in the 
town of Cameron, ^Marshall county, on the 22d 
of February, 1858. His father, Joseph R. 
Butler, was born and reared in Pennsylvania, 
and was a carpenter by trade and vocation. In 
the old Keystone state he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Elizabeth Shultz, a daughter of 
John Shultz, a representative farmer of Fayette 
county, that state. After his marriage Joseph 
R. Butler removed to Cameron, West Virginia, 
where he remained about two years, at the ex- 
piration of which he returned with his family 
to Pennsylvania, locating in Greene county, 
where he continued to follow his trade until 
1873, in which year his cherished and devoted 
wife was summoned to the "land of the leal." 
Within the same year Mr. Butler removed with 
his ciiildren to Fayette county. Pennsylvania, 
wliei'e he passed the remainder of his life, his 
death occurring in 1899. at which time he was 
sixty-nine years of age. He was a son of An- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



573 



drew Butler, who was born in Ireland, whence 
he emigrated to .\merica when a young man, 
locaiing in Pennsylvania, where he married, 
and there he died when his son Joseph was 
eleven years of age, having been in the prime 
of life at the time of his demise. His children 
were five in number, namely : Andrew, Martin, 
Mary, Margaret and Joseph R. 

George W. Butler, 'the immediate subject 
of this sketch, was two years of age at the 
time when his parents removed from West Vir- 
ginia to Greene county, Pennsylvania, and 
there he received his early educational disci- 
phne in the public schools, his advantages in 
the line being somewhat limited. When but 
thirteen years o^f age he assumed the practical 
responsibilities of life, securing employment by 
the month on a farm and receiving" in compen- 
sation for his services six dollars and thirty- 
three cents a month, while he contributed his 
wages to assisting in the support of his parents 
and the other members of the family. He con- 
tinued to be identified with farm work until he 
had attained the age of eighteen years, and for 
two years thereafter he was employed as a 
weigher and tippler of coal at Bridgeport, 
Pennsylvania. In 1878 Mr. Butler came to 
Stark county, and for three years was employed 
at farm work in the vicinity of the 
city of Massillon. The associations in- 
to which he had Iieen thrown in con- 
nection with the coal business had proved 
very repugnant to him. and he finally decided 
to seek another field of endeavor, with which 
end in view he came to Stark county, as noted. 
In the spring of 1881 Mr. Butler came to Can- 
ton and thereafter he was employed in the 
works of the Canton Bridge Company until 
1892, when he established himself in the real 
estate business in which he has ever since con- 
tinued, while by discrimination and well-di- 
rected energ}' he has succeeded in building up a 
gratifying business, his success being well 
merited, since it has been attained entirely 



through his own efforts, while he has so 
ordered his course as to gain and retain the 
high regard of those with whom he has come 
in contact. In politics Mr. Butler accords a 
stanch allegiance to the Democratic party, and 
fraternally he is identified with the Knights of 
the Maccabees, the Protective Home Circle and 
the American Insurance Union. 

On the 26th of December, 1880, at Mas- 
sillon, this county, Mr. Butler was united in 
marriage to Miss Clara E. Richards, who was 
bom in Stark county, being a daughter of 
Samuel and Sarah (Swalley) Richards, the 
former of whom was born in Maryland, 
whence he came with his parents to Stark 
county when a lad of six years; he died in 
Canton at the age of seventy-nine years. His 
wife was summoned into eternal rest in 189 1, 
at the age of sixty-four years. Mr. and Mrs. 
Butler have one daughter, Anna, who was 
born on the ^th of October, 1882. 



MELVILLE B. COX was a native of the 
old Keystone state, having been born in Union- 
town, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, on the 
25th of October, 1845, and being the second in 
order of birth of the five children of Rev. 
William and Mary Ann (McNeeley) Cox. 
the former being of English and the latter of 
Scotch ancestry. Rev. William Cox was a 
clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church 
and was prominent in its work for many years, 
having held important charges in both Pennsyl- 
vania and Ohio and having been for a number 
of years presiding elder of the Canton circuit, 
retaining his residence in the city of Canton for 
the greater portion of this time. He died at 
Beaver, Pennsylvania, in 1899, at the venerable 
age of eighty-two years, while his wife passed 
away at the age of seventy-two years. During 
his early youth the subject of this memoir 
lived in and about the city of Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania, where his father was at the time 



574 



OLD LANDMARKS 



engaged in pastoral work, and tliere he re- 
ceix'ed tiie advantages ol" the i)nbHc scliools and 
in Pitts1)in"g he learned the drug business, to 
whicli he CDUtinueil to devule liis attention. until 
about 18O8, when he caine to Canton. Here he 
l:)ecanie secretary and treasurer of tlie E. Ball 
Company, manufacturers of agricultural ma- 
chinery, being one of the stockliolders of the 
concern until it sus])endeil business, when he 
assumed the position of bookkeeper with the C. 
.-Vultnian Cumpany, later Ijecoming treasurer of 
the same, while upon the reorganization of the 
company he became its secretary, retaining this 
incumbency until his death, whicli occtirred on 
the 22i\ of January. looi. In the building up 
of the munificent industry with which he was 
thus jirominently identified, ]\Ir. Cox played an 
important part, the jiositions which he held 
calling for great executi\e and ;ii!ministrati\'e 
abilit}'. which he possessed to a remarkable de- 
gree, while his indexible integrity and genial 
personality gained tn him the utmost confidence 
and esteem on the part of all with whom lie 
came in contact. 

In his political ])roclivitics. tliDUgh ne\'er an 
as])irant for office, Air. Co.x was a stanch ad- 
vocate of the principles of the Republican party 
and ever loyal to its cause. He e\er clung to 
the religious faith in which he had been care- 
ftilly reared, and fdr man\- \ears he was a 
member of the board of trustees of the Fir.st 
Alethoclist Episcopal church of Canton, in all 
departments of whcse \\orks he took a fervent 
and helpful interest. Fraternally he was identi- 
fied with both the ^^lasonic order and the 
independent Order of Odd I'ellows. At the 
time of the establishment of the CantMU public 
library Mr. Cox was made a member of its 
board of trustees and continued to serve in lliis 
capacity until he was summoned from the scene 
of hi'i miirtal laliors. while all that pertained 
to the well-being of bis home city and county 
lay close to his heart and he was ever loyal in 
all the duties of citizenship of the highest type. 



The news of his death was deeply felt among 
his business associates and in the city in general 
there was evident a sense of personal bereave- 
ment, while his remains were laid to rest with 
every mark of esteem man can show to mortal 
man. He was a stanch friend, a lo\ing and 
devoted father and httsband. and standing in 
the light of a life and character so strong and 
so prolific in honorable? deeds, his death, at the 
zenith of his usefulness, came with crushing 
significance, but it is l)clicved that liis ex- 
emplary life will long be remembered and ser\e 
as a type worthy of emulation. 

in the city of Canton, on the Slh of Decem- 
l)er, 1870, Mr. Cox was united in marriage to 
Miss Ada C. Haas, who was born in this city, 
being a daughter of George Buckeye Haas, 
wiio was born in the state of Maryland, on the 
27th of h'ebruary. 1813. while his parents came 
to Stark county when he \vas a boy, being 
numljered among the early settlers in Canton, 
where be had established himself in business 
])rior to the year 1830. devoting practically his 
entire business career to the cabinetniaking and 
undertaking lousiness and becoming one of the 
reprcsentati\-e citizens of Canton, where he 
died in 1878. at the age of si.xty-five years. I Ic 
served for nianv vears as townshi]i trustee and 
was ]iroininent in public affairs of a local 
nature, wliile he ever retained the high regard 
of all who knew him. He and his wife were 
both devoted meiiiljers of the Lutheran church, 
of which his father, Mcv. F'rederick Haas, was 
a prominent clergyman, having come to Can- 
ton from West \'irginia and having been or.e 
of tiie pioneer clergy of his church in this sec- 
tion of the I'.uckeye state. Tie died in Canton 
in 1834, and his wife Elizabeth died in Tif- 
fin, Seneca county, this state, in 1868, at the 
age of seventy-eight years. The original pro- 
genitors of the Haas family in America emi- 
grated hither from (lermany, the name being 
spelled as here given, while its ])ronunciation 
is indicated bv the form "Hess." In Canton 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



57 5 



(ieor^e B. Haas was united in marriage to 
Miss Elizabeth \L\\. who was Ijorn in Washing- 
ton C(nnu\ , Peniis}'lvania. wlience she came to 
Canton in 1830, to join the family (.)f her 
hrother-in-law, John Black, who conducted 
what was known as Black's hotel, on the site 
of the present Central Sa\ings Bank, her mar- 
riage to Mr. Haas having been solemnized iii 
this h.otel. She long survived her husband, 
lier death occurring in Canton, in the month of 
January, I'joj, at the age of eighty-two years. 
'They became the parents of two children, the 
younger of whom was i\.da C, the widow of 
the subject of this memoir. Her brother, Mar- 
shall E., was born in Canton, in 1843, •^'''^ ^'^' 
ceivetl his education in the public schools and 
a business college in the city of Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania. Upon the I'resident's first call for 
volunteers to aid in suppressing the rebellion, 
he enlisted, in 1861, as a member of Company 
1', Eonrth Ohiij Volunteer Infantry, with 
which he continued in ser\'ice for three years, 
having received a severe wound from a musket 
Ijall, which passed through his right arm. He 
was promoted to cori^ral and later to^ sergeant 
of his cornpanv, and after the close of the war 
he went to the west as an express messenger, 
later returning to Canton, where he died in the 
year 1876. At Centralia, Illinois, he married 
Miss [ulia Marsh, who survives him. retaining 
her residence in the city of Spokane, \Vash- 
ington, as does also her daughter Ada. Her 
son Guy resides in San Jose, California, and 
her other son, Georg'e, is deceased. Mrs. Cox 
was reared and educated in Canton, taking a 
high school course, and her lirst teacher was 
a ?vliss Betsy Cowles. Mr. and Mrs. Cox be- 
came the parents of four children, concerning 
whom the following brief record is offered in 
conclusion of this sketch : Mary Elizabeth, 
who was for seven years a successful and im])u- 
lar teacher of German and English in the Can- 
ton high school : ;\rarcia R. remains at the ma- 



ternal home; Edna is the wife of Herlaert D. 
Raff, of fronton, this state; and Ada Beall like- 
wise remains with her mother in the attracti\'e 
familv homestead. 



ARTIll'R S. BOYER was born in the city 
of Dayton, Ohio, on the 4th of Eebruary, 1867, 
where he attended the public schools until he 
had reached the age of fifteen years, when he 
entered Cooper Academy, at Dayton, Ohio, 
where he continued his studies until 1885.. He 
was then matriculated in old Kenyon College, 
at Ciambier, Ohio, where he remained two 
}'ears, at the expiration of \\hich he returned 
to his home in Dayton, where his presence was 
demanded by reason of the precarious health 
of his honored father. He continued his edu- 
cational work at home until he had attained 
the age of t\\ enty-two years, when he went to 
Dallas, Texas, where he became assistant man- 
ager of a large dry-goods and millinery house, 
retaining this incumbency until 1893. On the 
2Tst of January, 1891, he was there united in 
marriage to Miss Mamie Hurst, daughter of 
Thomas W. and Alary (Kendall) Hurst, of 
that cit}', Mr. Hurst having l)een in charge of 
the circulating department of tlie Dallas Morn- 
ing News. For one year INfr. Boyer was associ- 
ated \'\ith his father-in-law in this department 
of newspaper work and he then l)ecame mana- 
ager of the southeastern territory of the Plym- 
outh Rock Pants Company, with head- 
quarters at Chattanooga, Tennessee. In the 
s|)ring of i8g6 he returned to Dayton in com- 
pany with his wife, where he devoted the 
greater part of the summer to study, while in 
the autumn he identified himself vigorously 
with the active work of the Young Men's 
Christian Association, going to Xenia, Ohio, 
where he c<intrilnited his ser\ices for alxnit 
four months without renumeration, in order to 
place the Inrnl organization on a firm found- 



576 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ation, so that it might properly exercise its 
functions. He then became general secretar\- 
of the local organization at Salem, this state, 
where he remained until .March, 1899, when he 
came to Canton to assume his present position, 
of which he has l^een continuously incumbent 
since that time. Mr. Boyer is a most earnest 
and indefatigable worker in his chosen field and 
he has done much to vitalize the work of the 
organization in Canton and to improve the 
facilities of the association, while his enthusi- 
asm and zeal ha\e proved inspiring and have 
brought about gratifying results. Mr. Boyer 
is also' secretary and treasurer of the Canton 
Tabernacle Company, while both he and his 
wife are devoted members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, in whose Sunday school he is 
a valued and popular teacher. In politics he 
maintains an independent attitude, utilizing- his 
franchise in support of those men and meas- 
ures meeting the approval of his judgment, 
without regard to strict partisan lines. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Bo3-er have been born four children, 
namely : Thomas F., who died in Salem, Ohio, 
at the age of seventeen years, and ^Mitchell ]M.. 
Dorothy Ilurst and Eliza1>eth Carey. ]Mr. and 
Mrs. Boyer are well known in the city of Can- 
ton and are prominent in the best social life of 
the community. 

John ['"rederick Bojer, the father of tVe 
subject, was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 
1828, and when he was but four years of age 
hi.T parents removed thence to what is now the 
city of Dayton, Ohio, the place being at the 
time a mere village. He attended the typical 
log school house of the pioneer town and after 
leaving school learned the trade of copper- 
smith, while eventually he became a successful 
manufacturer of cupper coils and other prod- 
ucts in the line. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Lucrctia Swain, is a daughter of 
the late Judge Charles \\'. Swain, who 
was a distinguished and honored pioneer of 
Davton. 



WILSON C. BERGER.— Among those 
who have stood as distinguished types of the 
i world's workers and who have proved their 
value to the world through tiieir labors and 
through inventions of great utility, stood the 
honored subject of this memoir, who was a 
man of exalted integrity, most kindly con- 
sideration in all the relations of life and one 
who ever placed a true estimate upon men and 
things, there being no obliquity in his \-ision 
and thus no deviation from the course which 
makes for true and noble and prolific manhood. 
He was the artificer of his own fortunes, was 
appreciati\e of the dignity of honest toil, for 
he had been himself a worker, and he attained 
high prestige as one of the representative busi- 
ness men and most loyal and valued citizens 
of Canton. A work of this character exercises 
its maximum Junction when it enters tribute 
to the life and labors of such a man. 

The late Wilson Calvin Berger was a na- 
ti\e of the old Keystone state and came of 
stanch German lineage on both the paternal 
and maternal sides. He was born in the town 
of Millersburg, Berks coimty, Pennsylvania, 
on the 6th of April, 1851, being a son of Will- 
iam and Angelina (Schmeltzer) Berger, the 
former of whom served faithfully in defense 
of the Union during the war of the Rebellion. 
l"he narrative of the conditions and circum- 
stances of his early life constitutes the "short 
and simple annals of the poor," and the state- 
ment is in itself adequately significant, for it 
shews that his strong" character was moulded 
in the stern school of experience. His edu- 
cational o])])iirtunities were perforce limited, but 
to such natures a handicap of this order is not 
a matter of serious import in starting- out in tlie 
race for the goal of definite success. Mr. Ber- 
ger early manifested a decided predilection for 
mechanical pursuits, showing much genius in 
this line while still a boy. and it is pleasing 
to advert to the fact that it was through this 
same genius that he eventuallv attained distinc- 




c^ 




JL^cJ cy^ 



^ 








"^[^^^-^^^-r^ oji^^^^y 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



S77 



tion as an inventor and a position of inde- 
pendence and prosperity. When lie was a lad 
his father took him to the city of Reading, 
Pennsylvania, with a view of securing him a 
position in the locomotive works in that city, 
in order that he might serve an apprenticeship 
at the business. He was unsuccessful in" 
making the desired arrangements, and at the 
advice of an uncle of his mother, a Mr. Seaver, 
Mr. Berger entered upon an apprenticeship at 
the tinner's trade, in Millersburg. In 1870, at 
the age of nineteen years, having become a 
skilled mechanic in this line, he came to Can- 
ton and secured employment in the shops of 
Best & Martin, on South Market street. Later 
he entered the employ of the Biechele Brothers, 
with whom he remained for a period of four- 
teen years, after which he was employed in the 
shops conducted by Edward Rex and Charles 
Rex. During these years Mr. Berger was not 
content to merely follow out the duties as- 
signed to him, but was also applying himself 
to mechanical study and invention during his 
evenings at home and at such other times as 
opportunity afforded. In Millersburg, Penn- 
sylvania, on the 22d of May, 1872, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary Myers, 
daughter of the late Reuben Myers, of Can- 
ton, a member of one of the representative 
pioneer families of Stark county. Mrs. Ber- 
ger's home has been in Stark county from the 
time of her birth, but at the time of her mar- 
riage she was passing a year in the home of 
relatives in Millersburg, Pennsylvania, where 
she and her husband remained during the suc- 
ceeding year, Mr. Berger being there associ- 
ated with his brother John A., in conducting a 
tin shop. At the expiration of this interval he 
returned to Canton, taking up his residence on 
South McKinley avenue, but while in the em- 
ploy of the Biechele Brothers he lived for six 
years in apartments over their establishment, 
and then built a home at 719 North Cherry 
street. In 1886, in partnership with his brother 

36 



John A., he began the manufacture of the mal- 
leable eave trough hanger which he had in- 
vented, their first shop being- a small room in 
John Inglehart's establishment, on North 
Cherry street, from which location they later 
removed to a shop on Fifth street, between 
Walnut and Cherry streets, this establishment 
likewise being one of most modest order, so 
that they eventually found it expedient to 
secure larger quarters and located in Stephen 
Zooker's building, opposite the Tabernacle on 
South Rex street, Mr. Zooker being at the time 
admitted to partnership in the business, which 
was gradually increasing in scope and import- 
ance, as the superior value of the invention be- 
came known. A short time afterward Mr. 
Zooker sold his interest in the enterprise to 
Hiram Khlorer. As time passed, other valu- 
able inventions patented by Mr. Berger 
were added to the list of articles manufactured, 
while other products were eventually turned 
out on a large scale, including sheet-metal 
roofing, siding and ceiling, eaves trough, con- 
ductor pipe, metal cornice, etc. Finally the 
firm, in order to provide adequate accommo- 
dations for their business, leased property on 
East Ninth street, between Cherry and Sexton 
streets, and there erected a well equipped plant, 
which proved sufficient for the exigencies of the 
enterprise until the large new plant in the Hur- 
ford addition to the city of Canton was erected, 
where the manufacturing was pushed forward 
under most favorable conditions. Mr. Berger 
had been superintendent of the works from the 
time of the organization of the firm, under the 
title of the Berger Manufacturing Company, 
which it still retains, and thus he came into 
close contact not only with his business associ- 
ates and patrons, but also with the workmen of 
the plant, and a more beneficent tribute to his 
memory can scarcely be paid than to say that he 
held the highest respect and the loyal regard 
of those who labored under his direction. In 
the earlier years Mr. Berger did all drafting 



578 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of designs for his inventions, thougfi he never 
recei^'eU the slightest instruction in this art. 
He continued to be actively concerned in the 
enterprise until the illness which finally termi- 
nated in his death, on the 2d of April, 1894. 
His loss was deeply felt in the community, for 
he had been honored as a business man and as 
a citizen of sterling worth of character, while 
to those more intimately associated with him in 
business the sense of personal bereavement was 
significantly poignant. All who came in con- 
tact with him honored him for his business 
rectitude and admired him for his keen sagacity 
and mature judgment in connection with prac- 
tical affairs, lit was a consistent member of 
Trinity Reformed church, to the support of 
whose spiritual work and collateral charities he 
was a liberal contributor, ever showing marked 
appreciation tor the responsibilities that canopy 
life and living in liarmony with the faith which 
he professed, — that faith which ever makes 
faithful. He and his l)rother John presented 
a beautiful memorial window to the church and 
also contributed largely to the building fund of 
the fine edifice. In politics he ever accorded 
a stanch allegiance to the Democratic party 
and, while taking a deep and intelligent interest 
in the questions and issues of the hour, he 
never desired official preferment of any order. 
A most appreciative estimate of the character 
of the man was made by his pastor. Rev. E. P. 
Herbruck, at his funeral services, on the after- 
noon of .'\pril 5, 1894, and it is consistent that 
a few excepts be here made from his sermon : 
"It is not often that the death of a man pro- 
duces such universal sorrow in a community as 
did the death of Mr. Berger. When the news 
spread throughout the city that he had passed 
awav, there was deep and heartfelt regret ex- 
pressed on every side and many an eye was 
dimmed with tears at the thought of the death 
of this excellent man. But as there is comfort 
in looking forward, so there is also in looking 
back over his life. The forty-three years he 



spent here were not vainly spent. He employed 
well the time, the little space of time, alloted to 
him on earth. He had many excellent qualities. 
One of these was his dilligence in business. 
He was not above work, and did what his hands 
fountl to do with all his might. He knew what 
physical labor meant, not by observation but 
by actual experience. He came up from the 
humbler walks of life, cleaving his way by dint 
of ingenuity and hard work. Together with 
his l>rother, he slowly forged his way to the 
front, conquering the opposition and surmount- 
ing obstacles that beset his path. His lack of 
means and the difficulties that confronted him 
made him all the more earnest and persistent. 
He had just come to a competency and to 
comfort and had reached the stage in life when 
he might enjoy the fruits of his labor, when the 
dark-robed angel removed him from our midst. 
While he was highly esteemed by the firm to 
which he belonged, he was also in good repute 
witli the employes. It is their unanimous testi- 
mony that he was a good master. His was a 
heart of flesh and not of steel. He sympa- 
thized with the men because he himself was a 
working man. He displayed all proper feeling 
and consideration for them and therefore they 
were not lacking in love and loyalty to him. 
The coldness and distance so common between 
employer and employe did not exist between 
them, and as a consequence there was an ab- 
sence of the friction and dissatisfaction so com- 
mon in that rela4;ion. I may further say that 
the deceased was a strictly honest man. He 
knew the difference between mine and thine. 
No one can rightfully accuse him of deception 
or double dealing. His hands are clean of ill 
gotten gains. This is saying a great deal in 
these days of fraud and questionably scheming. 
It is a eulogy in itself to say that a man is 
transparent in character and four square in all 
his transactions. The last thing we wish to 
sav of the brother is the best, namely, he was a 
Christian. He was baptized in his infancy 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



579 



and has been a member of the Reformed church' 
from childhood. For the past eighteen 
years he has l^een identified with Trinity church 
and has given his cordial and substantial sup- 
port. His name is inscribed on one of these 
memorial windows, and there is no more honor- 
able place to liiive it written. That inscription 
Avi-11 be a perpetual witness to his interest in 
this congregation." 

After the death of her honored husband, 
Mrs. Berger remained for a number of years 
in their home on Cherry street, but on Novem- 
ber 15, 1900, she took up her abode in her 
present spacious and attractive residence, which 
she erected, the same being located at No. 21 18 
^^'est Tuscarawas street and being one of the 
many beautiful homes of the city. Of the chil- 
dren bom to Mr. and Mrs. Berger brief record 
is entered in the following lines : Goldie Edith 
•\vas born in Canton, on the i6th of November, 
1876, and is an artist of marked talent, having 
done excellent work in oils, both in the line of 
landscapes and that of portraits. She is now 
the wife of Edward F. AV'eckel, who is a teacher 
of elocution in the public schools of Canton, 
his home liaving formerly been in Dayton, this 
state. Mr. and Mrs. Weckel have one child, 
^^'ilson Edward. William R., who was born 
in Canton, on the 13th of July, 1878, has at- 
tended the best musical schools in this country 
and Germany and is now a successful and popu- 
lar teacher of the "divine art" in his home city. 
Albert Wilson was born in this city, on the 22d 
of April, 18S6, and has inherited much of his 
father's mechanical "genius, having invented a 
corn shredder and many other valuable de- 
vices. 

?\lrs. Berger was born in the village of 
Louisville, Stark county, Ohio, on the 27th of 
July, 185T, and was but thirteen years of age 
at the time of her mother's death, and her 
father soon afterward removed to Canton, 
where she was reared to womanhood, ha^'ing 
assumed the major portion of the domestic 



duties of the household after the death of her 
mother. She is a daughter of Reuben and 
Mary A. (Pecher) Myers, the former of whom 
was born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, De- 
cember 25, 1820, while he was numbered 
among the sterling pioneers of Stark county, 
Ohio, where he died on the 21st of January, 
i8go. He rendered his country faithful mili- 
tai-y service during the war of the Rebellion. 
His wife was born April 12, 1825, also in 
Adams county, Pennsylvania, and her death 
occurred on the nth of April, 1865. Of their 
children the following brief data is entered: 
Joseph R., who is now a resident of Canton, 
was a valiant soldier in the Civil war and was 
confined nearly two years in the notorious 
Libby prison; he married Miss Ada Hense! ; 
Pius Alatthew, who is engaged in the grocery 
business in Canton, married Miss Catherine 
Herbst, of New Philadelphia, this state; 
Amelia Ann died in childhood; Mary is the 
widow of the subject of this memoir ; and 
Frank F.. a resident of Canton, married Miss 
Celia \\'ingerter. Mrs. Berger has long been 
a zealous and devoted member of the Reformed 
church, is a woman of gracious presence and 
her home is a center of refined hospitality, 
while she has a wide circle of friends in the 
city where the major portion of her life has 
been passed and which is endeared to her by 
many grateful memories and associations. 



LEWIS M. LIND.— The Lind family, of 
which the subject of this sketch is of the third 
generation, lias resided in the county continu- 
ously since 1826. The family originally came 
from Germany, and in that country was called 
Funderlind. The progenitor of the family in 
America came to this country previous to the 
war of the Revolution and located in either 
Maryland or Pennsylvania, probably the latter, 
whence the name, divested of the first two svlla- 
bles, spread over many of the eastern states. 



58o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



John Lind, grandfather of the subject, was the 
first of the name to locate in Stark county, 
Ohio. He came in 1826, bringing with him 
his wife and children, among them Samuel 
Lind. then about eight years old, who became 
the father of Lewis M. Lind. The nativity of 
John Lind and his wife, Elizabeth (Hess) 
Lind, is not definitely known, but they 
were born in either Maryland or Pennsylvania, 
and from the former state, in 1826, they emi- 
grated to Ohio. They located upon a farm in 
Plain township, built a home, prospered, reared 
their children and remained there until their 
deaths. He died in Plain township many years 
ago, at the age of seventy-two years, while she 
lived for nearly twenty years thereafter, dying 
at the age of eighty-nine years. Both are well 
remembered by the older residents of that part 
of the county, as being among the most in- 
dustrious and thrifty of the early settlers. 
Samuel Lind, one of the children of the above 
mentioned couple and father of Lewis IM. Lind, 
was born in Maryland in 181 8. He was reared 
on his father's farm in Plain township, where 
he grew to maturity and married Miss Hannah 
Housel, daughter of Anthony Housel, an old 
resident of Plain township, who died there 
some years ago, at the age of eighty-nine years. 
There were thirteen children in the family of 
Samuel Lind and wife, all being reared to ma- 
turity and becoming useful and worthy citi- 
zens. Both parents died on the old homestead 
in Plain township. 

Lewis M. Lind was born in Plain township. 
Stark county, Ohio, March 25, 1845. He was 
reared and grew to manhood in the township 
of his birth and has been a resident thereof 
most of the years of his life, his home having 
alvvays been in Stark county. He attended the 
district school when available and so well did 
he employ his time and talents that while still 
a youth he was regularly licensed to teach, and 
conducted several very successful terms of 



school in the public schools of Stark county. 
Later he acquired a knowledge of the milling 
business and for about eight years operated a 
tiouring mill. He was prudent and saving, 
carefully husbanding his earnings, which en- 
abled him to make investments in real estate, 
so at this time he is the half owner of a nice 
farm of one hundred and sixty-seven acres, the 
land being well improved, fertile and valuable. 

In November, 1869, Lewis M. Lind was 
united in marriage, in Tuscarawas township, 
to Miss Angeline Brown, a native of Iowa. 
She lived but three years to grace their home, 
dying in May, 1872, and leaving to her be- 
reaved husband a little daughter, Clara E., as 
a pledge of her love. The child lived to the 
age of seven years, when she, too, followed her 
mother into eternity. On November 23, 1876, 
Lewis M. Lind again entered the married state, 
this time Miss Jennie M. Painter, a young lady 
of many accomplishments, becoming his bride. 
She was a native of Stark county, born in Pike 
township, October 26, 1856. Her parents 
were Jacob and Susan (Muckley) Painter,, 
who were among Stark county's early residents. 
To the subject's second union eight children 
were born, viz. : Mary A., Kate E., Herman- 
H., Henry E., Margaret, Dorothy J. and Lewis 
M., of whom the latter died in infancy. 

In politics Mr. Lind is a Republican. He- 
is quite active, especially in local affairs during 
election campaigiis and is credited with wield- 
ing considerable influence in his section of the 
county. He is not an office seeker, but, having 
always interested himself in educational mat- 
ters, he consented to strvt upon the school 
board a number of terms from 1888 to 1902. 
He also served as school director in Canton 
township three years while he resided there. 
Mr. and Mrs. Lind are both members of the 
Lutheran Trinity church, in the Sunday school 
of which denomination Mr. Lind is an active 
worker. They have a comfortable, happy home 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



581 



on their fine productive farm, where, sur- 
rounded by their children, they reahze day by 
day that the good may have a rich reward 
meted out to them even in this Hfe. 



SAMUEL RINGER, of Plain township, 
Stark county, the subject of this sketch, was 
born in Nimishillen township, Stark county, 
April 6, 1824, and at the time of his birth his 
parents, John and Catharine (Truby) Ringer, 
had i^een residents of Stark county for twenty- 
four years. They were natives of Westmore- 
land county, Pennsylvania, both families 
having been prominent among the inhabitants 
of their native county, and there they grew to 
maturity and were married. He was a man of 
learning and ability and soon after he attained 
his majority was called by his fellow townsmen 
to fill one of the county offices. He also was 
appointed to public place under the national 
government and it was while acting in this 
capacity he made his first trip to Stark county. 
He died on his farm in Nimishillen township 
when he was seventy-three years old, while his 
widow survived him many years, going to her 
reward when she was eighty-four years old. 
They were the parents of twelve children, ten 
of whom grew to maturity, the other two dying 
in infancy, and Samuel, the subject, was one of 
the younger members of the family. 

In his native township of Nimishillen, 
Samuel Ringer grew to manhood. He em- 
braced such limited opportunities for acquiring 
an education as the primitive conditions then 
prevailing on the frontier aft'orded, but few 
boys or girls brought up at that time and in 
that locality securing a very high reputation for 
learning. Far more time and atteition were 
devoted to the development of the muscles in 
the clearing and on the farm than was afforded 
to the cultivation of the mind. Most of the 
lessons which the subject and other lads of his 
time learned were those of industry, the calling 



of an agriculturist being the only calling of 
which he acquired any knowledge, but he 
learned that thoroughly and well. 

October 15, 1853, Samuel Ringer was 
united in marriage, in his native township, to 
Miss Mary Zendz, daughter of Adam Zendz, 
one of Clark county's very early settlers. Like 
her husband, she had been bom and reared in 
Nimishillen township. They had known each 
other from babyhood and their life of unalloyed 
domestic happiness for a period of more than 
thirty-seven years shows how well they were 
suited to each other by nature and by training. 
Samuel Ringer met with the great bereavement 
of his life when, in December, 1890, his good 
and faithful wife, the mother of his thirteen 
children, departed this life. Two of their little 
ones died in infancy. The other children, all 
of whom grew to maturity, are Aaron, George 
A., Simon, Job, John, Edward, Levina, Bar- 
bara, Eva, Ida and Clara. 

The farm owned and occupied by Samuel 
Ringer consists of one hundred and sixty-five 
acres of fertile, well improved land. It is a 
choice tract and splendidly improved with 
good, substantial and commodious buildings 
of all kinds. At one time he was the owner of 
four hundred and eighty acres, but he has dis- 
posed of it all except the farm upon which he 
resides. All his life he has been a zealous, 
earnest worker and now, in his declining years, 
he finds himself in a position to take life easy. 
He has always carried on general farming and 
stock raising and has met with gratifying suc- 
cess in each branch of the business. In religion* 
he has been for many years a member of the 
Trinity Lutheran church and the cause of 
charity, religion and education has always ap- 
pealed to him strongly, he devoting much time 
and material substance to each. In his younger 
days he was quite active in politics, not only 
in township and county affairs, but on state 
and even national questions. He has always 
been a Democrat, but never aspired to public 



582 



OLD LANDMARKS 



position on his own belialf, the only ptibhc 
place he ever filled being that of trustee of 
j'lain township. He accepted tliat with man)- 
misgivings and was only too glad to relinquish 
the place into other hands at the close of his 
term. Intellectually as bright as in the morn- 
ing of his manhood, physically a far better man 
than many twenty years younger, contented 
and happy, surrounded by myriads of his ofif- 
spring, even unto the third generation, there 
seems to he no reason why Samuel Ringer 
shotild not round out the full period of a 
century of life. 



T.EVl A. COCKLIN was horn on his 
father's farm in Lake township. Stark county, 
Ohio, August II, 1837. His father was Adam 
Cocklin, who was a native of Pennsylvania, as 
was his mother also, and they were reared in 
Pennsylvania and married there. Soon there- 
after they emigrated to Stark county, locating 
in Lake township about 1825, upon the farm 
where they lived many years. He died at the 
age of fifty-six years, while she long survived 
him, passing away in the seventieth year of 
her age. 1'hey w^ere the parents of eleven chil- 
dren, of whom Levi A. was the seventh child. 
He was reared at the home of has parents in 
Lake township until he was seventeen years 
of age. In [854 he located in Plain township 
and has been a resident of that municipality 
ever since. When old enough he became ap- 
prenticed to A blacksmith and learned that call- 
• ing thoroughly, following it for nine years 
at Middlebranch, with marked success. From 
his earnings at the forge he saved suf^cient to 
enable him to purchase a piece of land and 
devoted what time he could spare from the 
shop in improving it. 

At Middlebranch on the 31st day of Janu- 
ary, 1865, Mr. Cocklin was united in marriage 
to Miss Mary Ann Christ, who was born in 
Massillon, Ohio, l^Iarch 20, 1843. Her par- 



ents were John and Hannah (Rhodes) Christ, 
who were among the early pioneers of that lo- 
cality. Both are now dead, the father dying 
at his home in Massillon, many years ago, 
in the fifty-first year of his age, while his wife 
survived him many years, passing to her eternal 
rest in the sixt3'-sixth year of her age. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Levi .V. Cocklin five children 
were born, viz: John J., Laura E., Adam .-V., 
Thomas J. and Phoebe J. It is an interesting, 
happy family, in a home w here love reigns and 
kindness and courtesy between the members of 
the household are ruling features. Personally 
Mr. Cocklin is one of the most generous and 
public spirited citizens of the township. Every 
step in the direction of local improvement or 
for the public good always finds in him a warm 
supporter. Still he is prudent, careful and con- 
servative, a man who never ventures into any- 
thing until he is fully satisfied as to its merit. 
He is a kind husband, an indulgent father and 
a model citizen. 



ELI SMLfH was born in Franklin county, 
Marj'land, January 5, 1815. His parents were 
Daniel and Mary Ann (Lind) Smith, the for- 
mer of whom was a native of Pennsylvania, 
but later moved to Maryland and resided there 
until after the birth of their sixth child, Eli, 
the subject. There they remained until 1825, 
when they came to Stark county. Ohio, they 
and their eleven children making the trip in a 
big wagon drawn by hor.ses and being seven- 
teen days on the way. They settled on the 
farm in Plain township, where the subject now 
resides, established a home and reared their 
family, and from there the eleven sons and 
daughters went out into the world seeking fame 
and fortune. The mother died when sixty- 
six years old, while Mr. Smith lived many 
years thereafter, dying when in the eighty- 
third year of his age. 

^^'llen he came to Stark countv. Eli Smith 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



583 



was but ten years old. Up to that time he 
had received httle education and the boundless 
west then afforded few facilities for the enlight- 
enment of its youth. He worked on the farm 
until old enough to engage in an avocation 
more to his taste, when he went to Greentown, 
Lake township, to learn from his brother the 
trade of tanner. For forty years, from 1834 
to 1874. he worked at that calling, and in 1842 
he began the operation of a tannery of his own 
at New Baltimore, doing a thriving business. 
In 1856 he purchased the old farm and moved 
thereon, superintending its cultivation in con- 
nection with the operation of the tannery. His 
farm consists of one hundred and fifty-nine 
acres, all well improved and in a fine state of 
cultivation. 

At Greentown, Lake township, November 
20. 1840, Eli Smith was united in marriage to 
Miss Sarah Kreighbaum, a native of Green- 
town, bom in 1824. Her father was George 
Kreighbaum, one of the early pioneers and 
leading citizens of Stark county, having served 
as one of its early commissioners, while her 
mother's christian name was Catherine. For 
nearly forty-seven years Mr. and Mrs. Eli 
Smith lived happily together, she dying in 
Plain township, March 15, 1887. They were 
the parents of eleven children, nine of whom 
grew to maturity. 

In politics Mr. Smith is a Democrat of the 
old school. He cast his first ballot for Martin 
Van Buren, the successor of Andrew Jackson, 
in 1836. He was old enough to take an active 
interest in politics when "Old Hickory" ran the 
last time in 1832, being in his eighteenth year, 
and was sorely disappointed that he was not 
old enough to cast his ballot for the grand old 
Democrat. In his time he has filled many of 
the local offices of the townships in which he 
lived. He was treasurer of Marlboro 
township several years, trustee of Plain 
township and was road supervisor and school 
director. In every post that he filled he gave 



entire satisfaction and always, O'f his own 
choice, relinquished the positions. He has been 
for many years a member of the English 
Lutheran church, of which his wife was also 
a member during her lifetime. Both joined 
when they were youngs, soon after the church 
was established in their part of the county. 

The life of Eli Smith has been a long and 
useful one. He has reared a large family of 
sons and daughters and has seen them go out 
into the world and become useful, prosperous 
citizens. Of all of the friends of his early 
youth scarcely one remains. Each has passed 
to his reward and left him to still enjoy the 
blessings of life, not the least of which is the 
lo\'e and affection of the rising generations of 
grandchildren and great-grandchildren which 
crowd about him. 



JOSEPH HAAK A\as horn in Marlboro 
township, Stark county, Ohio, April 27, 1849. 
His parents were Jacob F. and Barbara 
(Zeigler) Haak, both natives of Germany, in 
which country they were reared and married, 
and came to America in the early 'thirties. 
Their voyage across the Atlantic in a sailing 
vessel, the best means of transportation at the 
time, was a long, tedious and disagreeable one. 
They came to Stark county and first settled 
in Plain township, about one mile east of New 
Berlin, but later they moved to Marlboro town- 
ship, where they purchased a farm and where 
they continued to reside up to the time of 
their deaths. Both died comparatively young, 
she at the age of forty-two, he at the age of 
forty-eight. They were the parents of twelve 
children, of whom Joseph, the subject of this 
sketch, was the tenth child and youngest son. 
The first seven years of his life were spent in 
Marlboro township. Being left an orphan 
when quite young and dependent upon his own 
resources, he early learned the lessons of in- 
dustry and self-reliance. Knowing well, by 



584 



OLD LANDMARKS 



his own experience, the value of money, what 
he got he appreciated and by the providence 
whicli he practiced he was not long in accumu- 
lating enough to invest in a piece of land in 
Plain township, a nice productive tract, capable 
of being converted into a fine, fertile farm. 

December 5, 1876, at Canton, Ohio, Joseph 
Haak was united in marriage to Miss Catharine 
Smith, also a native of Marlboro township, 
and a daughter of Eli and Sarah (Kreigh- 
baum) Smith, natives of Frederick county, 
Maryland. They immediately moved into their 
own home on their farm in Plain township, 
where they have resided ever since. The farm 
is not large, but it would be difficult to find 
one better improved. The residence is large, 
handsome, beautifully finished and furnished in 
a manner which bespeaks the good taste and 
refinement of its occupants. There is a 
splendid, substantial barn upon the place and 
the stable, granaries and other buildings are 
all that could be desired. It is a home of which 
any man may well feel proud. Mr. and Mrs. 
Haak are the parents of one son. Ellis F., 
now in his twenty-fifth year. 

In politics Joseph Haak is a Democrat, a 
firm believer in the fundamental principles of 
that party and labors earnestly in his own 
modest way for its success. At the present 
time he is serving as trustee of Plain township 
and has at difi'erent times held other local of- 
fices. He was township assessor and school 
director for many years and has always been 
active in anything which concerned the public, 
his influence and example being devoted to 
the improvement of the township. He is a 
progressive, public-spirited man, who never 
allows a little matter of expense to deter him 
from doing that which will result in good to 
the community. He and his wife have been for 
many years members of the English Liitheran 
church and at the present time he is one of its 
trustees. Honest, candid, conscientious and 
unselfish, he is a citizen whose power for good 



is potential and he has rarely failed to exercise 
his power in any worthy cause brought to his 
attention. 



OTIS UPTON WALKER was born in 
the town of Ragersville, Tuscarawas county, 
Ohio, on the 9th of January, 1874, being a son 
of Edward S, and VVilla (Nefif) Walker, of 
whose three children he was the eldest, the 
others being Torry S,, of whom more definite 
mention will be made in appending paragraphs; 
and Mamie F,, who is the wife of Sherwood 
Austin, of New Baltimore, this county. Ed- 
ward S, Walker was born in Tuscarawas coun- 
ty, November 18, 1849, being a son of Samuel 
P. Walker, who was one of the early settlers in 
tiiat county, where he was engagefl in agri- 
cultural pursuits until his death, becoming a 
man of influence in the community. At the 
time of the Civil war he ser\'ed in the quarter- 
master's department, in which connection he 
journeyed over a wide range of country, se- 
curing horses for the army, and in this way he 
became well known throughout the most di- 
verse sections of the state of Ohio, He ac- 
cumulated a competence and was a man of 
inflexible integrity in all the relations of life. 
Of his fourteen children all are living except 
two. Edward S. Walker was reared to man- 
hooil in his native county, where he received a 
common-school education and where he learned 
the trade of harnessmaking. After, his mar- 
riage, in the fall of 1870, he opened a harness 
shop and hardware store in Ragersville, whence 
he removed, in 1881, to Berlin, Holmes county, 
where he was engaged in business about two 
years. His health became much impaired at 
this time and he was thus led to remove to a 
farm, near Garretsville, Portage county, where 
he continued to reside about four years, at the 
expiration of which he located in Marlboro, 
Stark county, where he opened a hotel, which 
he conducted until the death of his wife, in 




O. U. WALKER. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



585 



April, 1902, when he retired from the hotel and 
has since given his attention to the harness 
business which he had previously conducted in 
the town, while simultaneously keeping the 
hotel. He is a stanch Republican in politics, 
but has never sought official preferment, and 
he is a worthy member of the Christian church, 
as was also his cherished and devoted wife. 
She was born in Tuscarawas county, in the year 
1852, and her parents, Jacob and Christina 
Nefif, died, of typhoid fever, when she was but 
an infant. She was reared in the home of a 
relative, Mrs. Abigail Kuntz, of her native 
county, and was a type of gracious woman- 
hood. She died on the 4th of April, 1902, and 
was laid' to rest on the anniversary of the 
death of her son Torry. At the time of his 
tragic death she stated that she would follow 
him within a year, and though she was at the 
time in comparatively good health, she was 
summoned into eternal rest within two days of 
the close of the year, having grieved sorely 
over the loss of her young and noble son. 

Otis U. Walker was about twelve years of 
age at the time when his parents took up their 
residence in Marlboro, and here he continued 
his educational discipline in the public schools, 
being graduated in the high school as a member 
of the class of 1S93. Even as a boy he mani- 
fested the distinctive spirit of independence and 
self-reliance which are his dominant character- 
istics today. At the age of thirteen years he had 
apprenticed himself to learn the barber trade, 
in which he became proficient, and through 
his work at the same he paid his own expenses 
while in the high school. In the summer of 
1893, with the view to completing a course in 
Mount Union College, he came to the village 
of Mount Union and here opened a barber shop, 
and through conducting the same he acquired 
the funds with which to meet the expenses of 
his collegiate course, which he followed out 
while devoting himself to the work of his trade. 



Notwithstanding the arduous nature of his 
labors in the shop he applied himself with such 
enthusiasm and assiduousness to his studies 
that he was able to complete the regular four 
years' scientific course in the college in a period 
of three years, and being graduated as a mem- 
ber of the class of 1896, with the degree of 
Bachelor of Science. His personality is such 
that he has always had the faculty of gaining 
and retaining warm friendships, and he was 
one of the popular students of the college, as 
is evident when we revert to the fact that he 
was chosen to various positions of responsibil- 
ity in his alma mater, — positions demanding 
both executive and literary ability. Thus he 
was manager of the basket-ball and foot-ball 
teams, served as editor of the Dynamo, the col- 
lege monthly, and also of the Unonian, the 
college annual, while he was also periodical 
reader in the annual society contests. He like- 
wise held the office of captain in the college 
Republican Marching Club during the McKin- 
ley campaign and was an officer in the cadet 
corps. After his graduation Mr. Walker was 
employed as city editor of the Alliance Leader 
and also did special work for the Cleveland 
Leader and Columbus Press-Post, while he 
also passed about six weeks in the city of Pitts- 
burg, in the employ of the Pittsburg Times, 
his object being to gain certain practical in- 
formation in regard to newspaper work which 
he could not secure in Alliance,- where the 
scope of the journalistic enterprises was natur- 
ally circumscribed. With Mr. Walker there , 
has always been a distinct appreciation of the 
value of time, and he has wasted little, as may 
be inferred. While he was actively engaged in 
newspaper work he devoted his attention to the 
reading of law, having as a preceptor William 
L. Hart, one of the representative members of 
the bar of Stark county and a resident of Al- 
liance, and to these two lines of work he was 
giving his attention at the time when the fed- 



5S6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



eral government declared war against Spain, 
when he responded to tlie call of duty and pa- 
triotism l)v enlisting, in June, 1898, as a mem- 
ber of Company K, Eighth Ohio Volunteers. 
known as the "President's Own," with which 
he served in the ranks in the campaign of San- 
tiago de Cuba. In the midst of the campaign, 
he was stricken with yellow fever, and for 
Aveeks his life hung in the balance, his being- 
saved to years of further usefulness being ac- 
complished largely through the great fraternal 
devotion of his brother Torry, as will be noted 
later in this context. After his regiment was 
mustered out and he had sufficiently recuper- 
ated his health, Mr. Walker again engaged in 
editorial work, identifying himself with the 
Alliance Review, and he was thus einployed at 
the time of his nomination, in the spring of 
1900, as the Republican candidate for the office 
of mayor of Alliance, and he was elected by a 
gratifying majority. He had cast his first 
presidential vote in support of McKinley only 
four years previously, in 1896, and in the cam- 
paign of that year was a member of the first 
voters' club organized in Alliance. Of Mr. 
Walker's initial administration as mayor an- 
other publication has spoken appreciatively as 
follows : "In the administration of the affairs 
of the city and in the performance of the du- 
ties of his office Mayor Walker ga\e such gen- 
eral .satisfaction and won such general approval 
that the people, almost regardless of party affil- 
iation, rallied to his support for his re-election, 
and in the spring of 1902 he was given a ma- 
jority even greater, than that when he was first 
elected to the office. At all times during the 
administration of Mayor Walker when his ad- 
vice has been sought he has counseled for the 
best interests of Alliance and its people, that it 
might be known as the place of peace and har- 
mony among all citizens, and in so doing he 
has won the respect and confidence of all citi- 
zens. As chief executixe his aim has been to 



secure health and safety for his constituency, 
the first by rigid enforcement of the sanitary 
laws, and the second by establishing ample and 
up-to-date fire and police departments." In 
1903 the new municipal code of Ohio came into 
effect which necessitated a new election of all 
executive municipal officers throughout the 
slate. y\.t this election Mr. Walker was again 
elected mayor of Alliance and is thus now 
ser\'ing his third term as chief executive of the 
city — at this election he received the largest 
vote ever given any candidate for any office at 
any election ever held in the city. With but one 
exception Mr. Walker is the youngest man ever 
elected to the mayoralty in Alliance, having 
been but twenty-six years of age at the time of 
his first election, as has been previously noted. 
In connection with his official work he is con- 
tinuing his study of the law and his intention 
is to thoroughly prepare himself for the legal 
profession, for which he is well adapted by nat- 
ural proclivities and mental powers. He is a 
young man of gracious and sincere per.sonality 
and his popularity conies as a natural sequence. 
Of fine intellectuality and forceful indi\idual- 
ity the future holds much in store for him. He 
is unwavering in his allegiance to the principles 
and policies of the Republican party and takes- 
an active interest in its cause, while heJ<eeps in 
intelligent touch with the questions and issues 
of the hour. He and his wife are valued mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, and' 
fraternally "he is identified with Lone Rock 
Lodge No. 23. Knights of Pythias; Alliance 
Lodge No. 467, Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks ; and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon 
college fraternity. He maintains a lively inter- 
est in his comrades of the late war and is cap- 
tain of Clyde R. Crubaugh Command of the- 
Spanish War Veterans. 

On the 23d of April, 1902, Mayor Walker 
was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Mat- 
thews, one of the popular and accomplished 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



587 



young ladies of Alliance. She is the daughter 
of David and Mary A. Matthews, of this city, 
her father ha^•ing been born in Wales and hav- 
ing come to America in his youth and her 
mother being a native of Portland, Maine. Mr. 
Matthews is superintendent of the foundry de- 
partment of the Morgan Engineering Works 
of Alliance, one of the leading industrial enter- 
prises of the state. 

In conclusion, there is eminent propriety in 
entering a slight tribute to the memory of the 
late Torry S. Walker, only brother of the sub- 
ject of this sketch. Torry Slatin Walker was 
born in Ragersville, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, 
on the 15th of March, 1875, and he came to 
Alliance just after being mustered out with the 
Eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which 
regiment he served as private during the siege 
and surrender of Santiago, in the summer of 
1898. He became a first-grade fireman in the 
well equipped fire department of Alliance, and 
was instantly killed by the explosion of a 
chemical engine, on April 6, 1901, being the 
first member of the department to sacrifice his 
life at the post of duty. His untimely and 
tragic death cast a pall over the entire city, and 
many were the devoted friends who felt a sense 
of deep personal bereavement, and it has 
been well said of him that he was "loved and 
respected by all his acquaintances." The blow 
to his only brother, Mayor Walker, was a most 
severe one, as they had ever been devoted to 
each other, there being but little more than a 
year's difference in their ages. In this connec- 
tion we can not do better than to give the fol- 
lowing appreciative estimate of his character, 
which appeared in the Alliance Daily Review 
of April o. 1901 : "As a soldier more than 
anywhere else did Torry show the sterling char- 
acter which he possessed. When the boys were 
worn out and sick from hardships scarcely to 
be borne, it \\as to 'Tort' they looked for aid 
and comfort. He it was who could forage to 
purpose, and without doubt his brother, Mavor 



O. U. Walker, would now be sleeping in the 
swamps of Cuba had it not been for, the watch- 
ful care of the younger brother, who, with the 
heroism and devotion of a generous heart, car- 
ried his brother upon his back from the low 
ground where he had been left, by an over- 
worked hospital corps, to higher ground and 
placed him beneath the shelter; of a large tree, 
out of the broiling sun and treacherous damp. 
And again, when the boys were about to be sent 
home, Upton Walker would probably have been 
left behind had not Torry's strong shoulders 
borne him safely aboard ship. But not alone 
to his brother were his kind ministrations ten- 
dered. Any comrade who needed aid which he 
could render received it at once. His record as 
a soldier was second to none in the regiment. 
With the courage of the lion he had the tender- 
ness and the fortitude of a woman." 



JOHN CONRAD was bom in Washington 
township, .Stark county, March 31, 1855. His 
father was Joseph Conrad, a native of Alsace, 
France, who was brought to America by his 
parents when only one year old. His grand- 
father was Jacob Conrad, who, with his family, 
immigrated from Alsace to America about 1820. 
They located in Washington township. Stark 
county, upon a farm, where Jacob Conrad died 
many years ago, at the age of eighty-five years. 
His son Joseph, father of the subject, grew to 
manhood upon this farm, married Miss 
Catherine Krabille, also a native of France, and 
they became the parents of fifteen children, of 
whom John Conrad is the oldest. At the time 
of his death, some years ago, Joseph Conrad 
was seventy-three years old. 

There was little in the life of John Conrad 
different from that of the average farmer boy 
of the time. He chopped wood, plowed land 
and sowed and reaped just the same as other 
youths of his time, and in the winter he at- 
tended the district school. He possessed an 



588 



OLD LANDMARKS 



irrepressible disposition, and at times incurred 
the displeasure of his teacher, but amid it all, 
he managed to secure a fair education in all of 
the branches that were taught in the public 
school. Bright and intelligent, he appreciated 
the value of knowledge and embraced with 
avidity the opportunity to secure it. He re- 
mained at home working for the family until 
he was twenty years old, then went out work- 
ing by the month, which he continued for a 
period of four years. He was provident and 
saving, and when the accumulations from his 
earnings were sufficient to justify it, he de- 
cided to establish a home of his own. Accord- 
ingly, as the first and most necessary step in 
this direction, on December 12, 1878, he was 
imited in marriage to Miss Susan Miller, a 
young lady of good education and many de- 
sirable attainments. Her father was Christian 
Miller, now deceased, and she was born in 
Canton township, Stark county. To them 
seven children were bom, viz : Martha, Jos- 
eph, Calvin, Orlando, Etta, Daniel and Mary. 
Each has received a good education and all 
give promise of making useful, enterprising 
citizens. 

Irhmediately after their marriage John Con- 
rad and wife settled on a farm in Canton town- 
ship, where they remained for four years, stead- 
ily adding to their possessions. In 1882 he 
purchased their present farm of one hundred 
and twenty-nine acres, in Plain township, and 
on this the family has since resided, adding to 
its value year by year, by substantial improve- 
ments, and realizing a very satisfactory in- 
come from the products of the place. The 
subject has conducted general farming and 
stock raising and has given considerable at- 
tention to fruit. 

Politically Mr. Conrad is a Democrat, and as 
such enjoys the confidence and respect not only 
of his own party but even of his political op- 
ponents. He was twice elected to the office of 
township trustee, and made a good record. He 



has always been interested in education and has 
served for seventeen years as a member of the 
school board. He is scrupulously conscien- 
tious and sincerely religious, and is a member 
of the Mennonite church and a firm believer 
in its teachings. His life is most exemplary 
and has had its influence not only upon the 
members of his ovm immediate family, but to 
a great extent upon other people in the com- 
munity as well. 



CLAYTON HOLL was born in Plahi 
township. Stark county, Ohio, April 4, 1849. 
His father was Jacob Holl, who was a native 
of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, but who in 
early life emigrated to Stark county, Ohio, 
and settled in Plain township, where he met 
Miss Rachel Sell, whom he later married, and 
who eventually became the mother of the sub- 
ject. They located, after their marriage, on 
a farm in Plain township, prospered in material 
wealth and became the parents of three chil- 
dren, viz: Clayton, Alice and Myron L., of 
whom Alice died August 13, 1878, at the age 
of twenty-seven years, and Myron L. is a resi- 
dent of New Berlin. The father died at the 
family home at the age of sixty-two years, 
and the mother still survives. 

The early years of Clayton Holl were spent 
upon his father's farm, where he acquired a 
thorough knowledge of agriculture. Attend- 
ance upon the district school supplied him with 
a fair education in the branches there taught, 
and a fondness, which he has since cultivated, 
for literature has made him a well informed 
man. In his school days he was popular with 
the other pupils, and now, being naturally of a 
kind, genial disposition, he readily wins favor 
with those with whom he associates. Of his 
school days his teachers always spoke in the 
highest terms of praise of his conduct. While, 
in common with the other boys, he indulged in 
many a prank, there was nothing malicious in 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



58^ 



his actions, and when the time of reckoning 
came he was always manly, frank and honest 
in acknowledging the wrong. An old teacher 
once said, "The conduct of one such boy in a 
school room is worth more to a teacher in sub- 
duing the refractory than hundreds of lessons 
in discipline." 

In Jackson to\\Tiship, Stark county, Oc- 
tober 14, 1874, Clayton Holl was united in 
marriage to Miss Samanthia Hess, a daughter 
of David and Lydia (Wirebaugh) Hess, old 
residents of Stark county. Mrs. Holl is a 
lady of splendid mental qualifications and fair 
education, and is a mother of whom any fam- 
ily might well be proud. Her children have 
been brought up with firmness, tempered with 
kindness, which has made of them worthy men 
and women, a credit to themselves, their par- 
ents and the community. Mrs. Holl was born 
in Bethlehem township, Stark county, July 7, 
1854, and all the years of her life have been 
spent in this county. To Mr. and Mrs. Holl 
eight children have been born, viz : Jennie, 
Laura, Edgar, Minnetta, Luella, Homer, El- 
bert and Zelmer, of whom Jennie is the wife of 
Albert Miller and Laura is the wife of Joel 
Shutt. Each of the children has received a 
good education and all are intelligent and re- 
fined. 

While most of his neighbors and acquaint- 
ances have identified themselves with one or 
the other of the two national political parties, 
Clayton Holl chooses to be known as a Pro- 
hibitionist. In his estimation, all of the issues 
between the parties dwindle into insig-nificance 
as compared with the issues involved in the 
liquor traffic. The open saloon is no menace 
to him. In espousing the cause no selfish mo- 
tive actuated him. He has seen the ruin pro- 
duced by the excessive use of intoxicants in 
some of the brightest minds and best hearts of 
his friends and acquaintances, and it imbued 
him with a desire to aid in cutting short the 
work of destruction by the power of the ballot. 



He deplores the present political weakness of 
Ills party, but notes carefully a marked change 
in public sentiment on this question and has the 
utmost confidence in the ultimate triumph of 
prohibition principles. He takes a deep inter- 
est in all public aft'airs and may always be 
found firm in the advocacy of everything de- 
signed for public good. He owns a nice, well 
improved farm, cultivated in the highest type 
of the art and both comfort and prosperity have 
long abode in his household. 



WILLIAM J. MATHIE was born in Plain- 
township, Stark county, Ohio, January 31, 
1841. His father was Peter Mathie, a native 
of France who emigrated to America in his 
youth and at an early date located in Plain 
township, Stark county, where he met and 
married Miss Susan Duck, a native of the lat- 
ter county. They first settled in Plain town- 
ship, where they remained a number of years, 
but later moved to Lawrence township, reared 
a family of nine children and resided there un- 
til their deaths. He died at the age of forty- 
six, while she survived him many years, dying 
at the age of sixty years. 

The oldest child of the family was William 
J. Mathie, and in his native township, Plain, 
the first twelve years of his life were spent. 
The family then moved to Lawrence township, 
and there upon a farm he grew to manhood. 
He received a fair common school education, 
having mastered all the branches taught in 
the common schools of his time, and when en- 
tering manhood was well equipped to act his 
part in life. On October 8, 1865, he was uni- 
ted in marriage to Miss Eliza E. Hershey, who 
was born in Stark county, July 18, 1840, the 
daughter of John and Sabina Hershey, respect- 
ed residents of Stark county. The young 
couple settled in Lawrence township, where 
they continued to reside nine years. In 1873 
they purchased the fine farm of one hundred 



59C 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and eight acres in Plain township, later buying 
forty acres more, which they still own and on 
which they have erected some of the finest 
farm buildings to be found in the county. In 
1862 Mr. Mathie began working with a thresh- 
ing machine, being employed by William Hart- 
grove and Jacob Evans until 1894. He then 
entered into a partnership with his brother, L. 
D., and they operated together until 1869, when 
the latter sold his interest to George Stoner, 
with whom the subject worked until 1876. 
Mr. Mathie, upon a division of the equipment, 
took the separator, and joined forces with Hi- 
ram Bair, who owned an engine, this arrange- 
ment continuing four years. Mr. Mathie then 
obtained a new outfit and has since successfully 
followed the business, his total service in this 
line amounting to about thirty-six years. 

To Mr. .and Mrs. Mathie eight children 
have been born, four of whom have died. The 
others are : Enos, who married Nettie Shaff- 
er; Clara is the wife of Calvin Shoub; Eva is 
the wife of Curtis Miller ; Phoebe is the wife of 
John Holl, and they are the parents of one 
child, Velma. The four children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Alathie that are dead are: Olivia, who 
died when ten years old, Jessie died when seven 
years of age, Emma died when three years old 
and Viola died at the age of one year. 

Ever since he has been a voter Mr. Mathie 
has acted with the Democratic party. He is a 
man who has never sought public position of 
any kind, but his neighbors and friends have a 
number of times elected him to local offices. 
He has been township trustee, supervisor, as- 
sessor and school director, and in each instance 
he discharged the duties of the office to the 
entire satisfaction of his constituents. He 
was brought up in the faith of the Lutheran 
church and at one time was quite active in the 
work of that denomination. The only fra- 
ternal organization to which he belongs is New 
Berlin Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. He 
is a charter member and treasurer of T. N. P. 



A. No. 256, having held the office ever since 
the organization of the society, in ^larch, 1901. 
Pie is a man of kind disposition, good habits 
and very popular wherever he is known. All 
who know him admit that the many blessings 
fortune has bestowed upon him are well de- 
served. 

■» « » 

JOSEPH MILLER, Jr., was born in Lake 
township. Stark county, March 23, 1843, the 
son of Joseph and Sarah (Zellers) Miller. The 
father was a native of Adams county, Penn- 
sylvania, while the mother was born in Lake 
township, this county. To them were born 
six children, one of whom, a daughter, died in 
infancy. The others are: David, Benjamin, 
Eranklin, Joseph and Emanuel. At the age 
of thirty-one the mother died in her native 
township of Lake, and the father married 
again, the lady being Esther Snyder, and they 
have resided in Lake township up to the time 
of his death, which occurred a few years ago, 
at the age of eighty-two years. 

On his father's farm in Lake township Jo- 
seph Miller received his first lessons of useful- 
ness in life. He secured a limited education in 
the schools of the township and when not so 
employed there was plenty of work for him to 
do on the farm. As he grew older he be- 
came interested in the manufacture of brick 
and followed that calling very profitably for 
about nine years. Through the savings of 
the first few years of his labor for himself he 
was enabled to purchase his present little farm, 
and from its productiveness he has been en- 
abled to ornament it with fine improve- 
ments, buildings, fences, etc., with which it is 
supplied. 

October 5, 1873, Joseph Miller was united 
in marriage to Miss Hannah M. Bechtel, a na- 
tive of New Berlin, Plain township, who is 
the daughter of William and Sarah lieclitel. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Miller one son. Burton, has 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



591 



been born. Occupying one of the most com- 
fortable homes in the county, ' with plenty of 
stock and well filled bins and granaries, it is 
quite apparent that the family of Joseph Miller 
are enjoying their full measure of prosperity, 
and that they are deserving of all the good 
things that have fallen to their lot is never 
questioned. Mr. Miller has won a competency 
in his field of labor wholly through his own ex- 
ertions. In his case the reward of industry 
has been ample and it has fallen into the lap 
of one who has carefully husbanded it. 



EMANUEL MILLER was born in Lake 
township. Stark county, Ohio, July 23, 1845. 
His parents were Joseph and Sarah (Zellers) 
Miller, the former a native of Adams county, 
Pennsylvania, and the latter of Lake township, 
Stark county. Sarah Miller passed her entire 
life of thirty-one years in her native township. 
After her death her husband married again, 
the lady of his choice being Esther Snyder. 
He lived to be eighty-two years of age Ijefore 
death claimed him. Of his first union there 
were born six children, viz : Daniel, Benjamin, 
Franklin, Joseph, Emanuel and one daughter. 
Mho died in infancy ; and of the second union 
five children were born. — Mary E., Adam, Ar- 
rameta, John H. and Peter W. 

On the farm owned and occupied by his 
parents the early life of Emanuel Miller was 
passed. He attended the district schools and 
despite the brevity of the terms, the crude 
methods of instruction and the deficient appli- 
ances, he managed to acquire a fair education. 
Always of a studious, thoughtful temperament, 
in his brief school days he not only acquired a 
taste for learning, Init also a fondness for lx)oks, 
through the means of which he has since added 
largely to his general knowledge. When not 
occupied with his books, the work of the farm 
demanded his attention. In "the early days, be- 
fore good roads Ijecame common, and when 



railroads were few and far between, building 
material of the substantial sort was not as 
plentiful as it is now. The abundance and 
splendid quality of clay in the vicinity of their 
home early attracted the attention of the Miller 
boys. The profitable product was in great de- 
mand throughout the country for manufactured 
brick, and these circumstances were not long in 
determining Emanuel Miller to engage in the 
manufacture. Accordingly, a yard was estab- 
lished, the necessary^ appliances procured and 
within a short time Mr. Miller and his brother 
Joseph were deeply interested in the business, 
they being assisted by their father and brothers. 
The enterprise prospered and was profitable 
from the start, and for nine years they con- 
tinued in this vocation with very satisfactory re- 
sults, eventually giving it up only to engage in 
the more congenial pursuit of agriculture. 

On May 2, 1875, Emanuel Miller was unit- 
ed in marriage to Miss Catherine Gassier, a na- 
tive of Plain township and daughter of the late 
Samuel and Catherine (Cornwell) Cassler. 
Tiiey were the parents of one child. Pearl F., 
who IS the wife of Alfred E. Cashner, of Plain 
township, and to them has been born one child, 
A'ernon E. 

Politically Emanuel Miller is a Democrat, 
and has always acted with that party, but he 
has never sought political preferment. By 
reason of his' services in that political organiza- 
tion, however, he was called upon to serve as 
assessor of New Berlin at one time, and in 1893 
was elected president of the village board and 
for several years he ser\'ed as a member of 
the board, and was instrumental in establish- 
ing the Mt. Pleasant school district No. 11, 
Lake township, and having a school building 
erected therefor. He and his family are mem- 
bers of the Reformed church of Cairo, are 
zealous workers in its behalf and contribute 
liberally to its support. He was a member of 
the building committee having charge of the 
erection of the Reformed church parsonage 



592 



OLD LANDMARKS 



at New Berlin and supervised the erection of 
the Mt. Pleasant school. In all matters in 
which the public good is concerned, Mr. Miller 
has always been found a leading spirit, this 
being especially true of religious, charitable 
and educational work. All that he does is 
done solely for the benefit of a worthy cause 
and not through the hope of any personal re- 
ward or benefit. He is a true, consistent, 
worthy man, whose services are highly ap- 
preciated by his fellow citizens. 



GEORGE F. KNIGHT.— At this juncture 
it is a privilege to make note of an important 
industry in connection with a review of the 
successful and honorable career of its founder, 
George F. Knight, who with his son, Charles 
H., is at the head of the well-established con- 
cern known as the Knight Manufacturing Com- 
pany, manufacturers of sawmill, well-drilling 
and prospecting machinery. The well equipped 
plant of this company is located at 171 8 South 
Market street, where the enterprise had its in- 
ception in the year 1892. Mr. Knight came to 
Canton in 1889 and became a stockholder in the 
Canton Saw Company, with which he contin- 
ued to be thus identified until withdrawing his 
interests to found the present thriving enter- 
prise of which he is the head. Mr. Knight was 
bom on a farm in Wayne county, Ohio, on the 
4th of July, 1848, being of the third generation 
of the family in the Buckeye state. The Knights 
are of English extraction and were eai'ly settled 
in the state of Pennsvlvania, whence the grand- 
father of the subject came to Ohio in an early 
day, settling in Wayne county, where Benoni 
Knight, the father of the subject of this review, 
was born and reared, being a carpenter by trade 
and following this vocation in connection with 
agricultural pursuits. He died on his farm 
there when his son George was but four years 
of age. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Eleanor Firestone, was a representative of a 



well-known pioneer family of Wayne county, 
where she passed her entire life, surviving her 
husband by a number of years and passing 
a^\'ay in 1899, at the age of seventy- four, years. 
Her husband, who died in 1852, was thirty-one 
years of age at the time. 

George F. Knight was reared to the age of 
fifteen years on the homestead farm which was 
the place of his birth, and his educational priv- 
ileges were such as were afforded in the dis- 
trict schools. At the age noted he set forth to 
become self supporting, and from that time for- 
ward he has been dependent upon his own re- 
sources. His first employment after leaving 
home was that of hauling coal at the Newman's 
Creek mine, in the western part of Stark coun- 
ty, b.is duties in the connection being to transfer 
the product to the canal for shipment, said 
watercourse having been at that time the chief 
means of transportation for all commodities 
brought into and shipped from this section of 
the state. At one time during the war of the 
Rebellion the miners in the district went out on 
a strike, and Mr. Knight was at the time one 
of five boys employed in hauling the coal from 
the mines and they determined that they also 
ought to secure a raise in wages, though this 
was not granted, but the operators of the mines 
after the strike was declared by the five boys,, 
gave to them the desired increase from three to 
three and one-half dollars per day, making the 
concession after work had been stopped for a 
half day only. Knight continued to be em- 
ployed at the mines for one year, at the expira- 
tion of which, in the autumn of 1864, he went 
to Defiance county, this state, where he identi- 
fied himself with the sawmilling business, 
eventually engaging in the same on his own re- 
sponsibility, and it was through this apparently 
accidental turning of his attention to this line 
of enterprise that he laid the foundation of the 
success which has rewarded his efforts in the 
later years. He refmained in Defiance county 
until T8R9, when he came to Canton, as before 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



593 



noted, and here identified himself with the Can- 
ton Saw Company. He secured his definite 
start on the road to prosperity through the ac- 
cidental breaking of a saw, having invented 
and patented a machine for holding the logs on 
the carriage of the saw-mill, the same being 
known as the Knight dog, while the same is 
now very generally used in sawmills in all sec- 
tions of the United States and is manufactured 
by the Knight Manufacturing Company. He 
gained his idea for the invention through the 
breaking of a saw by reason of the defective 
meclianism commonly in use at the time for 
holding the logs on the carriage, and while he 
considered the damage to his mill a loss and 
misfortune at the time, it really proved the fore- 
runner of his prosperity in the world of busi- 
ness. The various machinery turned out by 
the Knight Manufacturing Company is of the 
highest order of excellence in matter of con- 
stniction, material and finish, while the com- 
pany also control valuable patents aside from 
the important one mentioned, so that there is a 
ready market demand for the various products 
of the establishment. 

While he is essentially and primarily a busi- 
ness man and one whose days have been filled 
with persistent toil and endeavor from his boy- 
hood up, Mr. Knight is ever loyal to the duties 
of citizenship and takes a lively interest in all 
that conserves the material prosperity and civic 
advancement of the city and county of his 
home. In politics he holds an independent po- 
sition, giving his support to such men and 
measures as meet the approval of his judg- 
ment and not being dominated by a partisan 
spirit. He was formerly a member of the Dis- 
ciples' church, but holds no regular church affil- 
iation at the present time. Fraternally he is a 
member of Hicksville Lodge No. 478, Free and 
Accepted Masons. He is a man of marked 
business acumen and administrative ability, 
while he has at all times so ordered his course 
as to merit and receive the unqualified confi- 
37 



dence and regard of those with whom he conies 
in contact in the varied relations of life. 

On the 3d of December, 1868, was solem- 
nized the marriage of Mr. Knight to Miss Mar- 
garet Price, who was born June i, 1851, in 
Defiance county, Ohio, where she was reared 
and educated, her father, John Price, having 
been engaged in farming in that county until 
the time of his death. To Mr. and ]Mrs. 
Knight have been born two children, Charles 
H.. wlio is associated with his father in busi- 
ness and of whom individual mention is made 
on another page of this volume, and Cora B., 
who at the time of this writing is a student 
under the tuition of John Orth, a noted teacher 
of music, in the city of Boston, she being a 
young lady of gracious personality and many 
accomplishments and a favorite in the social'' 
circles of her home city. 



HIRAM BAIR was born July 9, 1839, 
in Plain township, and that municipality was 
his home for more than sixty years. His par- 
ents were Jacob and Nancy (Rhodes) Bair, 
natives of Pennsylvania, who were among the 
old settlers of Ohio. In the early 'thirties 
they took up their residence in Plain township 
and remamed among its inhabitants, doing 
their full share toward its development and 
improvement, up to the time of their deaths. 
He died when about sixty years of age, while 
his widow survived him many years, passing 
to her reward when she had attained the age 
of eighty-nine years. 

On his father's farm the youth of Hiram 
Rair was passed, his first lessons being those 
of industry, lessons that were most useful to 
him during his after life. In his youthful days 
the educational facilities of Ohio were by no 
means what they are at present, so that the 
opportunities of acquiring an education at that 
time were quite limited. Nevertheless, through 
a persistence purely characteristic of the man, 



594 



OLD LANDMARKS 



j\lr. Bair managed to secure ;> fair coinnion 
scliool education, which lie later ..upplemented 
liv wide and iudicidus reading", i'^ew men on 
the farm were ijetter informed on any ordinary 
.subject than he wa.s and few were more capa- 
l>]e of giving expression to an original thought 
than he. He was not imlx- a wide reader and 
student, hut a deep and Idgical thinker as 
well. 

On iIk T4th day nf i)ecenilicr. iXix). Mr. 
Bair was united in marriage to Miss Barixira 
Cocklin. in the city of C'ant(Hi. Ohio. She is 
a native of l.ake townshi]). horn July 28, 1841. 
the daughter of .\dain and llarhara (Ciaerte) 
Cocklin, nati\-es of I'ennsyivania, but early 
settlers of Stark county. Her father died at 
the age of fifty years, while the mother lived 
to be seventy-five years nld. They and their 
family were recog-nized as among tlie best and 
most influential of the early inhabitants of the 
county. To Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Bair nine 
children ha\-e been burn, six of whom li\ed h> 
maturity and five of them are still living. 
Those who grew to maturit}- are. Er\in, Elma. 
George H.. Clara. James and I, aura. Clara 
<lving when twenty years of age. 'Hie others 
are intelligent, well educated men and women. 
e;ich living a u.seful and prosperous life. 

Mr. Ijair was a member of the Cairo Re- 
form church, with which Mrs. Bair still 
affiliates. She is especially interested in the 
work of that denomination and a liberal con- 
tributor to its support. She is a woman of 
firm purpose, much strength of will, yet kind. 
])alient and generous, withal. Possessed of 
excellent judgment, she has been a valuable 
assistant not onl\ tn her husband and tamily. 
hut to the unfortunate and suffering who have 
lieen luckv enough to cume within her sphere 
of observation. Mr. Bair was also generous 
and charitable and always abetted the 
lilieral tendencies of his good wife. .\ 
happier or more congenial couple it would l)e 
<lifficult to find and of the good work they 



have accomplished, so silently has it been done, 
that but a little of it will ever l>e known, ex- 
cej)! to the beneliciaries. Politically Mr. Bair 
was always a Democrat. He passed to liis 
final rest March 25, 1903, aufl in his death 
I'laiii township and the community at Large 
lost one of its most valued aiul representative 
citizens. 



JOII.X H. SHEETS was lx>rn in Plain 
townshi]). Stark county. September 15, 1864, 
the son of Samuel C. Sheets, a sketch of whose 
career will be found in another part of this 
volume, and liis mother is Henrietta (Brill- 
hart ) Siieets. Both parents are still living, re- 
siding in a comfortable home in Xew Berlin, 
the fatlier having accumulated a competency 
and retired from active business pursuits. Twi> 
children were born of this union, viz. : ,\da, 
the oldest child, died when sex'en months 
old. and John H.. tlie subject. On his 
father's tarm in Plain township John H. 
Sheets was reared. His education was secure<l 
at the coininon schools, in the graded schools 
of Xew Berlin and he devoted one year at the 
Ohio .Xormal L'niversity, at .\da. .\griculture 
and stock raising has been his life work and in 
i this ])ursnit and each branch of it he has been 
most successful. lie breeds Holstein b'riesian 
cattle and numerous handsome animals of this 
species niav alwavs be found on his premises. 
On Xovember 20. 1SS8. John 11. Sheets 
was united in marriage to Miss Minnie .\. 
Moore, who was born in 'Eake township. Stark 
count v. Se])tember 3. i8()(;, the daughter of 
Josrph P. and Rebecca (York) Moore, old set- 
t'ers of Stark county, where they continued to 
reside, respected ;uid beloxeit, until the time of 
tb.eir deaths, some years ago. The young cou- 
ple immediately took uj) their residence on the 
Sheets farm, one mile north of Xew Berlin, 
where tlie\- have continued to reside ever since. 
Two children lia\e been born to them. Cirace 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



595 



]\I. and Guy J\I., who are intelligent, active and 
alert children and gix'e promise of hecoming 
worthy, useful citizens. 

In pnlitics John 11. .Sheets is a Republican 
and takes an acti\"e part in political affairs, 
especially in all that relates to local matters. 
tie ser\ed quite a length nf time as a member 
of the Ivepublican countv central committee, 
but has ne\er sought or held public oifice. He 
is a member of ^\'illiam McKinley Lodge No. 
431. bree and Accepted Masons: of Canton 
Tent Xii. 28, Knights of the Maccabees: Cor- 
nelius .\ultman Council No. 161, Junior 
Order 1,'nited American Mechanics, of Green- 
town, and of New Pierlin Grange No. 1408, 
Patrons of Husbandry. He and his family are 
highly respected in the community and possess 
the confidence and regard (if all who know 

tlieni. 

■*■—¥ 

SAMUEL C. SHEETS.— The subject of 
this sketch, who resides in New Berlin. Stark 
county, is one who not only has done his duty 
to the country, the community in which he 
li\ed and his family, l)ut has placed himself 
and his faithful wife in a position where the 
storms of their latter life may pass unheeded 
b\ them. He is a retired farmer, living in 
quiet comfort in a beautiful, richly furnished 
home in the village of New Berlin. 

Samuel C. Sheets was born in Lancaster 
county. Pennsylvania. Eebruary 10, 1834, the 
son of John and Mary (Cassler) Sheets, also 
natives of Lancaster county. In ]\Liy, 1842, 
\\hen their son Samuel was eight years of age, 
they emigrated to Ohio, and settleil in Plain 
township, one mile north of the village of 
New Berlin. Here John Sheets engaged in 
agricultural pursuits, farming and stock rais- 
ing, prosperity crowning his efforts until his 
death, which occurred some years ago, when 
in the seventy-eighth year of his age. His wife 
^ur\ ived him several years, dying at the age of 



seventy-nine. They were the parents of five 
children, \iz : Samuel C. is the subject of this 
sketch : Maria is the wife of John B. Roush, of 
Canton: ■\Iattie and Leah are Ijoth dead, and 
Emanuel C. 

The bovhood of Samuel C. Sheets was 
passed on the farm of his father in Plain town- 
ship. He attended the district schools and se- 
cured a fair education in all of the branches 
therein taught. By precept and example, his 
f.tther instructed him in lessons of thrift, econ- 
omy and industry, which education he has 
found most valuable during the course of his 
long and busy life. In all of the work of the 
farm be became adept and made it a rule never 
to employ hired help to perform work that he 
had the time and ability to accomplish himself. 
While he worked hard and devoted many hours 
each day to tlie i)erformance of his labors, he 
guarded carefully the strength with which na- 
ture bad kindly blessed him. and by his regular 
habits and temperate, frugal life preserved his 
health. 

January 15, i860. Mr. Sheets was united in 
marriage to Miss Henrietta Brillhart, a lady 
of amiable disposition and good judgment, 
who was inured to habits of industry and econ- 
omy, a fitting helpmate for a man possessed of 
as many signal virtues as is the subject of this 
sketch. She was a native of Stark county. l)orn 
August I J, 1835, li^"" father being Christian 
Brillhart. a native of York county, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he was a prosperous fanner. On 
a farm of one hundred and twenty-six acres 
ov.'ued by Mr. Sheets, he and his wife ttxik up 
their residence and year by year achie\-ed suc- 
cess and added to their material wealth. To 
them were born two children, Ada and John 
H., of whom .\da was the older and died in 
infancw 

In politics Samuel C. Sheets is a Repub- 
lican, and during each campaign takes an active 
part in behalf of his party, but has never 
aspired to political preferment at any time. He 



596 



OLD LANDMARKS 



was elected and served as trustee of Plain 
township one term, which was long enough to 
satisfy him that official positions were by no 
means to his liking. Being in comfortable cir- 
cumstances, with ample means to supply every 
want, he retired from the active duties of the 
farm in 1887, and erected a large and com- 
fortable home in New Berlin, where he and his 
family have since resided, enjoying in quiet 
and comfort the reward of their industry, thrift 
and frugality. There, surrounded with all the 
' blessings of domestic happiness, he and his 
faithful wife are whiling away the evening of 
their well-spent Hfe, proving to all of their 
numerous friends and acquaintances the truth 
of the saying that virtue is indeed its own 
reward. 



MISS MARY KING.— Identified for a 
number of years with the educational interests 
of Canton, the subject of this sketch has 
achie^•ed distinction in the line of her chosen 
calling and won for herself worthy prestige 
among the successful teachers of the state. 
Miss King's paternal ancestors were Swiss, 
her grandfather, Adolph King, having been 
bom and reared in the capital of the little 
mountain republic which for centuries past 
played such an important part on the stage 
of European laistory. Adolph King was edu- 
cated in his native city and became a learned 
and distinguished divine of the German Re- 
formed church, dying in the land of his birth 
some time in the 'seventies. His wife, who bore 
the maiden name of Kupher, was also a native 
of Berne and spent all her life in Switzerland. 
She bore her husband two sons and three 
daughters, one of the former being Ernest 
King, whose birth occurred in the city of 
Berne about the year 1839. He enjoyed su- 
perior educational advantages and after gradu- 
ation entered a school of design and became a 
skillful artisan in all kinds of fine woodwork. 



^^'^ith the expectation of finding a favorable 
opening for the exercise of his talent in South 
America, he went to Brazil when a young man 
and opened a woodworking establishment in 
the city of St. Paulo. There he met the lady 
who subsequently became his wife, and after 
the birth of his daughter, the subject of this 
review, he left Brazil, on account of the cli- 
mate, and came to the United States, locating 
about the year 1867 in Washington, D. C. 
After working at his trade in that city for a 
short time he changed his residence to Canton, 
Ohio, where for a period of twenty years he fol- 
lowed his chosen calling with fair pecuniary 
results. Subsequently he entered the employ of 
the Standard Oil Company at Canton, and 
since that time has served in the capacity of 
a salesman for that large corporation. 

Ernest and Mrs. King are the parents of 
five children, of whom the subject of this re- 
view is the first born; the others are Rose, 
Sophia, William and Frederick, all still mem- 
bers of the home circle in Canton. Miss Mary 
King was only two years old when her parents 
left Brazil: consequently she has but a very 
dim recollection of the quaint city in which 
she first saw the light of day. Her sojourn 
in the city of Washington was also of limited 
duration and it was in Canton where she spent 
the years of her childhood and youth, entering 
as soon as old enough the public schools of this 
city. Miss King made a creditable record as. 
a student and at the age of eighteen was grad- 
uated from the high school, immediately fol- 
lowing which she took charge of a country 
school and taught a very successful term. The 
next year she secured a position in the city 
schools and was assigned work in the build- 
ing on North Cherry street, where her sen'ices 
were highly satisfactory to her superiors and to- 
the pupils under her care. Miss King had 
charge of various grades of work in different 
buildings until 1900, in the fall of which. year 
she was appointed principal of the Crystal Park 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



597 



school, a position of great responsibility award- 
ed her in recognition of faithful and efficient 
service. She continued in that capacity until 
1901, when she was transferred to the Claren- 
don building, of which she has since been 
principal, and as manager of which she has 
added greatly to her already well-established 
reputation as one of the ablest of the city's 
successful corps of teachers. Miss King is a 
member of the Stark County Teachers' Asso- 
■ciation, and avails herself of every opportunity 
Avhich these and other educational organiza- 
tions afford to enlarge the area of her profes- 
sional knowledge. She is keenly alive to the 
necessity of keeping in touch with the educa- 
tional thought of the age, spares no pains in 
broadening and enriching her mind and by 
coming in contact with the leading educators of 
the day in national associations, has become 
familiar with the latest modern methods, the 
merits or demand which she has practically 
demonstrated in the work under her charge. 
As a member of the First Presbyterian church 
•of Canton, Miss King is deeply interested in 
various lines of religious endeavor, having been 
a faithful teacher in the Sunday school for ten 
years, besides taking an active part in the work 
of the Buckingham mission. She has been an 
influential factor in moulding the model senti- 
ment of the circle in which she moves and, 
hand in hand with intellectual instruction, she 
carries the higher work of character building 
without which educational training, however 
efficient and brilliant, fails in the accomplish- 
ment of its greatest and noblest purpose. 



ADAM SHAFFER is a native of Stark 
county, Ohio, born in Washington township, 
on December 7, 1834, being one of thirteen 
children whose parents were Daniel and Eliza- 
beth (Grace) Shaffer. The .Shaffers are an 
old and highly respected rennsylvania family, 
and it was in Schuylkill county, that state. 



that the suliiect's father was born in 1802. In 
1814 the parents of Daniel Shaffer moved to 
Stark county and settled in what is now Wash- 
ington township, the country at that time be- 
ing on the frontier and but thinly populated. 
Daniel grew to maturity on the land of his 
father and on attaining his majority received 
eighty acres in section jo, which in due time 
he cleared and reduced to cultivation. Later 
he increased his real estate by the addition of 
twenty acres and with the exception of the two 
years immediately preceding his death he spent 
his life and acquired a competency on this 
place. He was a substantial citizen, bore no 
unimportant part in the material progress of the 
country and devoted his life exclusively to 
agricultural pursuits, in which his success was 
encouraging. Originally a Whig, he afterward 
became a stanch adherent of the Republican 
party and as such wielded a potent influence in 
the public aft'airs of his township and county, 
though ne\'er an oflice seeker. In early life he 
was a Lutheran, but in after years severed his 
connection with that communion and united 
with the United Brethren church, to which he 
remained faithful until called to the spiritual 
kingdom in the world beyond the river of 
death. 

Daniel Shaffer's first wife, by whom he had 
two children, was a Miss Snyder and some time 
after her death he married Miss Elizabeth 
Grace, who survived him several years. Mary, 
one of the children of the former union, is still 
living, being the widow of the late Jacob Har- 
per. The second marriage was blessed with 
thirteen offspring, of whom the following sur- 
vive: Adam, of this review; John, Elizabeth, 
Delilah. Eli, Amanda and Ellen. The father 
died in 1877, at the age of seventy-four, leav- 
ing to his children an honored name and the 
memory of a well-spent life. 

Reverting to the career of Adam Shaft'er, 
the reader will find but little in his early life to 
attract the searcher after the strange or dra- 



59« 



OLD LANDMARKS 



matic. He was reared in tlie country and wliile 
still a mere lad learned by practical experience 
that the farmer's bread must be earned by hon- 
est toil and strenuiius endeavt)r. \\'\\.\\ the 
limited aiKantages which the indifYerent pulilic 
schools of the early days afforded, he managed 
to acquire a fair knowledge of the fundamental 
branches, his attendance being confined to three 
or iowY months nf the winter seasons from 
about his se\enth year until a yi:)uth in his 
'teens. Reared under the wliDlesrime discipline 
of the farm, young .\dam's early physical de- 
velopment was all that could be desired, nor 
was he lacking in that sturdy mental growth 
which early prophesied the well-rounded, re- 
sourceful, self-reliant man which he ultimately 
became. He assisted his father with the varied 
work of the farm until reaching manhood's 
estate and in 1857. three years after attaining 
his majority, took to himself a wife in the per- 
son of Miss Catherine Unger, daughter of 
George and Catherine (Lower) Unger. 

After his marriage ^Ir. Shaffer purchased a 
farm of forty-three acres in section 10. Wash- 
ington township, and in\-ested the proceeds in 
the farm of eightv acres which he has since 
made his home. -\s an agriculturist it is need- 
less to speak of the subject e.xcept in a general 
way, a.s his life since beginning for himself has 
been quiet, unexentful and in the main success- 
ful. Tn early life he de\'oted considerable at- 
tention to threshing grain and it was while thus 
engaged that he introduced into this part of 
the county a motive power for separators. He 
ran a thresher for about twehe years and did 
(jnitc a successful business, his engine giving 
him a decided advantage over the older and 
slower process of o]:)crating machinery by horse 
power. 

Politically Mr. Shaffer has always been a 
stanch and unswcrxing Republican, though the 
honors and emoluments of office have never 
held any inducements fur him. He has ever 
maintained an .abiding interest in the onward 



march of progress and improvement, contribut- 
ing of his means and influence for the uphold- 
ing of the communitx" in material things, nor 
has he been less conser\ative when the moral 
and Social well being of his fellow men were 
concerned. Thrifty and pro\ident, he has 
reaj)ed ;ibundantlv from his toil and now, when 
the meridian of life has been passed and the 
afternoon comes on apace, he is blessed with 
abundant means for his declining years. 

I'ersonalh", Mr. Shaffer is helil in high es- 
teem and it is not too much to claim for him a 
pn)minent standing among the worthy and 
popidar citizens of the tcjwnshii) in which his 
life of nearlv three score and ten years has l)een 
spent. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Shaft'er h;is 
been blessed with three children, the oldest of 
whom is Elvira, wife of Syl\-anus Miller, of 
.\lliance. and they have one son. Lanson A. ; 
Celona. the second daughter, married .Anthony 
Shaffer, of Washington township, and lias 
one child, by the name of ]\Iable. who is now 
the wife of Clinton (irimes. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Crimes have been horn a son and a daughter. 
I'ldon Dwight and ."^tella Cay. whicii brings the 
subject's family down to the third generation. 
The youngest of Mr. Shaffer's children is May. 
now Mrs. I-"l(.)rian Aforris, who li\-es in the city 
of .\lliance. and they have two children. Helen 
and Hazel. 



.\LBERT WARREX CLOUD.— Al- 
though among the younger medical men in 
Canlon. the subject of this review has already 
attained no inconsiderable ])osition in his pro- 
fession and judging the future by the past it 
is eminently proper to predict for him a long 
and signally successful career. Dr. Cloud's 
])atcrnal ancestors were English people and 
the genealogical history in the United States 
dates hack as far as the year I77^>. The 
progenitors of the American hr;uich of the 



« 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



599 



family settled orig'inallv in A'irginia. hut as 
that coniiiidnwealth increased in population 
and dexelopment. various representatives mi- 
grated westward, eventually spreading over 
several of what are now the middle and 
western states. Daniel Cloud, the Doctor's 
grandfather, moved to Illinois in an early 
day. settling in DeWitt county, where he 
lived to a very old age, departing this life 
there in 188.:. in his ninety-third year. Among 
his sons was Alhert Daniel Cl(^ud. the Doctor's 
father, whose birth took place near Cincinnati, 
Ohio, about the year 1843. He was a farmer 
all his life, moved to DeWitt county. Illinois. 
with his parents when quite young and there 
married Miss Anna Hoffer. a native of 
Switzerland, whose father, John Hoffer, im- 
migrated to the United States when she was 
a miss of six years. About the year 1895 ^''^ 
Hoffer family moved to Iowa anfl settled in 
Sac City, Sac county, near which place Mr. 
Hoffer has since been engaged in: the breeding 
and raising of fine blooded horses and other 
kinds of high grade live stock. Alljert D. 
Cloud was a man of varied intelligence and 
good social standing, honorable and upright 
in his dealings and very liberal in his political 
and religious views. His wife, a lady of excel- 
lent character and sterling worth, was a de- 
voted member of the Disciple church and as 
such did much to promote the cause of religion 
in the community where she lived. Her chil- 
dren, eight in numl^er. were named as follows: 
Elizabeth, who married Thomas Wampler, of 
Clinton, Illinois: Edward, a resident of Sac 
City, Iowa ; John., head professor of physics in 
the Northern Indiana Normal University at 
Valparaiso; Nettie, now Mrs. John Hildreth, 
of Sac county. Iowa: Albert Warren, of this 
review: Hiram, Clarence and Theodore. 

Dr. Albert Cloud was born May 20. 1873, 
in DeWitt county. Illinois, and until eighteen 
years old lived with his parents, contributing 
his full share to the family support. At the 



proper age he became a pupil in the district 
schools and from the first manifested a taste 
for books and a desire for study which enabled 
him to keep pace with the boys and girls much 
older than himself, so that in due time, at the 
age of eighteen, he completed the branches con- 
stituting the curriculum. \Vhile still a mere 
lad he determined if jiossible to become a 
scholar and make his mark in the world, and 
with these laudable objects in view he began 
at an early age to formulate plans for his 
future course, of conduct. 

Animated b)- a desire, first of all, to lay a 
substantial, intellectual foundation." without 
which success is but a doubtful acquisition, 
Mr. Cloud, about 1891. entered the Northern 
Indiana University and during the ensuing 
three years applied himself with such dili- 
gence to his studies that by 1894 he was able 
to graduate with an enviable record for 
scholarship. Subsequently, in 1899. he com- 
pleted the scientific course, meanwhile devot- 
ing the greater part of five years to teaching- 
in the public schools of his native state, a field 
of endeavor in which he attained a high stand- 
ard of e.xcellence as a capable and painstaking 
instructor. Among the schcwls of which he 
had charge at dift'erent times were the Hull 
school in DeWitt count)-. Illinois, the Indiana 
Point hig-h school in the county of Menard. 
town of Petersburg, \\here he was principal 
for some time, and others, in all of which his 
work was of a high grade of excellence and 
eminently satisfacti >r\. 

Dr. Cloud entered the Still College of 
Osteopathy, at DesMoines. Iowa, in which he 
]iro,secuted his studies and researches until 
June, 1901. when he was graduated with a 
record for efticienc)- comparing favorably with 
that of the brightest members of his class. 
On the 8th day of July folhnving. he opened 
an ofiice in Canton and it was soon discovered 
that the thoroughness w ith which he appropri- 
ated medical knowledge while a student was 



6oo 



OLD LANDMARKS 



equalled l)y his aliility to apply it in the treat- 
ment of diseases. The cases submitted to his 
charge soon Ijecame numerous and he was 
not long in taking rank among the leading 
physicians and surgeons of the city, in addition 
to which his practice took a wide range in the 
countv of Stark. He keeps pace with the ad- 
vancement in all lines of his profession, but 
is not entirely controlled by the theories and 
influence of the others, being a logical reasoner 
and original investigator and relying largely 
upon his own judgment, which has been 
thor<jughly disciplined by severe intellectual 
and professional training. He has a retentive 
memory and his mental faculties are cast in 
a capacious mould. Actuated by laudable am- 
bition to excel, he spares no pains to enlarge 
the area of his professional knowledge, in 
which he is very materially assisted by the 
various medical societies with which he holds 
membership. Although but a limited period in 
the practice, he has steadily forged toward 
the front ranks of the city's successful healers 
and, with a determination to adhere closely 
to his chosen calling, there is every reason to 
belie\'e that eventually and at no distant day 
he will win a conspicuous place among the 
state's most enterprising and successful 
medical men. 



I'RANZ ADRIAN is of pure French ex- 
traction in the paternal line, but the family 
gained its lirst representative in Germany 
through a direct ancestor who accompanied the 
great Napoleon into the German empire and 
■there located. Michael Adrian, the father of 
the subject, was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, 
Germany, where he was reared and educated, 
entering the public service in the capacity of 
gendarme. At the time of the revolution of 
184S he joined the patriot forces and was cap- 
tured by the government troops and put to 
deatli; being shot .and thus forfeiting his life to 



the cause which he had espoused. His wife, . 
whose maiden name was Katrina -Martz, was a 
native of Hesse-Darmstadt, where she passed , 
lier entire life, having survived her husband by 
a number of years. This worthy couple became 
the parents of ten children, of whom only one ' 
is li\ing at the present time, while four of the 
numlier .emigrated to the United States, includ- 
ing him whose name introduces this article. 
His brothers Nicholas and Philip were active 
participants in the war of the Rebellion, in 
which thev rendered valiant service in defense 
of the Union, and both died in Pittsljurg. Penn- 
svlvania, as did also their sister Lena, who was 
the wife of a Mr. Kumpf. 

Franz Adrian was born in the city of Mann- 
heim, Germany, on the 21st of June, 1835, and 
was there reared and educated, attending the 
CN'cellent schools until he had attained the age 
of fourteen, in accordance with the laws of the 
country. He then began an apprenticeship at 
the trade of baker, but was not satisfied with 
this vocation and accordingly learned the trade 
of cigar-making, with which he has since con- 
tinued to be identified for the greater portion 
of the time. In accordance with governmental 
regulations he served for three years in the 
German army, and was proceeding to the front 
with his regiment in 1859, "^^ ^^^^ time of the 
Franco-Prussian war, but peace was declared 
while the command was enroute, and he then 
returned to his home. In his native city, on the 
6th of January, 1859, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Barbara Marqucy. who was born 
in the town of Roxheim, Rhenish Bavaria, in 
the year 1834, her father John Marquey, hav- 
ing been of pure French extraction, while her 
mother, whose maiden name was Catharine 
Graher. \\-as of German lineage. In 1862 Mr. 
A(h-ian. in companv with his wife and their 
one daughter, came to America, embarking at 
Bremen on a sailing- vessel and arriving in New 
York city after a voyage of twenty-eight days' 
dura(ion. In 1863 he located in the city of 



I 



id 




MR. AND MRS. FRANZ ADRIAN. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



60 1 



Pittslmrg, Petinsyhania, where he conducted a 
cigar manufacturing business until 1875, when 
he came to Canton and estaljhshed himself in 
the same hue of enterprise, near the passenger 
station of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chi- 
cago Railroad. Pie thence removed to Mahon- 
ing street, erecting the first building for busi- 
ness purposes on that now attractive thorough- 
fare, while the first pavement on the street was 
put in by him. In 1S86 ]\Ir. Adrian purchased 
a portion of a tract of eight acres frontage on 
East Lake street and lying contiguous to Nimi- 
shillen park, and here also he laid the first pave- 
ment. The front of this tract is now laid out 
in attractive lots and is well built up with busi- 
ness blocks and good residences. Here he has 
continued his cigar manufacturing, turning 
out a fine quality of goods and controlling a 
satisfactory trade in both the wholesale and re- 
tail departments. In politics Mr. Adrian is a 
stanch Republican, and he and his wife are at- 
tendants of the United Brethren church. They 
are the parents of two children, Katie, who is 
the widow of Adam Eisenhauer, and who re- 
sides in Canton, a memoir of her husband ap- 
pearing on other pages of this work, and Alex- 
ander, who is engaged as foreman in J. H. 
Ellers steel roofing plant in Canton. Mr. 
Adrian is a man of strong intellectuality, ex- 
cellent business capacity and utmost integrity, 
and he is well known and highly honored in the 
CfiiTimunitv in which he has so long made his 
home. 



JOHN G. A. RICHTER was born in the 
city of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, on the 30th 
of April, 1862, being a son of Nicholas Rich- 
ter, who was born in the town of Gersfeld, 
near the city of Nuremberg, in the province 
of Bavaria, Germany, the date of his nativity 
having been November 14, 1825, while the 
family has for many generations been one of 
prominence in that section of the empire. 



There he was reared and educated and there 
learned the trade of linen weaving, which he 
continued to follow until he had attained the 
age of twenty-six years, when, in 1851, he 
severed the ties which bound him to home and 
fatherland, and emigrated to the United States, 
where he felt better opportunities were 
afforded for the attaining of independence on 
the part of a young man dependent upon his 
own resources in fighting the battle of life. 
He landed in the city of New York, the vessel 
on which he took passage having made the 
trip in the shortest interval known in the an- 
nals of trans-Atlantic voyages at that time. 
From the national metropolis he made his way 
to the city of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, where 
he learned the trade of plastering, which he 
there continued to follow as a vocation until 
his death, which occurred in ' the year 1879. 
In that city, in the year 1857, he was united in 
marriage to Miss Catherine Reutzel, who was 
born in Plesse-Darmstadt, Germany, town of 
Kefenrod, on the 13th of May, 1834, and 
there her parents passed their entire lives, while * 
she came to the United States in 1855, being 
a young lady of about twenty-one years at 
the time. She was summoned into eternal rest 
on the 30th of July, 1877, both she and her 
husband having been devoted members of the 
Reformed church, in whose faith they reared 
their seven children, concerning whom we in- 
corporate the following brief record : Henry, 
who married Miss Emma Probst, died in Alle- 
gheny, Pennsylvania, in February, 1889; Kate 
died when a child of about one year of age; 
John G. A. subject of this sketch, was the 
next in order of birth; Kate (2d) died in 
infancy ; IVTary is the wife of George Keil, of 
Glenfield, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania; 
.Sophia is the wife of Walter Schofield, of Can- 
ton, Stark county, Ohio; and Nicholas died 
in infancy. 

John G. A. Richter remained in his native 
city of Allegheny until he had attained the 



602 



OLD LANDMARKS 



age of nineleen years, wliile lie pursued liis 
studies in the public schools until eleven years 
f>f age, from which time he has been largely 
(le]:)en(lent upon his own resources. At the 
age noted he secured employment in a glass 
factory, where he received in compensation for 
his services two dollars and twenty-five cents 
a week. At the age of fourteen he Ijegan 
working at the baker's trade, to which he de- 
voted his attention for two years, at the ex])i- 
ration of which he entered upon an apprentice- 
ship at the blacksmith's trade, serving the 
customary three years and becoming a skilled 
artisan in the line. For three years there- 
after he was employed at his trade in the 
Uuquesne Wagon Works, in his native city, 
and on the 2d of July. 1881. a day rendered 
memorable as that upon which President Gar- 
field fell a victim to the assassin's bullet, he 
arrived in the city of Canton, which has ever 
since been his hi^me. Here he secured employ- 
ment in tlie blacksmith shop of Elbel & Com- 
pany, where he remained until August, 1896. 
when his health became so impaired as to 
necessitate the abandonment of this arduous 
type of work, .\bout this time he was ap- 
pointed to the office of assistant state secretary 
of tlie Junior Order of United American Me- 
chanics, under John A. Bliss, who he succeeded 
as state secretary in Septeml)er. 1900. since 
whicli time he lias remained incumbent of the 
office, whose affairs he had administered with 
masterly ability and discrimination, gaining the 
unqualified endorsement of the meml>ers of the 
order in fjhio and 1)ecoming a prominent figure 
in the fraternity at large. Mr. Richter was the 
organizer of the first council of the order in 
the city of Canton, on the 14th of January, 
1888, the same l)eing known as Washington 
Council No. 12. and in 1891 he was elected 
state counselor of the order in Ohio, giving 
a very successful administration. In 1894, at 
the meeting of the national council, in Ashe- 



\ille, Xortli Carolina, Mr. Richter was elected 
national councilor, and upon his return io Can- 
ton the Incal members of the fraternity ten- 
dered bun a rece])tion and banquet at the 
Tabernacle, while he has ever l)een one of the 
most popular and honored representatives of 
this beneficent organization in the state, where 
he is well known in the circles of the order. 
He has been deeply interested in its work and 
has serx'ed on iniport;uit committees in the 
national body. Mr. Richter has also ad- 
vanced through the major portion of the de- 
grees of York-rite Masonry, being affiliated 
with William McKinley Lodge No. 431. Free 
and .Acce])ted Masons : Canton Chapter No. 84, 
Roval -Arch Masons; and Canton Council No. ; 
35. Royal and Select Masters, while he is also ; 
identified with Lillie Lcxlge No. 362. Knights :: 
of Pythias, and with Molly Pitcher Council f, 
No. 10. Daughters of America. 

In politics Mr. Richter gives an uncom]>ro- 
mising allegiance to the Republican party, and 
on its ticket he was candidate for mayor of 
Canton in 1897. but was defeated through nor- 
mal political exigencies, his opl>l^nent being 
James A. Rice, who was elected as his own 
successor. Fie and his wife are consistent and 
valued members of Trinity Reformed church, 
in whose work they take an active and help- ' 
ful interest. 

In the city of Canton, on the 2r)th of June, ' 
1895. Mr. Richter was united in marriage to 
Miss Ella R. Weaver, who was Ixirn in this 
city, being a daughter of Lewis and Ellen 
(Keim) Weaver, the former of whom is now 
deceased, his widow still retaining her home in' 
Canton. Mr. and Mrs. Richter have had four 
children, namely : Henry Clay : .\nthony 
Wayne (who died in infancy), Grace Aleda^. 
and Nathan Hale. ' Since Januar)-, 1895, Mr. 
Richter has resided at 415 Feather street and 
the pleasant family home is a center of 
gracious hos])itality. 



\ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



603 



JOSEPH A. \^OLZER is a native of Can- 
ton, which has been his home throngliout hfe, 
while he is a son of Emanuel G. and Balbena 
( Schmidt ) Volzer, the former of whom is the 
subject of a special memoir appearing else- 
where in this volume, while the latter still con- 
ducts the business established by her honored 
husband, both having- ever commanded the un- 
ciualified esteem of the community. Josepii A. 
Volzer, will I conducts a successful grocery busi- 
ness at 151 1 South Market street and who is 
the owner of other valuable properties in the 
city, was born in the old famih' homestead at 
78 Hensel street. Canton, on the 25th of July, 
1870. He attended the parochial school of 
St. Peter's church until he had attained the age 
of fourteen years, when he became a student in 
the Canton Business Colleg^e, where he com- 
pleted a thorough commercial course and was 
graduated as a member of the class of 1887. 
He then became a clerk in his father's grocery 
store, on Charles street, continuing to be thus 
identified with the same until 1894 ^"'1 having 
gained an excellent knowledge of the business 
in all its details. In the year mentioned he took 
a lease of his present place of business, his 
record having been such that he commanded 
good credit, though his financial resources were 
very limited. In Noveml^er of the }e:ir men- 
tioned he leased the store for one year, the same 
having remained closed for two months prior 
to that time, so that he faced the problem of 
practically building up a new business. In 1895 
there came to him the opportunity to purchase 
the property, and he availed himself of the 
same and here he has built up a large and rep- 
resentative business in the line, having made 
many improvements on his store, augmenting 
its facilities and adding the finest lines of staple 
and fancy groceries, table delicacies, etc., and 
catering to a discriminating and appreciative 
patronage. 

From his earlv vdutli Mr. \'(ilzer has taken 



a deep interest in the Catholic church, of which 
he became a communicant at the age of twelve 
years, and he was prominently interested and 
concerned in the promotion of the building of 
S*^. ^Mary's church, having served on the parish 
building committee and as a member of the 
church council. He was secretary to Father 
Clement C. Treiber. now in charge of St. Jo- 
seph's church, in this city, and is acting in the 
same capacity for Father G. C. Schoenemann, 
who is installed as priest in charge of St. 
Mary's. 

In politics Mr. Volzer is a stanch advocate 
of the principles and policies of the Republican 
party, and he is progressive and public-spirited 
in his attitude and is esteemed in local business 
circles. He served for one year as vice-presi- 
dent of the Grocers' Association of Canton, and 
his energy and application and correct business- 
methods having gained to him the esteem and 
confidence of the business circles of the cit\\ 
He began his individual operations with but 
little capitalistic reinforcement, and his courage 
and self-reliance were early sliuwii in his effect- 
ing the purchase of his store and residence prop- 
erty, the house being in the rear of the store,, 
and by good management he cleared himself 
from all indebtedness on this property within 
two years after its purchase. Since that time 
he has purchased numerous other pieces of real 
estate, and his inxestments have shown excel- 
lent judgment. He is the owner of a building" 
utilized for business purposes on Garfield a\e- 
nue, of several residence properties on South 
Market street, two on South Cleveland avenue 
and one on Stark avenue. 

On the _>4tli of November, 1892. Mr. Vol- 
zer was united in marriage to Miss Clara S. 
Lung, of Massillon, her father, Andrew Lung, 
being a retired farmer of that city, where he 
died when ninety years of age, while his wife, 
whose maiden name was Catherine France, 
passed away at the age of sixty-five years. Mr. 



'6o4 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and Mrs. Volzer have an interesting family of 
five children, J. Melville, Esther M., Donald 
J-L, Eugene and Elmer. 



GEORGE L. SICKAFOOSE.— The name 
Sickafoose is of German origin and it was from 
the fatherland that the remote ancestors of the 
subject came in an early day and settled in 
Pennsylvania. George Sickafoose, grandfa- 
ther of George L., was born and reared in 
Westmoreland county, that state, and in about 
the year 1812, with his wife and older children, 
moved to Stark county, Ohio, entering a quar- 
ter section of land in what is now Sandy town- 
ship. His wife before her marriage was a Miss 
Wagner; she was well fitted for pioneer life, 
ftdl of determination and as skillful in handling 
the old fashioned flint-lock rifle as were her 
husband and .sons. She was a sure shot, and in 
the early days when game was plentiful many 
wild animals and birds fell before her trusty 
aim. George Sickafoose entered the service of 
his country at the breaking out of the war of 
1812 and took part in the campaign against 
the British and Indians on the Maumee river, 
in which, with other expeditions, he signalized 
himself by many acts of bra^■ery and daring. 
When he came to Stark county the country was 
a wilderness and his experiences were similar 
to those encountered by all early settlers on the 
frontier. A rude round-log cabin of diminutive 
size afforded his family a place of shelter for 
several years, but later a comfortable hewed- 
log dwelling was erected in its stead. The latter 
house was subsequently weatherboarded and 
within its walls Mr. Sickafoose spent the re- 
mainder of his days, dying, some time in the 
'fifties, his widow surviving him several years. 
George Sickafoose reared a family of ten chil- 
dren, the oldest of whom was Christina, who 
married George Howenstein and departed this 
life some years ago in Pike township. Samuel, 
the second in order of birth, was reared to man- 



hood in Stark county, married a Miss Pool! and 
died in Whitley county. Indiana. George was 
for many years a well-known resident of Stark, 
but later moved to Freeport, Illinois, where his 
death afterwards occurred. He was twice mar- 
ried, the first time to a Miss Voglesong and 
subsequently, in Illinois, to Miss Jones, who 
bore him five children. Physically George 
Sickafoose was a man of heroic mould, a giant 
in stature and strength, in both of which re- 
spects he exceeded any other man of his day in 
the county of Stark. He excelled in all athletic 
feats and, although of a mild and peaceable 
disposition, no one cared to incur his anger. 
On one occasion he was attacked by a couple of 
bullies of whom the neighborhood stood in fear, 
but, seizing one with each hand, he brought 
their heads together \\ ith such terrific force as 
to render them insensible before they had time 
fully to realize what had happened. He fol- 
lowed mechanical pursuits in Canton previous 
to his removal to Illinois and is remembered as 
a skillful workman and a most worthy citizen. 
Michael, the fourth of the family, moved to 
Whitley county many years ago and died there 
in 1894. John, the father of the subject, was 
the next in order of succession, and after him 
came Andrew, who married a Miss McDaniel 
and departed this life in the state of Indiana. 
Benjamin, a farmer of Stark county, married 
Eavina Reed and finished his earthly course 
on the old family homestead in Sandy town- 
ship. Isaac, also an agriculturist, married 
Mary A. Reed and died on his farm in the 
township of Pike. Mary Ann, wife of Barton 
Blythe, spent all of her life in the county of 
Stark, dying in Waynesburg. Margaret, the 
youngest of the family, married James Roliert- 
son, her son being the present mayor of Can- 
ton. 

John Sickafoose. father of George L., was 
born on the home place January 10, 1819. He 
was reared to agricultural pursuits, obtained a 
linu'ted knowledge of the elementary branches 



" jS 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



605: 



of learning in the subscription schools and 
when a young man developed great efficiency 
as a mechanic, having been equally skilled as a 
carpenter, blacksmith and cabinetmaker. In 
1849 he was united in marriage with Miss 
Nancy Kimmel, daughter of David and Susan 
(VVelker) Kimmel, both parents natives of 
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. David 
Kimmel and his brother-in-law, Henry Welker, 
were among the pioneer settlers of Stark coun- 
ty, they locating in the township of Sandy 
about the same time tlie Sickafoose family 
moved to this part of the state. Mrs. Nancy 
Sickafoose was born in Sandy township in the 
year 1823 and up to her marriage knew no 
other place of residence. During the four 
years following his marriage John Sicka- 
foose lived in Seneca county, this state, but at 
the expiration of that time returned to Stark to 
take charge of his father-in-law's farm, which 
he subsequently purchased. He spent the re- 
mainder of his life on the old Kimmel home- 
stead, dying in 1895, his wife following him to 
the grave four years later. Seven children 
were born to John and Nancy Sickafoose, 
namely: Christopher C, a resident of Pike 
township; Isaac N., also a resident of Pike; 
Josephine, wife of Renne Hert, of Canton 
township; Charlotte, the wife of John Howen- 
stein, of this county; Lydia, now Mrs. Isaac 
Caspar, lives in the city of Canton; Julius C, 
a farmer plying his vocation in Sandy town- 
ship, and George L., whose name introduces 
this sketch. 

George I.. Sickafoose was born on the old 
Kimmel farmstead, Sandy township. Stark 
county, February 17, 1863. He acquired his 
preliminary education in the common schools, 
which he attended at intervals until his twen- 
tieth year and then entered the normal school 
at Sparta where he obtained a knowledge of 
the higher branches of learning. Later he 
taught and attended school alternately for sev- 
eral years, meantime becoming a student of the 



normal university at Ada, in which institution 
he made rapid progress in his literary studies, 
being especially proficient in mathematics. 
Later he completed a course of civil engineer- 
ing in that school and in 1891 entered upon the 
practical duties of his profession and with little 
exception has followed the same with success 
and financial profit ever since. Mr. Sickafoose 
served as deputy under J. S. Hoover, county 
surveyor, and at the expiration of Mr. Hoover's 
term in 1901, was elected to the office on the 
Republican ticket, entering upon the discharge 
of his duties in September of the following 
year. Since becoming county surveyor he has 
made his home in Canton, but for several years 
prior to that time he lived in the city during the 
summer seasons, spending the winters at home 
while engaged in school work. 

Mr. Sickafoose is a very competent civil 
engineer and has been intrusted with a great 
deal of important work in the line of his pro- 
fession outside of his duties as official surveyor 
of the county. His aim has always been to 
excel in whatever he undertakes, and his record, 
officially and otherwise, shows that he has suc- 
ceeded in this laudable ambition as his labors 
have been eminently satisfactory to all con- 
cerned and highly creditable to himself. Pub- 
lic spirited and progressive, he has taken a very 
active interest in the prosperity of his county 
and today occupies no small place in the public 
gaze. Ever since attaining his majority he has 
acted in harmony with the Republican party 
and at this time he is recognized as one of its 
strong local supporters, devoting much of his 
time in disseminating the political principles 
which have done so much to foster the nation's 
industrial growth and make permanent its free 
institutions. He has also been a potential fac- 
tor in the city's social life, being popular with 
the people irrespective of political creed and as 
a neighbor and citizen, no one is held in higher 
personal esteem. On the 6th day of June, 1900, 
Miss Myrtle Sponhauser, daughter of Joseph 



^o6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Sponhauser, of Pike township, this county, be- 
came the wife of Mr. Sickafoose, and tlieir 
marriage has been blessed with one ciiiid, a 
son by tlie name of George Russell. Frater- 
nally Mr. Sickafoose holds membership with 
the Order of United American Mechanics, and 
religiously belongs to the First Methodist Epis- 
co])al church of Canton, with which body iiis 
Avife is also identified. 



]\IOSES A. BACHTEL.— The specific 
and distincti\e province of this publication is 
to enter record concerning tlK)se who have 
been the founders and builders of Stark 
county, and in the connection it becomes im- 
perative that more than casual mention be 
made of the sterling family of which Moses 
A. Bachtel was a worthy representative. He 
attained the venerable age of more than four 
score years, and was one of the honored pio- 
neers of Stark county, of which he was a 
native son. With great care and discrimina- 
tion Mr. Bachtel compiled, in i8g8, a gene- 
alogical record of his family, and. with slight 
metaphrase and occasional omission of data 
not specifically germane to this work, we shall 
reproduce his able epitome of the family his- 
tory in this volume, believing that the record 
will be under such conditions the more highly 
appreciated by present generations of the fam- 
i!\- and also by those who later come forward 
onto the stage of life. 

-My grandfather, John Jacob Bachtel, was born 
M;ircli 6, 1750, and his wife, Catharine (Letch) Bach- 
te], was horn .\prii 15, 175S, while their marriage wa< 
solemnized on the T6th of March, 177,3. As nearly as 
can be ascertained, they lived for some time in Wash- 
ington county, Maryland, and from that locality they 
are supposed to have removed to either Bedford or 
Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, where they must 
have lived for a long term of years, since a period of 
forty years intervened between the time of their mar- 
riage and their emigration to Ohio, in 181,3, their young- 
est son having been fifteen years of age at the time 
of this removal. ]n the spring of 181J John J. and 
■Catharine Bachtel, with their son John and his family. 



their .>Min> iJanicl, 'llicpin.-is and David, and their daugh- 
ter Anna Alary, all single, came from Pennsylvania to 
Stark county, Ohio, and here Grandfather Bachtel pur- 
chased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Pike 
township, one and one-half miles south of the north 
line of the township. His son John purchased one hun- 
dred and sixty acres adjoining the south line of tlie 
liame tovvnsliip and a short distance northwest of the 
present town of Sandy^'ille, and there he passed the bal- 
ance of his life. Grandfather Bachtel and his three 
unmarried sons began the work of literally hewing out 
a farm in the midst of the virgin forest, their first work 
being to make a clearing and to there erect their prim- 
itive log cabin home. After this came the task of grap- 
pling with the forest and making it give place to culti- 
vated fields. Those of the present generation can have 
but slight comprehension of the labor thus involved or 
the deprivations and disadvantages to be contended 
with by these sturdy pioneers who constituted the ad- 
vance guard of civilization in the middle we.st. In ad- 
dition to clearing the land there was the even more 
weighty responsibility of providing clothing for the 
family, for, be it rememl)ered, all apparel had to be 
manufactured by hand. It was necessary to raise the 
flax and then go through the various manceuvers requis- 
ite to make it ready for spinning, weaving, bleaching, 
etc., before it was in shape to be made into the honest 
homespun garments, and the noble and self-abnegating 
pioneer women had the greater portion of this work to 
do, in addition to the other and manifold duties de- 
volving upon them, while it can not be doubted that 
such constant occupation did much to render the soli- 
tary and monotonous life in the wilderness more en- 
durable. Our modern women would faint in the at- 
tempt of such responsibilities. Then turn to the manu- 
facturing of woolen goods. The first requisite was to 
secure ;i few sheep, and to keep the same was no easy 
task in the new country, infested with wolves and other 
wild animalsx having a distinct fondness for good mut- 
ton. Then followed the operations of shearing, picking 
the wool, sending it to the carding machine, then spin- 
ning, weaving, fulling and making it into clothing — all 
being done by hand. The reader may well stop to 
think that at that period in the history of this section 
one could not buy a ready-made shoe, hat or any article 
of apparel, all such articles being made to order, while 
the person was compelled to supply his own material. 
John Jacob Bachtel lived less than two years after 
he came to Ohio, and he was buried in the old ceme- 
tery between Tenth and South streets, west of McKin- 
ley avenue, in what is now the city of Canton. He was 
between sixty-five and sixty-six years of age. It is 
supposed he was a member of the Lutheran church. 
He was certainly a very industrious, hard-working 
man, having to provide for a family of thirteen chil- 
dren in the time and under the conditions in which he 
lived, .\fter the death of the grandfather my father. 



' 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



607 



Daniel Kachtcl, bouglit (Uit the interests of the other 
heirs in the old farm and my grandmother lived in the 
same yard, but in her own house, with her daughter 
Mary, and here she remained until the first part of 
April. 1.S36. Concerning her later life further data will 
lie entered hereafter. Of the children of John Jacoi) 
and Catherine ( Lecht", Hachtel a summarized record is 
entered as follov s : 

The eldest son, John, was horn February 10. T774, 
and his wife, nee .Mary Swank, was born March 26, 
177Q. They were married in 1799 and came to Stark 
county in the spring of iSr.?, as has been already noted. 
Their ciiildren were as follows : Catherine, who mar- 
ried a Mr. Fetters and became the mother of three chil- 
dren : Magdalene, who married a Mr. Heminger and 
died in the West, having had several children; Jacob, 
who died in Stark county, in the prime of life; John, 
who died at the age of live years ; Mary, who married 
.Samuel Rurnhimer, and they had a number of children ; 
they died in Indiana ; Barbara married when of mature 
age and passed the remainder of her life in Stark 
county; Thomas, who married Sarah Shoe, lived on 
the old bomeste.-'.d for more than fifty years, and died 
there, being the last of the original family circle, he and 
his wife having had live children ; Sarah married Wil- 
liam Swaiicy and both are now deceased, being sur- 
vived by two .sons and two daughters. 

George Bachtcl, the second son of John Jacob and 
Catharine Bachtel. was born October 14, 1775, was a 
weaver by trade and followed this as a vocation until 
comins to Ohio. He married Catharine Pringle and 
their children were as follows : Mary, who became the 
wife of William Swifl. and died a few years later; 
Catharine, who married John Paulis, a blacksmith, re- 
moved with him linally to Gnshen, Indiana, where liotb 
died, having reared several children; Elizabeth married 
Matthias .Shcpler and they had three children ; Susan 
married a Mr. Burton and died a year later; P.arbara 
became the second wife of her brother-in-law, William 
Swift, and they had several children ; Jane became the 
wife of J;imes Cams and is now living with a daugh- 
ter; Magdalene married Zachariah Hayden and became 
the mother of three children ; .Sarah married William 
Saint and died n few years ago, leaving three children; 
.Anna married Seth Brant and died shortly afterward ; 
and !~)aniel. the only son. died in Canton, where his 
widow sti'l lives. Geortre Bachtel came to Stark county 
about 181S and settled in Pike township, wdiere he and 
Iiis wife passeil the remainder iif their lives. 

.M,i"d;ilepe. d,-ui'jliter nf John Jacub and Catharine 
Bai-htel. was born Oeceniber .1. 1777. and became the 
wife of Jacnb Mora, with whom she came from Peiui- 
sylvania to Stark county in an early day, the family 
settling in Pike township. This worthy couple became 
the parents of three sons and three daughters, and Airs. 
Flora died in 18^7 at the age of fifty-nine years. 

Jacob Bachtel, the next son of John Jacob, was born 



October <). 1779. and married Mary .Magdalene Beard, 
and they continued to reside in Washington county, 
Maryland, until their death, having reared a fine family 
of children. Jacob was eighty-one years of age when 
he died. 

Martin ISachtel, the next in order of birth, was born 
Octolier 26. 178,;. and married a Miss Springer, while 
a large family of children were born to them, the home 
being in Washington co\nity, Maryland. Three of the 
sons became clergymen of the Lutheran church, of 
wdiich the entire family are said to have been devoted 
members. Martin and his wife died many years ago, 
li;i\ing been wtirthy representatives of this numerous 
and honored family. 

['arbara Bachtel was born October 5. 1786. and be- 
came the wife of John Brothers, and they came to 
Stark county, Ohio, in 1815, settling on a small farm 
near .Sparta, where they reared their three sons and 
three daughters. Mr. Brothers later purchased another 
farm, adjoining Sparta on the southwest, and there his 
death occurred in 1848, while his widow died in Sparta 
July 30, • 1867. at the venerable age of eighty-seven 
years. 

Frederick Bachtel was born March 2T. 17SQ, and mar- 
ried Elizabeth Warehani, with whom he came to Stark 
county from Pennsylvania in 1815, and here Mr. Bach- 
tel cleared and improved a good farm, passing away 
in 184.0 at the age of fifty-one years, while his wife 
died in Kosciusko county, Indiana, in 1871 at the age 
of seventy nine years. They had eleven children. 

-\nna IVIary Bachtel was torn November 5. 7791, 
:ind accompanied her parents on their remo\al to Stark 
i-ounty in t8T.3. Tn 1833 she married Daniel Failor, and 
they lived thereafter on a small farm in Pike township, 
wh.ere Mrs. Failor died in 1872 at the age of eighty-one 
years, while her husband died in 1879. 

Daniel Bachtel, father of the subject of this sketch, 
^vas the n.^xt in order of birth of the children of John 
Jacob and Catharine Bachtel. and of him more de- 
tailed mention will be made later on in this article. 

Thomas Bachtel, the next son, was born on the t7th 
of February. 170'j, and accompanied his parents on their 
removal to Stark county He learned the trade of car- 
penter and continued to follow the same as a vocation 
during the period of his residence in this county. He 
married Polly Banker, of Canton, and they became the 
parents of one daughter. He and his wife finally sepa- 
rated and all trace of both has been lost by the rela- 
tives in Stark county. 

David Bachtel was born June 13. 1798. and came with 
his parents to Stark county. In 1823 he married Polly 
Failor. and he thereafter carried on a small farm, which 
he reclaimed, while he also transacted a profitable busi- 
ness as a cooper, particularly after the completion of 
the Ohio canal. He died in this county in 183S at the 
age of forty years, while his wife thereafter kept the 
family together and educated her children, her death ' 



6o8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



occurring in 1870, at which time she was sixty-seven 
years of age. Of their three sons two are living at the 
present time, while there are quite a number of their 
descendants in the state of Kansas. 

Having here given a brief account of the 
famil)' genealogy, we turn more particularly 
to a consideration of the personal career of the 
subject and to a record concerning his honored 
parents and their children. In giving an esti- 
mate of the life and labors of his parents we 
shall again draw upon the article prepared by 
Mr. Bachtel himself, believing this to be the 
most satisfactory course to pursue, even 
though there be an elimination of some words 
of commendation and appreciation. 

Daniel Bachtel, son of John Jacob and Catharine 
CLetch") Bachtel, was born on the 28th of Augiist, 1793, 
either in Maryland or Pennsylvania. He came with 
his parents to Ohio in the spring of 1813 and settled 
in Pike township. Here he was associated with his 
father and two brothers in erecting the little log cai)> ■ 
home in the midst of the forest wilds. Grandfather 
Bachtel died within less than two years after they 
came to Stark county, and this left the family's affairs 
in rather unfavorable condition. Daniel was compelled 
to purchase the farm and provide for the maintenance 
of his mother and sister. These circumstances induced 
him to seek a partner, so that on the l6th of May, 1816, 
he was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Sherman, 
who was born in Greencastle, Franklin county, Penn- 
sylvania, on the 27th of September, 1798, and who came 
with her parents to Stark county about the same time 
as did the Bachtel family, Mr. and Mrs. Bachtel began 
housekeeping on the old homestead where the former 
first settled on coming to the county, and here all save 
one of their ten children were born. They continued 
to reside on this farm for a period of twenty years — 
until April, 1S36— when they removed to Green town- 
ship, then one in the northern tier of townships in this 
county, and later taken into Summit county. Here they 
continued to reside until the spring of 1842, their 
youngest child, Susan A., having been there born, on 
the gth of November, 1839- Subsequently to 1842 the 
family removed from place to place until November, 
1.S54. when Daniel Bachtel. with other members of the 
family, went to Hunting-ton county, Indiana, and set- 
tled two miles west of the village of Roanoke, and there 
they passed the remainder of their lives. Daniel Bach- 
tel there died on the ist of April, i860, at the age of 
sixty-six years, seven months and three days, and his 
remains were laid to rest in the Wesley Chapel ceme- 
tery. His widow survived until May 30, 1877, and her 
remains rest beside those nf her husband, her age at 



the time of death having been seventy-three years. If 
ever there were two persons whose lives were tilled 
with ceaseless toil and endeavor, they were such two. 
The father cleared up a farm and did a large amount 
of teaming to Pittsburg and Cleveland, while he also 
did his full share of log rolling, raising log houses and 
barns, mowing hay witli a sc)the and reaping grain with 
a sickle. Tily motlier was an extraordinary woman for 
the opportunities which came to her portion. There 
was nothing save hard labor before her from the time 
I first remember her until she could labor no more, and 
upon her shoulders fell the responsibility of preparing 
clothing for her ten children and also caring for them 
in the manifold other ways which only \ true and noble 
mother knows. She was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church and died secure and happy in that 
abiding faith which ever makes for faithfulness. I 
might say much more about her labors, but the j-oung 
would doubt whether any woman could endure so 
much. She took my sister's son at eighteen months of 
age and reared him to the age of twenty-two. He en- 
listed as a soldier in the Civil war and shortly after 
entering the service was severely wounded and was sent 
back to Madison, Indiana, where he died, with no friend 
or loved one by his side to soothe him in his last mo- 
ments. He was one of the heroes whose lives were 
sacrificed on the altar of their country. 

Samuel S. Bachtel, the eldest son of Daniel and 
Mary A. Bachtel, was born April 27, 1817, in Pike 
township, this county, and here he lived with his par- 
ents until .\pril I, T836, when he accompanied the oth- 
ers of the family on their removal to Green township, 
and thereafter was with his parents on their various re- 
movals. When about twenty-two years of age he be- 
came afHicted with epileptic attacks, from which he 
failed to secure relief, though he had medical attention 
for many years, and he was finally compelled to abandon 
the work of his trade, that of carpenter. He was a 
natural genius in mechanical work, and save for his 
malady would have proved most successful in life. His 
mind finally became affected and he was thereafter un- 
able to do any work, his death occurring in Huntingtoii 
county, Indiana, on the 17th of August, 1S56, when he 
was thirty-nine years of age. being a mental and physi- 
cal wreck. He is buried in the same cemetery as were 
his parents. 

Martha Bachtel, the second child, was born on the 
old homestead in Pike township on the 17th of April, 
t8to. and' she remained at the parental home untM 
November. 1839, when she was united in marriage to 
Samuel Failor, with whom she took up her residence 
on the old Failor homestead, in the same township. 
They became the parents of two sons— Harrison and 
Charles. Her life was one of toil and self-abnegation, 
and she finally found rest from her labors, her deatk 
occurring February 28, 184S, at the age of twenty-five 
vears. Her son Harrison, who was about four years 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



609 



of age at the time of her death, was taken hito the 
home of his uncle, Daniel Failor, by whom he was 
reared and whose property he eventually inherited. He 
married Melissa Hiple, and they became the parents of 
two sons and two daughters. Harrison was later mar- 
ried a second time and is now died. The younger son, 
Charles Failor, was taken into the home of his ma- 
ternal grandmother, Mrs. Mary A. Bachtel, as before 
noted, and he died as the result of wounds received in 
the war of the Rebellion. 

Moses A. Bachtel, subject of this review, was the 
next child born to Daniel and Mary A. Bachtel, and 
an individual review of his career will be given in 
appending paragraphs. 

Aaron Bachtel, third sen of Daniel and Mary A. 
Bachtel, was born in Pike township February 21, 1834, 
and he remained at home until about twenty years of 
age. As a young man he married Miss Catharine Loop, 
and they became the parents of four sons and four 
daughters. Henrj', Hiram and William are deceased, 
and John resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Anna Mary 
is deceased and the other three daughters are residents 
of Indiana. Aaron Bachtel was a carpenter by trade 
and was a sincere and hard-working man. He removed 
with his family to Huntington county, Indiana, in 1852. 
and thence went forth as a soldier in the Union army, 
coming back with broken health and he died May 31. 
187,3, at the age of forty-nine years, his wife surviving 
him by about two years. Both were zealous member? 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

John Henry Bachtel was born November 25, 1S30, in 
Pike township, and he accompanied his parents on 
their removal to Huntington county, Indiana, where he 
remained until the summer of 1856, when he returned 
to his native county and entered the employ of C. Ault- 
man & Company, of Canton. In 1861 he was married 
to Miss Elisabeth B. Welch. Their eldest son is now 
cashier of the Canton State Bank and is individually 
mentioned on another page of this work. His sister, 
Helen, is a stenographic teacher in the public schools 
of Canton. Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Bachtel still reside in this 
city. 

Jacob A. Bachtel was horn in Pike township Janu- 
ary 28. 1826, was afflicted with great bodily infirmities 
throughout his life, and he was released from his suf- 
ferings on the 25th of June, 18.-14, being eighteen years 
of age at the time of his death. 

Catherine Bachtel was born July 29, 1828, in Pike 
township and she remained at the parental home until 
her marriage to David Secrist, to whom she bore two 
sons and two daughters. David Secrist died in 1S57 
and his widow subsequently became the wife of John 
Kuhn, but she is now dead. 

Mary A. Bachtel was born September 18, 1S33. in 

Pike township and in 1851 she married Isaac Miller, 

the issue of this uninn being ten children. Mr. Miller 

died in 18S6 and his wife passed away on the 28th of 

38 



June, 1S90. Their home was in Wells county, Indiana. 

Emmanuel Bachtel, the youngest son of Daniel and 
Mary A Bachtel, was born in Pike township February 
14, 1836, and he died in Huntington county, Indiana, 
at the parental home on the 4th of April, 1857, at the 
untimely age of twenty-one years. 

Susan A. Bachtel, the youngest daughter, was born 
in Green township. Summit county, Ohio, November 9, 
183S, and in 1859 she became the wife of Alfred. P- 
Koontz. They have long resided in Roanoke, Hunting- 
ton county, Indiana, where Mr. Koontz is now engaged 
in the furniture and undertaking business. They be- 
came the parents of five children, all of whom are living 
except one. 

At this juncture we direct attention to the 
personal career of Moses A. Bachtel, the hon- 
ored and venerable pioneer citizen of Canton 
whose name initiates this article. He was bom 
on the old homestead farm, in Pike township, 
this county, on the 14th of June, 1821, and 
owing to the exigencies of time and place his 
early education privileges were necessarily lim- 
ited. He attended the little log cabin school' 
in a somewhat irregular way during the short 
winter terms, his services being required even 
during the winter seasons in threshing wheat 
by the use of horses, which tramped out the 
grain on the barn floor. On the first day of 
April, 1836, when he was about fifteen years- 
of age, the family removed to Green township;, 
in what is now Summit county, and he worked 
on the farm until he had attained the age of 
nineteen years, and during the summers of 
1840-41 he was employed at die carpenter 
trade by Peter Buchtel, of Green township, 
while in the autumn of 1841 he took the con- 
tract to build a house in the village of Green- 
town. On the 29th of March, 1842, Mr. Bach- 
tel left the parental home and went to Green- 
town, where he secured employment in the 
shop of W. M. Ball & Company, at a stipend 
of thirteen dollars a month. He eventually 
did all kinds of work, from moulding plow- 
points up to turnirig, fitting and drilling the 
various portions of the primitive reaping ma- 
chines manufactured, while he also acted as 



6io 



OLD LANDMARKS 



fireman and engineer. He continued to work 
for this firm and its successors, at intervals, 
until the spring of 1846, when he purchased 
Daniel Smith's interest in a wagon shop and 
two lots and a house in Greentown. In 1849 
-he hired out to Michael Wise to work in his 
machine shop and manage his interests, re- 
ceiving one dollar a day in compensation for 
his diversified services. He in the meanwhile 
sold his interest in the wagon shop to his 
partner, Henry Funk, and he continued in the 
employ of the firm of Wise & Ball, in Green- 
town, until November, 185 1, when the busi- 
ness headquarters were transferred to the town 
of Canton, where Messrs. Ball and Aultman 
became associated in the erection and equip- 
ping of the Buckeye plant, for the manufact- 
uring of agricultural implements and ma- 
chinery on a wider scale. He continued in the 
employ of the company until November, 1854, 
wlien he removed with his family to Hunting- 
ton county, Indiana, and settled on a farm 
near Roanoke, where he remained until Feb- 
ruary, 1856, when he returned to Canton and 
resumed work for Ball, Aultman & Company, 
and with this concern he continued to be en- 
gaged as an able and trusted employe until 
its business had grown to be one of magnifi- 
cent scojie and importance, severing his con- 
nection with the company, which had been 
reorganized from time to time, until the year 
1884. In .\pril of that year he traded 
l^roperty in Canton for a farm of sixty-four 
acres in Cuyahoga county, where he and his 
familv resided twenty-eight months. Mr. 
Bachtel thereafter lived for a time in Akron 
and West Richfield, Ohio, and then in 1893. 
he returned to Canton and ]nuTliased the at- 
tractive home at 304 Blaine avenue, where he 
lived practically retired until his death. May 
14, FO03, having through his indefatigable 
"and well-directed efforts acquired a com- 
petency for the golden evening of his life. 
Mr. Bachtel was before his death the oldest 



li\ing employe of the Aultman Company, 
having been for more than forty years re- 
tained in the capacity of pattern-maker. He 
returned to Canton in 1893. having been 
absent from the place for about a decade, and 
wishing to pass the declining years of his life 
in his native county, and in the city where he 
had so long lived and labored and where his 
friends were in number as his acquaintances. 

In politics Mr. Bachtel was originally a 
Whig, but gave an unqualified allegiance to 
the Republican party from the time of its 
organization, ever maintaining' a lively interest 
in the questions and issues of the hour. Mr. 
Bachtel was a zealous and devoted member of 
the Methodist Episcopal cliurch f(_ir more than 
sixty years, and held various ofiicial positions 
in the same, having been thus honored until the 
infirmities of advancing age rendered it ex- 
pedient for hnn to • relegate these duties to 
younger men. He was at the time of his death 
a revered patriarch of the Simpson Methodist 
Episcopal church in his liome city. 

On the 7th of October, 1847, Mr. Bachtel 
was united in marriage to Miss Lydia M. 
Welch, of Marlboro to\\aiship, this county, 
where she was born on the 9th of January, 
1826, being a daughter of Samuel and Mar- 
guerite Welch, one of the first settlers in that 
section. Of this union were born six children, 
concerning whom Ave enter the following brief 
record: Malissa Jane, who was born August 
30, 1848, died on the 2d of April, 1851. Oli- 
ver S., who was born Octol)er 18, 1849, is a 
prominent clergyman of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church and is now serving his twelfth 
successive year as presiding elder of the Man- 
chester district in the state of New Hampshire. 
Lewis M. is engaged in the lumber business in 
Canton. Fie was bom Fel:)ruary 5. 1851. 
.\lonzo C. was torn May 5. 1855, and is now 
a wholesale merchant in Akron, Ohio. Charles- 
H. was born April 12. 1857, and he died in 
Greenville, Pennsvlvania, on the 28th of De- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



6ii 



cember, 1894. Orlando H. was born Novem- 
ber 9, 1858, and resides in Canton,, being en- 
gaged in the lumber business. The devoted 
wife and mother was summoned into eternal 
rest on the 6th of March. 1861, having been a 
most faithful member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, and her remains rest in West- 
lawn cemetery, this having been the first inter- 
ment of a mature person in that now beautiful 
"God's acre." On the ist of April, 1862, Mr. 
Bachtel was united m marriage to Miss Mary 
Ann Nelson, who was born in Plain town- 
ship, being a daughter of George and Bar- 
bara (Plarry) Nelson, honored pioneers of 
Stark county, whither Mr. Nelson came from 
a point on the line between Pennsylvania and 
Maryland. Mrs. Bachtel was born on the 
i8th of Fel)ruary. 1836, and she bore her husr 
band four children, namely: Mary Ellen, who 
was i)orn on the 23d of June. 1863, and who is 
now the wife O'f Edward Rauch, of Council 
Bluffs, Iowa ; Jennie was born January 29, 
1866, and still remains at the parental home, 
as does also Martha May, who was bom May 
I. 1867; Nelson K., who was born May 28, 
1 871. died on the 2d of the following 
September. 



li 



ARTHUR U. BORDNER, of Canton, is 

a descendant of two of the oldest families that 
came to Stark county in a very early day and 
for many years were actively identified with 
the history of the communities in which they 
settled. His paternal ancestors were Penn- 
sylvanians, the first of the family to come to 
Stark county being his grandfather, Philip 
Borrlner, who after living here for a num- 
ber of years, removed to Dckall) county. 
Indiana, where his death occurred about 1854. 
David F. Bordner, son of Philip and father of 
the subject of this sketch, was born in Wayne 
county. Ohio, anrl was about sixteen years old 
when his parents moved to the county of De- 



kalb, Indiana. He grew to maturity on a 
farm, and, when a young man, married Miss 
Susan Younkman, wdiose antecedents, as al- 
ready indicated, were among the early comers 
to this part of the state. The Younkman 
family is of German origin and its first repre- 
sentative in this country was Mrs. Bordner's 
grandfather, Jacob Younkman, who left the 
fatherland many years ago and came to Stark 
county, Ohio, in about 1809, and settled in 
Bethlehem township, where he spent the re- 
mainder of In's life. Among his children was 
a son by the name of Daniel, who became a 
successful farmer and leading citizen of Beth- 
lehem township. He married and reared a 
family and departed this life on the home place 
in Bethlehem in 1896, at the ripe old age of 
eighty-two years, leaving a widow, Nancy, 
who is still living, in her eighty-ninth year. 
Daniel and Nancy Younkmrui were the parents 
of Mrs. David F. Bordner, who with her hus- 
band is living on the homestead in Bethlehem 
township, the family being widely known and 
greatly respected l)y the people in that part 
of the county and elsewhere. 

Arthur U. Bordner, son of David F. and 
.Susan Bordner, was born July 12, 1865. in 
Bethlehem township, Stark countv. He was 
the second of a family of five: Emma, who 
married John Hiple; subject; Ella married 
Ezra Albaugh ; Frank ; Clara, married John 
Zutavern. The sul)ject spent his early years 
under the healthful discipline of the farm, 
attending meanwhile the ])ublic schools in 
wh.ich he received his elementary education. 
Later he pursued the lu'gher branches of learn- 
ing in select schools and in due time wa=; suf- 
ficiently advanced to teach, which profession 
he followed of winter seasons for several 
years, devoting the summer months to study 
in various educational institutions, among 
which were the school at Sparta and the Ohio 
Normal ITnivcrsitv at Afla. l\[r. Bordner took 
a full classical coiu'se in the latter institution. 



6l2 



OLD LANDMARKS 



completing the same in 1896 and immediately 
thereafter entered the law department, from 
which he was graduated one year later. Mr. 
Bordner was twenty-seven years old when he 
left home to make his own way in the world 
and his age and experience enabled him to 
enter upon his life work with a full appreci- 
ation of its responsibilities and with well- 
grounded assurance of ultimate success. By 
thorough mental discipline and careful pro- 
fessional training he was well equipped for the 
law .and after his admission to the bar in 
1898 it was not long until his legal ability be- 
gan to be recognized, as the lucrative practice 
which came to him within a few months 
abundantly attests. Opening an office in Can- 
ton and entering a field made famous by many 
eminent men in the past and by a formidable 
array of distinguished legal talent at the time, 
he freely realized the difficulties in his way 
and with an energy born of a determination to 
succeed set himself manfully to work to re- 
move them and to gain jf possible recognitioi\ 
as an aspirant for professional honors. From 
a modest beginning his practice has steadily 
grown in volume until he now has a lucrative 
business and his name has appeared in con- 
nection with many cases tried in the courts 
of Stark county since his admission to the bar. 
He easily ranks with the ablest of the younger 
and rising lawyers of Canton, being regarded 
as a safe, reliable counselor and he is 
thoroughly skilled in the devious arts of prac- 
tice. 

Politically Mr. Bordner is stanchly Demo- 
cratic and he wields a strong influence for the 
party in local and state affairs and upon 
national issues. In matters religious, he sub- 
scribes to the creed of the United Brethren 
church, being a worthy member and liberal 
supporter of the congregation worshiping in 
the city of his residence. In the year 1898, 
Mr. Bordner and Miss Belle Parks, of Bethle- 
hem township, this county, daughter of 



James C. and Elizabeth (Evans) Parks, were 
united in the bonds of wedlock, the marriage 
being blessed with one child, a son who bears 
tlie name of Harold. Mr. and Mrs. Bordner 
have a pleasant home and are well known in 
the social circles of Canton. 



THEODORE JOSEPH PHILLIPS was 
born in the family homestead, on Plum street 
(now North McKinley avenue) in the city of 
Canton, on the 2d of March, 1859, being a son 
of Adam Phillips, one of the honored pioneer 
farmers of the county, to whom individual 
reference is made on other pages of this work, 
so that a recapitulation of the family history 
is not required at this point. Dr. Phillips re- 
ceived his preliminary educational discipline in 
the parochial school of St. Peter's church, 
which he attended until he attained the age of 
twelve years, and he then entered tiie Can- 
ton high school, in which he was a student 
up to the age of eighteen years, having duly 
profited by the advantages afforded him. 
After leaving school he assisted his father in 
the work of the homestead farm, in Canton 
township, while he also lent his aid in con- 
nection with the operation of the coal bank, 
stone quarry and lime kiln owned by his 
father, this quarry and kiln having at one time 
supplied all the lime and cement used for build- 
ing purposes in this locality. He remained 
with his father until he was twenty-three 
3'ears of age, at which time he secured a po- 
sition as shipping clerk in the wholesale 
grocery of B. Dannemilier & Sons, in Canton, 
and while thus engaged he l^egan the study of 
dentistry under the direction of Dr. G. R. Ball, 
now deceased, with whom he remained two 
years, while he was later matriculated in the 
Ohio Dental College, at Cincinnati, where he 
completed the prescril:)ed course and was grad- 
uated as a member of the class of 1873, com- 
ing forth eminently qualified for all portions 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



613 



of the work of his chosen profession. He 
initiated the active practice of his profession 
in the village of Minerva, this county, where 
he remained one year, at the expiration of 
which he came to Canton, in April, 1884, and 
opened an office at the corner of Walnut and 
East Tuscarawas streets, on the second floor 
of what is now the Globe clothing store, where 
he remained until April, 1885, when he re- 
moved to his present finely equipped offices at 
130 East Tuscarawas street, where he has 
since been established in practice. For the past 
three years he has had as an assistant his 
brother Victor A., who has taken two courses 
of study in the technical line of dental surgery 
and laboratory work, one term having been 
passed in the dental department of the Western 
Reserve College, in the city of Cleveland, 
while he completed his second course in the 
Ohio Dental College, in the city of Cincinnati, 
where he will graduate as a member of the 
class of 1904. 

Tn so far as state and national issues are 
involved, Dr. Phillips accords his support to 
the Democratic party, but in local affairs he 
maintains an independent attitude. He is a 
communicant of the Catholic church, as is 
also his wife, and he originally held member- 
ship in St. Peter's church, but transferred to 
St. John's parish, by reason of the fact that 
Mrs. Phillips is not familiar with the German 
language, which is utilized at St. Peter's. The 
Doctor is a member of the Lake Side Gun 
Club ; the Knights of St. John, of which he 
was commander for three years ; and the 
Knights of Columbus. 

On the 24th of September. 1890. in the 
city of Cincinnati, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Dr. Phillips to Misg Mary Bui-ke, who 
was born in Louisville, Kentucky, being a 
daughter of Thomas E. and Rosanna Burke, 
both of whom were born in Ireland, whence 
he came to the United States about the year 
1842, and she in 1850. They now reside in 



the city of Cincinnati. To the subject and his 
wife have been born th following children : 
Edgar R., born March 18, 1892; Mary 
Augusta, born February 24, 1897, and 
Theodore J., Jr., born January 7, 1901. 



JOHN S. WALLACE was born on the 
pioneer homestead in Columbiana county, Ohio, 
on the 19th of March, 1821, being a son of 
William and Elizabeth (Mall) Wallace, of 
whose twelve children only four are living at 
the present time, namely: Rachel, who is the 
widow of Hiram Burns and who resides in Co- 
lumbiana county ; John S., who is the imme- 
diate subject of this review ; Sarah A., who is 
the wife of Samuel Shehan, of Homesworth, 
Columbiana county; and Elizabeth, who is the 
wife of George Stroup, of Portage county, this 
state. William Wallace was a native of the 
state of New Jersey, where he was born about 
the year 1780, the original American ancestors 
having emigrated from England to this country 
in the colonial epoch, and the family having 
early been established in the old commonwealth 
of New Jersey. William Wallace was there 
reared to maturity and there learned the trade , 
of wheelwright, while in that state was solem- 
nized his marriage to Elizabeth Mall, who was 
likewise a member of one of the old and hon- 
ored families of New Jersey. Li the year 1812, 
after the birth of their first child, they emi- 
grated to Ohio and took up their abode in the 
midst of the forest wilds of Butler township, 
Columbiana county, where Mr. Wallace ef- 
fected a lease of a tract of heavily timbered 
land, on which he erected a primitive log cabin, 
in which were duly established his Lares and 
Penates, while he then set to himself the hercu- 
lean task of reclaiming the land to the uses of 
cultivation. He remained in that county until 
1840, and with the exception of an interval of 
about four years passed in the vicinity of Salem, 
that county, maintained his residence during 



6i4 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the entire period in Butler township. In the 
year 1840 he came with his family to Stark 
county, the subject of this sketch being at the 
time al:)out nineteen years of age, and in Wash- 
ington township he purchased twenty acres of 
land, which he improved and made into a good 
home, and there he resided until his death, at 
the age of seventy-seven years, his loved and 
devoted wife having preceded him into the life 
eternal by several years, passing away at the 
age of fifty-six. He was a Democrat in his 
political adherency and both he and his wife 
held membership in the Baptist church, in har- 
mony with whose faith they guided and gov- 
erned their worthy and useful lives, whose an- 
nals were plain and simple and yet indicative 
of true strength and nobility of character, so 
that they left the priceless heritage ever implied 
in a good name. 

John S. Wallace was reared under the in- 
fluences and meager advantages of the old pio- 
neer farm in Columbiana county, and such were 
the exigencies of time and place that he secured 
very limited educational privileges in his youth, 
though he waxed st^^ng in mental and physical 
vigor under the discipline \\hich came to his 
portion. As opportunity presented, he trudged 
his way to the little log school house, and 
ranged himself with other lx)ys of the pioneer 
farmers on the rude slab benches which served 
as seats, while the rough floor was made of 
puncheons and light was secured through win- 
dows covered with oiled paper in lieu of glass. 
To be "graduated" in such an "institution of 
learning" Avould seem a most insignificant thing 
to the average boy and girl of to-day, but from 
these little schools issued some of the strongest 
and most brilliant characters our nation has 
known, for character force is e\'er centrifugal 
and it is mastery not advantages that make the 
man. Upon attaining his legal majority, the 
family having in the meanwhile come to Stark 
county, as noted, Mr. Wallace left the parental 
roof and initiated his independent career. His 



ambitions led him to no pretentious or impos- 
sible efforts and he was ready -to make use of 
such opportunities as presented, and thus we 
find him employed in clearing land, chopping 
wood and making rails, while other work of 
similar order was taken in hand with equal 
vigor and fidelity. On the 9th of January, 
1844, he assumed a new attitude toward the 
world by taking a course of action which he 
maintains is one which has been the source of 
his greatest happiness along the pathway of life 
and the conservator of such success as has 
fallen to his share in temporal affairs. On that 
date he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza 
Towns, who was born in Washington township, 
whither her father came from Pennsylvania as 
one of the very earliest settlers in the township, 
so that the name of John Towns merits a place 
on the roll of Stark county's noble band of 
pioneers. 

After his marriage Mr. Wallace purchased 
a tract of twenty acres of wild land one-half 
mile west of his present home, in Washington 
township, the same being still covered with its 
native growth of timber. He made a clearing 
and erected a little log cabin of the customary 
pioneer type, and then grappled with the forest 
primeval, as had his father done in Columbiana 
county many years previously. He continued 
to reside on this little farm initil 1850, when he 
sold the property, upon which he had eft'ected 
no few improvements during the intervening 
five years, which were filled with arduous and 
consecutive toil, and he then effected the piu'- 
chase of forty acres, one-half mile south of the 
old place, the new farm being partially cleared 
and being at the time equipped with a log house. 
Ten years later he bought forty acres lying con- 
tiguous on the north, and after erecting a larger 
and more pretentious dwelling, a frame struc- 
ture, on this place he removed to the same, 
while later he purchased another forty acres, 
thus making his farm one of one hundred and 
twentv acres, all in one bodv. Still later lie 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



615 



purchased sixt_\ -five acres on tlie opposite side 
of the road, and he still retains possession of the 
two places. With the flight oi years he 
brought his land under most effective cultiva- 
tion, made good improvements of a permanent 
order and earnestly and intelligently directed 
his farming operations, so that his success, won 
entirely by himself, was cumulative in charac- 
ter, as Avas manifest in his successive ptirchases 
of additional land, hy which means he extended 
the scope of iiis operations. In 1891 he pur- 
chased eighteen and three-fourths acres of land 
where he now lives, on the New Franklin road, 
the little place being equipped with a commo- 
dious and attractive house and good barn, and 
he forthwith removed to this new home, leav- 
ing his son William in charge of the homestead 
place. He has since been retired from actix'e 
labor, save as he employs himself about his 
fine gardens and lawns, and is enjoying the 
fruits of his many years of indefatigable toil 
and endeavor. He has had his full quota of the 
experiences of pioneer life and has witnessed 
and aided in the marvelous transitions which 
have been brought aljout in this now opulent 
and favored section of the Buckeye state, and 
he can look back with satisfaction on the labors 
and even the deprivations and hardships of the 
days tliat have dropped into the abyss of time, 
for the glamour of reminiscence rests gently 
over the past and he can well appreciate the 
manifold blessings which attend him and his 
loved companion as the golden shadows of 
their lives begin to lengthen out where the 
"sunset gates are open wide, far out in the 
crimson west." He and his wife are devoted 
members of the United Brethren church, with 
which they ha\-e been identified for many years, 
while he has been a stanch supporter of the 
Democratic party and was an uncom- 
promising abolitionist during the crucial 
epoch leading up to the war of the 
Rebellion. He and his wife are today 
loved and rexered as venerable pioneers, and 



the esteem and good will of the entire commun- 
ity is theirs. In a reminiscent way Mr. Wallace 
recalls the fact that the first pair of boots which 
he ever had became his prized treasure when 
he was twenty-one years of age, the same hav- 
ing been purchased with money which he had 
earned himself, while he also recalls the time 
when three days' work were required to earn 
the price of a bushel of wheat, while muslin 
sold for fifty cents per yard. 

In conclusion we enter brief record con- 
cerning the eight children who have blessed the 
union of this honored couple: Hiram B. is a 
resident of Freeburg, Washington township, 
where he is engaged in farming; Lydia A. is 
the wife of Amos Byers, a successful farmer of 
this township ; William has charg^e of the paren- 
tal homestead, as previously noted; Albert and 
Alva are twins, and both are residents of the 
city of Alliance, this county, where they are 
engaged in mercantile Ixisiness and a buggy 
shop, respectively; Ner is engaged in farming 
in (,'olumbiana county ; Mary Jane is the widow 
of Jackson Unkerfare, and resides in Washing- 
ton township; Elizabeth is the wife of Frank 
Berea, who is engaged in the Pennsylvania 
freight house in the city of Canton ; Elizabeth, 
wife of George Stroup, of Atwater, Ohio, and 
a farmer. 

♦-•-* 

ADAM J. MERLEY.— One of the import- 
ant industrial enterprises of Stark county is 
that conducted by the National Fire Proofing 
Company, at Osnaburg, and of the same the 
subject of this review holds the responsible po- 
sition of superintendent, while he is known as 
one of the able and progressi\-e young business 
men of his native county and as one thoroughly 
skilleil in the management of the enterprise 
which is thus placed in his charge. 

Adam J. Merley was born in the village of 
I.ouis\'ille, Stark county, Ohio, on the 9th of 
April, 187^, and was there reared to the age- 



6i6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of twelve years, having received his early edu- 
cational discipline in its public schools, and 
thereafter, the family removing to the city of 
Canton, he here continued his studies in the 
public schools until he had attained the age of 
fourteen years, when he assumed the practical 
responsibilities of life by identifying himself 
with the line of industry with which he has 
been actively concerned. He has been for fif- 
teen years engaged in the operation of clay- 
industries, being employed in various capaci- 
ties and thus gaining an intimate and compre- 
hensive knowledge of the details of the busi- 
ness. In 1899 he ^'^'ss called to his present posi- 
tion as superintendent of the plant of the Na- 
tional Fire Proofing Company at Osnaburg. 
this being one of the most extensive enterprises 
of the sort in the state, and he has since contin- 
ued to give faithful and effective service in this 
oflice, while through his discriminating efforts 
the business of the company has been materially 
increased in scope and importance, having in- 
creased the business to more than treble the 
capacity of the plant in 1899. 

Tn politics Mr. Merley has given a stanch 
allegiance to the Democratic party from the 
time of attaining his legal majority, having cast 
liis first presidential vote in support of William 
J. Bryan, and he takes an active and intelligent 
interest in the party affairs. He was reared in 
the faith of the Catholic church, of which his 
parents, Nicholas and Mary Ann Merley, are 
communicants. They now reside in Canton. 

On the 18th of July, 1899, Mr. Merley was 
united in marriage to Miss Nancy Heilman. 
daughter of Henry and Caroline Heilman, who 
are residents of Osnaburg, and the subject and 
his wife have a pleasant home in the village, 
where their friends are manv. 



GEORGE KNOLL.— This now venerable 
and most respected resident of Washington 
township. Stark county, Ohio, is a native of 



Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, and had his 
nati\'ity August 14, 1828, and of the six chil- 
dren-born to his parents he is the only sur- 
vivor. John and Catherine (Brill) Knoll 
came from Pennslyvania where John, the fa- 
ther of the gentleman whose name opens this 
sketch, was reared a blacksmith, a trade which 
he followed until he became a farmer, which 
calling he found to be much more profitable 
and followed until his death, about 1846, in 
middle life, his widow surviving him about 
twelve years. In politics John Knoll had been 
a ^Vhig. 

George Knoll was educated in the frontier 
log school-house of his early youth, and at the 
death of his father began working out for the 
neighboring farmers, receiving the first year 
eight dollars per month as his compensation, 
the second year nine dollars, and then, for the 
following eighteen months, ten dollars and 
fifty cents per month, which he considered to 
be A'ery good wages. 

November 22. 1853, George Knoll mar- 
ried Miss Elizabeth Shearer, in Dauphin coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, and in April, 1854, brought 
his bride to Stark county, Ohio, and after a 
stay with a brother-in-law in Maximo until 
the fall following, he purchased a farm of 
forty acres, which but recently he sold to his 
son-in-law, Theodore Scott. Here Mr. Knoll 
increased the size of his farm to eighty acres, 
and after selling it purchased another of sixty- 
five acres, in Washington township, which he 
later sold to his son, Wesley, but occupied it 
liimself until 1893 or 1894, when he erected 
his present mansion on a portion he had re- 
served for that purpose, and in 1902 sold the 
entire home place with the exception of twenty 
acres and his new dwelling. 

To George and Elizabeth (Shearer) Knoll 
have been born five children, in the following 
order : ]\Iary went as a missionary to South 
America and there passed away; Wesley, of 
whom a full life record will be found on an- 



\ 





MR. AND MRS. GEORGE KNOLL. 
MARY KNOLL. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



617 



other page of tliis volume; G. Lawrence, who 
resides in Flomeworth, Cokimbiana county, 
Ohio ; Earnest, of this township, and Minnie, 
wife of Theodore Scott, also of this township. 

Mr. and Mrs. Knoll are members of the 
United Brethren church, in which Mr. Knoll 
is a class leader, and has filled the \arious 
church offices at difterent times for many 
years. In politics Mr. Knoll is a Republican 
and for a long time was a member of the school 
board, and for several years was township 
trustee. 

George Knoll began life a poor boy, but by 
industry, frugality and the exercise of strict in- 
tegrity,- has succeeded in placing- himself in 
affiuent circumstances and in achieving for 
himself and family positions in the social cir- 
cles of Washington township that are justly 
enviable, as they are such any family might be 
proud of. 

About 1863 Mr. Knoll was drafted into 
the United States service from Washington 
township and was assigned to one of the active 
companies of the Civil war, but before going 
he met with a foreigner with whom he made 
arrangements and sent him as a substitute, he 
going through the war, being shot through the 
neck, causing him to nearly bleed to death and 
after several promotions with honors and 
at the close of the war he returned home and 
is now residing in the vicinity of Grantown, 
Ohio. 

Mary Knoll, the oldest child of Mr. and 
Mrs. Knoll, was from childhood a very de- 
voted child and young woman, being ever de- 
voted to tlie church, the bible and her family 
and for a greater cause, that of humanity. She, 
after completing her schooling, for a number of 
years taught in the schools of her vicinity and 
also took active part in all religious works of 
her church, and after corresponding with the 
bishop she finally decided to put into action her 
life's desire and become a missionary. She 
was duly appointed and bade farewell to her 



parents and friends, never to see them again, 
and took up this grand work in the South 
American republics, where she worked devot- 
edly, defying the terrible diseases of that cli- 
mate for about two years, but the Great Cre- 
ator finally took her to her great reward. She 
was honored and loved by all. Having made 
friends with many, she still lives in their 
thoughts with a reverence unsurpassed. The 
following excerpts are from the Religious Tel- 
escope of June 27, 1888, and bear beautiful 
reference to Mary Knoll : 

During the suranier of 1885 a field opened, the 
flesh yielded, and Mary said : "Lord, here am I, send 
me." At Rrst her parents thought they could not con- 
sent to it, for they feared that delicate nature of Mary's 
could not endure the strain upon her weak constitu- 
tion. But they took it to the Lord and He settled it 
for them, whereupon preparation immediately began 
for going to South America, the chosen field. The 
great question of her life is settled ; the unhappy days 
have gone ; the struggle is over, and her feelings were 
thus expressed : 

"The great transaction's done; 
! am my Lord's, and He is mine." 

Think of her trip for a moment. By the aid of 
Richard Grant, missionary treasurer of the Methodist 
Episcopal foreign work, she embarks from New York 
harbor on the American steamer "Acapulpo" for Aspin- 
wall ; thence by rail to Panama ; thence on the British 
"Ilo" for Callao, and from there on the Spanish "Mai- 
po" to Coquimbo, after Ihat to Valparaiso, and then four 
hundred miles overland by railway to Conception, Chili, 
South America, where she arrived in January, 1886, 

Before reaching Aspinwall she suffered severely 
from sea sickness. But she seems to have had the 
best of care, for she said : "The Lord has been more 
than a mother to nie." 

It is quite refreshing to catch a glimmering of the 
purposes of so pure a spirit and one so self-sacrificing 
as was hers. From three different letters I quote : "I 
have no time to look into the future and wonder what 
will become of me to-morrow." "I want to learn the 
language ("the Spanish") and spend the rest of my 
working days at least in Chili." "I want to do good 
school work and do it all with such a loving spirit 
that Jesus will bless it to the conversion of many souls 
even after ] am gone." From this it will be seen that 
life which seemed a divination had purposes which 
were and could only be born from heights supernal. 

A year ago she wrote : "I have as yet had no long- 
ing for the home I left behind, but sometimes find a 



6i8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



strange looking forward for my home beyond the seas. 
How much of happiness I always promised myself, and 
now I find it in a far-away, distant land. God tells me 
so in the strange drawing I have toward you. But 
'soon we'll reach the shining river.' O, how happy we 
shall be when we get home to our Father's house." 
About the close of the year 1887 she said: "I think 
much more of heaven than I used to, for it seems 
nearer to us when our friends are far away." In one 
of her letters she gives this beautiful and expressive 
verse : 

"I have flung myself recklessly out, 
Like a chip on the stream of the Infinite Will ; 
I pass the rocks with a smile and a shout, 
And I just let my God His purpose fulfill." 

In a beautiful Protestant cemetery, just without 
Conception, on the igtli day of February, 18S8, was de- 
posited all that was mortal of Mary. Early the morn- 
ing before Jesus had come and borne her spirit home. 
Though you cannot visit the grave, or plant a flower, 
or breathe a prayer, or drop a tear o'er the grave of 
l\Iary. yet weep not, for that loving, gentle. Christ- 
like spirit is at rest and all is well. 



JOSEPPi OYSTER.— In an analyzation 
of the character of Joseph Oyster are found the 
qualities of an upright manhood, — loyalty in 
citizenship, reliability in business, conscientious- 
ness in the discharge of the duties of life, 
and inflexibility in integrity, — and these at- 
tributes naturally command to him the respect 
and confidence of all who know him. 

Joseph Oyster is a native son of Ohio, hav- 
ing been born on a farm in Mahoning county, 
not far distant from the city of Alliance, Stark 
county, on the 13th of January, 1838, and be- 
ing a son of Samuel and Barbara (Keller) 
Oyster. To this worthy couple were' born 
eighteen children, and of the number only five 
are living at the present time, narnely: Jacob, 
Avho is a resident of Alliance, this county; 
Cyrus, who likewise resides in that city, as does 
also Solomon; Joseph, the immediate subject 
of this review, and Michael, who resides in the 
village of Louisville, this county. Samuel 
Oyster was born in Pennsylvania, being- of 
stanch German ancestry, and there he was 



reared to maturity, learning the trade of black- 
smith in his youth. As a young man he came 
to Ohio and took up a tract of government 
land in Mahoning county, just east of the city 
of Alliance, which is located in Stark county, 
near the line which divides the two counties, 
and there he erected a log house and also a shop 
of similiar architectural pretentiousness, and 
there engaged in the work of his trade, finding 
a ready demand for his services, as he was a 
skilled artisan in the line. He continued to be 
actively engaged in this sturdy occupation un- 
til he had attained the age of sixty-three years, 
leaving the work of the farm largely to the 
care of his sons. He became the owner of 
about a thousand acres of land, a portion of this 
being in the state of Iowa, and he was known 
as one of the worthy and influential men of this 
section of Ohio, being honored by all who knew 
him. He died at the age of sixty-three years, 
on the old homestead where he located in the 
pioneer epoch. He devoted much attention to 
the raising of live stock, and was successful in 
his eflrorts, having the able assistance of his 
sons, who were eleven in number. In politics 
he was a stanch supporter of the \\'hig party, 
and his religious faith was that of the Re- 
formed church, of whicii his wife also was a 
devoted member, her death occurring about 
183S, while he survived her by about eight 
years. After her death he consummated a sec- 
ond marriage, being united to a Mrs. Horn, no 
children being born of this union. 

Joseph Oyster, the immediate subject of 
this sketch, was but a boy at the time of his 
father's death, and he was then taken into the 
home of his sister, Mrs. Polly Cobbs, where he 
was reared to the age of seventeen years, hav- 
ing grown up under the sturdy discipline of the 
farm and received such educational advantages 
as were afforded by the district schools. At the 
age noted he entered the employ of his brother 
Moses, who was engaged in farming near Al- 
liance, and there he remained until he had at- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



619 



tained his legal majority, which event he cele- 
brated by taking unto himself a wife, and he 
then purchased a farm of ninety acres, just east 
of Alliance, in Mahoning county, and there he 
continued to reside for about a decade, working 
assiduous])' in the improvement and cultivation 
of his farm and meeting with a due measure of 
success. At the expiration of this period he 
disposed of his farm and came to Stark county, 
where he purchased his present fine farm of 
one lumdred and ninety-three acres, in section 
27, Nimishillen township, and here he has 
made the best of improvements and has de- 
veloped one of the finest farm properties to be 
found in this section of the state. A portion of 
his farm lies within the corporate limits of the 
village of Louisville, and in the spring of 1901 
he erected a residence on this portion of his 
place and is now living in the village, practically 
retired from the active labors of life and enjoy- 
ing that repose and comfort to which he is 
justly entitled after his years of earnest toil 
and endeavor. He has attained a reputation 
as one of the model farmers of this section, 
and his farm gives every evidence of thrift and 
prosperity. In his political adherency Mr. 
Oyster is stanchly arrayed in support of the Re- 
publican party and its principles, and he takes 
a deep and intelligent interest in the issues and 
questions of the day, being a man of mature 
judgment and fine intellectual powers. He and 
his wife are both zealous members of the Re- 
formed church. 

On the 17th of June, 1855, Mr. Oyster was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Aldiver, 
who was born in Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
vania, being a daughter of John Aldiver, who 
came from the old Iveystone state to Mahoning 
county, Ohio, about 1842, and here passed the 
majority of his life, later moving to Marshall 
county, Indiana, having been one of the success- 
ful and honored farmers of that section. Of 
the ten children of Mr. and Mrs. Oyster the 
following is a brief record : Harriet is the wife 



of John Longanecker, of Nimishillen township; 
Loretta is the wife of Jacob Stoner, of Indiana; 
Francis M. has charge of the old homestead 
farm; Isabella, who is deceased, was the wife of 
Louis Turner; Amos is a resident of Frieburg, 
Washington township ; Isaiah resides in Har- 
risburg, this county; Jesse J. and Ulysses S. 
remain at the parental home; Fremont E. is 
engaged in farming in Nimishillen township, 
and Granville remains at the parental home. 



JACOB KNOLL comes of stanch German 
ancestry in botii the paternal and maternal lines, 
and the name has long been identified with the 
annals of American history, the original pro- 
genitor in the new world having been Abraham 
Knoll, the great-grandfather of the subject, 
who was born and reared in Hesse-Darmstadt. 
Germany, whence he emigrated to America and 
took up his residence in the state of Pennsyl- 
vania, where he passed the remainder of his life. 

Jacob Knoll was born in Dauphin county. 
Pennsylvania, on the 26th of February, 1847. 
being a son of Jacob B. and Eliza (Aldinger) 
Knoll, of whose six children five lived to years 
of maturity, while only three survive at the 
present time. Of the children we enter the fol- 
lowing record : Catherine became the wife of 
David Powell and died in Marshall county, In- 
diana, in 1899; Henry died in 1879, at the age 
of thirty-seven years; Elizabeth is the wife of 
Lemuel Keys, of Atwater, Portage county, this 
state; Jacob is the immediate subject of this 
sketch ; and Sarah is the wife of Stephen 
Schell, of Louisville, this county. 

Jacob B. Knoll was liorn in Lancaster coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, on the 12th of March, 1814, 
being a son of John and Catherine (Brill) 
Knoll, who removed to Dauphin county, that 
state, when he was but one year of age. He 
was there reared to maturity, and there in his 
youth learned the carpenter trade, to which he 



620 



OLD LANDMARKS 



devoted his attention for about fifteen years in 
that county. On the 28th of December, 1837, 
he was united in marriage to Miss Louise Al- 
dinger, who \vas born in Germany, whence her 
father, Cliristian Aldinger, 'came to America 
when she was al^out five years of age, tlie fam- 
ily locating in Pennsylvania, where she was 
reared and where her marriage was solemnized. 
She was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, on the 
26th of July, 1812, and she and her husband 
walked side by side di:>\\n the pathway of life 
for more than half a century, while in death 
they were not long divided, he having passed 
away on the 14th of October, 1892, while she 
died on the i 5th of December of the following 
year. Of their early married life another pub- 
lication has spoken pertinently in the following 
words : "They did not commence their married 
life with the many comforts which they en- 
joyed in their later years. During the first 
year after marriage they resided in an old 
double log cabin, one-half of which was occu- 
pied by another family, paying twelve dollars 
a month for their rude home. In the fall of 
1838 he bought an old log house, with three 
acres of ground, for three hundred dollars, and 
had one-third of this sum raised by the next 
April, this amount being obtained by hard labor 
during the winter chopping cord-wcod in the 
forest at t\venty-five cents per cord, and board- 
ing himself: although it was extremely cold at 
the time he never started a fire in the woods, 
but worked many a time when it was so cold 
he could not cut the l)read prepared for his 
dinner, but was compelled to slice it off with the 
ax. During some six winters he cut about one 
thousand cords. About the time he was mar- 
ried the crops had been destroyed by grass- 
hoppers, and for the first three bushels of wheat 
he purchased he was compelled to pay three 
dollars a bushel, and one dollar a bushel for 
corn. In after years he bought a stony little 
farm of sixty acres, in Dauphin county, which 
he occupied until he moved to Stark county, in 



1853, when he purchased about one hundred 
and eleven acres of Jacob Kurtz, but later 
transferred all but forty acres of this farm to 
his son. He had a competency at the time of 
his death, but this he obtained by hard labor, 
receiving only seven hundred dollars from his 
father's estate." Jacob B. Knoll was a stanch 
supporter of the Democratic party and at dif- 
ferent times he was incumbent of the offices of 
township trustee and supervisor. 

Jacob Knoll, the immediate subject of this 
sketch, was reared on the homestead farm and 
secured such educational discipline as was af- 
forded in the district schools. In 1871 he was 
united in marriage to Miss Hannah E. Ander- 
son, who was born in Knox, Columbiana coun- 
ty, being a daughter of Joshua and Mary An- 
derson, and after this important .event in his 
life Mr. Knoll began farming the home place 
on shares, thus continuing for ten years, at the 
expiration of which he rented a farm in Knox 
township, Columbiana county, and there re- 
mained two years. He then returned to the 
home farm of which he purchased seventy acres 
from his father, and settled down on his own 
place. Here he continued to be successfully en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits until 1899, when 
he rented his farm and took an extended trip 
through the western states, for the benefit of 
his health, which had become much impaired, 
liaving during the intervening years made his 
farm one of the best in this section of the coun- 
ty. In May, 1902, Mr. Knoll purchased the 
W. C. Ammerman farm, of sixty acres, in 
section 25, Washington township, and in the 
following October took up his residence on the 
place, where he has since maintained his home, 
his son Hugh having charge'of the old home- 
stead, which our subject still retains in his 
possession. In politics he has ever accorded a 
stanch support to the principles and policies of 
the Democratic party, but he has never sought 
the honors or emoluments of public office. He 
was for several vears a member of the board of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



62 1 



trustees of the Home Insurance Company and 
is at the present time a memljer of its director- 
ate. He is a consistent and vahied memljer of 
the United EvangeHcal cliurch at Freeburg, 
and his wife belongs to the Presbyterian church 
of AIHance. Fraternally he is identified with 
Patrons of Husbandry, being a member of 
Fairmount Grange No. 1458. 

Hannah E. (Anderson) Knoll, the wife of 
the subject's youth, was summoned into eternal 
rest on the 29th of October, 1890, being sur- 
vived by her three sons, namely: George Her 
man, who is a member of the firm of Keys & 
Knoll, machinists in Homeworth, Columbiana 
county; Hugh W., who resides on the old 
honietead farm; and Emory E., who is a photo- 
graphist in the city of Alliance, this county. 
On the 1 2th of October, 1892, Mr. Knoll con- 
summated a second marriage, being then unitea 
to Miss Anna Fox, -who was born in Washing- 
ton township, a daughter of David and Jane 
(Cairns) Fox, the former of whom was born 
in Columbiana county, this state, and the latter 
in Scotland. Mr. Fox was for many 3'ears a 
prominent and influential farmer and stock- 
grower of ^Vashington township, and did much 
to improve the grade of stock in this section, 
while it has been maintained, with slight pos- 
sibility of dispute, that he was the first to be- 
come a breeder of Jersey cattle in Stark county. 
He died in this county January 5, 1896, and his 
wife is still living making her home in Akron, 
Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Knoll two children 
were born, but both died in infancy. 



LEVI SMITH.— The American branch 
of the Smith family to which the subject be- 
longs appears to have had its origin in Penn- 
sylvania, as his great-grandfather, Joseph 
Smith, was born and reared there and figured 
conspicuously in the pioneer annals of Franklin 
county. Many years ago he came into posses- 
sion of a tract of valuable land in Stark county. 



Ohio, but did not move to the same, having 
spent the greater part of his life in Frank- 
lin county, Pennsylvania, where his body now 
sleeps the sleep /that knows no wakii-ig. The 
land in this county which he formerly held is 
now owned and occupied by his grandson, 
John Smith, one of the leading agriculturists 
of Lawrence township. 

Among the children of Joseph Smith was 
a son by the name of Samuel, who came to 
Stark county when twenty-one years old and 
settled in the township of Lawrence, his ar- 
rival being about the year 1848. He became 
one of the leading farmers and large landhold- 
ers in this part of the state, owning at one 
time six hundred acres of valuable real estate 
in Stark county and a tract of one hundred 
and sixty acres in Michigan. In connection 
with agricultural pursuits, he also dealt ex- 
tensively in live stock, not only breeding and 
raising cattle, but buying and shipping large 
numbers, a business which returned him large 
profits. He has always been a successful busi- 
ness man and a money maker, and still owns 
in this county lands to the amount of four hun- 
dred and ten acres, besides large and valuable 
holdings in the state of Michigan. When a 
young man Samuel Smith married Miss Mary 
Ruch, a daughter of Michael Ruch, a native 
of Germany, and one of Stark county's early 
pioneers. Mr. Ruch was also successful in the 
accumulation of wealth and was widely and 
fa\'orably known throughout the county, hav- 
ing been foremost in every enterprise for the 
material welfare of the county in which he 
lived. After a protracted and useful life, he 
passed away at Massillon at the advanced age 
of eighty-two years. 

Samuel and Mary Smith were the parents 
of eight children, all of whom survive, the 
majority living in the county of Stark. The 
mother, a most excellent lady of beautiful 
moral character, departed this life in 1869. 

Levi Smith, son of the above parents, was 



622 



OLD LANDMARKS 



born February 9, 1853, in Lawrence township, 
Stark county, and spent his childhood and 
youthful years in the parental homestead, 
meanwhile acquiring a practical education in 
the district schools. He has always led the 
life, of a successful tiller of the soil, and since 
attaining- his majority has prosecuted his 
chosen calling in Lawrence township, where 
he now owns a small but finely improved 
and splendid appointed farm, on which are 
to be seen some of the best buildings in this 
part of the county. His dwelling" is modern 
and well supplied with the conveniences and. 
accessories conducive to comfort audi content, 
while his home, representing a capital in excess 
of two thousand dollars, is one of the largest 
and best arranged structures in this neighbor- 
hood. Like his father the subject has also de- 
voted considerable attention tO' the breeding 
and I'aising of fine live stock. His cattle and 
horses iDeing unexcelled by those of any other 
man in the township of Lawrence. 

Mr. Smith is a gentleman of fine presence 
and pleasing- address and deports himself in 
such manner as to win and retain the high 
esteem of his neighbors and fellow citizens. 
His business abilities are far above the aver- 
age, and the various enterprises in which he 
has been engaged have invariably inured to 
his pecuniary advantage, as his independent 
financial circumstances abundantly attest. He 
is a member of the Grange or Patrons of Hus- 
bandr)', and through his efforts the local lodge 
to which he belongs has become a potential 
factor of loyal good in the community. Mr. 
Smith is a single man. having- never seen fit 
to enter the marriage relation. 

Charles Smith, a young brother of Levi, 
and, like the latter, one of the leading farmers 
of Lawrence township and also an extensive 
stock dealer and successful .speculator, was 
born in Stark county. Ohio, February 7, 1866. 
He was reared to agricultural pursuits and 
ever since attaining hi? majoritv has carried 



on farming with a large measure of success, 
being at this time one of the enterprising and 
financially well-to-do men of the township in 
which he resides. Generously endowed with 
the attributes of mind that never fail to carry 
to successful conclusion any business under- 
taking, he has prospered in all of his enter- 
prises, being especially fortunate in the matter 
of fine live stock, from the sale of which he 
adds very materially to the already comfort- 
able fortune in his possession. Like his brother 
Levi, he is a Republican, but has little time 
to devote to political affairs, making every 
every other consideration subordinate to his 
large and steadily increasing business inter- 
ests. Li the year 1893 Charles Smith took to 
. himself a wife and helpmate in the person of 
Miss Mary Miller, of Summit county, Ohio, 
who has borne him four children — Lottie, 
Harry, Marion and Case. 

John Smith, another of the sons of Sam- 
uel and ]\fary Smith, and one of the represent- 
ative men of Lawrence township, was born 
not far from his present place of residence on 
the 20th of October, 1864. His early life, in 
close touch with nature, was conducive to the 
development of strong mental and physical 
powers, and, inheriting from sturdy ancestry 
the sterling qualities which win success, his life, 
thus far has been fruitful of such results. He 
chose agriculture for a vocation and has pur- 
sued the same with diligence and method, re- 
ducing his labors to a system which has gone 
far towards making farming what it should 
he — a science. Mr. Smith is a resourceful 
man and prosecutes his every undertaking 
with a well defined purpose in view. In his 
political belief lie is a Republican and main- 
tains the correctness of his opinions by careful 
study of the leading questions and issues of 
the day. The marriage of Mr. John Smith 
and Miss Ida Braucher, of Stark county, was 
solemnized in the year 1892, and their home 
has been brightened bv the advent of six chil- 



III 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



623 



dren, whose names in the order of their birth 
ai'c as follows : Florence, Marie, Sylvia, Rus- 
sell, Arvine and Martha. 



VVILLIAJVI FRANKHAM.— The subject 
of this review is one of the progressive and 
popular business men of the city of Canton, 
where he conducts an important and somewhat 
unique enterprise, being proprietor of the 
Frankham brass foundry. He came to Canton 
in the year 1891 to assume charge of the J. H. 
McLain brass works, being identified with this 
concern one and one-half years, at the expira- 
tion of which he engaged in business on his 
own responsibility, opening a modest estab- 
lishment in the old flouring mill which stood 
on tile site of the present power house of the 
Canton Light, Heat & Power Company, on 
Seventh street. There he continued operations 
for eight years, and his ability and good man- 
agement made his success one of constantly in- 
creasing order. At the expiration of the period 
noted he erected his present well equipped 
plant, at looi East Seventh street, installing 
his business in these quarters as soon as the 
building was completed. 

Mr. Frankham was born in the far-famed 
manufacturing city of Birmingham, England, 
the date of his nativity being January 5, 1S54. 
He is a son of Moses and Harriet (Bishop) 
Frankham, both of whom passed their entire 
li\es in England, coming of stanch old English 
stock. Moses Frankham was a brass worker 
by trade and vocation and died in Birmingham, 
where he had long held responsible position, 
while his father, Samuel, was likewise engaged 
in the same line of occupation during his active 
business career, as has been previously inti- 
mated in this sketch. Our subject received his 
educational discipline in the public and private 
schools of his native city, though he was but 
nine years of age when he assumed individual 
responsibilities in connection with acti\-e duties 



of life, then entering upon his apprenticeship 
at metal-pattern work, under the direction of 
his father. Thereafter he continued his studies 
in night schools and at intervals in day schools, 
thus gaining a good practical education, while 
he also gained an expert technical knowledge in 
regard to the branch of mechanic art to which 
he has ever since devoted his attention. He re- 
mained with his father until he had attained the 
age of twenty-one years, when he came to 
America, believing that the rewards for his 
labors in his chosen vocation would be greater 
here and that he might thus the sooner attain 
a position of independence. It is needless to 
say that his confidence in his own ability and in 
the opportunities afiforded has been amply jus- 
tified. He sailed from Liverpool in October, 
1871, and in due time arrived in New York 
city, whence he proceeded directly to the city 
of Chicago, which was still smouldering in the 
ashes of its great fii^e of September of that 
year. The next day after his arrival in the 
future metropolis of the west he secured work 
at his trade, and within the ensuing" three 
weeks he was made foreman of a factory there. 
Since that time he has never done a day's work 
as a journeyman, which fact indicates his abil- 
ity and the energy which he has thrown into 
his work, for not many young men from for- 
eign lands secure so definite preferment within 
a month after their arrival. In 1882 Mr. 
Frankham went to the city of Philadelphia, 
where he was placed in charge of the William 
S. Cooper Brass Works, one of the leading con- 
cerns of the sort in the Union. There he con- 
tinued to be thus engaged until 1891, when he 
came to Canton, where he has since main- 
tained his home, his business career here having 
been already outlined in a preceding paragraph. 
In politics he is liberal in his views but where 
national issues are involved he gives his support 
to the Republican party, of whose generic prin- 
ciples he is a stanch advocate. He was reared 
in the Church of England, of wiiich he became 



624 



OLD LANDMARKS 



a member, though he is not a communicant. 
Fraternally he is identified with the Sons of 
St. George and the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows. 

In the city of Chicago, on the 26th of No- 
vember, 1880, Mr. Frankham was united in 
marriage to Miss Flora Gleason, who was born 
in the state of Connecticut, in 1852, being the 
only child of Charles Gleason, who was killed 
while in service as a Union soldier in the war 
of the Rebellion. Mrs. Frankham died, after 
a very brief illness, on the 26th of November, 
1902, and is survived by her only child, Harry, 
who was born on the 23d of September, 1881, 
and who is associated with the business of his 
father. 



DAVID E. GERBER was born on his 
present homestead, in Canton township, on the 
6th of July, 1834, being a son of Elias and 
Maria (Richard) Gerber, the former of whom 
was a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of 
Switzerland, whence she accompanied her par- 
ents to America when she was a mere child. 
Elias Gerber was a son of Christian Gerber, 
who likewise was a native of the old Keystone 
state, to which locality the original American 
progenitor emigrated from Germany, in the 
pre-Revolutionary epoch. As early as 1810 
Christian Gerber removed with his family from 
Pennsylvania to Stark county, Ohio, where 
he took up a tract of heavily timbered land in 
Canton township, the same being about five 
miles from the present city of the same name, 
and here he reclaimed a farm and gave his at- 
tention to its cultivation during the remainder 
of his active career. He died in this town- 
ship at the venerable age of eighty-four years. 
His son Elias, father of the subject, was reared 
on this pioneer homestead, receiving such edu- 
cational advantages as were accorded the aver- 
age farmer youth of the locality and period and 



contributing to the work of clearing and im- 
proving the home place. In this township was 
solemnized his marriage, and he then assumed 
the practical responsibilities of life, locating on 
the farm now owned by our subject and 
eventually becoming one of the substantial 
farmers of the county, known as a man of 
impregnable integrity and as a man of excel- 
lent business judgment, while through his well 
directed efforts he attained a success which 
was worthy the name. He was summoned 
from the scene of his earthly labors in the very 
prime of his manhood, being but thirty-nine 
years of age at the time of his death, which oc- 
curred in 1847. His wife survived him by 
many years, being summoned into eternal rest 
in 1892, when eighty- four years of age. The 
father was a Democrat in politics, and both he 
and his wife held the faith of the Amish church. 
They became the parents of six children, con- 
cerning whom we offer brief record as follows : 
David E., who is the immediate subject of this 
review ; Margaret, who is the wife of Abraham 
Gerber, of Indiana; George, who was killed 
in the army ; Adeline, who is the wife of Jona- 
than Byler; Christian, who lives in Canton, and 
Solomon, wlio lives in Perry township. 

David E. Gerber, whose name introduces 
this article, was reared on his present home- 
stead, whose every field and pasture and 
wooded glen have thus been familiar to him 
from the time of his earliest recollection, while 
in his youth this familiarity was doubly em- 
phasized by the labors which fell to his portion 
in connection with the work in these same fields 
and meadows, but he waxed strong in mind and 
body under the strenuous and invigorating dis- 
cipline and has never abated by one jot or 
tittle his allegiance to the noble art of hus- 
bandry, to which his entire life has been de- 
voted, and that with a due measure of attendant 
success. His finely improved farm comprises 
one hundred and thirty-one acres, and is under 



■ 




MR. AND MRS. D. E. GERBER. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



625 



most effective cultivation, while the buildings 
are of the best order, including a commodious 
and attractive residence, which is a favorite re- 
sort for the family's wide circle of friends. 

In politics Mr. Gerber has given his sup- 
port to the Democratic party from the time of 
attaining- his majority, and he has ever shown 
a consistent interest in public affairs of a local 
nature, lending his influence and aid in support 
of all legitimate undertakings for the pro- 
motion of the material progress and general 
welfare of his home township and county. He 
and his wife have long been zealous and active 
members of the German Baptist church, con- 
tributing to the advancement of its spiritual 
and temporal affairs, while they are well known 
pioneer citizens and have the highest esteem 
of all who know them, ever ordering their lives 
on a high plain of rectitude and integrity and 
being true and sincere in all the relations of 
intercourse with their fellow men. 

In the city of Canton, on the 14th of Oc- 
tober, 1858, Mr. Gerber was united in marriage 
to Miss Emeline King, who was born in Penn- 
sylvania, whence, as a child, she accompanied 
her parents on their removal to Stark county, 
where her father was engaged in farming until 
his death. She was reared and educated in Can- 
ton township and is, like her husband, a repre- 
sentative of one of the county's honored pio- 
neer families. Mr. and Mrs. Gerber became the 
parents of twelve children, of whom nine lived 
to attain years of maturity, namely : Clara be- 
came the wife of John Shanower and died, in 
Perry township, when twenty-four years of 
age; Melissa is the wife of William Shanower, 
of Massiilon; George lives in Massillon; Kate 
is the wife of Amos Yutze, of Pike township ; 
John lives in Canton ; Edward is at home ; 
Nellie is the wife of Charles Miller, of Perry 
township ; Elva is the wife of Homer Riley, of 
Canton ; and Jennie remains at the parental 
home. 



PETER C. WISE was born in Stark coun- 
ty, Ohio, August 27, 1846, his parents being 
George and Susanna (Christ) Wise. The fa- 
ther was a native of Ohio, but had moved to 
Stark county with his parents when quite 
young. The mother was a native of Stark 
county, having been born in Lake township. 
Soon after their marriage they located in 
Holmes county, where they resided for two 
years, but later they returned to Stark county 
and settled in Lake township, where they con- 
tinued to reside on the Christ farm until their 
deaths. George Wise was born July 6, 18 10, 
and died January 21, 1893. The date of his 
wife's birth is January 5, 1824, and she died 
May 7, 1898. They were the parents of seven 
children, viz : Christian, Peter C, Adam, Lor- 
etta. Basil E., Harriet E. and Sadie. 

In Lake township, on the farm occupied by 
his parents, Peter C. Wise was reared and grew 
to manhood. He attended the public schools 
and through them received a fair common 
school education, continuing under the parental 
roof until he was twenty-two years old. He 
then entered a flouring-mill in Canton for the 
purpose of learning the trade and remained 
there until he became thoroughly conversant 
with the business in every detail, since when he 
has made that business his life work. In the 
early 'seventies he took upon himself the man- 
agement of the Middlebranch flouring mills, la- 
ter became its owner and has continuously op- 
erated it since. As stated before, the mill was 
built, equipped and first operated by Daniel 
Wise, the grandfather of the present owner of 
the structure. 

On the 4th day of July, 1878, Peter C. 
Wise was united in marriage, in Canton, Oiiio, 
to Miss Louisa Minser, a native of Stark coun- 
ty, born June 28, 1855. She was the daughter 
of Daniel and Martha (Lectors) Min- 
ser, who were early residents of the 
county. They settled in Oval City, Plain 



39 



626 



OLD LANDMARKS 



township, wliere they have since contin- 
ued to reside. To them tliree children were 
born, only one of whom, Loretta, still survives, 
both the other children dying when qnite 
yonng. 

In politics Mr. Wise is identified with the 
Democratic party and has always taken an act- 
ive interest in j^olitical matters, especially those 
pertaining to local affairs, though he has never 
had any craving whatever for political prefer- 
ment. He and his wife are members of the 
Progressive Brethren church and are always 
interested in religious and charitable affairs. 
He has a good business, which is both profitable 
and prosperous, and enjoys the confidence and 
esteem, not only of his patrons, but of all those 
with whom he comes in contact. 



^VILLIAM H. WISE was born on the 
farm where he now lives in Plain township. 
Stark county, Ohio, July lO, 1859. His father 
•was .Alexander M. Wise, a native of Washing- 
ton county, Pennsylvania, bom in 1834, while 
liis mother was Phoe1)e C. Wise, born in Plain 
township, Stark county, Ohio, in 1837. They 
were married in the city of Canton, Ohio, and 
settled on the farm now owned and occupied by 
their son, William H,, which was their home 
during all of the years of their married .life. 
Five children were born to their union, viz: 
Edgar S.. now a resident of Auburn, Indiana; 
>\'illiam H., the subject of this sketch; Emma 
J., wife of George Wheatley, resides at Cleve- 
land: Bertha A., wife of Joseph Lawrence, of 
West Richfield, Ohio ; Calvin A., who is a resi- 
dent of Cleveland. Ohio. The mother died on 
the old hnnic place in 1873, at the age of thirty- 
si.x years, while her husband survived her some 
twenty-three years, dying at Greensburg, Ohio, 
December 26, 1896. when in the sixty-second 
year of his age. 

William 11. Wise was born, reared and 
s:re\v 1(1 nrmluHxl on the farm where he now 



lives and where he has spent the greater part 
of his life. *He received a good common school 
education and, being natm'ally a student and 
fond of reading, has thereby adtied nuich to 
his store of knowledge. He is a thorough 
farmer and the first years of his manhood were 
devoted to agricultural pursuits. Later he be- 
came a government employe and spent fifteen 
years of his life in the service, carrying the 
mail from Oval City to Middlebranch. Delib- 
erate and stead}' in disposition, temperate in 
his habits and ever cauti(Xis and watchful, no 
employe of the federal go\'ernment could have 
performed his duties more faithfully. While 
by no means parsimonious, he is not a lavish 
spender. Whcit he makes is either expended 
for something useful or laid by for a time of 
need. ^Villiam H. Wise is one of those fortu- 
nate few wh.o rarely find themselves hard up. 
Their tastes are simple and easily gratified and 
so the surplus in the treasury is never depleted. 

February 22, 1882, William H. Wise was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Essig, a 
daughter of Solomon and Catharine (\Varst- 
ler) Essig, old and highly respected residents 
of Stark county, she having been born on her 
father's farm in I 'lain township, August 14, 
i86t. There she was reared and grew to wo- 
manhood, receiving a good education and 
learning many lessons of usefulness and profit. 
Both of Mrs. Wise's parents died on the old 
homestead, the mother at the age of fifty- 
eight years, the father in the si.\tv-se\enth year 
of his age. To Mr. and Mrs. William 1 1. Wise 
three children have been born. Ruth L"., Harry 
.\. and Raymond S. 

In jiolitics William II. Wise is a Democrat 
and, while broad and liberal in his \iews, he is, 
nexertheless, active and zealous in the interests 
of iu's party. He is neither an office-seeker 
nor an office-holder and has no desire to become 
either. His indi\idnal interests occupy enough 
of liis time to drown any ambition that might 
siiring up in that direction and his income from 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



D27 



his splendidly cultivated one-hundred-acre 
farm in Plain township and other property 
which he owns as such as to allay any craving 
he might have for the perquisites which flow 
from, the public crib. He is a member of the 
Junior Order of United American Mechanics. 
Air. and Mrs. Wise have been for many years 
members of the Brethren church, and both are 
deeply interested iti the cause of religion and 
charity, their contributions to each being both 
regular and generous. Their domestic rela- 
tions are all that could be desired. They have 
a comfortable home, sumptuously furnished 
and well supplied with e\'ery need. 



BASIL E. WISE, merchant and postmas- 
ter of Oval City, Stark county, the subject of 
this sketch, was born in Lake township, May 
II, 1856. His parents were George and Sus- 
anna (Christ) Wise,- the former born in Plain 
township, July 6, 1810, while the latter was 
bom in Lake township, January 5, 1823. They 
were married July 18, 1842, in Lake township, 
and soon thereafter mo\-ed to Holmes county, 
where the}- resided for two years. They then 
returned to Stark county, and took up their 
residence upon the old homestead where they 
lived up to the time of their deaths, he dying 
January 21. 1893, '\vhile her death occurred 
]\Tay 7. i8q8. To Mr. and Mrs. George Wise 
nine children were bom, two of whom died in 
infancy. The others are, Christian, who is a 
farmer in Plain township; Peter C, proprietor 
of the ]\ii(ldle Branch Flouring Mills; Adam, 
who is a farmer of J'lain township; Loretta, 
who is the wile of John Lilly, of Canton; Ba- 
sil E., the subject of this sketch; Harriet E., 
who is the wife of George W. Geib and resides 
in Lake tnwnship; Sarah E., who is the wife of 
A. r>. Winnett, of Cleveland, Ohio. 

On the farm of his father, in Lake town- 
ship. Basil E. ^Vise was reared and grew to 
manhr)i-id. Tbe advantages of a good educa- 



tion were afforded him and, like the thought- 
ful, persevering youth that he was, he profited 
by his opportunities. He attended the public 
schools of Stark county until he was conversant 
with all of the branches therein taught, and 
then took the regular course at Mt. Union Col- 
lege. For two years he was employed as a 
clerk in a mercantile establishment in Canton, 
at the end of which time he felt that he was 
amply qualified to branch out in business for 
hunself. In 1881 he put in a stock of general 
merchandise in the little town of Middlebranch 
and from the very first was gratifyingly suc- 
cessful. In 1883 he erected a large business 
house in Middlebranch and stocked it with a 
full supply of the very latest articles in the 
dry goods line. For t\\ent\--one years he con- 
ducted his business in Middlebranch, drawing 
trade from a wide scope of country and year 
by year adding to his numerous customers. On 
the night of April 2, 1902. he met his first great 
financial disaster. His splendid dry-goods 
store, together with the great part of its val- 
uable stock and many adjoining buildings, v.-ere 
totally destroyed by fire. After the fire ]Mr. 
Wise took a trip to the Pacific coast, traveling 
particularly through California, Oregon and 
Washington. While in the west se\-eral busi- 
ness propositions were made him, and after 
returning home he determined to investigate 
some of these projjositions. an.d with this pur- 
pose in view he went to Sunnyside. \\'ashing- 
ton, where he remained over three months. 
Learning of the great producti\eness of the 
soil in the Yakima valley, he made large invest- 
ments in real estate there, including a business 
l)!ock. A few months after the fire which de- 
stro}-ed his Ohio property, his wife, Mary J. 
Wise, was appointed postmistress at Oval City, 
Ohi(), which position she still retains. She is 
a very bright and intelligent lady and has taken 
a deep interest in political matters, especially 
(hiring the McKinley campaigns. She has also 
tnkcn an acti\e part in church matters and was 



628 



OLD LANDMARKS 



elected by the national conference to several 
state positions and has frequently been sent as 
delegate to state conferences of her church. 
Mr. Wise has now under construction at Oval 
City a large department store and expects to 
again engage in the general mercantile business. 

Although an acknowledged member of the 
Democratic party, for twelve years Basil E. 
Wise was postmaster of Oval City, where he 
also engaged in business and where his efficient 
and impartial administration of the duties of 
his office won the sanction and approval of 
nearly every patron of the place. 

On March 25, 1883, Basil E. Wise was uni- 
ted in marriage to Miss Mary Fry, a lady of 
many accomplishments and splendid intellect 
and a daughter of William S. and Anna Eliza- 
beth (Sandoe) Fry, all natives of Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania. The father died in Can- 
ton, January 6, 1900, when in his sixty-third 
year. Mr. Fry was the father of eight children, 
viz: Mary. Isaac J., Anna C, Sarah, John, 
Adam, Ada and Lettie. All grew to maturity, 
are good citizens and worthy members of so- 
ciety. Mr. and Mrs. Basil E. Wise are the 
parents of one son, Hugo Paul, who is a youth 
well worthy of the honorable parentage from 
when he springs. 

The real estate holdings of Mr. Wise are 
not large, but they are valuable. He is the 
owner of some fifty very desirable town lots 
and a tract of land comprising some fifty acres 
adjacent to the city. In connection with his 
other duties he has for some seventeen years 
dealt profitably in grain, at Middlebranch. He 
is the owner of the Middlebranch elevator, a 
structure that has for years past taken care of 
more grain than many elevators three times its 
size. The people of the vicinity have come to 
lenrn that, after all, much more depends upon 
the enterprise of the dealer than upon the size 
of his elevator. 

He and his good wife are active members 
and liberal supporters of the Progressive 



Brethren church and are regular attendants 
upon its services. They are a most exemplary 
couple, with enviable domestic relations, each 
possessed of many noble traits of character 
which commend them to the respect and esteem 
of ail who know them. In church work he has 
held various offices, and also as teacher and 
superintendent of the Brethren Sunday school. 



MRS. ELIZABETH SPEELMAN.— As 
one of the most venerable citizens which Stark 
county can claim, and as a representative of 
one of the earliest pioneer families of the coun- 
ty where she was born, this aged and re- 
vered lady merits a tribute in this work. She 
was born on the farm where she now lives, in 
Plain township, on the 27th of August, 1810, 
so that on the same relative date in 1903 she 
will have attained the \'ery advanced age of 
ninety-three years. She is a daughter of John 
and Margaret (Swinehart) Palmer,, who were 
natives of Pennsylvania, to which state they re- 
turned soon after the birth of the subject of 
this sketch, but her father died shortly after- 
ward, and her mother then returned to Stark 
countv. where she remained for a long term, 
passing the closing days of her life in Crawford 
covnity, Ohio. 

Mrs. Elizabeth (Palmer) Speelman was 
thus reared in Stark coimty, where she grew 
up in the home of her paternal grandfather, 
Christopher Palmer, receiving such educational 
advantages as were afforded in the primitive 
schools of the pioneer epoch in this section. 
With the exception of a period of a few years 
she has consecutively retained her residence in 
Plain township. On the 27th of March, 1834. 
was solemnized her marriage to George Speel- 
man. who was born in the state of Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 28th of December, 180Q, and who 
was a member of one of the pioneer families 
of Stark county, Ohio, where he was engaged 
in agricultural pursuits, in Plain township, up 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



629 



to the time of his death, which occurred on the 
.i8th of March, 1S73. Of this uiiion were 
born eiglit children, two of whom died in in- 
fancy, while the remaining six lived to attain 
years of maturity, their names being here en- 
tered in the order of their birth : Margaret, 
C'atlierine, V'alentine, Mary Ann, Sarah and 
Elizabeth. Five of the children are living at 
the present time. Mrs. Speelman has been a 
woman of industrious habits and earnest and 
noble character, and from her youth up has 
been, since May, 1826, a consistent member of 
the Lutheran church. In the community where 
she has passed the greater portion of her excep- 
tionally long life she is honored and revered 
by all who know her, while she is signally well 
preserved for one of her venerable age. 



JEFFERSON C. ETLING is a native 
of Ohio, born in Chippewa township, Wayne 
county, on the 4th of April, 1844. His father, 
William Etiing, was born in 1815 in Pennsyl- 
vania, and his mother, who bore the maiden 
name of Abbie Myers, was born in Washing- 
ton county, that state, in the year 1821, When 
about two years old William Etiing was taken 
-to Wayne county, Ohio, by his parents. John 
and Catherine (Basinger) Etiing, who settled 
in the township of Chippewa as early as 181 7, 
the family being among the first pioneers in 
that part of the state. \Villiam was reared 
amid the rugged scenes of pioneer life and 
when old enough engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits for himself and continued the same to the 
end of his days. He accumulated a handsome 
property, including a fine farm of one hundred 
and sixty-one acres, and became a man of con- 
siderable consequence in his community, sei'v- 
ing for a number of years as township trustee, 
besides taking an active and prominent part in 
public affairs in general. He was a Democrat 
of tlie old Jacksonian school and to some ex- 
tent a local leader of his party, having been a 



man of broad intelligence, whose judgment in 
politics as well as business affairs always com- 
manded the respect of his fellow citizens. He 
lived a long and useful life and at its close, in 
October, 1893, was deeply lamented by the 
peo]Dle among whom his lot for so many years 
had been cast. Mrs. Etiing survived her hus- 
band a little over ten months, departing this 
life in February, 1893, honored and respected 
by all who knew her. William and Abbie 
Etiing reared a family of eight children, all 
living and the majority of them well settled in 
life. 

The childhood and youth of Jefferson C. 
Etiing were spent on the home farm in the 
country. He was early taught those lessons 
of industry and frugality which tend to develop 
strong character and a high order of citizen- 
ship. After attending the district schools at 
intervals during his minority he learned the 
trade of brick-laying, which with the pursuit 
of agriculture he has since made his life work. 
Mr. Etiing became an efficient workman and 
his skill as a brick mason. is to be seen in the 
number of buildings which he erected in his own 
county and throughout the county of Stark. 
For a number of years he has taken large 
contracts in various parts of the country and 
has reaped abundant pecuniary rewards from 
his labors, being now one of the well-to-do men 
of the township and county in which he lives. 

Mr. Etiing came to Stark county in 1882 
and at this time owns a fine farm of one hun- 
dred and ten acres in Lawrence township, his 
home being one of the neatest and most attrac- 
tive rural residences in this part of the country. 
As an agriculturist he is fully up to date, as 
the fine condition of his well cultivated fields 
and the general appearance of everything upon 
the premises abundantly attest. His place be- 
speaks the home of a man of progressive ideas, 
the buildings, fences and other improvements 
being in first class order, while the general neat- 
ness characteristic of the farm shows the pro- 



630 



OLD LANDMARKS 



prietor a man of good taste as well as of an 
enterprising spirit. 

In July. 1862, Mr. Etling enli.sted in Com- 
pany A, One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio 
\'olunteer Infantry, but in September follow- 
ing he was transferred to Company G, with 
which he served with an honorable record for a 
period of three years. Not long after entering 
the service his regiment was sent to the front 
and he experienced all of the realities of war in 
some of the most noted campaigns of the Re- 
bellion, taking part in a number of battles, 
among which \-\ere Chickasaw Heights. De- 
cember 26, 1862, Arkansas Post, January 11, 
T863, Thompson's Hill, May i, 1863, Black 
River, May 17 of the same year, the siege of 
Vicksburg. where he was under fire almost con- 
tinuously for forty-seven days, and the siege 
of Jackson, where eleven days of hard fighting 
A\ere required to reduce the enemy's works and 
capture the city. While on board the steamer 
"City Bell," which plied the Red river, in 1864, 
Mr. Etling, with others of his command, was 
captured and for thirteen months thereafter 
languished in \arious Confederate prisons, suf- 
fering all the privations and hardships which 
such a condition imposed. He was paroled at 
Columljus Jul}- 7. 1865, and in due time re- 
ceived his discharge, after which he returned 
home and resumed his trade, which, in connec- 
tion with farming, he still carries on. Mr. 
Etling's record as a soldier is one of which any 
loyal defender of the flag might well feel proud. 
He discharged his e\'ery duty as became a true 
patriot, never shrank from a danger, and is now 
cheered by the consciousness of helping crush 
the greatest rebellion in the history of the world 
and bearing no little part in reuniting the coun- 
try in bonds of permanent union. 

Mr. Etling's first wife, to whom he was 
married in December, 1867, was Miss Rei- 
noehl. who bore him children as follows : Met- 
tle, Delia and Nellie. Some time after her 
death he entered the marriage relation with 



Mary Guidelsperger, of Wayne county, Ohio, 
a union blessed with one son and one daughter, 
Frank and Anna. Mr. Etling is a Republican 
in politics and takes an active interest in the 
leading questions of the day, on all of which 
he has well formed and intelligent opinions. 
Fraternally he belongs to H. Bevard Post No. 
540, Grand Army of the Republic, and is also 
identified with the Masonic order, holding 
membership with Elliott Lodge at Canal Ful- 
ton. He is a firm believer in revealed religion, 
being a faithful and zealous communicant of 
the Presbyterian church at Canal Fulton, vto 
which congregation his wife and family also 
belong. Mr. Etling is an affable gentleman, 
pleasing in person and address and is held in 
high esteem by his neighbors and fellow citi- 
zens. His moral influence in the community 
is strong and marked and he has long been a 
potential factor in the social as well as the pub- 
lic affairs of his township. 



FREDERICK THOMAS ISLER was 
born in the picturesque canton of Bern, 
Switzerland, on the 13th of December. 185 1, 
being a son of August and Adeline (Gennot) 
Isler, who were likewise born in that fair lit- 
tle repulilic, being of old Franco-Swiss stock. 
Christian Isler, the grandfather of the subject, 
was likewise born in Switzerland, as was also 
his wife, and there he was engaged in farming 
and in the work of his trade, that of shoe- 
maker. FTe there died in 1859, his wife having 
preceded him into eternal rest. They became 
the parents of one son and two daughters, 
namely: August, father of the subject; Ade- 
line, who was born in 1814, is still living in 
Switzerland and is eighty-nine years of age; 
and Mar}', who was born in 1816, is deceased. 
August Isler was born in the year 1810, in 
the little village of Asuel, on the border line 
between the western portion of canton Bern 
and Germany, and there he was engaged in ag- 




QAr:. 




CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



631 



ricultural pursnits up to tlie time of his emi- 
gration to rVmerica. In Bern, in the year 1842, 
was solemnized liis marriage to AdeHne Gen- 
not, who was a representative of an old Swiss 
family of high standing in the community, and 
both he and his wife became zealous members 
of the Lutheran Reformed church. The chil- 
dren of this union were as follows, all having 
been born in Bern : Adeline, who was born in 
1843, died in Canton, Ohio, in 1886, having 
been the wife of Fritz Shopart; Marie died in 
early life, before the emigration of the family 
to the United States; August, who was born in 
1848, is a successful farmer of Perry township. 
Stark county ; Frederick T. is the immediate 
subject of this memoir; Henry, who was born 
in 1853, is now a resident of Canton; Charles, 
who was born in 1855, 'S a resident of Cleve- 
land, this state; Bertha, who was born in i860, 
is tlie wife of George Scott, of Perry township, 
this county; and Arthur, who was born in 
1865, resides in Plain township. 

In the year 1872 August Isler emigrated to 
the United States, being accompanied by his 
wife and such of their children as had not pre- 
viously come to America, the latter of whom 
they joined in Stark county. He and his sons 
farmed on shares in the vicinity of Canton for 
a number of years, and later he purchased a 
farm in Perry township, where he made his 
home until his death, in 1883, while his de- 
voted wife survived until 1897, liotb being laid 
to rest in Westlawn cemetery, in Canton. 

Frederick T. Tsler, the immediate subject 
ot this tribute, came to America in 1870 and 
settled in Canton with his brother and sister 
who had previously located here. For the first 
three years he was employed in the Smith brick 
yard, and later, with other members of the 
family, he secured a farm near, the city and 
they operated the same on shares for a period 
of two years. He then came to Canton and 
secured employment in a restaurant conducted 
by David Olierlv, with whom he remained for 



nine years, gaining a thorough knowledge o£ 
the business in all its departments. In 1883 he 
purchased the restaurant of Martin Engelhart, 
on Fifth street, where he continued the enter- 
prise for three years, at the expiration of which 
he purchased a brick building at the southwest 
corner of Cherry and Fourth streets, remodel- 
ing the same and fitting the same up for his 
restaurant business, and in these attractive and 
eligible quarters he continued to devote his at- 
tention to catering to the demands of a repre- 
sentative and appreciative patronage until 
within a short interval befr)re his death, which 
occurred on the 22d of September, 1902, 
while his mortal remains repose in the beauti- 
ful cemetery of Westlawn. He was a man of 
stning mentality and his convictions were ever 
ably fortified. His political sup])ort was given 
to the Democratic party, of whose principles 
he was an ardent advocate, and fraternally he 
was identified with the French Mutual Aid So- 
ciety, and other organizations. Prior to his 
death he had acquired much valuable real estate 
in Canton, and was known as one of the city's 
able and honorable business men, while he had 
a veritable host of friends in Stark county, be- 
ing well known to its citizens. 

In the city of Canton, on the 3d of Octo- 
ber, 1876, Mr. Isler was united in marriage to 
Miss Selecta Richards, who was born in Perry 
township, Stark county, being a daughter o£ 
Adam and Mary Ann (Ryden) Richards, both 
of whom were born in Pennsylvania, of Ger- 
man ancestry, and who came from the old Key- 
stone state to Stark county, where Mr. Richards 
became an influential farmer of Perry township. 
Both he and his wife are deceased and their 
remains rest in the cemetery of St. John's 
Catholic church, in Canton, both having been 
o^immunicants of this church, as is also their 
daughter, Mrs. Isler. Mrs. Isler survives her 
honored husband and still resides in the attrac- 
tive family homestead, on the southwest corner 
of North Cherrv and Fourth streets. Mr. and 



632 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Mrs. Isler became the parents of three sons, 
William H. and Charles W., who are success- 
fully conducting the restaurant business estab- 
lished by their father, while they are fully 
maintaining the high standard of catering serv- 
ice which the establishment gained under his 
able management, and Joseph, who died Feb- 
ruary 23, 1885, aged four months. 

William H. Isler was born in Canton, on 
> the 23d of November,, 1878, and was here 
reared and educated.^ On the 23d of Novem- 
ber, 1899, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Ida White, of this city, a daughter of B. C. 
White, a well-known citizen of Massillon and 
of English ancestry, and they have one son, 
Howard. 

Charles W. Isler was born in Canton, on 
the i8th of October, 1881, and is associated 
with his brother in business, as before noted, 
while both are recognized as progressive and 
energetic young business men and enjoy 
marked popularity in the city which has 
ever been their home. On the 22d of 
July, i.go2, Charles W. Isler was united 
in marriage to Miss Lillian Dorothy 
Heisig. daughter of Christian and Cath- 
erine (Lung) Heisig, of this city. Both 
brothers give their allegiance to the Demo- 
cratic party and their religious faith is that of 
St. lohn's church. 



H. W. LYTLE.— The name Lytle is a link 
in the chain that connects the present day with 
a time long past, as it has been well and favor- 
ably known in Stark county ever since this part 
of the state was looked upon as the western 
verge of civilization. As early as the year 181 7 
the subject's grandfather, Andrew Lytle, a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania, penetrated the wilderness 
of eastern Ohio and entered land in what is now 
Lawrence toAvnship, Stark county, where in 
due time he laid the foundation of what after- 
wards proved to be a substantial home. He 



was one of the rugged, strong-armed, firm- 
willed pioneers of the old time, bore his part 
in clearing and developing the country and be- 
came one of the prosperous farmers and enter- 
prising citizens of the community which he as- 
sisted to establish. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Jane Preston, was also of Pennsyl- 
vania birth and several of his children were 
likewise born in that state. Andrew and Jane 
Lytle reared their sons and daughters to man- 
hood and womanhood and finished their earth- 
ly labors many years ago, the former dying 
where thei family originally settled and the 
latter in Lee county, Illinois. They had eleven 
children, four sons serving with distinction in 
the late Rebellion, one of them being killed in 
the battle of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. 
Among their children was a son who also went 
by the name of Andrew. He was Ixirn in 
Pennsylvania, accompanied his parents to 
Stark county when young and here grew to ma- 
turity. In early life he learned the carpenter's 
trade, but later devoted his attention principally 
to agricultural pursuits and stock raising. He 
became possessor of a good farm in this coun- 
ty on which he lived and prospered for a num- 
ber of years, deriving the greater part of his 
incoine from the sale of sheep and wool, having 
been one of the largest sheep raisers in this 
part of the country. At one time he moved 
to Illinois, but did not long remain in that state, 
soon returning to his home in Stark county, 
\\here his death occurred in 1894 at the age of 
seventy-nine years. He was an active worker 
in the old Whig party in early life, but later be- 
came a staunch Republican and as such con- 
tinued to the end of his days. He was a good 
neighbor, a loyal friend and a most reputable 
citizen and enjoyed in a marked degree the 
confidence and esteem of the people of his com- 
munity. Before her marriage the wife of An- 
drew Lytle. Jr., was Miss Elizabeth Richey, a 
native of Stark county. Her parents, John and 
Nellie (Mickson) Richey, were born, reared 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



633 



and married in Pennsylvania, but about the 
vear 181 7 left that state and journeyed west- 
ward as far as Stark county, Ohio, settling in 
what is now Lawrence township, with the pio- 
neer history of which they were prominently 
identified. Mrs. Lytle bore her husband four 
children and departed this life on the 9th of 
April, 1889. Two of the sons of Andrew and 
Elizabeth Lytle are living, viz : Lee H., a 
sketch of whom appears in this review, and 
H. W., under whose name this article is writ- 
ten; the deceased members of the family are 
Frank L. and Mabel, both of whom died in 
this county. 

H. VV. Lytle, the direct subject of this 
sketch, was born in Lawrence township, Stark 
county, Ohio, July 19, 1859, and spent his early 
life at home assisting his father to cultivate the 
farm. During the winter seasons he attended 
the district schools and by making the most of 
his opportunities became a fairly good scholar, 
and although he is not educated in the sense the 
term is usually understood, he is nevertheless 
intelligent and well informed, possessing a val- 
uable practical knowledge obtained by coming 
in contact with the world in various business 
capacities. He is also quite a reader and a close 
observer and always takes pains to keep himself 
thoroughly posted relative to the leading pub- 
lic questions and political issues of the day, 
especially those bearing on state and national 
legislation. Mr. Lytle remained with his par- 
ents until their death, when he started out for 
himself, choosing the pursuit of agriculture as 
his life work. He has followed farming with 
success and profit to the present time, owning 
a beautiful little place of sixty-five acres in 
Lawrence township, which he has greatly im- 
proved and brought to a successful state of 
cultivation. His farm is admirably situated for 
general agricultural purposes and he has spared 
neither ])ains nor expense in making' it attrac- 
tive and in surrounding himself and family 
with the comforts and conveniences of life. 



Mr. Lytle is a progressive farmer and pros- 
ecutes his work with due reference to method, 
using the latest and most approved implements 
and labor-saving devices. He is also a capable 
manager, as is attested by the fact of his de- 
riving a much larger income from his small 
place than others receive from farms many 
times its area. By energy and well-directed in- 
dustry and thrift he has amassed a comfortable 
competence, being among the well-to-do agri- 
culturists of his township, as he is also one of 
its enterprising men and representative citizens. 
Mr. Lytle has always stood for progress and 
any movement with this object in view is sure to 
enlist his influence and hearty co-operation. He 
is essentially a man of the people and, as a true 
American with the good of his fellow men at 
heart, he discharges the duties of citizenship 
with an eye single to the best interests of the 
community, the state and the nation. He affil- 
iates with the Republican party and labors 
earnestly for its success, notwithstanding which 
he is popular with the ]")eop!e, irrespective of 
political ties, many of his wai'mest personal 
friends holding opinions directly opposite those 
he advocates. 

Mr. Lytle has been greatly blessed in his 
home life and to see him at his best is to meet 
him in the midst of the family circle, where, 
sliut in from the cares of the world, he greets 
his friends with a hospitality of peculiar charm. 
He is eminently sociable and all who come 
within the range of his influence bear testimony 
to his wholesouled companionship and hearty 
good cheer. Believing' that life was given man 
to enjoy, he endea\'crs to get from the world 
all the comforts and happiness obtainable and 
to this end he not only provides well for him- 
self, but is liberal in caring for the welfare of 
those dependent upon him. In the year 1893 
was solemnized the ceremony by which Mr. 
Lytle and Miss Jennie Keefifer, of Wayne coun- 
ty. Ohio, were united in the bonds of holy wed- 
lock. This union, a most fortunate and happy 



634 



OLD LANDMARKS 



one, has been blessed with two bright children, 
Walter B. and Godie. 

Lee H. Lytle, an older brother of H. W. 
Lytle, and, like the latter, one of the well- 
known and highly esteemed citizens of Law- 
rence township, was born in Stark county, 
Ohio, on the ist day of November,' 1857. 
Reared amid the bracing airs of the country, 
he early developed strength of body and def- 
initeness of purpose which enabled him while 
still a mere youth to lay plans for his subse- 
quent course of life. His educational training 
emiiraced a knowledge of the branches consti- 
tuting the common school course, and, like the 
majority of country boys, he assisted his father 
with the varied duties of the farm until old 
enough to engage in some kind of business for 
himself. With a natural taste for tilling the 
soil, he first turned his attention to farming, 
but later embarked in business at Canal Ful- 
ton, handling agricultural implements, which 
line of trade he pursued with liberal results for 
several years, meanwhile looking after his 
farming interest in Lawrence township. Mr. 
Lytle now de\'Otes his attention largely to the 
farm, which consists of eighty-five acres of fer- 
tile and finely improved land situated in one of 
the most highly favored sections of Stark coun- 
ty. On this place are a comfortable dwelling, 
well supplied with modern conveniences, good 
barns and other outbuildings, while the fences 
and fine conditions of the fields, together with 
the many other evidences of prosperity, be- 
speak the careful attention and progressive 
spirit of the proprietor. Mr. Lytle is a mode! 
farmer, as iiis place abundantly attests, and 
his present independent financial condition 
bears testimony to the industry, and good man- 
agement with which he has pursued his voca- 
tion. As a citizen he is recognized as one of the 
influential as well as one of the useful and re- 
sourceful men of his community, taking an act- 
ive interest in whatever tends to benefit the 
country and develop its resources and support- 



ing liberally ever measure looking to the social 
and moral welfare of the people of his neigh- 
borliood. He enjoys the confidence and esteem 
of his fellow men and as an earnest supporter 
of the Republican party has long been a potent 
factor in local politics. Mr. Lytle has never 
been an office-seeker, notwithstanding which he 
was elected assessor of his township, the duties 
of which position he discharged in a straight- 
forward, business-like mantier, highly credit- 
able to himself and satisfactory to the public 
which he served. 

In the year 1882 Mr. Lytle was united in 
marriage to Miss Maggie Campbell, of Stark 
county, the union resulting in the birth of four 
children, namely; Claude H., Grace M., Mar- 
garet M. and Reed R., all living. Mr. and 
Mrs. Lytle are highly esteemed members of the 
Presbyterian church, being among the most 
active workers and liberal supporters of the lo- 
cal congregation to which they belong. They 
are also widely known socially and their pop- 
ularity is by no means confined to the commu- 
nity in which they live, having numerous ac- 
quaintances throughout the county of Stark. 



WILJ.IAM WARSHELER.— One of the 
oiliest and most highly esteemed residents of 
Stark county, Ohio, is a lady, now in her nine- 
ty-second year, who still resides in Plain town- 
ship, where she was born. April 11, 181 1. 
Her name is Elizabeth ( Essig) Warsheler and 
she is tlie UKither of William Warsheler. of 
Plain township, the subject of this sketch. 
During all the years of her life she has lived in 
Stark comity. She was a babe during the first 
administration of the fourth President of the 
United States, James Madison, and has lived 
during the administration of twenty-one other 
Presidents. She was a child at the beginning 
of oiu' second war with England, a girl of four 
years when ^Vaterloo was fought and Napo- 
leon was exiled to St. Helena and her age was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



635 



ten when he died. Slie was a woman of twen- 
ty-six years when Queen Victoria ascended 
the throne of England, was thirty-five years 
old when the battles of the Mexican war were 
won, and during all of the years of the great- 
ness of Clay and Webster she was old enough 
to know and appreciate the renown they were 
winning as statesmen. Her long and useful 
life covers the greater part of the greatest cent- 
urv the world has ever known. 

William Warsheler, of Plain township. 
Stark county, son of the lady above men- 
tioned, was- born on the farm where he now 
lives, October 15. 1835. His father was Sam- 
uel Warsheler, who was born in Columbiana 
county, Ohio, in 1805, and came to Stark 
county, with his parents, in 1807. His father 
was George Warsheler, a native of Maryland, 
who died in Stark county, Ohio, in 1838. Eliz- 
abeth Essig, born in 181 1, was united in mar- 
riage to Samuel Warsheler in April, 1828. Her 
father was John Essig, a native of Pennsyl- 
vania who located in Stark county during the 
first years of the last century. Samuel War- 
sheler died in 1S77, while his wife, Elizabeth, 
now in her ninety-second year, still survives 
in comparatively good health and possessed of 
far greater mental vigor than would common- 
ly be attributed to one of her great age. She 
is the mother of six children, four of whom 
grew to maturity, namely : Mary, who was 
the wife of Abram Candle, died when sixty 
years of age, in Plain township ; Susan was the 
wife of William Candle and died in Canton 
township when sixty-seven years old ; Simon 
died in infancy; William is the subject of this 
sketch; Elizabeth, who was the wife of Jacob 
Prough, died in Missouri when about thirty- 
eight years of age; Sarah died in childhood. 
It will be seen that of the entire family, Will- 
iam and his venerable mother only survive. 

William Warsheler was reared and grew to 
manhood on the farm whereon he has resided 
all the days of his life. The onlv avocation he 



has ever followed has been that of agriculture. 
In his boyhood, schools were not numerous, 
and his education was therefore limited, but 
had he been blessed with the opportunities of 
the boys of today his ambition would have 
stopped little short of a finished education. As 
it was he secured a fair knowledge of all the 
common school branches then taught, which 
knowledge he has since supplemented by exten- 
sive reading, so that today there are very few 
riien in his locality better informed. 

On July 2, 1857, William Warsheler was 
united in marriage to Miss Eliza Jane Dine, a 
young lady who was possessed of most of the 
accomplishments and all of the virtues of the 
age in which she lived. She was a native of 
Franklin, county, Pennsylvania, born ]\Iarch 
6, 1833, hc'' parents being David and Susanna 
Dine, natives of Franklin county, Pennsyl- 
vania, who located in Pike township. Stark 
county, about 1825. Both have now been dead 
many years, the mother having been eighty- 
five years of age at the time of her demise. 
They are well remembered by old residents as 
being among the most thrifty and progressive 
inhabitants of the county in the early days, 
l^o Mr. and Mrs. William Warsheler nine 
children have been born, only four of whom 
are -still living, namely, William B., Sarah, 
Charles and Cora. Sarah is the wife of Nich- 
olas Dickens and Cora is Mrs. Charles Lantz. 
All of the children who have passed away died 
in infancy. 

A most pleasant home, upon a splendid 
farm of seventy-two acres, is that which is oc- 
cupied by Mr. and Mrs. Warsheler and fam- 
ily. He carries on general farming and stock 
raising and in this calling, the only one he has 
ever followed, he has been quite successful. 
In politics he is a Democrat, has always acted 
with that party and is always sufificiently inter- 
ested in the result of the elections to take an 
active part in the campaign. Outside of one or 
two local oflices, he has never held or aspired 



636 



OLD LANDMARKS 



to a political place. He served as trustee of 
Plain township three years and has been a 
school director for seventeen years. In all of 
the affairs of his township and county he has 
taken an active part and is invariably identified 
with e\-er}- progressi\-e mo^^ement. Strong and 
vigorous mentally and physically, the weight 
of his sixty-seven years sits lightly upon his 
shoulders, he being one of those, like his vener- 
ble mother, with whom time deals gently. Ev- 
erything indicates that Mrs. Warsheler may 
have full confidence in being able to round out 
the full measure of a century of life, and that 
her worthy son eventually may fully equal her 
in longevity. 



HENRY W. HOSSLER was born on a 
farm in Nimishillen township, this county, on 
the 30th of November, 1843, being a son of 
George Hossler, who was born in York county, 
Pennsylvania, on the 20th of February, 181 5, 
being of sturdy German stock and a representa- 
tive of that element which* has proved of so 
signal value in fostering material progTes.s and 
prosperity wherever found in our great Amer- 
ican republic. He was a son of Frederick 
Hossler. who was born near Gettysburg, Penn- 
sylvania, September 8, 1783, and who came to 
Stark county, Ohio, in 1821, and located in 
Osnaburg township as one of its early settlers, 
Avhere he resided only a few years, and then 
TeniOAcd to Marlboro township, where he 
passed the residue of his life, his death oc- 
curring in Marlboro township, in 1843. 
George Hossler, father of the subject, came to 
Stark county with his parents and was here 
reared to manhood, and in Canton township 
he learned the trade of wagonmaking, to 
which he continued to devote his attention for 
the long period of thirty-fi\e years, being a man 
of marked industry and upright character. 
Within this period he resided for varying in- 
tervals of time in Canton, Marlboro, Nimi- 



shillen and Plain townships, and in connection 
with his trade also carried on agricultural pur- 
suits. He died on his farm in Plain township, 
Decemberi 9, 1890, when weU, advanced in 
years. On the 4th of December,, 1842, in 
Nim.ishillen township, George Hossler was uni- 
ted in marriage to Miss Eli^al^eth Hershey, 
who was born in Franklin county, J^ennsyl- 
vania, on the i8th of February, 181 6,. being a 
daughter of John Hershey, who removed from 
the old Keystone state to Stark county, Ohio, 
when she was about sixteen years of age, and 
here she passed the remainder of her life, her 
death occurring on the 31st of May, 1899. 
George anti Elizabeth (Hershey) Hossler be- 
came the parents of seven children, namely : 
Henry W., who is the immediate subject of 
this sketch ; Eliza and John, who both died in 
childhood ; Mary, who is the wife of David 
Warstler, of Canton township ; Ephraim. wlio 
is a resident of the state of Kansas; Elizabeth, 
and Aaron, who reside in the city of Canton, 
this county. 

Henry W. Hossler lived in Nimishillen and 
Marlboro townships during his earlier boy- 
hood, and when he was eight years of age his 
parents removed to Plain township, where he 
was reared to maturity and where he has since 
maintained his home. He secured such educa- 
tiijiK'J advantages as were afforded by the dis- 
trict schools of the middle pioneer days and 
as a youth he learned the wagonmaking trade 
under the direction of his father, the business 
being one which has been followed by many 
members of the family, since the subject's 
grandfather was a skilled workman in this 
line and taught die trade to each of his sons. 
For a period of about twelve years the subject 
continued to be engaged in the work of his 
trade, but since 1875 he has devoted the great- 
er portion (if his time to the settling up of es- 
tates and other public business, having been 
elected justice of the peace of Plain township 
in T871, while in 1889 he was appointed a no- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



637 



tary public, in which office he has ever since 
continued to ser\-e. He is a stanch advocate 
of the principles of the Democratic party and 
has taken an active part in public affairs of a 
local nature, being well fortified in his convic- 
tions and ever ready to defend the same, while 
he has at all times commanded the unqualified 
confidence and esteem of the community. A 
distinctive evidence of this confidence is that 
implied in the fact that he has served as admin- 
istrator, executor, assignee, etc., of seventy- 
six dift'erent estates, while the volume of his 
business is such as to render it expedient for 
him to maintain an office in the city of Can- 
ton. He serxed as justice of the peace for 
eighteen years, and his rulings were ever fair 
and impartial and were but twice reversed by 
higher courts, while holding said office, his 
aim being ever to adopt pacific measures and to 
avoid strained relations among his neighbors 
who came before him for an adjudication of 
their differences. He is also a stockholder 
and was one of the incorporators of the Cen- 
tral Savings Bank of Canton and has served 
as one of the directors of said bank ever since 
its organization in May, 1887. Mr. Hossler 
has a well improved farm of about forty acres 
and on the same has erected an attractive and 
commodious residence and other good build- 
ings. PTe is a man of fine intellectual powers, 
and through personal application and intimate 
association with thei practical affairs of life 
has effectively supplemented the somewhat 
meager educational training of his youthful 
days. 

In the city of Canton, on the 5th of No- 
vember, T885, Mr. Hossler was united in mar- 
riage to ?\Iiss Sarah DeWeese, who was born in 
Osnaburg tOAvnship, this county, being a 
daughter of the late Thomas DeWeese, who 
was one of the pioneers of that section of the 
county and a man who was held in the highest 
esteem by all who knew him. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Hossler five children have been born, the 



eldest of whom, Howard H., died at the age 
of three months, while the other four remain 
at the parental home, their names, in order of 
birth, being as follows: Helen D., Raymond 
R., Nellie R. and Henrv L. 



DANIEL HARMON is a native of Stark 
county, Ohio, born in the township where he 
now lives on the 3d day of September, 
1844. His father. Frederick Harmon, was 
a native of Holland, as was also his mother, 
who bore the maiden name of Cyntliia List. 
These parents came to the United States in 
1836, 'locating first in New York city, and 
from there one year later moved to Cleveland, 
Ohio, where they continued to reside until 
changing their residence to Stark county, in 
1838. By occupation Frederick Harmon was 
a blacksmith. He worked at the trade in 
Canal Fulton for a number of years, and was 
fairly successful m business matters, accum- 
ulating a sufficiency of this world's goods to 
place him in very comfortable circumstances. 
Until the year 18G0 he was a Democrat, but 
when the great Civil war broke out he with- 
drew from his party and from that time until 
his death was an unswerving Republican. Re- 
ligiously he subscribed to the creed of the 
Lutheran Reformed church and throughout 
a long and active career made his life cor- 
respond as nearly as possible to the plain sim- 
ple teachings of Holy Writ. Mr. and Mrs. 
Harmon were the parents of eight children, 
two of whom died in infancy, the others grow- 
ing to manhood and womanhood and becom- 
ing well settled in life. The death of Mr. 
Harmon occurred in 1883, ^t the age of sev- 
enty-seven, his wife surviving him until 1899, 
when she too was called to her eternal rest, 
at the age of ninety years. 

Of the early life and youthful experience 
of Daniel Harmon little need be said, as they 
were in most respects similar to those of the 



638 



OLD LANDMARKS 



majority of boys born and reared in country 
towns. He enjoyed the advantages of the 
public schools of Canal Fulton, and it was 
while a student in the high schools that he 
laid aside his books for the purpose of taking 
up arms to assist in quelling the great Re- 
bellion. On the 4th of November, 1861, he 
enlistetl in Company G, First Battalion, Eight- 
eenth United States Infantry, with which he 
served throughout the war and after the cessa- 
tion of hostilities continued with his command 
until February 15, 1867. Mr. Harmon par- 
ticipated in all the battles in which the Army 
of the Cumberland took part and was one of 
the few of the ill-fated garrison of Ft. Phil 
Kearney that escaped death in the horrible 
massacre of December 22, 1866, one of the 
foulest blots on the pages of American his- 
tory. He never shirked a responsibility, was 
ever ready to go where duty called and against 
his record as a brave and fearless soldier no 
breath of suspicion was ever uttered. After 
his discharge he returned to Stark county and 
for some time thereafter worked at coal min- 
ing, subsequently engaging in the milling busi- 
ness at Canal Fulton, which he carried on for 
several years witli fair pecuniary results. He 
also devoted consideraljle attention to farm- 
ing, in which he still maintains an interest, and 
of late years has been engaged in the ice busi- 
ness, from which source he derives a liberal in- 
come. Mr. Harmon has long been an active 
worker in the Democratic party, and as such 
has been elected to various official positions, 
the first being that of constable, in which he 
served his township faithfully for twelve years. 
In 1886 he was made a member of the school 
board of Canal Fulton, which position he held 
nine years, and subsequently for a period of ten 
years served as township assessor. In 1902 
he was elected to the more responsible office 
of township trustee, and thus far his record has 
fully met tlie expectation of his friends and 
pnn-en highly satisfactory to the public in gen- 



eral. Mr. Harmon is a member of the Odd Fel- 
lows' fraternity, belonging to Lawrence Lodge 
No. 297, at Canal Fulton, in addition to which 
he is also identified with Bevard Post, 
Grand Army of the Republic, and the 
Junior Order of United American Me- 
chanics. In the year 1872 he was united 
in marriage with Miss Lovina Buchtel, 
whose birth occurred in Summit coun- 
ty, Ohio, on the 25th day of May, 1844. Mrs. 
Harmon is one of seven children born to John 
A. and Julia A. (Tritt) Buchtel, of Summit 
county, the father dying in 1885 and the moth- 
er in 1902. Mr. and Mrs. Harmon have 
had four children, namely : Alda, Esther, 
Percy and Lloyd, the last named deceased. 

The life of Mr. Harmon furnishes a com- 
mendable example of the successful self-made 
man. He early began making his own way 
in the world and had little to encourage him in 
his battles with adverse circumstances. The 
meager assistance rendered him, and his de- 
termined efiforts to develop the better man 
within, were in due time crowned with abund- 
ant rewards, as he succeeded by industry and 
thrift in making for himself a name which all 
who know him respect, while his honor and in- 
tegrity in every relation of life are eminently 
worthy of emulation. 



REV. JOSEPH F. FAHS.— The Fahs 
family is of stanch German lineage, and -in the 
immediate line the original ancestor in Amer- 
ica was Joseph Fahs, who emigrated from the 
fatherland to tliis country in the colonial epoch, 
taking up his abode in York, Pennsylvania, 
where he passed the residue of his life, being a 
man of exalted integrity of character and one 
whose strength was as his days. He was ac- 
companied to America by his_ wife and several 
children, and other children were born after 
he established his home in the new world, one 
of the nuni1>er being Joseph Fahs, who was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



639 



born 311 York, York county, Pennsylvania, and 
who figures as the grandfather of the subject 
of this sketch. Joseph Fahs was a soldier in 
the Continental line during the war of the Rev- 
olution, and thus aided in the founding- of the 
greatest republic the world has ever known. 
After the war he returned to his native town, 
where the balance of his life was passed, his 
vocation having been that of carpetweaver. 
His son, Samuel, father of the subject, was 
born in York about 1 800, and was there reared 
to maturity, learning the trade of cabinetmak- 
ing, and continuing to follow the same during 
his entire career in business. His noble and 
devoted wife, whose maiden name was Cath- 
erine Myers, was likewise born in York, and 
there they lived until they responded to the 
inexorable summons of death, both having 
been members of the Moravian church and per- 
sons of distinctive worth of character. Of 
their children brief data is as follows : Rachel, 
who became the wife of George Wantz, died 
in York; the second child died in infancy; 
Oliver died m York, at the age of thirty-five 
years; Joseph Frederick, the immediate 
subject of this review, was the next in order 
of birth ; David is still a resident of Y''ork, 
Pennsylvania ; Samuel died in boyhood ; Bar- 
bara, who became the wife of Ernst Wagner, 
died at York; Catherine died at the age of 
twenty-eight years; Louisa is the wife of 
Charles Stubbins, of York, and there also is 
the home of Sarah, the wife of J. L. Getz. 

Joseph Frederick Fahs, whose name initi- 
ates this article, was born in the old home- 
stead in York, Pennsylvania, on the i8th of 
January, 1825, so that he has now attained the 
age of nearly four score years, though it must 
not be implied that this fact militates against his 
activity, energy and devotion to his responsi- 
ble duties, for his is the vigor begotten of riglit 
living, and he expects to be a worker until he 
is called to the sphere of the eternal life. He 
received his early educational discipline in his 



native town, having there attended an acad- 
emy conducted by Professor Blech, an able 
educator. At the age of fourteen Mr. Fahs 
we;it to the Moravian town of Lititz, in Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, where he was em- 
ployed as clerk in a mercantile establishment 
for a period of four years, and while there he 
devoted as much time as possible to the study 
of theological subjects, under the direction of 
clergymen of the Moravian church. At the 
age of eighteen he returned to York, where he 
was employed as clerk in a general merchandise 
store for about two years. In the meanwhile 
he had been canvassing ways and means that 
he might continue his educational training, his 
desire being to fit himself for a wider sphere of 
endeavor, and at the age of twenty years he 
had so thoroughly improved his time by per- 
sonal study and application that he became 
eligible for pedagogic work, since he then ac- 
cepted the position of teacher , of English 
branches in Nazareth Hall, a Moravian college, 
in Northampton county, Pennsylvania. He 
was thus engaged for one year, and during 
that succeeding was a teacher in the Y'ork 
County Academy, in his native town, the insti- 
tution being one which at that time had a hig'h 
standing and which was a source of great pride 
to the people of the county. While thus teach- 
ing at York, Mr. Fahs continued his own 
studies, having given special attention to the 
study of languages, under the direction of 
Prof. Williams, a man of erudition and a fine 
linguist, who was then an instructor in the 
same academ}'. Mr. Fahs had also been a 
careful and appreciative student of music, in 
which line he had marked native talent, and 
for the ensuing year he gave his attention prin- 
cipally to the teaching of the "divine art," his 
efforts being mainly in tlie line of ensemble 
work, in" training mixed choruses and giving 
concerts under Sunday .school auspices. About 
this time the subject came in contact with Rev. 
Dr. Joseph Seiss, of Cumberland, Maryland, 



640 



OLD LANDMARKS 



with whose devoted zeal and eloquence he be- 
came so captivated that he expressed to the 
Doctor a wish to remain with him for a sea- 
son, for the purpose of studying theology and 
pulpit oratory. His desire was realized, and 
he acknowledges a lasting debt of gratitude to 
this noble Christian gentleman with whom 
he remained for a period of three years, — years 
fraught with the best possible results, for the 
subject received the most beneficent counsel, 
his training was systematic and the influence 
one which tended to exaltation of the spiritual 
life, and he was thus led to devote his life to 
the ministry, following humbly and reverently 
in the steps of the lowly Nazarene through 
whom came the supreme revelation of divine 
love and mercy. In the autumn of 1852 Mr. 
Fahs was ordained to the ministry of the 
Lutheran church, at Cumberland, Maryland, 
and his first pastoral assignment was to the 
church in Hancock, that state, where he re- 
mained three years, having charge of three 
congregations in that parish. His health final- 
ly became so seriously impaired that he was 
compelled to resign his charge and to avoid 
all active work for the ensuing- eiglit months. 
He then, though far from well, accepted a call 
to the church at Newton, Pennsylvania, where 
he labored zealously for fourteen months, but 
the tension proved too severe and he was again 
compelled to tender a resignation, and for 
nearly a year he was unable to continue his 
ministerial work. Having partially recuper- 
ated his energies, in 1853 ^e accepted the pas- 
torate of the church at Jersey Shore, Lycom- 
ing county, Pennsylvania, the town being lo- 
cated in the mountains, and here the change of 
climate proved of marked benefit to him, and 
after serving the little church for a period of 
four months he felt justified in accepting a 
most insistent call which came from the church 
at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he la- 
bored with much success for a period of five 
years, and the hold he had upon the affection 



of his people was significantly manifested in 
the spring of 1902, when the congregation of 
this church sent him an urgent invitation to 
visit his former parish and participate in the 
golden jubilee of the church, an invitation 
which he accepted, and which resulted in a 
season of marked gratification to him and his 
wife, in that they were thus permitted to greet 
many old friends and to note the noble work 
which the church was carrying forward. His 
next call was to the pastorate of St. John's 
church, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and his 
pastorate there covered a full decade, blessed 
with abundant fruit, and while he and his wife 
were in Williamsport, in 1902, as noted, the 
people of St. John's church made such press- 
ing overtures for them to also visit this parish 
that they could not but respond favorably, and 
their visit to the two parishes was one which 
marks a most grateful spot in their life history. 
From Allentown Mr. Fahs went to Trinity 
Lutheran church, in Akron, Ohio, and after 
a decade of zealous and effective labor in 
that field he came to Canton, in 1883. and for 
the following fourteen years he served con- 
gregations in various towns in this section, 
accessible from the city and without regular 
pastoral incumbents, while he also officiated 
in churches of various other denominations, in 
Canton and elsewhere, and continues to do 
so at the present time when demands are made 
upon his services in this way, for he has ever 
stood ready to answer the call of duty and to 
aid in every possible way the cause of the Mas- 
■ ter whom he serves. In 1896, largely persuad- 
ed by the members of the clergy of the different 
churches in Canton, Mr. Fahs consented to 
accept his present appointment as chaplain of 
the county infirmary and work house, and 
here his ministrations have not fallen short of 
appreciation on the part of those unfortunate 
wards of the county to whom he brings words 
of cheer and hope. Mr. Fahs has been a most 
zealous and effective advocate of the cause of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



641 



temperance, and his efforts in this direction 
have been potent. He is a persuasive and 
logical speaker and his every word bears the 
impress of unswei"ving faith and utmost sin- 
cerity, so that he has ever been able to gain a 
hold on the hearts of those to whom he has 
been teacher, counselor, pastor and friend. In 
politics he holds to the principles of the Re- 
publican party, but has never been a strict 
partisan, supporting such men and measures 
as have met the approval of his judgment. 

At Hancock, iVIaryland, on the 9th of May, 
1854, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Fahs to Miss C. Anna Miller, daughter of Rev. 
Henry S. Miller, a clergyman of the Lutheran 
church, and she has been to him a true compan- 
ion and helpmeet during their signally happy 
married life, which has extended over a period 
of nearly lialf a century, Mrs. Fahs having been 
born in 1833. Of the children of this union 
the following is a record : Lillian remains at 
the parental home; Catherine has for the past 
eight years engaged in missionary work in 
India, under the auspices of the Lutheran 
church ; Henry died at the age of nineteen 
years; and Clemence remains at the parental 
home. 



ANDREW MEYER.— The Meyer family 
is of stanch German extraction, and is one of 
prominence and distinction in the German fa- 
therland, the original representatives of the 
same in the new world being three brothers 
who came hither in the early or middle part of 
the eighteenth century, one of the number be- 
ing the grandfather of the subject of this brief 
sketch. So prominent has been the name in 
this section of the Buckeye state that excep- 
tional interest attaches to a review of the gene- 
, alogical and personal history of that honored 
citizen of Canton whose name introduces this 
article and who here passed practically his en- 
tire life. He bore the full patronymic of his 

40 



father, Andrew Meyer, who was born in the 
town of Bonn, in Bingen, archbishopric of 
Cologne, GeiTnany, one of the most fair and 
picturesque sections of the beautiful Rhine 
country, the date of his nativity having been 
1760. He was there reared, receiving his edu- 
cation in the excellent schools of his native 
place, and at the usual age he entered the mili- 
tary service of Austria, in accord with the 
laws and customs of the nation. In this con- 
nection he was in active service in the conflict 
with the Turkish government, and later he was 
for'some time in the French army, having been 
impressed into service under the rule of the 
great Napoleon. He emigrated to America 
within the closing years of the eighteenth cen- 
tury and took up his abode in the city of Balti- 
more, Maryland, where, during the war of 
1812, he gave his government valuable as- 
sistance in the furnishing ol brass and copper 
supplies for ships, and he made no demand for 
payment until peace was restored and the gov- 
ernment expenses were reduced to a more near- 
ly normal standpoint. He was also in active 
service as a soldier in this second conflict with 
England, having taken part in the spirited en- 
gagement at Bladensburg, Maryland, where he 
was one of the few who stood their ground un- 
til deserted by all their fellow comrades. He 
had learned the trade of coppersmith in his 
native land, and continued to be identified with 
the same in Baltimore for a number of years, 
having been associated with his brother. God- 
frey, in the establishment of a copper manu- 
factory in Baltimore, where he had made in- 
vestments in real estate and slaves, the broth- 
ers having been well fortified financially at the 
time of their emigration. Subsequently he 
came to Ohio, becoming one of the early set- 
tlers of Canton, which was then a mere ham- 
let in the midst of the primeval forests, and 
here he became a prominent and influential 
citizen, being a man of marked intellectuality 
and one with great initiative powers, so that 



642 



OLD LANDMARKS 



he was well fitted for leadership in thought 
and action. He was the third in order of birth 
in a family of five children, an elder brother, 
Ignatius, having accnnipanied him from, the 
fatherlatid to America, all settling in Balti- 
more. 'J1ieu' sister, Cordelia, who' was a 
young woman of great beauty and culture, died 
in Germany. The father of these children 
was a man of wealth and influence in Germany, 
where he was the owner of extensi^^e vineyards 
on the banks of the Rhine. Francis Meyer, 
the eldest of the four brothers, was a colonel 
in Napoleon's army and was present at the 
taking of Moscow, and while in the service he 
was captured by the enemy and held in prison 
for some time. He also took part in the his- 
toric battle of Waterloo. Napoleon conferred 
upon him the cross of the Legiqn of Honor on 
the field of battle, this valued insignia of honor 
and gallantry being set with diamonds, and in 
addition to this his great chief also conferred 
upon him an added distinction in recognition 
of his services, presenting him witli a beauti- 
ful sword, likewise, set with fine diamonds, 
and these two valued trophies are still retained 
in the possession of the family as treasured 
souvenirs. Ignatius, the other brother, was a 
man of recondite knowledge, being a fine 
scholar and an accomplished linguist, and he 
was a successful teacher in Germany, as was 
he also in Baltimore, and later in Canton. Colo 
ne! h'rancis Meyer died in Baltimore, at a 
verv advanced age, having- remained a bach- 
elor. Ignatius married, in Germany, a lady of 
culture and rehnement, and they reared a num- 
ber of children. In the beautiful old Mary- 
land citv was also consummated the marriage 
of Andrew Meyer, father of the subject, the 
maiden name of his wife having been Eliza 
Hazlett, the widow of John Hassafrass. She 
was Ijorn m .\Isace, France, whence she came 
to America wiili her parents. Of her first 
marriage were born three children, namely : 
Margaret and George, buth of whom died in 



Baltim(.)re. unmarried; and Jdhn. who married 
Sally Hamilton, and who likewise died in Bal- 
timore. 

Andrew Meyer came to Ohio in company 
with Josqjh Shorb and here, by entry and pur- 
chase, they Ijecame the owners of sixteen hun- 
dred acres of land, Mr. Meyer's farm being lo- 
cated in Stark county and being known as 
Sweet Spring farm. After establishing a 
home in the Buckeye state Mr. Meyer returned 
to Maryland for his wife, and upon his coming 
again to Ohio he took up his residence in the 
little village of Canton, here opening a dry- 
goods store on the site of the present establish- 
ment of the firm of McKenzie & .Bell. He 
also accumulated considerable real estate in 
and about the city, in addition to his original 
farm property. After a residence of two )-ears 
in Canton his wife's health became seriously 
impaired and they accordingly returned to Bal- 
timore, where they remained for the ensuing 
two years, after which they again took up their 
residence in Canton. The journevs to and 
fro were made with the old-time Conestoga 
wagons, and Mr. Meyer provided a guard of 
twelve men to atford protection from robbers 
and unfriendly Inilians, the Alleghany nmun- 
tains at that time being infested with bands of 
desperate outlaws and bandits. Andrew Mey- 
er brought from Steubenville the lumber with 
which to erect his house, which was the finest 
in this section of the state, being commodious 
and attractive in appearance and being 
equipped with many accessories and embellish- 
ments unusual to the pioneers of this section. 
The residence was Ijuilt of the best m^itenal 
and in the most substantial manner, while the 
eaves and spouts were all of ci>p|)er. Subse- 
ciuentK- he retired from the mercantile busi- 
ness, which he turned over to his son, the sulv 
ject of this memoir. , Andrew Meyer, Sr., 
then retired to his farm, one of the finest places 
in this section of the state, his landed estate 
comprising twenty-two hundred acres at the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



643 



time of his deatli, in 1848. The land was 
immediately contiguous to the town of Can- 
ton, and eventually the city limits were ex- 
tended to include a considerable portion of the 
same, which section was platted into city lots 
and placed on tiife market after his death, be- 
ing now Ijuilt up with a desirable class of 
dwellings. The subject of this memoir in- 
herited a portion of the old homestead and for 
many years gave his personal supervision to 
its cultivation, and he erected the residence 
now owned lay Cook Walker, on Tuscarawas 
street, and there he continued to reside until 
his death. Jdie heirs of Joseph Meyer, one of 
his sons, donated twenty acres of the old home- 
stead as a site for the erection of the plant of 
the Deitber-Hampden Watch Works, one of 
the important industrial concerns oi Canton 
and of the state. The parents were devoted 
members of St. J«jhn's Catholic church, in 
whose organization they were instrumental. 
In politics the father was an old-line Whig. 
He was a man of progressive ideas, an ex- 
cellent financier, and one who wiekled a wide 
and beneficent infiuence in flie community, 
while such was his integrity in all the relations 
of life that he ever commanded the confidence 
and esteem of all who knew him. Of his 
children we enter the following brief record : 
Francis, who was a colonel in the war of the 
Rebellion, married and became the father of 
five children, — Caroline, Joseph, Francis, Cor- 
delia and Mary, the parents being now de- 
ceased; Elizabeth, who became the wife of 
James Casselly, died in Canton ; Andrew is the 
immediate subject of this memoir; Joseph died 
in 1869, in Canton, laeing survived by his wife, 
whose maiden name was Catherine Meyer, and 
of him in(li\idual mention is made on another 
page of this work; Alena, who became the wife 
of Thomas Patton, died in Canton in 1871. 

Andrew Meyer, Jr., to whom this tribute 
is dedicated, was born in the citv of Baltimore, 



Maryland, in 1813, and was a mere child at the 
time of his parents' removal to Canton, where 
he was reared and educated and where he 
passed his long and useful life, a worthy scion 
of an honored father. He recei\'ed such edu- 
cational ad\-antages as were afforded in the 
local schools, and later became a student in 
Emmettsburg College, in Maryland, where he 
completed his specific education. He then 
returned to Canton, where he assisted his fa- 
ther in his business operations, and where he 
e\'entually succeeded the latter in the mercan- 
tile enterprise here established so many years 
before. He continued this enterprise for some- 
what more than a decade and then removed 
to what is known as the Duck farm, at the 
head of Meyer lake, giving his attention to its 
cultivation for about eight years. After the 
death of his father he removed to a cottage 
near the old homestead, and here his first wife 
died in 1848. Somewhat later he erected what 
is now the Cook Walker residence, on West 
Tuscarawas street, and there he continued to 
make his home until he was summoned from 
the scene of life's activities, on the 15th of 
March, 1875, at the age of sixty-two years. 
His entire life was characterized by the loftiest 
integrity and honor; he was kindly, gracious 
and unostentatious and no man in the com- 
munity could claim a larger number of appre- 
ciative and cherished friends. He always 
maintained a lively interest in the welfare of 
the city whose development he had witnessed 
from the pioneer days, and he was essentially 
1 road-minded and public-spirited in his atti- 
tude in regard to matters of public policy. In 
politics he was a stanch supporter of the Demo- 
cratic party, and his religious faith was that 
of the Catholic church, in which he was reared, 
while he was a liberal supporter of St. John's 
church, of which he was a communicant. 

In the city of Baltimore, Maryland, An- 
drew Mever was united in marriage to Miss 



644 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Eliza Hazlett, a daughter of Major Robert 
Hazlett, who was born in the city of DubHn, 
Ireland, whence he emigrated, to America when 
a young man, taking up his residence in Bal- 
timore, where he engaged in the manufacture 
of ammunition. He was in active service as 
a soldier in the war of 1812, holding the ofifice 
of major. The maiden name of his wife was 
Dorothy Parkinson, and she was a sister of 
Sir Edward Parkinson, of England, who was 
a very wealthy man and whose property re- 
A^erted to the crown at the time of his death. 
Both Robert and Dorothy Hazlett died in Bal- 
timore, having reared a large family of chil- 
dren. Mrs. Eliza (Hazlett) Meyer died in 
1848, as has already been noted, and in 1851 
Mr. Meyer consummated a second marriage, 
being then united to Miss Elizabeth Gross, 
a daughter of Judge John I. Gross, of Balti- 
more, a member of the supreme court of Mary- 
land. Mrs. Meyer survived her husband two 
years, her death occurring in 1877. Of the 
children of the first marriage the following is 
a brief record: Andrew, Jr., enlisted in To- 
ledo as a member of an Ohio regiment of vol- 
unteers, under General Babcock, and served 
throughout the Civil war, after which he was 
married, in Tennessee, to Miss Carrie John- 
son, a southern girl, and they now reside on 
a farm at the foot of Lookout mountain, in 
Tennessee ; Emily died at tlie age of twenty- 
seven years ; Joseph, who married Miss Mary 
Crowl, of Massillon, Ohio, is now a resident of 
Boone county, Iowa; Louisa C. resides at the 
old home in Canton, having never married; 
William, who resides in Canton, and who is 
one of the influential farmers of the county, 
married Miss Margaret Wielandt, and they 
have nine children ; Isabella is the wife of An- 
drew Wielandt, of this city; and Margaret is 
the \\ife of George Wolfe, also of Canton. 
Only one child was born of the second mar- 
riage of the subject. — John, who resides wdth 
his sister. Miss Louisa C. Mever, of Canton. 



JOHN O. KREIGHBAU.M, ex-commis- 
sioner of Stark county, now residing at New 
Berlin, was born in Lake township, Stark 
county, July 21, 1854. His father was Will- 
iam Kreighbaum, who was born in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, January 17, 1813, while 
his grandfather, George Kreighbaum, also a 
native of Pennsylvania, was born about 1788, 
the year of the inauguration of the first Presi- 
dent of the United States, the immortal Wash- 
ington. The genealogy of the Kreighbaum 
family has not been traced back farther than 
the paternal grandfather, buj; it is quite likely 
that ihe latter's parents were natives of Ger- 
many, who emigrated to America about the 
time of or before the war of the Revolution 
and settled in Pennsylvania with numerous 
other emigrants from the fatherland. George 
Kreighbaum, the grandfather, moved his fam- 
ily to Stark county, Ohio, and located in Lake 
township, one mile east of where Greentown 
now stands. He was a farmer and followed 
that calling up to the time of his death, which 
occurred in the year 1848. He was elected 
county commissioner in 1838, and qualified 
and served for a number of years, as is shown 
l>y the old records of Stark county. Almost 
constantly from the time of his settlement in 
the county the task of filling some one of the 
township positions was exacted of him. He 
was a worthy man, who had seen much of 
the world, and all of his neighbors had implicit 
confidence in Ijis integrity and ability. Will- 
iam Kreighbaum, the father of the subject, 
was only four years old when his parents 
moved to Stark county, and here he grew to 
manhood, receiving such limited education as 
the country schools afforded at that time. 
However, he was a man of strong mental pow- 
ers and much natural capacity, which caused 
his neighbors to look upon him as a man of 
far more learning than he really had. Almost 
before he had attained his maturity he had met 
and married Miss Sarah Hane, also a native 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



645 



of Pennsylvania. Like most of the young 
people of the west at that time, they settled 
upon a farm and devoted themselves to agri- 
cultural pursuits, there being little else in those 
days for young people to do to gain a liveli- 
hood. They located in Lake township, and 
by their industry and thrift made a fine farm, 
built a comfortable home and occupied it until 
their deaths. He died April 7, 1869, while her 
death occurred in November, 1S82. To Will- 
iam and Sarah Kreighbaum fourteen children 
were born, the youngest of whom is John O., 
the subject of this sketch. They are named 
Uriac, Henry, Matilda, George, William, 
Amanda, Edwin, Ellen, Mahala, Hiram, Clin- 
ton, Erances and John C. All were given the 
best advantages to secure an education which 
the country then afforded, and upon attaining 
maturity they went out into the world to do' for 
themselves, settled in different localities, mar- 
ried and prospered. 

At the time of the death of William Kreigh- 
baum, in 1869, John O. was little niiore than 
fourteen years old. He had attended school 
during the winter months most of the years 
of his boyhood and worked upon the farm dur- 
ing the summer. There was little change in 
his life after the sad event which rendered him 
fatherless. His mother supervised and his 
elder brothers executed the work of the farm 
until he became old enough and strong enough 
to take the place of the latter, and he remained 
at home, working for his mother, until he 
was twenty-one years of age. The first three 
years thereafter he resided in Jackson, and then 
in Plain township. He then moved to New 
Berlin and engaged in the business of dealing 
in live stock and wool, in which business he 
has been very prosperous. In 1884 he was 
elected a member of the New Berlin school 
board, and has served continuously ever since. 
In 1889 he was elected county commissioner, 
and so well did he guard the public interests 
that he was twice afterward returned to the 



same position. Even before he attained his 
majority and had the right of the elective fran- 
chise conferred upon him, he took an active 
part in political affairs. He is a firm believer 
in the principles of the Democratic party, and 
is always zealously interested in the success 
of its candidates. He and his family are mem- 
bers of the English Reformed church, and are 
liberal contributors to its support. He is a 
member of the Knights of the Maccabees, and 
of the Stark county Grange. 

In the county in which he has lived so long 
and where he is so well known, Mr. Kreigh- 
baum has always been a leader in every public 
enterprise, and in every popular movement 
calculated to benefit the community his influ- 
ence and support are eagerly sought, he being 
frequently able to accomplish more by personal 
solicitation than others can with the courts 
of law at their back. One instance is all that 
need be given. When arrangements were be- 
ing made for the building of the Canton & 
Akron Railroad, some discussion arose as to 
the best manner in which to secure the right 
of way. The legal process known as "con- 
demnation proceedings" was advocated by 
most of those interested as the surest and 
speediest way. Mr. Kreighbaum, being op- 
posed to this process unless it was found abso- 
lutely necessary, personally offered to under- 
take the task of soliciting the desired right of 
way, if afforded a little time before beginning 
condemnation proceedings, and before the time 
had expired laid in the hands of the company 
fifty-two warranty deeds to the right of way, 
thus obviating the necessity of resorting to any 
legal proceedings whatever. The people had 
confidence in the man who did the soliciting, 
believed implicitly what he told them, and as 
a personal favor granted all that could pos- 
sibly have been secured by means of a law suit. 
He also obtained the right of way from Na- 
varre to New Philadelphia, securing one hun- 
drefl and fortv deeds. Those who know Mr. 



646 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Kreighbaum l)est predict that there is a far 
wider Held for the exercise of his talents in 
the future than he has had in the past. Age 
is not a matter of years, but of conditions, and 
his condition Ijespeaks him still a young man. 
Even his years are by no means against him. 
Many of the noted men of history accomplished 
their life work after they had passed the fifti- 
eth milestone. 

•> » » 

JOSEPH A. PIERSON is a native son 
of Stark county, having been born in the vil- 
lage of New Berlin, on the 24th of November, 
1850. His paternal grandparents. Peter and 
Catharine Pierson. were born in the Haute 
Rhine province of France, whence they emi- 
grated to America in the year 1828, coming 
to Stark county and taking up their abode in 
Jackson township. .\mong the children who 
accompanied them on their removal to the 
United States was John Peter Pierson, the fa- 
ther of the subject of this sketch. He was 
Init ten years of age at tlie time, having been 
horn in the upper Rhine district of France, in 
July, 181 8. He received his early education 
in the common schools of Stark county and 
displayed such a thirst for learning and fond- 
ness for books that he was only too glad to 
embrace an opportunity to read law, becoming 
a student in one of the ])ioneer law offices of 
Canton. He was regularly admitted to the 
bar of the state and while considering a suit- 
able place in which to open an office and duly 
engage in the practice of his profession, he 
yielded to the importunities of his brother, 
Joseph, and with him became associated in 
business, believing it e.xpedient to add to his 
financial resources before taking up his pro- 
fessional work, in which his success would be 
thereby conserved. In the section of France 
in which the Pierson brothers were born the 
bi'ewing of ale, porter and beer was a line of 
enterprise carried on with no little success. 



Breweries had not as yet been established in 
Ohio, and malt liquors of all kinds were prac- 
tically unknown in this section of the Union. 
According^ly the two brothers decided that a 
promising field of enterprise was offered 
through manufacturing this line of products, 
and they erected a small brewer\-, which was 
the first built in this section. There was no 
doubt as to tlie genuineness and potenc}- of the 
products of the' brewery, but the early settler 
had become wedded to the exhilarating effects 
of rye and Iwurljon whiskev and could not be 
persuaded to consider the lighter and more 
wholesome beverages. To make the brewery 
a success a taste for its products had to be cul- 
tisated, and as their resources were not ade- 
quate to justify them in waiting for such a 
change, John Peter withdrew and the business 
was carried on by Joseph for some }'ears there- 
after. Evidently it had been undertaken pre- 
maturely by half a centuiy. 

John Peter Pierson was married in the }'ear 
1847 and immediately afterward located in 
the village of New Berlin, where he established 
himself in the mercantile business. The \'ent- 
ure was prospered from the time of its incep- 
tion. Year after year the patrons increased 
in numbers and the enterprise expanded in 
scope and importance, and Mr. Pierson contin- 
ued to be actively engaged in this line of busi- 
ness in New Berlin during the remainder of 
his long-, honorable and signally useful life, 
his death occurring on the 9th of July, 1899. 
During his entire business career he command- 
ed almost unlimited credit, not .so much Ijy 
reason of the property which he owned and his 
ability to pay as on account of the prompti- 
tude with which all indebtedness was liqui- 
dated b\ him. He was a man who was scrup- 
ulousl}- conscientious and honest in all his deal- 
ings. Flis counsel and advice were so highly 
prized that ])ersons in difficulty or anticipat- 
ing trouble came long" distances to consult him. 

In the year 1847 J(^hn Peter Pierson was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



647 



united in marriage to Miss Catherine Donze, 
wlio was likewise torn in France, being a 
daughter of Dennis Donze, who l)ecame nuni- 
Ijered among the early pioneer settlers of Stark 
county. Though he was of venerable age at 
the time of the war of the Reliellion, in No- 
vember, 1861, he manifested his loyalty to his 
adopted country by enlisting in Company G, 
Forty-third C)hio \^olunteer Infantry, with 
A\ hich he ser\'ed until nearly the expiration of 
his term, when he received an honorable dis- 
charge, returning- to his home in Stark coun- 
ty, where he passed the residue of his life. The 
cai)tain of his company was James Speakman, 
while the regiment was commanded by Colonel 
Curly Smith. He died while on a visit to 
France. Lnuis Donze, the only son of Den- 
nis, also served during the Rel)elliiin, having 
been a member of Company K, Third Ohio 
A'lilmiteer Cavalry, in which he enlisted on 
the 1st of March, 1862. and he died while in 
the service, on the 13th of August, 1863, at 
Huntsville, Alabama. At the time of this 
writing (March, 1903) the mother of the sub- 
ject is still living, being seventy-one years of 
age and l^eing S])ecially well preser\-ed in mind 
and body, while she retains her home in New 
Berlin. 

In his native town of New Berlin Jo.seph 
A. Pierson, the immediate subject of this 
sketch, was reared to maturity, and after com- 
pleting the curriculum of the public schools he 
supplemented this discipline by a course of 
study in a busmess college in the city of St. 
Louis, Missouri. Thereafter he held, for 
varving interx'als. several responsible positions, 
which he filled with credit to himself and to the 
satisfaction of his employers. He was for 
a time incumbent of a clerkship in a general 
store in Illinois, and at Bluemount, that state, 
he did effective service as general clerk for 
the Hatfield Company, owners and operators 
of large grain elevators, remaining with this 
firm for a period of two years. He then en- 



gaged in freighting on the frontier, driving 
a four-horse tearn which he had purchased for 
the purpose and having his headcpiarters at 
a point in southwestern Kansas, sixty miles 
distant from a railroad. He did cjuite an ex- 
tensive business, transporting settlers and 
freight to various portions of the great west 
and meeting with many exciting experiences. 
He had to deal with all sorts and conditions 
of men, while the Indians were a constant 
menace to life and pi"0]jerty, as they still in- 
fested the plains and frequently went forth 
on the war path and manifested their enmity 
toward the white settlers who were so nobly 
and courageously striving to open the \\a.y for 
civilization, many of them sacrificing their 
lives in the attempt. In his freighting enter- 
prise ]\Ir. Pierson visited divers sections of the 
new and undeveloped west, and his reminis- 
censes of life on the frontier are interesting in 
the extreme. 

In the year 1S74 Mr. Pierson returned to 
the east, having disposed of his freighting 
equipment, and immediately after his return to 
Ohio he was appointed to a position in the state 
asylum for the insane, at Newburg-, retaining 
this incumbency two years and then accept- 
ing- a similar office in Long'view^ Asylum, in 
the city of Cincinnati, where for many months 
he held the office of supervisor of the institu- 
tion. He resigned this position for the pur- 
pose of engaging in business on his own re- 
siinnsibility. He returned to New Berlin in 
t88o and here became associated with his fa- 
ther in the lumber business, under the firm 
name of Peter Pierson & Son. In 1886 the 
firm name was changed to Joseph A. Pierson 
and under this title the enterprise has since 
been successfully carried forward. The plant 
O'f the concern is finely equipped, two acres of 
ground being utilized and excellent and mod- 
ern buildings having been erected specially for 
the accommodation of the business. The yard 
is near the line of the Cle\eland Terminal & 



648 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Valley Kailroad, affording every facility for 
the handling of lumber at the minimum ex- 
pense and with the utmost rapidity, and thus 
he is enabled to carry on a business whose 
magnitude would do credit to a much larger 
town. There are four large and substantial 
buildings, one thirty-six by sixty feet, and two 
stories in height; one twenty-four by seventy- 
two feet, and likewise two stories in height; 
a lumber shed forty by sixty feet in dimen- 
sions ; and an office building eighteen by thirty 
feet. Mr. Pierson embarked in the lumber 
business in 1880 and his present extensive 
operations in the line indicate what is possible 
o^ accomplishment on the part of one who will 
bend his energies to the work in hand, whose 
life is animated by absolute integrity of pur- 
pose and who spares no pains to meet the 
demands of his patrons. Honesty and care- 
ful and progressive methods have been the con- 
servators of his success. His trade is of rep- 
resentative order, his bills of lading being 
large, \vhile lie receives orders from all parts 
of the country, and especially from the farmers 
of this immediate vicinity, who manifest 
marked satisfaction with the fair dealing and 
effective service accorded them. Mr. Pier- 
son stands high as a citizen and business man 
and is well and favorably known throughout 
his native county. Jn addition to his lum- 
bering business Mr. Pierson is the owner of a 
fine farm, of one hundred and sixty acres, two 
and one-half miles northeast of New Berlin, 
and in the village his modern and finely ap- 
pointed residence stands as one of the most 
attractive homes in this section. 

In politics Mr. Pierson has always been 
identified with the Democratic party, and while 
he gives a stanch support to its principles and 
policies he has never been known as an "of- 
fensive partisan," being too liberal and broad- 
minded in his views to be classified as such in 
any particular. During the last administra- 
tion of President Cleveland Mr. Pierson served 



four years as postmaster of New Berlin and 
discharged the duties of the office to the emi- 
nent satisfaction of all its patrons, the choice 
meeting with uniform approval and endorse- 
ment in the community, without reference to 
partisan affiliations. He was commissioned a 
notary public for the county of Stark on the 
iStli of June, 1889, and has continuously been 
inclumbent of this office since that time. ' He 
is thoroughly public-spirited, and all worthy 
objects for the promotion of the general wel- 
fare of the community receive his support and 
encouragement, while he has so ordered his 
life as to gain and retain the unequivocal con- 
fidence and regard of those with whom he has 
come in contact in business or social lines. 

On the 27th of October, 1885, Mr. Pier- 
son was united in marriage to Miss Flora Du- 
mont, a young woman of gracious presence 
and many accomplishments. She was born in 
Perry townsliip, this county, on the 29th of 
June, 1852, and received her educational dis- 
cipline in the public schools. She is a devout 
Christian, being a member of the Presbyterian 
church, and her gentle .and gracious character 
has endeared her to all with whom she has 
come in Contact in the various relations of life. 
She iias been a true companion and helpmeet 
to her husband, a devoted mother and a genu- 
ine friend, and through her influence the home 
life has been of idyllic type. She has ever 
been an extensive and careful reader and keeps 
well informed on the current topics of the 
day, being an interesting conversationalist and 
ever extending the hospitality of her beautiful 
home to her wide circle of friends. Her fa- 
ther, the late John J. L. Dumont, was for 
many years one of the most prominent and in- 
fluential citizens of Stark county. He was 
liorn near the city of Paris, France, on the 
25th of July, 1816. Mr. Dumont loved his 
adopted country and its institutions and was 
an honest, upright citizen and kindly gentle- 
man, one whose friendly and unassuming ways 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



649 



and genial hospitality at his home, near the 
city of Massillon, did much to brighten and 
to cheer the circles of social intercourse. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Pierson were born three chil- 
dren, one son and two daughters, both of the 
daughters dying in infancy. Raymond J., 
the only surviving child, was born on the 27th 
of January, 1889, and is a bright and intelli- 
gent boy and one whose life is most promis- 
ing. He is an appreciative reader and stu- 
dent, finding more satisfaction in his books than 
in the outdoor sports with his young compan- 
ions, while he is also showing excellent musical 
taste, pursuing his studies in this line under 
the effective direction of Miss Huber, of the 
city of Canton. Although he was only thir- 
teen years of age at the time, the following 
estimate concerning Raymond J. Pierson was 
published in Volume 113 of the Phrenological 
Journal, in March, 1902, the same being is- 
sued by the Fowler & Wells Company, of New 
York city : "The world can not go too fast 
for the subject whose portrait we have now 
before us. He takes pleasure in a driving 
business, trade or profession that requires hus- 
tle. He is a first-rate observer and will not 
let anyone else beat him in what he sees, ob- 
serves or takes into accotmt. His features 
are strongly represented, especially his nose, 
which corresponds with his mental executive 
power. His method, sense of order and sys- 
tem help him to evolve ideas in a thoroughly 
practical and up-to-date fashion. He will 
make a good buyer of stock and will make no 
mistakes; in fact, persons can take his judg- 
ment on the material that he handles. He is 
quick to take a hint and hates a long-drawn- 
out explanation, that fails to touch him as 
does one of a short and concise order. His 
eye is keen and goes right through one, or 
through any material when he is looking at it. 
He will make money fast, and if he marries 
a prudent, economical w'de he Avill be able to 
lay up riches." 



LEVI A. STONER.— The subject of this 
sketch, Levi A. Stoner, of Plain township, 
Stark county, is a fair instance of heredity. 
His father is John L. Stoner, of whom a sketch 
will be found in another part of this volume. 
The leading, dominant trait of character pos- 
sessed by the father is a persistent zeal in any 
cause which he espouses. He is a believer in 
prohibition and has an abhorrence of the liquor 
traffic little less intense than that of John 
Brown on the question of slavery. Levi A. 
Stoner has inherited much of the warmth of 
his father's nature, particularly upon the tem- 
perance question. All of his politics and 
much of his religion is embodied in the one 
question of prohibition. 

Levi A. Stoner was born in the village of 
New Berlin, Plain township. Stark county, 
Ohio, January 22, 1854. All of the days of 
his youth were spent in his native township 
and beneath his father's roof, his education be- 
ing received at the common schools of his 
township, at the high school at Smithville and 
at Mt. Union College. On February 20, 1879, 
he was united in marriage, at Canton, Ohio, to 
Miss Catharine Krumroy, a native of Green 
township, Summit county, Ohio, and a daugh- 
ter of Francis and Maiy Krumroy. She was 
reared and educated in her native township. 
The young couple established themselves at 
housekeeping on a farm one mile south of New 
Berlin, in Plain township, and there they have 
resided ever since. They own this farm, which 
consists of one hundred and twenty-two acres, 
and on it they have erected a large brick resi- 
dence. The place is splendidly improved and 
thoroughly cultivated, and they carry on gen- 
eral farming and stock raising, meeting with 
the most gratifying success in all they have 
undertaken. 

Mr. and Mrs. Stoner are the parents of 
four children, one of whom, Eddie, died in 
infancy; the others are: Mary E., John W. 
and Chester K., each of whom has received the 



650 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ailvantages of a good common scliool educa- 
tion. In religion Mr. Stoner is a member of 
the German Reformed church and one of its 
elders, having also for nine consecutive terms 
served as Sunday school superintendent. In 
all church work he is quite active, and every 
movement on behalf of temperance receives 
his warm approval and hearty support. He is 
a member of the Patrons of Husbandry, is 
deeply interested in the cause of education and 
has ])een a member of the school board a num- 
ber of terms. He is a man of firm convictions, 
candid in the expression of them and zealous 
in the advocacy of any cause which he es- 
pouses. The son of so worthy a father, cra- 
dled and educated under such commendable 
influences, it is a matter of no surprise to those 
who know the family that Levi A. Stoner is 
the frank, sincere and persistent man that he is. 



JOHN H. KRALL was born in Plain 
township. Stark county, Ohio, May 23, 1857. 
His father, Henry Krall, now deceased, was 
born in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, while 
his mother, Catherine (Ringer) Krall, was a 
native of Stark county, Ohio. The paternal 
grandfather of the subject was Tobias Krall, 
one of the early pioneers of Stark county, who 
came here when his son Heniy was but two 
}-ears old, and resided here until his death. 
Henry grew to manhood, married, reared a 
large family in Plain township, and in 1870 
'moved to Ximishillen township, where he re- 
sided until his death, at the age of seventy 
years. His wife was also about seventy years 
of age at the time of her death, which did not 
occur until .some years after the death of her 
hu.sband, .she (h'ing in May. igoo. Ten chil- 
dren were born to Henry Krall and his wife 
Catharine, the fourth of \vhom was John H., 
the subject of this sketch. The first thirteen 
years of his life were spent in Plain township, 
going thence into Nimishillen township with 



his i>arenls, where he grew to manhood. He 
rented and cultivated the old home farm for 
sixteen years, when, in 1901, he purchased a 
farm of his own, the one on w-hich he now lives, 
which was formerly the ^^'illiam Lesh place, 
to wdiich he moved in the spring of 1902. It 
consists of one hundred and ele\'en acres, and 
is fertile and well improved, but much more 
valuable improvements are now contemplated 
by Mr. Krall. 

On the 19th day of Xovember, 1885. John 
H. Krall was united in marriage to Miss Me- 
linda Anstine, of Plain township. She is a 
nati\'e of Pennsylvania, but was only two years 
of age when she came with her parents to Stark 
county. Her father was the late John An- 
stine, of Plain township, her mother's maiden 
name having been Landis. To Mr. and ]\Irs. 
John H. Krall two children were born, Jesse 
and Orra F.. of whijui the fonner is deceased, 
having passed away at the age of two years. 

Close application and incessant industry 
ha\e made John H. Krall what he is, a man 
very comfortably situated in life. He has al- 
ways been an agriculturist and every portion 
of his success has been reaped from the soil. 
His domestic relations are most hap]\v. Pos- 
sessed of a comfortable home, with abimdance 
to supply it, and enjoying the confidence of all 
his neighbors and acquaintances, it must l>e 
acknowledged that his life has lieen most suc- 
cessful. 



WTLLL-XM C. STEELE, M. D.— The 
world has little use for the misanthrope. The 
uni\-ersal brotherhood is widely recognized, as 
is also the truth that he serves God best who 
ser\-es his fellow men. No profession calls 
for greater self-sacrifice or more devoted at- 
tention than does the medical profession, and 
the most successful ph}-sician is he who through 
love of his fellow men gives his time and earn- 
est attention to the relief of human sufferiiii;'. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



651 



The successful physician is bound to make 
friends wherever he is known and will retain 
the respect and esteem of all classes of peo- 
ple. In this respect the ^■illage of New Berlin, 
Stark county, and all of the country for miles 
around, is especially blessed in having a most 
able practitioner in the person of Dr. William 
C. Steele, of New Berlin. He was born at 
Mogadore. Summit county, Ohio, Noveml:)er 
2/. 1 85 1, and was reared and grew to manhood 
in that village, receiving his education in the 
common schools, after which he engaged 
in clerking in a general store, alxiut the 
same time being elected justice of the peace. 
In discharging the duties of his office and at- 
tending to the business of the store five years of 
his life were spent. Every moment of his 
leisure time during this period he devoted to 
the improxement of his mind by the perusal 
of useful books. At that time there were very 
few young people in the locality as well in- 
formed on all important subjects of interest 
as he was. About this time he determined to 
take up the study of medicine, and, entering 
the office of Dr. J. C. Ferguson, of Mogadore, 
he applied himself most assiduously to the 
study of medicine and surgery. Later he en- 
tered \^'ooster University, at Cle\-eland. tak- 
ing the course. in the medical department and 
graduating from that institution in the class 
of t88i. He immediately repaired to New 
Berlin, opened an office and entered upon the 
l)ractice of his profession. In that field of 
labor he has remained ever since, steadily ex- 
tending his practice until at this time it is 
much more than he is physically able to at- 
tend. 

Dr. Steele is a memljer of the Canton Medi- 
cal Society, and president of the Stark County 
Medical Society, belonging also to the North- 
eastern jMedical Association and the American 
Medical Association. He is a memljer of Can- 
ton Lodge No. 60, Free and Accepted Masons, 
of Lodge No. 460. Knights of Pythias, of 



New Berhn, and Tent No. 28, Knights of the 
Maccabees. Of the latter body Dr. Steele has 
b^en the examining physician for more than 
fifteen years. Its membership is over one hun- 
dred, and during all those years but one death 
has occurred among the members, thus testi- 
fying to the ability of the examining physi- 
cian and the conscientious manner in which 
the duties of the position are performed by 
him. 

On May 20, 1877, at Mogadore, Summit 
county, Ohio, Dr. William C. Steele was unit- 
ed in marriage to Miss Louise M. Myers, a 
native of the village wherein she was married. 
"a daughter of Hon. F. W. Myers, and a lady 
of education, talent and refinement. They 
are the parents of five children, three of whom 
are living, viz : .May E.. Grace L. and Will- 
iam W. Homer died in New Berlin, in 
1 88 1, when less than two years old, and John 
E. died in the same place, in 1888, at the age 
of eight months. 

The family owns and occupies one of the 
handsomest and most comfortable homes in 
New Berlin. The Doctor also owns a small 
farm convenient to the town, it being well 
tilled and the operation of which is carefully 
superintended by him. His large practice, 
however, gives him little time for the grati- 
fication of his tastes in agriculture. Dr. Steele 
is rated by his patrons and the public general- 
ly as amoug the first of his profession, and per- 
sonally he is veiy popular. During all the 
years of his practice he has had many difficult 
and what were then considered hopeless cases, 
both in medicine and surgery, in most of which 
he has been successful, so that there are today 
manv men and women in New Berlin and the 
country around who probabh' owe their lives 
to the skill and care of Dr. Steele. Minor 
favors men and women may be ingrates 
enough to forget, but the fa\-or of a life grant- 
ed them, Avhen death seemed a certainty, sel- 
dom fails lo stir the warmest impulses of grati- 



6s: 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tude in the human heart. It is because of such 
favors as these, and because of his uniform 
kindness, courtesy and consideration for the 
feehngs of humanity generally, that Dr. 
Steele has won such a warm place in the 
hearts of his fellow citizens. There are few 
men who deser\'e more than he does at the 
hands of a community, and there are few com- 
munities more gratefully ready to acknowl- 
edge the obligation than is that which inhabits 
New Berlin and the country about it. 



JOHN CUMMINS is a native of the old 
Keystone state of the Union, having been born ' 
in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, on the 
6th of Peltruary, 1853, and being a son of 
Patrick and Mary (Quinn) Cummins, both of 
whom were born and reared in the Emerald 
Isle, being of fine old Irish ancestry. They 
were married in their native land and shortly 
afterward, in 1848. they emigrated to America 
and took up their abode in the city of Pitts- 
biu'g, Pennsylvania, where the father followed 
the trade of ])rick molder until about the year 
i860j when he came to Canton, where he has 
since maintained his home, being one of the 
highly respected citizens of the place. His 
loved and devoted wife was summoned into 
eternal rest in 1895, at the age of sixty-five 
years, ha\'ing been a sincere and devout com- 
municant of St. John's church, Roman Cath- 
olic, of which her husband likewise is a com- 
municant and honored member.. They became 
the parents of eight children, namely : Mary, 
who resides in Canton with her father; John, 
the immediate subject of this review; Katy 
and Margaret, who are twins ; Edward, who 
resides in Canton, where he is engaged in the 
butcher business; William Alexander, who is 
engaged in teaming in Canton ; Frank, who re- 
sides in Oregon, where he is engaged in the 
bridge business ; and Catherine, who resides in 
Canton. 



John Cummins, subject of this sketch, was 
seven years of age at the time of the family 
removal to Canton, and here he was reared to 
maturity, his educational advantages being 
somewhat limited, as he was able to attend 
only through the winter months. He was em- 
ployed on a farm from his twelfth year and 
attended the Buck Hill district school, in Can- 
ton township, where he devoted his attention 
to the common English branches of study, his 
discipline in the connection being adequate to 
form a solid basis for the practical and well 
rounded education he later received in coimec- 
tion with the active associations and duties of 
life. He continued to be identified with farm 
work until he had attained the age of twenty 
years, for a time conducting a farm on shares. 
About the year 1873 he returned to the city 
of Canton and engaged in teaming, in the em- 
ploy of the Dannemiller Company, while in 
1876 he was appointed a member of the police 
force of the city, in which capacity he rendered 
effective service for a period of five years, while 
in 1S84 he engaged in the draying and moving 
business on his own responsibility and proved 
successful in his efforts along this line, while 
the eventual outcome was the establishment of 
his present flourishing enterprise. In 1898 he 
enlarged the scope of his business by provid- 
ing a storage warehouse, and in 1900 he SC' 
cured the present excellent facilities in this 
line by purchasing the Harvey mill property, 
on East Ninth street, which substantial build- 
ing he utilizes for storage purposes, the struc- 
ture being provided with ample protection from 
loss by fire, while the utmost care is exercised 
in keeping all goods intact from damage of 
any sort. Mr. Cummins has built up a large 
and representative business in the \-arious de- 
partments of his enterprise, and bis methods 
have been such as to commend him to the un- 
equivocal confidence and esteem of the people 
of the community, so that his business is con- 
stantly increasing in extent and importance, 




^ JJ --i^ £■ a U^//^,^a^ 




■7'yC 



^<.^^--7^^'^^-Pt4^'^;l-. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



65s 



while he has the best of facilities in all lines, 
including moving" vans of modern style and a 
fine line of drays, etc., so that he is prepared 
to meet promptly and effectively all demands 
placed upon him. His business policy has been 
a progressive one and one of the utmost integ- 
rity, and none can begrudge him a success so 
worthily achieved by personal effort, while he 
is honored as one of the able and representative 
business men of his home city. In politics 
Mr. Cummins accords a stanch allegiance to 
the Democratic party, and he has been incum- 
bent of offices of public trust and responsi- 
bility, being at the present time a member of 
the board of equalization, while for four years 
he represented his ward in the city council, 
where he lent his influence in the support of 
good municipal government and in furthering 
the best interests of the city. Mr. Cummins 
and his wife are communicants of St. John's 
Catholic church, while fraternally he holds 
membership in the Knights of St. John, the 
Catholic Mutual Benefit Association and the 
Knights of Columbus. 

On the 13th of May, 1880, Mr. Cummins 
was united in marriage to Miss Mary J. Mon- 
nin, a daughter of Charles and Josephine 
(Schobard) Monnin, both of whom were bcriu 
in France, whence they came to America many 
years ago, while they finally located in Canton, 
where both died. The subject and his wife 
have one child, Norbert, aged twenty-two 
years, engaged in business with his father. 



CHARLES A. BOETTLER.— Among 
the most worthy of Plain township's early set- 
tlers were the Boettler family, of whom 
Charles A., the subject of this sketch, is a 
worthy representative. 

Charles A. Boettler, of Plain township, 
Stark county, was born at Uniontown, Sum- 
mit county, Ohio, March 14, 1862. His fa- 
ther was Christian Boettler, who was born in 



Lake township, Stark county, in 1835, resided 
the greater part of his life in the county of his 
birth and died at Kent, Portage county, Ohio, 
Februai-y 25, 1898, in the sixty-fourth year of 
his age. His wife and the mother of the sub- 
ject of this sketch was Anna M. Pontius, a 
native of Plain township, bom April 16, 1835. 
She is still living, at the age of sixty-seven 
years, and makes her residence in Louisville. 
The only cliild born to Christian and Anna 
Boettler was Charles A., the subject. A por- 
tion of his youth was passed in each of the 
counties of Summit, Stark and Portage, most 
of the time engaged in farm labor, the re- 
mainder in attendance upon the schools of that 
day. November 19, 1885, he was united in 
marriage to Miss Nettie Firestone, at the home 
of the bride's parents, in Plain township. She 
was a lady of refinement, good attainments and 
of an excellent family, born January 10, 1862, 
the daughter of Hiram and Margaret (Mc- 
Dowell) Firestone, old residents of Stark coun- 
ty. Her father died August, 1881, her mother, 
November 20, 1888. Mrs. Charles Boettler 
had one sister, Mary E., who' is the wife of 
Edward S. Correll, and one brother, Henry 
N. Firestone, a brief review of whose career 
will be found elsewhere in this volume. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Boettler four children were born, 
viz : Birdella F., Floyde E., Lorin W. D. and 
Christian G., all of whom are bright and in- 
telligent, worthy descendants of such an hon- 
orable ancestry. 

The first three years of the married life of 
Charles A. Boettler and his young wife were 
spent at Kent, Portage county, Ohio, after 
which they settled on the farm where they 
now reside. It was known at the time as the 
Hiram Wise place, and consists of two hundred 
and seven acres of fertile, well improved land. 
It is well fenced, well ditched and the farm 
buildings thereon are far superior to the aver- 
age buildings to be found in this section of 
Ohio, which is a very high compliment, as no 



654 



OLD LANDMARKS 



section of tlie state possesses lietter improve- 
ments tlian this. It is a splendid piece of land 
and the manner in which it is cared for and 
cultivated reflects credit upon the owner. The 
domestic relations of Mr. Boettler are most 
happy. Possessing" a comfortable home, with 
all tlie means necessary to supply every want, 
with a kind wife and obedient, intelligent chil- 
dren, he certainly has every reason for con- 
tentment and satisfaction. 



JEREMIAH W. HESS.— Since his birth, 
October 2i.. 1839, a period of sixty-three years, 
Mr. Hess has been a resident of Stark county. 
He is well known in the township of his resi- 
dence, and many of those adjoining, and it is 
a common expression among his friends and 
accjuaintances that his word is as good as his 
note or his bond. 

Jeremiah \\L Hess was born in Canton 
township. Stark county, Ohio, the son of Da- 
vid Hess, a native of Schuylkill county. Penn- 
sylvania. His mother was Lidia ^^'ierbach. 
who was born in Canton township. Stark ctnin- 
ty, but who died at the ag'e of forty-eight years, 
her husband passing away at the age of eighty- 
one. Of a family of nine children Jeremiah, 
the subject of this sketch, was the eldest. He 
was reared in Bethlehem township. Stark 
countv, and resided there mitil 1869. when he 
was thirty years of age. having in the mean- 
time secured the benefits of a good coniiuon 
school education. He was thrifty and industri- 
ous, and bv that time had accumulated suffi- 
cient of this world's goods to imbue him with 
an ambition to have a home of his own. 
March 12, 1869, in St. Josc])!] connty. Michi- 
g'an, lie was miited in marriage to Miss Sarah 
Schleiff, a nati\e of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, 
born September 12, 1843. and the}" established 
themseh^es on a farm in Jackson township, 
where they resided for seven }ears, steadily 
prospering year by year. Erom there they 



moved to New Berlin and later into Lake 
township, and again later back to the village 
of Xew Berlin, where they have since resided. 
He is the owner oi a splendid, well-improved 
farm 'of one hundred and sixty acres, besides 
considerable personal propert}", which affords 
him a very comfortable income, suffici-ent to 
supply every want. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hess are the parents of sev- 
en children, three of whom are dead, viz : 
Robert C. died \yhen six months old; Homer 
D. was two years old at the time of his death; 
and Charles E. died in Plain township August 
6. 1890, his death having been caused by a 
kick from a horse. The living children are 
Artilissa, Burton W.. Ellen and Ruby. Ar- 
tilissa is the wife of A. Eullmer. The parents 
of Mrs. Jeremiah W. Hess were Jacob and 
Elizabeth ("Christman) Sdileiff. Her father 
was a nati\-e of Westmoreland county, Penn- 
sylvania, and died in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, 
at the age of seventy-two years, while her 
mother was Elizabeth Christman. born in Le- 
high county, Pennsylvania, and who died in 
Tuscarawas county at the age of fifty-three 
years. Both were most praiseworthy, estima- 
ble citizens, highly respected, not only in the 
place of their nativity, but in the various lo- 
calities in which they lived, and in Tuscara- 
was county, where they died. Of this family 
of six chiildren. Mrs. Hess was the youngest. 

In politics Mr. Hess is a Democrat, and is 
always actively interested in behalf of his 
party. While never seeking jniblic position, 
local offices ha\"e iieen thrust upon him in near- 
ly every township in which he has lived. Pie 
served two ternis as trustee of Jackson town- 
ship, two terms as trustee of Lake township, 
and was for a number of years a school direc- 
tor in the latter township. He and his wife 
are meml)ers of the Reform church, interested 
in its work and liberal "u their support of it 
and every meritorious cause. Personally Mr. 
Hess is a man of nnicli force of character, there 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



655 



being very lew subjects upon which he has 
not formed an opinion, and he always has the 
courage of his convictions, candor, frankness 
and sincerity characterizing every word and 
act of his hfe. He beheves language was 
made for the expression of thoughts, not as the 
I'rench wit. Tally rand, asserted, for the pur- 
pose of concealing them, and a forceful 
thought always finds a forceful expression 

from him. 

« » » 

REV. JOHN CHANEY HANLEY.— 
The family from which Rev. John Chaney 
Hanley is descended had its origin in England 
many years ago, the town of Hanley, in Staff- 
ordsh.ire, being so named in honor of the sub- 
ject's ancestors. Of the remote history of the 
Hanleys but little can be learned, but from 
what is known the family appears to have been 
eminently respectable and that the name was 
of much more than urdinary consequence is at- 
tested by the fact of its having been given the 
place referred to above. In an early day rep- 
resentatives of the family crossed over to Ire- 
land, of \\hich country Charles Hanley, grand- 
father of the subject, was a native. Charles 
Hanley was born and reared in Belfast, and 
spent his entire life in that city, dying a num- 
ber of years ago. One of his sons, Charles 
l)y name, also a native of Belfast, was born 
nn tlie 22d day of AugTist, 1 838. By reason of 
his parents' somewhat straitened pecuniary cir- 
cumstances, he received but limited education- 
al training, and while still a youth took up the 
carpenter's trade, at which in due time he be- 
came an efficient \\orkman. About the year 
1856 he bade farewell to the land of his birth, 
and, like many of his countrymen, sought a 
new home and a new destiny in the great coun- 
tr}- beyond the sea. of which he had read much 
and heard many encouraging reports. Susan 
Curby, who became the wife of Charles Han- 
ley. was born in East Liverpool, Ohio, August 



2, 1838, her parents. Pierce and 



(Jenk- 



ins) Curby, having been among the pioneer 
settlers of Columbiana county. After his 
marriage Mr. Hanley continued to work at 
his trade in East- Liverpool until the breaking- 
out of tlie great Rebellion, when he enlistetl 
and served until the close of the war. At the 
expiration of his period of enlistment he re- 
turned to Columbiana county and resumed his 
carpentry work, in connection with which he 
also laliored for some time in a planing mill 
in East Liverpool. Several years ago he be- 
came superintendent of buildings for certain 
pottery companies, and to this line of car- 
pentery he is still devoting his attention, his 
home at the present time being- in East Liver- 
pool. He served his ward for ten years in 
the common council, after East Liverpool was 
incorporated as a city, and in many other ways 
he has been interested in public affairs as an 
intelligent and enterprising citizen. He and 
his wife are members of the United Presby- 
terian church and as devoted Christians they 
spared no pains in bringing up their children 
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 
The good seed appears to have fallen upon fer- 
tile soil as their sons and daughters, ten in all. 
have grown to the full stature of symmetrically 
developed manhood and womanhood, a credit 
to their parents and blessings to the communi- 
ties in which they live. 

Rev. James Chaney Hanley \\as born May 
13, 1870, in Ea,st Liverpool. Columbiana coun- 
ty, Ohio, and attended the ])uhlic schools of 
his native place until his fourteenth year. He 
then, in 1884, entered the ofiice of the Even- 
ing Review, a daily jjaper jniljlished in that 
city, served his apprenticeship and worked at 
the trade of compositor until 1890, when he 
withdrew to become a student of Westminster 
College, New N\'ilmingtoii. Penns\']\-ania, from 
which he was graduated in 1897. \\'hile pur- 
suing his studies in the above institution Mr. 
Hanlev spent a part of two years in the 



656 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Mission College of the United Presbyterian 
church, at Norfolk, Virginia, and after finish- 
ing his literary education entered in 1897 the 
seminary at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, where 
he completed his theological course three years 
later. Immediately following his graduation 
Mr. Hanley accepted the pastorate of the Uni- 
ted Presbyterian church at Fresno, California, 
spending one year in that jield, at the expira- 
tion of which time he took charge of his present 
work in Canton. He entered upon his duties 
with the church in this city January i, 1902, 
and has steadily grown in the affections of his 
people and in the esteem of the public, his la- 
bors thus far being blessed with a large meas- 
ure of success. • Although a young man, Mr. 
Hanley has developed fine powers as a minister 
and bids fair to rise to a position of distin- 
guished usefulness in the noble calling to which 
his life is being devoted. His natural abilities, 
moulded and strengthened by thorough intel- 
lectual discipline and theological training, pe- 
culiarly fit him for the work of the ministry. 
He is a pleasing speaker, clear and logical in 
the presentation of the words of divine truth 
and eloquent m impressing upon the minds 
and hearts of his hearers the claims of the 
gospel. The congregation to which he breaks 
the bread of life is steadily progressing in spir- 
itual things and under his wise leadership and 
faithful guidance the work is destined to in- 
crease in magnitude until the church becomes 
one of the most aggressive body of worship- 
ers in the city of Canton. 



ELT MILLER.— The Miller family is of 
stanch German extraction, Samuel Miller, the 
great-great-grandfather of the subject, having 
passed his entire life in that fatherland which 
has contributed so valuable an element to 
American civilization, progress and stable pros- 
perity. His son, Jacob, great-grandfather of 
him whose name introduces this article, was 



born in Germany, about the year 1750, and in 
1775 he emigrated to America, settling near 
Morrison's Cove, Pennsylvania, where his son 
Jacob, through whom the direct line is traced 
to the subject, was born on the- i8th of Janu- 
ary, 1780, and there he was reared to manhood. 
In the year 1802 he was there united in mar- 
riage to Miss Elizabeth Smith, and they be- 
came the parents of two sons, John and David. 
The former was the father of the subject, and 
the latter was for many years proprietor of the 
Talbert Hotel, at New Philadelphia, Tusca- 
rawus county, Ohio, where he died, having 
been twice married. The maiden name of his 
first wife was Salina Davis, and that of his 
second was a Mrs. Talbert. In 1807 Jacob 
Miller removed with his family to Ohio, set- 
tling near the present town of Cadiz, in Har- 
rison county, where his devoted wife died in 
1 810. About two years later Mr. Miller mar- 
ried Miss Susanna Castater, and they became 
the parents of twelve children. Their grand- 
childr(*ii number ninety-eight, great-grandchil- 
dren one hundred and eighty-six, great-great- 
grandchildren one hundred and twenty-six, 
and great-great-great-grandchildren two, 
bringing the total of their descendants up to 
the aggregate of four hundred and twenty-six. 
Finally Jacob Miller' and his family took up 
their abode on a farm in Pike township. Stark 
county, and here he lived in peace and content- 
ment, surrounded by his numerous chil- 
dren, until his death, on the 26th of 
December, 1S53, at the age of seventy- 
three years, while his cherished and de- 
voted wife long survived him, passing 
away on the i8th of December, 1880, at the 
venerable age of eighty-five years. Both rest 
side by side in the old churchyard of Asbury 
chapel, which is located on their old homestead 
farm. Both were zealous and honored members 
of the IMethodist Episcopal church and did 
more for the upbuilding and sustaining of its 
work in the locality in which they resided than 




ELI MILLER. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



657 



did any other lamily, Mr. Miller having been 
classleader and recording steward for many 
years. 

It is but consistent that we offer more de- 
tailed information in regard to the early career 
^ Jacob Miller in Ohio. Upon locating in 
Harrison county he look up a tract of govern- 
ment land, which was heavily timbered. He 
instituted the arduous work of reclaiming the 
land anil placing it under cultivation, and there 
he continued to reside for a number of years 
as one of the pioneers of the county, enduring- 
all the trials and vicissitudes involved in the 
conditions and exigencies of place and period. 
From that locality the family finally removed 
to a farm on Tinker's creek, south of the city 
of Cleveland, in Cuyahoga county, and Grand- 
father Miller now turned his attention to a 
new and important line of enterprise, that of 
freighting between Ohio points and the cities 
of Philadelphia and Baltimore, transportation 
at this time being had entirely by the overland 
route, save as the canals and natural water 
courses coidd be utilized, and the facilities of 
this sort were few and inadequate. He 
equipped two si.\-horse wagons, one of which 
he drove in person, while the father of our 
subject "tooled" the other, as the modern 
coaching expression terms it, though one may 
readily conjecture that there was a vast dift'er- 
ence in the labor invoh-ed in the early toil and 
the latter-day recreation. Starting from Ohio, 
the wagons would be loaded with tiour, bacon 
and other products of the new state, and on 
the returii would be brought dry goods, cloth- 
ing, boots and shoes and othert commodities 
demanded, the trip being made by way of Pitts- 
burg, Wheeling and other points. At Wheel- 
ing, West Virginia, there was but one ferry 
across the Ohio river, and its operator de- 
manded an extortionate fee for the transferring 
of the wagon and hor.ses. Grandfather Miller 
refused to accede to his demands and stated 
that unless the ferryman would accept a rea- 

41 



sonable recompense he would swim the horses 
across with the loads. The man remained ob- 
durate, and Mr. Miller carried out his plan, 
floating the wagons by taking off the stay- 
chains and with them attaching buoys to the 
axletrees of the wagons. The crossing was 
made in safety, and to the evident discomfiture 
of the ferryman, who thereafter proved amen- 
able to reason. While thus engaged in the 
freighting business Jacob Miller also con- 
ducted a hotel, — or tavern, as the caravan- 
series were then commonly designated, — oitf 
Tinker's creek, and here on one occasion he 
effected the capture of a horse thief through- 
a bit of wise manoeuvering. The man came 
along on the back of a fine horse, which was- 
evidently jaded from long and hard riding-. 
Pie asked for accommodations for the night 
and Mr. Miller agreed to provide the same,, 
though his suspicions had been aroused from' 
the start. The horse was stabled and the fam- 
ily and guests went to bed. About one o'clock 
in the night the man in question arose and en- 
deavored to leave without arousing the house- 
hold. Mr. Miller, who was a man of courage 
and determination, was now fully convinced, 
that rhe man was a malfactor, and he ordered" 
"him to return, to his bed, and when a refusal' 
came he overpowered the thief and strapped 
him down to await the daylight. In the early 
morning his pursuers came to the hotel and 
were overjoyed in being able to apprehend their 
man, enthusiastically commending Mr. Miller 
for his discernment and effective action in the 
case. 

Jacob Miller came to Pike township, Stark 
county, and here he eft'ected the purchase of a 
large tract of land, which he to a large extent 
reclaimed and placed under cultivation, and 
there, as already noted, he passed the remainder 
of his long, honorable and signally useful life, 
being a man of genial, frank and kindly nature 
and having the love and esteem of all who 
knew him. In addition to almost individually 



-eqs 



OLD LANDMARKS 



^defraying- the expense of erecting the Ashury 
chapel, situated on one corner of his farm, he 
contributed se\en lumdred dollars to the erec- 
tion (if what was undoubtedly the first brick 
church edifice in Pike township, while to the 
same cause his son John, father of the subject, 
contriljuted five hundred dollars. In politics 
he was a Whig, and he served as township 
treasurer of Pike township for many years, his 
word being held as g^ood as any bond ever re- 
corded or indemnified, 

John Miller, father of the subject, was born 
near Morrison's Cove, Pennsylvania, in the 
year 1805 and was about three years of age 
when his father came to Ohio. He was reared 
in Harrison county and on the homestead near 
Cleveland, while his educational advantages 
were such as were afforded in the primitive 
schools of the period. He assisted his father 
in his freighting operations until he had at- 
tained the age of twenty-two years, and about 
that time he signalized his independence and 
£elf-reliance by assuming connubial responsi- 
■ tj'lities, being united in marriage to Miss Eliza 
Cox, who was born in Venango county, Penn- 
sylvania, being a daughter of Samuel Cox, who 
Avas a furnace man in the early days. Samuel 
Fox came with his family to North Industry. 
Stark county, where he was engaged in the 
furnace business for somewhat more than a 
decade, after which he returned to \'enango 
count}-, Pennsylvania, where both he and his 
■wife passed the rest of their lives. He was a 
man of fine physique and herculean strength, 
Aveighing two hundred and twenty pounds, and 
he gained a wide reputation for his physical 
prowess, defeating many a liully in fisticuff en- 
counters, though he never provoked these. On 
one occasion a man of this character, living at 
Portsmouth, in the extreme southwestern part 
of tlic state, came all the way to Stark count)' 
<in Imrseback in order to pit himself against 
Mr, Cdx. On learning that this individual h^.d 
come to whip him, Mr, Cox advised him to go 



to bed and rest from his long journey, arrang- 
ing a meeting for the morning. Suffice it to 
say that the result of the encounter was that 
Grandfather Cox had to put his antagonist in 
bed and that nine da)'S elapsed ere the discom- 
fited victim was able to start for his home. 
Mr. Cox was born in northern Scotland and 
came to the United States when a boy. He 
was about eighty years of age at the time of his 
death, his wife surviving him by ten years. 
He was a man of upright character, kindly in 
his intercourse with his fellow men, but when 
imposed upon he was ever ready to mete out 
the merited punishment. 

After his marriage John Miller purciiased 
a farm adjoining that of his father, in Pike 
township, and there he continued to reside until 
the death of his wife, in 1862, when he came 
to Canton, which continued to be his home un- 
til the end of his long and useful life, his death 
here occurring on the 2d of November, 1891. 
He and his wife early became devoted members 
of the JMethodist Episcopal church and ever 
exemplified their faith in their daily walk and 
conversation. In politics he supported the 
Whig party up to the time of the organization 
of the Republican party, when he transferred 
his allegiance to the same and ever afterward 
remained a stalwart advocate of its principles. 
Though not a seeker of political preferment, 
he was elected constable of Pike township and 
remained incumbent of this oftice for the long 
period of twenty years. 

John and Eliza (Cox) Miller became the 
parents of eigiit children, concerning- whom 
we offer the following brief data : David, 
will) died in Canton, in ic;oo. married Amanda 
Lungabacb, who survives him; Eli, subject of 
this sketch, was the next in order of Ijirth ; 
Elizabeth, who became the wife of William 
nine, died in Pike township, in 189S; Ilannali, 
widow of Jacob Dine, resides in Canton; Mary 
A., who became the wife of Eli Yant, died in 
HuiUington cciuntv, Indiana; Susan is the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



059 



wife of William Dines, of Centerville, Iowa; 
Martha Ann, who Ijecame the wife of Sa- 
lathael Hines, died in Canton ; and Catherine, 
the wife of James K. Exline, died in Pike 
township. 

Eli Miller, the immediate subject of this 
resume, ^was Ijorn on the old homestead farm, 
in Pike township, this county, on the 30th of 
May, 1 83 1, and was there reared to maturity, 
early beginning to contribute his C|UOta to the 
work of the farm, while his preliminary educa- 
tional discipline was received in the little log 
schoolhouse of the district, his attendance be- 
ing confined to the winter terms, as his serv- 
ices were demanded on the farm during the 
summer seasons. His first teacher was Absa- 
lom Hines and his next was Joseph Medill, 
who attained so marked distinction and honor 
as the founder and long-time editor of the Chi- 
cago Tribune. He and our subject continued 
to be warm friends until Mr. Medill was sum- 
moned into eternal rest, a few years ago, at 
his home in Chicago, where Mr. Miller had 
often been entertained. The subject remained 
on the paternal homestead until he had at- 
tained the age of twenty-two years, after 
which lie operated a rented farm, in Pike town- 
ship, about fi\"e vears. 

In 1858 Mr. Miller came to Canton, and 
for the ensuing- thirty years he was engaged as 
a commercial traveling salesman, his trade ter- 
ritory within tliis time having included twen- 
ty-seven states of the Union. He has made 
Canton his home continuously save from i8qi 
to 1894, during which three years he resided in 
Chicago. He then returned to Canton, where, 
in i8g6. he associated himself with his daugh- 
ter, Mrs. L. .\. Clewell, in the real-estate busi- 
ness, to which he has since devoted his atten- 
tion, the firm controlling a large and con- 
stantly increasing business. He is a member 
of the Afethodist Episcopal church, in which 
he has been a local preaclier for nearly half a 
centnrv. having done eiTective work as a 



preacher and temperance lecturer during all the 
years when he was traveling into diverse sec- 
tions of the Union, and ever aiming to exert a 
helpful infiuence in all the relations of life, 
with its manifold changes and chances. In 
politics he is a Republican so far as national 
issues are involved, but in local affairs he main- 
tains an independent attitude. 

In Pike tow^nship, this county, on the 8th 
of January, 1853, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Miller to Miss Hannah Chestnut- 
wood, who was born in that township, on the 
i/jth of Februar}^, 1833, being a daughter of 
Samuel and Nancy (Younkman) Chestnut- 
wood, who came to this county as pioneers 
from New England. Here Mr. Chestnutwood 
died, and his widow is still living, and cele- 
brated her eighty-ninth birthday on the 17th 
of September, 1903. She resides in Bethle- 
hem township, and it is interesting to record 
the fact that her twin sister, Mrs. Anthony 
Wise, of Marysville, Union county, Ohio, lived 
until April of the present year (1903). Mr. 
Miller's cherished and devoted wife, who has 
been a true helpmeet to him, is still by his side, 
and on January 4, 1904, it will be their priv- 
ilege to celebrate their golden w^edding anni- 
versary, an event to which their wide circle 
of friends are looking forward with marked 
pleasure and gratification. This happy union, 
which has been ideal in its mutual sympathy 
and helpfulness, has been blessed with five chil- 
dren, and no more fitting conclusion to this 
sketch can be given than a brief record concern- 
ing them : Narcissus C. is the wife of Prof. 
Lawrence A. Clewell. and is associated with 
our subject in business; Nannie is the wife of 
Henry Fickenbiner, of Wabash county, Indi- 
ana: Ollie is the wife of Orville D. Cotton, of 
Detroit. Michigan : Charles B.. who is located 
at Denver. Colorado, and is considered one of 
tlie finest machinists and mechanical engineers 
in .America; and Hannah L. is a resident of 
Chicago, where she is in charge of the tvpe- 



66o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



writing force in the mammoth puliHshing house 
of Ginn & Company, of that city, and also has 
charge of the sale of their publications in cer- 
tain states. 



WILLlAiM H. McFARLAND.— Pro- 
fessor McFarland has gained a reputation as 
an able educator and his services as principal of 
the South Market Street school in Canton were 
such as to entitle him to consideration in the 
publication, though he now resides in the capi- 
tal city of the state. 

Robert McFarland. the great-great-grand- 
father of the subject, was born and reared in 
the north of Ireland, but came to America in 
1740, at the age of sixty-five years, and died 
where Philadelphia now stands. His son Rol> 
ert was also reared to maturity in Ireland, and 
shortly after attaining his majority he set forth 
to seek his fortunes in America, finally locat- 
ing in Kentucky. Through his son Robert the 
lineage is traced to Professor McFarland. 
When the subject's ancestors landed at Phila- 
delphia they bought land from the Penns, and 
an uncle, Thomas S. McFarland, of Cal^le, 
Ohio, has a copy of the original deed, which 
contains, among other uncommon features, the 
privilege "to hunt hawk, fish and burn brush." 
Robeit McFarland was born in Rockbridge 
county, Virginia, March 7, 17S2, and owing to 
the exigencies of time and place his educa- 
tional advantages were most meager. He 
learned the trade of harnessmaking, and as a 
young man canie to Ohio in October, 1806, 
having worked for a time at his trade in 
Spring-field. On the 12th of .\pri1. 1812. he 
made his advent in what is now Champaign 
county, Ohio, and located on the oLd farm 
where he died. His financial resources at the 
time of his last removal were represented in 
the sum of two dollars and iifty cents, two dol- 
lars of which he paid out for assistance in the 
matter of removing his small stock of house- 



hold goods. He erected a log cabin in the 
midst of the virgin forest, and was one of the 
pioneers of the county, where he entered a 
large tract of government land. He was thrice 
married, and becaine the father of nineteen 
children, and that he and five other of the 
sturdy pioneers of that immediate neighbor- 
hood would have gained the approval of Presi- 
dent Roosevelt had they been contemporaries 
is evident when it is stated that the aggre- 
gate number of children of these six men was 
one hundred and forty-nine. Rolsert McFar- 
land passed the residue of his life on his farm 
in Champaigii county, having reclaimed a large 
amount of land and contributed materially to 
the development and progress of that section 
of the old Buckeye state. He died on the 
28th of December, 1863, at the venerable age 
of eighty-one years. He saw General Will- 
iam Henry Harrison as he passed through Mc- 
Farland's farm on his way to the battle of Tip- 
pecanoe, and said, "General Harrison, if I ever 
have a son I will name him after you," and in 
honor of this distinguished patriot he named 
his son, William Harrison, who was born 
shortly after the close of the war. The sub- 
ject received his name William from this uncle. 
The ]\IcFarland family has been known from 
the early days to exemplify the most exalted 
integrity, the strictest habits of temperance and 
the utmost loyalty and patriotism, while the 
majority of its representatives have been iden- 
tified with the Methodist Episcopal church. 
Robert ^IcFarland, grandfather of the sub- 
ject, donated land for a site for the church and 
cemetery of the locality in which he lived, and 
in which he was ever held in the highest con- 
fidence and esteem. At the family re-imion 
held at St. Paris, Champaign county, Ohio, in 
1894, ten of the children of Robert McFarland 
were present, and their combined ages reached 
the notable aggregate of seven hundred and 
fifteen year.s. 

John Maley McFarland, father of the sub- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



66 1 



ject, was born on the old homestead in Cham- 
paign county, Ohio, on the i8th of February, 
1824, and was there reared and educated, be- 
comine; a man of fine scholastic attainments 



and 



devoting his attention to teaching for 



many years, while he was also a successful 
farmer, giving his allegiance to the great basic 
art of agriculture during his entire life at such 
times as he was not engaged in pedagogic la- 
bors. On the 19th of May, 1846, he was uni- 
ted in marriage to Miss Mary Ann Gibbs, who 
was one of the tirst children born in what is 
now the city of Urbana, Ohio, the date of her 
nativity having- been April 26, 1825, while 
her death occurred on the 14th of July, 1884. 
John M. ]\IcFarland survived his devoted wife 
by about a decade, his death occurring on the 
nth of I\tay, 1895. They became the par- 
ents of five children, concerning whom the fol- 
lowing is data: Olivet Alona died in infancy; 
Robert Ir\-in, who married Miss Agnes Baker, 
resides on the old homestead farm in' Cham- 
paign county; William H. is the immediate 
subject of this sketch; Elizabeth is the wife of 
Luther Myers, and they now reside in Logan 
county, Ohio, on a farm; and Harrison Lin- 
coln, who is a resident of Chattanooga, Ten- 
nessee, married INIiss Kate Evans, of Cynthi- 
ana, Kentucky. 

William H. McFarland was born on the 
homestead farm, in Concord township, Cham- 
paign county, Ohio, on the 21st of January, 
1S53, and early manifested a distinctive pred- 
ilection for study, so that his father gave him 
all possible encouragement and assistance in 
carrying forward his scholastic work, his ear- 
ly traming being secured in the public schools 
of his native county. That his powers of ab- 
sorption and assimilation were somewhat ex- 
ceptional is evident when the fact is noted that 
his initial efforts as a teacher were made when 
he was but fifteen years of age, and such was 
his breadth of knowledge and his maturity of 
judgment that he was successful in his efforts 



from the very start, while he continued to fol- 
low the profession of teaching for the long 
period of twenty-eight years, gaining marked 
prestige and doing a work whose value will be 
cumulative for all time in its influence upon 
those who have received instruction under his 
direction, for it is certain that the angle of per- 
sonal influence is ever widening, being benefi- 



cent 



or baneful, 
ing lines come 
to be aided or 
none can doubt 



diverg- 



while within its 
constanth' new numbers 
retarded. In this sense 
the great responsibility 
that canopies ever)- human life, and to 
be honored is he who makes his influ- 
ence even tend in the direction of the true and 
good. For three years Professor McFarland 
was in charge of a ward in Sidney, Shelby- 
county ; was for two years superintendent of 
the public schools, of Quinc}"^, Logan county, 
and later served as superintendent of schools 
in the following named places in Ohio : Worth- 
ington, Aberdeen, Groveport, Sabina, Jeft'er- 
sonville and Yellow Springs, while later he 
was principal of the high school at New Car- 
lisle and principal of a large ward school in 
Springfield for four years. In Columbus he 
was for five years principal of a large ward 
school and simultaneously held a similar in- 
cumbency in a night school, his labors during 
this period being indefatigable and perforce 
exacting. Seven hundred and ninety-two pu- 
pils were enrolled in his day school and three 
hundred and forty-three in the night school, 
and it is interesting to note the fact that one 
of his ambitious pupils in the latter was a ne- 
gro woman seventy-two years of age. She 
was in the youngest class and learned to read 
and write umler the instruction of the subject. 
In 1895-6 Professor ]\IcFarland, with his fam- 
ily, resided in Washington, D. C, he teing the 
subscription manager of the Pathfinder, a 
weekly paper, of which he is still a stockhold- 
er. He has been connected with subscription 
for more than twentv years. 



662 



OLD ' LANDMARKS 



In September, 1900. Professor McFarland 
came to Canton and forthwith entered upon his 
duties as principal of the South Market Street 
school, retaining this incumbency until June 
20, 1002, since which time he has devoted his 
attention to buying lots and building houses in 
the city of Columbus. He owns a large 
number of first-class houses with all mod- 
ern improvements, the rental of which brings 
him a greater income than lie ever received 
from teaching. He says he does not care to 
teach any more. Professor McFarland has 
long been a zealous member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, in whose faith he was reared, 
and has been active in its work, especially that 
of the Sunday school. From the time of at; 
tfiining his legal majority he has accorded an 
unwavering allegiance to the Republican party, 
his first presidential vote having been cast in 
support of Rutherford B. Hayes. He is a 
member of Champion Lodge No. 581, Knights 
of Pythias, in Columbus. On the 15th of 
June, 1902, on the occasion of the memorial 
services of the Knights of Pythias in West 
Lawn cemetery, at Canton, Professor McFar- 
land was chosen to place a wreath of flowers 
upon the casket of the lamented President Mc- 
Kinley, and on this occasion he delivered an 
enlogy upon the life and services of the mar- 
tyred President which called forth the highest 
encomiums by reason of its appreciation and 
eloquence, and he received a vote of thanks for 
his earnest and effective address. He is also 
identified with the Masonic fraternity, being 
affiliated with Columbus Lodge No. 30, Free 
and Accepted Masons, at Columbus, Ohio ; and 
Canton Chapter No. i, Washington Fraternal 
Union, of which last organization he is a mem- 
ber of the board of trustees. 

At Conover, Miami county, Ohio, on the 
6th of September, 1874. was solemnized the 
marriage of Professor McFarland to Miss 
Clara Jane Wilgus. who was his pupil while 
he was teaching in that vicinity. She was 



born in that county, being a daughter of James 
and Susan (LeFetre) Wilgus, well known and 
honored citizens of that section of the state. 
Professor and Mrs. McFarland have two chil- 
dren, Ellen Maud, who was born on the 27th 
of May, 1875, was married, on the 31st of July, 
1898. to Ralph Coons, and they now reside at 
106 North Twenty-first street, in Columbus, 
Ohio. On April 10, 1903, Good Friday morn- 
ing, a daughter called Alice Lucille was born 
to Mr, and Mrs. Coons, and "Foxy Grandpa."" 
as he is now familiarly called, is the happiest 
man in Ohio. Horace Maley, who was 
born October 6, 1880, is now a min- 
ing engineer at Birmingham, Alabama. 
Fie graduated from the Ohio State Uni- 
versity June 18, 1902, from the min- 
ing engineering department. He is now locat- 
ed with the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad 
Company, the largest corporation in the south, 
and Professor McFarland is very proud of his 
son, and he is entitled to this, for the young- 
man is rising rapidly and will evidently make 
his mark in the world. The subject is a man 
of recondite knowledge and forceful individu- 
ality, while his genial and kindly nature has 
gained to him the affectionate regard of the 
many students to whom he has imparted in- 
struction, and he may well look with pride and 
satisfaction upon the work which he has ac- 
complished during the nearly three decades of 
service in the educational field. The subject 
has never smoked a cigar, cigarette or pipe, 
never chewed tobacco nor drank a glass of 
beer, being a teetotaler. He would readily 
pass for a man not over thirty-five years of age. 



PROFESSOR BENJAMIN FRANK- 
LIN FAUST was born on the Waynesburgh 
road, near the crossing of Belden avenue (now 
in the city limits), September 20, 1851, where 
he lived until five years of age, when, with 
his parents, he moved east of the city, on the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



663 



Georgetown road, where liis mother stih re- 
sides. From his childhood he manifested a 
very decided inclination to study, and when 
about six years old entered the district schools, 
where his progress was such as soon to place 
him at the head of all his classes. Not con- 
tent with pursuing his studies during school 
hours, he would frequently devote the even- 
ings to his books, bging encouraged by his par- 
ents, which proved a great stimulus to the 
young" student in the acquisition of knowl- 
edge. Often on his return from the district 
school he would go to his father's blacksmith 
shop, where he helped in forging horse-shoes 
from old wagon tires, using the sledge ham- 
mer, which afforded him manual training of the 
true and strenuous kind. At other times he 
would take his rifle and go to the near-by 
woods and in an hour or so shoot squirrels 
enougl: for next day's dinner. He continued 
his common school work through the winter 
seasons until his seventeenth year, when, find- 
ing himself sufficiently advanced to pass the 
teacher's examination, he secured a certificate 
and, taking charge of a school a few' miles east 
of Louisville, taught a winter term, which es- 
tablished his reputation as an able instructor 
and judicious disciplinarian. So well pleased 
were his pupils and patrons with his first at- 
tempt at educational work that he was retained 
his own successor during the ensuing two 
years, and at the close of the third term he was 
employed to teach in his home district (Mt. 
Pleasant), where he labored continuously dur- 
ing the five years following. He attended Mt. 
Union College and the Smithville Normal 
School. Meantime he had become skilled at 
carpentry and when not teaching he w^orked at 
that trade, dividing his time between the two 
callings for a period of eight years, being as 
successful with tools as he was as an educator. 
Impressed with a desire to make the legal pro- 
fession his life work, Mr. Faust, about the 
year 1S77. took up the study of law in the 



ofitice of Hon. C. T. Meyer, of Canton, and 
two years later was admitted to the bar and be- 
gan the practice in this city. During the three 
years following he built up a lucrative busi- 
ness, meantime being elected justice of the 
peace in 1881, the duties of which position fur- 
nished him a fund of practical information, pe- 
culiarly valuable in his practice. While serv- 
ing as justice of the peace, during his leisure 
moments he took up the study of phonography- 
and typewriting, in which, by the end of his 
term of three years, he became quite proficient, 
and was frequently called to report some very- 
difficult court cases, one case in particular be- 
ing unique : Attorneys, judge and Avitnesses 
were all Germans, and the case was tried in the 
German language, he making his own trans- 
lation while reporting the testimony. Prof. 
Faust became unusually skilled in shorthand, 
and his ability as a writer and instructor be- 
ing recognized and appreciated, he was in- 
duced, in 1884, to take charge of the shorthand 
department connected with the Canton Busi- 
ness College, which he sxiccessfully conducted 
until 1897, when the college changed hands. 
During 1897-98 he taught commercial branch- 
es in a local business college, and in 1889 ac- 
cepted the position he now holds as professor 
of shorthand and typewriting, teaching in ad- 
dition commercial arithmetic, commercial geog- 
raphy and commercial law in the commercial 
department of the Canton high school, the du- 
ties of which he has discharged in an able and 
eminently satisfactory manner to the present 
time. Prof. Faust occupies a prominent place 
among the successful teachers of the state and 
has few equals and no superiors in his lines 
of educational work. He is a natural in- 
structor, but he has never been content to rely 
upon native ability for success ; on the con- 
trary, he has availed himself of every oppor- 
tunity to add to his professional knowledge, 
at the same time developing peculiar tact in 
imparting instruction until, as already stated. 



664 



OLD LANDMARKS 



he has risen to an honorable standing in edu- 
cational circles, and won a reputation such as 
few attain. Before his classes he is noted for 
tact and self-possession, believing "that what 
is worth doing at all is worth doing well." 
His thorough training and exhaustive knowl- 
edge, combined with a personal power as rare 
as it is admirable, make him complete master 
of the situation. Not only as a teacher has 
Prof. Faust come prominently before the 
public, but in various other capacities he has 
attracted the attention of the people of his 
city. From 1893 to 1897 inclusive he was a 
memter of the city council, and during his 
four years incumbency in that body proved a 
safe and judicious legislator, having served on 
many important committees besides intro- 
ducing a number of ordinances which had a 
decided beneficial influence in furthering the 
interests of the municipality. During his last 
year as councilman he was president of the 
council, proving an able and judicious ex- 
ecutive, making every other consideration 
subordinate to the one desire of curtailing 
public expenditures and giving the city an 
economic and business-like administration. 
He is a member of the Bi-County Teachers' 
Association and takes an active interest in the 
<leliberations of the same, participating in the 
various discussions of that body and not in- 
frequently giving' expression to his opinions 
upon educational topics in carefully prepared 
addresses which always command the most 
careful attention. The Pythian order repre- 
sents his fraternal relations, having- joined 
Buckeye Lodge \o. 11, of Canton, in 1882, 
taking an active part in the upbuilding of the 
order. The memliers encouraged him in his 
efforts Ijy electing him to all the offices, and 
now he holds the ])osition of past chancellor 
and master of work. In politics the Professor 
is a Democrat. I'ormerly he was a very active 
worker in the party, but of recent years has 
been more conservati\-e. though still a man 



of profound convictions and well posted on 
the great questions and issues 'of the times. 
He has made a careful study of political 
economy, sociology, the labor problem and 
kindred subjects, his wide knowledge of which 
has been of great value in his educational 
labors. A believer in the religion of the Bible 
from his youth up, he makes his faith and 
works go hand in hand, which, according to 
the -Apostle James, is the true test of disciple- 
ship. During his youth he attended the Ger- 
man Reformed Sunday school and church, 
where he learned to read the German language, 
which he uses at the present time. He was 
confirmed in this church and was a member 
for nianv years, but later became an attendant 
at the Trinity Reformed church. 

The Faust genealogy no doubt originated 
from the German, but the first of which the 
subject has any information was that Philip 
Faust was killed in the Revolutionary war 
and his son, John Philip Faust, was born 
October 4. 1775, in IMiddletown, Berks coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania. John Philip was the father 
of Rev. Benjamin Faust, also born in Berks 
county, Pennsylvania, January i, 1798, emi- 
grating to Ohio in 1806 and locating in Can- 
field township, Trumbull county. Rev. Benja- 
min Faust was the father of Cornelius, Mary, 
Sarah and Elias, all of whom are dead except 
Mrs. Sarah Kline, of Massillon, Ohio. Elias. 
father of Benjamin F. Faust, was born Octo- 
ber ]6, 1829, and died January 25, 1868. 
F.lenora Sell, wife of Elias, was born No- 
vember 7, 1827, and is still hale and 
hearty. 

On the isth day of May, 18S4, Prof. Faust 
was united in marriage with Aliss \'iola Wolf, 
of Canton, daughter of the late Peter Wolf, 
of Stark county, this union resulting in the 
birth of three children, namely : Benjamin 
Webster, Catherine and Eleusenia, the two 
older being students of the city high school. 
\i(ila was biM-n November 24, 1882. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



66 s 



CHRISTIAN VOLZER.— The subject 
of this review is an American by adoption, but 
none the less a loyal citizen of the government 
under which he lives, as was demonstrated by 
his efficient service in its behalf during- the 
dark days of the late Civil war. Tracing the 
family history, it is learned that his grandfa- 
ther, Conrad Volzer, was born and reared in 
Wurtemburg, Germany, the paternal ancestors 
for many generations ha\'ing li\ed in that king- 
dom. John (ieorge Volzer, the subject's fa- 
ther, also a native of Wurtemburg, was born 
in the year 1812 and served eight years in the 
German army. Subsequently he was em- 
ployed as night watchman in his home town 
and it was there that he married Miss Magda- 
lene Roos, who was born in the village of Med- 
elspach, Wurtemburg, about the year 1813. 
He continued in the abo\-e capacity as long as 
he was able to attend to his duties and earned 
the reputation of an honest and upright man, 
though always quiet and unobtrusive in de- 
meanor. He died in the year 1853, leaving a 
\\idow and seven children, six of whom came 
to the United States at different times, one 
still li\ing in the country of his birth. Mrs. 
A'olzer also came to America, joining her son 
Christian in 1867 and dying in Canton about 
the year 1889. The follo^ving are the names 
of the children born to John G. and Magda- 
lene ^'olzer : Gottlieb, who accompanied his 
mother and a younger brother to the new 
world in 1867 and who afterwards died in 
Stark county. Ohio, his widow and children 
now residing in Canton ; John also came to the 
United .States in the above year, married Liz- 
zie Ney and li\-es in Canton at the present 
time: Christi:in, the subject of this review, is 
the third in succession; Charles, the next in 
order of birth, became a citizen of this country 
some time in the 'seventies, married Kate Ney 
and died in Stark county in iqoi ; Conrad, who 
never left Germany, is a successful sulvcon- 
tractor in the city of Tuttlingen, Wurtem- 



1)urg; William is a well-known resident of 
Canton who came to America in 1864 and 
married in this count}- a lady by the name of 
Anna Speace; August, who also lives in Can- 
ton, is a man of a family, his wife being 
formerly ]\Tiss Augusta Speck; the youngest 
of the family was a son by the name of Alfred, 
who died in infancy. 

Christian Volzer was born in the village of 
Weiler, \Vurtemburg, on the 15th day of Feb- 
ruary, 1838. After attending school until 
about fourteen years of age, he engaged \\ith 
certain parties to tend a herd of cattle in the 
mountain three hundred miles from home, re- 
ceiving for his services three dollars per year, 
board and clothing. He followed this lonely 
way of earning a livelihood about three years, 
but, becoming- exceedingly tired of it, finally 
gave up the place with the object in view of 
going to America, where an uncle by the name 
of George Roos was then living. This rela- 
tive's home was in Duncannon, Perry county, 
Pennsylvania, and thither young Volzer de- 
termined if possible to make his way. Receix'- 
ing from Mr. Roos sufticient money to pay his 
passage, he set sail froni Havre, France, in 
April. iS'/, and on the first day of the month 
following landed at the harbor of New York, 
a stranger in a strange land. Proceeding direct 
to Pennsyhania. he spent the following year 
on his uncle's farm, repaying by his lalxir the 
money his relatixe had so kindly advanced him. 
In the sprin.g of 1838 Mr. Volzer made his 
first visit to Canton, Ohio, antl during the en- 
suing two years he was employed by Mr. John 
Rotii, a prosperous farmer of Stark comity, 
h'rom here he went to Paris, Ohio, near which 
place he work-ed for a farnier b_\' the name of 
John Emerick until June, 1861. when he re- 
turned to the home of his uncle in Pennsyl- 
\-ania. There he n.iet some of his former com- 
jianions and associates, through whose influ- 
ence he was induced to enlist, as the war was 
then in ]irogress and his friends were prci^ar- 



666 



OLD LANDMARKS 



iiig to go to the front. He entered the service 
as a member of Company A, Ninth Pennsyl- 
vania Cavalry, enlisting for three years, and in 
due time his command was sent south to bear 
its part in putting down the rebellion. Mr. 
Volzer saw much acti\'e service during his mil- 
itary experience, taking part in a number of 
battles and minor engagements, the more noted 
of the former being the actions at Fort Donel- 
son. Stone River, Franklin and Perryville. 
Before the expiration of his period of enlist- 
ment he was taken quite sick with a chronic 
complaint quite prevalent in the army, the re- 
sult being his discharge on the ground of dis- 
ability after two years and three months of 
service. 

Leaving the army, Mr. \^olzer spent a short 
time in Canton, and then went back to Penn- 
sylvania, where he recuperated liis health for 
a while in the home of his uncle. Returning 
to Canton after a limited period, he was mar- 
ried in this city, October 27, 1864, to Miss 
INfary Ann Wielandt, a native of Wheeling, 
West Virginia, and daughter of Jacob and Ida 
C Stayer) Wielandt, both parents born in Ger- 
many. Immediately after his marriage Mr. 
Volzer entered the employ of C. Aultman &; 
Company, in wliich capacity he continued eight 
years, at the expiration of that time accepting" 
a position with the Russell Manufacturing 
Company. After remaining with the latter 
firm four years, he was made janitor of the 
South Market Street school building, which 
position he held three years and during the 
twelve years following he had charge of the 
high school building, discharging his duties 
with commendable fidelity. It was while thus 
employed that Mr. \''olzer met with a dis- 
tressing accident which made him a cripple for 
liis life. Taking a day otf. he joined an excur- 
sion to Wheeling, West A'irginia, and while 
en route the train stopped for a while at Wells- 
ville, Ohio. While standing with a number of 
others on the railwav platform at that place. 



tlie structure suddenly gave away, throwing 
him upon the track bet\veen two cars while a 
train was in motion, the wheels of one of the 
cars passing over his left arm just below the 
elbow, completely severing that member. His 
injury proved a serious drawback in his janitor 
work, although he retained the place as long 
as he desired, resig'uing in 1891 to accept an 
easier and more remunerati\'e position with the 
Robinson Terminal P>ath Company, of Tole- 
do, Ohio. After spending three years as agent 
for that concern he engaged to sell building lots 
for the .Arlington Land Company, in which 
capacity he continued one year, meeting with 
encouraging success the meanwhile. Severing 
his connection with the above company, he 
spent one winter firing at the central engine 
house and in the fall of 1898 was appointed 
city weighmaster. which position he still holds. 

Mr. Holzer is an enthusiastic member of 
Post No. 25, Grand Army of the Republic, at 
Canton and for a number of years past his 
name has adorned the records of the Union 
Veteran Legion. He takes a li\'ely interest in 
all matters pertaining to the old soldiers and 
finds m.ucli satisfaction when talking with his 
comrades of the bloody days and recalling with 
them tb.e scenes through which they passed dur- 
ing the iron davs of their endeavor. Formerly 
he was a Republican in politics, but of recent 
vears he has been a supjjorter of the Democratic 
party; He was born and reared a Catholic 
and has ever remained true to the faith of his 
fathers, belonging at the present time to the 
German Catholic church on South I^Iarket 
street, this city. 

Mr. Volzer's life has lieen an active and to 
a considerable extent an eventful one. He 
came *:o this country poor in purse and A\'ith 
but little to encourage him, but by honest in- 
dustry he has succeeded well and by a strict 
observance of the ethics of life he has won an 
honorable place in the esteem of his fellow citi- 
zens. His good name has been a passport to 



CA\'TO\' AND STARK COUNIY, OlllU. 



667 



the confidence of the people witli whom he 
mmgles and liis integrity is of that steriing 
character wliich always commands the highest 
respect of the pnblic. Few German-Ameri- 
can citizens of Canton are as well known as 
Mr. Volzer and none have shown themselves 
more worthy of the esteem in which they are 
held. 

Mr. and Mrs. Volzer have Ijeen blessed with 
children as follows : George J-. Christian, 
Marv. Elizabeth, wife of Jesse Taylor, An- 
drew, Harry, Monica, wife of Jacob Ballinger, 
and Minnie, all doing for themselves but the 
last named, who is still a member of the home 
circle. Two of the sons, Andrew and Harry, 
are heads of households, the former marrying 
a Miss Miller, the latter Miss Hasler. 



IMPERTQS MARTIN is a representative 
of a sterling pioneer family, has himself con- 
trijjuted to the material progress and industrial 
adxancement of the county and city and it is 
most consonant that he be accorded a place of 
di.'^tinction in a work of the proA-ince assigned 
to this publication. The orthography of the 
name was originally Matty, and the original 
progenitors in America emigrated hither from 
.Switzerland, in the pre-Revolutionary epoch, 
ha\-ing come from the canton of Basel, where 
the family had been estaljlished from a time 
when the "memory of man runneth not to 
the contrary." From a collateral branch of 
the family was descended Jacob Martin (born, 
1725: died. 1700), a recondite scholar and 
profound philoso))her, whose remains lie in- 
terred in an ancient cemetery in Ephrata, Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, where he died 
about the year 1700. He, with his brother, 
Jacob Martin, came to America between 1730 
and T7-JO, accompanied by his wife and chil- 
dren, and they settled in Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania, where he became a pioneer farm- 
er, and was the great-grandfather of the sub- 



ject of this review. It is not definitely estab- 
lished as to whether or not his son John, grand- 
father of the subject, was born in Switzerland 
or after the removal to Lancaster county, 
where he was reared to maturity and where 
the residue of his life was passed, his attention 
having been consecutively given to agricult- 
ural pursuits. There was solemnized his mar- 
riage to Miss Sarah Cline, whose parents were 
born in one of the divisions of Great Britain, 
and soon after arriving in America her father 
was captured bv the Indians, who doubtless 
put him to death, as no trace of him was ever 
discovered by his bereaved family, who were 
strangers in a strange land, Mrs. Martin hav- 
ing been born after her father was thus cap- 
tured, and having been reared under the direc- 
tion of the sisters of the Moravian church, at 
Ephrata, Pennsylvania. She died in Stark 
countv. Ohio, and was buried one mile south of 




IMPERTUS MARTIN. 



Osnaburg. Concerning their children the fol- 
lowing data is found available: George came 
to Ohio and his death occurred in the vicinity 
of Canal Fulton, this state; Jacob died in Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania ; John, father of 



668 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the suljjecl. was the next in order nf birth, and 
died in Stark county, Ohio ; Sarali was twice 
married, Iier second husband lia\-ing been Fred- 
erick Albright, and she died in Osnaburg, 
Ohio ; Anna became the wife of John Krumloff, 
after whose death she resided in the home of 
her son John, in Michigan, until her death, 
her son returning to Stark county, Ohio, where 
he still resides and is the father of John Krum- 
loff; Elizabeth Ijecanie the wife of a Mr. De- 
weese, and her death occurred in Osnaburg, 
this county, and her grandson, Dr. John De- 
Aveese, is now a prominent dentist of Canton. 
John Martin, father of the suljject, was 
born on a farm sixteen miles northeast of the 
city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the year 
1786, and there he was reared to manhood, re- 
ceiving a common-school education. He 
learned the trade of mason and to the same de- 
voted his attention through practically his en- 
tire Imsiness career. In his native county he 
married Miss Catherine Lutz, who was there 
born and reared, being the eldest of the six 
children of Adam Lutz, who was one of the 
first settlers of Lancaster county, where he 
bought a farm for each of his four sons, all in 
the immediate vicinity of that upon which he 
hafl first settled, the four tracts being contig- 
uous, and he raised the funds to pay for the ex- 
tra land through the sale of wheat raised on 
his original tract. He threshed out a load of 
the wheat each week by the use of horses and 
cleaned up the product with a primitive fanning 
mill, whose crank our subject's mother had the 
l^rivilege of turning", often to the weariness and 
mortification of the flesh. The wheat was 
eventually taken to the mill and thence to the 
city of Philadelphia, where he sold the same for 
three hundred dollars a load, twenty barrels 
com])rising a four-horse load, which enaljled 
him to ])urchase the land for his .sons. He and 
his sons were stanch Whigs in jjolitics, and the 
■son John attained no little prominence in the 
political alfairs of his nati\-e cmmty. At the 



time of tiie war of 1812 the father of the sub- 
ject organized a company and started for the 
seat of war, but was hot in any battles, and 
later recei\'ed an honorable discharge. 

John ]\Iartin continued his residence in Lan- 
caster county, P'ennsylvania, until 1829, when 
he sold his property and, in company with his 
oldest son and daughter and the subject of this 
sketch, emigrated to Ohio, four of his daugh- 
ters remaining in Penns_\'hania with the moth- 
er. She, fearing that Indians still infested the 
route and that they might more successfully 
elude them if they did not take the trip. John 
Martin bought a tract of land in Paris town- 
ship. Stark county, from the Indians, the same 
comprising eighty acres, all of which had been 
cleared except ten acres, and the family abid- 
ing place was a house of hewed logs. Though 
the land had been cleared, it was far from being 
eligible for effective cultivation, many stumps 
and roots still remaining, while the place was 
infested with poisonous snakes, including mas- 
sasaugas, hundreds of which were found and 
killed each season for several years. Mr. Mar- 
tin succeeded in placing his farm under culti- 
vation and making it one of the best in that sec- 
tion, and after there remaining until the infirm- 
atics of advanced age necessitated his retire- 
ment from active labor, he passed the declining 
years of his life in the home of his sister, Mrs. 
Krumloff, of Osnaburg township, this county, 
where he died in November. 1840. Plis wife 
sur\-ived him se\'eral years, her death occurring 
near Magaclore, Summit count}'. Her religious 
faith was that of the River Brethren church, 
and in politics her husband was a stanch Whig 
of the old line. Of their children the following 
record is offered : Mary, who became the wife 
of Nicholas Wean, died in Bourbon, Indiana; 
John L., who was married, in Stark county, to 
Rebecca Caskey. was one of the California ar- 
gonauts of 1849, making the long and perilous 
overland trip in company with a party of Can- 
ton men. one of whi.im, .^annicl Kauffman, was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



669 



killed by the Indians while en route, while 
George B. Piatt, father of the first wife of the 
subject, was a member of the same party and 
was taken ill and died on the route, being buried 
on the banks of the Platte river; John L. Mar- 
tin eventually returned to Ohio, and about 
1859, accompanied by his family, he again made 
the journey westward, settling on the north 
fork of the Platte river, in Nebraska, where he 
became a prominent and influential citizen, hav- 
ing lieen admitted to the bar of that state and 
having served as justice of the peace, judge of 
probate and in other offices of trust and respon- 
sibility ; a daughter of his first wife married a 
Mr. Vienig Berrick, the wealthiest citizen of 
that locality, and the five children of his second 
marriage still reside on the homestead farm, 
where he died about 1893, at a venerable age; 
Sarah, next in order of birth of the children of 
John and Catherine (Lutz) Martin, became the 
wife of George Beckenhaupt, and she died in 
Paris township. Stark county, in 1869; Cather- 
ine, who became the wife of Samuel Johnson, 
died in New Franklin, this county, in 1893, her 
son, John \A'., having been a soldier in the 
Civil war and now a resident of Canton; Imper- 
tus, the immediate subject of this sketch, was 
the next in order of birth ; Elizabeth, who first 
marrietl Henry Hohn, after his death became 
the wife of Jacob Holwick and she now resides 
in New Franklin; Martha, wife of James Stier, 
died in Paris township; Adam E., the only 
child born in the Buckeye state, removed to 
Brown count}-, Illinois, where he passed the re- 
mainder of his life, dying in 1891. He was for 
many years the only Republican in that section 
and for a number of years he held the office of 
postmaster at Riplev. where his death occiu'red. 
In the old stone house erected entirely 
through the efi'orts of his honored father, on a 
small tract of land in Cocolico township, Lan- 
caster county, Peimsylvania, Impertus ]\Iartin, 
subject of this sketch, \\as born on the 24th of 
February, 1821, and there he began his educa- 



tional discipline, which was limited in extent, 
as he was but eight years of age at the time of 
his parents' removal to Stark county, Ohio. 
Here the iirimitive school hoilse of the pioneer 
days was far distant from the home of the fam- 
ily, and thus his attendance was of a desultory 
character. He has a distinct remembrance of 
the long and weary trip to Ohio from the old 
Keystone state, and yet the boyish enthusiasm 
made the trip one of pleasure and never failing 
interest to him, though they were delayed a few 
days by his illness, since he suffered an attack 
of varioloid while en route. The journev was 
made in a large Conestoga wagon, drawn by 
two horses, and was accompanied by much dis- 
comfort and hard labor. Two years after the 
arrival of the family in Ohio the home was 
broken up, and thus, at the age of ten years, the 
subject was thrown on his own resources. He 
secured a position in Greentown, where his 
duties were arduous, for he engaged in digging 
coal and limestone and in the burning of lime, 
working fourteen hours a day and receiving the 
princely stipend of four dollars a month and 
board. Later he went to live with a Mr. Swi- 
gart, and here he assisted in feeding stock and 
in other duties about the farm. It is now 
known as the Infirmary farm. He attended 
school dm-ing a portion of the time, having the 
prescience to appreciate the advantages thus 
afforded him for continuing his educational 
work. His employer had charge of the county 
farm at that time and while the subject was 
there the present county infirmary was in pro- 
cess of construction. 

In April, 1S37, Mr. Alartin came to Canton 
and secured a position as clerk in the general 
store of Andrew Meyer. Jr., with whom he re- 
mained two years, while for the ensuing four 
years he was employed in a similar capacity in 
the store of M. & J. Laird. He then succeeded 
John Danner as clerk in the store of Martin 
Wikidal, for whom he clerked in all nearly 
ten years, in the meanwhile gaining a high repu- 



670 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tation for energy, fidelity and ability, while the 
experience proved of great practical value to 
him. Later he was for a time engaged in the 
manufacture and sale of fanning mills at New 
Franklin. While there his first marriage oc- 
curred, and about the year 1859 he engaged in 
the grocery and produce business in Canton, 
on the site of the present Eagle block drug 
store. .A. few years later ]\Ir. Martin purchased 
the Trump block, where he continued in the 
same line of enterprise for a short time, when 
he sold the block to its former owner and re- 
mo\'ed to the southern part of the city, where 
he established a wagon factory, the venture 
having proved unsatisfactory through unfor- 
tunate outside speculations of disastrous nature, 
so that he finally sold his business to Eli MilleVi, 
receiving in exchange the latter's interest in a 
general store at Sparta, Stark county, Ohio, 
where the subject entered into partnership with 
E. Lauft'er, with whom he continued in the 
business se\eral years. Then he retired from 
the firm and purchased an interest in the Al- 
liance Fire Clay Company, at Alliance, being 
one of the charter members to which city he 
removed, being made secretary and treasurer 
of the company. While there located he also 
entered into a partnership association with his 
brother-in-law, Joseph W. Hostetter, in the 
dry-goods business, the alliance continuing one 
year, at the expiration of which the partnership 
was dissolved and the stock divided. Mr. Mar- 
tin again associated himself with Mr. Laufifer, 
shipping his portion of the goods to Sandyville, 
where they continued in business for three 
3'ears. Mr. Martin did not, however, take up 
his residence there, but in 1869 returned to 
Canton, where he formed a limited partnership 
with Martin L. Best, in the plumbing, steam 
and gas fitting and galvanized-iron business, 
under the firm name of Best & Martin. The 
subject retired at the end of three years and 
then purchased a furniture and undertaking 
business, later disposing uf (he furniture busi- 



ness, but continuing in the undertaking line 
for some time. Within this period he was 
elected superintendent of the Ohio State Camp- 
meeting Association, which is now located at 
Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and retained the incum- 
bency for a consecutive term of eighteen years, 
gaining a wide acquaintanceship throughout 
the state. In 1878 Mr. Martin purchased a 
farm in Osnaburg township and there main- 
tained his residence until iSSij when he traded 
the same for a larger farm near the village of 
Waco, Canton township. This was his home 
for about four years and he then sold the i)rop- 
erty and purchased ten acres of land in the vil- 
lage mentioned, erecting buildings on the same, 
and selling the property to Howard Van Horn, 
a few years later, when he once more returned 
to Canton. During his residence on the farm 
he engaged in the manufacture, sale and renting 
of awnings and tents, many of which were in 
requisition in connection with the annual camp- 
meetings of the association previously men- 
tioned, as well as others, and in this line of busi- 
ness he contiiuied up to 1900, the enterprise 
having been a profitable one. In 1888 Mr. 
Martin purchased an interest in a farm of one 
hundred and thirty acres in Paris township, 
and also an adjoining tract of forty acres, the 
investment proving an unfortunate one owing 
to the financial panic which followed a few 
years later, the property, which had been placed 
at a valuation of one hundred dollars an acre, 
selling for only forty-five. He has made vari- 
ous investments in real estate during' the years 
past, and has been known as a progress! \e, 
earnest worker, in whatever field of endeavor 
he was placed, while his lofty integrity has ever 
commandcfl unequivocal confidence and esteem. 
Early in January. 1841. Mr. Martin became a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
an.d iiis is now the distinction of being the 11a- 
triarch of the church in Canton. He is the 
eldest nienilicr nf the Simpson church ruid the 
only li\ing uicnihcr of its original board of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



671 



trustees and the oldest Methodist in Canton. 
He was brought into the fold of the divine 
Master and Shepherd through the influence of 
his eldest brother, and his life has since been 
consecrated to the work which has been given 
him to do and to which he has ever striven to 
be faithful in every particular, while he holds 
the esteem and affection of the church people, 
who revere him for his godly life and worthy 
services during more than three score years. 
It was through his influence that the edifice of 
the- First Methodist Episcopal church was es- 
tablished in its present eligible location, since 
he was opposed by all the officiary of the church 
with the exception of the pastor, Rev. Thomas 
McCleary, and the late Colonel Ball, but the 
wisdom of the choice is now recognized by all. 
In politics Mr. Martin was originally a Whig, 
having been a student of political questions and 
issues even before attaining his majority, and 
having been thus led to exercise his right of 
franchise in the support of Henry Clay for the 
presidency, in 1844, this being his first presi- 
dential ^'Ote. His first vote was cast in sup- 
port of the honored Thomas Corwin for gover- 
nor of the state. He has lived through all of 
the presidential administrations of the repub- 
lic, excepting four and part of the fifth, and his 
mind, still vigorous and alert, bears the impress 
of many days, while his reminiscences are very 
timely and interesting. He became identified 
with the Republican party at the time of its or- 
ganization and has ever since advocated its 
principles. 

On the 22d of April, 1847, Mr. Martin w-as 
united in marriage to Miss Mary Jane Piatt, 
who was a noble Christian woman and a true 
helpmeet to him. She was born in South- 
bridge, Massachusetts, in the year 1823. being 
a daughter of George and Margaret (Dawson) 
Piatt, honored pioneers of Stark county, and 
she survived her marriage by only four years, 
her death occurring on the 12th of May, 1851. 
1 About eight years later, on the i6th of August, 



1859, Mr. Martin married Miss Eliza Anna 
Hostetter, daughter of Esquire Joseph Hus- 
tetter, likewise a pioneer erf the county and a 
man of prominence and influence in the early 
days. Mrs. Martin still survives, having been 
a devoted companion and counselor to her hus- 
band tluring the long years of their married life, 
while she has ever seconded him in his earnest 
work as a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. The subject's children are briefly 
noted as follows ; William Bramwell, born of 
the first union, is now a resident of Fremont 
county, Idaho; George Elba, also of the first 
union, died in the third year of his age ; of the 
second marriage, John W. was a teacher 
for twenty years in Stark county ; Charles Lin- 
coln, now in New York city; Ida Belle and Ada 
May, twins, the latter married to Frank L. 
Grener, and living in Chicago, and Ida B., at 
home, who has for a number of years been 
clerking in Canton in the store of William R. 
Zollinger & Company, and later in the flower 
store of L. L. Lamborn. 



DAVID GEHMAN was born in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, the date of this import- 
ane event being March 20, 1841. His parents 
were Benjamin and Fannie (Sechrist) Gehnian 
and they had born to them nine children, of 
whom four survive. The subject was reared 
upon the home farm and was early inured to 
the hard labor of the farm. He was given 
little opportunit}' for acquiring an education, 
as his father died when the subject was but 
.fifteen years old and he was thus compelled at 
that early age to rely upon his own resources. 
He commenced working out at farm labor for 
various neighboring farmers, continuing 
in this way until his marriage, at which 
time he settled down to farming on 
his own account, renting- a farm in 
Nimishillen townshi]) for one year. He 
then rented a farm of one hundred and seventv- 



672 



OLD LANDMARKS 



two acres in Osnaburg townsliip, and in 1866 
purchased his present farm, comprising one 
hundred and a half acres of excellent land, re- 
mo\ing to his own home on this farm the fol- 
lowing year. He was prospered here and was 
later enabled to purchase another farm of 
forty-five and a half acres a half mile north of 
Osnabm-g. With the exception of five years 
passed upon this last purchase, he has since 
made his home upon the larger tract and there 
has successfully followed his calling. 

In 1S63 David Gehman was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Nancy Wingert, a native of 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, her family 
having come to Stark county, Ohio, about 
1840. Her parents were Samuel and Susan 
(Boucher) Wingert. By this marriage the 
subject becamfe the father of three children, 
two of whom survive, Rufus and Ida, the wife 
of John Rouh, of Osnaburg township. Mrs. 
Gehman died in 1886 and two years later Mr. 
Gehman again married, this time to Mrs. John 
Betts, whose maiden name was Sarah Royer. 
She also was a native of Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania; and is the daughter of David 
and Nancy (Longanecker) Royer, who came 
to Stark county about 1852, settling in Nimi- 
shillen township. In later years they removed 
to Nebraska, where they both died. The sub- 
ject has given to his children splendid practical 
educations and has fitted them in every way 
possible for successful lives, having also di- 
vided between them about twenty thousand dol- 
lars. Politically- ?\lr. Gehman is a stanch and 
uncompromising Republican and takes a keen 
and intelligent interest in the success of his 
party. Religiously he is a member of the 
German Baptist church and is in hearty sym- 
pathy with all movements looking to the ad- 
vancement of the best interests of the commu- 
nity. He is a man of keen discernment and 
remarkably clear judgment on all matters per- 
taining to agriculture and the stock business. 
He has seldom erred in anv of his transactions 



and the excellent farm which he now owns, to- 
gether with other valuable property in his pos- 
session, is the direct result of well-directed in- 
dustry and judicious investments. He keeps 
himself well informed on current events and 
entertains pronounced views relative to all the 
great public and political questions of the day, 
which he has the courage to express when nec- 
essarv. He and his wife are highly respected 
by their neighbors and occupy a prominent 
place among the best people of Osnaburg town- 
ship. 



JOHN KRAUSE was born in the village 
of Mohnhausen, province of Hesse-Cassel. 
German}-, on the 7th of February, 1837, being 
a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Nauman) 
Krause. who were likewise natives of the same 
province and representatives of fine old Ger- 
man stock. The father of the subject served 
the prescribed term as a soldier in the German 
army and in the fatherland he gave his atten- 
tion to agricultural pursuits up to the time of 
his death, in 1840, when the subject was but 
three years of age, and the mother subsequent- 
ly married Justius Nauman, who was likewise 
a farmer by vocation. In 1845 '^^ emigrated 
with Ids family to America, embarking at 
Bremen on the schooner "John Detmar," 
which consumed forty-two days in making 
the voyage, the little family landing in the 
city of New York, whence they proceeded to 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in a suburban district 
of which they took up their abode, there re- 
maining until 1858. The subject had initiated 
his educational work in the excellent schools 
of his fatherland, and after coming to the Uni- 
ted States he continued his studies in the public 
scJiools of Aetna, where the family first had 
their home, and he completed his scholastic 
discipline bv attending night school, his devo- 
tion in this line clearly denoting his apprecia- 
tion of the \-alue of theoretical knowledge as 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



675 



a preparation for the active and practical du- 
ties of life. He was particularly favored in his 
final course of study, which was prosecuted un- 
der the direction of Rev. Conrad Kuhn, an able 
scholar and a clergyman of the Lutheran 
church. Soon after the family established a 
home in .\etna, Pennsylvania, the subject of 
tins review began the active duties of life, se- 
curing employment as a helper in the furnace 
department of a local rolling mill, the capacity 
in which the boy was thus employed being 
commonly designated in the parlance of the 
shops as "pull-up." His step-father secured 
employment as laborer in the same factory in 
Aetna, and there passed the residue of his life, 
his death occurring on the 26th of December, 
1883, while his wife, the devoted and honored 
mother of the subject, did not long survive her 
husband, passing away on the 18th of January 
of the following year. 

John Krause, whose name initiates this re- 
view, has been a resident of Canton, Ohio, for 
nearly half a century, and here he has not only 
gained recognition as a representative business 
man, but his well ordered life has made him 
an object of uniform confidence and esteem. 
In 1856 he came to this city, where he was 
shortly afterward married, and then returned 
to Aetna, Pennsylvania, where he continued 
to reside for, eighteen months, at the expiration 
of which, in 1858, he came once more to Can- 
ton, and on the 20th of April of that year he 
began work in the employ, of the Aultman 
Company, his duties being the setting up of 
mowing machines, and he thereafter continued 
to be employed in the works of this concern, 
which eventually grew to be one. of the most 
gigantic manufacturing institutions of the sort 
in the Union, for the long period of forty years, 
save for a short interval, in 1888, when he was 
in the employ of John Banner. In 1898 Mr. 
Krause left the employ of the Aultman Com- 
pany and accepte 1 a position in the manufac- 
tory of J. H. Eller, where he held a responsi- 

42 



ble place, being a trusted employe and one 
whose long identification with local manufac- 
turing has been 'such as to give him a place 
among the veteran sons of industry in the city 
of Canton, where he is well known and highly 
esteemed, being a man of inflexible integrity 
and one whose life has been one of consecutive 
toil and endeavor. Such men exemplify the 
dignity of honest toil and their lives offer both 
lesson and incentive. In 1882 Mr. Krause 
erected his present attractive and commodious 
residence, at 1806 East Tuscarawus street, and 
the same indicates in a degree the care with 
which he has conserved his resources, for he 
has made good use of the fruits of his indus- 
try and is to-day in independent circumstances". 
In politic.? he gives a stanch allegiance to the 
Republican party, and his religious views are 
in harmony with the tenets of the Lutheran' 
church, in which he was reared. Mr. Krause 
was one of the first three trustees of the Hart- 
ford poor fund, his associates having been 
Messrs. John W. Walser-and Charles Herzen. 
They laid out the landed estate and platted a 
portion of the same into city lots, and our 
subject's home is located on this land. He is- 
at the present time a member of the board of' 
trustees which has in charge the erection of the 
new Auditorium. On April 6, 1903, Mr., 
Krause was elected a member of the newly 
created board of public service of the city of 
Canton, his colleagues being John Buchman 
and Uriah Reinhold. Mr. Krause is entitled! 
to be considered one of the pioneers of Canton,, 
which at the time of his locating here was a 
village of about eight thousand population, and 
he has witnessed its development into a fair 
and prosperous city of about forty-five thou- 
sand people, while he recalls that all of the 
present church edifices of the city have been 
erected during his residence here, while in the 
east and south ends, where are now many large 
factories and innumerable residences, in the 
early days were to be found the open graia 



«)74 



OLD LANDMARKS 



■fields of an agricultural district. He is a capa- 
ble musician and was one of the original mem- 
"bers of the G. A. R: Band, while he was a mem- 
TDer of a local band as early as 1858 and con- 
tinued to he actively identitied with band work 
amtil 1869. and only one member of the first 
band vv'itii which he was connected is now in 
service in that line, that being John Stuerhof. 
l\[r. Krause is a man of fine physicjue, standing 
:six feet in height and weighing two hundred 
and ten pounds. He is genial and kindly and 
during his long residence in Canton has re- 
tained the confidence of all with whom he has 
come in contact, while his circle of friends coin- 
cides with that of his acquaintances. Revert- 
ing to his genealog}', we may say that Mr. 
Krause was the only child of his mother by the 
first marriage, while by her second marriage 
she had one son, George l^auman. who is a 
successfid merchant of Canton and who mar- 
j-ied Miss Mary Shull. 

On the 28th of September, 1856. Mr. 
"Xrause was united iij marriage to Miss Caro- 
-line Bonn, who was born and reared in Canton, 
where she has passed her entire life, with the 
exception of the eighteen months passed in 
Aetna, Pennsylvania, immediately after her 
marriage. 'She was born on the ist of Janu- 
ai\v, 1838, being a daughter of Conrad and 
jMary (Naunian) Bonn, natives of Hesse- 
Cassel, Germany, whence they came to .\mer- 
3ca about 1832, locating in Pennsylvania, 
^vliere they remained until 1834, when they 
came to Canton, where Mr. Bonn engaged in 
the work of his trade, that of shoemaking. 
Tfe died in this city in 1884 and his wife passed 
^way in 1891. To Mr. and Mrs. Krause have 
llieen liorn eight children, concerning whom 
"we incoqirirate brief record, as follows: Car- 
Tie is the wife of William McKenzie. of Can- 
ton; John, who married Annie Porter, served 
5is paym'ister in the Spanish-American war, 
:a;"id while stationed in hdorida contracted a 
tever which resulteil in his death, which oc- 



curred on the 30th of INIay, 1900, in the city 
of Washington, where he was buried; Libbie 
is the wife of John Whitehead, of New Brigh- 
ton, i'ennsylvania ; Norman, who is a resident 
oi the city of Chicago, married Mary ]\hn'pliy; 
Emerson, of Canton, is not married ; Plomer, 
wlio married Jennie Taft, is a resident of Can- 
ton ; Clara is the wife of Frank Skeels, of 
Canton; and Ruth died in 1892, at the age of 
eleven years. 



CHARLES A. ARMSTRONG.— Alex- 
ander Armstrong, the grandfather of the sub- 
ject in the agnatic line, was reared in Wash- 
ington county, Pennsylvania, and was a man 
of broad information and mature judgment, 
having wielded no little influence as the editor 
and pulilisher of the Western Telegraph, in 
the old Keystone state of the Union. Alexan- 
der Armstrong eventually resigned his interests 
in Pennsylvania and removed to Wheeling, 
West Virginia, where he engaged in the manu- 
facturing of paper, continuing in this line of 
enterprise until his death, about 1870. He was 
of English and Irish descent and the family was 
founded in America in the colonial epoch, the 
original progenitors in the new world ha\ing 
taken up their residence in Pennsyhania, with 
whose historv the name was long identified. 

John H. Armstrong, father of the subject, 
was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, and 
there he received his preliminary educational 
discipline, which was effectively supple- 
mented b\' a course of studv in Bethany 
College, at Bethany, that state, while he had the 
a(i(litional advantages of being reared in a cul- 
tured, and refined home. At an early ;ige he en- 
tered his father's ]);iper mill, ac(|uiring an inti- 
mate knowledge of the business in all its details, 
and for a time was associated with his father in 
partnership relations. In j86o he w\as married 
to .\melia 1/ublin at Jacksonville, a native of 
that ]i!ace. where she was born in the vear 1830, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



675 



being a member of one of the pioneer families 
of that section of the state and a daughter of 
Charles F. and Sttsan (Bedillion) Laiblin, the 
former of whom was of German extraction, the 
original American ancestors having located 
here in the pre-Revolutionar}- days, while the 
Bedillion family was of the historic Holland 
stock in New York. After their marriage the 
parents of the subject resided for a time in 
Wheeling, W'est Virginia, whence they re- 
moved 'to Missouri, where Mr. Armstrong de- 
voted his attention to agricultural pursuits until 
1868. when he returned to Ohio and located in 
Zanesville, wliere for, several years he was en- 
gaged in the mercantile business. In 1872 he 
came to Stark county, where he lived on a 
farm, in Pike township, and again turned his 
attention to agricultural pursuits, in which he 
was engaged until the time of his death, which 
occurred at Buffalo, Illinois. He was taken ill 
on the train while en route to his home and was 
remo>'ed to a hospital in Buffalo, Illinois, where 
he died about the month of October, 1876, his 
remains being brought to Canton for interment. 
His widow sur^•i^•ed until 18S0, her death oc- 
curring in Canton, and they rest side by side in 
Westla\An cemetery. Mr. Armstrong was a 
devoted member of the Presbyterian church, 
and Mrs. Armstrong of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church, and they were folks of sterling in- 
tegrity of character, esteemed by all who came 
within the sphere of their gracious influence. 
Alexander Armstrong identified himself with 
the Republican party at the time of its organ- 
ization and e^'er afterward remained a stanch 
supporter of its cause. Of liis children the fol- 
lowing is a brief record : Leander A. is a resi- 
dent of Buffalo, Ne-vv York, where he is en- 
gaged as a painting contracter : Charles A. is 
the immediate subject of this review; Lucy C. 
is the wife of John Butcher, of Canton, and 
Cora E. is a teacher in the public schools of this 
city. 

Charles A. .Vrmstrong was born in the citv 



of Wheeling, West Virginia, on the 20th of 
Februar)', 1865, and when he was about two 
years of age his parents removed to Illinois, 
thence to Missouri and finally, in 1868, located 
in Zanesville, Ohio, where the subject secured 
his preliminary educational discipline in the 
public schools. In 1872, when he was seven 
years of age, the family removed to Stark coun- 
ty, and located on a farm in Pike township, 
six and one-half miles south of the city of Can- 
ton. In the vicinity of his home he continued 
to attend the district schools until he had at- 
tained the age of twelve years, when he came to 
Canton to continue his studies in the public 
schools, attending the local high school until his 
sixteenth year. His parents having died about 
this time, Mr. Armstrong was thrown upon his 
own resources, and he secured a position in the 
factory of the Canton Cutlery Company, later 
being engaged in a clerical capacity in the office 
of the Peerless Reaper Company, while for 
three years he was an employe of the Campbell 
Sash & Door Factory. Thereafter he was em- 
ployed during the summer months at fann 
work for a period of three years, while during 
the winters he devoted his attention to teaching 
in the district schools, his success in the line 
and his natural predilection for the work lead- 
ing him to eventually adopt the profession as a 
\'ocation. His ambition was quickened by his 
experience and his thorough interest in his 
work, and he determined to further fortifv In'm- 
self for the profession of teaching, having in 
the meanwhile been carrying forward his stud- 
ies. In 18S9 he was matriculated in Mount 
I'^nion College, at Alliance, where he completed 
the classical course and where he was graduated 
as a member of the class of 1893, receiving the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts. \Mthin this per- 
iod he also completed a course of study in the 
commercial department of the same institution, 
being graduated in 1891, while he defrayed his 
expenses through teaching and other work, so 
that it is evident that determinate purpose anrl 



676 



OLD LANDMARKS 



sturdy self-reliance are dominating elements 
in his nature. In 1892-3 Mr. Armstrong did 
effective work as principal of the public schools 
of Wingo, Graves county, Kentucky, and in 
September of the latter year he accepted the 
position of principal of the Woodland avenue 
school in Canton, his efforts in this connection 
being so prolific in results that he was trans- 
ferred, at the expiration of his second year, to 
the liigh school, where he assumed charge of 
the department of mathematics and English, 
while in 1901 he was elected to his present re- 
sponsible office as principal of the high school, 
in which he has significantly added to his laurels 
as an able, discriminating and enthusiastic edu- 
cator, being thoroughly en rapport with his 
profession and having distinctive facility 
in imparting instruction and in engender- 
ing a cumulative interest and enthusiasm 
on the part of his pupils, while in the ad- 
ministrative functions of his office he has 
shown equal discretion and power. In June, 
1805. hs received from the Ohio state board 
of school examiners a life certificate, and in 
December of the same year a high-school life 
certificate was likewise conferred upon him by 
the same executive body. He holds member- 
ship in the Ohio Academy of Sciences and the 
Ohio State Teachers' Association, while frater- 
nally he is identified with the time-iionored or- 
der of Freemasonry, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon 
college society and the Junior Order of United 
American Mechanics. In politics Prof. Arm- 
strong gives his allegiance to the Republican 
party and his religious faith is indicated by his 
membership in the First Methodist church of 
Canton. He is a gentleman of genial and gra- 
cious presence, kindly in his intercourse with 
his fellow men, and his circle of friends is co- 
incident with that of his acquaintances. His 
career shows the practical value to be placed 
upon clearly defined purpose and unwavering 
integrit\' and honor, and there can be no doubt 



of his continuuus and consecutive advancement 
in his important and exacting profession. 

In the city of Canton, on the i6th of July, 
1893, ^^- Armstrong was united in marriage 
to Miss Alice E. Hershey, who was born in this 
city, being a daughter of William H. and Mary 
Hershey, and of this union have been born three 
children, William Leander, Alice Amelia and 
Charles John, first two of whom are attending 
the public schools. The subject and his wife 
are prominent in the social activities of Canton, 
and their home is a center of cultured and gra- 
cious hospitality. 



REV. AMOS EVANS.— As the name 
implies, the agnatic lineage of the subject 
traces back to W^elsh origin, and the family 
was established on American soil in the co- 
lonial epoch, the name having- ever stood ex- 
ponent of sterling integrity and worthy cit- 
izenship. In the maternal line the genealogy 
is of German extraction. The original pro- 
genitor of the Evans family in America took 
up his residence in Virginia, with whose an- 
nals the name has been identified for several 
generations, and in the old Dominion state of 
the Union Peter Evans, grandfather of the 
subject, passed his long and useful life, being 
eighty-six years of age at the time of his death. 
Henry Evans was born in Hampshire county, 
Virginia, in the year 1810, and was there 
reared to maturity, his early educational ad- 
vantages having been very limited in scope. 
However, he was a man of alert and vigorous 
mentality, and through his personal reading 
and study he gained a wide fund of knowledge, 
receiving his diploma from that wise head- 
master, experience, and effectively supplement- 
ing through his own efforts the advantages 
that had been denied him in a specific sense. 
At the age of twenty-four years, with no 
monev to forlifv himself for the stern battle of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



677 



lite, he left his home and started valiantly forth 
to make his own way in the world, and he 
walked the entire distance from Virginia to 
Lincoln county, Ohio. Upon his arrival in the 
Buckeye state he secured employment on a 
farm, though he had previously learned the 
milling trade. By rigid economy he managed 
to save a small amount of money from the 
meager wages received as a farm hand, and his 
self-reliance and courage were such that he 
felt justified in assuming connubial responsi- 
bilities, as is evident from the fact that with- 
in a few months after coming to Ohio he was 
united in marriage to Miss Julia Carter, who 
was a native of the same county in Virginia 
as he, having been born in 1812, and having 
been a mere child at the time of her parents' 
emigration to Lincoln coimty, Ohio, her 
father. Ha\-ila Carter, having been one of the 
honored pioneers of that section of the state, 
where both he and his wife died. Soon after 
Iiis marriage the father of the subject removed 
to Hancock county, where he took up a claim 
of one hundred acres of government land, the 
greater portion of which was covered with a 
dense growth of native timber, and after se- 
curing his claim he returned to Lincoln county 
for his wife, who soon afterward accompanied 
him back to the forest wilds in which he pur- 
posed reclaiming a farm. He erected a prim- 
itive log hovtse on his land, and the conditions 
under which he Ijegan his labors were those 
common to the pioneer epoch. No roads had 
been constructed, settlers were few and usually 
far distant from each other, and it required 
fortitude and great self-denial to face the 
problem of the lonely life and the arduous 
toil. Mr. Evans and his devoted wife found 
themselves equal to the task, being sustained 
by mutual affection and sympathy and finding 
a relief from care in the constant labor which 
fell to the portion of each. Gradually the farm 
began to change from a forest into well culti- 
vated fields: the little home was brightened by 



the presence of children and prosperity smiled 
upon the noble parents. Mr. Evans continued 
to reside on his farm until the children had 
attained years of maturity, and after the death 
of his loved companion and helpmeet, in 1886, 
he went to live in the home of his daughter 
Lucinda, on a neighboring farm, and there he 
passed the evening of his long and useful life, 
his death occurring in October, 1896. He and 
his wife were devoted and zealous members 
of the Evangelical Association, and ever ex- 
emplified their Christian faith in their daily 
walk, and teaching valuable lessons to their 
children through both precept and example. 
Mr. Evans was a stanch Democrat in his po- 
litical proclivities, and he was called upon to 
serve in various local offices of trust and re- 
sponsibility, ever holding the implicit confi- 
dence and unequivocal regard of all who knew 
him. 

Henry and Julia (Carter) Evans became 
the parents of five children, namely : Ransom 
H., who is a successful farmer of Mercer 
county, Ohio; Almeda, who is the wife of 
Noel Fellows, of Benton, this state; Amos, 
the immediate subject of this review; Lucinda, 
who is the wife of Irving Powell, of Hancock 
county; and Simon Carter, who died at the 
age of thirty-four years. 

Amos Evans, to whom this sketch is dedi- 
cated, was born on the old homestead farm 
in Hancock county, on the 4th of June, 1845, 
and to him were accorded such limited edu- 
cational advantages as were afforded by the 
primitive district schools of the locality and 
period, while he early became familiar with 
the work of the farm, to whose improvement 
and cultivation he contributed his quota, as 
he waxed strong in mind and body under the 
invigorating life of the old homestead. His 
first teacher was a Scotchman, whom he re- 
calls as an interesting and original character, 
and his early scholastic discipline was of an 
irregTilar and desulton,^ nature, owing to the 



678 



OLD LANDMARKS 



exigencies of time and place, for much of the 
time he was unable to attend school by reason 
of his services being required in connection 
with the work of the farm. 

He also worked at felling timber, hauling 
the logs to the mill, assisting in the operation 
of the saw mill and kindred duties, and it may 
readily be inferred that his early life was one 
into which entered little recreation, little study 
and much work, and that of an arduous sort. 
He, however, laid the foundation of a good 
English education, e\'en under these unauspi- 
cious conditions, and, being favored with an 
alert and signally receptive mentality, he 
managed to advance his knowledge in a very 
material way as the years sped by. When 
twenty-eight years of age, ambitious to enlarge 
his scholastic knowledge, Mr. Evans, through 
his own efforts, was enabled to take a year's 
course of study in the Northwestern Uni- 
versity, at Naperville, Illinois, one of the 
beautiful suburbs of the city of Chicago. This 
was after he had decided to prepare himself for 
the ministry, and it is needless to say that he 
wasted no time while attending the University. 
In 1876, after careful and conscientious theo- 
logical study and due preparation in other 
ways, he received from the Ohio conference 
of the Evangelical Association a license to 
preach, and his first pastoral charge was at 
Fremont, Sandusky county, where he re- 
mained one year. The following two years 
were devoted to earnest and effective work 
throughout Pickaway county, and thereafter 
he was pastor of the church at Westerville 
for three years, the ensuing three years at 
Ashland, two years at Marshallville, and then 
passed three years in pastoral work in his home 
town of Findlay. From that place he went to 
Baltimore, Fairfield county, where he re- 
mained two years, at the expiration of which 
period a division occurred in the church 
organization, resulting in the formation of 
what is now known as the United Evangelical 



church, with which body he became identi- 
fied at the time of its organization, and he 
was elected to the office of presiding elder of 
the entire conference. The conference at that 
time composed only one presiding elder dis- 
trict. He was one of five clerg}-men of the 
original Evangelical Association in the Ohio 
conference who thus became identified with 
the new church organization, and he has been 
one of its most honored and successful minis- 
ters in the state. After two years' service as 
presiding elder, Mr. Evans remained for an 
equal period as pastor of the Baltimore church, 
and the following two years he held the charge 
at Gary, Wyandot county. From that place, 
in October, 1899, he came to Canton and has 
ever since remained in pastoral charge of the 
church here, his able and devoted efforts hav- 
ing been signally effective in infusing vitality 
into both the spiritual and temporal affairs of 
the church, while he is known as a forceful, 
earnest and convincing speaker and as one 
whose every utterance bears the marks of sin- 
cerity and definite conviction. Mr. Evans 
holds a warm place in the hearts of his peo- 
ple, and is highly esteemed by the community 
at large. In politics he is an earnest advocate 
of the principles of the Prohibition party, but 
when his party has no candidates in the field 
he gives liis support to those men whom he 
considers best qualified for office, through 
ability and upright character, and in such cases 
he gives no heed to partisan lines. 

In Fremont, Ohio, on the 8t!i of April. 
1878, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Evans to Miss Lillie Ernst, who was born and 
reared in Mobile, Alabama, where her mother 
died, and after the Civil war she accompanied 
her father, John G. Ernst, on his removal to 
the north, establishing a home in Fremont, this 
state, where her father passed the residue of 
his life, his death occurring on or about 1873. 
Mr. and Mrs. Evans liave three children, 
namelv : Ernst, who is a student in the Can- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



679 



ton high school, as is also Florence Mabel; 
while the youngest child, Lee Orlando Vin- 
cent, a lad of thirteen years, is attending the 
city schools. 



REV. PEARL HOWARD WELSHL 
MER is a native of Ohjo and of German de- 
scent. The first of the father's family to 
come to this country were three brothers who 
left the fatherland many years ago and found 
homes in the state of Pennsylvania. They 
were honest and industrious tillers of the soil, 
and did much to promote the material pros- 
perity of the communities in which they lived 
and earned the reputation of intelligent and 
enterprising citizens, demonstrating their 
loyalty to the country of their adoption by 
earnest God-fearing lives and a strict observ- 
ance of the laws of the land. The subject's 
great-grandfather, a descendant of one of these 
brothers, was born in Pennsylvania, but in an 
early day migrated to Fairfield county, Ohio, 
where he followed the pursuit of agriculture 
until his death. His son, Samuel Welshimer, 
the' subject's grandfather, was born and reared 
in the county of Fairfield and also adopted agri- 
culture for his life work. Later in life he 
moved to Union county, this state, and there 
followed farming with gratifying success un- 
til the end of his days, also winning the confi- 
dence and esteem of all with whom he mingled. 
His wife before her marriage was Anna 
Griffith, a native of Fairfield county, born of 
parents whose lineage was Scotch and Irish 
respectively. Among the children of Samuel 
and Ann Welshimer wa-s a son by the name of 
Samuel, whose birth occurred in the county of 
Fairfield on the 25th day of April, 1851. Li 
his youth Samuel Welshimer acquired an ele- 
mentary education in the public schools of his 
native place and later accompanied his parents 
to Union cmmty, where in young manhood 
he was united in marriage to Miss Louisa 



Wilson, whose birth occurred in the town o£ 
Somerville, Ohio, January 27, 1849. Mrs^ 
Welshimer was the daughter of Archibald and 
Margaret (Thompson) Wilson, natives of 
Virginia, the mother descended from a very- 
wealthy planter and a large slaveholder of that 
state. Mr. and Mrs. W"ilson came to Ohio in?, 
an early day and for a number of years taught 
in the public schools of Union and Logaii: 
counties, both earning- enviable reputations as- 
educators. They lived useful lives andl 
linished their earthly sojourn in the county 
of Logan, where their todies now sleep the 
sleep from which they, will only be awakened" 
by the angel of the resurrection. After com- 
pleting the common school course Mrs. Wel- 
shimer attended the Northwood Xonnal 
School, where she fitted herself for the pro- 
fession of teaching. She taught, successfully- 
in her own and other counties for a period of 
eight years, and after marriage she and her 
husband settled on a farm near the town of 
York, Union county, where they lived untiL 
removing to West Manslield, a short time after- 
wards. Mr. Welshimer engaged in the lumber 
business at West Mansfield and still follows 
the same with gratifying financial results. He 
is a gentleman of intelligence and excellent 
character, a devout member of the Christian! 
church and in e\'ery respect a progressive and 
representative citizen. Politically an ardent 
Republican, he is not a partisan in the sense 
of aspiring to public distinction, preferring a 
business life to any office within the power of 
the people to bestow. Mrs. Welshimer is a 
lady of unusual intelligence and culture, po- 
sesses a beautiful Christian character and her 
activity in religious work has been of great 
benefit to the Disciple congregation with which 
she is identified. To this excellent couple have 
been born three children, of whom the siib- 
ject of this review is the oldest ; the others are 
Herbert Wilton, who married Miss Lena 
H;itliaway and is engaged in merchandising at 



68o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



West Mansfield, and William, a telegrapher 
at Bellefontaine, this state. 

Rev. Pearl Howard Welshimer was born 
near the town of York, Union county, Ohio, 
on the 6th day of April, 1873. It is recognized 
as an incontrovertible fact that a man's life 
is largely influenced by his early environment, 
as that is the formative period and the "child 
becomes father to the man." Young Welshi- 
mer was signally favored in his early sur- 
roundings, having had the care and attention 
of devoted and loving parents and the in- 
fluences of a refined Christian home. He 
comes of a family noted for pure and simple 
piety and devotion to the cause of religion, 
while there has ever been fostered a regard for 
the deepest charity and a leniency of judgment, 
concerning the shortcomings of humanity. 
From his father he inherited that sturdiness of 
character and Kne for the right which has 
•ever marked his public career, while from his 
mother come the gentle graces and loving so- 
licitude for others, that have added so much to 
liis success in his holy office. Mr. Welshimer 
attended the public schools of his native coun- 
ty and those of West Mansfield until the age 
of eighteen, graduating from the high school 
at the latter place in April, 1891. Meanwhile 
he taught one term and after completing the 
high school course devoted about the same 
length of time to educational work, meeting 
■with encouraging success as an instructor. 
From his twelfth to his seventeenth year he 
spent his vacation as clerk in a mercantile 
house at West Mansfield and in that capacity 
acquired a practical knowledge of business and 
an acquaintance with the world, which every 
man in any profession should have. The bet- 
ter to prepare himself for the noble calling to 
which he had decided to devote his talents, 
Mr. Welshimer, in 1892, entered the college 
at Ada, where he prosecuted his literary 
studies until his graduation, two years later, 
aftc" which he became a student at ITirani 



College, taking the ministerial course. While 
pursuing his theological studies in the latter 
institution he did much ministerial work as 
pastor of the Christian church at Champion, 
Trumbull county, and after his graduation in 
1897 he took charge of the church at Millers- 
burg, where he labored with great acceptance 
until 1902. In January of the latter year, Mr. 
Welshmier accepted a call to the First Christ- 
ian church at Canton, a large, flourishing and 
influential congregation, to which he has since 
ministered with much success, growing con- 
stantly in the love and esteem of his people 
and winning the confidence and good will of 
the people of the city, irrespective of creed or 
belief. 

As a speaker Mr. Welshimer is clear, 
forceful and eloquent and his every utterance 
rings with sincerity and honest conviction. A 
master of the art of public discourse, he is 
enabled to present the claims of the gospel in 
such a way as to entertain as well as instruct 
his audiences and his earnest and impassioned 
words reveal the deep fervor with which he is 
imbued in discussing divine truths, which are 
thus made to appeal more strongly to those to 
\\hom addressed. His mind is carefully disci- 
plined, analytical and of broad grasp, which, 
with his keen perception and quick, lively 
sympathy, makes him a power in his chosen 
field of labor. It is seldom that one of his 
years has attained so great prominence in the 
ministry, but his abilities are widely recognized 
and his genuine worth, both in tlie pulpit and 
v,"ithout, has placed him among the foremost 
of those engaged in preaching the pure, simple 
gospel of Christ according to the teachings 
and practices of the primitive church. Mr. 
Welshimer's labors have been greatly blessed 
■ in winning souls to the better life and since 
taking pastoral charge of the Canton church 
many accessions have been made to the con- 
gregation through bis instrumentality. The 
organization is prosperous in all of its lines 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



681 



of work and never in its history have its af- 
fairs been in better condition than during the 
short pastorate beginning in 1902. 

On the 15th of May, lyoo, Mr. Welshi- 
nier was united in marriage with Miss Clara 
Hornig, of VermilHon, Ohio, daughter of 
Jacob and Catherine (Baldwick) Hornig, the 
union resulting in one child, Helen Louise. 
Mrs. Welshimer has proved a tme helpmeet 
to her husband in his holy office, her sympa- 
thetic and generous nature having won the 
love and confidence of all coming within the 
sphere of her gracious influence and pleasing 
personality. While deeply interested in the 
noble work to which he has been called and in 
whicli he has been such a potent factor for 
good, Mr. Welshimer keeps in touch with the 
great world of secular affairs, which every 
true American citizen should do. He reads 
much, is remarkably well informed upon the 
leading questions and issues of the day and, 
as a Prohibitionist, votes his sentiments with- 
out fear or favor, though taking little part in 
party matters. 



REV. GEORGE M. SCHMUCKER.— 
A full meed of honor and affectionate regard 
is accorded to the subject of this review, who 
is pastor of the Martin Luther church in 
the city of Canton, and whose life has been 
consecrated to exalted aims, — that of devoted 
service in the vineyard of the divine Master, 
and in the uplifting of his fellow men. It is 
interesting to note the fact that both his 
father and grandfather were clergymen of the 
Lutheran church, in whose ministry have also 
served numerous other members of the family 
in past generations. As touching the gen- 
ealogy of Mr. Schmucker it is consistent to 
quote, somewhat at length, from an article pre- 
pared for a history of the Ohio synod of the 
Lutheran church. The sketch is initiated with 
particular reference to the father of the sub- 



ject and in the following words : "Rev. 
George Schmucker, whose life's labors were 
spent among the West Virginia mountains, 
was a son of Rev. John Nicholas Schmucker, 
who immigrated to this country in 1785, from 
Michaelstadt, county of Erbach, Hessen- 
Darmstadt, Germany. The records of the 
church at Milchaelstadt trace the family gen- 
ealogy back to the early part of the eighteenth 
century. Prior to that time they came from 
Switzerland. The sons of this sturdy German 
immigrant were John Ferdinand, John George, 
John Nicholas, John Jacob and John Peter. 
Upon their arrival here they located in Lehigh 
county, Pennsylvania, and after a short stay 
there removed to Manheim, Pennsylvania, and 
thence to Woodstock, Virginia. Of the five 
sons three were preachers. * * * John 
Nicholas (grandfather of the subject), born 
September 24, 1779, was licensed by the Penn- 
sylvania ministerium and served congregations 
in and around Woodstock, Virginia. He was 
one of the founders and the first president of 
the Virginia synod, which was organized in 
his own church at Woodstock, on the loth of 
August, 1829. He served various congre- 
gations in the Shenandoah valley of Virginia, 
for more than forty years. He died February 
g, 1855, and is buried in the old Mallow 
cemetery in Pendleton county. West Virginia. 
His son. Rev. George Schmucker, was bom 
February 16, 1 807, near Woodstock, Virginia, 
and in his early infancy was baptized by his 
father in the Zion church, on Stony creek, 
Virginia. In this same church he was also 
catechised and confirmed by his father. In 
his youth the desire seized him to become a 
minister of the gospel, and though his father 
opposed this noble desire he could not be in- 
duced to relinquish the same. Accordingly 
he began his studies in a school organized by 
Rev. S. S. Schmucker (his cousin), at New- 
market, Virginia, in 1823, and which was 
three years later removed to Gettysburg, Penn- 



682 



OLD LANDMARKS 



sylvania, in 1826, and incorporated as the 
Pennsylvania Theological Seminary. In 1835 
George Schmucker finished his course at Get- 
tysburg and was licensed the same year by the 
synod of Virginia. He took charge of some 
of the congregations of his father and served 
them until 1841. At this time his father made 
a \'isit to Pendleton and Hardy counties (now- 
West Virginia), and on his return home re- 
ported so great need of some one to break the 
lirend of life in that locality that the son was 
impelled to resign his charges and move to 
Pendleton county the same year." Of his 
work farther mention is made, drawing from 
the same source of information, but resorting 
to condensation and metaphrase, as in har- 
monv \\itli the limitations of this publication. 
Rev. George Schmucker gave his service to 
six different congregations, and was compelled 
to traverse an extreme distance of forty-five 
miles, over rough and hilly roads, in thus 
ministering to those over whom he assumed 
spiritual gaiidance. He thus traveled back and 
furth on horseback and continued his labors 
for the long period of forty years. As has 
been appreciatively said, "God's blessing 
rested upon his labors." Many of his congre- 
gations grew very large for that country, 
where people are so sparsely settled. The 
great Civil war almost paralyzed his work. 
Two of the congregations were scattered on 
account of sectional factions, and one of the 
church buildings was burned. After the war 
the fragments of the flocks were gathered up 
and are today earnest and faithful congre- 
gations. Father Schnnicker was well known 
and highly respected throughout Pendleton, 
Highland and Hardy counties, and in many 
instances he ministered to families even to tli€ 
third generation. Persons came to him for 
temporal as well as spiritual advice. He fell 
asleep in Jesus on the loth day of August, 
1886, and his remains now rest beside those 
of his lather, in the old family burying ground. 



In 1830 was solemnized his marriage to Miss 
Sarah Hahni, who was born in Shenandoah, 
benig a daughter of Jacob Hahm, and she was 
summoned into eternal rest on the 4th of 
September, 1900. at the age of eighty-three 
years, having been an earnest and self- 
abnegating supporter of her husband in his 
arduous labors and having also been a de- 
voted mother to her children, who may well 
rise up and call her blessed. Of this union 
were born four sons and four daughters, 
namely : Henrietta Jane, Mary Elizabeth, 
Samuel Luther, William Mosheim, Martha, 
Jacoli Nicholas, Hanna Priscilla and George 
Melanchthon. 

Rev. George M. Schmucker, the immediate 
subject of this sketch, was born in Upper 
Tract, Pendleton county, West Vii'ginia, on 
the 19th of August, 1857, and he passed his 
boyhood days on the farm there owned by his 
father, while among his early duties he devoted 
much of his time to tramping over the mount- 
ains tending cattle, the agricultural resources 
of that section being very limited. When about 
six years of age he began his scholastic dis- 
cipline by attending the poorly equipped dis-, 
trict school, which was located a considerable 
distance from his home, which fact, together 
with that of his services being demanded in 
connection with the work of the homestead, 
caused his attendance to be somewhat irreg- 
ular and desultory. When but eight years of 
age, while playing about the sugar-cane mills 
of his father, he met with a most unfortunate 
accident, his left hand being drawn into the 
machine and so crushed as to render necessary 
its amputation at the wrist. In 1873 ^^ 
entered the Polytechnic College at Newmarket, 
Virginia, where he completed the prescrilied 
curriculum and was graduated as a member 
of the class of 1877, and during the ensuing 
year he was successfully engaged in teaching 
school in his native county. His experience 
in choosintr a vocation in life was somewhat 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



683 



differentiated from tiiat of his father, who, it 
will be recalled, was discouraged from entering 
the ministry by his sire, but persisted in his aim, 
while the subject early manifested a desire 
to prepare himself for the profession of the 
law, but it was his portion to have his hon- 
ored and revered father urge him rather to 
become a clergyman of the church in which 
he himself has so long and faithfully served. 
Ever mindful of the wishes of his father and 
relying strongly upon his advice and counsel, 
the subject was finally lead to follow his 
earnest admonition and entreaty in this con- 
nection and thus determined to prepare him- 
self for the ministry of the church in which he 
had been reared. In view of the marked 
spiritual and temporal success which has at- 
tended his efforts in his holy calling, as well 
as in consideration of the maximum satis- 
faction and joy which have come to him as 
a follower in the steps of the lowly Nazarene, 
there can be none to doubt the wisdom of his 
choice. In 1877 Mr. Schmucker was matric- 
ulated in the Capital University, in the city 
of Columbus, Ohio, where he was enabled to 
enter the junior class at this time, and here 
he was duly graduated as a member of the 
class of 1880, having completed the classical 
course in the regular literary department. He 
then entereil the theological seminary of the 
same institution, which is conducted under the 
auspices of the Lutheran church, and was 
graduated in 1883, being at this time ordained 
and instituted as. a minister of the Evan- 
gelical Lutheran church, while on the ist of 
April of that year he was installed as pastor 
of the church at Carrollton, Carroll vounty, 
retaining this charge until January i, 1888, 
and doing much to advance the work of the 
church and to vitalize all departments of its 
service, spiritual, benevolent and temporal. He 
was then assigned to the pastorate of the 
church at Waynesburg, Stark county, and also 
assumed charge of various missionary organi- 



zations under its auspicies and in the \'icinity, 
and here he continued to labor until the ist of 
April, 1893. Then in response to a call from 
the mission board of his church, he came to 
Canton and here organized the first church of 
the Evangelical Lutheran denomination, the 
organization of the society having been effected 
on the 16th of June of that year, in the school 
building of the German Lutheran church, on 
East Tuscarawas street, whose members kindly 
encouraged and aided in the movement. At 
the inception the membership of the church in- 
cluded only one hundred and thirty persons, 
and in evidence of the devoted and indefati- 
gable efforts of Mr. Schmucker stands the grati- 
fying condition of the church today, the mem- 
bership roll now including four hundred and 
seventy-five names, while the congregation 
worship in a well equipped edifice erected in 
1893. Mr. Schmucker is a forceful and con- 
vincing speaker and his every utterance bears 
the impress of sincerity and earnestness, while 
he is equally potent in the pastoral and ad- 
ministrative functions of his office, as is shown 
in the rapid building up of the church organi- 
zation under his direction. 

Politically the subject maintains an inde- 
pendent attitude, though warm in his defense 
of the principles of prohibition. He takes an 
active interest also in educational work, and for 
three years he served as a member of the board 
of school examiners of Carroll county, while 
he has been called upon to lecture before the 
students of various colleges, and for the past 
ten years has been a valued member of the 
board of trustees of Lima College, at Lima, 
Ohio. 

On the 19th of June, 1886, in Carrollton, 
Carroll county, Ohio, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Schmucker to Miss Mary Byder, 
who was born in that town on the 7th of Janu- 
ary, 1867, and there reared and educated, be- 
ing a daughter of John G. and Margaret 
(Buck) Byder, the latter of whom is now de- 



/-' 







-£"™. £^£: ^.7t^&m.Tts tf^r*J\/n^ 




7//.M://r 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



685 



of St. Josepii when Dorsey, one of the most 
noted anti-slavery agitators of Kansas and 
Missouri, was arrested and imprisoned. He 
was also an eye witness of Dorsey's release by 
John Brown and his companion, who in the 
night pried up the corner of the jail, so as to 
let the prisoner escape. This was in 1858, 
during Mr. Schott's third western trip, the 
other two, aside from long, tiresome wander- 
ings over a wild and sparsely settled country, 
having been devoid of incident or adventure 
of especial note. 

On his return from his third trip, Mr. 
Schott was married, in Waynesburg, Ohio, to 
Miss Caroline Brinkle, who after several years 
of happy wedded life died in the city of Can- 
ton. Subsequently he entered the marriage re- 
lation with Miss Rosanna Kessler, of .Stark 
county, a union terminated by the death of the 
wife, after, which he chose for his third com- 
panion Miss Magdalene Markle, of Canton, 
who still survives. Meanwhile Mr. Schott con- 
tinued to work at his trade and by careful 
management succeeded in acquiring some 
means, which he concluded to invest in western 
real estate. Accordingly he made another 
journey to the west, this time to Texas, taking 
the trip at the instance of the Texas Central 
Raili'oad, then in process of constiaiction. 
Writing to the management of this enterprise 
concerning its lands, he received a favorable 
reply, with a free pass to Texas and return. 
In company with four companions, he made 
an extensive tour of the state with the object 
of investment in view, visiting, in the course 
of his travels, Dennison, F"t. Wortb and many 
other important points. During the great part 
of the time the little company rode on horse- 
back, over a wild, unsettled country, camping 
wherever night o\-ertook them and not infre- 
quently meeting with dangers which upon more 
than one occasion came very nearly resulting 
in the death of the five intrepid travelers. At 
that time the Comanche Indians were on the 



war path and without realizing their proximity 
to the savages Mr. Schott and his companions 
rode into the hostile country. When they fully 
appreciated their danger it required the utmost 
care and vigilance to keep a safe distance be- 
tween them and the lurking foes. Upon one 
occasion, when about going into camp for the 
night, ]\Ir. Schott suggested that they should 
sleep on a high bluff near by instead of in the 
valley, where several other parties had already 
pitched their tents. After some persuasion he 
succeeded in carrying his point and the sequel 
demonstrated the wisdom of his argument. 
During the night the Indians stealthily crept 
upon those who encamped below and the next 
morning nothing but mangled bodies remained 
to tell the tale of their horrible massacre. 

While in Texas Mr. Schott borrowed of a 
friend sufficient money to purchase four hun- 
dred acres of land in Grayson county, for 
which he paid the sum of one thousand dol- 
lars. He also bought one hundred and sixty 
acres within the present corporate limits of 
Dennison, which he afterwards sold at a large 
profit, also realizing three thousand dollars 
from the former tract, which he disposed of a 
few years after making the purchase. In 1877 
Mr. Schott made still another western trip, 
during which he speculated quite extensively 
in lands, never failing to realize liberally upon 
his investments. He owns at this time four 
hundred and fifty acres of fine land in Grayson 
county, Texas, upon which he settled three of 
his children, thus furnishing them comfortable 
homes, besides in other ways assisting them to 
get a start in life. In addition to his western 
real estate, he has valuable farm lands to the 
amount of four hundred and ten acres in Ash- 
tabula county, Ohio, besides fine city property, 
both residence and business, which returns him 
every year a large part of his income. Mr. 
Schott purchased the lot in Canton now occu- 
pied by the Mechanics block when there was 
nothing but an old log cabin to mark the site. 



i 



6>6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and, in partnership with two other parties, 
built the handsome lousiness structure which 
now adorns the ground. When he erected his 
present liome on Cherry street there were no 
other buildings near, but, realizing that the 
city would soon grow in that direction, he made 
the investment and time has demonstrated his 
good judgment and rare foresight. He has 
greatly jmproved his property by planting 
trees, constructing walks, grading the street, 
thus adding materially to its value as well as 
increasing its attractiveness as one of the most 
desirable residence portions of the city. 

Mr. Schott, in partnership with F. Her- 
bruck and John Werner, organized the Na- 
tional Wringer Company and within a short 
time the present buildings were erected and 
the establishment put into successful operation. 
Mr. Schott was elected treasurer of the con- 
cern and under his able management it has be- 
come one of the substantial industries of Can- 
ton, the manufactured product having a large 
sale in every state of the Union. It is operated 
at full capacity to meet the demands of the 
trade and it is a matter of easy prophecy to 
predict an enlargement at no distant day. In 
addition to his manufacturing enterprises and 
real estate interests, Air. Schott for several 
years was (|uite extensi\-elv engaged in the ice 
business. He built large bouses on Fitzgerald 
lake, from which he shipped immense f|uanli- 
ties to Cleveland where he carried on a lucra- 
tive trade until the spring of 190J, when be 
turned the business over to his son-in-law. l)y 
whom it is now successfully managed. Mr. 
Schott has been an enter])rising and indefati- 
gable worker, and from his youth to the present 
time b.is career has been characterized l)y an 
energy and determination which ne\er left 
success a matter of doubt. 

Mr. Schott is a comiianionable gentleman 
and has many warm personal friends in the 
city of Canton and elsewhere. I'ublic spirited, 
lie has ever manifested an active interest in 



the material prosperity of the city of his resi- 
dence and in the furtherance of the moral 
status his influence has also been a potential 
factor. Politically he is a Democrat and as 
such has twice served in the city council from 
a ward which is normally Republican by a re- 
liable majorit}', thus demonstrating his popu- 
larity as a safe and reliable municipal legisla- 
tor irrespective of party. Religiously he was 
born and reared a Catholic and has ever re- 
mained unswervingly loyal to the mother 
church, in the faith of which his children have 
been dutifully instructed. Himself and family 
belong to St. John's church in this city, to the 
support of which he has for many years been 
a liberal contributor. 

By bis iirst wife Mr. Schott is the father 
of three children, Sylvanus, a fanner and stock 
raiser of Grayson county, Texas, where he 
owns four large farms; William, also a cattle 
dealer of that state, who has four thousand 
acres of land adjacent to the "Staked Plains;" 
and Ella, wife of Sylvester Halter, of Cleve- 
land. Ohio. 'Jdie second marriage resulted in 
one son and one daughter, namely: .Mbert, 
who diied at the age of twenty-two, and .Vtldie, 
wh.o married John Hunter and lives on a two- 
thousand-acre farm in Texas.' Mr. Schott's 
pi-esent wife has borne him two children, Sadie, 
who lives with her parents, and Emma, wife 
of William Fitzgerald, a resident of Canton. 



REV. FREDERICK C. NAU, pastor of 
the German Reformed church of Canton, Ohio, 
iidierits the sterling characteristics of French 
and German ancestry, the paternal side of the 
family being traceable to the former nationality. 
His grandfather, Louis Nau, was a native of 
German}-. Ixun in the province of Hesse, where 
be s])ent the greater part of his life. Later he 
joined his son. Hemy, in the I'^nited .States, 
and settled at Mt. l'"aton, Wayne county, Ohio, 
where he li\ed the remainder of bis davs, dv- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



687 



ing a number of years ago esteemed and hon- 
ored for his sturdy honesty and genuine worth. 
Henry Nau, father of the subject of this re- 
view, was born in the Httle town of Homberg, 
Hesse, but grew to maturity principahy in the 
city of Cassel. After attending the pubhc 
school until the age of fourteen he entered the 
teachers' seminary in Cassel, where he prepared 
himself for teaching, which profession he fol- 
lowed for several years in Bremen, earning 
an enviable reputation as an able and accom- 
plished educator. Thinking to influence his 
financial condition in the United States, of 
which country he had read much, and 
which he believed to abound in better oppor- 
tur.ities for young men than his native land, he 
Ijade adieu to Germany in 1864 and sailed for 
the new world. For several years following 
his arrival he taught in the parochial schools 
at fialion, Ohio, and later became principal of 
the German schools in the city of Columbus, 
the state capital. Mr. Nau had been reared in 
a Christian home and through the influence of 
pious parents re was early led to give his heart 
to God and to devote his life to the Master's 
service. Believing that duty pointed in the 
direction of the public ministry, he entered that 
holy calling in 1875, ^""'^ ^''^t charge being the 
German Reformed church in the city of Bucy- 
rus. Subsequently he served, at different 
times, the congregations at Bellaire, Mt. 
Eat(jn. New Bavaria and Sandusky, besides 
preaching at intervals at various other places. 
Rev. Nau was not only a clear, forcible and 
popular preacher, but a profound theologian 
as well, and in due time he took high rank 
among the clergy of his church. After his 
pastorate at Sandusky he was made editor of 
the German juvenile periodical of the German 
Reformed church. While holding this re- 
sponsible position he lived in Cleveland, where 
the publishing house of the church is located, 
moving- to that city in 1890 and maintaining a 
residence there until resigning the editorial ' 



chair, eleven years later. As a preacher he 
displays much talent and education, and as a 
writer his articles have always been character- 
ized by versatility, elegance of diction, clear- 
ness and beauty of thought. He has been one 
of the scholarly and useful men in his denomi- 
nation and, although living the quiet, content- 
ed life of a farmer in Huron county at the pres- 
ent time, still keeps in touch with current re- 
ligious thought and frequently fills pulpits near 
his home and elsewhere, besides taking an ac- 
tive interest in the public affairs of the church. 
Henry Nau was married, in Galion, Ohio, to 
Miss Catherine Lanius, a native of that city 
and daughter of the late Peter Lanius, a union 
which resulted in ten children, the subject of 
this sketch being the second in order of birth. 

Rev. Frederick C. Nau is a native of Co- 
lumbus, Ohio, and dates his birth from the 2d 
day of December, tSyT. After attending the 
public schools of the various cities and towns 
in which his father preached, he entered, at the 
age of sixteen. Calvin College, at Cleveland, 
where he pursued his studies until completing a 
full classical course, graduating in 1893 with 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts, meantime hav- 
ing decided to make the ministry his life work. 
He began his theological studies in the semi- 
nary of Heidelberg College, from which institu- 
tion he was graduated with the class of 1S96, 
and shortly thereafter was appointed to his 
present charge, the First Reformed church of 
Canton. 

Rev. Nau has more than met the high ex- 
pectations of his friends, and among his parish- 
ioners he is held ir, profound esteem for his 
ability as an able and eloquent expoiuider of 
the word of truth, and for the substantial 
growth the church has enjoyed under his pas- 
torate. When he took charge of the work in 
this city the membership of the congregation 
numbered about five hundred and seventy-five, 
but tln'ough his instrumenlality it has since 
been increased until the records now show 



688 



OLD LANDMARKS 



eleven hundred now belonging, a gain of about 
seventy per cent in a little over six years. Not 
the least evidence of his enterprising spirit is 
the present fine condition of the temple of wor- 
ship, a large and beautiful structure which he 
had thoroughly remodeled and rededicated in 
1898 at an expenditure of fifteen thousand 
dollars. 

Rev. Nau, like every good and patriotic 
citizen, manifests considerable interest in pub- 
lic aiifairs, and votes his sentiments fearlessly, 
also keeps himself well informed relative to the 
gi'eat political, economic and industrial ques- 
tions now before the American people. Fra- 
ternally he is a Knight of Pythias, belonging 
to the canton degree in the latter organization. 
Rev. Nau's marriage was solemnized at Lima, 
in 1S96, with Miss Angelina Cantieny, a resi- 
dent of that city and a descendant of an old 
family that lived for many generations near 
the border of Italy, in the south part of Swit- 
zerland. She has borne her husband two chil- 
dren, whose names are Catherine and Dorothy. 



PHITJP SPIERER was born in the prov- 
ince of Alsace, France, which is now a portion 
of the German empire, the date of his nativity 
having been February 20. 1832, while he was 
a son of Peter and Barbara (Smith) Sherer, 
both of whom were Ijorn and reared in that 
same province, where the father was engaged 
in agricultural pursuits up to the time of his 
emigration to America. In his family were 
eight children, of wliom the following named 
five are living at the present time: Peter and 
George, who are identified with farming in 
Carroll county, this state; Christ, who is a res- 
ident of the city of Canton, Stark county; 
Christena, who is the wife of John Berger, of 
Sandy township, this county ; and Frederick, 
who is a resident of St. Joseph county. Indiana. 
In 1847 the family emigrated to the United 
States and, coming to Stark county, located in 



Pike township, where the father of our subject 
purchased a farm of eighty acres, where he con- 
tinued to make his home for several years, 
after which he disposed of the property and 
purchased a tract of one hundred and three 
acres' in the southern part of Canton town- 
ship, where he and his devoted wife passed the 
remainder of their li\es, being honest, indus- 
trious and God-fearing persons and command- 
ing unqualified confidence and regard in the 
community. The father had accumulated a 
competency in his native land and had con- 
verted his property into cash at the time of 
his emigration to America, but the greater por- 
tion of his money was stolen on shipboard 
while the family were en route, so that he was 
handicapped to a greater degree than he had 
anticipated when he established his new home. 
By energy and good management, however, 
he retrieved his fortunes, in a comparative 
sense, before he was called from the scene of 
life's activities. Peter Sherer and his wife 
were devoted members of " the Reformed 
churcli, being identified with the church in Can- 
ton whose pastor was the late and honored Dr. 
Herbruck. In politics Mr. Sherer was a stanch 
adherent of the Whig party. Four of his sons 
were valiant and faithful soldiers in the war of 
the Rebellion, Philip, the immediate subject of 
this memoir, and George, Frederick and Peter. 
Philip Sherer received his early educational 
discipline in his native province of Alsace, and 
was fifteen years of age at the time of the fam- 
ily's emigration to America. He had been edu- 
cated in a German school and upon coming to 
Stark county he entered the district school in 
the vicinity of his home, but his schoolmates 
so ridiculed him on account of his not know- 
ing the English language and making undoubt- 
edly laughable mistakes, that he refused to con- 
tinue in the school, and the year after coming 
to Stark county he entered upon an apprentice- 
ship at the trade of shoemaking, becoming a 
skilled workman and devoting his attention to 




PHILIP SHERER. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



689 



this vocation until he had attained the age of 
twenty-seven years. He then purchased a farm 
of eighty acres, in Sandy township, and in con- 
nection with the cultivation of the same he also 
engaged in the butchering business, in which 
he continued until 1879, while for two years 
of this inter\\al he conducted a meat market 
in Canton, Ijeing associated with a partner, 
whose poor management entailed failure to 
the enterprise, and the business was closed out, 
Mr. Sherer meeting with heavy financial loss 
in the connection. In 1875 he disposed of his 
farm and purchased the present fine homestead 
of the family, in Osnaburg township, the same 
comprising two hundred and ninety-three acres 
and being one of the most valuable and well 
improved landed estates in this portion of the 
county. Mr. Sherer was a man of insistent 
activity and enteiprise, was endowed with 
broad business capacity and mature judgment, 
and was prospered in his earnest and inde- 
fatigable efforts. He was a natural mechanic, 
and after coming to this homestead he was not 
content to confine his efforts solely to his agri- 
cultural operations, but erected on his farm 
large mills, — a saw and planing mill, cane mill, 
cider press and apple-butter factory, in which 
lines he transacted an extensive business for 
many years, while he also operated a gristmill 
and a well equipped threshing outfit. This 
mere statement indicates his progressive spirit 
and the great capacity he had for the handling 
of affairs of wide scope and importance, while 
he was honored as one of the representative 
and influential citizens of the county and as one 
upon whose entire career could be found no 
shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. In 
November, i8qo, his original mill buildings 
were destroyed by lire, and shortly afterward 
he erected -the present finely equipped plant 
which is now owned and operated by his son 
Edwin and which betokens one of the most 
important industrirl enterprises in this section 
of the county. In 1888 Mr. Sherer erected a 
43 



commodious and substantial residence, of 
modern architectural design, and the same is 
most attractively situated on a rise of ground, 
commanding a fine view of the surrounding 
country and being one of the conspicuous 
landmarks of the township. In politics he 
gave an unwavering allegiance to the Repub- 
lican party, though he was entirely without 
personal ambition for official preferment. He 
was originally a member of the Reformed 
church, but later in life identified himself with 
the Evangelical Association, as there was no 
church organization of the former denomina- 
tion in the vicinity of his home. He was lib- 
eral in his support of church work, and took 
an active interest in all that tended to conserve 
the progress and material wellbeing of the 
community, while to him was ever accorded 
the uniform confidence and esteem of all who 
knew him, and thus when he was summoned 
into eternal rest, on the 23d of January, 1898, 
the entire community felt a deep sense of per- 
sonal loss and bereavement, while to those to 
whom he was nearest and dearest will e\er re- 
main the utmost appreciation of all that was 
signified in the life of this noble and true man. 
On the nth of September, 1853, Mr. 
Sherer was united in marriage to Miss Chris- 
tina Kinwright, who was born in Sandy town- 
ship, this county, being a daughter of Michael 
and Margaret (Casper) Kinwright, the former 
of whom was born in the state of Maryland 
and the latter in the province of Alsace,. 
France, both having come to Stark countv in 
the pioneer days and their marriage having' 
been here solemnized. They are now de- 
ceased, the father having been one of the in- 
fluential farmers of the county, while both were 
valued members of the New Lutheran church. 
Mrs. Sherer still resides on the old homestead, 
so endeared to her by the memories and asso- 
ciations of the past, and having the solace which 
comes from the filial solicitude of her children, 
of whom we ofifer brief record as follows : 



690 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Ida {•.. Mrs. Cahin Hershberger, has three 
children, Harry R., Arlan R. and \'erda AL. 
and one, Vera E., died in infancy; Henrv 1£.. 
avIto runs the mill, married Ella Shore}-, and 
h;is twii sons, Harold R. and Arthur X. ; 
Jennie A. married David B. Wilson^ of Waco, 
■Ohiii, and thcv have one .son, Howard E. 



SIMON REINER was born on a farm 
near Magnolia, Carroll county, Ohio, on the 
lOth of June, 1847, losing one of the ten chil- 
dren of Adam and Maria (Oaks) Reiner, while 
■of tlie number only four are living at the pres- 
ent time, namely: William, who is a resident 
.of Louisville, this county; Albert, of Canton; 
John E., of Nimishillen township; and Simon, 
of this sketch. Adam Reiner was born in 
Germany, about the year 1822, and was but 
■f]\e years of age wlien his parents bade adieu 
to the fatherland and emigrated to America. 
It is interesting to record the fact tha-t they 
■originally located in Stark county in the early 
jiioneer days, though they remained but a few- 
years, having resided in Osnaburg township, 
Avhence they subsequently removed to Carroll 
county, where the grandparents passed the resi- 
•due of their lives. The father of the subject 
Avas reared to. maturity in that county, being 
dissociated with the great basic art of agricul- 
ture fron-i his IxDyhood up, and after his mar- 
riage he established his home on a farn-i in that 
<coimty, where he remained until 1854, when 
1-ie came again to Stark county, settling' in Paris 
tow-nship, where he continued to be engaged 
in farming until 1867, when he came to the 
iarm now owned and occupied by our subject, 
on section 14, Osnaburg township. He con- 
tinued to resifle on this farm until alxiut 1876, 
W'-hen he turned the management of the place 
over to the subject of this review and removed 
to another farm, north of the village of Loiiis- 
A'ille, where he continued to be actively engaged 
in farming until Tooo, when he returned to the 



homestead, where he is now lixing practically 
retired, at the venerable age of eighty-one 
}-ears, receiving the utmost filial solicitude on 
the part of the sul-jject and his wife, in whose 
lion-ie he is thus pleasantly estal)lislied. In poli- 
tics he has ever given his su])i)ort to the Democ- 
racy, and he has held various minor offices, in- 
cluding that of school director, of which he was 
incuml;ent for se\eral years. His religious 
faith is that of the Catholic church, in which he 
was reared, and his entire life has been one of 
invincible integrity and honor, so that in the 
golden evening of his day he enjoys to the full 
the confidence and esteem of all who know him. 
His lo\-ed and cherished wife died sonie years 
ago in Nimishillen township. 

Simon Reiner was a lad of about seven 
years at the time of his parents' removal from 
Carroll to Stark county, and he grew to ma- 
turity under the beneficent and sturdy discijiline 
of the farm, while his educational privileges 
were such as were enjoyed l)y the a\-erage 
farmer boy of the locality and period, being 
confined to a soniewhat irregular attendance 
in the district schools. In 1S77 ^^^ "^^'"is united 
in marriage to Miss Mary J. Diehl, who was 
born in Paris township, this county, a daugh- 
ter of Jacob Diehl, a sterling pioneer farmer of 
the county. One year prior to his marriage 
he had assumed charge of the home farm, as 
has beei-i already mentioned in this context, and 
he continued to rent the farm from his father 
until 1880, when he purchased the property, 
and has since given his undivided attention to 
its cultivation and to the raising of high-grade 
live stock, though this featiu^e of his enterpri.se 
is subordinate to that of agriculture. In 1892 
Mr. Reiner erected one of the handsomest farm 
residences in this section of tlie county, tlie 
building being spacious and of n-iodern archi- 
tectural design and equipn-ient. while it should 
further be stated that it is a center of genial and 
gracious hospitality and a fa\'orite rendezvous 
of the wide circle of friends whi>m the famil-y 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



691 






ha\-e g'ained during tlie past years. Tlie farm 
has the Ijest of improvements and comprises 
eigiity-six acres of as fertile and productive 
land as is to be found within the county- The 
marriage of tlie subject and his estimable wife 
has been blessed with four children, of whom 
one died in infancy, while the other three are 
still l;eneath the home roof, their names, in or- 
der of birth, being: Antlnjny L., Emma R. 
and Ollie E. In politics Mr. Reiner is a stanch 
advocate of the principles of the Democratic 
party, and while he takes a deep and intelli- 
gent interest in the issues of the day and in the 
material and civic welfare of his home county 
and state, he has never exhibited any political 
ambition in a personal way. having no desire 
for the honors or emoluments of office of any 
character. He is a communicant of the Cath- 
olic church, as is also his wife, and they are 
identified with St. Louis parish, at Louisville. 



DK. E. L. AIETZGER is a native of Stark 
county, and the youngest of four children born 
to J. W. and Frances (Pierson) Metzger, a 
notice of whom will be found on another page 
■of this \'olume. The Doctor was born August 
3, 1872. in Xiniishillen township, and spent his 
early years on the home farm, attending dur- 
ing his minority the public schools of Louisville. 
At the age of twenty-one he acquired an inter- 
est in the Canton and Osnabnrg Brick and Tile 
Company, with which he was identified about 
four years, during which time he also ran a bar- 
ber shop in Louisville, receiving from the two 
sources a \-ery satisfactorv income. Se\'ering 
his connection with the above company and 
with no desire to continue the barber business, 
Mr. Metzger. in 1898, took up the study of vet- 
erinary surgery, fully satisfied that the profes- 
sion afforded a ^■ery favorable opening for a 
young man of talent and sufficient energy to 
push tlie matter to successful issue. After a 
course of private reading Mr. ^letzger, in the 



fall of the above year, entered the veterinary 
department of the Ohio State University at 
Columbus, where he prosecuted his studies un- 
der the direction of some of the ablest profes- 
sors of the day, and in the spring of 1901 he 
\\as graduated with one of the best records of 
his class. On receiving his degree he opened 
an office in Louisville and while his practice has 
covered no great length of time, he has ac- 
quired a large and lucrative patronage, which 
gives every promise of increasing many fold 
with each succeeding year. As is well known, 
the farmers of Nimishillen township have long 
prided themselves on the high grade of their 
live stock, especially horses, than which there 
are none better in any other part of the state. 
Realizing the \'alue of tine, healthy animals, 
they ha\-e spared no expense in looking after 
their ailments, which fact has made the presence 
of a skillful and successful veterinary surgeon 
almost as great a necessity as that of a regular 
13h}'sician. Dr. Metzger was heartily wel- 
comed in Louisville and the success that has 
thus far attended his treatment has given him 
much more than mere local repute. Many of 
his patrons came long distances to secure the 
benefit oi his professional ser\-ices and with but 
tritiing exception his treatment has been fol- 
lowed by tlie most satisfactory results. He 
now has about all the business he can properly 
attend to and his success has more than real- 
ized his most sanguine expectations when lie 
contemplated making the profession his life 
work. 

On h^ebruary 19. 1901, Dr. Metzger was 
hajjijih- married to Miss Vida McClard. of Os- 
nabiu'g, daughter of James and Ellen (Baker) 
McClard, ]jarents formerly of Stark county, 
but now li\'ing in Adairs\-ille, Iventucky. In 
politics the Doctor is an unswer\-ing adherent 
of the Democratic party and for four years 
served on the county central committee from 
Nimishillen township. He has been an agres- 
si\'e worker, and his infiuence and leadership 



692 



OLD LANDMARKS 



have contributed not a little to the party's 
strength in the campaigns of recait years. The 
Doctor's religious creed is represented by the 
Catholic church, in which he was born and 
reared and of which he has ever been an earnest 
and faithful member. 



■♦ » » 



JOHN L. FREY was torn on the old 
homestead farm, in Osnaburg township. Stark 
county, Ohio, on the 23d of October, 1850, be- 
ing the younger of the two children of John and 
Caroline (Sluss) Frey, the other child being- 
Frances, who is the wife of Reason A. Smuck, 
a prominent farmer of Osnaburg township. 
His father was likewise a native of Stark coun- 
tv. having been born in Paris township, where 
his parents took up their abode in the early pio- 
neer epoch, hax'ing emigrated hither from Penn- 
sylvania. John Frey was reared on the pioneer 
homestead, his father having passed away 
when he was a child, and after his marriage he 
settled on a farm in Osnaburg township, where 
he became the owner of one hundred and sev- 
entv-three acres, and there he continued to 
make his home until his death, which occurred 
in 1890, at which time he had attained the age 
of sixty-seven years. He was a stanch Demo- 
crat in his political proclivities, and both he and 
his wife were consistent members of the Re- 
formed church, the latter having been born in 
Osnaburg township, in 1829, while her death 
there occurred about 1878. 

John L. Frey, the immediate subject of this 
sketch, grew to maturity on the old homestead 
where he was born, and his education was se- 
cured in the public schools of the township. At 
the age of severteen years he left the parental 
roof, and for the following five years followed 
various occupations, after which he returned to 
his home and there continued to be associated 
in the operation of the farm up to the time of 
his marriage, in 1879. He then removed to 
his present fine farm, which is located in Nimi- 



shillen township, and which comprises one hun- 
dred and eighteen acres. He purchased this 
farm from his mother-in-law, and it is known 
as OWQ of the model farms of the township, be- 
ing under a high state of cultivation and 
equipped with the best of improvements, in- 
cluding a commodious and attractive residence. 
In 1888 Mr. Frey rented the farm and removed 
to the village of Louisville, this county, where 
he remained for the ensuing ten years, living 
practically retired and enjoying the fruits of 
his former toil and endeavor. In 1^98 he sold 
his town property and returned to the farm, 
where he was again located until the spring of 
1903 and now supervises the same, be- 
ing one of the progressive and scientific 
farmers of the county and thus secur- 
ing the maximum returns from his labors. He 
and his wife have passed two summers in Colo- 
rado, in 1889 and 1890. In politics ]\Ir. Frey 
gives an uncompromising allegiance to the 
Democratic party, and he and his wife are 
prominent and zealous members of the Re- 
formed church. 

On the oth of October, 1879, Mr. Frey was 
united in marriage to Miss Harriet Hershey, 
who was born in Nimishillen township, being 
a daughter of the late Jacob Hershey, who was 
a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 
and numbered among the pioneers of Stark 
county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Frey have one 
child, Nellie J., who is one of the popular young 
ladies of the community and who still remains 
at the parental home. 



ADAM NIMON was born in Hesseu 
Darmstadt, Germany, on the 2d of February. 
1833, the son of John and Anna Catherine 
(Moulin) Nimon, who were the parents of but 
two children, the other being a son. John, now 
a resident of Columbiana county, Ohio. The 
subject's father was also a native of Hessen 
Darmstadt, his birth occurring in 1804. He 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



693 



was reared in his native country and early 
learned the trade of wood working, being em- 
ployed while in his native country at the manu- 
facture of spinning wheels. In 1833, realizing 
that in the new world lay wider opportunities 
for a man of energy and ambition, he emi- 
grated with his family, landing at Baltimore 
after an ocean voyage of forty-two days. At 
that time the father was eighty dollars in debt, 
having had their passage money advanced by 
two cousins who also made the voyage. They 
at once came to the Buckeye state, locating at 
Letonia, Columbiana county, where they lived 
one year. Later they removed five miles south- 
west of Letonia to a fifteen-acre farm which he 
had there purchased and there lived until the 
spring of 1852, when they removed to Stark 
county and purchased the farm of seventy acres 
now owned by Abraham Creighton, at Osna- 
burg. After a year's residence upon this place 
he ga\"e the farm to his son John and purchased 
the eighty-acre tract upon which the subject 
now resides. Lipon this farm the parents re- 
sided until their deaths. L'pon first arriving in 
Letonia the father learned the trade of wagon- 
making and for a few years following worked 
at this business during the winter months, while 
during the warmer months he was employed at 
carpentering and building. He was a natural- 
born mechanic and successfully handled all 
kinds of tools. At the time he erected his first 
house he was practically without experience, 
but fulfilled his contract to the entire satisfac- 
tion of his customer, receiving in payment 
therefor fifteen acres of land. The house is still 
standing and is in a fair state of preservation. 
From this beginning Mr. Nimon felt encour- 
aged to continue at that occupation and pur- 
sued for a number of years witli marked suc- 
cess and profit. Politically he was a Democrat 
and took a keen and intelligent interest in the 
trend of public events. His religious princi- 
ples were those embodied in tlie creed of the 
J.utheran clnu'ch, of which he was lono- a faith- 



ful and consistent member. His death occurred 
in 1882 in his seventy-eighth year, while his 
wife passed away the year previously at the 
advanced age of eighty-four. They Avere well 
known and highly esteemed by all who knew 
them and their deaths was a distinct loss to the 
communit)- in which they had resided. 

Adam Nimon was reared under the paren- 
tal roof and acquired his education in the pio- 
neer schools of the period and the locality. 
The educational facilities at that time were 
necessarily limited, but ATr. Nimon was ambi- 
tious to obtain an education and made faith- 
ful use of such means as were at his command, 
at length acquiring a fair knowledge of the 
common English branches. This he has since 
liberally supplemented by a wide course of 
reading and a close observation of men and 
events. At the age of twenty years he removed 
to the farm on which he now resides and, his fa- 
ther not having a practical knowledg'e of farm- 
ing, the subject took active charge of the place, 
running it for his father's benefit until the lat- 
ter's death, since which time he has remained 
in possession, it ha\'ing reverted to him at that 
time. He has made a decided success of his 
vocation and has achieved an enviable reputa- 
tion as one of the intelligent and progressiA'e 
agriculturists of his township. His time is al- 
most entirely given to his farming interests 
and the excellent condition of his fields and 
farm Imildings indicates his care and super- 
vision. He is both practical ~and progressive 
in his methods and to his energy and persever- 
ance is attributed the gratifying success which 
has attended his efforts. 

In 1868 the subject was united in the holy 
bonds of matrimony with Miss Elizabeth 
Scheff'er, a nati\'e of Osnaburg township and 
a daug'hter of John Scheft'er, also a native of 
the same township. The latter's father, Henry 
Scheft'er, was a native of Pennsylvania, but 
came to Ohio in the early pioneer days, at a 
time when Indians and wild game were plenti- 



694 



OLD LANDMARKS 



fill. To tlie subject and his wife ha\e been 
born seven children, of whom six survive, as 
follows: Harvey, of Canton, Ohio; George, 
also of Canton : Frances, Levi, Anna and Clara, 
all at home. In politics the subject is nominally 
a Democrat, Aoting in harmony with that par- 
ty on all national questions, but in local mat- 
ters he deems the fitness of the candidate for 
the office sought the most important considera- 
tion. He was at one time nominated against 
his wishes for the office of township trustee, 
liut refused to make a canvass and at the elec- 
tion was defeated by three or four votes. Re- 
ligiously he is identified with the Reformed 
church and gives his earnest support to all 
measures ha\ing for their object the advance- 
ment of the moral or material interests of the 
community. All in all, he is a citizen of whom 
any community might be proud. 



JACOL) K.-\(iE\' was born in Columbiana 
county. Ohio, on the 13th of October, 1842, 
being a son of Abraham and Hannah (Snyder) 
Kagey and now the only survivor of theii' five 
child.re:i. ,\liraham Kagey was born in Shen- 
andoah county, Virginia, in January, 1818, a 
son • of John and Catherine (Coughnour) 
Kagey. The name has long been identified 
with the annals of American history and has 
stood for the higliest type of citizenship ani:l 
the most exalted patriotism. The original 
American ancestor was John Kagey. who emi- 
grated hither from Switzerland, prior to the 
middle of the sexcnteenth century, taking up 
his abode in ^'irginia, and a numlier of the fam- 
ily were patriot soldiers in the Continental line 
during- the war of the Revolution, while many 
of the name ha\e l)een jirominent in the public 
life of the natic^n, representatives being now 
found in the most diverse sections of the Union, 
though the Old Dominion still claims a mun- 
ber of the family as residents. When the fa- 
ther of the sul)ject was a child his parents re- 



moved from \'irginia to Trumbull county, 
Ohio, being numbered among' the pioneers of 
that section of the Buckeye state. There his 
father died when Abraham was but se\en years 
of age, and he then became an inmate iif the 
home of his uncle. Henry Kagey, whii soon 
afterward removed to Columbiana county, 
Ohio, where the father of the subject was reared 
to manhood on a farm, recei\-ing such educa- 
tional advantages as the pioneer locality af- 
fiirded. As a young man he came to Stark 
county for a \isit. and while here he met Miss 
Hannah Snyder, with whom he successfully 
pressed his suit, as is shown in the fact that they 
were shortly afterward married. They passed 
the first two years of their married life in Co- 
lumbiana county, and then came to Stark coun- 
ty, in 1843. 1^1''^ y^-^i' 'liter the birth of the sub- 
ject, their eldest child, and here the father pur- 
chased a farm of eighty acres in Osnaburg 
township, w here he continued to make his home 
until 1854. when he sold the property and pur- 
chased the farm now owned 1)y the subject, on 
section 3;. Ximishillen tnwuship. the same 
comprising one hundred and eighteen acres of 
as fine land as can Ije found in the county. Here 
he resided until the time of his death, which 
occurred on the 21st of June. 1873. his demise 
being the direct result of injuries recei\'ed by 
being thrown from a horse about a score of 
years previously, his health lia\ ing been nuich 
impaired ever after this accident. In his earlier 
life he was a Democrat in politics, but upon the 
organization of the Republican party be es- 
poused its cause and e\'er afterward continued 
its stalwart adherent. He was a prominent 
member of the German Baptist church, in 
which he held the office of deacon for a number 
of years. In 1879 his widow consummated a 
second marriage, becoming the wife of Chris- 
tian Sollenberger, and she died about five years 
later, in 18S4, ha\ing likewise been a devoted 
member of the (lerman Baptist church. 

Jacob Kagey was reared on the homestead 



CANTON AND STARK COUNT V, OHIO. 



695 



farm, in this count)', being about twelve years 
of age at the time when liis parents removed 
from Osnabm'g township to his present farm. 
Being the eldest child he was early called upon 
to assume much of the practical work of the 
farm, his father's accident having disqualified 
him for actixe labor, and thus the subject's edu- 
cational advantages were very limited in scope, 
being confined to a somewhat desultory attend- 
ance in the district schools. In 1864 Mr. Kagey 
was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Berlin, 
who was born in Nimishillen township, being 
a daughter of the late Isaac Berlin, one of the 
honored pioneers of the county, whither he 
came from Pennsylvania, a state which has 
contributed largely to the personnel of Stark 
county's citizenship. The maiden name of his 
wn'fe was Margaret Trump, and both died in 
this county. After his marriage the subject 
left the home farm and for about nine years 
following he was engaged in farming on his 
own res])onsibility and also operated a thresh- 
ing machine. In 1873 he effected the purchase 
of the homestead farm and here continued to 
reside until the spring of 1902, when he pur- 
chased the John Warstler farm, near the ^■il- 
lage of Louis\"iIle, where he is now residing, 
the place being under a high state of cultiva- 
tion and e(|uip])ed with the best of permanent 
improvements, including a commodious resi- 
dence, of attractive design. Of the four chil- 
dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Kagey. three sur- 
vive, namely : William H., who is engaged in 
the grocery business in Louisville, this county : 
John B., who is a prominent merchant and 
manufacturer of that village and also incum- 
bent of the nihce of postmaster, and Ira E., 
who is associated with his father in the man- 
agement of the Jiome farm. 

Mr. Kagey is a man of unswerving in- 
tegrity and honor and has been a prominent 
and influential citizen of Nimishillen township 
for many years. lia\-ing the unequi\-ocal confi- 
dence and regard of all who know him. After 



his father's death he effected the settlement o£ 
the estate without recourse to court pnceed- 
ings, and so marked was his skill and probity 
in tlie handling of the same that he was after- 
ward called upon to act as administrator of 
several important estates, having had four oni 
his hands at one time, while the utmost confi- 
dence has invariably been shown in his judg- 
ment and fairness. Mr. Kagey was for two 
years a member of the directorate of the Stark 
Comity Fair Association and for tweh'e suc- 
cessive years he was treasurer of the Home In- 
surance Company of Nimishillen and Osna- 
bnrg townships, retiring' from the office only- 
upon his positive declination to remain longer 
its incumbent, though he served three years as 
a director of the company. He is now secre- 
tary of the Union Cemetery Association, irt 
which office he is serving his second term, while 
for man\- years he was a member of the school 
bt>ard of his district and has been one of the 
most valued citizens of this section of the coun- 
t}-. In politics he accords a stanch allegiance 
to the Republican party, and thijugh not 
formally identified with any church organiza- 
tion he is a liberal contributor to religiou.s; 
work, regardless of denomination. 



RUFUS VV. GEHMAN was born on a 
farm in Osnaburg township. Stark county, 
Ohio, on the roth of September, 1867, being a 
son of David and Nancy (Wright) Gehman, 
of whose three children he is the younger of 
the two survi\'ing, his sister Ida being' the wife 
of John Ranch, who is likewise a successful 
farmer of Osnaburg township. The subject 
was reared under the sturdy discipline of the 
homestead farm and is indebted to the ]iublic 
schools of the localit}' for his early educationaf 
privileges, of which he duly availed himself^ 
On the igth of .\ugust, 1888, Mr. Gehmare 
was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Slieple}", 
who was likewise born in this township. Ijeing' 



696 



OLD LANDMARKS 



a daughter of Jacob Shepley, who was born in 
Germany, whence he emigrated to America as 
a j'oung man, taking up his residence in Stark 
county, where he married Miss Rachel Kim- 
niel, and where he continued to be engaged in 
agricultural pursuits until his death, being one 
of the sterling citizens of this township. He 
passed away at the age of seventy-six 3'ears and 
his wife still survives him, being aged seventy- 
five years. A.fter his marriage Mr. Gehman 
located on a small farm, of forty-five acres, 
just north of the village of Osnaburg, having 
purchased the property in the preceding spring, 
and to the improvement and cultivation of this 
farm he continued to give his attention for the 
ensuing ii\-e years, after which he applied the 
same in jaart payment for the old home farm 
of one hundred acres, which is most eligibly 
located just to the east of the village of Osna- 
burg, this being the old homestead on whicli 
he was born, and at the time the exchange was 
effected his father removed to the smaller 
farm which the sul^ject had previously owned. 
l\Ir. Gehman here continued his acti\e and ef- 
fective labors for a period of four years, when 
his father and step-mother manifested a desire 
to return to the homestead, and he thus sold 
the place to his father, after which he pur- 
chased a farm of seventy-eight acres near 
Maximo, in Nimishillen township, where he 
remained for two years, after which he re- 
turned to Osnaburg township and purchased 
his present home farm, which comprises eighty- 
one and one-half acres of excellent land, in sec- 
tion 5. The productivitv of the farm has l.ieen 
maintained at the highest standard and the 
permanent improvements are of substantial 
and attractive character. In the various local- 
ities where he has thus lived Mr. Gehman has 
held a high reputation as a model farmer, 
knowing thoroughly well the best methofls to 
be emplo3'ed in securing tJie maximum returns 
from the lands of this locality, from the fact 
that he has here been closelv identified witli 



the great fundamental industry of agriculture 
from his boyhood up and has also been a close 
student of these methods and has shown 
marked resourcefulness and discrimination in 
tlie application of his energies. In connection 
with his general farming he makes a specialty 
of raising a high grade of live stock, and in 
this line utilizes the products of his farm, with 
the exception of his wheat crop. 

In his political proclivities Mr. Gehman is 
a stanch advocate of the principles of the Re- 
publican party and takes a lively interest in all 
that concerns the progress and material pros- 
perity of his home county. He and his wife 
are both consistent members of the Reformed 
church, and have the unqualified esteem of all 
who know them. They became the parents of 
two children, Clarence; who died in infancy, 
and Charles C, who was born on the 25th of 
April, iSqi. 



JACOB SHUMAKER.— In tlie attractive 
village of Minerva, Paris township, is located 
the fine home of Mr. Shumaker, one of the 
progressive and influential business men of this 
section of the state and an honored and repre- 
sentative citizen of St^rk county, where he is 
identified with industrial and financial interests 
of broad scope and importance. Mr. Shu- 
maker comes of stanch German lineage and is 
himself a native of the old Keystone state of 
the Union, having been born on a farm in Mer- 
cer _county, Pennsylvania, on the 21st of April, 
1850. He is one of the nine children born to 
John and Polly (Bortz) Shumaker, and aside 
from himself only one other, of the children 
survives, his brother Alexander, who is a resi- 
dent of the city of Akron, Ohio. John Shu- 
maker, father of the subject, was born in Le- 
high county, Pennsylvania, and was tliere 
reared to manhood. As a young man he re- 
moved to Mercer county, that state, where he 
married and where he passed the residue of his 




'^ 




.1.9). 



ayC>o//-.7 //r/ /////// ^v^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



697 



life in agricultural pursuits, having accumu- 
lated a good property and having ever been 
known as a man of industrious habits and 
sterling integrity of character. He died on 
his farm, at the age of seventy-six years, hon- 
ored by all who knew him. His wife survived 
him a number of years, retaining her home on 
the okl farm, so hallowed to her by the mem- 
ories and associations of the past, until her 
death, at the venerable age of eighty-three 
years, l)oth having been active and devoted 
members of tlie Lutheran church, while the 
father was a stanch Republican in his polit- 
ical proclivities, though never an aspirant for 
political preferment. 

Jacob Shumaker, the immediate subject of 
this sketch, was reared in a home of beneficent 
influences, and continued to be associated in the 
work of the old farmstead until he had at- 
tained the age of twenty-three years, his serv- 
ices having thus been in such requisition dur- 
ing his youthful days that his early educational 
privileges were somewhat limited in scope, be- 
ing confined to a somewhat irregular attend- 
ance in the district schools. On the 25th of 
November, 1875, Mr. Siuimaker was united 
in marriage to Miss Catherine Smith, who 
likewise was born in Mercer county, Pennsyl- 
vania, being a daughter of Henry Smith, a 
prominent farmer of that section. After his 
marriage Mr. Shumaker rented land and gave 
his attention to its cuUivation for one year, 
after which he purchased a farm of forty acres, 
in Mercer county, where he continued in agri- 
cultural pursuits aljout six years-. Directlv 
after his marriage lie began buying timber, 
and in this line of enterprise he continued op- 
erations on a modest scale in connection with 
his farming, showing marked tact and ability 
in the handling of this department of liis inisi- 
ness, wliich e\-entually began to render him ex- 
cellent returns. Upon leaving his farm, in 
i88r, he took up liis residence in Sheakleyville, 
Mercer countv, and turned liis entire attention 



to his lumbering business, which by this time 
had grown to no inconsiderable magnitude. 
About one year later he came to Carroll county, 
Ohio, and located at Watheys, where he con- 
tinued in the same line of enterprise for a year 
and then removed to Amsterdam, Jefferson 
county, where h? likewise lived for one year, 
at the expiration of which he came to his pres- 
ent place of residence, in Minerva, Stark coun- 
ty, which has since been his home and business 
headquarters. His lumbering operations have 
grown to extensive proportions and for a num- 
ber of years he operated several S3.\v mills, but 
in recent years he has had his work done by 
contract, finding a market for his lumber to a 
large extent with certain railroad companies. 
In 1899 he erected his present commodious 
modern residence in Minerva, the same being 
the finest in the town and of most attractive 
architectural design. He is a stockholder and 
director, as well as a member of the financial 
committee, of the Bank of Minerva ; is a 
stockholder of the American Consolidated 
Mining Compau}', which owns valuable mining 
interests in New Mexico; and lie also has vahi- 
able mining interests in Pennsylvania. Thus it 
may l^e seen that Mr. Siuimaker is distinctively 
a man of affairs, and his success is the more 
gratifying to note, from the fact that it lias been 
attained througli his own efforts, so tliat lie is 
well deserving of the proud .American title of 
self-made man. He is the owner of two liun- 
dred and thirteen acres of fine fanning land in 
Carroll county, Ohio, and is one of the leading 
business men and influential citizens of tliis 
section of the Buckeye state. In politics Mr. 
.Shumaker accords a stanch allegiance to the 
Repulilican party, and while free from all per- 
sonal ambition in the matter of public office, he 
was called upon to serve as a member of the 
village council of Minerva, of which oflice he 
was incumbent for four years. Fraternally Mr. 
Shumaker is an appreciative member of the 
Masonic order, bein<>- identified with Tubal 



698 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Lodge No. 551, Free ami Accepted Masons, of 
]\Iiner;va ; Cliapter No, IJ3, Royal Arch Masons, 
at Canton, and Canton Commandery No. 38, 
Knights Templar, while he is also identified 
with the popular social auxiliary, the Ancient 
Aral)ic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic 
Shrine, having been conducted across the l)urn- 
ing sands of the desert under the auspices of 
Al Koran Temple, in the city of Cleveland. 
He also holds membership in Custer Lodge No. 
i.\6g. Knights of Pythias, at Greenville, Penn- 
sylvania. His wife is a member of the Disciple 
church. The)^ have one daughter, Letha, who 
remains beneath the parental roof and who is 
one of the popular young ladies in the social 
life of the communitv. 



SAMUEL SEFONG, SR., is a native of 
the old Keystone state of the Union, having 
been born in Cumberland county. Pennsyl- 
\;mia. on the 3d of August, 1825, and being a 
son of George O. and Elizabeth (Biddinger) 
Sefong, of whose nine children he is one of 
the two survi\-ing at the present time, his 
\'ounger brother, Jacob, being a well-known 
resident of Nimishillen township, this county. 
The father of the subject was born in the prov- 
ince of Wurtemburg. Germany, whence he came 
to America wiien fifteen years of age, in order 
to escape service in the German army, and he 
ioined his brother in the state of Pennsylvania, 
where he was reared to maturity and where 
his marriage was solemnized. About the year 
1834 he came to Stark county, Ohio, and first 
located in the \illage of Osnaburg, whence, 
sh.orlly afterward, he removed to a tract of 
fifteen acres wliich he had purchased in Nim- 
ishillen township. There he continued to re- 
side until he was well advanced in years, when 
he removed to Frieburg, ^^'ashington townshi]), 
where he continued to make his home until 
the death of his second wife, wlien, being in his 
ninetieth year, his children brought him to the 



home of his son Jacob, where he died three 
weeks later. His first wife, the mother of tlie 
subject, died in 1834, as a result of an attack 
of cholera, this being only a short time after the 
removal of the family to Stark county. She 
was liorn in Germany and as a girl was in indi- 
gent circumstances, being bnund out to ])ay 
her passage on coming to America. After her 
marriage to Mr. Sefong they located in Cum- 
berland county, Pennsylvania, where the)- 
maintained their home for a number of years 
and whence they came to Stark county, Ohio. 
The father married as his second wife }tliss 
Elizabeth Moon and they became the parents 
of two children, both of whom are now de- 
ceased. He was a Democrat in his political 
proclivities, and his religious faith was that of 
tiie Reformed church, of which he was a wor- 
thy and consistent member, exemplifying his 
faith in his daily walk and conversation. In 
his youth he learned the tailor's trade, in the 
city of Philadelphia, and to this vocation he 
devoted his attention until he was no longer 
able to do acti\-e work, by reason of advanced 
age, and thereafter he was cared for with true 
filial solicitude I:)y his sons. 

Samuel Sefong, the immediate subject of 
this review, grew up in the paternal home, and 
received limited educational advantages, since 
at the age of tweh'e vears he secured employ- 
ment in Wertz Brothers' woolen and saw-mill, 
at Belford, where he remained nine years, his 
wages being turned over to his father. Having 
then attained his legal majoritv, hc' practically 
began his indejiendent career, continuing in the 
employ of the same concern, and after a short 
time he and John Wertz assumed charge <)f the 
carding and fulling in the woolen-mill and he 
received a share of the profits from his lalio'rs. 
There Mr. Sefong remained until the year 
185T, when he remoxed to his present fine farm, 
in section 3, Osnaburg township, the land be- 
ing covered with the native timber at the time 
when lie came into possession of the same. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



699 



He clearefl and improved the farm, wliich com- 
prises eighty-five acres, and in view of its pres- 
ent thrifty and highly culti\-ated ciindition it 
is in.teresting to re\-ert to the fact th.at Mr. 
Sefong personally reclaimed the entire tract 
with the exception of fifteen acres, while he di- 
rected his efforts with that energy and dis- 
crimination which enaljled him to attain a high 
degree of prosperity. He continueil to make 
his home on the farm until 1891. when he 
placed the same in charge of his son Joseph and 
removed ti:) the village of Belfort, lint his wife 
died one year later and he then disposed of his 
village property and returned to the farm, 
where he has since made his home with his son 
Joseph, who still retains the active manage- 
ment of the place. In politics Mr. Sefong is 
a stanch advocate of the principles of the Dem- 
ocratic ]iart\'. and he has long heen a devoted 
member of the Reformed church, as was also 
his loved wife. 

On the loth of March, 1S49, Mr. Sefong 
was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Moul, 
who was born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
vania, a daughter of John Moul, who came to 
Stark county when she was a child of two 
years, and here she was reared and educated 
and here passed the remainder of her life, be- 
ing a woman of noble character and retaining 
the affectionate regard of all who came within 
the sphere of her gracious infiuence. She was 
a true companion and helpmeet to her husl:>and 
and their ha])py wedded life continued during 
the long period of more than two score of 
years, when the veil of eternal life was lifted 
and .she passed forward to the "land of the 
leal" on the 24th of January, 1892, at tife age 
of sixty-six years and tv,ent}'-nine days. Of 
this union were born six sons and three daugh- 
ters, and of the number four of the sons and 
one of the daughters are yet living, namely : 
F.dnard, who is a successful farmer of Nim- 
i.shillen township; Henry H., who is a resident 
of the city of Canton: Joseph H.. who has 



charg'e of the homestead farm: Samuel, Jr.. 
who resides in the city of Canton, and Ellen, 
who is the wife of William Clapper, of Osna- 
burg township, where he is a prosperous farm- 
er. The familv is held in the highest esteem in 
the county and represents the best element of 
the sturdy pioneer stock which brought about 
the initial d.evelbpment of this favored section 
of tlie Old Buckeve state. 



MICHAEL GEHMAN.— To the person- 
nel of Stark's comity population in the epccli 
of its earlier settlement it is clear beyond per- 
ach-enture that no state in the Union contrib- 
uted a more numerous or more valuable element 
than did Pennsylvania, and Mr. Gehman is 
a member of one of the families who came then 
to the county in the first half of the nineteenth 
centiny and assisted in the development and 
opident progress of this section. He is' him- 
self a native of the Keystone state, having been 
born in Lancaster C(_)unty, I^ennsyh-ania, on 
the Tst of April. 1839, a son of Benjamin and 
Tannie fSechrist) Gehman, of whose eight 
children four are living at the present time, 
namely: Michael, who is the indixidual sub- 
ject of this sketch: Da\'id, who is a resident of 
Osnaburg township, this county : Cyrus, who 
resides in Eaton county, Michigan : and Lydia, 
who is the widow of Jacob Gibe and resides in 
the A'illage of Louisville, Stark count}'. Benja- 
min Gehman was reared in Lancaster cotmty, 
Pennsvlvania, receiving a common-schoi^l ed- 
ucation and having the discipline in\olved in 
the growing up on a farm, while to agriculture 
he continued to devote his attention in his na- 
tive count}' until 1848, when he remo\e(l with 
his wife and children to Stark county. Ohio, 
locating first in the village of Green\-ille, where 
he remained for a short interval and then pur- 
chased a f|uarter section of land in Osnalmrg 
township, where he ccintinued in agricultural 
ptu'suits until the close of his useful and ^vor- 



700 



OLD LANDMARKS 



thy life, passing away at the comparatively 
early age of forty-two years, in the year 1856, 
his death resulting from an attack of typhoid 
fever. His wife, who was likewise born in 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, survived him 
a number of years, her death occurring in 
1877. The father of the subject was a stalwart 
Whig of the old line, and took an active inter- 
est in the questions and issues of the hour, be- 
ing a man of strong intellect and excellent 
judgment. Both he and his wife were zealous 
and consistent members of the Mennonite 
church. 

Michael Gehman, . subject of this sketch, 
was seventeen years of age at the time of his 
father's death, and his educational opportuni- 
ties were such as had been afforded by the dis- 
trict schools. After the death of his father he 
•worked by the month on neighboring farms 
for rdjout five years, and on the 13th of Jan- 
uary, 1861, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Rebecca Young, who was born in this county, 
being a daughter of Jacob and Miss (Graybill) 
Young, and of this happy union four children 
were born, namely : Celestia, who is the wife 
of Reuben Eby and resides near Greentown, 
this county; Alice, who is the wife of Simon 
Ringer, of Plain township; Fietta, who is the 
wife of George Carper, of Nimishillen town- 
ship; and Sarah, who is residing in Gallipolis, 
Ohio, being' unmarried. 

After his marriage Mr. Gehman rented land 
in Osnaburg township and under these condi- 
tions continued operations as a farmer for the 
ensuing fiv-e years, at the expiration of which 
he purchased thirty-three and one-half acres, 
two miles east of Louis\'ille, in Nimishillen 
township, to which he later added, making a 
farm of one hundred and seventeen acres. 
There he continued to reside for sixteen years, 
Avithin which period his wife died, February 
27, 1880. and on the 1st of January, 1882. he 
consummated a second marriage, being united 
to Mrs. Sarah fKeiser) Markkn-, widow of 



Andrew Markley, and the following spring he 
removed to a farm owned by his wife, there 
remaining two years, at the expiration of which 
he purchased one hundred and seventeen and 
eleven-hundredths acres on section 7, Nim- 
ishillen township, known as the Kittering farm, 
and during the following seventeen years he 
continued to devote his attention to its cultiva- 
tion, also making valuable improvements on 
the place. Prosperity attended his zealous and 
indefatigable efforts and he finally felt justified 
in retiring from the active and arduous labors 
which had so long engrossed his time and 
thought, and in 1900 he rented his farm and 
purchased of Mrs. Eliza Linerode his present 
fine home, in Nimishillen township, where he 
has twenty acres of land and one of the most 
spacious and attractive modern residences to 
be found in any of the rural districts of the 
county, while the various other buildings on 
the place are in harmony with the pretentious 
dwelling, and the grounds made attractive 
through effective shade trees, shrubbery, etc., 
the whole making an ideal home, and here he 
is enjoying the just reward of his years of 
earnest toil and endea\'or. No children have 
been born of the second marriage. In his po- 
litical views Mr. Gehman is a stanch and un- 
compromising Republican, and both he and 
his wife are prominent and honored members 
of the German Baptist church, in which he is 
a deacon, taking an active interest in all por- 
tions of the church work, while he and bis 
wife enjoy the high regard of all who know 
them. 



HENRY D. KETM comes of stanch Ger- 
man extraction and was himself born in Tus- 
carawas county, Ohio, on the 13th of October, 
1856, being a son of Adam and Maria 
(Schrock) Iveim, of whose ten children the 
following six are still living: Sarah, who is 
the wife of George Hand, of Canton township; 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



701 



Elizabeth, who is the wife of John H. Miller, 
of Nimishillen township; Nancy, who is the 
wife of Henry Sell, also of that township ; Al- 
bert, who is engaged in farming in Nimishil- 
len township; Jacob, who is a farmer of Marl- 
boro township, and Henry D., the immediate 
subject of this sketch. The father of these 
children was born in the state of Maryland, in 
the year 1832, being a son of Solomon and 
Elizabeth Keim, with whom he came to Tus- 
carawas county, Ohio, when he was a boy, and 
being there reared to maturity on a farm. 
After his marriage he continued to be engaged 
in agricultural pursuits in that county until 
1866, all of his children having been born 
there, and in the year mentioned he removed 
with his family to Stark county and here pur- 
chased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres 
in Nimishillen township, the place now being 
owned by Adam Rennier. Here he continued 
to actively follow farming until about 1884, 
when he disposed of the property and forth- 
with purchased a small home place near Cen- 
ter Church, that township, where he lived re- 
tired until his death, which occurred in the 
year 1888. In politics he was a stanch sup- 
porter of the Republican party, and his relig- 
ious faith was that of the German Baptist 
church, of which his wife also was a devoted 
adherent. He was a half-brother of the father 
of John Keim, of whom individual mention is 
made elsewhere in this volume. The mother 
of the subject was born in Tuscarawas county, 
in 1831, and she died in 1863, at the early age 
of tiiirty-two years, and later Mr. Keim con- 
summated a second marriage, being united to 
Mrs. Rebecca Snyder, who was the widow of 
David Snyder and whose maiden name was 
Reisley, there being no children born of this 
marriage. 

Henry D. Keim, the immediate subject of 
this review, ,was reared under the sturdy disci- 
pline of the home farm and in the public schools 
of the period received his early educational 



training. He remained at home until he had 
attained his legal majority, when he returned 
to Tuscarawas county, where he wasi born, 
and there worked as a farm hand for one year, 
after which he came back to Stark county and 
for the following sixteen months was employed 
as a clerk in the hardware establishment of 
Keim & Sons, in the village of Louisville. 
While thus engaged, on Christmas day of the 
year 1879, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Sarah Huffman, who was born in Plain town- 
ship, this county, being a daughter of John 
Huffman, who was a prominent and influential 
farmer of that township, where he died in 
1888. The spring following his marriage Mr. 
Keim gave up his position in the hardware 
store and took charge of his father-in-law's 
farm, which he continued to operate for the 
ensuing two years, after which, in 1882, he re- 
mo\'ed to the farm now owned by William 
Warstler, the same having been at the time like- 
wise a portion of Mr. Huffman's estate. Here 
he remained successfully engaged in farming 
until 1888, when he purchased and removed 
to his present home farm of sixty acres, in sec- 
tion 6, Osnaburg township, and this he has 
developed into one of the best farms in this sec- 
tion of the county. He has been a scientific 
agriculturist and that he has had the ability 
to apply his knowledge in a practical way is 
evident when the fact is noted that when he 
took possession of his present place it was 
badly run down and the fertility of the original 
soil much impaired from lack of proper atten- 
tion. Though a comparatively small place it 
is now one of unexcelled fertility and produc- 
tiveness and from it the subject secures as large 
returns as do many others from farms of much 
greater area. He has one of the finest herds 
of Jersey cows in the county, and in the year 
1891 he produced from this source nearly a 
ton and a half of butter, which commanded top- 
notch prices in the market. For the past four 
years he has been agent for the DeLaval cream 



702 



OLD LANDMARKS 



separator, ami in njoi lie made the second 
highest record of sales in the line in the state, 
while with the close of the present year his 
record of business stands douljle that of previ- 
ous years. He is progressive and public-spir- 
ited to a degree and is not onl}- known as one 
of the model farmers and dairyman of the 
county, hut is also fortunate in having so or- 
dered his course as to retain the unequivocal 
confidence and esteem of all \vho know him. 
In politics :\Ir. Keim maintains an independ- 
ent attitude, and he is at the present time a 
member of the school lioard of his district. 
He and his wife hold membership in the River 
Brethren church. The home circle is l>right- 
ened by the presence of their two daughters, 
I.ettie and Bessie, and the family is prominent 
in the social life of the community. 



JACOB KLOTZ is a native of the pro\-- 
ince of Alsace, Germany, which was still a por- 
tion of the French empire at the time of his 
birth, which occurred on the 5th of Januar}-, 
1831. He is a son of Jacob and Christina 
(Gutbul)) Klotz, of whose ten children the 
following named seven are yet living : Chris- 
tina, who is the widow of Charles Newmaster, 
of Aetna, Pennsylvania; Mary, who is the wife 
of Jacob Real, of Carroll county, Ohio; Clara, 
who is the widow of Daniel Griner, of Fair- 
haven, Pennsylvania; Louis, who resides in 
the city of Cleveland, Ohio ; John, who is a res- 
ident of Carroll county ; George, \\ho resides 
in ^lalvern, that county, and Jacol), the im- 
mediate subject of this sketch. The father was 
1)orn in Alsace, France. .\])ril 17. 1804. and 
Avas there reared and educated and there 
learned the trade of shoemaking. In 1836 he 
emigrated with his family to America, the sub- 
ject of this review being at the time a lad of 
aljout five \-ears. Tlie fan-iily took up their 
re-;idencc in what is nnw the \illage uf Mag- 



nolia, on the line between Stark antl Carroll 
counties. Ohio, and in 1850 the father bought 
the farm of one hiuidred and thirtv-three acres, 
in Brown townshi]), Carroll cmin.ty, which is 
now jointly owned l)y his son and daughter, 
John and Mary. He continued to reside on the 
farm for a number of years antl then remoxed 
to Mah'ern. where he continued to reside until 
his death, at the age of more than four score 
years, while he continued to devote considerable 
attention to his trade, in connection with his 
farming operations, during the major portion 
of his active career. His wife passed away at 
the age of about sixty-two years, both having 
been unassuming, industriovis persons whose 
lives were marked by the utmost integrity and 
honor, so that the)' held as their own the re- 
spect and good will of all who knew them. 

Jacob Klotz, the immediate subject of this 
.sketch, grew io maturity at the parental home, 
and learneil the shoemaker's trade under the 
direction of his h.onored father, who was a 
skilled workman, and he continued to work at 
the bench from the age of ten years until he 
had attained the age of nineteen, but he found 
the business uncongenial and after his father 
purchased the farm he turned his attention to 
agricultural pursuits, while he assisted in the 
reclamation of the home farm, one-half of 
which was covered with the native timber at 
the time when his father ])urcliased the prop- 
erty. On the 19th of Feliruary, 1857, ^Ir. 
Klotz was united in marriage to Miss Eva 
Mutschler. who was liorn in Jackson township. 
Stark county, being a daughter of (lottfried 
Mutschler, who was born in Alsace, France, 
and who was mimbered among the pioneer set- 
tlers in Stark county, where he ]);issed the re- 
mainder of liis life, .\fter his marriage the 
subject assumed charge of the farm of his fa- 
ther-in-law and continued to de\ote his atten- 
tion to its cultivation for a jjcriod of about ten 
years, when !\[r. Mutschler died and the sub- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



■03 



ject then rented ;in adioinins^' farm, where he 
remained for tlie ensning- three years, after 
wliich lie passed one year on a rented farm in 
Canton township and six months in Perry 
iM\\nshi]i, and then effected the purcliase of a 
farm of one lumdred acres in Nimisliillen 
townsliip, where he made liis home for tiiree 
Aears. at the expiration of which lie sold tlie 
property and purchased his present valiiahle 
and highly improved farm of one htinch'ed and 
forty-one acres, in section 6, Osnaljtu'g town- 
ship. On this estate Air. Klotz lias erected 
some of tlie finest farm buildings to be fountl 
in this section, including a commodious and 
attractive residence. In connection with his 
regular farming he has conducted a dairv busi- 
ness for more than a quarter of a century, ha\'- 
ing shown marked discrimination and careful- 
ness in this department of his enterprise and 
h.'i\ ing realized excellent profits from the same, 
so That todav he is known as one of the most 
prosi)erous and influential farmers of the town- 
ship, while he has always maintained a public- 
-i^irited attitude and has been ready to encour- 
age and foster all legitimate enterprises and 
projects tending to conserve the general wel- 
fare. In ])()litics he is a stanch supporter of the 
Democratic jjarty, but he has nex'er sought the 
honors or emoluments of public office. He and 
his wife are worthy members of the Lutheran 
church, in w hi_)se work the\- take a deep inter- 
est, (jf their tweK'e children eight are li\-ing 
at the present time, namely : Louis Melanc- 
thon. w ho resides in the city of Canton ; Sarah 
Christina, who is the wife of James Rhodes, 
of that city: Ceorge Albert, who remains at 
tlie parental home: John Edward, wdio is en- 
gaged in farming in Osnaburg township: Clara 
Magdalena. who is the wife of Alfred Frv, of 
Canton townshij): William Emanuel, who is 
engaged in the lumlier business in that town- 
ship: Bertha E\-e, who remains with her ]);ir- 
ents, and Samuel Jacob, who resides in the 
\illage of Osnaburg. 



REASON A. SCHMUCK was born on a 
farm in l'>anklin township. Wayne countv, 
Ohio, on the 5th of January, 1844, being a son 
of Jacob and Catherine ( Reiner) Schmuck, of 
whose six children he is the eldest of the four 
surviving, the others being as follows: Solo- 
mon H,, wdio is engaged in the insurance busi- 
ness in the city of Cleveland, this state: Linnie, 
who is the widow of Daviil V. Landis, and re- 
sides in Wooster, Ohio: and Jacob F., who is 
also a resident of that city, where he is asso- 
ciated with his sistei', Mrs. Landis, in the fur- 
niture and undertaking business. The father 
of the subject was born in Manheim, Lancas- 
ter county, Pennsylvania, in the year 181 8, be- 
ing a son of Henry and I'Ji/.abeth ( Havmiller) 
Schmuck, both of whom were likewise natives 
of Pennsylvania and of stanch German lineage, 
the respective families having been earlv es- 
tablished in the old Keystone state of the 
I'nion. In the year 1833 the grandfather of 
the subject, accompanieil by his son Jacob, who 
was then a lad of fifteen years, came to Ohio, 
passing through Osnaburg township and other 
portions of Stark county on horseback, their 
trip being made for the purpose of selecting 
land for a home. They passed a night en route 
in the old-time brick tavern in the village of 
Osnaburg, the landlord assuming charge of the 
saddle bags, in which the mone_\' of the two 
travelers was placed. Crandfather Schmuck 
feared that the funds might not be in safe keep- 
ing, and he made an excuse that he wished to 
secure from the saddle bags some necessary 
articles for the night, and in this way secured 
and took the i)ags to l)ed with him. Tliey' 
passed on to Wayne county and in Wooster 
made enquiries of John Horn, w ho was former- 
ly from Pennsyh-ania, and through him learned 
of an eighty-acre farm near the hamlet of Mill- 
brook, that county, and upon due in\-estigation 
thev ])urchased the property, for which thev 
paid in cash which they had brought with 
them. Thev forthwith took up their abode on 



704 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the new farm and soon afterward sent back to 
Pennsylvania for the remainder of the family, 
in which there were seven other children, and 
it is interesting to re\ert to the fact that each 
of the eight children became' a well-to-do and 
prominent resident of Wayne county. Samuel 
Schmuck, one of the sons, became one of the 
most successful and influential farmers of that 
section and also -a prominent breeder of and 
dealer in live stock, his fine farm property ad- 
joining what is known as the state experiment 
farm, while others of the family also became 
known as model farmers of the county. 

The father of the subject was thus reared 
to manhood under the influences of the pio- 
neer clays, aiding- in the work of the new farm 
and having such educational advantages as fell 
to the lot of the average farmer boy of the 
locality and period. After his marriage he lo- 
cated on the farm of his father-in-law, George 
Reiner, the same comprising two hundred and 
ten acres, while this tract likewise lies con- 
tiguous to what is now the state experiment 
farm. Some years later he purchased the prop- 
erity. which he developed into one of the finest 
rural estates in ^Vayne county. In 1868 he 
took up his residence in the city of Wooster, 
where he built one of the finest residences in 
the city and thereafter lived a retired life up 
to the time of his death, which occurred in Jan- 
uary, 1899, at which time he was eighty-one 
years of age. He was a man of excellent busi- 
ness ability and lived a life of signal integ- 
rity and honor. He was very successful in tem- 
poral affairs and in addition to his valuable 
farm was also owner of a considerable amount 
of excellent property in Wooster. His fi:rst 
wife, the mother of the subject, died in Au- 
gust, 1856, and he subsequently consummated 
a second marriage, being united to Miss Re- 
becca Moon, who died in 1896, and who bore 
him two children, Wallace and Millie, both of 
whom still reside in Wooster. Jacob Schmuck 
was an uncompromising Republican in his po- 



litical adherency, and in his religion he 
was originally a member of the Evan- 
gelical Association, but later became iden- 
tified with the Methodist Episcopal church, 
in which he he was a prominent figure for 
many years, zealous in support of its cause, 
while he was one of the leading spirits in 
brmging about the erection of a church edifice 
on his farm. 

The mother of the subject was bom on the 
farm which later became the property of her 
husband, the date of her nativity having been 
in August, 1820. Her father, George Reiner, 
was numbered among the early settlers of 
AVayne county, whither he remo\-ed from 
Pennsylvania, and he was originally a devoted 
m.ember of the Lutheran church, but when a 
division in the same was effected he was one of 
three persons who established the English 
Lutheran church in the city of Wooster and as- 
sisted materially in the erection of the church 
edifice, which continued in use for many years. 
He was veritably one of the pillars of the 
church and one of its most liberal supporters 
and earnest workers. He lived for many years 
on the site of the present city hall in Wooster, 
and there his death occurred when he was well 
advanced in years. The mother of the subject 
entered into eternal life in 1856, at the compar- 
atix'cly early age of thirty-six years. 

Reason A. Schmuck, whose name initiates 
this review, was reared on the old homestead 
farm, contributing a due quota to its work 
from his boyhood up, while he secured a com- 
mon-school education. In 1868, when his fa- 
ther remo\-ed to \Vooster, he assumed charge 
of the farm and his sisters remained to preside 
over the domestic economies of the household. 
In 1872 he was married and thereafter he con- 
tinued to remain on the homestead farm until 
1883, when he came to Stark county, where 
his wife was born and reared, and located on 
his present farm of one hundred and seventy- 
two acres, in Osnaburg township, having pur- 



II 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



705 



chased the same from his fatlier-in-la\v in the 
preceding year, and having operated the farm 
in connection with his fatlier's homestead dur- 
ing the summer prior to his removal. For a 
niun1)er of years ]\Ir. Schmuck was quite exten- 
sively engaged in the buying and shipping of 
live stock, principally hogs, and was very suc- 
cessful in this department of his business enter- 
prise, and at the present time he gives special 
attention to the growing of a high grade of live 
stock and thus utilizes the major portion of the 
Iiroducts of his farm. At the time when he 
took up his abode on his present farm it was 
equipped with very inferior buildings, and he 
has since replaced the same with some of the 
most sul)stantial and admirably designeil farm 
buildings to be found in the county, including 
a modern residence of attractive architectural 
design, while it is safe to say that tliere are 
few rural estates in this section that can show 
bettel' improvements or more distinctive evi- 
dences of thrift and prosperity. 

In his attitude Mr. Schmuck is essentially 
progressive antl public-spirited, and his co-op- 
eration in all legitimate movements for the 
furtherance of the general welfare is invariably 
assured. In politics his convictions have led 
him to depart from the faith of his father, and 
he is a stanch supporter of the principles and 
policies of the DeuKicratic party, in whose 
cause he has been an active worker in a local 
way. In 1870 he was elected township trus- 
tee of Franklin township, Wayne county, of 
which he remained incumbent for a period of 
six years, wdiile in 1876 he was elected justice 
of the peace and continued in tenure of this 
position until his removal to Stark county. In 
1896 Mr. Schmuck was chosen a member of 
the directorate of the Home Insurance Com- 
pany, of Osnaburg and Nimishillen townships, 
and four years later was elected treasurer of 
the company. This important office he has 
since retained and he has given a most capable 

and satisfactory administration of its fiscal af- 
44 



fairs. In 1S90 he was appointed administrator 
of the estate of the late John G. Shefifer, while 
alxmt three years ago he was made executor of 
his fatiier's estate. Previously, while residing 
in Wayne county, he had charge of the settling 
of three or more other estates, all of these 
preferments showing in no unmistakable way 
the hold he has ever retained on public confi- 
dence and esteem. For the past sixteen years 
he has Ijeen trustee, treasurer and superintend- 
ent of the Ohio State Camp Meeting Associa- 
tion, disbursing from three to four thousand 
dollars annually. He is a zealous and devoted 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in 
whose work he has for many years taken a 
prominent part, ha^•ing been for twenty }-ears 
superintendent of the Sunday school. 

On the 20th of June, 1872, Mr. Schmuck 
was united in marriage to Miss Frances Frey, 
who was born in Osnaburg township, this 
comity, being a daughter of John and Caroline 
(Sluss) Frey, both of whom were likewise 
born in the same township, where both families 
were established in the early pioneer days, hav- 
ing come hither from the state of Pennsylvania. 
Airs. Sclinnick, like her husband, is a devoted 
member of the Methodist church. They have 
two children, namely: E. Pearl, who remains 
beneatli the parental roof and who has been a 
successful and popular teacher in the public 
schools since attaining her sixteenth year, while 
she also teaches music, in which art she has 
much talent, and J. Ouinn, who married Miss 
Eva Coy and assists in the management of his 
father's farming enterprise. The family is erne 
of prominenece in the best social life of the 
community and the attractive home is one in 
which the refined amenities and a cordial hos- 
pitality are ever in distinct evidence. 



MARION O. SHERER was born in Har- 
din county, Ohio, August 18, 1853. His fa- 
ther. Christian Sherer, a native of Germauv, 



7o6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



was born in tbe city of Berlin, Germany, in the 
year 1828, and at the age of twelve was 
brought to the United States by -his parents, 
who settled on a farm in Stark connty, a short 
distance south of Canton. Peter Sharer, father 
of Christian, was an honest, industrious tiller 
of the soil and early impressed upon the mind 
of his son the lessons of frugality and thrift 
for which the latter afterwards became noted. 
Christian grew to young manhood on the farm 
his father originally purchased and after his 
marriage he removed to Hardin county, Avhere 
he engaged in the pursuit of agriculture in that 
part of the state until 1870, when he returned 
to the connty of Stark and bought a hundred 
acres of land about four miles south of Canton, 
where he made his home until retiring from 
active life in 1893. In that year he took up his 
residence in Canton, where he still ri\es, and is 
now passing his declining years in the enjoy- 
ment of the fruits of his many years of toil. 
His good wife, who bore him four children, 
was called to her eternal rest in the year 1864. 
The following are the names of the children 
of Christian and Angeline Sherer now living : 
Sylvanus S., a resident of Canton; Sarah E., 
who married James M. Mowls, and Marion 
O., of this review. Some time after the death 
of his first wife Mr. Sherer entered the mar- 
riag'e relation with her younger sister. Miss 
Mary Bm^gett, a union without issue. 

The youthful life of Marion O. Sherer was 
spent on the home farm and while still young 
he became accustomed to the various phases 
of agricultural labor. The common schools 
afforded him the means of a fair educational 
discipline, luit Ijy far the greater part of his 
eduction consists of that intensely practical 
kind obtained by contact with the Avorld in the 
stern 1)ut effective school of experience. After 
completing a business course in the Normal 
University at Ada, Ohio, Mr. Sherer, in 1888, 
opened a grocery and provision store in Can- 
ton, but one year later disposed of his stock 



and engaged in the livery business. With the 
object in \iew of ultimately embarking in the 
dry goods trade he entered the Boston dry 
goods store in Canton, for the purpose of 
familiarizing himself with the business. By 
close study and careful attention he soon mas- 
tered the details of trade, but after several 
months in doors he found, much to his regret, 
that confinement was not agreeing with his 
health. Acting upon the advice of his physi- 
cian, he resigned his position and decided to 
turn his attention to a pursuit requiring more 
outdoor exercise; accordingly, in 1891, he es- 
tal)Iished, in partnership with A. L. Bair, his 
present luml)er Inisiness at Louisville. The 
firm of Sherer & Bair began operations under 
most favorable auspices and it was not long 
until their business assumed large proportions, 
the names of the two partners l:iecoming widely 
and favorably known among the leading lum- 
lier dealers of eastern Ohio. After remaining 
together until 1893, Mr. Sherer purchased the 
entire interest in the enterprise and from that 
time to the jiresent has been sole proprietor. 
Under his able management the business has 
greatly increased in volume until his patronage 
is now much larger than that of an}' other man 
in the county similarly engaged, while his high 
standing in commercial circles has given him 
an honorable and wide-spread reputation 
throughout the northern and eastern counties 
of the state. In connection with buying and 
selling lumber Mr. Sherer operates a large 
planing-mill in which the rough product is con- 
A'erted into all kinds of building material, in 
addition to which he also handles n])()n an ex- 
tensive scale every description of lumber de- 
manded by the local and general trade. As a 
business man Mr. Sherer carefully considers 
the end from the beginning and when be once 
addresses himself to an undertaking seldmn if 
ever fails to carry it to successful conclusion. 
His sound judgment, practical experience and 
keen discrimination enable him to engage in i 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



707 



large enterprises with no doubt as to the final 
issue, while his superior executive ability leads 
him to venture with the greatest of assurance 
where men of less energy and foresight would 
hesitate or fail. The credit of building up the 
mammoth business which he now owns and 
controls is due entirely to his own wisdom, en- 
ergy and well-directed efforts and he is in the 
true sense of the term a self-made man. He 
began life with little financial encouragement, 
but by industry, indomitable will and honorable 
dealing has steadily advanced step by step un- 
til he now occupies a commanding position 
among the most enterprising and financially 
successful men of the county in which he lives. 
On the 25th day of December, 1888. Mr. 
Sherer and IMiss Laura Starkey, daughter of 
John Starkey, late a prominent farmer of 
Stark county, were united in the bonds of wed- 
lock, the union resulting in the birth of five 
children, whose names are Burdette B., Mil- 
dred M., Ruth E., Ray L. and Lowell E. In 
politics Mr. Sherer is pronounced in his allegi- 
ance to the Democratic party, but he has never 
been a partisan or office seeker. He has, how- 
ever, been honored with several official posi- 
tions, one of which was that of councilman. 
As member of the municipal legislative body of 
Louisville, he was instrumental in passing a 
numljer of valuable ordinances and during his 
two years' incumbency proved a safe and relia- 
ble public servant, standing for progress and 
improvement, but being conservative in the mat- 
ter of expenditures. In 1893 he was elected a 
member of the local school board and as such 
has been untiring in his efforts to build up 
the educational system of Louisville. He has 
held this important but onerous position since 
the above year and for eight years was its 
president. At the earnest solicitation of his 
many friends of both political parties, Mr. 
Sherer, in 1896, permitted himself to be nom- 
inated for mayor of Louisville. At the en- 
, suing election he entered the office by the larg- 



est vote ever given a candidate for the position 
in the history of the town, a fact which spoke 
louder than words of his popularity with the 
people irrespective of party ties. His election 
was for a term of two years. He proved a 
model executive, as is attested by his straight- 
forward business administration, which met 
the hearty approval of all parties concerned. 
At the end of this term he was again elected, 
without opposition, and retained by both par- 
ties in this official position until 1900. 

Mr. .Sherer is identified with a number of 
benevolent and fraternal org-anizations, in all 
of which he is a zealous worker and in some a 
leader. He is a IMason of high standing, be- 
longing to Julliard Lodge No. 460 at Louis- 
ville and Commandery No. 38 at Canton, also 
Emmith Lodge of Perfection at Canton. His 
name adorns the records of Council No. 12, 
Junior Order United American Mechanics, at 
Canton, and for some years past he has been 
an active member of Tent No. 182, Knights of 
the Maccabees, in his luMue ti)\vn. In addition 
to the above, he is also connected with the 
Reform Club of Louisville and for recreation 
and genuine amusements he attends the session 
of the ''Hoo Hoos," a societ}- whose objects are 
to foster a fraternal spirit, with whole-souled 
innocent pleasure as a basis. In the social af- 
fairs of life Mr. Sherer has long maintained a 
lively interest, being the embodiment of genu- 
ine hospitality and open-hearted companion- 
ship. He is liberal in the expenditure of his 
means for the encouragement of laudaljle enter- 
prises, and no friend in need ever appeals to 
him in vain. It is not too much to say that he 
is one of the most popular men in the town of 
his residence. 



WILLIAM OVERHOLT BAKER, M. 
D. — Like many of Ohio's successful men. Dr. 
Baker hails from the grand old commonwealth 
of Pennsylvania, having been born in North- 



7o8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ampton county on the I2th of December, 1827. 
His father was Jacob H. Baker, also a native 
of that state, who was born in the county of 
l\Jontgoniery alxnit the \ear 1793, the son of 
George Baker, whose grandparents came to 
/America from (Germany prior to the war for 
independence. The Bakers are a ^ery old and 
highly respected family and the branch from 
which the subject is descended figured quite 
actively in the affairs of the above anil several 
other Penns\l\ania counties, the name sulise- 
((uently appearing in connection with the early 
settlement of various parts of Ohio. 

Jacob H. Baker, the Doctor's father, was 
reared in his native count\" and state and when 
a youth learned the shoemaker's trade, which 
he followed continuously for over fifty years. 
\\"hen a young man he changed his abode tp 
Nori]iani]:)ton county, where he met and mar- 
ried Miss Anna Overholt (originally Over- 
holtzer), who was born in Bucks county. He 
continued to reside in Xorthampton county un- 
til his removal, in 1836, to Medina county and 
there spent the remainder of his life, dying at 
his home in the township of Wadsworth about 
the year 1889 at the remarkable age of ninety- 
six }"ears, five months and fifteen days. His 
wife, whose liirth occurred on the 12th of June, 
1792, was the daughter of \\'illiam Overholtz- 
er, a native of PennsyKania and for many 
years a prominent minister of the Mennonite 
chiu'ch. She bore her husband three children 
and departed this life when about seventy-two 
years old. 

Dr. \\'illi;un O. Baker was a lad of nine 
years when his ])arents mo\-ed to Ohio, lie spent 
his youthful years in the county of Medina, re- 
ceived his preliminary education in such schools 
as were common at that time, and later piu'- 
sued his studies under private tutors and in t!ie 
\\'a(lswortli Academy. That he made com- 
mendable progress as a student is evident from 
the fact that in his nineteenth year he took 
charge of a school and earned the repufition 



of a capable and popular teacher. He c<intin- 
tied educational work for several years, spend- 
ing the summer seasons at farm labor and with 
money earned from these sources was subse- 
quently enabled to take up the study of medi- 
cine, which he had long contemplated making 
his life work. The Doctor began a coiu'se of 
reading under the direction of his uncle. Dr. 
John Overholt, a well-known physician and 
surgeon of W'ooster, Ohio, and in 1852 en- 
tered Jefferson Medical College, at T^hiladel- 
phia, where he prosecuted his researches and 
investigations during the year following. At 
the expiration of the term he came to Stark 
C';'untv and began the practice of his profession 
in Nimishillen township, but after remaining" 
there until 1838 changed his location to Louis- 
\iHe, where he has resided ever since. The 
beginning of Dr. Baker's professional career 
was by no means assuring and it required con- 
siderable time and a corresponding amount of 
energy and j^erseverance to establish a paying 
business. His country practice proved any- 
thing but lucrative and. like the majority of 
young phvsicians, he was oljliged to encounter 
opposition not onlv on the part of professional 
brethren but by reason of the unreasoning prej- 
udice which many people have against youth 
and experience. WHien he opened an office in 
the town, howexer, his prospects gra<lually be- 
gan to brigliten anil as his al)ilities became rec- 
ognized his services were in greater demand. 
In due time his practice took a wiiler range and 
in the course of a few years his name and fame 
went al)road throughout the country as one of 
the rising physicians and surgeons in this part 
of the countv. Patients began flocking to his 
office and the continued success which attended 
his efforts won him not only a large measure 
of professional renown ])ut also financial pros- 
perity, which in the course of time placi'd liim 
iri inde])endent circumstances. Determined to 
leave nothing undone in the way of increasing 
bis knowledge and improxing liis practice, the 



IM 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



709 



Doctor, in 187.3, entered the medical depart- 
ment of Wooster University, from which in- 
stitution he afterwards received his degree, his 
pre\-ions practical experience enabling him to 
finish the course with high honors. He has 
always lieen a close, painstaking student and 
although past the age when the majority of 
physicians cease reading and in\cstigating", he 
still keeps up with the increasing demands of 
tlie age, ])rosecutes his researches in the do- 
main of medical science with the ardor of his 
}Ounger da_\-s and pursues eagerly the standard 
literature ])ertaining to the healing art. Dur- 
ing a practice in Louisville covering a period 
of forty-five years, he has won a deep and abifl- 
ing jjlace in the hearts of the peo])le and his 
name is a familiar household word in every 
home in the town and throughout a large area 
of surrounding territory. 

Dr. Baker's wife, who has been a help and 
inspiration to him for so many years, was for- 
merly Miss Rebecca Utt, of Northampton 
county. Pennsylvania. She was l)orn about a 
half mile from his own l)irth place and the two 
were playmates and warm friends in youth as 
tliey have been mutually helpfvd to each other 
as husband and wife in their riper vears. Their 
union has been blessed with four children, in 
the rearing and education of whom the Doctor 
has spared neither pains nor expense. .\n ard- 
ent friend of higher intellectual training, he 
procured for each of them the best advantages 
obtaina]>le and that they have profited by this 
interest in their behalf is attested-by the correct 
lixes they ha\e led and the hunnrable positions 
they now Imld in the world. Anna, the oldest 
of the children, is a highl)- educated and accom- 
plished lady li\ing in the city of Boston, ]\Iassa- 
cliusetts; she was graduated from Ashland Col- 
lege and later married Prof. Hiram Hixson, 
who for a number of years was president of 
that institution. l\lrs. Plixson is now a widow, 
her husliand having died some A'cars ago. 
Amanda, the second in order of liirth, was also 



educated at Ashland, and at the present time 
lives with her parents ; she is an unmarried lady, 
moves in the best social circles of her town and 
is active in all good w(_)rk tending to elevate the 
moral condition of the community. Mary E. 
is a graduate of Shepardson College, Granville, 
Ohio, and at this time he holds the position of 
assistant teacher in the high school at Stevens 
Point, Wisconsin. Charles W., the fourth of 
the family, is also well educated and is now a 
prosperous business man of Elyria, this state. 
TJie Doctor's children are certainly a credit to 
him and he is held in the hig'hest esteem and 
\eneration by them. The family reunions 
are most joyful occasions and when all to- 
gether a more ideal circle would be difficult 
to find. 

Dr. Baker is a ])rofound belie\er in revealed 
religion and for o\-cr twenty _\-ears has l:)een an 
aisle minister of the clnn"ch known as the 
Brethren in Christ, having ser\-ed as pastor of 
the Louisville congregation since about 1894. 
His is a deeply spiritual nature and his daily 
life and conversation are in perfect harmony 
with the deep and abiding faith from which his 
actions emanate. He is a clear, logical speaker, 
an alilc expounder of the word of God and an 
eloquent advocate -when presenting the claims 
of the Gospel to a sinful world. Dr. Baker be- 
lieves that politics and religion, if of the proper 
stamp, will easily assimulate. hence he supports 
the party which in his opinion most nearly rep- 
resents man's highest duty to society and the 
state. A most determined and uncompromis- 
ing foe of tlic liquor trafiic, which he considers 
the crying e\'il of the day, and only to be efl^ect- 
ually suppressed by legislation, he is a pro- 
nounced champion of prohibition, being one 
of the leaders of the party in this section of the 
state. All in all. Dr. Baker is a man of broad, 
comprehensive views, possesses high intellect- 
ualitv and as phvsician, minister and citizen, 
his life has been fraught with great and lasting 
e'ood to humanitv. 



7IO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



JOHN KEni.— The subject of this sketch 
lias been conspicuously identified with the in- 
dustrial, business and civic life of the village of 
Louisville, Stark county, from his youth to the 
present time. — representing a period of more 
than three decades, — while his genealogy be- 
tokens that he is a scion of a family whose asso- 
ciation with the annals of American history has 
been intimate and honorable from the middle 
period of the eighteenth century. In this con- 
nection it seems proper to make copious ex- 
cerpts from an appreciati\-e article recentlv pub- 
lished concerning this well-known and honored 
family of Stark county, making such meta- 
phrase as may seem expedient. 

In its chief heme activities Louisville has the Louis- 
ville Deposit Bank, John Keim, president, and proprietor 
of the Keim block, the Louisville Brick and Tile Com- 
pany, of which he is secretar}- and treasurer, and of the 
Keim hardware store, which virtually controls the busi- 
ness in this line throughout this section. In fact, 
"Keim" is a trademark of energy, enterprise, progress 
and integrity, not only in Louisville but also in Stark 
county and all the region round about. The record 
involved has very much the appearance of history in 
the east repeating itself in the west. In the town of 
Reading. Pennsylvania, contemporaneously with its 
birtli and since that time, the name of Keim has been 
associated conspicuously with the foundation of busi- 
ness, industrial, financial, railroad, charitable, church, 
borough, municipal and other interests. Tt bes;ui \vhcn 
the frontier settlement, nearly a century and a half 
ago. had but two hundred and thirty-eight purchasers 
of lots, Nicholas Keim, of Oley, Berks county, son of 
the founder, being on the list. John Keim, of Louis- 
ville, banker, hardware merchant, manufacturer and 
leading citizen, stands in the same position as his 
name cousins from the same ancestral founder in 
Reading, Pennsylvania, for more than one hundred 
years. Moses Keim, the father of the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Somerset county. Pennsylvania, 
on the loth day of May, 1810, being a son of Nicholas 
and Fanny (Hostetter) Keim. At the age of twelve 
years he went to live with an uncle, named Deahl, in 
^Maryland, and there he resided until l8:i3, when he 
came to Holmes county, Ohio, where, one year later, 
he married Lydia Domer. In 1845 Moses Keim moved 
to a farm near Bolivar,- Tuscarawas county, where he 
resided until 1S53, when he came to Osnaburg town- 
ship. Stark county, where he was engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits for nearly seventeen years. In the 



spring of 1869 he came to Louisville, where he 
established himself in the hardware business, more for 
the purpose of affording his sons John and Jonas an 
opportunity to secure a start in independent business 
careers than from a desire to personally devote his at- 
tention to merchandising. In 1873 his two sons were 
admitted to partnership under the firm name of Keim 
& Sons, and the present Keim block was erected for the 
accommodation of the rapidly growing enterprise. In 
18S1 the Louisville Deposit Bank was established by the 
firm, the auxiliary business being conducted in the store 
of the firm until it had increased so materially in extent 
and importance as to justify a removal to more spacious 
and individual quarters, and in 1884 the present eligible 
and well equipped counting rooms were first utilized by 
the bank. On the 24th of November of that year the 
honored father passed to his reward, after a happy mar- 
ried life of a half century, leaving to his descendants 
the priceless heritage of a good name, and after that 
time his sons, Jonas and John, continued to be asso- 
ciated in the conducting of both the bank and the hard- 
ware business until the spring of 1892, when Jonas ]NL 
retired and John secured his interests in both enter- 
prises, which he has since «3ntinued individually. Moses 
Keim was a member of the Progressive Brethren church 
and was honored for his high integrity, business enter- 
prise and Christian manhood. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Lydia Domer, was born in Holmes county. 
Ohio, on the 26th day of May. 1810. and her death oc- 
curred on the 28th of May, 1898. about fourteen years 
after the demise of her honored husband. She was the 
eldest daughter of Geor.ge Domer. who was one of the 
pioneer settlers of Holmes county, Ohio, and she was 
one of the first white children born within its bor- 
ders. She remembered many Indian neighbors and 
never knew them to disturb the peace of the family, by 
reason of the kindness shown them by her father, and 
the first fruit she remembered eating was grown by the 
Indians. Her mother was of German descent and was 
said to be of royal blood. Of the children of Moses and 
Lydia (Domer) Keim the following is a brief record: 
Josiah is a clergyman of the Progressive Brethren church 
and for a number of years was a member of the board 
of trustees of Ashland University, at Ashland, Ohio, 
while he is now living retired in the village of Louis- 
ville ; George died at the age of six years ; Catherine is 
the W'ife of Jacob A. Lutz, of Louisville ; Jonas M., who 
was a loyal soldier in the war of the Rebellion and who 
was long associated with his brother John in business in 
Louisville, is now living retired in this place ; Jacob is 
a resident of AVyandotte, near the city of Detroit, Mich- 
igan, and John is the immediate subject of this review, 
John Keim was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, 
on the 28th of September, 1851. and in April of the fol- 
lowing year his parents removed to Osnaburg township. 
Stark county, where he was reared to the sturdy disci- 
pline of the farm. During the war of the Rebellion, in 



li 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



711 



the absence of his older brothers and when farm labor- 
ers were difficult to secure, he was pressed into an un- 
usual amount of hard work to assume the more onerous 
cares of agricultural life. In 1869, as before noted, he 
came to Louisville with his parents, and, having received 
only such educational advantages as were afforded in 
the district schools, he deemed it expedient to secure 
farther and more definite training for the business life 
which he was to be inducted through the generous act- 
ion of his father. He accordingly proceeded to the city 
of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he took a thorough 
commercial course in the Iron City Commercial Col- 
lege. On his return to Louisville he was for a few years 
employed in his father's hardware store and was then 
admitted to partnership, due mention having already been 
made of the later progress of this enterprise. 

From this point only incidental recourse will 
be had to the article from which the foregoing 
paragraphs ha^'e to a large extent been drawn. 
It may be said that from the inauguration of 
his business career Mr.. Keim manifested 
marked acumen and discrimination in all mat- 
ters appertaining thereto, and he has gained 
high prestige as one of the able and influential 
Inisiness men of Stark county, having brought 
to bear in all his operations a far-sighted and 
progressive policy, while his methods ha\-e been 
such as t() bear the closest scrutiny, so that he 
has gained and retained a firm liold on public 
confidence and esteem, — elements absolutely es- 
sential to definite success in any line of indus- 
trial or commercial enterprise. In 1875 the 
present Keim block was erected by the original 
firm, and in the same both the hardware store 
and the liank are located. The business con- 
trolled by the former is exceptionally large 
and extends far be3'ond the confines naturally 
determined as tributary to the town, while the 
banking institution is known as one of the solid 
and well-conducted monetary concerns of the 
county, transacting a general banking business 
and retaining a representative support. Mr. 
Keim has through his individual enterprises 
done much to further the general welfare, and 
he is essentially public-spirited, ever read\' to 
encourage wortln- industrial undertakings and 



to aid in furthering all projects tending to con- 
serve the advancement and the material pros- 
perity and moral welfare of the community. In 
1893 lie became identified with the manufac- 
turing of hollow brick and tile, for building pur- 
poses, the business being conducted under the 
title of the Louisville Brick and Tile Company, 
of which he is secretary and treasurer. The 
company controls valuable deposits of fire clay 
in this vicinity and their plant is one of the 
largest and best equipped in this section of the 
state, so that the indnstr}- has already become 
one of the important enterprises in the county. 
In 1899 Mr. Keim erected his present beautiful 
residence in Louisville, the same being one of 
the fin.est homes in the county, of attractive 
modern architecture and best of accessories and 
conveniences, spacious and substantial — in 
short such a mansion as is rarely seen in a town 
of Louis\ille"s population. It is also most grati- 
fying to note that his home is a veritable center 
of the social life of the community, and that a 
gracious hospitality is there dispensed to the 
hosts of friends which the family retain in their 
pleasant home city. 

In ])oIitics Mr. Keim has ever given an un- 
qualified allegiance to the Republican party, and 
his v\-as the distinction of having been the first 
Republican ever elected treasurer of Nimishil- 
len township, an oflice in which he served for 
several terms. He is one of the prominent and 
\alued members of the Progressive Brethren 
church, in \vhose afifairs he has manifested a 
deep an(,l exceptionally helpful interest, being 
at the present time a member of the board of 
trustees of the local church of this denomina- 
tion, while he is also a member of the board of 
trustees of Ashland University, a church insti- 
tution, at Ashland, Ohio, and secretary' of its 
finance committee. About a decade since the 
work of the institution was badly crippled b}' an 
indebtedness of aboitt twenty thousand dollars, , 
and largely through his instrumentality and in- 



12 



OLD LANDMARKS 



defatigable efforts this incumlnis was entirely 
removed, and the college now has an endow- 
ment of twenty-five thousand dollars. 

On tlie 3d of April. 1873. ^Ir. Keini was 
united in marriage to Miss Sophia Klingaman. 
who was born in Nimishillen township, this 
county, being a daughter of \\'illiam and. Maria 
(Gloss) Klingaman. who now reside in the vil- 
lage of Magnolia, this county, ]Mr. Klingaman 
having been one of the influential farmers of 
this section for many years and having now re- 
tired frijm active business. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Keim have been born two children, Mahlon J. 
and .Vrthur L. The former was born in Louis- 
ville, nn the 29th (if June, 1874, and for the 
past ten years he has been the efficient cashier of 
the Louisville Deposit Bank, of which he and. 
his father are proprietors. In 1896 he was 
united in marriage to Miss Clara Alanze. 
daughter of Godfrid .Manze. of Massillon, this 
county. Arthur L. was bcn'u December 28. 
1883. and is now teller in the bank. Both sons 
are aljle and courteous young business men, en- 
joying marked popularity in their native town, 
autl they are well fitted to uphold the prestige 
of the honored name which tlle^■ bear. 



CL.VRKSON W. METZGER was born 
on the paternal homestead, in Perrv township. 
November 5, 186S, and is the son of Adam and 
Artie T Martin) Metzger, natives of Pennsyl- 
vania and Ohio respectively. The American 
branch of the Metzger family appears to ha\e 
had its origin in Pennsyh-ania, in which state 
the subject's grandfather, Henry Metzger, was 
born and reared, his ancestors having- been 
among the early settlers of the old historic 
county of Lancaster. Henry Metzg'er married, 
in his native county. Miss Mary Geil), and 
about the }-ear 1856 mo\ed his family to Stark 
county, Ohio, and in about 1872 settled in Lake 
township, where he is still li\-ing at an advanced 
age, his wife having died in 1875. Adam 



]\[etzger, the subject's father, was a young man 
\\hen his family moved to Ohio, and early in 
1868 he was united in marriage to Miss Artie 
^Martin.. Mliose parents. John and Elizabeth 
(Hoch) ]^Iartin, were pioneers of Perry town- 
ship. Pie served three years in the late Civil 
war as a member of the Seventh Independent 
Company of Ohio Sharpshooters, and at the 
expiration of his period of enlistment he en- 
gaged in carpentery work which he followed 
until 1883, since which time he has been in the 
mercantile btisiness in Richville, this county. 
Adam and Artie Metzger are the parents of 
six children, the oldest of whom is C. W.. of 
this review : after him in order of birth are ]\lrs. 
L. H. "N'anHorn, of Canton ; Charles, deceased ; 
Stanley, who is in the postal service at Can- 
ton; Homer and Clyde, the last two under the 
]iarental roof. 

C. ^^'. ]\Ietzger spent the years of his chikl- 
hootl and early youth in the village of Rich- 
ville, and acquired his preliminary educational 
training in the public schools of that ])lace. .\n 
apt student, with a thirst for knowledge, he was 
not content witli such mental discipline as the 
^■ill;lge supplied, consequently he decided to 
pursue his studies in an institution of a higher 
grade. Animated by this laudal)le desire, he 
entered the North American Normal at Fos- 
torin, and later took a course in the CMiio I'ni- 
versity, at Ada, where he prosecuted his studies 
with the object in view of devoting his life to 
teaching. Mr. Metzger liegan his career as an 
educator in the A'car 1887. and dining the 
twelve vears following gave his time and ener- 
gies to school work, meanwhile earning an hon- 
orable reputation as a capa1)le teacher and suc- 
cessful disciplinarian. \\'hile other matters 
ha\-e engaged his attention, he is still interested 
in the cause of education and his acti\-ity and 
success in this field of endeavor have done 
nuich to bring him to the favorable notice of 
the public as an inllnential factor in the domain 
of party politics. I'rom an early age Mr. Metz- 



II 




C. W. METZGER. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



7'3 



ger has been a close student of political ques- 
tions, and since old enough to exercise the 
rights of citizenship he has given an earnest 
and loyal support to the Republican party. His 
efforts to promote the interests of the cause he 
had so nnich at heart attracted the attention of 
party leaders and it was not long until his ser- 
vices as a campaigner were recognized. In due 
time he was made a member of the county cen- 
tral committee, where his judicious counsel 
and tact as a planner made him especially val-- 
uable. and he served four years in that capacity 
to the satisfaction of all concerned. In 1899 
!Mr. Metzger was the choice of his party for 
representative, and at the ensuing election de- 
feated his competitor by a handsome majority. 
His career as a law-maker fully justified his 
constituents in his nomination, as he has repre- 
sented the county with ability and dignity, win- 
ning honors in tlie committee room and upon 
tiie floor and being recognized as one of the 
leading Republican members of the house. He 
was re-elected his own successor in 1S91, and 
is now serving his second term. He has been an 
active participant in all the deliberations of the 
assembly, besides introducing a number of l)ills 
which have become laws, and his name appears 
in connection with the most important legis- 
lation effected during" his incumbency. His 
course has met the unqualified approval of his 
constituency and the distinction he has already 
achieved as a public servant is indication of still 
greater honors that the future has in store, ^h. 
Metzger is a man of strong mentality, largely 
endowed with inclinations for doing good, in 
whatever sphere he may be called to act. full 
of the vigor of manly purpose and characterized 
by the most courageous and conscientious con- 
victions of right. He has performed his whole 
duty regardless of fear or favor, and while not 
coveting the glare of preferment or conspicuous 
situation, yet when promoted to stations of 
honor his trustworthiness has been exemplary 
in all the term implies. He has been a student 



and thinker all his life, from the first experience 
in living until to the present time. Accepting 
labor as the motive, duty and destiny of man, 
he has not shrunk from its mandate or refused 
to respect its sacred injunction. 

Mr. Metzger has been twice married, the 
first time in 1892, to ^liss Ora Mai'tin, of Mas- 
sillon. who died the )'ear following, leaving one 
child. Earl. His second marriage was solem- 
nized December 14, 1899, with Miss Hattie E. 
Yost, daughter of Oliver and Clara (Chap- 
man") Yost, the mother a daughter of Thomas 
W. Chapman, of JMassillon, the distinguished 
member of the state senate, who is now in his 
eighty-eighth year. To this union have been 
born two children, Thomas Henry, born Sep- 
tember 14. 1900. and Xellie Yost, born April 
6. 1903. 



JOHN S. HO\\'ENSTINE was born on 
the old homestead farm, in Pike township, this 
county, on the 8tb of March, 1829, and in the 
Greenridge school h<iuse he received his early 
educational discipline, attending the same dur- 
in.g the winter terms, w bile during the summer 
months he contrilnued his quota to the work of 
clearing and cultivating the home farm. He 
continued to work on the farm until he had at- 
tained the age of twenty-one years, and at the 
expiration of this period he came to Cant(in. 
where he served an apprenticeship of two years 
at the carpenter trade, under the direction of 
.Samuel Bard. He and his brother \\'illiam 
then engaged in contracting and building on 
their own responsibility, being thus associated 
for two years and erecting a number of the 
pioneer buildings in Canton and other .sections 
(^f the (■oinit\'. including the original building 
of the county infirmary. About 1845 the two 
brothers rennn-ed to Lagro, Indiana, a town on 
the Wabash river, aliout twenty miles west of 
Huntington, and there became concerned in the 
erection of nacking houses and also of a saw- 



714 



OLD LANDMARKS 



mill. In 1S48 ]\Ir. Howenstine returned to Can- 
ton, and here he continued in the work of his 
trade, as a contractor, until i860, when he took 
a position in the employ of the Aultman Com- 
pany, manufacturer of threshing macliines and 
other agricultural machinery here. Finally, 
when the cloud of civil war threw its gruesome 
pall over the country he responded to the call 
to higher duty, enlisting, on the 13th of Au- 
gust, 1862, as a memher of Company B, One 
Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infan- 
tr)-. ffe continued in the service of the Union 
until the cl( ise of the war. For the first year lie 
was stationed in Cincinnati, as a member, of the 
provost guard, and thereafter was assigned to 
similar duty at Covington, Kentucky, for one 
winter, and Avithin that same Avinter was or- 
dered to Maysville, that state, on skirmish 
duty. After quiet was restored in that locality 
he returned to Covington, from which place 
he was later sent with his regiment to Mur- 
frccshonT, Tennessee, where he assisted in the 
linilding of block houses and in the guarding" of 
the city. While thus engaged, when at a ])oint 
about eight miles west of the city, he and the 
posse with which he was on duty were all 
captured liy Confederate forces under com- 
mand of General Joseph Wheeler, and were 
taken to Nashville, Tennessee, but he was re- 
leased one month later and ordered to report 
at Murfreesboro, where he remained until he 
was ordered home ti.) recei\'e his houurable dis- 
charge, at the close of the war, said discharge 
lieing granted him in the city of Cle\eland, in 
the fall of 1865. On the 27th of April, 1864, 
for meritorious service. ]\Ir. Howenstine was 
promoted to the office of corporal of his 
company. 

Retiuming to Canton after the close of his 
loyal service as a Union soldier, Mr. Howen- 
stine re-entered the emjiloy of the Aultman 
Company, his duties in and about the factory 
being of varied order, while tinallv he Ijecaiue 
a traveling reiiresentalixe of the company, in 



which capacity he made extensive tours and be- 
came one of the most trusted and valued at- 
taches of the concern. For a number of years. 
\\hile traveling in the United States, he had 
charge of various agencies throughout the 
country, while he has also traveled widely in 
foreign lands as the representative of this great 
manufacturing concern. He thus represented 
the company in Ireland, Scotland, England. 
■ France, Germany, Austria-Hungary. Rou- 
mania, Russia, Italy, northern Africa, Al- 
geria, etc., having thus traveled a1)roa(l for 
three years and returning to America about 
two years prior to the death of Jacob 
Miller, an honored member of the company 
in whose employ he had so long remained. 
After his return ]\Ir. Howenstine went to the 
city of New Orleans, where he remained as rep- 
resentative of the same compaii)- about five 
years, at the expiration of which he returned to 
Canton, remaining in the employ of the Ault- 
man Company until 1898, when he felt that 
the weight of increasing years entitled him to 
retire from active business and he has since 
maintained his residence here, having an at- 
tractive home at 1238 Market street, and being 
surrounded by hosts of warm friends. In poli- 
tics Mr. Howenstine is an independent Re- 
publican, and he has ever taken a deep interes'' 
in the questions and issues of the hour and has 
been at all times able to give a reason for the 
faith that is his in a political way. He has 
been identified with the Masonic fraternity for 
the past tiftv-eight vears, and has completed 
the circle of the York rite, l)eing a mcmlier of 
the l)lue lodge, chapter, council and com- 
maiulery. He was formerly identified with the 
Grand Army of the Reijublic. but allowed his 
actix'e membership to lapse, on account of his 
traveling so constantly as to make it impossible 
for him to attend the various meetings of his 
old comrades. He and his family hold mem- 
liersliip in the First Methodist Episcopal 
church, in whose work they take an active part. 



Il 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



715 



On the 7th of September, 1854, at New 
Philadelphia, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, Mr. 
tJouenstine was united in marriage to Miss 
Juha Sanford, who was born in Tuscarawas 
county, Ohio, being a daughter of Wheeler and 
Sarah (Ferris) Sanford, both representatives 
of old Connecticut families. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Howenstine have been born five children : 
Mary C, who was born on the 25th of June, 
^^•■^^, died on the 19th of November, 1873; 
Sarah Elizabeth was born August 9, 1858; 
James Keeler, ]\Iay 4, i860; Elmer, February 
15, iS6j ; and George W., June 26, 1874. Mrs. 
Howenstine is of Plymouth, England, extrac- 
tion, and her ancestors were numbered among 
the colonists of New England. 

.\d\erting to the genealogy of the subject, 
we may say that the original representative in 
the United States was his great-great-grandfa- 
ther Howenstine, who emigrated hither in the 
colonial epoch, coming from Germany and tak- 
ing up his residence in Pennsylvania, where he 
passed the remainder of his life. George How- 
enstine. fatlier of the subject, was born in 
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1809, and his 
death occurred on the 29th of November, 1895. 
He was united in marriage to Miss Christina 
Sickafoose, whose parents were numbered 
among the early settlers of Pike township, this 
county, whither they came from Pennsylvania, 
and in said township was solemnized her mar- 
riage to Mr. Howenstine. who came to the 
county as a young man, becoming one of the 
representative farmers and most honored citi- 
zens of Pike township, where Howenstine 
Station was named in his honor. He was jus- 
tice of the peace for twenty years and for a 
number of years filled the office of county com- 
missioner, being a man of influence in the com- 
munity and one who commanded uniform con- 
fidence and esteem. The timber from which 
the original county infirmary was constructed 
was secured from his farm. His de\-oted wife 
preceded him into eternal rest, her deatli ha\'ing 



occurred in 1887. Of their children we incor- 
porate the following brief record : William, 
who was born in 1818, died in 1895; John S. 
is the immediate subject of this sketch; Mar- 
garet, who was born in 182 1, l^ecame the wife 
of Christian Henry, and she died in 1887; 
Catherine, who became the wife of Jess His- 
sem, was born in 1822, and they now reside at 
South Whitley, Indiana; George Lyman, who 
was born in 1823, is a resident of Canton ; Sam- 
uel, who was born in 1824, is a leading farmer 
of Pike township ; and Marion, who was born 
in 1825, resides on the old homestead farm, in 
Pike township. 



EMANUEL GOTTLIEB VOLZER was 

born at Waiblingen. near the city of Stuttgart, 
kingdom of Wurtenibnrg, Germany, on the 31st 
of May, 1835, being a son of George Volzer, 
who passed his entire life in the fatherland, 
having died when the subject of this tribute was 
about thirteen years of age. The family was a 
large one and it became necessary for Emanuel 
G. to leave his school work at an early age and 
to begin to assume the practical responsibilities 
of life. At the age of twelve years he secured 
employment in a mill at ^[emniingen, and he 
was away from home at the time of his father's 
death and unable to reach the bedside of his 
honored father. Pie was the eldest of the chil- 
dren and thus it may be seen that a heavy bur- 
den of responsibility was laid upon the widow 
for he himself \\as but thirteen years of age at 
the time when this bereavement and loss came. 
After leaving the mill lie was for some time en- 
gaged in railroad work in. Germany, and there 
he continued to reside until 1867. when he de- 
termined to seek a new field of endeavor in the 
United States, where he belicA-ed better oppor- 
tunities were afforded for the attaining of suc- 
cess through personal effort. He landed in 
New York cit}' with but little money, but forti- 
fied with energy and determination. He came 



7i6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



to Cnnton shortly after his arrival in America 
and here joined his larother Christian, who had 
preceded him. Here he first secured employ- 
ment in the shops of the Aultman Company and 
later in the works of the Ball Company. He 
Avas married here in 1869. and after he left the 
employ of the Ball Company he and his wife 
removed to Petershurg, now a part of Canton, 
and in that locality he was engaged in farm 
work for some time. In 1884 he traded two 
properties which he had acquired on House! 
street to liis brother William, securing in ex- 
change a piece of property on Charles street. 
Here he opened a grocery and built up a satis- 
factory and prosperous business, continuing" to 
conduct tliis enterprise until his death, which 
occurred on the 21st of October, 1897. He was 
the soul of integrity and honor and ever com- 
manded the respect and confidence of all who 
knew him. He was a stanch ad\'ocate of the 
principles of the Democratic party and was a 
consistent communicant of St. Peter's church, 
Roman Catholic, of which his wife likewise is 
a communicant. Since his death she has suc- 
cessfully continued the business which he estab- 
hshed. showing marked discrimination in the 
handling of business affairs and having the 
high regard of all who know her. She sold the 
business in July, 1903. to her son F. X. 

On the 2 1 St of September, 1869, in the city 
of Canton, Mr. \ olzer was unitetl in marriage 
to Miss Balbena Schmidt, who was born in 
Germany, on the 2d of October, 1848. 
being a daughter of Dominick and Mary ( Ane- 
for) Schmidt, both of \\h(im were born in that 
section of Germany, where they passed their 
entire lives. The father was by trade a maker 
of horse-shoe nails and also owned a small 
farm, which was carried on by his children. 
Mrs. Volzer having assisted in the work prior 
to her immigration to America, whither she 
courageously came alone when l)ut eighteen 
years of age, sailing from Bremen on the ship 
"^^"illiam Penn" and arriving in Xew York on 



the 3d of June, 1868. She came directly to 
Cleveland, Ohio, where she was employed four 
weeks, at the expiration of which she came to 
Canton, having but twenty-five cents in her 
possession at the time of her arrival here. 
Here she found employment at housework in 
the home of Adam Shorb. and among her du- 
ties was that of milking the cows and other 
lines of work which the average girl of the 
present day would consider beneath her dignity. 
Mrs. Yolzer had, however, been taught that 
honest toil and endeavor is ever dignified and 
she was ready to put forth her best eft'orts. She 
was still in the employ of Mr. Shorb at the time 
of h.er marriage, the ceremony being performed 
in his home. ]Mr. and !Mrs. \'olzer became the 
parents of eleven children, namely : Joseph A., 
who is individually considered on other pages 
of this work: August, who died in infancy; 
AugustaA'e, who is a resident of the city of Cb.i- 
cago ; Peter and I'rank, who were twins, the 
latter dying in infancy, while the former still 
resides in Canton : Annie Frances, who is the 
wife of F.n.gene Hinder, of Massillon, this 
county; Frank X,, who resides in Canton and 
who married Miss Augusta Andes: and Grace, 
Otto, Leo and Cletus, who remain at the ma- 
ternal home. 

♦■•-♦ 

HEXRY KETTERIXG was a native .son 
of the old Keystone state of the Union, having 
been born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, on 
the 13th of April, T850, and being a son of 
Jacob and X'ancy (Barnett) Kettering. He 
was reared in his native state, and there re- 
ceived his early educational discipline in the 
public schools. In 1868 he accompanied liis 
parents on their removal to Stark county, Ohio, 
and they took up their abode on a farm in Xim- 
ishillen township, where the subject of this 
memoir was reared to maturil\-. He continued 
to de\ote his attention to agricultural ]3ursuit.s 
for a number of vears and then entered the em- 



111 




i^o-n^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



717 



ploy of the Aultman Company, the extensive 
mannfacturers of farm machinery in Canton, 
and after his marriage, in the year 1884, he lo- 
cated in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, as 
the representative of the Aultman Company, in 
Avhose employ he there continued for a period 
of five years, at the expiration of which he re- 
turned to Stark county and took up his resi- 
dence in Jackson township, where he remained 
one year and then established his home in East 
Canton, where he engaged in business as a 
dealer in harvesting machinery and farming 
implements, building Up a large and flourish- 
ing business, in which he continued until his 
death, whicli \\as the result of a boiler explo- 
sion, at his residence, on the 27th of July, 1896. 
He met almost an instantaneous death, and the 
shock was one which completely prostrated his 
devoted and cherished wife, while the com- 
munity as a whole deplored the loss of one who 
had been signally faithful and loyal in all the 
relations of life. He was a man of broad men- 
tality and marked business and executive abil- 
ity, and he ever held the confidence and es- 
teem of all with whom he came in contact, for 
his word was inviolable and his integrity of 
the most inflexible order. His was a gracious 
and kindly personality, and he had in a marked 
degree the power of winning and retaining 
friends, while in the sacred precincts of his 
home the ideality of his nature found its most 
perfect exemijlification. Such a pure and noble 
character must lie cumulative in its influence 
e\-en after death has set its seal upon the mortal 
lips, and to those nearest and dearest to the sub- 
ject of this memoir must ever remain a measure 
of consolation in the memory of the tender as- 
sociations of the past. 

In politics Mr. Kettering accorded a stanch 
allegiance to the Republican party, but he was 
essentially a business man and took no active 
part in political affairs, though he was never 
unmindful of the duties of citizenship and was 
ever ready to lend his influence in support of all 



measures projected for the general good. 
.Although not formalh' identified with any re- 
ligious body, he had the deepest reverence for 
sjiiritual things antl for the cause of Christian- 
ity, and he took an active part in church 
work and in the support of its collateral benevo- 
lences. He was a good judge of man and had 
a \vholesome detestation of hyprocrisy and dis- 
simulation in any form, while in his own per- 
son he demanded the appro\'al of conscience for 
every thought and action. He was reared in 
the religious faith of the Ri\er Brethren, with 
which denomination his parents were identified. 
Mr. Kettering erected a spacious and attracti\e 
residence in East Canton, and there his widow 
still maintains her home, the place being hal- 
lowed to her through the memories and asso- 
ciations of the past. 

At Newport, Perry county, Pennsylvania, 
on the 2ist of February, 1884, Mr. Kettering 
was .united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Alice 
Bressler, who was born near that place, on the 
7th of A])ril, 185 1, being a daughter of Charles 
and Sarah (Burtnett) Bressler, both of whom 
were born in Pennsylvania, being representa- 
ti\es of sterling old families of that state, 
where the father still maintains his residence, 
his devoted wife having passed to the "land of 
the leal" on the 25th of December, 1896, at 
Newport. Pennsylvania. Mrs. Kettering was 
thus called upon t(;) l)ear a double burden of 
berea\ement within that year, as her husband's 
sudden death had anticipated that of her mother 
by less than six months. Mrs. Kettering Avas 
the second in order of birth in a family of six 
children. She was reared in Perry county, 
Pennsylvania, and received an excellent educa- 
tion in the public schools, being a lady of gra- 
cious presence and gentle refinement, and hav- 
ing won a host of friends in Canton, while her 
home is a center of unreserved hospitality. She 
is a memljer of Trinity Reformeil church and 
takes an acti\-e part in its work. Her home is 
brightened by the presence of her two fine sons. 



7i8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Charles R., who was born on the 19th of June, 
1887, and Earl B., who was born on the loth 
of December, 1890. 



FREDKRICK JACOB LIXDEMAXN is 
a native of the great empire of Germany, which 
has contributed so \'aluable an element to our 
American citizenship, having been born in 
canton of Waldmohr, Bavaria, on the 27th of 
March, 1830. His father, Philip Lindemann, 
was born in jMinbach, of the same canton, on 
the 1 2th of April, 1787, and the mother of the 
subject was Ijorn in Kastle, that canton, on the 
2d of July, 1796, her maiden name having been 
Catherine Margaret Buler. The marriage of 
this worthy couple was solemnized in 1823, 
and they became the parents of seven sons and 
one daughter, while of the number only three 
are now living, namely : Catherine Elizabeth, 
who was born July 20, 1824, and who resides 
in Canton, being the widow of John Blum; 
Christian, who was born on the 19th of April, 
1826, and who is nowa resident of Nebraska; 
and Frederick J., who figures as the immediate 
subject of this review. The names of the de- 
ceased children are as follows : Daniel, Peter, 
John, Jacob and Adam. 

In 1833, when the subject was a child of less 
than three years, his parents severed the ties 
which bound them to home and fatherland and 
came to the United States, landing in New 
York city, whence they soon afterward came to 
Canton, where Mr. Lindemann was one of the 
pioneer wood turners of the city, which was 
•then a mere village in the midst of the forest. 
In addition to manufacturing the spinning- 
wheels which were then in so great demand in 
the pioneer commimity, he also did other work 
in the line' of his trade and followed such other 
honorable labor as came to hand, being a man 
of energy and ability, while his inflexible integ- 
rity of character commended him to the confi- 
dence and good will of all. He continued to 



maintain his home here until his death, which 
occurred in September, 1876, while his loved 
wife survived him by about five years, passing 
away in 1S80. They were earnest, God-fearing 
persons and their lives were noble and worthy 
in all respects, though they betokened but the 
"short and simple annals of the poor." They 
were members of the Lutheran church. 

Frederick J. Lindemann received his rudi- 
mentary education in a private school which 
was conducted in a small building near the fam- 
ily home, on Third street, in the village of Can- 
ton, and it may be consistently recorded that his 
father paid the incidental tuition by sawing 
wood. He attended this school during the three 
months' winter terms, and thereafter he con- 
tinued his studies in the public schools of the 
place and period, his privileges in this line be- 
ing confined to the winter terms and to a period 
of five years, and thus was completed his school 
work, though he has eft'ectively rounded out 
his education by personal application and by 
active association with the practical aft'airs of 
life. As a boy, when not attending school, Mr. 
Lindemann found employment at whatever 
honest occupation offered itself, within his ca- 
pacity to perform. He was thus engaged for a 
time in turning a wheel for the manufacturing 
of rope and twine, this continuing to be his vo- 
cation for an interval of five years, while later 
he found employment hauling sand. At the 
age of seventeen years he entered upon an ap- 
prenticeship at the trade of harnessmaking, be- 
coming a skilled artisan, and he successfully 
continued to be identified with this line of en- 
terprise until the spring of 1 870. when he 
turned his attention to farming, securing a good 
place in Plain township, where he remained for 
the ensuing five years. In 1875 he removed to 
a farm in Jackson township, where he impro^•ed 
a valuable prii])ertv and where he was success- 
fully engaged in agricultural pursuits until 
1897, when he returned to the city of Canton, 
where he has since lived retired, in his attracti\-e 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



719 



residence, at 1272 Woodland avenue. In poli- 
tics he gives his allegiance to the Democratic 
party and he and his wife are members of the 
Reformed church, in \\hose work they have 
taken an active part for many years. 

On the 1st of February, 1851, ,"\lr. Linde- 
mann was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Bruchie, daughter of Sofarat and Mary (Of- 
falder) Tiruchie, who were natives of Switzer- 
land, whence they emigrated to the United 
States in 1842, settling in Canton, where the_\' 
passed the remainder of their li\es. Mrs. 
Lindemann was born in Switzerland, on the 
15th of May, 1836, and was thus a child of 
atidut six years at the time of the emigration of 
the family to America. Of the children of i\Ir. 
and Mrs. Lindemann we incorporate brief rec- 
ord, as follows : William, who was born in 
1S52, married Miss Sarah Billiad, and they 
now reside in Canton, being the parents of four 
children, — Lloyd, Leo, Hazel and Homer; 
Mary Alvina, who was born in 1854, died at 
the age of two years; Emma, who was born in 
1856, is the wife of Charles Sailor, and the}' 
reside on a farm in Jackson township, being 
the parents of six children, namely : Frederick, 
;\lary, Wallace, Lester, Clarence and ^larvin ; 
and Laura, v.dio died July 15, 1876, aged thir- 
teen vears. 



CHARLES RENNER was born in Law- 
rence township, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, on 
the 2d of November, 1845, being a son of Fred- 
erick and Elizabeth ( Koontz) Renner, Ix)th of 
whom were born in the Rhine district of Ba- 
varia, Germany, where they were reared and 
where their marriage was solemnized. He 
served in the German army for the period re- 
quired by government regulation, and shortly 
after his marriage he and his wife came to 
America, landing in New York city, where 
they remained a short interval and then came 
to Zoar, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, near which 



place he engaged in farming, and in that lo- 
cality he passed the reinainder of his long and 
useful life, his death occurring on the 12th of 
April, 1898, while his devoted wife passed away 
four year previously, both having been members 
of the German Reformed church. They be- 
came the parents of nine children, of whom the 
subject of this sketch was the first born, while 
eight of the number are still living. 

Charles Renner, the subject of this review, 
was reared in Tuscarawas and Stark counties, 
and as a child he was taken into the home of 
David Yant, a clergyman of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, for whom he worked on a 
farm in Bethlehem township, Stark countv, tin- 
til he had attained the age of fourteen years, 
having- in the meanwhile attended the district 
schools during the winter terms, giving his at- 
tention to .the work of the farm during the 
summer seasons. After leaving the home of 
Mr. Yant our subject went to work for John 
Jacol)y, on what is now known as the Roush 
farm, near Richville, Stark county, and in 1861 
he went to Massillon, where he served an ap- 
prenticeship at the butcher's trade, with the 
firm of Deemer & Wittenberg, continuing with 
them for eleven years, at the expiration of 
which he entered into partnership with Will- 
iam Hershey and opened a market on Mills 
street, in the same city, later being associated 
in the enterprise with Frank Stroebel. In the 
great financial panic of 1873 the firm suspended 
business and ^[r. Renner then Avent to Vir- 
ginia Cit}-, Nevada, where he worked at his 
trade for the enstiing three years, receiving 
sixty dollars per month for his services. He 
then joined his wife at Bolivar, Tuscarawas 
county, Ohio, and was there engaged in the 
butchering business for the following six years. 
On the 1st of May, 1888, he came to Canton 
and located in the Dantz building, on \\'est 
Tuscarawas street, where he was engaged in 
the same line of business for some time, after 
which he established himself in the Fulton 



■J20 



OLD LANDMARKS 



market, in East Tuscarawas street, whicli con- 
tinued to be his business heailquarters for sev- 
eral years. He tlien turneil the business over 
to his two sons and again located in a small 
shop in West Tuscarawas street, the same being 
owned by Dr. Frankenfeldt, while somewhat 
later he purchased the lot and erected thereon 
his ]')resent Inulding. During the panic of 
i8g3 he rented his shop for a time, and after 
again operating the same himself for a brief 
interval he engaged in the buying of walnut 
timlier, and while thus engaged in South Caro- 
lina and Georgia, he discovered in the former 
state an excellent gold-quartz prospect, bring- 
ing specimens back to Canton with him and 
bee becoming associated with others in the 
organization of the Eureka }ilining Company, 
for the purpose of developing the property. He 
was elected general manager and returned to 
South Carolina and opened the mines, but lack 
of capital compelled the company to cease 
operations and it finally lapsed in organization. 
.Mr. Renner. h<»we\er. held on to the mining 
properties, which are now owned by him. in 
conjiinction with his sons, Charles and E. W ., 
and his two nephews. Jacob H. and Laise Ren- 
ner. They ha\e been offered a good price for 
the ])i'operties and the negotiations for the 
transfer are still pending at the time of this 
writin.g. In igoo Mr. Renner, and his son 
Charles again started in the butchering busi- 
ness at tb.e old stand, on West Tuscarawas 
street, where thev conduct a very satisfactory 
business. haA'ing a well ecjuipped market and 
catering to a representative trade. Mr. Ren- 
ner was at one time second lieutenant of Com- 
])an}- E, Eighth Ohio ^Militia, and was in com- 
mand of his company at the funeral of the late 
l'r(?sident Garfield. In politics he gives an un- 
compromising support to the Democratic party, 
and fraternally holds membership in the ?vla- 
sonic order and the Knights of Pythias. He 
was reared in the faith of the German Lutheran 



church and his wife is a member of the Roman 
Catholic church. 

At Bolivar. Tuscarawas count}', nu the ist 
of Xovem))er, 1866, Mr. Renner was united in 
marriage to Miss Mary Sophia Albright, who 
was born in that county, being a daughter of 
J. ]\I. Albright. Of this union ha\-e been 
born eleven children, two of whcnn died in in- 
fancy, while those surviving are as follows : 
Erederick W., who is engaged in butchering" 
in Canton; Lizzie, who is the wife of Amos 
Eate. of this city; Clara, who is the wife of 
Tb.omas Jones, of Canton; Charles J., who is 
associated with his father in business ; Julia, 
who is the wife of Pan! Zellers, of Canton: 
Edward, who is engaged in butchering in the 
city of Cleveland; and Lena, ^Martha and 
^farie. who remain at the parental home. 



JAMES F. T. WALKER.— The Savings 
& Loan Company, which was organized in 
7887 and which now controls a large and im- 
portant business, has exercised most beneticent 
functions and proved a valuable acquisition to 
the community, its assigned province being for 
the "promotion of systematic saving of money 
and to assist its members in the procurement of 
h(^mes." Of this organization ^Ir. \\'alker has 
been secretary from the time of its inception, 
and his fine executive and administrative talent 
has proved an important factor in the upbuild- 
ing of the ma.gnificent financial enterprise. The 
com])any now occupies its own building, erect- 
ed for its use, at 206 West Tuscarawas street. 
the same lieing one of the most substantial anrl 
attractive l)usiness structures in the city and 
being valued at upward of twenty-eight thou- 
sand dollars and so estimated as an asset. 
Erom the thirty-second semi-annual statement 
of the company, issued April i. 1903. the loans 
of the concern are shown to be $501,312.50; 
office building. $28,678.30; real estate, $4,- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



721 



953.46; and cash with treasurer, $32,297.8^. 
Shares of tlie company are issued at one hun- 
dred dollars each, payable in weekly install- 
ments of twenty-five cents, and certificates of 
paid-up stock are issued in sums of ten dollars 
or multiples thereof. 

The Savings & Loan Company, of Canton, 
was organized in the city hall of Canton, in 
April, 1887, at which time the following ofticers 
were elected: H. C. Fogle, president; H. S. 
JNIoses, vice-president; Isaac Harter, treasurer; 
Julius Whiting, Jr., attorney; and James F. T. 
Walker, secretary. Of this executive corps all 
yet remain in office as noted with the exception 
of the president and vice-president, of which 
the respective incumbents are William H. 
Clark and Joseph Dick, while the directorate 
includes, in addition to the executives, the fol- 
lowing named gentlemen : H. A. Cavnah, H. 
S. Moses, Joseph H. Dumoulin and W. L. 
Alexander. The company declares a semi-an- 
nual dix'idend, and the character and financial 
standing of those who have its affairs in charge 
well accounts for the fine business which has 
been Ijuilt up, implying the implicit confidence 
and esteem of the public. For a time the com- 
pany had its headquarters in the city building, 
later occupied oflices on West Eighth street, 
thence removed to the Davis building, in Cleve- 
lanil a\enue. and in February, 1899, assumed 
the occupancy of its present fine home building. 

James F. T. Walker is a native son of the 
Buckeye state, liaving been born in the city of 
Cincinnati, on the 5th of December, 1858, and 
being a son of James Walker, who was born in 
Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland, in 1832, be- 
ing there reared and educated, his father hav- 
ing been employed as a patternmaker in an ex- 
tensive stove foundry in that city. James 
\Valker came to the United States in his early 
youth, having no financial reinforcement and 
being dependent upon his own resources in 
the matter of winning a livelihood in a strange 
land. He was, however, endowed with the 
45 



sterling attributes so characteristic of the true 
t_\-pe of Scotsmen, and his energy- and self-re- 
liance stood him well in hand. He located in the 
city of Cincinnati, where he passed the remain- 
der of his life, having at one time been well es- 
tablished in business but having met with finan- 
cial reverses through normal exigencies. He 
there married Miss Susan Fraser, who was of 
Scotch lineage, and each died at the age of 
fifty-eight years, ha\ing become the parents of 
three children, namely: Marion, who is a resi- 
dent of Wyoming, Ohio; James F. T., the im- 
mediate subject of this sketch; and Grant, who 
is likewise a resident of Wyoming, Ohio. 

James F. T. Walker secured his early edu- 
cational discipline in the public schools of Cin- 
cinnati, and, owing to the reverses which over- 
took his father, he was early thrown upon his 
own resources. When seventeen years of age 
he secured a clerkship in a wholesale grocery- 
establishment in Cincinnati, and later was ap- 
pointed to fill a clerical vacancy in the offices of 
the Phoenix Fire Insurance Company in that 
city, where he was employed until 1882, when 
he came to Canton and here became identified 
with the insurance agency of W. L. Alexander^ 
in the capacity of bookkeeper. Later he re- 
turned to Cincinnati, where he remained about 
two years as secretary of the JMonitor Insur- 
ance Company. He then returned to Canton 
and became identified with the \\'. L. Alexan- 
der Insurance Agency, and while thus engaged 
he became associated with others in the organi- 
zation of the Savings and Loan Company, as 
already noted, and he has been consecutively 
its secretary from the time of its incorporation, 
while he also continued in the office of the in- 
surance business of W. L. Alexander until the 
duties of his executive position with the Sav- 
ings & Loan Compau}' had so increased in 
scope as to cause him to resigni the former. 
Mr. U'alker is a member of the directorate of 
the Dime Savings Bank, of Canton, and also 
of that of the Ohio Millers' Fire Insurance 



722 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Coin])any. While in no sense a politician, he 
gives a stanch allegiance to the Repnblican 
party, being an active member of the Canton 
Repnblican Club and having been a member of 
the committee in charge of the McKinley 
])irthday banquet, tendered to the late lamented 
President and honored citizen of Canton. 
Fraternally he is identified with the Free and 
Accepted Masons and the Benevolent and Pro- 
tective Order of Elks. 

\i \ evay, Switzerland county. Indiana, 
in r^ecember, 1898, Mr. Walker was united 
in marriage to Mrs. Justine A. Cook, who was 
boni in Kentucky. Their beautiful home, lo- 
cated on a sightly eminence on West Tuscara- 
was street, is one of the most attractive in the 
city, and there a sincere and gracious hospi- 
tality is ever in evidence, and is enjoyed by the 
wide circle of friends whom Mr. and Mrs. 
\\'alker have gathered about them fmrn the 
representative social contingent of the cil\ . 



JOSEPH 11. McCOXXELL, assistant 
cashier ot the .\lliance Bank, and ex-city clerk, 
is a son df John and Mary J. McConnell. and 
was l)orn in Rock Island county, Blinois, on 
the 18th day of October, 1862. For a review 
i)f his genealogy the reader is respectfully re- 
ferred to the biography of his brother, John L. 
McConnell, on another page of this work, in 
which the history of the family is briefly out- 
lined. Young McConnell grew up under the 
fostering inlluences of the parental home and 
after acquiring a good education in the public 
.schools of .\lliance, to which place the family 
removed when he was small, began his business 
C.ireer under the tutorship of his father in the 
latter's grocery store in this city. Being apt 
to learn and ambitious to carve for himself an 
honorable future, he soon mastered the under- 
Iving principles of commercial " life and the 
valuable experience gained while in his fath- 
er's business establishment prepared him to 



assume with the consciousness of mastery the 
greater responsibilities that came to him in the 
course of his indei)endent career a little later. 
During the father's illness Joseph H. and his 
brother John L. managed the business very 
successfully and when the elder McConnell 
ilieil. in 1889. the two succeeded him and con- 
tinued in partnership until 1896, making in all 
fifteen years which the subject de\-oted to one 
line of merchandising. 

In the spring of the latter year ^Ir. McCon- 
nell was appointed city clei'k, in consequence 
of which he sold out his interest in the grocery 
business, and from that time forward devoted 
his attention exclusively to the duties of the 
office. He was first made clerk to fill out 
the unexpired term caused by the resignation 
of Mr. Casselman. and after the expiration of 
this partial term he was appointed his own 
successor, and upon the expiration of this term 
he was reappointed his own successor a third 
time in 1809. '''"' again in 1901, and. with all 
due deference to his several predecessors, it 
can be truthfully said that a more competent 
or popular ofllcial has never been connected 
with any branch of the city government since 
it was established. In the spring of 1901 Mr. 
McConnell was a candidate for nomination for 
the office of countv auditor and was defeated 
by a very small number of votes. He con- 
tinued as city clerk until August, 1901, on the 
first day of which month, greatly to the regret 
of tlie public, he resigned the office to accept 
the more lucrative and agreeable position of as- 
sistant cashier of the Alliance Bank, a post he 
filled with credit to himself and to the entire 
satisfaction of everybody connected with the 
institution, as was evidenced by the fact that 
upon the resignation of M. S. ]\Iilbourn on 
January i, T903. he was made cashier. 

Mr. McCcMinell, in the year 1887. entered 
the marriage relations with Miss Jessie Day. 
ilaughter of the late John M. Day. for many 
x'ears a jirouiincnt business man of Alliance 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



723 



and fur tliree terms mayor of the city, the 
iiiiicm being liiessed with one child, a son by 
tlie name of Harry. As ahxady in(hcated. ]Mr. 
McCorinell is a Repuljh'can and ever since at- 
taining his majority lie has been an ardent sup- 
porter of his party and an influential factor in 
its cmincils. He lias dexnted considerable time 
and en.ergy to political work and the value 
of his services and the extent of his personal 
jiopularity are attested l)y his long retention 
ir. an im])i>rtant ])ublic position. He is a man 
of firmness and positive convictions but so 
manifestly honest and sincere in the mainte- 
nance and expression of his sentiments that 
those who differ from him most widely are often 
his \\armest and most intimate friends and 
associates. He is identifled with several secret 
fraternal organizations, belonging to Lone 
Rock Lodge. Knights of Pythias. Alliance 
Lodge Xo. 467, Bene\-olent and Protective 
Order of Elks, and \'ivian Council, Royal 
Arciinnm. holding- the position of regent in the 
last named society at the present time. A firm 
believer in revealed religion, his life is a prac- 
tical illustration of a deep and profound re- 
ligious faith; the ^Methodist discipline repre- 
sents his creed and the church of that denomi- 
nation in Alliance numliers him and his ex- 
cellent wife among its most faithful, zealous 
and consistent communicants. 



ALEXANDER P.. LO\^E, member of the 
firm of Love it Casselman, dealers in stoves, 
tinware, hardware, steam heating, etc., is a na- 
tive of Mahoning county, Ohio, born in the vil- 
lage of Poland on the i6th day of March, 1845. 
His grand fatlier, Thomas Love, a native of 
Donegal, Ireland, came to the United States 
when a young man of nineteen and settled in 
; Ohio \\here he spent the remainder of his life, 
dying a number of years ago in the county of 
Afahoning. John Love, son of the above 
Thomas and father of Alexander B., first saw 



the light of day in Mahoning county, grew to 
maturitv at or near Poland and when a vounsf 
man engaged in the pursuit of agriculture, to 
which vocation he devoted the active years of 
his life. ^Vith the exception of a brief resi- 
dence in Brookville, Trumbull county, he lived 
in tjie county of ]\Iahoning until 1870, at which 
time he removed to Alliance where he spent 
the closing years of his life, dying in 1896, at 
the ripe old age of eighty-seven. John Love 
was a man of influence in his communitv and 
a most excellent and praiseworthy citizen. A 
staunch Republican and a local leader of his 
party, he never aspired to ofBcial ' preference, 
notwithstanding which he was frequently 
called to public position, having at different 
times held the various township offices within 
the gift of the people. He was reared accord- 
ing to the rather strict discipline of the Pres- 
byterian creed and remained a zealous and con- 
sistent member of that church all his life, con- 
tribuling liberally to the support of the con- 
gregation to which he belonged, besides freely 
donating to the spread of the gospel in other 
places. The maiden name of }klrs. John Lo\-e 
was Mary P. McMillan ; she became the moth- 
er of .six children, all living but one, their 
names being as follows : Alzera, in the rail- 
road service at Youngstown : Thomas, a tin- 
ner working at his trade and carrying on busi- 
ness in Ravenna: Alexander B.. the subject 
of this sketch, and Edwin, who is engaged in 
the hardware and tin trade at Bradford, Penn- 
sylvania. 

Alexander B. Love was brought up on the 
home farm in his native county and there, in 
close touch with nature in wood and field, 
learned the lessons of industry and thrift 
which subsequently had such a potent influ- 
ence in shaping his character and establishing 
his reputation in the avenues of business life. 
During his youthful years he attended the 
public schools and acquired a good practical 
education and wlien the Civil war broke out 



724 



OLD LANDMARKS 



he tendered his services to the government, 
enhsting in 1862, when a lad of sixteen, in 
Company F, of the Eiglity-eighth Ohio Infan- 
try. Voung Love joined the army for only 
six montlis and at the expiration of that period 
he returned home and soon afterwards entered 
upon an apprenticeship in the city of Youngs- 
town, to learn the tinner's trade. After spend- 
ing some time there in close application, he 
finished his apprenticeship at Alliance and dur- 
ing the twenty years following worked at his 
chosen calling as a journeyman, spending the 
greater part of that period at various places in 
the states of Ohio and Kentucky. 

Jn 1885 Mr. Love abandoned journeyman 
v.ork and engaged in business for himself, pur- 
chasing an interest in the firm of Williams & 
Oby, at Alliance, dealers in the same line of 
goods the present firm handle, succeeding Mr. 
A\'illiams in the enterprise and changing the 
name to tbat of Oby & Love. Later :\Ir. Will- 
iams re-entered the firm as successor to Mr. 
Oby, after which the business was carried on 
under the style of A. B. Love & Company, 
until ]\Ir. Casselman bought the interest of 
\\'iiliams and became the subject's partner, 
thus constituting the firm of Love & Cassel- 
man, the largest enterprise of the kind in the 
city and one of the most successful in the east- 
ern part of the state. 

Mr. Love is not only a skillful mechanic 
in every branch of the trade to wliich he de- 
voted so many of his active years, but is also 
an accom])lished, farseeing business man, of 
ripe experience, sound judgment and high 
commercial rating. By excellent management 
and correct methods he has greatly enlarged 
the scope of the business of which he is now 
the head, and, as already indicated, he leads 
the trade in his various lines in this part of the 
country with a large and constantlv increasing 
patronage. His in^uence in commercial and 
industrial circles has won him a place in the 
front ranks of the city's enterprising and pro- 



gressive men, a position which his fellow citi- 
zens have not been slow to realize and appre- 
ciate. 

In the year 1888 Air. Love was united in 
marriage with Miss Jennie McMichael, of Alli- 
ance, the union being without issue. In the 
public aitairs of Alliance Mr. Love has long 
been an active factor and as a member of the 
city council for twelve years he was instru- 
mental in l)ringing about much important nm- 
nicipal legislation. While in that body he 
stood for improvement, but as a custodian of 
the people's interest he was careful to con- 
servatism in the matter of public expenditure. 
He served his ward faithfully and well, at- 
tended to his every duty as a punctilious and 
judicious puljlic servant. In politics he is pro- 
nounced in his support of the Republican par- 
t\-, l)ut he has ever labored for the interests 
of his friends rather than pave his. own way to 
ofiicial .station. ha\ing no ambition in that di- 
rection. Mr. Love is a zealous Mason and has 
risen high in that ancient and honorable order, 
the principles and precepts of which have had 
no little influence on his daily life and busi- 
ness career. He belongs to Alliance Lodge 
No. 271, Alliance Chapter No. 83. Royal Arch 
Masons, the council which meets in this city, 
and to Salem Commandery No. 42, Knights 
Templar, at Salem. He is also identified with 
Alliance Lodge No. 266, Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows, and for some vears past has 
been an active worker in the Pythian brother- 
hood, holding membership with Lone Rock 
Lodge No. 23. Religiously he is a Presby- 
terian and with his \\'ife belongs to the First 
church of that denomination in Alliance, be- 
ino- a member of its board of trustees. 



JNIAJ. E. E. SCRANTON is a native of 
Portage county, Ohio, and one of a family of 
ten children whose parents were Ralph and 
Elizabeth Scranton. fared Scranton. the sub- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



725 



ject's grandfather, a native of Connecticut, 
was one of the original settlers of tlie Western 
Reserve and his name is intimately associated 
with the pioneer history of Portage county, 
having moved to that part of the state soon 
after the county was opened for settlement and 
it is a matter of record that he helped clear 
the site on which the town of Atwater now 
stands. He was a soldier in the w-ar of 1812, 
later participated in the struggle with the In- 
dians and he assisted in capturing the savage 
that shot "Diver" of Deerfield, a circumstance 
familiar in the local annals of Portage coun- 
ty. His father and uncle served in the war of 
the Revolution and from that remote period to 
the present time the family has been noted for 
patriotism and military valor. 

Ralph Scranton, son of the abo\-e Jared, 
was born in Portage county in the year 181 2 
and in early life learned cabinetmaking, which 
t!"a(ie he carried on at Deerfield for a period of 
ten years. In 1845 he came to Stark county 
and, locating on a farm in Lexington town- 
ship. de\-oted the remainder of his days to the 
peaceful pursuit of agriculture, departing this 
life in the spring of 1868. Ralph Scranton 
was a man of mark in his community and early 
became interested in political matters, first as 
a Whig, later as a Free-soiler and finally as a 
zealous and unwavering" supporter of the Re- 
publican party. He was a great admirer of 
Abraham Lincoln and while the campaign 
of 1S60 was in progress he made a trip to the 
west, one of the most pleasant experiences of 
which was his visit to the "Rail-S])litter" at 
the latter's home in Spring-field, Illinois. A 
strong anti-slavery man, he hated human bond- 
age with all the intensity of his nature and by 
his outspoken sentiments in favor of the aboli- 
tion of the system he incurred not a little en- 
mity on the part of his Democratic neighbors 
and some distrust from the more conservative 
of his political friends. He was a man of 
profound religious convictions and for manv 



years belonged to the Wesleyan church, which 
in the early days was the dominant Protestant 
body in northeastern Ohio. Ralph Scranton 
married, in his native county, Elizabeth Pick- 
ering, whose father, Joseph Pickering, came 
from England in 1830 and spent six weeks on 
the ocean before seeing the shores of the new 
world. He came west via the Erie Canal and 
the lakes to northern Ohio, thence by wagon 
to Deerfield, Portage county, near which place 
he settled and improA'ed a farm. On his jour- 
ney to his new home in the ^^'estern Reserve 
Mr. Pickering rode the entire length of one 
of the first railroads liuilt in the L'''nited States 
(about thirty miles in New York) and he ever 
afterward referred to the fact as a pleasing 
reminiscence. As stated in a preceding para- 
graph, the family of Ralph and Elizabeth 
Scranton originally consisted of ten children, 
five of whom are living at the present time, 
namely: Lavina (Leonard). JNIaj. E. E., Har- 
rison, Albert and Aldean. 

JNIaj. E. E. Scranton was born in the town 
of Deerfield. Portage county, March 2, 1840, 
and he grew to the full stature of manhood un- 
der the parental roof, the meanwhile acquiring 
a preliminary education in the public schools. 
The training thus received enabled him to re- 
ceive a teacher's license, after which he taught 
for some time in the district schools, and in 
this way earned sufficient money to pay his ex- 
penses while pursuing a course in Mt. Union 
College. While attending that institution the 
great Civil war broke out and no sooner had 
hostilities began than with true patriotic fervor 
he laid aside his books and, with other young 
men equally as loyal as himself, tendered his 
services to the government in its time of need. 
In October,. 1861, he enlisted in Company B, 
Sixty-fifth Ohio Infantry, and in due time he 
was with his command at the front sharing with 
his comrades all the terrible realities of war. 
After spending two and a half years in the 
ranks, he was made a non-commissioned of- 



726 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ficer, siibscquentl)- was promoted adjutant of 
the regiment and during the latter part of his 
service commanded his company, having been 
made ca])tain of the same for meritorious con- 
duct. The Sixty-fifth is classed by Fox, the 
historian, as one of the Fighting Regiments, 
being numbered with otliers that lost over ten 
per cent, of their men in battle, Maj. Scran- 
ton was with his command in all its varied ex- 
perience of campaign and conflict and his rec- 
ord shows him to have taken part in about 
twenty battles, among which were the follow- 
ing: Sliiloh, Stone River, Chickamauga, 
Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, Dal- 
las, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, At- 
lanta. Jonesboro, Spring Hill, Franklin and 
Nash^•ille. in one of which, Chickamauga, he 
recei\-ed a slight wound, bis escape from death 
upon man_\- occasions being little less than mi- 
raculous. 

At the close of the Wcir ]\lr. Scranton re- 
turned home and --hortly thereafter was united 
in marriage with ^Nliss Hannah Wood, daugh- 
ter of Robert \\'ood, the father being a prom- 
inent farmer and influential citizen of Lexing- 
ton and an uncle of Re\". Dr. Morgan \\'ood, 
who at this time is one of the leading divines 
in the city of C!e\Tland. The winter folU^wing 
the return of the ^lajor from the army be set 
up his first domestic establishment on a farm 
near Lexington and during the ensuing two 
years devoted his attention to agriculture, 
teaching one term of school in the interim. In 
i86S he came to Alliance and engaged in rail- 
roading, which branch of business claimed his 
attention during the thirty-two years follow- 
ing. While in this line of service be was em- 
ployed in various capacities, first in the freight 
and ticket oflices of the Pennsylvania road, 
and on severing bis connection with that com- 
pany he accepted the position of chief clerk to 
the general superintendent of the Alliance & 
Lake Erie, also became acting freight and pas- 
senger agent at the same time. Mr. Scranton 



discharged the duties of his dual position for 
a period of four years, at the expiration of 
which time the road was changed to the Lake 
Erie. Alliance & Southern and he was made 
general superintendent. Five years later that 
part of the road between Alliance and Phalanx 
went into the hands of a receiver and was sold, 
and the name changed to the Alliance & North- 
ern on the north end, the southern part remain- 
ing as before, the Lake Erie, Alliance & South- 
ern, Mr. Scranton being made general manager 
of both lines, which responsible position he held 
until the purchase of the roads by the M(jrris- 
Garfield syndicate in Septemuer, iQor, when 
be was sncceetled by Col. R. G. Butler. 

]\Iaj. Scranton spent fifteen active years as 
manager of the difl'erent lines referred -to 
abo\'e. and his achninistration from the begin- 
ning to the end was eminently satisfactor}- to 
everybody concerned. When he entered upon 
his duties conditions were decidedly ad\'erse. 
but in due time he succeeded in reducing mat- 
ters to a correct s\stem. setting off all out- 
standing indebtedness and making the road 
pay a di\-iden(l before severing bis connection 
with the ser\-ice. 

In. March, 190.2, Maj. Scranton assisted to 
organize the Standard Bolt & Manufacturing 
Company of .Mliance and was activel}- identi- 
fied with the enterprise as secretary and treas- 
urer until June, 1903, when he sold his stock 
and severed his connection. His previous ex- 
perience in business concerns of large magni- 
tude en.abled hini_ to engage in the new under- 
taking with every assurance of ])usbing it to 
successful completion and that this was done is 
abundantly attested by the present high rating 
of the company and the conspicuous place it 
occupies among the industrial enterprises of . 
the citv. !Maj. Scranton is a stockholder of the 
First National Bank of Alliance and a direc- 
tor of the same and for eight years past he has 
been treasurer of Alt. Union College. He is 
public s])irited in bis relations to ever_\- enter- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



727 



prise for tlie material pr^jsperity i)f Alliance 
and is equally acti\-e in promoting the intellec- 
tual and nmral ad\ancenient of the cit_\', also 
manifests an ahiding interest in its social life 
and as a friend of churches and henevolent or- 
ganizations and like institutions he has done 
as much perhai)s as any other man for the gen- 
eral welfare of the community. 

Ml'. Scranton is a memljer of John C. Fre- 
mont I 'list No. /JQ, ( irand Army of the Re- 
])uh]ic. Iielongs to the Military Order of the 
i..oyal Legion, composed of ofRcers who served 
in the great-Rehellion, and he is also identified 
with the Royal Arcanum. In religion he ad- 
heres to the Methodist faith and at the pres- 
ent time is a member of the otficial board of the 
church of that denomination in Alliance. Po- 
liticallv he is one of the Re])ul)lican leaders 
in Stark county and as such wields a strong in- 
fluence for his party both in its councils and as 
an aggressive worker and successful campaign- 
er, lie has served a number of terms in the 
city council and has repeatedly l)een chosen to 
a ])lace on the hoard of education, his services 
in both capacities being signally useful and 
greatly appreciated by the people. Financially 
the Major's business interests have been most 
fortunate and he is now one of the safe and re- 
liable men ol Alliance w Uh an ample tortune 
at his ct)mmand, consisting in part of valuable 
real estate in this city and elsewhere. He owns 
a half interest in the Fording & Scranton block, 
one of the finest nl<^dern office bniklings in the 
city, .and lii^; three older sons own the Scranton, 
a building of tiie same character and use as 
the former, both structures being ornaments 
to the town and reflecting great credit upon 
the proprietors. 

Major and Mrs. Scranton have six chil- 
dren, the oldest of whom, R. Mel\-ille, is a 
member of the firm of Scranton & Cole, real 
estate agents and proprietors of a large job 
printing establishment. Clarence O., the sec- 
ontl son, was for fifteen years in the emplox' 



of the Lake Erie, Alliance & Southern Rail- 
road and afterwards and until recently he was 
general freight and passenger agent of the 
Lake F.rie. Alliance & Western. Since leav- 
ing the railway service he is in business in 
Oklahoma. Laurin !>., the next in t)rder of 
birth, is in the railway mail service, running 
on the Pennsylvania line. Edison \i.. a grad- 
uate of Annapolis, is an ensign in the U. S. 
na\y on the gunboat "Ranger": Homer (i., 
the youngest memlier of the faunly, is attend- 
ing Mt. LTnion College, has an honorable rec- 
ord as a student and is one of the star ])layers 
in the ]\lt. I'niou basket ball team, the chani- 
])ion team of the state. Evalina is still with 
her parents. She is one of the most acconi- 
])lishcd musicians in Alliance and for some 
time ])ast has been the efiicient and ])o]>ular 
organist of the first Methodist h'piscopal 
church of this city. 



Lh:VJ \\. JOHNSON is a native .son of 
the old P)uckeye state, having been born in the 
\illage of -Atwater, Portage county, on the 
T Jth of September, 1856. He is a son of Will- 
i.am and Elizal)eth (Burden) Johnson, of 
will we three children he is the elder of the two 
siir\i\ing. his brother, lliram k'.. being liki'- 
w ise a resident of Alliance. William John- 
son was born in Connecticut, in the year 1820, 
ami was there reared and educated, while he 
learned the trade of shoemaking under the di- 
rection of his father. The family came to 
Ohio in an early day, and located in Portage 
county, A\'here William and his father worked 
together at their trade, the hitter's death oc- 
curring in that ])lace in 1863. while the son's 
death occurred on the following day, being but 
little more than thirty years of age at the time. 
M the time of his father's death the subject of 
this sketch was but si.x years of age, and he 
then w cut to the home of his maternal grand- 
father, f^axid llurden, a prominent resident of 



728 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Maboniilg" county, where he served for many 
years as justice of the peace, having an ex- 
cellent knowledge of the law and arguing 
many cases in the courts at the instance of his 
neighbors. He died Avhcn the subject was but 
fourteen years of age, and for the following- 
two years the latter resided in the home of his 
uncle, William Cline, in Malioning county, 
in the meanwhile attending the common 
scliools as opportunity presented. At the age 
of sixteen years he came to Alliance, whither 
his widowed mother had preceded him, and he 
became the chief support of the family, hav- 
ing secured employment in the steel-rolling 
mills. He was thus engaged during two sum- 
mers, continuing his studies in the Alliance 
schools during the intervening winters, and he 
then secured a clerkship in the grocery of 
Marchand & Warren, while later he was sim- 
ilarly employed in the establishments of Col. 
Oswald Colestock and James I. Rickard. 
While in the employ of the last mentioned he 
was elected to the office of trustee of Lexing- 
ton township, and at the expiration of his first 
term he was shown still further evidence of 
public confidence and esteem, being then 
elected county commissioner, in which capac- 
ity he rendered most capable service, being 
chosen as his own successor at the expiration 
of his first term and thus serving for six 3'ears 
consecutively. In politics he has ever given 
a stanch allegiance to the Republican party 
and has been active in its local ranks. He is a 
member of the Disciples' church, and frater- 
nally is identified with Lone Rock Lodge No. 
23. Knights of Pythias, and Alliance Lodge No. 
12. Knights of the Maccabees, while he is 
also a member of the L^niformed rank of the 
former. 

In No\-em])cr. 1901, Air. Johnson engaged 
in the shoe business in Alliance, and he has a 
finely stocked and erfuipped establishment at 
460 Main street, where he has built up a large 
and representative trade, his correct methods 



and personal popularity having conserved his 
success, while he is now one of the leading mer- 
chants in the line in the city. 

On the 23d of December, 1877, Mr. John- 
son was united in marriage to Miss Cynthia 
Knowles, of Alliance, and they became the par- 
ents of one child, Vella, wdio is now the wife 
of Frank DeWolf, who is a clerk in the sub- 
ject's store. Airs. Johnson was summoned into 
the life eternal in 1884, and on the ist of No- 
vember, 1888, the subject wedded Mrs. Cla- 
rinda Johnson, widow of Charles Johnson and 
a daughter of Alatthew Wood, of Alliance. 
Xo children ha\e been born of this union. 



AIARTIX WIKIDAL.— Ignatius Wikidal, 
father of ]\lartin,.was born in the city of Die- 
ditz, Aloravia, Austria, and there passed his en- 
tire life, as did also his wife, whose maiden 
name was Magdalene Polarsheck. He devoted 
his life to agricultural pursuits, being a man of 
sterling character and a worthy type of the 
sturdy A'eomanr}- \\\\o t\er conser\-e the pros- 
peritv of an\- community or nation. In the 
town above mentioned Mas born Alartin \\'iki- 
dal, the date of his nativity being October 8, 
1800, and as the loving mother bent over the 
modest cradle of her son she could little con- 
jecture that in a far land he would in his ma- 
ture years win honor and distinction and 
achieve a success of no indefinite quality. His 
father was killed by French soldiers in the 
memorable and historic battle of Austerlitz, in 
180Q. so that the subject never knew a father's 
care and guidance, as he was a chiM at the time 
this disaster came to the family. Martin re- 
ceived his education in his native land, learning 
both the German and French languages, which 
were in common use in that section. As a boy 
he went to the city of Vienna, where he learned 
the trade of mantua-making, to which he con- 
tinued to devote his attention until 1817, when, 
at the age of seventeen }'ears, he went to the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



729 



home of liis sister, in France, in order to escape 
military duty, which was enforced by govern- 
ment regulations. In making this trip he trav- 
eled eleven hundred miles on foot and finally 
arrived at his destination, the town of Lure, 
France, where he resided in the home of his 
sister Antoinette from 1819 until 1833. In the 
meanwhile he was employed in the mercantile 
establishment of his brother-in-law and re- 
ceived excellent business training. Through 
acquaintances and reading of the newspapers 
of the day he learned much concerning the ad- 
vantages offered in the United States, and be- 
came imbued with tlie desire to seek his for- 
tunes in the new world. Accordingly, on the 
23d of ]\Iarch, 1833. he set sail for America, 
being forty days en route and disembarking in 
the port of New 'S^ork city. He brought \^•ith 
him eight trunks filled with dry goods, which 
had been given to him by his brother-in-law, in 
order that he might have a definite basis upon 
which to start in lausiness in such place as he 
should decide to locate in the land of his 
adoption. He came forthwith to Canton, ar- 
riving in the village, which then had about 
eight hundred population, on the 15th of June, 
1833, his choice of location having been made 
by reason of the fact that a large number of 
French people had here established homes, and 
it will be noted at the present time that numer- 
ous towns and localities in Stark county bear 
French names, while there are to be found 
many representative citizens who are descended 
from the pioneer French stock in the county. 
He opened business in a modest building which 
stood on the site of the present Durbin & 
Wright drug store, on Market street, while his 
residence was on the site of the present Zollin- 
ger store. He later purchased and removed 
to a building in the center of the court-house 
block, where he continued operations until 
1848, when such success had attended his 
efforts that he was enabled to erect a three-story 
brick building on the same site, this being one 



of the largest and most pretentious structures 
in the business district for many years, while it 
is a pleasure to refer in this connection to the 
description of this building appearing in the 
section of this publication devoted to old land- 
marks of the county. In this structure Mr. 
\\'ikidal continued to be engaged in the mer- 
cantile business until the time of the Civil war, 
becoming one of the most prosperous business 
men and influential citizens of the county. 
After retiring from the mercantile enter- 
prise IMr. ^V'ikidal became interested in the 
banking lousiness, in which he was associated 
with the late Julius Whiting, Sr., of whom 
specific mention is matle elsewhere in this vol- 
ume, while another interested principal were 
Isaac Harter, Sr. In 1868 Mr. Wikidal re- 
tired from acti\'e business life, though he con- 
tinued to give his attention to the supervision 
of his various interests, and he thereafter li\-ed 
in dignified repose until his death, which oc- 
curred on the 17th of December, i'893, at which 
time he had attained the patriarchal age of 
ninety-three years, while he was revered as one 
of tlie noble pioneers of the county and as one 
who had ever proved worthy of all trust and 
confidence. He was distinctively a man of 
aff'airs. and his energies and abilities were never 
dissipated in the slightest degTee, though he 
had to do with manifold interests of important 
nature. He was a member of the directorate 
of the Canton City Bank, of which he was 
president for several years, and was a stock- 
holder in the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago 
Railroad and the Connotton Valley Railroad. 
In politics he was originally arrayed as a sup- 
porter of the \Vhig party, but transferred his 
allegiance to the Republican party at the time 
of its organization and thereafter remained a 
stanch advocate of its principles. He was 
reared in the faith of the Catholic church, while 
his wife was a member of the Lutheran church. 
Though never an aspirant for public office Wv. 
^^^ikidal ser\-ed efficientlv as a member of the 



73° 



OLD LANDMARKS 



city council, and his aid and influence could al- 
ways be counted ujion in connection with legit- 
imate enterprises and undertakings projected 
for the l)enetit of his home city, county and 
state. 

On the 23d of August. 1S34, was solem- 
nized the marriage of JNIr. Wikidal to Miss 
Fredericka Schaefer, who was bom in Baren- 
thal, France (now Germany), near the famed 
oM citv of Strassburg. in the province of Al- 
sace-Loraine. the date of her nativity being 
September 13, 1813. She was a daughter of 
Piiilip Schaefer, who emigrated from France 
to .\merica about 1829, becoming one of the 
))ioneers and representative citizens of Stark 
county, where he passed the remainder of his 
life. He was born March 24, 1779, and he 
• lied in Mapleton.this county, on the 2d of Oc- 
tober. 1855. His wife, whose maiden name 
was Elizabeth Lehr, was born Aug'ust 11, 1777, 
and died on the loth of January, 1842. Mrs. 
Wikidal was reared in the province of Alsace- 
Lorraine, on the border between France and 
Germany, and thus she was educated in the 
lan.gua.ges of both countries, as was her hus- 
band. She had three brothers: Jacob died in 
Minneapolis, Minnesota: Philip, Jr., died in 
South Bend, Indiana. July tt, 1870; and Louis 
died in Canton, on the 12th of November, 
T889, at the age of seventy-three years. The 
happy married life of Mr. and ]\Irs. Wikidal 
was prolon.ged over the period of nearly sixty 
years, and the .gracious ties which had so long 
bound them were severed liy her death, which 
occurred on the Titli of January, 1890, at the 
family home in Canton. Of their children we 
enter the following record: Louis, who died 
in Topeka, Kansas, on the 17th of !May, 1883; 
William, who was in the quartermaster's de- 
liartment of the One Hiuidred and Fourth Ohio 
^^olunteer Infantry during the Rebellion, died 
in the city of Bosttin, [Massachusetts, on the 
27th of February, 1887: Fdward died in Can- 
ton, on the 9th of December, 1897: Charles 



died in this city, on the i8th of March, 1875; 
Fmma is the widow of John R. Bucher, of 
Canton ; Clara A. is the wife of Roliert S. 
Shields, of Canton ; she has one daughter. 
Clara, who is the wife of C. Rudolph Shultz, 
of Murray Hill, New Jersey; Julia A. is the 
wife of Frederick K. Huxthal, and they now 
reside in Redlands, California. 



WILLL\M LINCOLN HART, senior 
member of the well-known law firm of Hart 
& Koehler, of the city of Alliance, has \\on 
distincti\-e prestige at the bar and is known as 
one of the able and representative members of 
his profession in Stark county. Mr. Hart 
claims Ohio as the state of his natixit)-, hav- 
ing been born in the Scottish \illage of In- 
verness, Columbiana county, on the 5th of 
February, 1867, being a son of Benjamin F. 
and Ariel S. (Dreghorn) Hart, and the eldest 
of their children, all of whom survive, name- 
ly: William L., .subject of this sketch; John 
D., who is engaged in the grocery business in 
Alliance; W'innie P., who is the wife of Frank 
Bricker, of Lisbon, Columbiana county: 
Charles G., who resides near Salineville, that 
county; Margaret M., who is a teacher in 
the ]ni])lic schools of Salinex'ille: and Sarali 
E., Harriet A,, Fred A. G., Bertha A. and 
Raymond F., all of whom remain beneath the 
parental roof. The father of the subject was 
likewise born near Inverness, Columbiana 
county, and is a son of John Swift Hart and 
Prudence Hart, who were honored pioneers 
of that county. John S. Hart, the grandfa- 
ther of \\'illiam L. Hart, was born in Geneva. 
New York, and became the father of .seventeen 
children. 

It should be noted in this connection that 
the patriotism of the family has been exem- 
]ilified in a significant way. Of the seventeen 
children mentioned, seven of the eight sons 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



731 



were \aliant soldiers in the war of the Re- 
belhon, tlie father of tliis sketch being a mem- 
ber of the Twenty-sixth Ohio Veteran A'okm- 
teer Battery. ]\Iost of the seven sons were in 
the tliree-years service, and all survived the 
war. Adverting further to the military his- 
tory of the family, we iind that the grandfa- 
ther, John S. Hart, was a veteran of the war 
of 1812, while his father, Silas Hart, was a 
patriot soldier in the Continental line during 
the war nf the Revolution, which fact indi- 
cates that the name has been long and honor- 
ably identified with the annals of American 
history. 

Of the seventeen children of John S. Hart, 
all l)ut two lived to attain years of maturity, 
and six of the number are living at the pres- 
ent time. The Hart family comes of old Puri.- 
tan stock, of English extraction, while the 
Dreghorn family is of Scotch origin, John 
L)regh(>rn, grandfather of our subject, hav- 
ing been born in Kilmarnock, Scotland. Ben- 
jamin 1^'. Hart was born in the year 1843, and 
was reared on the old homestead farm in Co- 
lumliiana county. The old brick house in 
which he was Ixirn is still standing and is in 
an excellent state of preservation, although 
erected as the first of its kind in that section 
in the }'ear 1836. After his marriage he lo- 
cated on a farm adjoining the homestead on 
wliich he was born and reared, and still resides 
in the same place, and is one of the highly es- 
teemed and influential citizens of his native 
county, with whose development and upbuild- 
ing the name has been linked from the early 
pioneer epoch, in politics he is a Republican, 
having cast his first vote for Abraham Lin- 
coln for President, and both he and his wife 
are zealous members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. 

^^'i!liam L. Hart. avIkisc name initiates this 
review, was reared on the homestead farm and 
secured his early educational training in the 



public schools, while later he was a stu- 
dent for four years in Mount Union 
College, in Alliance. At the age of eighteen 
years h.e began teaching school in his home dis- 
trict, and later he taught in the schools of Madi- 
son and Butler townships, Columbiana county, 
and in Paris township. Stark county, having 
been successfully engaged in pedagogic work 
for seven years, within which time he also pur- 
sued his collegiate course, defraying the ex- 
penses of the same through his efforts as a 
teacher. 

In 1893 '^^''- -H'"!''! became city editur nf the 
Alliance Daily Critic, now known as the Alli- 
ance Daily Leader, and during his ci:)iinectiiin 
with this paper he made an enviable record as 
a forceful and effective writer and a most un- 
tiring worker. Lideed his position was no sin- 
ecure, since he was not only the sole city editur 
and reporter for the paper, but also read his 
proof sheets, thus practically doing the work 
of two men, and man\' in the local field still 
frequently make mention of his indefatigable 
and well-directed labors in this line of work. 

In the autumn of 1895 Mr. Hart was 
matriculated in the law department of the Lni- 
\'ersity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he 
completed the prescribed course and was grad- 
uated as a member of the class of 1897, re- 
cei\ing the degree of Bachelor of Laws, while 
during his senior year he had the distinction 
of being president of his class, a fact which 
intlicates his i)ersonal popularity among his 
fellow students. On the loth day of June, i.if 
the same year, Mr. Hart appeared for exami- 
nation for admission to the bar of Ohio, and 
in the same stood thii'd in a class of ninety ap- 
licants. On the first of the following Octo- 
ber he opened a law office in Alliance, and 
on the fir.st of March, 1898, he entered into a 
professional partnersliip with Dennis E. Rog- 
ers, which ]iartnership continued until the death 
or ]\lr. Rogers, which occurred on the 



732 



OLD LANDMARKS 



15th of January, 1903. Upon the death 
of Mr. Rogers Mr. Hart became asso- 
ciated in the practice of law with Hugo 
C. Koeliler, under tlie firm name of Hart 
& Koehler. wliich firm has since contin- 
ued the practice at AlHance, retaining a repre- 
sentative clientage and having to do with much 
important litigation in the courts of the county 
and state. Mr. Hart is known as an able ad- 
vocate and counsellor, and such is his appre- 
ciative recognition of the ethical code of his 
profession that he has the good will and esteem 
of his compeers at the bar. 

Politically, Mr. Hart is a staunch advocate 
of the principles of the Republican party, and 
while he lias never been an aspirant for of- 
ficial preferment, by appointment of Mayor 
Walker, he is serving as a member of the board 
of sinking fund commissioners for Alliance. 
He has always taken an active part in party 
councils and is now a member of the Stark 
county Republican executive committee. He 
and his wife are members of the First Meth- 
odist Episcopal church of Alliance, and he is 
also serving on its board of trustees. He is 
identified with the Alpha Tau Omega Greek- 
letter college fraternity, Lone Rock Lodge No. 
23, Knights of Pythias, and the Independent 
Order of Foresters, while he is also a member 
of the Alliance social club known as the Duode- 
cemvirate. 

On the 15th of September, 1897, Mr. Hart 
was united in marriage to Miss Ida B. Caskey, 
of Alliance, a daughter of Bertha and Nathan 
Caskey. She is a young woman of gracious 
presence and high accomplishments, having 
been a student in Mount Union College at the 
same time as was her husband, and there com- 
pleting a course in literature, while she was also 
graduated from the stenographical department 
of the college. Mr. and Mrs. Hart have one 
child. Julian Bruce, who was liorn on the 28th 
of December, 1800. 



WILLL\^I CHARLES MANCHES- 
TER, M. D., is a native of the state of West 
Virginia, having been born in Clifton, Mason 
county, on the 30th of April, 1872, and being 
the eldest son of Rev. Charles E. Manchester, 
D. D., now presiding elder of the Steubenville 
district of the Ohio conference of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. Rev. Dr. Manchester 
was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, in 
1 8.4.4. aiicl aliout nine years later accompanied 
his parents on their removal to Ohio, the fam- 
ily locating in Lorain county, where his early 
youth was passed, and where his preliminar\- 
educational discipline was received. When 
the dark cloud of civil war obscured the na- 
tional horizon he enlisted in the Twenty-third 
Regime4it of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, the 
famous organization which enrolled among- 
its members e.x-Presidents Hayes and INIcKin- 
ley. Stanley Matthews and J. M. Camley. 
After a service of more than three years as a 
valiant soldier of the republic, he returned to 
Ohio and entered the Ohio Wesleyan Univer- 
sity, at Delaware, where he took a special 
course preparatory to entering the ministry. 
Thereafter he traveled for twelve years in the 
state of West Virginia, and it was within this 
period that the subject of this sketch was born. 
Rev. Dr. Manchester is a lineal descendant of 
Commodore Oliver H. Perry, the hero of the 
Ijattle of Lake Erie, and is of Revolutionary 
stock on both the paternal and maternal sides. 
He is of the sixth generation in descent from 
Benjamin Mills, who was sergeant of a company 
from New Hartford, Connecticut, in the bat- 
tle of Lexington, and later first lieutenant of a 
company of the New Hartford Fifth Conti- 
nental Regiment, which was commanded by 
Colonel Burg and was in the brigade com- 
manded b\- (leneral Wadsworth. He is a great- 
great-grandson of John Manchester, who was 
in the artillery .service on the Rhode Island 
coast during the Revolution, and is also a 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



733 



great-great-grandson of Abner Case, who was 
a member of Captain Brown's companj', which 
participated in the laattles about New York in 
the early period of the war for independence. 
In the maternal line the family record is as 
closely allied to Revolutionary history, but the 
exact data in the connection is not accessible at 
the time of this writing. His forbears on both 
sides came from England about the year 1700. 
Dr. ^Manchester returned to Ohio in 1880 and 
later became pastor of the First Methodist 
Episcopal church at Canton, of which the late 
lamented President McKinley and his loved 
and dex'oted mother and wife were members, 
and it was his sad privilege to deliver the ad- 
dress at tlie funeral of both the President and 
his mother, while he and his wife had been 
members of the President's party at the inaug- 
uration on the 4th of March, 1896. He left 
Canton in 1901 and went to the Steubenville 
district, of which he was made presiding elder, 
and he and his wife now reside in the city of 
Steubenville, \\hile he continues incumbent of 
the dignified oflice mentioned. For many years 
Dr. ^Manchester was very prominent in the 
Grand Army of the Republic, and is at pres- 
ent department chaplain. He has given many 
addresses on topics touching the great Civil 
war. He is a man of marked erudition and 
forceful individuality and is a power in the 
church in which he has so long and effectively 
labored, consecrating his life to service in the 
vineyard of the diNine Master. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Emma Case, is a 
daughter of Deacon John S. Case, of Welling- 
ton, Ohio, and her mother, whose maiden name 
was Diantha Blair, was a resident of Roots- 
town, Portage county, at the time of her mar- 
riage, and was an aunt of the late ex-Governor 
Lucius Fairchild. of Wisconsin, who was at one 
time commander of the NTational Grand Army 
of the Republic. Her brother, Frank S. Case, 
was captain of a company in the Second Ohio 
Cavaln-, during the Civil war and later became 



treasurer of Logan county, Ohio. Rev. Dr. 
and ]\Irs. Manchester became the parents of 
several children, of wdiom only two are now 
living, ^\'illiam C, the immediate subject of 
this sketch, and Frank S., who is a successful 
dentist in Canton, Ohio. 

Dr. William C. Manchester, whose name 
initiates this sketch, received his early edu- 
cational training principally in the public 
schools of Wheeling and Parkersl.mrg, West 
Virginia, and Cleveland, Ohio, while he com- 
pleted his high-school course in Barnesville, 
Belmont county, this state. He then entered 
the preparatory department of his father's 
alma mater, the Ohio \\''esleyan L'niversity, at 
Delaware, and in 1890 he was matriculated in 
Adelbert College, at Cleveland, Ohio, where he 
completed the course in modern languages and 
other concomitant studies. He then entered 
the medical department of the Western Re- 
serve l'ni\-ersit)-, at Cleveland, where he was 
graduated as a member of the class of 1898, re- 
ceiving his degree of Doctor, of Medicine. He 
thereafter passed two years as interne in the 
United States marine hospital in the citj- of 
Cleveland, gaining most valuable clinical ex- 
perience, and for more than a j^ear he was 
first assistant pii}sician in the state hospital at 
^iassillon. Stark county. He is an enthusiast 
in his profession and has been successfully es- 
tal)lished in practice in Alliance since August, 
1901, gaining prestige through his thorough 
knowledge of the sciences of medicine and 
surgery, his skill in diagnosis and his ready 
power of ajiplying his technical knowledge, as 
well as thmugh hi'^ genial presence and unfail- 
ing courtesy to all. While not a specialist, Dr. 
Manchester is fond of microscopical work and 
research, and brings the microscope into much 
requisition in connection with diagnosis. He 
is also greatly interested in the treatment of 
nervous diseases, to which he has given close 
and discriminating study, and he ranks well 
in his profession. The Doctor is a member 



734 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of the Stark Culiiity Acadeni}' of Medicine and 
the Canton Medical Society, and is examining 
physician for a nuniher nf the leading life-in- 
surance coni]janies. as well as court physician 
for -Alliance Court, Independent Order of For- 
esters, cif whicli he is a memlier, and medical 
examiner for Vivian Council No. 349, Royal 
Arcann.ni, with which he is likewise affiliated. 
He also holds memhership in the Alpha Tau 
Omega college fraternity ; Desmond Lodge No. 
719, Knights of Pythias; and the Duodecem- 
virate, a local social club. He is one of the' 
popular young men and rising physicians of 
the city, where he commands unequivocal con- 
fidence and esteem. In politics he gives a 
stanch allegiance to the Republican party, tak- 
ing an active interest in its cause. The Doc- 
tor and his wife are both zealous members of 
the hirst Methodist Episcopal church. 

On the 15th of August, 1901, Dr. Alan- 
chester \\as united in marriage to Miss Ida 
Austin, daughter of Samuel Austin, a promi- 
nent contractor and builder of Cleveland. She 
is a graduate of the woman's college of the 
Western Reser\-e Uni\ersity. and is a young 
wom.an of gracious refinement and many ac- 
complishments. To this union one child, Win- 
nifred, has been born. Dr. and Mrs. Manches- 
ter have a pleasant liome at 328 Market street; 
the house having formerly been the residence 
of Dr. M. J. Lichty, now of Cleveland. 



JOHN L. McCONNELL.— The family 
of which John L. McConnell is a worthy rep- 
resentative had its origin in Ireland, his grand- 
father, James McConnell, having been for 
many years a successful farmer and prominent 
citizen of county Donegal. John McConnell. 
son of the above James and father of the sub- 
ject, was born in tliat county in 1827. He re- 
mained on the paternal estate until a young 
man of twenty, when he came to the United 
States, reaching this country some time during 



the year 1S47 '^'^^^ locating at ^^'ashington, 
Pennsyhania, where he apprenticed himself to 
lern-n the miller's trade. Becoming efficient in 
his chosen \-ocation, he worked for some years 
as a journeyman miller and about 1856 re- 
moved to Rock Island, Illinois, where, one 
year later, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Mary J. Culbertson, a native of Ohio. In 
1 861 he abandoned his trade and purchasing a 
farm near the city of Rock Island settled down 
to the quiet life of an agriculturist, which pur- 
suit he followed until 1864, when he disposed 
of his landed interests in Illinois and moved to 
Belmont county, Ohio. After a residence of 
about three years in that part of the state, dur- 
ing which time he tilled the soil for a liveli- 
hood, Air. McConnell changed his abode 
to Alliance and for some years there- 
after devoted his attention to merchandis- 
ing, becoming in due time one of the 
leading grocers and enterprising business 
men of the city. With the exception of 
one }'ear spent in the emi)lo}' of the Pennsyl- 
\'ania Railroad Company, he followed this line 
of trade until his death, in 1889, his sons, 
John 1.. and Joseph H., assisting him towards 
the latter part of his career, the conditif)n of 
his health for some time precluding active par- 
ticipation in business affairs. Air. McConnell 
was a man of strong mentality and sound com- 
mon sense, intensely practical in business and 
in the main successful in all his undertakings. 
Intelligent beyond the average and widelv in- 
formed, he exercised consideraljle influence 
among those with whom he associated and 
while never an office seeker or as|)irant for 
leadership., he took an active interest in politics 
and public matters and for a number of years 
re]:)resented his ward in the common council 
of Alliance, besides serving at different times 
on the city school board. In early life he was 
ah ardent old-time Whig, but later became a 
zealous supporter of the Republican party and 
as such continued to the end of his davs. He 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



735 



was also deeplv religious ami, sul.iscrihing to 
the Methodist faith, proved a valuable meiu- 
l)er of the church at the different places where 
lie lived, ha\-ing been especially zealous in the 
congregation at Alliance, which hundred him 
with various responsible public positions. I'ra- 
ternally he was an Odd Fellow and his memor}- 
is cherished by the lodge in Alliance as that of 
a man who at all time;; and under all circum- 
stances lived according to the beautiful and 
sublime precepts of the order. 

Mr. McConnell's first wife, to whom ref- 
erence is made in a preceding- paragraph, was 
burn in (luernsey county, Ohio, in the year 
1837, 'I'^'l departed this life at .\lliance in 
iSXi, having borne her husband two children, 
the subject of thi-s sketch and Joseph 1 !.. whose 
biography ajjjiears elsewhere in these pages. 
Some time after the death of the mother of 
these sons, the father cnntracteil a niatrinn mial 
alliance with Mrs. Lizzie Templiii (nee Ow- 
ington), of Mahoning county, Ohio, this mar- 
riage being without issue. 

The birth of John L. McConnell, whose 
career is brielly outlined in the following para- 
graphs, occurred on the 18th of July, i860, 
in Belmont county. Ohio, and he spent the 
years of his childhood and youth under the 
parental roof, receiving the meanwhile a good 
education, principally in the public schools of 
Alliance. When a mere lad he became ac- 
(|uainted with the practical affairs of life in 
his father's store and while there developed 
universal business capacity and tact as an effi- 
cient and obliging salesman. l"nder his fa- 
ther's direction he gained much \aluable 
knowledge and made such rapid ad\anceinent 
that within a few years he was able to assume 
a great part of the responsibility of the business, 
the success of which in later years fell \erv 
largely upon his shoulders. 

In 1879 Mr. McConnell severed his connec- 
tion with the store to accept a clerical position 
with the Pennsylvania Railroad, and he contin- 



ued with this comjianv during the ensuing 
eight years, meantime. b_\- the efficient dis- 
charge of his duties and general meritori(.nis 
service, rising to higher and more responsible 
stations than the (_>ne with which lie sl;irted. 
In 1881 Mr. J\[cConncll. on ;iccount of his 
father's ill health, resigned his position and 
with his l)rotlier took charge of the grocery, 
the twi) Conducting the business in the father's 
interest until the hitler's death in 1889. They 
then succeedetl to the business ami ran the 
same jointly until i8()(), when they disposed 
of the stock, the subject the same'year becom- 
ing a memljcr of the .Alliance Wholesale (jro- 
cery Company, of which he was made presi- 
dent and with which he continued identified 
until disposing of his interest in the concern, 
in Jul}', 1902. Since that year he has been 
dealing in real estate and he now commands 
a large and far-reaching business, operating 
extensiveh' in Alliance and Stark county, be- 
sides handling a great deal of property in 
many other counties of Ohio to say nothing of 
his lucrati\'c ])atronage in other states of the 
L'nion. 

.As a business man Mr, McConnell is care- 
ful ami discreet, possessing much more than 
ordinary ability and judgment and the several 
enterprises in which he has been engaged ha\e 
redounded greatly to his financial advantage. 
so that lie is now in independent circum- 
stances, with a coml'nrtable fortune Laid up 
against the po.ssible day of adversity or for the 
declining years in which man is supposed to 
cease from his strenuous eft'orts and enjoy the 
fruits of his labors. Politically Mr. McConnell 
has long been an important factor in the Re- 
])ul)!ican ])art\' and for a number of years his 
inlluence in local affairs has been duly appre- 
ciated by his fellow citizens of Alliance who 
recognize in him tho.se elements which enter 
largely into the make-u]) of the successful lead- 
er of men. lie has been especiallv acti\e in 
municipal matters and in 1900 was elected to 



736 



OLD LANDMARKS 



represent the second ward in tlie city council, 
was re-elected in 1902 and upon the organiza- 
tion of the bod_y that year was made its pres- 
ident, which position he still holds. In the 
language of another, "He presides over the 
deliberations of the council with dignity, and 
his rulings being manifestly fair, he has the 
respect and confidence of the members, each 
of whom, regardless of politics, looks upon 
him as a friend." As president, ]\Ir. McCon- 
nell takes an acti\'e interest in all improve- 
ments looking to the welfare of the people. 
He is conservative, but liberal in the expendi- 
ture of public funds, his one consideration be- 
ing that the people shall recei\-e full return for 
all money expended. 

Like many other intelligent, broad minded, 
enterprising men, Mr. IMcConnell is an ardent 
member of that oldest and noblest of fraternal 
societies, the Ma.sonic brotherhood, believing 
thoroughly in its principles, respecting its 
splendid history and time-honored traditions 
and exemplifying in his relations with his 
fellow men its beautiful and sublime precepts. 
He belongs to Conrad Lodge No. 271. Free 
and Accepted Masons, at Alliance, Alliance 
Chapter No. 84, Royal Arch ^Masons, Omega 
Council No. 104, at Salem. Salem Command- 
ery No. 42, Knights Templar, Lake Erie Con- 
sistory, at Cle\-elan(l. and Al Koran Temple, 
Mystic Shrine, which holds its sessions in the 
city last named. He stands prominent in 
these \-arious branches of the order, manifests 
an abiding interest in their deliberations and 
at dill'erent times he has been honored with 
im])ortant oihcial positions, the duties of which 
he dischargeil in a manner befitting their dig- 
nity and his high standing as a Mason with 
the greatest good of the brotherhood at heart. 
He is also an Odd Fellow of high degree, hold- 
ing membership with Lodge No. 266 at Alli- 
ance, besides being one of the leading spirits 
to the Alliance Encampment No. 144. Li mat- 
tei-s religious he has deep and profound convic- 



tions and he still subscribes to the doctrines of 
the Methodist church, in which he was born 
and reared and to which his loyalty has al- 
ways been much more than a sentiment or 
mere intellectual assent to a stated form of 
belief. Mr. McConnell's domestic life began 
in 1898, when he was united in the bonds of 
wedlock with Miss Luella Fillmore, of Ra- 
^■enna, Ohio, a lady of many virtues and excel- 
lent traits of character and a member of one 
of the highly esteemed families of the city in 
wiiich she formerh'lived. 



DAA'ID L. TSCHANTZ.— As proprietor 
of a flourishing and important business, con- 
ducted imder the title of the Canton Buggy 
Company, the subject of this review is num- 
bered among the representative business men of 
Stark county and his honorable and successful 
career well entitles him to definite recognition 
in this compilation. Mr. Tschantz established 
his present enterprise on the 4th of February, 
1898. beginning his operations in an old frame 
building which stood on the site of his present 
commodious and well equipped c|uarters, at 
1522-28 East Tuscarawas street, where he has 
a substantial building eighty feet .square, three 
stories in height in addition to the basement. 
Here he conducts an extensive business in the 
nianufacturing of carriages and buggies, keep- 
ing in stock an average of two hundred and 
fifty finished vehicles, while the extent of the 
output of the factory may be understood when 
we state that at the time the data for this sketcl: 
was secured there were five hundred and fift}' 
vehicles in course of construction in the estab- 
lishment, employment being given to twenty- 
two skilled workmen, while the products are 
recognized for their superior excellence. 

Mr. Tschantz, as the name implies, comes 
of stanch German lineage, and he is a native 
son of the Buckeye state, having been bom on 
a farm in Sugar Creek township, Wayne coun- 




^nef. Oi^£'.^. Pt-'u'oafns cS^yr^ JV^ 






;Qr , K^(^i4S-^/i>^'0^t-^" 




CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



737 



ty, Ohio, on the 3d of March, 1867, and when 
he was about three years of age his parents took 
up their aljode on a farm in the immediate vi- 
cinity of Orrville, that county. The subject 
was reared under the sturdy discipline of the 
farm and received liis early educational train- 
ing in the public schools. The original an- 
cestor of the family in the United States was 
born and reared in Switzerland, and was the 
grandfather of him whose name initiates this 
sketch. He came from his native land to the 
United States in the year 181 1, and soon after- 
ward took up his residence in Wayne comity. 
Ohiio, where he took up a large tract of gov- 
ernment land and became one of the influential 
citizens of his section. He was a skilled me- 
chanic and manufactured the first wagons ever 
constructed in \^''ayne county, while in addition 
to conducting this enterprise in connection with 
his farming, he also manufactured pumps, hav- 
ing invented a device in this line that was long 
in common use in that section of the state, where 
he passed the remainder of his life, attaining a 
venerable age. Peter .Tschantz, father of the 
subject, succeeded to the manufacturing busi- 
ness, which he expanded in scope, engaging in 
the manufacture of buggies and surreys, which 
were the finest to be had in that locality in his 
day. He was reared on the homestead farm 
and learned his trade under the etYective direc- 
tion of his father, and it is interesting to note 
that thi'ee generations of the family have now 
attained high reputation in connection with this 
line of enterprise in the state of Ohio. Upon 
attaining maturity Peter Tschantz was united 
in maiTiage to Miss Annie Hostetter, who was 
likewise bom and reared in Wayne county, be- 
ing a daughter of Nicholas Hostetter, who as- 
sisted in the construction of the canal through 
to Massillon, Stark county, this having been the 
principal means of transportation in the early 
days and being considered an improvement of 
great importance, as, indeed, it was, since the 
highways were few and almost impenetrable 

46 



and railroads were unknown. The parents of 
the subject still reside in Wayne county, anct 
there the father is still actively engaged in 
business. " He is a Democrat in politics ancE 
both he and iiis wife are members of the Men- 
nonite church, \\d'iile they retain the unquali- 
fied confidence and regard of all who know 
them, being folk of sterling worth of character. 
They became the parents of three children, of 
wdiom all are living at the present time. 

While a mere boy David L. Tschantz, the 
immediate 'subject of this sketch, began an ap- 
prenticeship at the trade of wagon and car- 
riage-making in his father's establishment, hav- 
i!ig worked in the shop and fired the engine in 
the same when but six years of age, while he 
began to work at the anvil when so young that 
he was compelled to stand on a box in order to 
deliver the requisite blows. He attended school" 
during the winter months and continued tc 
work in the shop during the summers until he 
had attained the age of eleven years, when he 
began working in the painting department o£ 
the establishment, where he was employed until 
he had reached the age of fifteen years, while it 
may be stated that he gained special facility as 
a painter, since in the summer of his fifteenth 
year he painted one hundred vehicles, and there- 
after he worked in the various departments of 
the business and continued to remain at the 
parental home until he was twenty-two years 
of age, when he initiated his essentially inde- 
pendent career, being employed on a farm for 
a period of nine months and then passing the 
ensuing winter in his father's shops. In the 
spring- lie joined his uncle, who was likewise a 
ff'rmer and wagon-maker, residing near Lattas- 
burg, Wayne county, and there he w'as em- 
ployed on the farm and in the shop for a period 
of three years, after which he returned to his 
home and purchased a small farm adjoining- 
the old homestead, and this tract of twenty 
acres he placed under effective cultivation and 
also assisted in the work of his father's shopy 



738 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tor the ensuing two years. Mr. Tschantz next 
removed to Allen county, Ohio, where he joined 
another uncle, and in that locality he made his 
initial venture iii an independent husiness, 
opening a small shop, to which he gave his at- 
tention for some time, while for a portion of 
each of three years he was a traveling sales- 
man for the Ney Manufacturing Company, of 
Cancon, manufacturers of hay tools. About 
this time he in\ented and patented a new and 
improved sling carrier, from the sale of which 
device he realized a sufficient sum to enable him 
to secure a start in the manufacturing line. He 
■entered into an agreement, however, to make a 
business trip for Harvey M. Miller, of Canton, 
for whom he sold two car loads of buggies 
Avithin a trip of eighteen days' duration. 

At Bluffton, Allen county, Ohio, on the 
30th of August, 1896, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Tschantz to Miss Maggie Ams- 
tu.tz, daughter of John S. Amstutz, of that 
place, and they thereafter made a trip of eleven 
thousand miles through the western states, 
Avhile he combined both business and pleasure 
during his itinerary. Upon his return from 
this interesting journey Mr. Tschantz located 
in Canton and established himself in business 
as a manufacturer, as has been noted in a form- 
er paragraph of this article. His thorough 
knowledge of all details of the business in 
which he is engaged, his energy, progressive 
methods and honorable dealings, as coupled 
with the manifest superiority of his products, 
have enabled him to build up a large and pros- 
perous business and to gain a high place in pop- 
ular esteem. He has been in a significant sense 
the architect of iiis own fortune, and on this 
score his success and prestige are the more 
gratifying to contemplate. In politics he main- 
tains an independent attitude, supporting the 
men and measures which meet the approval of 
his judgment, while both he and his wife are 
members of the Mennonite church, in whose 
faith thev were reared. Thev have no children. 



KIXC I'W^klJL^'. — Jonathan King was 
born in .\rmstrong county, Penns_\l\ania, Jan- 
uary 5, 1804. His father, George 'King, was 
a native of the same state, and married Sarah 
Svlvis. bv whom he had a family of seven 
children, viz : Jonathan, the subject of this 
sketch; Christina (Frankfort), deceased; Eliz- 
abeth, deceased; Alary (McCulloch), de- 
ceased; Henry, deceased; Anna (\\'ahl) and 
Phebe (Ramsdell ). both of whom are residents 
of Indiana. At the age of fifteen Jonathan 
King was apprenticed to a potter. He served 
a full apprenticeship, but was dismissed with- 
out receiving the customary "apprentice" suit 
of clothes. During- the following winter he 
went with his uncle, John \\'ile. on a raft of 
saw logs to Pittsburg to trade for flour for 
his mother. Failing to get flour sufficient in 
exchange for the saw logs to last till harvest, 
and having no money, he rettu^ned home. lUit 
not discouraged he started with several others 
with a four-horse team for the west, stopping 
in Springfield township, Mahoning county 
(then Columbiana county), Ohio, where he en- 
gaged to work during the summer for wheat, 
which was paid in advance, and sent back to 
his mother with the persons with whom he 
came. In the fall of the same year he returned 
to Pennsylvania and remo\ed his mother, 
brothers and sisters to Springfield townshi]>. 
In 1832 he was married to Lydia Keck, and ir 
April, 1826, removed to Berlin township. Ma- 
honing countv (then Trumbull). Ohio, where 
he had purchased a farm the fall previous. He 
settled upon his farm and devoted himself witi 
diligence to the work of Iniilding up a home 
His busy days and years of toil bore fruit, anc 
hv strict integrity and economy Mr. King ac 
quired considerable property, though starting 
in life with nothing but nature's endowments 
Before the days of railroads he was a notee 
teamster and made frequent trips from Pitts 
burg to Cleveland and from Cleveland to th( 
mouth of the Huron river, usually driving si.- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



739 



horses. At one time he made a trip from Pitts- 
Ijurg to Erie, l-'enns}-lvania, for which he re- 
ceived seventy-live dollars. But such was the 
condition of the roads at that time that the en- 
tire amount except two ilollars and sixty cents 
was reciiiired to pay necessary expenses of the 
journey. The life of a teamster in those days 
was one of hardships, and none but the most 
vigorous could long- endure it. in 1842 
^Ir. King \\as elected a captain of the niil- 
tia, and lield tlie office until the company dis- 
bandeil. 

Jonathan King was the father of ten chil- 
dren, four of whom died in infancy and youth. 
The remaining six are as follows : David, who 
married Miss Mary Smith and resides in Ber- 
lin : Catherine, married (ieorge Kail, mo\'ed to 
^Michigan, where she died ; Joseph married 
^liss Lucinda Greenmayer, and resides in Ber- 
lin on the farm upon which his father first set- 
tled ; Susannah married J. B. Shively, an.d re- 
sides in Berlin; Sar^h married R. B. Engle; 
ifannah married the late J. B. Hughes (who 
serxed two terms as auditor of Mahoning 
county), and resides in "^'oimgstown. Mrs. 
King was born i\ugust 13, 1806, in Lehigh 
county, Pennsylvania, and moved with her 
parents to Springfield township, Mahoning 
county, Ohio, in 1808. She died February 22, 
1875. Mr, King departing this life in i8q6 at 
the age of ninety-two. 

In religion, Mr. King was a firm adherent 
to the Protestant faith and of deep conviction, 
zealous in good works and liberal in his contri- 
butions to the cause of Christ, he and his wife 
being lifelong members of the Evangelical Lu- 
theran church. Politically he stood with the 
Democratic party until the atolitionists put a 
ticket in the field, when he changed his allegi- 
ance to that party, voting for John P. Hall for 
President. After the organization of the Re- 
publican party, he voted with it until 18S1, 
when his strong temperance principles com- 



pelled him to cast his ballot for the Prohibi- 
tion candidates. ]\Ir. King was one of the 
most .social and agreeable of men. His cheer- 
ful disposition and his sterling worth made 
him a favorite among the old and young and 
his death was deepl}' lamented by a large cir- 
cle of friends. 

The King family possesses considerable na- 
tive ingenuity and skill in the use of tools. 
Jonathan King was ciuite proficient in black- 
smithing, carpentry, etc. The manufacturers 
of threshing machines are indebted to David 
King for many timely suggestions and im- 
provements in grain separators and clover 
hullers. Joseph King has also been the pro- 
prietor of a, threshing machine for a number 
of years, operating one at the present time, 
with steam as the motive power. David and 
his son, Mervin \V., are the proprietors of a 
steam saw-mill, which is doing an extensive 
business. David also owned a half interest in 
a planing-mill in the eastern part of the town- 
ship, known as the Kimmel & King mill, which 
also had a large and lucratix'e patronage. Hon- 
esty and sobriety characterize the entire family, 
and. all of them have been noted for industry 
and energy displayed in their respective voca- 
tions. 

David King, oldest son of Jonathan King, 
was born at Springfield, Mahoning county, 
Ohio, in the year 1825. He remained at home 
until reaching the years of young manhood and 
in his youth learned blacksmithing under his 
father, who was a skilled mechanic. On at- 
taining his majority he turned his attention to 
agricultiu'e, whicli, in connection with his 
trade, he followed until retiring from active 
life at a comparatively recent date. In early 
life he purchased a threshing outfit which he 
operated C[uite successfully, and he followed 
this line of work altogether about fifty-seven 
years, being the oldest thresher in the state 
when he discontinued the busines^s, some years 



740 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ago. By strict attention to his several voca- 
tions and successful management, Mr. King 
acquired considerable property, both real and 
personal, and after accumulating a competence 
for his declining years, he removed to Damas- 
cus, where he is now living in honorable re- 
tirement, greatly belo\-ed by his relatives and 
friends and highly esteemed by all who know 
him. The maiden name of Mrs. David King- 
was Mary Smith ; she was born in Ohio and 
was the mother of si.x children, of whom the 
following are living: Mervin \V., a mill own- 
er at Berlin Center; Frank M., a practicing 
physician of Damascus; Ida, who married 
Clarence Cover and lives at Berlin Center, and 
Dr. George L. King, of Alliance. The polit- 
ical faith of Mr. King is represented by the 
Republican party, and since early manhood he 
has manifested a lively interest in public af- 
fairs, voting his principles at all times, defend- 
ing the soundness of his opinions without fear 
or favor, but never asking for office nor aspir- 
ing to leadership. 

George Lincoln King, Ph. M., .M. D. 
— The name of George L. King is not only 
familiar to the people of Alliance, but by reason 
of his eminence as a specialist it is also well 
known in medical circles tliroughout the state. 
No other man in eastern Ohio has advanced 
more rapidly towanl the goal of success, nor 
have any contributed in a greater degree to 
honor and dignify the calling to which his well 
developed intellectual powers and critical pro- 
fessional training are being devoted. Dr. 
King is a native of Mahoning county, Ohio, 
and the son of David and Mary King. He was 
bnrn March zj, 1865, in Berlin Center, and re- 
ceived his preliminary education in the public 
schools of that town, subsequently pursuing 
his studies in INlt. CuIdu Ccillege, from which 
institutit)n he was graduatetl in the philosoph- 
ical course with the class of 1890. Mean- 
time at the age of nineteen he began teaching in 
the schools of his native county and followed 



this line of work for several years, thus paying 
his way through college with money earnec 
during his vacations. 

In 1892 he entered Cleveland Medical Col- 
lege, where he prosecuted his professional stud- 
ies with earnestness until completing the pre- 
scribed course in 1895, being a special student 
under Prof. B. B. Viets, making the eye anc 
ear a specialty and having practical charge ol 
the clinical Axork on those organs during hif 
last year's attendance. Dr. King's experience 
as a medical student was characterized by close 
study and critical research. He was far more 
anxious to acquire knowledge than to display 
the same and availed himself of every oppor- 
tunity to acquire proficiency in the specia' 
branches of the profession which were ulti- 
mately to gain him distinction. In addition tc 
his high standing as a student, he also achie\-e(: 
the reputation of being one of the most skillec 
operators in the college during the period ol 
his attendance and few if any excelled hi; 
record. 

On receiving his degree the Doctor locatec' 
in Alliance and found himself at the beginning 
of his career witli no competition in his special 
line of treatment. Plis skill as an eye and ear 
specialist soon won him recognition and it wa? 
not long until his name became widely known 
throughout this part of the C(^uiUry rmd hi; 
cases rapidly multiplied. Soon after beginning 
a successful practice, during which the neces- 
sity for more thorough professional training 
impressed itself upon his mind, the Doctor in 
1895 took a post-graduate course in the Post- 
Graduate School for the Eye and Ear in Xew 
York city, and two years later took a second 
course in the same institution, thus leaving 
nothing undone in the way of thorough prep- 
aration for his life work. Dr. King- has a large 
and lucrative practice and with no opposition 
worthy of mention, his advancement, as al- 
ready indicated, lias been encouraging and he 
is now recognized as the leading specialist in 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



741 



Alliance and one of the most successful in this 
section of the state. 

While primarily de\-oted to his profession, 
the Doctor has also been a participant in pub- 
lic affairs, being at this time president of the 
city school board. In this capacity he has been 
especially active in his efforts to pro\ide the 
public with a new library, to which end he 
made a motion before the school board to the 
effect that a committee of six be appointed to 
secure, if possible, Andrew Carnegie's financial 
support for the enterprise. In due time this 
was accomplished, Mr. Carnegie agreeing to 
donate twenty-five thousand dollars on the con- 
dition that the city enter into an obligation to 
maintain the library by an annual expenditure 
■of two thousand five hundred dollars. Dr. 
King is an active and enthusiastic member of 
tlie Alliance board of trade. 

Tn politics Dr. King is a zealous supporter 
of the Republican part}-, and in religion sub- 
scribes to the Methodist creed, being a con- 
sistent communicant of the church of that de- 
nomination in Alliance and a member of its 
board of trustees. His fraternal relations are 
re])resented by the Alpha Tau Omega frater- 
nity, a social and literary organization under 
the auspices of Mt. Union College, composed 
of students and ex-students of that institution. 

Dr. King married, on December 30, 1895, 
Myra Mitchell Stone, daughter of Levi and 
Phoebe Stone, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Of this 
union there are two children living', George 
Lincoln, Jr., born March 23, 1900, and Phoebe 
Mitchell, born May 9. 1902, It is worthy of 
mention in this connection that in all critical 
or delicate operations ]\Trs. King is the 
Doctor's actiA'e and able assistant, she has de- 
veloped marvelous skill in this direction and 
Dr. King depends on no one else for assistance 
when the operation is of sufficient moment. 
They have a very beautiful honif on Alliance's 
best residence street, at 749 South Lhiion 
aA-enue. 



BENJAMIN A. ESTEP.— One of the 
well known and highly honored citizens of 
Stark county, where he passed practically his 
entire life, was the late Benjamin Anderson 
Estep, who died on the 7th of August, 1882. 
He was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, be- 
ing a son of Henry and Abigail (Anderson) 
Estep, the latter of whom was a native of Ire- 
land, whence she came to America when young, 
being accompanied by two sisters, one of whom 
died en route and was buried at sea. Henry 
Estep was engaged in the tanning business for 
a number of years, and his son Benjamin 
learned the trade under his direction, having 
received a common-school education in New 
Franklin, Stark county, and Winchester, Co- 
lumbiana county, Ohio, in each of which places 
his parents had resided, having taken up their 
abode in this section of the Buckeye state in the 
pioneer epoch and having here passed the re- 
mainder of their lives. Later in his career 
Benjamin A. Estep was employed as a carriage 
painter, by his brother Isaiah, who conducted a 
carriage shop in the village of Paris, this coun- 
ty, and who died in California in the year 1900. 
Another brother, Ephraim J., was a prominent 
attorney of the city of Cleveland for many 
years, being also well known in Canton and 
vicinity, and he likewise died in California, 
aJTOut five years ago. 

About the year i860 Benjamin A. Estep 
entered the employ of his father-in-law, Rudol- 
phus Martin, who was engaged in the dry 
goods business at Paris, Stark county, and with 
him he continued to be associated for a num- 
ber of years, after which he assumed the posi- 
tion of tra\eling salesman for the ^Martin Bros, 
(his brothers-in-law), and later on purchased 
the business, devoting his attention to this line 
of work until his death, which occurred on the 
7th of August, 1882, as has been already noted. 
In politics he gave a stanch allegiance to the 
Democratic party, and fraternally he was iden- 
tified with the Free and Accepted Masons, hav- 



742 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ing originally affiliated with Brown Lodge, in 
Minerva, this county, and later becoming a 
niemlicr of Eagle Lodge, in Canton. Though 
never imbued with political ambition in a per- 
sonal way, he yielded to the importunities of 
his party friends and became candidate for the 
office of clerk of Paris township, being elected 
and serving with marked ability and discrimi- 
nation. 

On the 6th of January, 1857, !Mr. Estep 
was united in marriage to ]\Iiss Amanda H. 
]\Iartin, who was born in Xavarre, Stark coun- 
ty, Ohio, and who was reared and educated in 
the village of Paris, this county, being a daugh- 
ter of Rudolphus Martin, who \\as one of the 
honiired ])ioneers and representative business 
men of that place, where his death occurred. 
]\[r. and ^Irs. Estep became the parents of five 
children, concerning whom we enter brief rec- 
ord, as follows: }ilaude E. is the wife of Ar- 
bine C. Heiner, of Canton, and they have two 
sons, Ernest.' who married Miss Marie Gkoddy, 
and James M. Blanche, who l)ecame the wife of 
Julian King, of Canton, died in this city in 
1895, leaving one child, Bernice. who is now 
the wife of Walter A. Albaugh, of Canton. 
]Mabel died in infancy. \\'illiam died in 1898. 
in Canton, at the age of thirty yeans. George 
Dwight still retains his residence in Canton. 



OLIVER P. TRAXSUE, general man- 
ager of one of the leading industrial enterprises 
of the city of Alliance, — that conducted un- 
der the corporate title of the Transue & \Y\\\- 
iams Company, is a native of the city in which 
he now maintains his home, having been born 
on the loth of December, 1865, and being the 
second in order of birth of the four children of 
Frank and Amanda (Aultman) Transue, the 
other three children lieing as follows : Minnie, 
who is the wife of Frank Kingsljurv, an em- 
ploye of the company mentioned above: Charles 
R., who is foreman in the establishment of this 



company ; and William, who is a skilled me- 
chanic in the same. 

Frank Transue was born in Xorth Benton. 
Mahoning ci;)unt}-. Ohio, on the 17th of June, 
1842, being of French and German lineage. 
A\dien he was a boy his parents remo\'ed to 
Alliance, and here he was reared to manhood, 
learning the trade of machinist in the Xixon 
works, and later entering the shops of the Xew 
York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad at Kent. 
Ohio, where he was employed for some time, 
after which he was employed for a period in 
Oil City, Pennsylvania, in the center of the oil 
regions of that state. He then returned to 
Alliance, where his m;u"riage was solemnized 
shortlv afterward, and here he engaged in busi- 
ness on his own responsibility, associating him- 
self with Jonathan Craft, under the firm name 
of Craft (!t Conrpany. They engaged in the 
manufacture of threshing-machine teeth, and 
Mr. Transue was general manager of the lousi- 
ness. Later Mr. Craft disposed of his interest 
in the enterprise, lieing succeeded ]i_\' Dr. .\rm- 
strong, while the firm title was now changed ti> 
Transue iK- Armstrong. Shortly after the new 
alliance was formed the firm augmented the 
scope of the enterprise, doing a general drop- 
forging business, which continued to increase 
in extent and importance under the eft'ecti\-e 
management brought to bear. In 1889 the 
firm sold the business to the Whitman-lvirnes 
Company, of Canton, and for a numljer of 
years thereafter the father of our subject lived 
practicaliv retired from active business, finally 
identifying himself with the company of which 
the subject of this sketch is general manager 
and being at the present time president of the 
company. In politics he gi\-es a stanch allegi- 
ance to the Republican party and he and his 
wife are communicants of the Methodist 
church, in which faith they reared their chil- 
dren. 

Oliver F. Transue was reared to maturity 
in his native citv of Alliance, wdiere he re- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



743 



cei\ecl hi? educational discipline in the public 
schools, completing- a course in the local high 
school. At the age of sixteen years he entered 
upon an apprenticeship as a niacliinist in tlie 
sliops of the firm of which his father was a 
member, and there he learned the business in 
all its details, becoming an expert workman 
and also gaining a comprehensive knowledge 
of the executive functions of the enteiprise. 
In i8S6 he was tendered a position in the shops 
of the Wliitman-P.arnes Company, of Canton, 
as general superintendent, and this offer he ac- 
cepted. He was incumbent of this responsible 
office in the autumn of 1893, at which time the 
companv remo\'ed its business to Akron. OhiiK 
whither he \yent in the same capacity as before, 
and he there remained as general superintend- 
ent of the ne\v plant until the latter part of the 
year i8<j3, when he resigned his eifhce and 
came to Alliance, where he entered into part- 
nership with Silas J. Williams and engaged in 
the lousiness of drop forging, under the firm 
nani.e cjf Transue iS; \\ illiams. Tlie technical 
aljility, energv and progressi\-e methods 
brought to Ijear made tlie enterprise a success 
from the start and the increase in the business 
led to the formation of a stock ccmipany, which 
was incorporated in 1897, under the title of 
The Transue & Williams Compan\". and with 
the folldwing executive corps: I'rank Tran- 
sue. president; Silas J. Williams, \-ice-presi- 
dent. and Oliver F. Transue, general manager. 
The imlustry has shown an almost phenomenal 
expansion and the lousiness is estal.)1ished u]ion 
the firm basis of conmiercial integrity and most 
able management, so that is certain to continue 
cumulative in returns tmder normal conditions 
of trade. The works have been kept in opera- 
tion night and day for many months in order to 
meet the demands placed upon tlie same, and 
tlie concern n(.)w represents one of the import- 
ant industrial enterprises of the Buckeye state. 
Mr. Transue gives his entire attention to the 
business and is known as one of the alert and 



capable young Inisiness men of his native city, 
wiiile he is popular in both business and social 
circles. In politics he gives an ttnequixocal 
support to the ])rinciples and policies of the 
Republican part}', in whose cause he takes an 
active interest, though he has never sought 
public office of any description. 

On the 19th of July, 1886, was solemnized 
the marriage of ]\Ir. Transue to Miss Grace 
Fisher, of Alliance, a daughter of Charles 
i'isher, and of this uninn have lieen Ixjni t\\(3 
cliildrcn, Ruth F, and Alargaret-. 



ALBERT F. ELLETT was l)orn in the 
house in which he now resides, in section 23, 
Lexington township, on the i/th of February, 
1857, being a son of Elias and Elmira CSarish) 
Ellett, of whose thirteen children nine are 
still living, namely : Mary, who is the widow 
of Rev. James I-. Philips and who resides in 
the city of Cleveland; \\'illiam K., who is a 
prominent citizen of .Alliance, this county; 
Catherine, who is the wife of William AI. 
Santee, of Snode Station, Mahoning county ; 
Sarah, \\-ho is the wife of Rev. Homer Eddy, 
o.f Johnsonsburg, Pennsylvania; Adoniram J., 
who is a resident of the city of Alliance ; Jennie, 
who is the wife of Charles Parkinson, of Rush- 
sylvania, Logan count}-, Ohio: Samuel P., 
who resides in Alliance; Elias J., who resides 
in Berlin Center. Mahoning county, and Albert 
!■'., who is the immediate subject. of this sketch. 
Tlie Ellett family is one whose history has 
long been identified with American annals, the 
original progenitors in the new world hav-ing- 
come from Germany and settled in Xew Jersey 
in the pre-Re\-ohitionar}- epuch. Elias Ellett, 
father of the subject, was born in Salem coun- 
ty, that state, on the 20th of January, 1812, 
tlie place of his nativit}- having been in the 
inimecliate vicinity of the historic Alloway 
creek. His father, James Ellett, was likewise 
born in New Jersey, and he became a promi- 



744 



OLD LANDMARKS 



iient farmer and gardener of Salem connty, 
where he died when his son HHas was but 
twelve years of age. He left a family of ten 
children and ihc exigencies of the case de- 
rnanded that some of them liecome dependent 
on their own resources, in order to provide for 
the niaintenruice of the other members of the 
family, including the widowed mother, and 
thus it became the portion of Elias to enter the 
€niplov of a gardener in the locality, and he re- 
cei\'ed in reci)n)])ensc for his services eight dnl- 
lars per month, while he contributed his earn- 
ings to the snjiport of the family, continuing 
to 1)6 thus employed until he had attained his 
nineteenth vear, while his educational pri\i- 
leges were such as wei'e afforded by a some- 
what desultory attendance in the common 
schools of the locality and period. In 1834 
occurred !iis marriage, .-uid in if^'^S, in com- 
pany with his wife and two children, he emi- 
grated to Malioning county, Ohio, locating 
near the village of Bunker Hill, where he ])nr- 
chased a small ti'acl of land, u])(in which he 
continued to reside about two years at the 
expiration of which he disposed of the property 
and came to Stark county, where he pmxhased 
the farm now owned and occupied by his son 
Albert, of this sketch. The place comprised 
ninety acres and a portion of the land had been 
cleared, though much of the nati\-e timber was 
still standing intact, while manifold stumps still 
decorated mucli of the cleared section, so that 
it was evident that no sybaritic task was in- 
volved in bringing the tract under effective 
cultivation. .\ small log house of the primitive 
type had been built on the farm, and this con- 
tinued to be the family home for a number of 
years. In connection with his farm work Mr. 
Ellett also engaged in the meat business, and 
he ran the first meat wagon ever utilized in 
catering to the demands of the residents of the 
present city of Alliance, the same having- been 
then a small village known by the name of 
Williamsport. while he thus devoted his at- 



tention to the butchering business during the 
summer months. He was a man of progress- 
i\-c spirit and initiative power, and was quick 
to grasp opportunities and to secure the maxi- 
mum returns from the same. Thus he early 
Ijegan to purchase horses throughout this sec- 
tion of the state, and drove them over the 
mountains to New Jersey, where he found 
usually a very profitable market for the same. 
During the winter months be followerl this line 
of enterprise until 1879, ;ui<l with the advent 
of the railroad he utilized the same in the ship- 
jiing of his horses. In 1870 he left the farm 
in charge of his son Adoniram and removed to 
Alliance, where he gave his entire attention 
li) his fnitchering business for the ensuing three 
years, establishing there a well equipped 
market. In 1873 he was elected street com- 
missioner of Alliance, in which capacitv he 
served two years, at the expiration of which 
he returned to the farm, which thereafter con- 
tinued to be his home until he was called' from 
the scene of life's endeax'ors, on New Year's 
day of the year 1895, being at the time nearly 
eightv-three vears of age and having the un- 
equix'ocal esteem of ;dl who knew him. for he 
had ordered his life on a high plane of in- 
tegrity and honor and had lalxired to goodly 
ends. He was an uncompromising advocate 
o\ the principles of the Republican party from 
the time of its formation until bis death, and 
was incumbent of the various township offices 
of trust and responsiliility. He was a devoted 
and zealous member of the P>a]itist church, in 
which he served as deacon for many years, his 
wife likewise having been a member of the 
cluu-ch and prominently concerned in its work 
up to the time of her demise, which occurred 
on the 31st of December, 1850. Subsequently 
be consummated a second marriage, being 
united to ]\Trs. Rebecca J. Fogg, whose maiden 
name was Barnes, and they became the parents 
of one son, Henry B., who is now a resident of 
the city of Danville, Illinois. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



745 



Albert i\ Ellett was reared to maturity on 
the old homestead farm on which he was born 
and which is now his place of residence, while 
his educational privileges were those offered 
by the public schools of the locality and period. 
On his twenty-first birthday anniversary he de- 
parted with his father for New Jersey, with 
a carload of horses, and upon arriving in the 
state in which his ancestors had settled so many 
years ago, he hired out to a farmer of Salem 
county and there remained one year, at the 
expiration of which he returned to his home in 
Stark county, and shortly afterward again re- 
turned to the east with another carload of 
horses, his father accompanying him, while 
this was the last shipment ever made by the 
latter. After his return home the subject re- 
mained on the home farm for one season, and 
thereafter was employed for six months on the 
construction of the East-end division of the 
Pittsburg & Fort Wayne Railroad. He then 
became associated with his brother Samuel in 
the meat-market business in tlie city of Alli- 
ance, being identified with this enterprise about 
two years, while for a short period thereafter 
he was in the employ of W. M. Reed, a dealer 
in agricultural implements in that city. 

On the 19th of October, 1882, Mr. Ellett 
was nnited in marriage to Miss Clara TT. San- 
tee, who was born in Mahoning county, Ohio, 
being a daughter of William M. Santee, a 
prominent farmer near Snode Station, that 
county, and shortly after this important event 
in his career Mr. Ellett removed to the old 
home farm, of which he had the practical 
supervision n]> to the time of his father's death, 
after A\hich he rented the property from the 
administrators for two years and then pur- 
chased the place. Here he has since been most 
successfully engaged in general agricultural 
pursuits and the raising of a considerable 
amount of excellent live-stock, while he is 
recognized as one of the progressive and 
scientific farmers of the countv and as a man 



whose word is as good as his bond, while no 
citizen in the community is accorded a greater 
measure of popular confidence and regard. 
Tn politics he has ever been a radical Re- 
publican and has taken a deep interest in the 
party cause. In 1897 he was elected township 
trustee, of which ofifice he was incumbent for 
three years, while his name has been promi- 
nently mentioned in connection with the office 
of countv comnfissioner, in which his interposi- 
tion could not prove other than of value to 
local interests. He and his wife hold member- 
ship in the Baptist chvuxh, and fraternally he 
is identified with the Royal Arcanum, holding 
membership in \'i\-ian Council No. 349, at 
Alliance. . To Air. and Mrs. Ellett were born 
foiu' children, and the three surviving still re- 
main at the parental home. The names of the 
children are here entered in the order of their 
birth: Eucius C., Ralph E. (deceased), (ilcnn 
\V. and Olive R. 



J1-:SSE W. TEETERS.— Elisha Teeters. 
father of Jesse \V., and for many years a lead- 
ing business man. successful financier and 
]irom!nent citizen of Alliance, was born in Co- 
lumbiana county, Ohio, in the year 1814, the 
son of John and Mary (Cook) Teeters. He 
grew up on the home farm and in addition to 
tilling the soil assisted, when a young man, 
to run a coal bank which his father owned and 
operated. He followed the latter line of work 
for a number of years, and it fell to him to 
market the greater part of the output of the 
mine, wliicli he clid ])y means of wagons and 
oxen, frec|uently drixing as many as five yoke 
of oxen to each load of coal. In 1S35 Elisha 
Teeters married Miss Eliza Webb, and a little 
later moved to a quarter section of land in Lex- 
ington township. Stark county, which was pur- 
chased by his father from the government in 
1826. When Mr. Teeters set up his domestic 
establisliment on this place there was but one 



746 



OLD LANDMARKS 



acre of the one Imndred and sixty cleared, and 
he immecUately hent all of his energies to the 
improvements of the rest, a task which was 
accomplished in due time, after much hard 
work and the expenditure of a great deal of 
physical force. ^Meanwhile he purchased ad- 
ditional land to the amount of thirty-two acres 
and hy industry, thrift and good management 
becanie one of the leading farmers of his town- 
ship, which reputation he sustained as long as 
he gave personal attention to agricultural pur- 
suits. After living on the original homestead 
until 1866. he removed to a place of eighty- 
four acres adjoining the limits of Alliance on 
the mirth, wliere he lived for a numljer of years, 
finally changing his residence to the brick 
dwelling east of the cemetery, which he made 
his home until his death, on the 17th day of 
June, 1899. Elisha Teeters was the real 
founder of Alliance, as it was by him that the 
original plat of the city was made in 1851 on 
part of an eighty-acre tract of land south of 
the Pennsylvania <& Fort Wayne Railroad, and 
extending from what is now Union avenue to 
Liberty street. Through his influence and ma- 
terial aid a nuniber of improvements were in- 
augurated and carried to successful comple- 
tion, and he also tcwk a prominent part in es- 
tablishing and maintaining several public insti- 
tutions, including among others the First Na- 
tional Bank, in which he was a heavy stock- 
holder and director and with which he contin- 
ued identified until his death. It is needless 
to dwell at large u])on the active business life 
of Elisha Teeters or to attempt to estimate 
his influence u]ion the material prosperity of 
the city and ciminuinity. in which he was for 
so many years a potential factor, as the limits of 
an article of this character forbid more than a 
passing reference. .Vt otie time Mr. Teeters met 
with se\'ere business reverses, but later he re- 
covered from his financial embarrassment, re- 
trieved his fortune and died a wealthy man. 
For a number of years he served as trustee of 



the Fairmount Children's Home, having been 
one of the first men appointed to that important 
position, and he held it as long as he lived, 
discharging his duties ably and conscientiously 
and proving one of the Ijest friends and most 
useful oflicials the institution ever had. The 
family of Elisha and Eliza Teeters consisted 
of ten children, the following of whoin are 
living: Jesse W., of this review; Rachael, 
widow of James .Vmerman. of Alliance; Isaac, 
a resident of Oakley, Kansas; Rosa J., wife of 
C. C. Edson, of Kansas City, Missouri ; Charles 
R., of Goodland, Kansas; Laura E., now Mrs. 
\\'. K. Fogg, of Alliance; and Elisha P.. who 
lives in the city of Cleveland. 

Jesse ^^". Teeters was born on the old home- 
stead in Lexington township. Stark county, 
Ohio, June 5, 1836, and he spent his early life 
like the majority of country lads, working in 
the fields during- the springs, summer and early 
fall months and attending' the public schools 
of winter seasons. He was a youth of six- 
teen when his father mo\'ed lo .Mliance to look 
after business interests there, and from that 
time until his thirtieth year the management 
of the farm fell to him, and right nobly did he 
assume the responsibility and discharge his va- 
ried duties. He soon demonstrated unusual 
capacit}" as an agriculturist, adopted the most 
appro\-ed methods of tilling" the soil, and 
achieved not only an enviable reputation as 
an enterprising, progressi\-e man, but continu- 
ally added to his material means until becom- 
ing the possessor of a fortune sufliciently ample 
to render him financially independent. 

On June 28, 1866, .Mr. Teeters and ]\Iiss 
Addie Brosius. of Washington township, Stark 
county, daughter of the late Amos and Esther 
Brosius, were united in the bonds of wedlock, 
and shortly thereafter the subject purchased 
tlie old Teeters homesteafl in Lexington town- 
ship, where lie Ii\-ed and prospered until 1901, 
In October of the latter year he sold the farrn 
and removed to Alliance, where he owns a 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



747 



beautiful home, in which he is Hving a hfe of 
retii-ement, having accumulated a suf^ciency of 
this world's goods to- make the remainder of his 
days free from the care and anxiety which be- 
set the lot of individuals less fortunate. Mr. 
and Mrs. Teeters are the parents of one child, 
a daughter by the name of Mabel, who is now 
the wife of Lbka h. Lamborn, a newspaper 
man of Alliance, holding the position of man- 
ager of the Alliance Leader Publishing Com- 
pany. 

^Ir. Teeters' interest in the public affairs of 
his city and county has been long and marked 
and at dilTerent times he has been called to 
positions of honor and trust, in all of which he 
demonstrated not only resourceful business ca- 
pacity, but a conscientious fidelity to duty that 
won the confidence and esteem of his fellow 
citizens. He served several, terms as assessor 
of Lexington township, and for a number of 
years was a member of the agricultural board 
of Stark county, a position to which he was but 
recently re-elected, and for which his long and 
successful experience peculiarly fit him. Like 
all good citizens with the best interest of the 
community, state and nation at heart, Mr. 
Teeters is a politician, not in the narrow, re- 
stricted sense in which the term is generally 
understood, but in tb.e large sense of discharg- 
ing his obligations to the body politic as an in- 
telligent member thereof. He is a Democrat, 
in all the word implies, and while warm and en- 
thusiastic for his party's success and an able 
adviser in its councils and a zealous worker, he 
is not Ijitterly partisan nor offensive in his po- 
litical methods. In the fall of 1902 he was 
nominated for the oftice of county commis- 
sioner, but by reason of the overwhelming- ma- 
jority of the opposition in the district failed of 
^ election, though running two thousand votes 
ahead of his ticket. On the death of his fa- 
ther Mr. Teeters was appointed to fill the lat- 
ter's unexpired term on the Ixjard of trustees 
of the Fairmount Children's Home, and he still 



holds the position to the satisfaction of all con- 
cerned. He is a heavy stockholder in the 
City Savings Bank of Alliance, and his wife 
sustains the same relation to the First National 
Bank, considerable of the surplus means of the 
family being invested on these institutions. Mr. 
Teeters, with his faithful wife, belongs to the 
Christian church, in which he now holds the 
position of deacon, and he gives liberally of his 
means to support the congregation in Alliance, 
also contributes to the spread of the gospel in 
other parts of the country and in lands be- 
vond the seas. 



WTLLLAM MORGAN REED, cashier of 
the First National Bank of Alliance, and one 
of the best known and most infiuential finan- 
ciers in this section of the state, is a nati\-e of 
Columbiana county, Ohio, and the se\enth in 
a family of se\cn children, whose parents were 
William .and Rhoda (Barton) Reed. Will- 
iam Reed was born in New Jersey in 1797, 
the son of Noah Reed, whose ancestors were 
among the old and highly respected families 
of that ci ininii mwealth. h^.arlv in the nine- 
teerith centur}', about the year 1S05. Noah 
Reed migrated to eastern Ohio and ])ur- 
chased land near the present site of Salem, Co- 
lumbiana ci)unt\'. from which in due seaswn he 
developed a farm. He experienced the usual 
^•icissitudcs and hardships of the pioneer pe- 
riod, spent his life as an honest, industrious 
filler of the soil, reared a family and died many 
A'ears ago where he originallv settled, leaving 
to his descendants an hcinorable name, which 
they have since worthily upheld. William 
Reed was a lad of eight years when his parents 
took u]) their residence in Ohio. He was 
reared i>n the homestead near Salem, and in 
early life ser\-ed an ai^prenticeshi]) at the shoe- 
maker's trade, which vocation he followed dur- 
ing the greater part of his active years, and he 
died in Columbiana county in 1865. By his 



748 



OLD LANDMARKS 



first wife, Rhoda Barton, who died in 1847, he 
had seven children, five of whom are Hving, 
namely: Ruth, who married Joseph Mc- 
Cauley, of Lima; Rebecca, now Mrs. C. K. 
Greiner, of Alliance; Aveline also lives in this 
city; Mar>', wife of D. Runnells, whose home is 
in Alliance; and William M., the subject ot 
this review. Some time after the death of the 
mother of these children Mr. Reed married 
Margaret Sharpnack, who survived him sev- 
eral years, the union being without issue. In 
his early life William Reed was a zealous Dem- 
ocrat, and he continued his allegiance to that 
political party until the birth of the Free-Soil 
party, when he gave his support to the latter 
organization. Still later he became a pro- 
nounced Republican, and continued as such the 
remainder of his days, always manifesting a 
lively interest in political affairs, but never 
aspiring to office. In religion he was a devout 
member of the Methodist church, and as a 
neighbor and citizen his life was singularly up- 
right and just. 

William Morgan Reed was born on the 
family homestead near Salem, Columbiana 
county, Jjinuary 6, 1836, and there remained 
until his sixteenth year, meantime enjoying 
the advantages of a public school education. 
When only, thirteen years old he entered the 
employ of a dry-goods merchant at Salem, and 
after spending three years in that town re- 
signed his place to accept a similar position in a 
mercantile establishment at North Benton, 
where he remained during the ensuing two and 
a half years. 

In 1855 Mr. Reed, with two other parties, 
engaged in the mercantile business at Belvidere, 
Mahoning county, the firm thus constituted be- 
ing known as M. W. Reed & Company, and it 
lasted until 1858, when the subject disposed of 
his interest and. returning to Benton, formed 
a partnership with Mr. Greiner, his former em- 
ployer, under the style of Greiner & Reed. 
This relationship continued until 1866, at which 



time Mr. Reed sold out and went to Phila- 
delphia, where he became associated with Mr. 
Caldwell in the general provision business, in 
connection with which the firm also conducted 
a fish market, which, like the other line of trade, 
commanded a large patronage. In the spring 
of the following year Mr. Reed severed his 
connection with the firm of Reed, Caldwell & 
Company, and, winding up his business in 
Philadelphia, came to Alliance, Ohio, where, in 
January, 1868, he purchased an interest in a 
warehouse which had previously been operated 
by Messrs. Nixin and Pettit, succeeding the 
former gentleman. After doing a successful 
grain business until the summer of 1869, the 
firm of Pettit & Reed ceased to exist, the latter 
buying out his partner and admitting his broth- 
er. Charles Reed, thus forming the firm of Reed 
Brothers, which lasted about six months. At 
the expiration of that time Mr. Pettit again 
became a member of the company which, under 
the name of Reed, Pettit & Reed, not only did a 
large and flourishing grain business, but also 
eng^aged quite extensively in the wholesale gro- 
cery Ifade. Charles Reed dying in March, 
1870, the style of the company was again 
changed to Pettit & Reed, and as such contin- 
ued until the fall of that year, when Mr. Pettit 
withdrew, leaving the subject sole proprietor. 
W'ith this change terminated the wholesale 
branch of the business and during the seven- 
teen years following Mr. Reed devoted his at- 
tention exclusively to the interests of the ware- 
house, building up one of the largest and most 
successful grain trades in this part of the state. 
Upon the organization of the First National 
Bank of Alliance, in 1887, Mr. Reed was made 
a director of the institution, and in August fol- 
lowing, when Leroy D. Brown resigned as 
cashier, he succeeded to the latter position and 
has discharged the responsible and exacting 
duties of the same to the present time. 

Mr. Reed is familiar with every detail of 
banking, and is recognized as one of the ablest 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



749 



tinanciers in eastern Ohio, being regai'ded as 
an authority upon all matters coming within his 
province. His career throughout has been 
eminenth' successful, and his influence in 
monetary and commercial circles has had much 
to do in shaping- and controlling business poli- 
cies in Alliance and giving the city its present 
high financial standing among the leading trade 
centers of the state. 

Mr. Reed's domestic relations are of the 
most pleasant and agreeable nature, being a 
married man and the father of two children, 
whose names are Mabel and Rhoda, both still 
members of the home circle. Mrs. Reed was 
formerly Miss Sarah A. Hartzell, the daugh- 
ter of the late James Hartzell, of North 
Benton. 



WILLIAM W. GILSON.— The Gilson 
family is an old one, its history in this country 
dating from the early annals of Pennsylvania 
and Ohio, in both of which commonwealths 
the name appears in connection with events 
and experiences of much more than ordinary 
import. Among the earliest pioneers O'f Co- 
lumbiana county, this state, was a man by the 
name of Gilson. who came from Allegheny 
county, Pennsylvania, and entered a section of 
land m what is now Knox township, for which 
he subsequently received a patent, bearing the 
signature of James Madison, fourth President 
of the LTnited States. Later he divided this 
land among his four sons, one of whom was 
Major Gilson, a gallant soldier of the war of 
1 812 and a commissioned officer, as the title 
indicates. The Major took possession of his 
share of the land, improved it and bore an 
active part in the development of his locality, 
having Ijeen a man of considerable prominence 
and to no small degree a leader among his 
neighbors and fellow citizens. To him belongs 
the credit of erecting one of the first frame 
buildings in the county of Columbiana, and the 



structure attracted such wide attention that 
people came long distances to gaze upon the 
wonderful modern innovation. Major Gilson 
married and reared a family, among his chil- 
dren being a son of the name of Joseph, who 
was born on the original homestead in Knox 
township in the year 181 6. Reared amid the 
spare settlements of what was then the frontier, 
he grew up a strong, rugged man, with a 
capacity for nnich hard work and an inde- 
pendence of mind that made him not only re- 
sourceful, but in the main successful in all of 
his undertakings. He was strictly an agri- 
culturist, and took little part in public affairs 
further than to vote for the Democratic party, 
of wliich he was a stanch supporter, and to 
lend his influence to all worthy enterprises for 
the general welfare of his township and county. 
His father, the Major, was a zealous member 
of the Presbyterian church, the old church at 
the village of Homeworth having been estab- 
lished through his agency, and of this church 
Joseph afterwards became a leading member, 
serving it for many years in an official ca- 
pacity. 

In his young manhood Joseph Gilson mar- 
ried Miss Mary A. McLaughlin, whose Scotch- 
Irish ancestors came to America in the time 
of the colonies and settled in Pennsylvania. 
Several of the McLaughlins served with dis- 
tinction in colonial struggles for independence 
and Mrs. Gilson's grandfather was subsequent- 
ly killed while fighting the Indians near his 
home in Pennsylvania. Some time after his 
father's death Joseph Gilson purchased the 
old homestead of the heirs and spent the re- 
mainder of his life on the same. Of the chil- 
dren that originally constituted the family of 
Joseph and Mary A. Gilson only two survive, 
namely: The subject of this feview and Jen- 
nie G., now the wife of W. A. Curry, of Co- 
lumbiana county. 

William W. Gilson was born November 16, 
1844, in Columbiana county, and there grew to 



750 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the years of nianhrxxl on the home farm, enjoy- 
ing meanwhile tlie advantages of tlie puhhc 
sch(.«jls. Finishing the common l)ranclies, he 
entered Mt. Union College, and after taking a 
course in that excellent institution he began his 
business career as a traxeling salesman lor agri- 
cultural implements for the rirm of Coates, 
Gra}- & Company, which he represented for 
several years on the road. Later he severed 
his connection with the aljo\-e and accepted a 
similar position with D. j\l. Osborn & Com- 
pany, manufacturers of agricultural machinery, 
remaining in the employ of the two firms for 
something like fifteen years, during which time 
lie traveled extensi\-ely over the United States, 
commanded a large trade and established a 
worthy reputation as salesman and enterpris- 
ing !)usiness man. 

Becoming weary of the road, Air. Gilson 
aljandcjued that line of lousiness and engaged 
in contracting at Alliance. On the organiza- 
tion of the City Savings Bank, in 1892, he was 
elected its cashier, and he has since filled the 
position with credit to himself and to the satis- 
faction of everybody connected with. the insti- 
tution, the meanwhile establishing a distin- 
guished reputation as a business man and finan- 
cier. Air. Gilson's career as a financier has 
been a continued success, and he is today not 
only one of the best known bankers of eastern 
Ohio, but his influence in monetary circles has 
made him an authority upon all matters relat- 
ing thereto. 

Air. Gilson is a married man and the father 
of four children, only one of whom survives, — 
Nita. now the wife of Harold C. Stratton, of 
Alliance. Mrs. Gilson, formerly Miss Mary 
AIcLeran, of Mt. Union, is a lady of beautiful 
character and refined tastes, popular in the so- 
cial circles of the city and a faithful member of 
the Presbyterian church. Air. Gilson also sub- 
scribes to the same religious creed, and since 
1870 has been an elder in the church at Alli- 
ance. He is active in all lines of work under 



the auspices of the church, is also a liberal con- 
tributor to charitable institutions, religious and 
secular, and lends his influence to all agencies 
for the social and moral advancement of the 
community. In politics he is pronounced in his 
allegiance to the Democratic party, but he has 
never aspired to official position, preferring the 
active business life he leads and the title of 
private citizens to any honors within the power 
of the people to bestow. 

Ail enterprises looking to the material im- 
provement of the city of his residence find in 
Air. Gilson an earnest advocate and influential 
patron. He has been active in public aft'airs 
and at the present time is president of the board 
of water works trustees. His life has been 
busy, if not eventful, and his honorable career 
in the institution with which he is now identi- 
fied constitutes a high tribute to his character 
for integrity and financial responsiblty. 



EDWIN MORGAN, the fifth in order of 
birth of the six living children of the late and 
highly honored citizen of Alliance. Thomas R. 
Morgan, Sr., founder of the great industry of 
the Morgan Engineering Company, was born 
in the city of Alliance, Stark county, Ohio, on 
the 30th of Alarch, 1872, and his educational 
discipline was secured in the public schools of 
his native city, the Peekskill Alilitary Academy, 
at Peekskill, New York, and the University of 
Liege, Belgium. At the age of sixteen years 
he became identified with the works of the 
Alorgan Engineering Company, in which he 
passed a portion of his time for the ensuing 
two years, a\ hile thereafter he devoted his en- 
tire attention to acting as assistant tO' his fa- 
ther, and he continued in this capacity until the 
time of the latter's death, in 1897. Two years 
later the subject severed his active connection 
with the company, though he retains a financial 
inferest in the great corporation whose magnifi- 
cent success is due to the efforts of his talented 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



751 



and distinguished lather. He is one of the 
pmminent and popular young- men of Alhance, 
and takes a deep interest in all that tends to 
conserve its welfare, having served as a mem- 
ber of the city council, in which connection 
he rendered most effective service, and he is 
also president of the board of puljlic safety. 
In politics he accords a stanch allegiance to 
the Repubhcan party, in whose local contin- 
gent he is known as an active and zealous 
worker, and is now a member of the county 
executive committee. He is an admirer of 
good horses, and has a carriage team which 
holds a matinee recortl of 2 :20. Fraternally 
]Mr. r^Iorgan is identified with Alliance Lodge 
Xo. 467, Benevolent and Protective Order of 
Elks, and Lone Rock Lodge No. 23, Knights 
of Pythias, while he is also a member of the 
L'lii formed rank of the latter order, being affili- 
ated with Yellow Cross Commandery No. 85. 
Lie further extends his fraternal relations by 
holding membership in Court of Alliance No. 
1 5 16, Independent Order of Foresters. He 
is captain and commissary of the Eighth Regi- 
ment. Ohio National Guard, being a member of 
Col. Edward Vallrath's staff, and he is also 
adjutant of the Eighth Regiment, Uniformed 
Rank Knights of Pythias, on the staff of Col- 
onel Shew. 

On the 9th of September, 1893, Mr. Mor- 
gan was united in marriage tO' Miss Flora 
Knowles, a daughter of Oliver H. and Mar- 
garet (Battershell ) Knowles, of Alliance, her 
father being a prominent carriage manufactur- 
er of the city. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan have one 
child, Oliver K., who was born on the 25th of 
August, 1894. 



HENRY W. WERTS.— As the name in- 
dicates, the subject was of German descent, 
but at what period the family was first repre- 
sented in America is not known, though it must 
have been at quite an early period, in the time 



of the colonies. From the most reliable in- 
formation at hand, his ancestors, on coming to 
this country, appear to have settled in Penn- 
sylvania, m various parts of which state the 
name W'erts is still familiar, all bearing it ha\- 
ing undoubtedly sprung fnim the same parental 
stock. Jacob Werts, father of Henry W'., was 
born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and, like 
his ancestors for several generations, obtained 
a livelihood by tilling the soil. He married 
in his native state Miss Mary Wagner, and a 
number of years ago moved his family to 
W'adsworth, Ohio, where he spent the remain- 
der of his days, his wife dying shortlv after his 
demise, in Bronsoii, Michigan. 

Henry W. Werts was bom March 29, 1832, 
in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and when a 
bo}' remo^•ed with his parents to \Vadsworth. 
Ohio, near w hich place he lived on a farm until 
a youth of eighteen. Leaving home, he went 
to Akron, where he learned carriage making 
with C. A. Collins, a well-known manufacturer 
of that city, and after becoming an efficient 
workman followed his trade at dift'erent places 
until his removal to Canton, in the year 1859. 
On coming to this city he established a shop of 
his own. and in due time achieved an enviable 
reputation as a tuanufacturer of the well-known 
carriages that bore his name, the Werts ve- 
hicles in a few years taking precedence of any 
other make on the markets of eastern Ohio. 
Later they became widely known throug^hout 
this and other states, and the demand for them 
grew to such an extent that' Mr. \\'erts was 
obliged to enlarge the capacity of his establish- 
ment and greatly increase his force of workmen 
in order to meet the same. By reason of the 
high grade of his vehicles his financial success 
was most encouraging- and within a compara- 
ti\'eh- few years his sales had so augumented 
as to make him financially indei>endent. He 
continued to operate his works, however, until 
1884. when he disposed of the business and 
with an ample fortune retired to private life to 



7S2 



OLD LANDMARKS 



spend the remainder of his days in the enjoy- 
ment of the fruits of his toil and thrift. As 
a manufacturer Mr. Werts easily ranked with 
the most enterprising and progressive of his 
contemporaries, and to him as much as to any 
one man is due the credit of establishing for 
Canton the high reputation it has since sus- 
tained as an important industrial center. 

Mr. Werts, on the 6th day of December, 
1859, was married, in the city of Akron, to 
Miss Frank A. Mason, whose father. Elijah 
Mason, a native of Lebanon. Connecticut, came 
west when a yovuig man and settled at Hudson, 
Ohio, where he established a newspaper of 
which, for a number of years, he was editor 
and proprietor. Subsequently he remo\-ed to 
Akron (then Middleburg) and became promi- 
nently identified with the city's interests, taking 
an ?vctive part in its material development and 
serving a series of years as- justice of the peace 
and postmaster, besides filling other positions 
of trust and profit. The maiden name of Mrs. 
Elijah Mason was Charlotte Gillett, a native 
of Wolcottville, Connecticut, of which city her 
uncle was the original settler and founder. 
The Gilletts were among the oldest families of 
Connecticut, the name appearing in the early 
annals of the colony, and for many years after 
the war for independence it was a household 
\\ord in many parts of the state, many bearing 
it having risen to important public statum in 
their respective locations. Col. James Mason, 
father of Elijah, was a native of England; he 
came to America in the time of the colonies, 
settled in New England, and when the Revo- 
lutionary war broke out joined the American 
army and bore a distinguished part in the strug- 
gle until independence was achieved, having 
held a- colonel's commission in a Connecticut 
reginient. 

Of the domestic life of Mr. and Mrs. Werts 
little need be said, for fear of trespassing upon 
sacred ground, but suffice it to say that their 
relations were ever mutually agreeable and that 



their pleasant home, at No. 112 North Market 
street, was the abode of a free-handed, open- 
hearted hospitality which made it a favorite 
resort for the best society circles of the city. 
^Ir. Werts was essentially the architect of his 
own fortunes, and few men of his day were as 
widely known and as sincerely respected, and 
in his death, which occurred at the family resi- 
dence on the 5th day of May. 1891, the city 
lost one of its most enterprising and public- 
spiriteel citizens, and to those who knew him 
a friend whose loyalty was never questioned, 
whose character stood above reproach and 
whose life, measured by the true standard of 
excellence, was fraught with substantial good 
and laroe l:)enefits to his kind. 



JOHN C. ALLEN.— The death of the 
subject of this memoir, on the 8th of October, 
T890, deprived the city of Canton of one of its 
representative and honored citizens and able 
and progressive business men, — one of dis- 
tinctive individuality and gracious personality 
and one who made his life a power for good, 
ever standing "four square to every wind that 
blow.-." ?^lr. Allen was born on the old home- 
stead farm of his maternal grandfather, in 
Jackson township, this county, and on the Ful- 
ton road, the date of his nativity having Ijeen 
December 2^, 1848, while he was a son of Ira 
M. and Ella O. (Graham) Allen, the former of 
whom was born in the state of New York and 
the latter in Bedford county. Pennsyhania. her 
father having been one of the early pioneers of 
Stark county. L'a ^L Allen was a man of fine 
scholastic attainments and was for many years 
a successful teacher in the public schools of 
Stark county, having been principal of the Can- 
ton schools at the time of the birth of the sub- 
ject. He died in the city of Canton in 1S97. 
and his widow still maintains her home here, 
having attained the venerable age of ninety- 
seven years. They became the parents of five 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



753 



children, of whom two are hving at the present 
time. 

John C. Allen received his early educational 
discipline in the public schools of Alassillon, 
this county. At the age of sixteen years he 
secured a position in the manufactory of the 
Russell Company, in Massillon, becoming their 
salesman in Des Moines, Iowa. After about a 
year he returned and became their shipping- 
clerk and bookkeeper, and he there remained 
until his father was elected county treasurer, 
when he became his clerk. He then became a 
student in the law office of the firm of Lynch & 
Day, in Canton, continuing his technical read- 
ing one year and in the meanwhile deciding that 
a business career could be more to his liking 
than that involved in the practice of the law. 
He accordingly purchased an interest in the 
Canton Wrought Iron Bridge Company, in 
whose interests he served as traveling repre- 
sentative until 1876, in August of which year 
was solemnized his marriage. After, withdraw- 
ing from the bridge company he liecame inter- 
ested in coal-mining enterprises and also estab- 
lished himself in the insurance business in Can- 
ton, representing the Equitable Life and other 
important and leading life and fire insurance 
companies, while he became one of the most 
successful and prominent underwriters in this 
section of the state, building up a large and im- 
portant business, while he also had various 
capitalistic interests, being a stockholder in the 
Kenton and Warwick stone quarries. These 
varied associations placed full demands upon 
his time and attention until his death, in 1890, 
and he gained prestige as one of the able, alert 
ancl progressive business men of the county, 
having indefatigable energy and marked ini- 
tiative powers. He was a man of magnetic 
personahty, was widelv read and a vigorous and 
original thinker, having definite opinions and 
convictions and being ever ready to defend the 
same, while he a\ as a pleasing and entertaining 
conversationalist and possessed of the most at- 
47 



tracti\'e social qualities, his friends being <h"awn 
to him by inviolable ties. In politics he ac- 
corded an unfaltering allegiance to the Repub- 
lican party and his religious views were most 
liberal, his stand in this line being practically 
agnostic, tliough he was ever tolerant of the be- 
lief and faith of others and had a deep reverence 
for the true spiritual verities. Fraternally he 
was identified with the Masonic order, in which 
he rose to the Knight Templar degree. 

On the 2d of August, 1876, Mr. Allen was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Feather, 
who was born in Stark county, this state, be- 
ing a daughter of Uriah R. Feather, a nati^■e of 
the old Keystone state, his birth having oc- 
curred near the city of Philadelphia, on the 7th . 
of August, 1821. His father was a part owner 
of a school for boys near the city and was one 
of the well-known and able educators of Penn- 
sylvania. He removed to Ohio when his son 
Uriah was a child and located on a farm near 
Canton, whence he later removed to another 
farm in Stark county, where he passed the resi- 
due of his life. Uriah R. Feather received ex- 
cellent educational advantages and became a 
man of fine erudition, while he was for many 
years a successful and popular teacher in the 
schools of Stark county. He finally accepted a 
clerkship in a dry-goods store in Canton. He 
then' formed a partnership with Charles R. 
Cilasser, they having stores in Canton and 
Uniontown. and later he became associated 
with his cousin, Levi Schaefer, in the estab- 
lishing of a dry-goods store in this city, while 
they also maintained several branch stores in 
various parts of the county. Mr. Feather with- 
drew from this line of enterprise when he was 
elected county treasurer, and he was thereafter 
ch.osen as his own successor on two occasions, 
thus serving three terms and giving a most able 
and acceptable administration of the fiscal af- 
fairs of the county. He was distinctively one 
of the representative citizens and successful 
and public-spirited business men of the citj- of; 



754 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Canton. He was one of the principal stock- 
holders in the City National Bank, having been 
one of its organisers, while he had valuable 
real-estate holdings in Canton and elsewhere in 
the county, having laid out three additions to 
the city and thus having contributed materially 
to its substantial growth and upbuilding-. His 
attractive old homestead is still standing, be- 
ing located at the corner of Cleveland a\enue 
and F'eather street, the latter thoroughfare 
having been named in his honor. The present 
brick building replaced the original frame 
dwelling, which was of the colonial style of 
architecture, with massive Doric pillars orna- 
menting its facade. Mr. Feather was a stanch 
Republican in his political proclivities from the 
time of the organization of the party, and he 
wielded marked influence in local affairs of a 
public natiu'e. He married Miss Elizabeth 
Holl. a daughter of Daniel Holl, concerning 
whom more specific mention is made in the 
sketch of his .son, John H., appearing on other 
pages of this work. Mr. Feather was sum- 
moned into eternal rest on the 8th of February. 
]888, having been an earnest and zealous mem- 
ber of the Lutheran church. His wife survived 
him by a number of years, her death occurring 
in August, 1896, at the age of sixty-nine years. 
She was a woman of noble and gracious char- 
acter, gentle and kindly in all the relations of 
life and ever seeking to be helpful to others, 
making no discrimination in the matter of so- 
cial precedence or mere temporal success, and 
thus having sincere affection and regard of 
rich and poor alike, for in her daily walk and 
conversation she exemplified her deep Christian 
faith, — a faith tliat made faithful in thought, 
word and deed. She was an active and zealous 
worker in the Lutheran church and her life was' 
one of distinct spiritualitv and consecration. 
She was tlie mother of three children, namel}' : 
John, who died in infancy ; Frances R., of Can- 
ton, and Mary E., widow of the subject of this 
memoir. John Feather, grandfather of Mrs. 



Allen, was a colonel of a regiment of militia 
during the war of the Revolution, and he died 
at the home of his adopted daughter, Mrs." 
FLirriet Llarter, in Plain township. Stark coun- 
ty. Ohio. Mrs. Allen resides in the city of Can- 
ton, and is surrounded by a wide circle of de- 
vcUed friends, taking a prominent part in the 
social life of the community, while she is a 
de\oted and active member of the Lutheran 
chiHxh, but her religious views are broader 
than the tenets of any one church. Of her two 
children it ma\- ht said that John F. is engaged 
in business in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, while Stuart I. is at the time of this 
writing a student in Canton, Ohio. John F. 
was educated at the University of Cleveland, 
Ohio. After leaving there he went to Cali- 
fornia and entered Belmont Military Academy, 
but fbout a vear after he was admitted to this 
institution he met with the misfortune to have 
his left arm shattered by the accidental dis- 
charge of his gun, necessitating amputation. 
T!ie heroism and self-possession displayed l)y 
t!ie young man on this occasion was remarked 
upon by one of the famous surgeons of Amer- 
ica, who performed the amputation, as being 
the most marvelous e\'er witnessed by him dur- 
ing his thirty-three years experience as a sur- 
geon. This misfortune, together with other 
occu''rences, changed the plans he had formeil 
as to a course at Flarvard ITniversity and he 
returned home and read law for a period and 
is now connected with the legal department of 
the Fidelity Title and Trust Company of Pitts- 
burg, Pennsvlvania. 



ROBERT S. ELLISON was born in the 
town of Philippi, West Virginia, on the 29th 
of November, 1831, this being prior tO' the 
separation of that state from the Old Domin- 
ion, and his death occurred in the city of Can- 
ton on the 1st of May, 1898. He was a son 
of Zachariah Ellison, who was a direct de- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



755 



scendant of Gideon Ellison, one of the mem- 
bers of the William Penn colony of Friends, or 
Onakers, who came to America from Eng'land 
in 1680 and \Aho settled in New Kent county, 
\'irof;nia. The descendants, many of whom 
remain trxlay members of the Society of 
Friends, are now found widely disseminated 
through the middle and western states. The 
parents of our subject settled on a farm near 
Philippi, Barbour county. West Virginia, the 
family homestead being- located on a high hill 
overlooking the town and commanding a fine 
view of the surrounding coimtr\'. In later 
years the spot being- historically notable as be- 
ing the exact place, during tlie early part of 
the war of the Rebellion, where the Union 
fcjrces planted their cannon to shell the town. 
Zachariah Ellison became seriously opposed to 
the institution of human slavery as existing in 
the Old Dominion, and this led to his leaving- 
that section in the year 1832 and removing to 
Portage county, Ohio. Flis wife carried the 
-ubject of this memoir in her arms, he being 
an infant of about one year at the time, and 
she rode on horseback during the long and 
weary o\-erland journey, there being no roads 
then constructed for the accommodation of ve- 
hicles. They located on a tract of wild land 
in Portage county, where the father improved 
a good farm, and there he and his wife passed 
the residue of their lives, honored by all who 
knew them and being consistent members of 
that noble organization with which they were 
identitied by birthright, the Society of Friends. 
They became the parents of ten children, of 
whom Robert S. was the ninth in order of 
birth, and of the number two are living at the 
present time. 

Robert S. Ellison was reared under the 
sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm and his 
early educational privileges were such as were 
afforded in the common schools of the locality. 
At the age of nineteen years he entered upon 
an apprenticeship at the shoemaker's trade, in 



which line he became an expert workman. He 
continued to follow the same for a few years in 
Ohio and then returned to his birthplace, at' 
Philippi, West Virginia, where he engaged in 
the manufacturing of boots and shoes. There, 
on the 9th of April, 1861, was solemnized his 
marriage to Miss Sarah H. Cool, daughter of 
William and Catherine Cool, of that place, 
wdiere she was born and reared, the date of her 
birth having been November 10, 1838. After 
the close of the Civil war Mr. Ellison again 
came to Portage county, Ohio, locating in the 
village of Atwater, on the western reserve, 
where he opened a shoe store, remaining in 
business there eighteen years. Afterward he 
came to Canton, Stark county, where he de- 
voted several years to his trade and to the per- 
fecting of his patent iron shoe lasts, which 
are now in use not only throughout the United 
States and Canada, but also in the West Indies 
and other foreign countries. The well 
equipped factory is being conducted for the es- 
tate by his two sons, who are numbered among 
the reliable and able business men of the city 
and who are fully maintaining- the high pres- 
tige of the honored name which they bear. 
Mrs. Ellison survives her husband, as do also 
the one son and one daughter. The latter, 
Mrs. Ola E. Caldwell, is the wife of William 
D. Caldwell, of Canton ; Claude C. has charge 
of the business; Wylie D. died July 16, 1903. 
Mr. Ellison was a typical Virginian, very 
tall in stature and genial and kindly in his in- 
tercourse with his fellow men, while his name 
is known to shoe dealers in every state in the 
Union, standing as a synonym of the most ex- 
alted integrity and honor. He greatly light- 
ened the labors of those engaged in the manu- 
facture and repairing of shoes through the in- 
vention of his useful and valuable devices, and 
it is gratifying to know that his success in tem- 
poral affairs was of pronounced order. He 
was public-spirited and benevolent, but was al- 
together unassuming, taking men at their real 



756 



OLD LANDMARKS 



valuation and being tolerant in his judgment. 
He was a niemljer of the Society of Friends by 
birthright, his widow being a member of the 
First Methodist Episcopal church of Canton. 
In politics Mr. Ellison gave his allegiance to 
the Democratic party from the time of attain- 
ing his majority until he was called from the 
scenes of life's labors, and fraternally he was 
identified with the Knights of the Maccabees. 
His home life was ideal and to those who were 
nearest and dearest to him in the sacred pre- 
cincts of the home must remain a measure of 
compensation for his love in the memory of his 
noble and kindlv life. 



FRANK C. FARWICK, of the West End 
Notion Company, Canton, hails from far-away 
Germany, where his birth occurred on the 17th 
day of August, 1871, being the son of Frank 
and Lizzie (Schriever) Farwick. He was 
brought to the United States when a mere child 
and grew to mature years in Newport, Ken- 
tucky, in which city his parents located after 
reaching this country, and in the public schools 
of which he received his educational training. 
On quitting school young Frank Farwick found 
employment in the Deuber watch case works at 
Newport, and when the company, in 1888, 
moved its plant from that city to Canton, Ohio, 
he was given the position of inspector, the du- 
ties of which he discharged until 1897. Dur- 
ing the period of great business depression, 
when the factory was running but three or four 
days a week, Mr. Farwick peddled odds and 
ends from house to house, and his success in 
this kind of business finally led him to form 
a partnership with J- J. Aurerdrum in the gen- 
eral notion trade. They began business by 
investing a modest sum of money in notions, 
and each witli his pack would take a street and 
sell from house to house, in this way making a 
thorough canvass of the residence portions of 
the city. They purchased their stock from the 



wholesale house of W. A. McCrea and prose- 
cuted their sales with such energy and suc- 
cess that by February, 1897, they were able to 
locate a stand ol their own, selecting for the 
same a small room, fourteen by twenty-seven 
feet in size, on West Tiiscarawas street, just 
opposite their pi^eseut place of business. Bor- 
rowing about five hundred dollars with which 
to purchase goods, they stocked their room 
with a fine line of notions, but the success of 
the enterprise proved so encouraging that with- 
in the short space of three months they found it 
necessary to seek more commodious quarters 
in which to conduct their large and constantly 
growing business. Accordingly, they removed 
at the end of the above time to No. 1221 West 
Tuscarawas street and took possession of a 
room twenty-seven by sixty feet in area, which 
they have since occupied under the name of 
the West End Notion Company. Laying in 
a largely increased stock of all kinds of no- 
tions, these energetic young men gave new life 
and impetus to the business, and from that time 
to the present it has continually grown in 
magnitude and importance until their store is 
now the leading establishment of the kind of 
the city. Meanwhile they added the store- 
room next door, which was connected with the 
main apartmeiit by an open passage in the 
rear, and subsequently at the end of the third 
year it was necessary to enlarge the capacity 
of their quarters, which they did by the addi- 
tion of a third room. The business continu- 
ing' to increase until the three rooms were 
insufficient, an addition fifty by thirty feet was 
afterwards made to the rear of the building, 
thus affording' ample space for the immense 
stock of notions, dr\- goods and hardware - 
which the firm handles, the last three lines hav- 
ing recently been added to the business. The 
growth of this enterprise from such an hum- 
ble beginning, and that too in so short a space 
of time, bespeaks for the proprietors energy, 
judgment and business qualifications of a very 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



m 



high order, and such as few young men of 
their ages possess. To Mr. Farwick's untiring- 
industry, progressive spirit and fine executive 
abihty is due a large measure of the success 
which- has attended the business from its in- 
ception. He is highly esteemed in commercial 
^-ircles. is well regarded by the public and it is 
a compliment worthily bestowed to claim for 
him a place in the front ranks of Canton's most 
enterprising and successful young business 
men. 

Mr. Farwick was married, May 17, 1893, 
in Canton, to Miss Laura M. Boeshart, a na- 
ti\-e of Stark county, the union being blessed 
with children as follows: Nobert L., eight 
years old ; Arthur, aged seven ; Gerald, de- 
ceased ; IMargaret, a miss of three years; and 
^Mildred, a young lady whose earthly experi- 
ence at this writing covers a period of six 
mouths. Mr. Farwick is a Republican in poli- 
tics, but is much more of a business man than 
a politician. He is Catholic in religion, and 
with his family belongs to St. Jnhn's church, 
Canton. 

•—-* 

THOMAS F. SNYDER, mechanic, edu- 
cator and at the present time editor of the 
Craftsman, one of the leading papers of east- 
ern Ohio, devoted to the subject of organized 
labor, is a native of Stark county, born in the 
city of Canton, where he now lives, on the nth 
day of February, 1871. John C. Snyder, his 
father, was born in Germany and at the age 
of twenty-six came to the United States and 
settled in Alliance, where he worked for a 
number of years as a wagon-maker. Cather- 
ine Neiberd, wife of John C. Snyder and moth- 
er of the subject, was born and reared near 
Salem, Ohio, and at this time is living at Can- 
ton, her husband having died in the year 1891. 

After attending the public schools of his na- 
tive city until the age of thirteen, Thomas F. 
Snyder learned the moulder's trade and fol- 



lowed the same in Canton and elsewhere until 
his twenty-fifth year. Having always been 
a reader and thinker, he became interested in 
educational matters, and feeling the need of 
more thorough mental discipline than was af- 
forded b}' his limited experience in the common 
schools, he entered, in 1898, Dennison Uni- 
versity, \\here he pursued the higher branches 
of learning for a period of one year. Leaving 
college, he took up the study of medicine, but 
not finding the profession to his taste he aban- 
doned it after a few months and engaged in the 
work of the university extension. In this ca- 
pacity he traveled over a large part of the east- 
ern states, lecturing and organizing circles, and 
the years Nvhich he devoted to this mo\'ement 
were among the most pleasant and profitable 
of his life. The Avork brought him in contact 
with the best class of people, such as students, 
teachers and men and women of much more 
than ordinary culture, and the experience 
proved highly educational to him in many 
ways. Resigning this position after three 
years' faithful serAice, he returned home and 
entered the employ of the Aultman Manufac^ 
turing Company, with which he remained the 
three years follcHving. 

From an early age Mr. Snyder has been 
greatly interested in the labor movement, and 
he has studied the subject in its ever}- rela- 
tion most carefully and critically. A warm 
friend and earnest advocate of organized la- 
bor, he decided while in the employ of the 
Aultnian Company to establish a paper which 
should be an exponent of its principles and 
through the medium of which the thoughts of 
the best writers on sociological and kindred 
subjects might be given publicity. Meeting 
with hearty encouragement on the part of his 
friends and co-workers, he finally launched the 
enterprise and in due time the first number of 
the Craftsman made its appearance, its recep- 
tion by laboring men and by the public in gen- 
eral being very flattering. For some months 



758 



OLD LANDMARKS 



he issued the Craftsman while attending to his 
other duties, but the patronage continuing to 
increase,, he finally, in October, igo2, resigned 
his position and since that time has devoted his 
entire attention to the paper, which under his 
able management has become not only a reflex 
of the thought of organized labor in Canton, 
but to all appearances a permanent fixture in 
the domain of state journalism. Mr. Snyder 
is a clear, concise writer, and his familiarity 
with the labor movement in its every phase and 
bearing enables him to speak in relation to the 
matter as one ha^'ing authority. The Crafts- 
man is a neat, well-edited sheet, filling a long- 
felt want in this city and, judging from the 
hearty reception of the first number and its con- 
tinued growth in public favor, the indications 
are that it will prove quite successful as a 
business enterprise, to say nothing of its influ- 
ence and helpfulness as an educational force 
among- the classes it is especially designed to 
l^enefit. 

In addition to his duties as editor Mr. Sny- 
der is accredited business agent for about forty 
labor unions in Canton alone, and his ability 
and marked influence in those organizations is 
said to have successfully averted many strikes 
and adjusted all difilculties resulting therefrom 
irt a manner eminently satisfying to all parties 
concerned. Mr. Snyder's popularity extends 
beyond the sphere to which his specific work is 
confined, and his every relation with the peo- 
ple is that of a man whose aims have always 
been correct and whose integrity has ever been 
above adverse criticism. In politics he sup- 
ports measures and principles which in his 
judgment best conserve the public good, and he 
casts the ballot regardless of party ties, lieing 
in the most liberal sense of the term an inde- 
pendent. He believes in religion and recog- 
nizes in the church a powerful agency for the 
good of society and the state, but has little use 
for the cold, dead formalism characteristic of 
manv creeds and thinks the numerous lines of 



partition wiiich now separate God's people 
should be swallowed up in a more liberal and 
a more universal faith. Formerly he was a 
member of the First Baptist church of Canton, 
but at the present time he is not identified with 
any congregation, though contributing liberally 
to religious and charitable institutions and us- 
ing his best endeavors to promote the universal 
brotherhood of man upon one common plane 
of opportunity. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON MILLER, di- 
rector of the Stark county infirmary and hold- 
ing an important clerical position with one of 
the leading business houses of Canton, is a 
native of this city, born at the family home. 
729 South [Market street, on June 21, 1863. 
His fatlier, Joseph ]\liller, A\as a renns}i- 
vanian, grew to maturitv in his natixe state, 
recei\'ed a gyod eilucation in the public sch(iols 
of the same and until coming to Ohio folliiwed 
agriculture for a livelihood. About the year 
1848 he changed Iiis residence to Stark county, 
and for sometime thereafter was employed in 
the shojjs of C. Anltman & Company, where 
finally he rose to the responsible position of 
superintendent. He was an energetic, capable 
business man of fine executive ability, enjoyed 
the confidence of the large and wealthy firm 
and stood high in the esteem of the people of 
his adopted city. He married, in Canton, Miss 
Elizabeth Eckert, a native of Pennsylvania 
who came to this city in childhood with her 
father, John Eckert, the union resulting in the 
birth of nine children, namely: Ada, deceased 
wife of Conrad Shade: ^Irs. Rena Richardson, 
of Canton; George F., of New York city: 
Charles, Henry and Kate died in their infancy; 
Thomas J., of this re\-iew. and Joseph H., as- 
sistant superintendent of the Bucher & Gibbs 
Plow Works, Canton. Joseph Miller died in 
this city in 1869, at the age of forty-five: his 
wife sur\ived him a considerable length of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



759 



time, departing this life when aliout seventy- 
two years old. 

The early life of Thomas INIiller was spent 
in Canton and after attending- the public 
schools until his sixteenth year he secured em- 
ployment in the C". Aultman it Company shops, 
where he held a position during the ensuing 
nine years, the meanwhile completing a full 
business course by attending of nights the Can- 
ton Commercial Colleg'e. At the expiration of 
the time noted he severed his connection with 
the -Vultm.'in Company and engaged with 
Charles Rumpf, proprietor of the Globe Cloth- 
ing House of this city, but after remaining a 
short time behind the counter he resigned his 
clerkship to accept a position with Charles N. 
Vicary. in whose employ he continued about 
one year. In 1898 Mr. Miller accepted a po- 
sition in the clothing store of \V. E. Homer, 
where he has since remained, his line of duty 
lieing very nnportant, much oi the responsi- 
l)ility of the business resting u[)on him. He 
lias discharged his every obligation faithfully 
and well, and possessing keen perception, ma- 
tiu'e judgment and business abilit)- of a high 
order, has made his services indispensible to 
his employer, whose interests he gTiards as 
carefu.lly as if they were his own. From 1894 
to 1900 inclusive Mr. Miller served as trustee 
of Canton township and in 1902 he was elected 
director of the Stark county infirmary, which 
responsil)le trust he still holds, his term of 
ofike expiring- in the year 1904. In his po- 
litical adherence Mr. Miller is a Republican, 
and of recent years he has manifested quite an 
active interest in local and state af¥airs, having 
rendered his ])art\- valuable service in a number 
of campaigns. Religiously he was reared in 
the Methodist church, to which faith he still 
subscribes, lieing with his ^vife a regular at- 
tendant of the First Methodist church of Can- 
ton. 

Mr. Miller Iielono-s to se\'eral secret and 
fraternal organizations and is an active and 



enthusiastic worker in the same ; he holds mem- 
bership with McKinley Lodge No. 431, Free 
and Accepted Masons; Lodge No. 11, Knights 
of Pythias, atid Washington Council, Junior 
Order of United American Mechanics, in all 
of which he has been honored with important 
official station. 

Referring to the domestic life of Mr. Miller 
it is learned that he was happily married on 
October 22, 1890, to Miss Lizzie Stocke. the 
daughter of Lawrence and Mar}- Ann (W'ay- 
ner) Stocke, the father an employe in the 
Diebold Safe XVorks of Canton. Two children 
have been born to this union, a daughter by 
the name of Gladys Catherine and a son. Edgar 
Ebert. 



THOMAS J. IlIDWELL was born in 
Boli\-ar, on the 19th of January, T862. being 
a son of Matthew and Elizabeth (Lenhart) 
Bidwell. Matthew Bidwcll was born in the 
^•illag■e of Trenton, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, 
in the year 1820, his parents having been 
numbered among the pioneers of that section 
of the state. As a boy he began driving the 
melancholy mules on the tow-path of the 
canals, and eventually he was given charge of 
a canal boat, and he folhjwed this line of work 
until his death, which occurred in 1864, when 
our subject was but two years of age. Eliza- 
beth (Lenhart) Bidwell was likewise born in 
Tuscarawas county, the place of her nativity 
having been the town of Canal Dover, and she 
is still living at Bolivar. They became the 
parents of four children, namely. Sadie, who 
is the wife of Benjamin Rennels, of Bolivar; 
John W., who is a resident of Mineral City, 
Tuscaraw-as county, this state; Joseph, who re- 
sides on a farm near Toledo, and Thomas, the 
immediate subject of this sketch. 

.\s before stated, Thomas Bidwell was a 
mere infant at the time of his father's death, 
and owing to the exigencies of the case the 



760 



OLD LANDMARKS 



family became separated. As a child the sub- 
ject was reared by his mother in the town of 
Bolivar, Tuscarawas county, and there it was 
his privilege to attend the public schools until 
he had attained the age of sixteen years, after 
which he engaged in teaching in the district 
schools, successfully following the pedagogic 
profession for a period of five years and in the 
meanwhile de\-otmg his attention to continuing 
his own studies, by which means he rounded 
out his education in a practical way. He then, 
became associated with his brother Jolm W. 
in the establishing of .a confectionery business 
in the village of Bolivar, Tuscarawas county, 
and continued to be identified with this enter- 
prise until 1886, when he came to the city of 
Canton, where for four years he was engaged 
in the commission business, under the firm 
name cjf W J. Tiidwell it Company. He then 
withdrew from this line of trade and engaged 
in the insurance business herp, and eventually 
was appointed to his present position as dis- 
trict manager for the Aetna Life Insurance 
Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, his juris- 
diction including Stark county, and he has 
shown marked energy and discrimination in 
, handling the work assigned to him, securing 
the co-operation of able subordinate agents and 
greatly expanding the scope of the company's 
underwriting in this section of the state. 

In politics Mr. Bidwell has ever' accorded 
an uncompromising allegiance to the principles 
and policies of the Republican party and has 
taken an active interest in its cause. He served 
two terms as assessor of his ward, and for six 
years he was incumbent of the office of trustee 
of Canton township, while in 1903 he was 
nominated and elected to the office of citv 
treasurer of Canton. He and his wife are 
valued members of Trinity Reformed church, 
and fraternally he is identified with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Junior 
Order of United American Mechanics. 



On the 7th of January, 1883, Mr. Bidwell 
was united in marriage to Miss Minerva Bur- 
gert, who was born in Holmes county, this 
state, but who Avas a resident of Coshocton, 
Ohio, at the time of her marriage. She is a 
daughter of Tobias and Lydia Burgert, who 
came to Ohio in the pioneer days. He is now 
dead, w hile the mother lives in Holmes county, 
Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Bidwell have two chil- 
dren : Florence, who was born in Bolivar on 
the 4th of September. 1885, and who is a mem- 
ber of the class of 1904 in the Canton high 
school ; and Raymond, who was torn in Can- 
ton, on the 23d of April, 1884, and who is like- 
wise a student in the high school, as a mem- 
ber of the class of IQO^. 



HEi\RY N. FIRESTONE, altbongh 
young in yeans, is a worthy member of his fam- 
ily, and is of the fourth generation of the fam- 
ily 'n this county. He was born in Plain town- 
ship, December 15, 1866, on the farm on which 
he now lives and which is owned by him. His 
father was Hiram Firestone, who was also bnrn 
on the same farm and lived upon it up to the 
time of his death, in August, i88r, at the early 
age of forty-two years. His wife, the mother 
of the subject, was in her maidenhood Maggie 
]\IcDowell, sister of H. C. McDowell, an ac- 
conrplished business man. capitalist and exten- 
sive agriculturist of Plain township, a sketch 
of whose career will be found in another part 
of this volume. One of the sisters of the sub- 
ject was Nettie Firestone, now Mrs. C. A. 
Boettler and another was Mary E. Firestone, 
now Mrs. Edwin S. Correll. Mrs. Maggie 
(McDo\\-ell) Firestone died on the old home 
farm in November, 1S89, at the age of fifty- 
two years. The Firestones, McDowells, Boet- 
tlers and Corrells were among the early settlers 
and pioneers of the countv. ai>d are noted for 
their enterprise, thrift and probity. The ]ia- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



761 



ternal grandfather of Henry N. Firestone was 
Henry Firestone, a native of Colnmbiana coun- 
ty, Ohio, who, some seventy years ago, located 
upon the farm now owned and occupied by his 
grandson. He cleared and improved the place 
and cultivated it up to the time of his death, 
being fifty-six years of age when he died. 
Those who knew him describe him as an intel- 
lectual, honest, sagacious man, who took special 
pride in his family and never wearied of doing 
all in his power to advance the interests of the 
community of which he was an important part. 

Henry N. Firestone was reared upon the 
ancestral homestead, which lie now owns and 
occupies. His early life differed little from 
that of other boys of the period, except, per- 
haps, that he was much more studious and am- 
bitious than the average of his age. He was 
e.specially solicitous regarding the cultivation 
and. development of his mind and was earnest 
in all of his studies. He attended the public 
schools and mastered all of the branches taught 
in those institutions of learning before he had 
attained the age of sixteen years. He then 
attended the Dennison University at Gran^■ille. 
Ohio, for two years and later took a business 
course at the Capital City Commercial College 
of Columbus, Ohio. So well did he improve 
his time and talents in each of these institutions 
that his preceptors admitted that few youths 
had passed under their care better equipped to 
engage in the battle of life than Henry X. 
Firestone. 

On January 28, 1892, Mr. Firestone was 
united in marriage, at the home of the bride's 
parents in Plain township, to Miss Cora Smith, 
one of the most worthy, estimable and accom- 
plished young ladies in that part of Stark coun- 
ty. Her parents were I\Ir. and Mrs. H. M. 
Smith, who have resided in Stark county a 
number of years, though Mrs. Firestone is a 
native of Bethalta, Illinois, After marriage 
^Ir, and Mrs. Firestone established themseh-es 



at housekeeping on the old home place. They 
are the parents of three children, viz : Leto M., 
Jliram H. N. and Alaxine M., who are all 
handsome, well formed, intelligent children and 
give promise of adding new luster to the 
worthy name they bear. 

Politically Mr. Firestone is a Republican, 
active and energetic in the interests of the party. 
His zeal is due not to any personal ambition to 
become an ofiicial, but Ijecause he believes in 
good government and considers a Republican 
administration more conducive to it than any 
other. The only taste of official life he ever 
had was one term in the office of township as- 
sessor. He is a member of Middlebranch Tent 
No. 383. Knights of the INTaccabees, and of the 
Junior Order of United American Mechanics. 

One does not expect to find anything par- 
ticularly note\\'orthy in the career of a young 
man, thirty-six years of age, who was born on 
a farm and has resided upon the same place all 
his life: but the exemplary life led by the sub- 
ject of this sketch from his birth to the present 
time, the active, progressive career of his fa- 
tlier and his grandfather, the prominence of the 
family and of the families to which he is re- 
lated, entitle h.im to definite consideration in 
a work of this kind. Aside from this, his own 
native virtues commend him to public notice. 
An ol)edient son to his parents during their 
life lime, he is now a true husband, an indul- 
gent parent, an enterprising citizen and a man 
of real manly merit in every walk of life. Mr. 
Firestone has acquired a splendid reputation 
as a dairyman, his butter being considered the 
ne plus ultra in that line. He has had many 
noted patrons, ha\ing furnished butter to Will- 
iam McKinley while the latter was governor of 
Ohio and also during his residence in the White 
House at Washington. Among Mr. Firestone's 
present patrons are Mrs. McKinley, Justice 
Day and many other prominent citizens of' Can- 
ton and A'icinitv. 



762 



OLD LANDMARKS 



MATTHE\V CALDWELL was born in 
the family home in James street, in the city of 
Dubhn, Ireland, in December. 1826, being a 
son of John and Catherine Caldweh. John 
Caldwell was born in county Rosconnnon, Ire- 
land, and learned the trade of shoemaker and 
also that of tailor. After his marriage he re- 
nvned to the city of Dublin, where he con- 
tinued* to follow his trade until his death, 
whicli occurred about the year 1847. 'i'* wife 
also passing- away in that city. Both were 
devoted communicants of the Roman Catholic 
church, in whose faith they carefully reared 
their children, the mother having entered into 
eternal rest while the subject of this sketch 
\\as an infant. They were the parents of four 
children, and of the number the subject is now 
the only survivor. His sister Ann, the wife 
of \\'i]liam Bmwn, came with her huslxnul and 
our subject to America, and ]\Ir. and Mrs. 
Brown passed the remainder of their lives in 
Troy, New York. Two of their sons, David, 
who died in the cit\- of Albany, Xew York, 
and another one, who resides in Amsterdam, 
that state, became priests of the Catholic 
church. 

The subject of this sketch received his 
educational discipline in the parochial anil city 
schools of Dublin, and there he learned the 
shoemaking trade, in which he ser\'ed the seven 
years' apprenticeship which was then custo- 
mary, becoming- a thoroughly skilled workman. 
He continued to follow his trade in his native 
city until ]84(), when, in company with his 
sister and her husband, he embarked in Dublin, 
on the TOth of August, on the sailing sbi]-) 
"Catherine," which did not drop anchor in 
the port of New York city mitil thirty-three 
days later. On the voyage cholera broke out 
on board the ^•essel, and thirty-three persons 
succumbed to its ra\-ages. one entire familv 
being thus wijied out. After his arrival in 
New York city i\Ir. CaKlwell accompanied his 
sister and her husband to Trov, that stat'*^ 



where he worked at his trade for one year, 
within which time he was united in marriage 
to Miss Mary Brown. About this time V. R. 
Kimball, a tanner and shoemaker in Canton. 
advertised for three bootmakers, and ]\Ir. 
Caldwell learned of this opening through a for- 
mer employer in Troy, and this led to his com- 
ing to Canton, where he remained in the em- 
ploy of ]\Ir. Kimball for about eight years, 
after which he continued in the employ of 
Thomas Murray, a former foreman of ^Ir. 
Kimball, for about the same length of time, 
and thereafter he worked for Joseph Richards. 
About the year 1852 Mr. Caldwell purchased 
a plat of land, sixty-six b}' two Inmdred feet 
in dimensions, extending from Cleveland 
avenue back to Court street, and here he 
established a small shop, fronting on the 
former thoroughfare, where he began busi- 
ness on his own responsibility. He later moved 
the shop back on to Court street, and here he 
has ever since continued to be engaged in the 
work of his trade, except for a brief interval 
during the panic of 1873, when he was em- 
ployed in the Cleveland shops of the firm of 
Savage & Stearns, of Cleveland. INlr. Cald- 
well has controlled a representati\'e patronage 
from the start, and he is known and 
honored by the leading people of Canton, many 
of whom have been his patrons for years, while 
he is known as a man of unimpeachible integ- 
rity and marked intellectual acumen. Though 
advanced in vears he retains remarkable 
plivsical and mental vigor and his genial and 
kindly face is greeted with distinctive pleasure 
by his hosts of friends in the city and county 
in which he has made his home for so man}- 
years. .\!ioul 18S8 he erected his present 
comfortable and attractive residence on the lot 
purchased in i8:;2. the building facing Cleve- 
land avenue and being most eligibly located. 
In ])olitics ^{v. Caldwell is a stanch advocate 
of the principles of the Democratic party, in 
whose support he lias been arrayed from the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



763 



time of becoming' a naturalized citizen, liaving 
cast his first presidential vote for Stephen A. 
Douglas. He is a zealous and valued member 
of St. John's church, Roman Catholic, as is 
also his cherished and devoted wife, who has 
been to him a true companion and helpmeet. 
To them have been born six children, namely : 
Arthur, who is now a resident of the state of 
Texas ; Johanna, who remains at the parental 
home, as does also Katy; William D., who 
is a representati\e business man of Canton, 
where he is engaged in the dry-goods business, 
and v,ho married "Miss Ola E. Ellison; and 
Annie, who remains with her parents. 



HERIMAN F. RENZ was born in the 
kingriom of W'urtemberg, Germany, on the 6th 
of Noveml)er, 1867, the name which he bears 
having been identified with the history of that 
section of the empire for many generations. 
His parents, Louis and Caroline (Sitzler) 
Renz, were both born and reared in Wurtem- 
berg, where their marriage was solemnized and 
where nine of their children were born. The 
father serx-ed in the German army during' the 
period prescribed by governmental regulations. 
Becoming convinced that in the United States 
lietter opportunities would lie afforded his chil- 
dren for the rUtaining ut success in life, in 1872 
he and bis devoted wife severed the ties which 
Ijound them to home and fatherland and emi- 
grated to America, whither bad pre\'iouslv 
come their daughter Caroline, in company with 
her husband, Joseph Meyers. The family ar- 
rived in due course of time in the city of New 
York and thence came westward to Ohio, lo- 
cating in the city of Cleveland, where the 
father of our subject secured employment at 
his trade, that of carriage blacksmith, and in 
the Forest City of Ohio he C(^ntinued to re- 
side until bis death, which occurred on the ist 
of ^Jay, 1872. at which time he was fifty-six 
years of age. His wife entered into eternal 



rest on the 2d of March, 1887, at the age of 
sixty-six years. Of their ten children, eight 
are living at the present time and all are well 
established in life. In politics Mr. Renz was a 
stanch Republican from the time of becoming 
a naturalized citizen, and both he and his wife 
were devoted members of the Baptist church, 
being folk of sterling worth and unassuming- 
character and making the best possible pro- 
vision for their children, though, as the family 
was a large one and the inci.ime small in pro- 
portion, tlie sons were early compelled to as- 
sume individual responsibilities, self-reliance 
and definite effort being thus quickened into 
being, so that the discipline ])r(ned rather an 
impetus than a handicap. 

Herman F. Renz was a child of but four 
}'ears at the time of his parents" emigrati(^n to 
.\merica, and his boyhood days were passed 
in the city of Cleveland, where he attended the 
pu1)lic schools until he had attained the age 
of twelve years, since which time he has been 
self-supporting. At the age noted he secured 
employment, in an humble capacity, in the 
works of the L'pson Nut Company, of Clex'e- 
land, his (jbject being to learn the traile oi ma- 
chinist. He serxed a thorough ap]jrenticeship 
and early manifested a distinctive aptitude for 
mechanics, so that his advancement has lie- 
come the natural result <if his ability and 
fidelity. That his efforts were appreciated is 
best shown in the fact that he remained con- 
tinuiiusly in the emplov of this concern ft^r the 
long period of fourteen years, within which he 
become known as a thoroughly skilled me- 
chanic, having charge of the forging depart- 
ment of tiie institutiiin during the latter portion 
(if his connection therewith. In September, 
i8!)3. ]\fr. Renz came Id Canton and assumed 
bis present positidn ;is superintendent of the 
win'ks of the Canton Saw Company, of whch 
he later became a stockholder, ami he has done 
much to further the success of the enterprise 
through his technical and executive ability, 



764 



OLD LANDMARKS 



while be has the confidence and good will of 
both the officers and employes of the company. 
Mr. Renz is essentially a business man and per- 
mits no division of interests, though he is loyal 
to the duties of citizenship at all times and 
takes a proper interest in all that concerns the 
general welfare. Until within the past few 
years he gave his support to the Democratic 
party, but his study and observation of the 
trend of public affairs led him to differ with 
the organization in the matter of its financial 
policy, and wth the courage of his convictions 
he transferred his allegiance to the Republican 
party, of which he has since remained a sup- 
porter. 

In the city of Cleveland, on the 25th of Sep- 
tember, 1889, Mr. Renz was united in marriage 
to Miss Anna Angel, who was born and reared 
in that city, being a daughter of Henry and 
Katy (Lentz) Angel, both of whom are now 
deceased,' her father having been at one time 
a member of the board of police commissioners 
of Cleveland. The subject and his wife have 
one child, Harry Angel, who was born on the 
28th of July, 1892. 



ALBERT T. BOWMAN, V. S., is the 
son of George M. and Lucy (Thomas) Bow- 
man, the father a gallant soldier of the great 
Rebellion and at the present living in Colum- 
bus, this state. George ]\L Bowman was born 
and reared in Paris township, .Stark county, 
and at the youthful age of fourteen years en- 
tered the service of his country as a member of 
an .-irtillery company with which he shared the 
fortunes and vicissitudes of war until the star 
of rebellion went down at Appomattox. For 
some years after the war he followed painting 
and later came to Canton, where for a quarter 
of a century he labored as a machinist in the 
Wrought Iron Bridge Works of this city. In 
1893 he was appointed guard at the Ohio state 



penitentiary, Columbus, in which capacity he 
continued for a period of six years and at the 
expiration of that time returned to Canton, 
where he resided during the two years follow- 
ing. Lie was then made captain of the Ohio 
penitentiary hospital, which important position 
he '^till holds. Mrs. Lucy Bowman bore her hus- 
Ijand two children and departed this life at 
Canton in the year 1890. Eva, wife of Charles 
Herman, of Canton, is the older of the two 
children, th.e subject of this sketch being the 
second in order of birth. Subsequently, 1893, 
Mr. Bowman entered the marriage relation 
with Miss Jennie Henderson, of this county, a 
union without issue. George M. Bowman is 
a stanch Republican in politics and as such has 
long been a factor of no inconsiderable influ- 
ence in the councils of his party. Fraternally 
he is identified with the Knights of Maccabees 
and the Grand Ai"my of the Republic and in 
religion is a member of the Christian (or Dis- 
ciple) church. His father, Albert Bowman, 
was born and raised in tlie county of Stark and 
sjient his life within its borders as an honest, 
industrious tiller of the soil. He died a number 
of years ago, as did also his wife, who before 
her marriage bore the family name of Rash, 
Iwth being descendants of early pioneers. 

Dr. Albert T. Bowman was born March 
18, 1874, in Canton and received his element- 
ary education in the city schools. The train- 
ing thus acquired was afterwards supplemented 
by a special course in a private institution of 
learnir.g, after whicli he took up the study of 
\eterinary medicine and surgery with Dr. L. 
D. Blanchard, of Canton, under whose able 
instructions he continued for a period of two 
years. Actnatcd by a commendable desire to 
enlarge his professional knowledge, he subse- 
quently because a student in the celebrated On- 
tario Veterinary College at Toronto, Canada, 
one of the largest .-md most thorough institu- 
tions of the kind on the American continent, 
and there he prosecuted his studies and prac- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



765, 



tical \v(irk until completing the prescribed 
course, graduating with the class of 1893. 

On receiving his degree Dr. Bowman began 
the practice of his profession at Canton in 
partnership with his former preceptor, Dr. 
Blanchard, the firm thus constituted continuing 
during the eight years following. On the first 
of November, 1899, the subject opened an 
office of his own and since that time has built 
up a large business, as successful pecuniarily 
as it has been professionally. As a veterinarian 
Dr. Bowman stands in the front rank, with few 
equals and no superiors. He brought to his 
chosen calling a mind thoroughly disciplined 
by rigid professional training and large prac- 
tical experience under the direction of some of 
tlie ablest professors of the day, and it would 
indeed have been strange had his career been 
otherwise than successful. He has studied 
with the greatest care every authority bearing 
upon \eterinary practice, which with his own 
researches and investigations has enabled him 
to make progress such as the ordinary veterin- 
arian knows little about. He has reduced his 
treatment to a splendid science, and by reason 
of the success that has attended his efforts, as 
well as on account of the remedies which he 
has disco^•ered, his reputation has spread far 
beyond the confines of the city in which he 
lives. When the Spanish- American war broke 
out Dr. Bowman was one of the first young 
men in Canton to tender his services to the 
government, enlisting April 26, 1898, in Com- 
pany I, Eighth Ohio Volunteers. He accom- 
panied his command to Cuba, took part in the 
Santiago campaign and after the surrender of 
that stronghold was appointed veterinary sur- 
geon of the quartermaster's department, with 
orders to proceed at once to Tampa, Florida. 
He took charge of the several corralls at that 
place and discharged his duties scientifically 
and satisfactorily until November, 1898. Re- 
ceiving an honorable discharge at the clo.se of 
the war, he returned hcmie an<l resumed his 



practice, which, as already stated, has steadily 
increased in volume and importance to the 
present time. The Doctor is a member of the 
Santiago and Spanish-American War Veteran 
Societies and takes an active interest in their 
deliberations. He is also identified with the 
Free and Accepted Masons, Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Junior 
Order of United American Mechanics, and 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks frater- 
nities, in all of which he has been honored with 
high official stations. Politically he is a Re- 
publican of the most orthodox type, and de- 
votes much of his time to the party's interests 
both as an adviser in its councils and as a 
worker with the rank and file. 

On the 3d of July, 1895, in the city of Can- 
ton, was solemnized the ceremony which united 
in the bonds of holy wedlock Dr. Bowman and 
Miss Elsie Haines, daughter of J. M. H. and 
Mary (Yant) Haines. Dr. and Mrs. Bow- 
man are respected members of the Trinity Re- 
formed church of this city and are well known 
and popular in the best social circles of the 
community. They ha\e many warm friends 
and their pleasant home is the abode of a 
generous hospitality which is freely dispensed 
to all who see fit to share it. The Doctor is a 
young man in the vigor of his physical and 
mental powers antl bids fair to rise not only in 
the profession to which his life is being dex'oted 
but also as an enterprising citizen deeply in- 
terested in all that concerns the material de- 
velopment and moi-al welfare of his city and 
countv. 



CHARLES KRICHBAUM.— The orig- 
inal progenitor of the Krichbaum family in 
the new world was Johaimes Adam Krich- 
baum, who was born in Bavaria, Germany. 
The first record concerning the Krichbaum 
immigration to Pennsylvania is found in the 
records of that state. On the 14th of Septem- 



766 



OLD LANDMARKS 



l)er. 1727, the provincial council of Pennsyl- 
vania adopted the following resolutions : 

''The masters of vessels importing Germans 
and others from the continent of Euroi)e shall 
examine them whether they have leave granted 
tliem to masters of A-essels by the court of 
Great Britain for the importation of these 
foreigners, and that a list be taken of all these 
people, their several occupations and places 
from whence they come, and shall be further 
examined touching their intentions in coming 
hither ; and "that a writing be drawn up for 
them to sign, declaring their allegiance and sub- 
jection to the king of Great Britain and fidelity 
to the proprietary of this province, and that 
they demean themselves peaceably toward all 
his majesty's subjects and observe and con- 
form to the laws of England and the govern- 
ment of Pennsyhania." All male persons 
above the age of sixteen did repeat and sub- 
scribe their names or their marks to the follow- 
ing declaration : "^^'e subscribers, natives and 
late inhabitants of the Palatinate upon the 
Rhine and places adjacent, having transported 
ourselves and families into this province of 
Pennsyhania, a colonv subject to the crown of' 
Great Britain, in liopes and expectation of 
finding a retreat and peacealile settlement there- 
in, do solemly promise and engage that we will 
be faithful and bear true allegiance to his pres- 
ent majesty, King George II, and his succes- 
sors, kings of Great Britain, and will be faith- 
ful to the proprietors of this province, and that 
we will demean oursel\-es peaceably to all his 
said subjects and strictly observe and conform 
to laws of England and this province, to the 
utmost of our power." Thirty thousand 
names, mostly Germans, were subscril^ed to 
the foregoing declaration between 1727 and 
1776. and this record of the provincial council 
is the only one extant concerning German im- 
migration to Pennsylvania. On the 20th day 
of Sqjtember, 1749, the ship "Albany," with 
Robert Brown as master, arrived at Philadel- 



phia. Among the passengers on this ship were 
Hans Philip Kreighljaum (as the name was 
originally spelled), Johan \\'ilhelm Kreigh- 
bauni and Johaimes Adam Krieghbaum. and 
on the ship "Brothers," ^^'illiam Mc\^'air. 
master, which dropped anchor in Philadelphia 
September 22. 1752, arrived Johannes Conrad 
Kreighbauni, while the ship "Neptune," which 
arrived in the same city September 30. 1754, 
had'as a passenger Ebehart Kreighbaum. The 
passengers for this place were from Alsace- 
Lorraine, Darmstadt and Zweibrucken. J. 
Adam Kreighbaum arrived on the ship '"St. 
Andrew," on September 14, 185 1, James Aber- 
cromby ha\ing been master of the \essel. On 
this ship were eight Roman Catholics, ten 
Mennonites and the remainder Calvinists. It 
is to be noted that not one of the Kreighbaums 
al;o\ e mentioned was unable to sign his name, 
in accordance with the provisions made in tak- 
ing the oatli of allegiance, and thus each came 
A\ith an education fitting him to take part in 
the government of his adopted country and to 
assist in laying the foundaticms of our great 
republic. 

Johannes Adams Krichbaum. the original 
ancestor, settled on Tolpehocken creek in Berks 
county, Pennsylvania, before the Revolution, 
where he became the father of five sons and 
three daughters. The eldest of his sons, Adam. 
remained in Pennsylvania, as did also his son 
John, who occupied the old Pennsylvania 
homestead. The daughters also remained 
in Pennsvh-ania. The remaining sons, namely, 
Peter, John and William, came to Stark coun- 
ty, as near as can be ascertained, about tl^e 
year 181 1. From these three ancestors have 
sprung most of the Krichbaums in Stark coun- 
ty, and were the pioneers of the family in Ohio. 
Peter and William settled in the northern part 
of the county, and John in the southern part. 
Peter had three sons and one daughter, name- 
ly : Peter, John, Leonard and Motlena. Will- 
iam had two sons and three daughters, name- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



767 



!y: J<^lin. George, Christina, Barbara and 
Katie. The eldest of whose sons, George, was 
■' miniissioner of Stark county in 1837 and for 
:i niiniljer of years thereafter. He married 
Jxatharine Schutt, and has a large number of 
descendants in the county. John figures as the 
]jaternal ancestor of the subject of this sketch. 
He settled in southern Stark county, and was 
married to Elizabeth Emmet, a lady of Scotch- 
Irish descent, and they were the great-grand- 
])areuts of the subject of this review. This an- 
cestor, together with John Sherman, founded 
and built a Union church in southern Stark 
county known as the Sherman church, John 
Krichbaum being the head of the Lutheran 
church and John Sherman being the head of 
the Reformed church. John Krichbaum, the 
eldest son of this ancestor, married Hanna 
Trau.l, a daughter of Thomas Traul, who was 
a soldier in the Re\-olutionary army and fought 
luider the command of Washington and La- 
lavette; their eldest son, David Krichbaum, 
was the father of the subject; lie helped his 
father clear up the lands now known as the 
Krichliaum homestead. Subsequently by his 
' iwn efforts he became a school teacher, attend- 
ed school at Mt. Union College when the same 
was still a seminary, and for a number of years 
taught school. He became later in life a very 
fine mechanic and had a thriving business as a 
maker of guns and fire-arms, when he was 
killed accidentally on the South Market street 
crossing in the city of Canton on the gth day 
of January, 1866. He was a man of large in- 
fluence in the southern part of the count v. 
and was a man widely read and cognizant with 
all great public questions. He was married to 
Sarah Buchtel ; three children were born from 
their marriage, George, Charles, the immediate 
subject of this sketch, and Allen. 

The mother gave herself assiduouslv to the 
education of her children, all three of whom 
were graduated from Wooster Universitv. 



George has been a teacher in the city of Can- 
ton for over twelve years. Allan is a Presby- 
terian minister; a graduate of the Western 
Theological Seminary and was for many years 
the pa.stor of the First Presbyterian church at 
Barnesville, Belmont county, Ohio. He is now 
preaching at iVIorenci, Arizona, whither he has 
been compelled to go on account of failing 
health. The widow of David Krichbaum is 
still living in the southern part of Stark county. 
David Krichbaum was a Democrat and a great 
friend of Archibald McGregor; he was a 
Douglas Democrat ; was a man of the highest 
integrity, and one who held the confidence and' 
esteem of all classes of people in the county. 
[Tpon his graduation the subject received 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts. After leaving 
college Mr. Krichbaum was employed as a 
teacher of English, in the Pennsyhauia State 
Normal School, at Indiana, Pennsylvania, 
where he remained for one year. Subsequently 
he was for two years principal of the South 
Plum street school in Canton, Ohio. It was 
but natural that one so self-reliant and ambi- 
tious should early formulate definite plans for 
his future life work, and in 1885 Mr. Krich- 
baum began reading law in the-oftice of Judge 
William R. Day and Austin Lynch, and later 
he was graduated from the Cincinnati Law 
School as a member of the class of 1887, and 
was duly admitted to the bar of the state in that 
year. He then returned to Canton where he 
became associated in the practice of his pro- 
fession with Henry W. Harter, under the firm 
name of Harter & Krichbaum, and this alliance 
continued until the elevation of Mr. Harter to 
the bench ot the Stark count}- common pleas, 
the law firm of Harter & Kriclibaum having 
gained distincti\e prestige and the highest 
reputation for integrity ond efticiency. Of Mr. 
Krichbaum one who has noted him well speaks 
as follows: ''Mr. Krichbaum has shown him- 
self a careful and painstaking lawyer, and has 



768 



OLD LANDMARKS 



had large experience in state and United States 
courts. Aside from being a good lawyer, he 
is well read in the constitutional and political 
history of the L'nited States and is excelled by 
few men in scliolarly attainments." 

Mr. Krichbaum has always been an uncom- 
promising Democrat and has been a leader in 
his party. He. was president of the Young 
Men's Democratic Club of Canton during the 
agitation of the tariff question, and has been 
an effective and valued campaign speaker and 
worker. In iSqc he was the candidate of his 
party for the office of prosecuting attorney of 
Stark county, and was defeated by only a slight 
majority, this being during the McKinley- 
Warwick campaign. He has ever retained a 
deep interest in the cause of education ; he 
served two years as a member of the board of 
education in Canton, and is frequently called 
upon to address teachers' institutes in the coun- 
ty. He is widely and favorably known as an 
eloquent and forceful speaker on a wide range 
of subjects, historical, literary and political. 
He is at the present time a member of the board 
of trustees of his alma mater, W'ooster Uni- 
versity, having been elected to that position by 
the alumni of tlie institution. He is a lueniber 
of the Reformed church. 

Mr. Krichbaum was married, on .Vugust 
20, 1890, to Elizabeth Scott Gans, a graduate 
of Hiram College and the youngest daughter 
of the lite Dr. D. L. Gans, of Sparta, this 
county. Mr. Krichbaum is a man of strong 
and forceful induitluality, is an able advocate 
and counsellor, being thoroughly read in the 
science of jurisprudence and in addition is a 
man of fine literary attainments, and his chai^- 
acter is one which has begotten the highest con- 
lidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. He 
was a warm admirer of the lamented President 
McKinley, Canton's distinguished and loved 
citizen, and on Saturday, September 28, 1901, 
he read before the Stark County Bar Associa- 
tion a most beautiful and appreciative memo- 



rial address in \erse concerning the martyred 
President, the tribute being written in chaste 
and perfect diction. 



JOHN L, STONEI^— Whatever else may 
be said of the cause of prohibition, no one can 
justly criticise the disinterested sincerity of the 
greater part of its advocates, their motives in 
espousing the cause being seldom either per- 
sonal or selfish. Their abhorrence of liquor and 
desire to prohibit its manufacture and sale is in 
nearly e^■ery instance the result of patriotic and 
humanitarian motives and purposes. As in 
every worthy cause, there may be many un- 
worthy advocates, Imt there is so little incenti\-e 
to insincerity or hypocrisy in either the cause 
or its advocacy, that only those who have a 
motive in doing so, charge them with either. 
The subject of this sketch, John L, Stoner, of 
Plain township. Stark county, is one of the 
most imcompromising and ardent advocates of 
the prohibition cause. He considers it the lead- 
ing issue of the da}', of the nation and of the 
race. In his opinion there is no subject in 
either politics, religion or law that in any de- 
gree whatever compares with it, 

John L. Stoner was born in Lancaster coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, ]\Iay 21, 1831, and was only 
about one year old when his parents brought 
him to Stark county, Ohio. In this county he 
was reared and educated and he has since con- 
tinuously resided here. In early life he learned 
the trade of a tanner and for some years fol- 
lowed that vocation, but soon turned his atten- 
tion to agricultural pursuits, in which calling 
he has been most successful. He has seen 
Stark county from his early childhood and wit- 
nessed its wonderful growth and development, 
has witnessed the gradual change of the face of 
the county from a dense forest into fields- of 
waving" grain and green pastures and has done 
as much as any man now living in the county 
to make it what it is. 




JOHN L. STONER GROUP. 



p 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



769 



The parents of John L. Stoner were Jacob 
and Elizabeth (Lieb) Stoner, natives of Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, and among the 
very earliest settlers of Stark county, Ohio, 
having settled here in 1832, more than seventy 
years ago. The}' were the parents of a large 
family of children, most of whom grew to ma- 
ture years, each receiving a fair school educa- 
tion. The greater part of their lives was de- 
voted to clearing, cultivating and improving 
their land. They were intellectual, moral, duty- 
loving people, whose lives were ever worthy 
example to the young generalh', but to their 
own sons and daughters particularly. Jacob 
Stoner, through the use of strong liquors, did 
not make a decided success in life. Liquor was 
used in the field, and in fact in all works, caus- 
. ing considerable drunkenness. His children, 
seeing what the liquor habit had cost their fa- 
ther, they from childhood up have fought the 
liqui^r ciu'se and have been strong advocates of 
prohibition. About fifty-five years ago he 
joined the Sons of Temperance and lived close 
to its teachings for five years, when through 
the urgent solicitations of an acquaintance, he 
liroke the bonds and thereafter was a fre- 
quent imbiber of strong drink, having but little 
luear.s at the time of his death. He died in the 
eightieth year of his age, while his wife had 
preceded him into eteruity some years. 

Of the land in Jackson and Plain townships 
John L. Stoner is, with his sons, the owner of 
some seven hundred acres, and it was by close 
application to the cause of temperance that they 
ha\e l)een able to accumulate so large a tract of 
laml, neither Mr. Stoner nor either of his sons 
ha\e ever used tobacco or intoxicating liquors 
since growing to maturity. The greater part of 
tliis land is well improved and under cultiva- 
tion, and the farm buildings are large, substan- 
tial and conveniently arrangefl. Agriculture 
and live-stock raising is and has been Mr. 
Stoner's calling through life and he has been 
\'ery success tul in both branches of business, 

48 



the thrift and intelligence he brings to bear 
upon his business being well exemplified in the 
arrangements which prevail on all parts of his 
place and in the condition of his stock. He is 
an up-to-date, progressive farmer who makes 
use of every discoxer}' made in the interest of 
agriculture or stock raising, the result being 
that he has accumulated a very comfortable 
competency for himself and family. 

On October 17, 1852, John L. Stoner was 
united in marriage to Miss Sally Essig, a na- 
tive of Plain township, a lady of refinement, in- 
telligence and judgment, whose many sterling 
qualities have commended her to her relatives, 
friends and acquaintances. They are tne par- 
ents of three sons, one of whom, Addison, died 
in childhood : the others are Levi A. and Aaron 
J., each of whom is well educated, thrift)- and 
prosperous. ^ 

In religion, Mr. Stoner is a member of the 
Lu.tiieran church, but makes adherence to the 
precepts of the Golden Rule the guide of his 
conduct in life. He believes in an acti\e re- 
ligion, one that permeates, governs and rules 
every thought, action and aspiration in life, 
that is something more than mere attendance 
upon church services, prayer and psalm sing- 
ing, supplemented by a contribution box and a 
deep and abiding interest in its contents. In 
the opinion of Mr. Stoner, the one great ques- 
tion now before the people of this country of 
every faith and of no faith, religious, skeptical 
or atheistic, is that of prohibition. He believes 
that, compared with the ex'ils of the liquor 
trafic of the present day, those of slavery were 
slight and trivial, and it is a surprise to him 
that so crying an evil can exist without arous- 
ing the slumbering conscience of the jjetter 
element of the American people. He is con- 
fident that there will l;>e an awakening upon .this 
subject and he is not only patiently waiting the 
approach of that happy clay, Ijut doing every- 
thing that lies in his power to hasten its coming. 
He is known far and wide for his zeal in the 



770 



OLD LANDMARKS 



cause, and his neig"l:l5ors, even those who are 
most strenuously opposed to his views, not only 
respect his sincerity, Init his sentiments. He 
feel'i that ever yood cause must have its mar- 
tvrs, as has been time and again jjroven in the 
historv of tlie past. In modern times martyrs 
<ire rarelv called u])on to die for opinion's sake, 
hut if the\' were, many would be found just as 
willing to do so now as formerly. Death, hiow- 
e\'er, is not the true test of martyrdom. In 
the cause of al)olition John Brown was not the 
only nmrtyr. and doubtless before the real bat- 
tle of the present issue is fought and won there 
will lie others: but throughout the entire land, 
no more earnest, sincere and consistent worker 
in the cause can lie found than John L. Stoner. 



A^\LENTINE L. NEY^was born in the 
city of Canton, Ohio, on the nth of October, 
1854, being a son of Valentine and Elizabeth 
Xev, l)oth of whom were born and reared in 
the kingdom of Ba\aria, Germany, where their 
marriage was solemnized. The former was 
born in the year i8o_^ and his wife in 1807. In 
1S40 they se\-ered the ties which bound them to 
home and fatherland and emigrated to 
America, landing in Mew York city, whence 
they made their \\:\y by railroad to Pittsburg 
and then onward by wagon to New Baltimore, 
Stark county, Ohio, in which vicinity Mr. Ney 
Avas engaged in farming for a period of ten 
years, and then, after residing for a short inter- 
val in die city of Canton, he removed to a 
farm four miles south of the city, in Canton 
townshi]). where he remained until 1888, when 
he retired from acti\e lousiness and again 
took up his residence in Canton, where he died 
in the year 1890, at the venerable age of 
eighty-seven years, his wife having passed 
away in 1 89 r . at the age of eighty-two years, 
both having l)een consistent and devoted mem- 
bers of the (ierman Reformed church, while 
Mr. Xey was a stanch ailvocate of the princi- 



ples and policies of the Democratic party. Of 
the children of this union we incorporate the 
following record : Frederick is a resident of 
W hitley county, Indiana, and is at the present 
time incumbent of the office of county com- 
missioner : Catherine is the wife of Charles 
\ olzer, of Canton: Louisa is the wife of Alex- 
ander Howenstine, of this city; Jacob also is a 
resident of Canton, as is Caroline, the wife of 
John Frey; Sarah is the wife of John Stucker, 
of Canton tcwnship: Elizabeth is the wife of 
John \'olzer, of Canton ; and Valentine L. is 
the immediate subject of this sketch. 

\A'hen Valentine L. Ney was a mere child 
his parents removed from Canton to the farm 
four miles south of the city, and there he at- 
tended the district schools during the winter 
terms until he had attained the age of seven- 
teen A'ears, while during the summer seasons 
he assisted in the work of the farm. At the 
age of sixteen he entered upon an apprentice- 
ship at the carpenter trade, ha\-ing early mani- 
fested a distinct mechanical genius, and he soon 
became an expert artisan in the line, and for a 
long term of years devoted his attention to 
work as a journeyman and a contracting 
builder, having erected several hundred houses 
in this section of the state, principally in Stark 
county, where he attained a high reputation 
as an. able and trustworthy contractor. In the 
meanwhile he became the in\-entor of several 
useful devices in a mechanical line, and in at- 
tempting to secure patents on the same was 
invol\-ed in litigation, which was carried on for 
about four years, he finally winning out. In 
1892 he formed a co-partnership with Rol)ert 
Oslermeier, tliev engaging" in Inisiness as archi- 
tects in Canton, as the firm of Xey & Oster- 
meier, continuing for two years. In 1893 Mr. 
Ney organized the \'. L. Ney ^Manufacturing 
Com])anv, for the manufacture of his in- 
\-entions. he becoming treasurer of the com- 
pany and continuing- so to the present and it 
is largely due to his able efforts that the con- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



771 



cern has attained so great a success, its prod- 
ucts iKJw finding- a ready demand in the most 
dixerse sections of tlie Union. Air. Ney is also 
largely interestcil in city real estate in the north 
end. which he is rapidly improving, ^^'hen the 
impro\ements are completed he will have one 
of the finest properties in Canton. 

In politics Mr. Ney has ever heen stanchly 
arrayed in support of the principles and policies 
of the Democratic party, though he has ne\-er 
desired the honors or emoluments of political 
office, liis first vote was cast for William 
Allen fur governor of Ohio, at the time of his 
nomination for a second term. He united with 
the Reformed church when fourteen years of 
age, while his wife is a memher (jf the Metho- 
dist Episcopal church. 

On the 28th of October, 1890, Mr. Ney 
\\'as united in marriage to ]Miss Edith Holm, 
daughter of George and Catherine (Buchtel) 
Holm, of Canton, and of this union two chil- 
dren ha\e been born, Wendell, who is eight 
years of age. and \'aleda, aged five years at the 
time of this writing. 



MAiiLON G. MARSHALL.— The orig- 
inal iH'ogenitors of the jNlarshall famih' in this 
line came from England in the early part oi the 
eighteenth century, where they made settle- 
ment on the Delaware coast and in the state of 
A'irginia. On the coast of the Old Dominion 
thus located Aaron Marshall, great-grandfa- 
ther of him whi_)se name initiates this rexiew, 
and there he passed the remainder of his life, 
liecoming an influential citizen of that state, 
x\ hich has figured as the cradle of so much of 
ovu" national historx'. His son Joseph, grand- 
father of the sul)ject, was Ijorn in Virginia, and 
was there reared and educated. As a young 
man he emigrated thence to Ohio and became 
one of the earlv pioneers of Carroll countv. 
haxing made the long trip o\er the mountains 
with teams and wagons. He entered a tract of 



land in that count}-, near the present village of 
Carrollton, and later removed to a pioneer farm 
near New Somerset, Jefferson county, where 
he de\'el(.!ped a good property and gained a 
position of prominence and honor in the com- 
munity, lliere he passed the residue of his 
long and useful life, entering into eternal rest 
in 1864. at the age of about seventy-two years. ' 
In the crucial epoch leading up to and culmin- 
ating in the Civil war he was an uncompromis- 
ing abolitionist and fearless in the expression 
of iris sentiments in regard to the abhorrent 
institution of human slaverv, and he assisted 
materially in the operations of the famous "un- 
derground railwa}-," through the means of 
which manv a poor slave was assisted to free- 
dom. To tiie humane work noted life contrib- 
uted liberally both of money and personal ser- 
vice, his greatest desire being to witness the 
ajjolition of the institution of sla\erv in his na- 
tive land, while his patriotism was of the lof- 
tiest order. At the time of his death two of 
his sons, Daniel and Silas, w ei'e rendering act- 
ive service as meml.iers of the Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry in the Rebellion, so that it is evident 
that the sentiments of the father found insistent 
assertion in the minds and ser\'ices of the sons. 
The paternal grandmother of the subject was 
of Scotch nativity, her maiden name having 
been Mary Welch, and she accompanied her 
parents on their emigration to America when 
a child. She stu'vix'ed her diusband by a few 
years, passing away about 1869. Both were 
members of the Christian church, (irandfather 
Marshall was originally a \\'hig in politics, Init 
transferred his allegiance to the Republican 
party at the time of its organization, as the 
avowed opponent of ' further extension of 
slavery. 

Daniel Marshall, father of the subject of 
this sketch, was born on the homestead farm 
near Carrollton, Carroll county. Ohio, Febru- 
ary 2, 1824. and his educational advantages 
were such as were comn^/jnlv afforded the 



'72 



OLD LANDMARKS 



farmer boys of the pioneer days in this state. 
He was a boy at the time of his parents' re- 
moval to Jefferson county, and there he was 
reared to manhood. There also \vas solemnized 
his marriage to Miss Susan Billman, who was 
born in that county, in 1824, being a daugh- 
ter of John Billman, one of the sterling 
pioneers of that county. Daniel Marshall be- 
came the owner of a valuable farm near Ham- 
mondsviile, Jefferson county, and there con- 
tinued to be identified with agricultural pur- 
suits and dealing in stock of all kinds until he 
entered the army to fight for his country. In 
1S65 he moved to Bayard, Columbiana coun- 
ty, and a few j-ears later located on a farm near 
the same place. In 1891 he removed to 
Minerva, Stark county, where he resided until 
his death, which occurred on the nth of Febru- 
ary, 1901. He was a man of fine mentality 
and inriexible integrity of character and ever 
commanded uniform confidence and esteem. 
He identified himself with the Republican 
party at the time of its organization and ever 
afterward continued a stalwart advocate of its 
cause. His religious faith was that of the Dis- 
ciples church, in whose work he was active 
and zealous, and of the same his widow has 
long been a devoted member. She now resides 
in the city of Cleveland, and is a type of the 
noble pioneer women of the old Buckeye state. 
As before noted, Daniel Marshall served as a 
soldier during the Rebellion. Of the children 
of Daniel and Susan (Billman) Alarshall we 
incorporate an epitomized record at this junc- 
ture : Samantha is the wife of Jacob Alman, 
of Ravenna, Ohio; Clara was first married to 
C.eorge H. Billman, after whose death she be- 
came the w ife of Harrison Close, and they now 
reside in Hammondsville : ^^largaret T- is the 
widow of jnlin H. Keith and resides in Cleve- 
land, Ohio; ]\Ialcoim B., who resides in Can- 
ton, \\'here he is engaged in the grocery ])usi- 
ness, married Mi.ss Celia Thomas; Elizabeth 
is the wife of Xewton J. Randall, of Cleveland; 



Mahlon G., the immediate subject of this 
review, was the next in order of birth ; Alvin 
C, who is engaged in the railroad business at 
Canal Do\er, Ohio, married Miss Nora Hines ; 
Anna L. is the wife of Thomas J. Thomas, of 
Cleveland; Albert S., who is engaged in the 
railroad business at Canal Dover, Ohio, mar- 
ried Miss Jennie Roberts; and John D., who 
married Miss Caddie Hughes, died in the city 
of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in January, 1899. 
Mahlon G. Marshall was born on the old 
homestead farm near Wellsville, Jeft'erson 
county, Ohio, on the nth of February, 1857. 
and when he was se\'en years of age he ac- 
co)npanied his parents on their removal to 
Bayard, Columbiana county, where he was 
reared to maturity on the home farm. His 
preliminary educational discipline was received 
in the district school near the place of his 
birth, and was continued in the high school 
at Minerva, Stark county. He initiated his 
pedagogic career in 1879, when he tegan teach- 
ing in the public schools of Mechanicstown. 
Carroll county, where he remained two years, 
after which he became a student in what was 
known as the Mechanicstown Academy, at 
Mechanicstow n. where he also taught during a 
portion of the time he was there prosecuting 
his studies. He was then engaged in teaching 
for one year in the Hostetter district, in Paris 
township, Stark county, thereafter taught for 
one term in the Malvern scliools, after which 
he was for two years principal of the public 
schools at Magilolia, this county. He then was 
matrictilated in the National Pen Art Hall & 
Business College, at Oberlin, Ohio, where he 
completed the prescribed course and was grad- 
uated in the autun.m of 1884, after which he 
w^as for one year employed in the freight and 
ticket office of the Pennsylvania Railroad at 
Bayard, his home town, and the next year he 
was engaged in teaching in the schools of that 
]3lace. He then returned to Stark county and 
for the ensuing four vears rendered most 



CAXTOX AXD STJRK COUNTY, OHIO. 



775 



effective service as a teacher in the high school 
at Minerva, wliere he had been engaged for 
still another year, ]:)ut secured a release from 
his contract in order to accept the position, in 
September, 1890, as director of writing and 
drawing" in the Canton public schools, in which 
capacity he was retained for the long period of 
eight years, his efforts meeting with distinctive 
appreciation. He then accepted his present po- 
sition as director of the commercial department 
of the hig-li school, where his able and discrimi- 
nating serxice has been even more prolific in 
value to his students. He has the power of 
imparting knowledge with facility and in cre- 
ating enthusiasm among his pupils, while he 
retains at all times their respect and confidence. 
Thus his success in educational work has been 
a natural result of his ability in his line 
coupled with erudition and systematic methods. 
He is thoroughly en rapport with his work and 
keeps in touch with the advances made in his 
profession, while, he holds membership in the 
(T)hio State Teachers' Association. Fraternally 
he is identified, with the camp of Sons of Vet- 
erans at Minerva, and in politics he is a stanch 
adherent of the Republican party, while both 
he and his wife hold membership in the 
Disciples' church, in whose work they take an 
active part, he being an elder in the same, and 
superintendent of the Sunday school. 

On the 24th of December, 1884, Mr. Mar- 
shall was ttnited in marriage to Miss Laura B. 
Smith, of Moultrie, Columbiana county, where 
she was born and reared. She is the daughter 
of Henry W. and Hannah (McCoy) Smith, 
the former having been engaged in farming 
during his active career. The latter was a 
daughter of Captain Lewis McCoy, who was 
captain of a company of the One Hundred and 
Fifteenth Regiment. Ohio \^olunteer Lifantry, 
during the war of the Rebellion, and who was 
a man of marked influence in and about Moul- 
trie in his day. Four of his sons were in this 
regiment during the war, one having been a 



lieutenant, and all served until the close of the 
great fratricidal conflict which determined the 
integrity of the Union. Mr. and Mrs. Mar- 
shall have one child, Helen JNIay, who was born 
on the nth of Januaiy, 1893. 



THOMAS McCALL was born in that 
portion of Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- 
vania, wdtich was subsequently erected into the 
county of Fayette, the date of his nativity hav- 
ing been March 28, 1809. The original Amer- 
ican progenitor in the agnatic line was his 
grandfather, Barnabas McCall, who was born 
in Ircdand, whence he emigrated to America 
about the year 1750, having been a young man 
at the time. He settled in Westmoreland coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, and there he married ]\Iiss 
Mary Newell, a nati\-e of Maryland, and they 
passed the residue of their lives in the old Key- 
stone state. The maternal grandfather of the 
subject was W'illiam Robertson, who was a 
native of Scotland and who came as a boy to 
America, in the colonial epoch. Here he grew 
to manhood and he married ]Miss Sarah Hurst, 
a native of Virginia, while both thereafter re- 
sided until death in what is now Fayette coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania. Robert ]\IcCall, father of 
the subject, was born in Westmoreland county, 
Pennsylvania, on the "th of July, 1776, three 
days after the signing of that immortal docu- 
ment, the Declaration of Independence. There 
he was reared to maturity and there he learned 
the trade of millwright, becoming a skilled 
artisan. As early as 1808 he came to Ohio and 
here erected a number of mills, in Columbiana 
and Stark counties and elsewhere, the same be- 
ing among the first established in this section 
of the state. He then returned to Pennsyl- 
vania, where he remained until 1818. when, 
with teams and wagons, he came again to 
Stark county, for the purpose of making a per- 
manent location. Tiie journey was a long and 
weary one, as the distance traversed in a day 



774 



OLD LANDMARKS 



(lid not exceed five miles in the average case, 
but the family arrived at their destination on 
on the 17th of March of that year, locating on 

a tract of wild land in Sandy township, this 
county, where they took up their abode in a 
log house of the type common to the place and 
period. Mr. McCall did not, however, engage 
in farming' to any extent, finding it more profit- 
able to devote his personal attention to the work 
of his trade. His home was the northeast 
fjnai'ter of section 22, adjcjining the present 
village of Waynesburg, whose population at 
that time consisted of four families. ]Mr. Mc- 
Call became a prominent and influential citizen 
of the pinncer coninuinity, and was the first 
man ever elected from Sandy township to 
membership in the legislature of the state, in 
which he serxed with signal efficienc\-, being a 
man of <li-;tincti\-e abilit}-. His death occurred 
on the old homestead, about the year 1831. 
J lis wife, whose maiden name was Agnes 
Robertson, was born in Westmoreland county, 
J'ennsylvania, and slie died on the homestead 
farm in the autumn of i(S58. Of the children 
of this union we enter tlie following record: 
b)lin (lied at the age of twenty years; Eleanor 
became the wife of Samued Cameron and died 
in Cedar Falls, Iowa; Alary Ann remained a 
spinster until her death, when more than four 
score years of age; Thomas, subject of this 
memoir, was the next in order of birth; Robert 
H., who died in Canton, was treasurer of the 
county in the early 'forties, and he married Mar- 
garet I , a native .of Dublin, Ireland; 

Andrew- died in Smithland, Woodburv counlv. 
Iowa, having married Margaret Hewitt, of 
Waynesburg, Stark county. 

Thomas McCall. to whom this tribute is 
dedicated, was born in Bridgeport, Pennsyl- 
vania, the date of his birth having pre\-iouslv 
been recorded. lie secm'cd his earl\- educa- 
tion.'d tr;nning in ihe schools of his nati\e place, 
and was a lad of about nine years at the tune of 
th.e familv's removal to Stark countv. He was 



of a studious nature and as a 1)oy spared no 
pains to avail himself of such educational op- 
portimities as were to be had, and after coming- 

to this county he walked back and forth to the 
little log" sch.ool-house which was fully three 
miles distant from his home, making the trip 
through the forest, in which wolves, bear and 
other wild animals were still aljundant. He 
gained an excellent rudimentary education, be- 
coming a particnlarlv fine penman, and in the 
later years of liis life, h\ personal application 
and by rare pow ens of absorption, he efifectiye- 
ly supplemented the somewhat meagre oppor- 
tunities of his youth. He earh- began an ai)- 
prenticeshi]) at the trade of millwright, assist- 
ing his father in his work until the death of 
the Intter, when he assumed the management 
of the homestead farm, where he continued to 
make his residence until i.S4(), when he moxed 
to a farm four miles north of Waynesburg, 
where he remained until 1859, when he came 
to Canton to enter u]5on the discharge of his 
duties as countv auditor, to which office he had 
been elected as the candidcUe of the Democratic 
party, of whose ])rinci])les he had been a stanch 
advocate from the time of attaining his legal 
majority. His term of office expired in 1861, 
his administration having been a particnlarlv 
aiile and discriminating one, and he then re- 
turned to his farm, to whose cuIti\-ation he 
thereafter gave his attention until iH/j, when 
he again became a resideiu of Canton. He had 
also served most acceptably as land assessor of 
Canton, Osnaburg, T'ike. Paris and .Sandx- 
townshi])s. and his public labors were ever dis- 
charged with utmost fidelity and ability, gain- 
ing him ilie confidence of the people of the 
count)-. 

On the I3tli of Xo\ember, 1833, Air. AIc- 
Call was nnited in marriage to Aliss Sarah 
I'.rothers, a native of Fayette county, Pennsyl- 
\ania, .-md she iliecl on the 22(1 of I''ebruary. 
i8=;5, having i.)ecome the mother of the f1.1l- 
! knving named children : Tlionias, who died in 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



Boulder county, Colorado; Harriet E., who 
became tlie wife of a Mr. Prouse and wlio died 
in Missouri, in iX8j; Tiieodore remains on tlie 
old homesteail farm: John S. died April 12, 
1902, in the Aultman hospital, in Canton; 
George D. is a representative farmer of Sandy 
township; Mary Ann died at the age of nine- 
teen ; Robert B. died at the age of twenty-five, 
and Ellen at the age of twenty-six. On the 
26th of June, 1863. ]\Ir. McCall consummated 
a second marriage, being then united to Mrs. 
Harriet M. llarrold (nee Reed), and of this 
union one child was born, Alay M. She was 
born on the homestead in Sandy township. 
May 12, 1864, and after pursuing her studies 
in the district schools she became a student in 
the city schools of Canton, and was graduated 
in the high school as a member of the class of 
1S82. On the 31st of December, 1890, she 
was uniifd in marriage to Herbert Cleveland 
Smart, wlio was Ijorn near \'ienna, Kennebec 
county, Maine, on the rst of h'ebruary, i860, 
and who came to (Jhio at the age of twenty- 
one, engaging in the work of his trade in the 
city of Columbus, whence he finally came to 
Canton, where he entered the employ of the 
Deuber-llampden Compau}'. He signalized 
his patriotism at the outbreak of the Spanish- 
-American wa.r, by enlisting, on the 8th of May, 
1898. as a i)ri\ate in, the Eighth Ohio A'olnn- 
teer Infantry. He accompanied his comnuuul 
to Cuba, where he remained in acti\-e ser\ice 
for sex'erni ninntlis. when he was stricken with 
the prevailing malarial fever and incapacitated, 
being sent home on the transport "Mohawk," 
and coming to liis home in Canton, where he 
died on the iSth of December, 1899, sacrificing 
his life for his country. He left two children. 
Robert McCall Smart and Erancis Marion 
.Smart. 

Mrs. Harriet Al. (Reed) McCall, widow 
of the subject of this memoir, was born in a 
dwelling whicli stood at the corner of b'iftli and 
Market streets, in the cit_\- of Canton, on the 



4th of March, 1824, so that it becomes evident 
that she is a membei' of one of the pioneer fam- 
ilies of this citv and cminty. Her first teacher 
was Mary Cross, familiarly known as ".\untie" 
Cross, who tatigbt in a little log cabin whicli 
stood on the site of the present Mahafifey block. 
Elere Mrs. McCall learned to sew and knit and 
also to spell and read in a somewhat indifi'er- 
ent way, and later she had such advantages as 
^\ere afi'orded in the schools of the town, which 
was begininng to increase in iiopulation and 
facilities. On the 30lh of March, 1843. ^'i*-' 
\\as united in marriage to John C. Harrold. of 
Holmes county, this state, and a few }ears 
lacer, in the memorable days of 1849, ^^^ joined 
the hegira of gold-seekers who \vere making- 
their way to the new Eldorado of California, 
and he died near Xe\'ada City, Nevada count}-, 
t'lat state, in i860. Of this union three chil- 
dren were born, namely : Marv B.. who lie- 
came the \vife of .\. C. h'ry. died in Holmes 
county. Ohio; Susan died in childhood: and 
William X. died at Alurfreesboro. Tennessee, 
on the 3!st of July, 1864, while in service as a 
soldier in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ojiii^ 
X'olnnteer Infantry. 

The father of Mrs. JNlcCall was John Reed, 
who was born in Erederick county, Maryland, 
on the 6th of M;irch, 1708. and thence his par- 
ents remoN'ed to Stark cnunty. Ohio, in 1813, 
settling near the ])resent \illage of Justus, 
Sugar Creek l(.)wnship. where his father. Jacol> 
Reed, entered claim to ouf hundred and sixt\' 
acres of government land, which was covered 
with a heavy growth of timber. On the old 
homestead John Reed was reared to maturit\'. 
and on tlie 13th of Aprd. 1815, Avhen aliont 
se\enteen years of age, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Mary I'ayser. daughter of John 
Payser, another honored pioneer of the county, 
and after his marriage John Reed came to Can- 
ton, taking up his residence at the corner oi 
Xinth and Market streets, wdience he subse- 
quently reiiio\-ed ti > the southeast corner of 



776 



OLD LANDMARKS 



IMarket and iMflh streets, where he for many 
years was engaged in the work of his trade, 
that of saddler and liarnessmaker, utihzing the 
large front room of his house as a shop. His 
wife died Decemher 31, 1868, and he passed 
away on the 2^.th of Septemher, 1871. Their 
children were as follows : Eliza, who hecame 
the wife of Jacoh Lautzenheiser, died in Chel- 
sea, Iowa ; Catherine, who married Henry 
Bockius, died in Canteen, in April, 1901 : John 
P. died Fehruary 2, 1877, in Canton; Mary, 
the wife of John P. Rex, died in this city: 
Plarriet, widow of the subject, was the next in 
order of liirlh : Susan is dead ; William died 
in Canton, March 20, 1901 ; Joseph died in this 
city, Xovemher 20, 18S8; and Margaret is the 
wife of Amos Bidden, of Canton. 

Jacob Reed, grandfather of Mrs. AlcCall, 
married Ann ]\Iaria Mowrie, both having been 
born near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He 
was sixteen years of age at the time of the war 
of the Revolution, and did not bear arms in 
the great struggle, though he did his part by 
carrying provisions to the soldiers. His fa- 
ther, Jacob Reed, was, however, a lieutenant 
colonel under Washington. He was of Ger- 
man descent, and the name was originally 
spelled Rieth. lie died in Montgomery county, 
Pennsylvania. ]\Irs. McCall resides in the old 
homestead in Canton, where in her venerable 
age she is surrounded by a host of friends to 
whom she has endeared herself Ijy her gracious 
and noble womanhood. 



EDWIN S. CORRELL.— Teaching is 
not classed among the learned professions, and 
"more the pity."' To properly conduct the 
studies and recitations in a school room the 
preceptor must be possessed of far more learn- 
ing, knowledge of human nature and ability to 
govern, direct and control than is ordinarily 
displayed by the a\'erage lawyer, minister of 
the gospel or a medical practitioner. The per- 



son who has de\'oted se\'en years of his life 
to the education of the young in a school room 
and who has Ijeen successful in that capacity 
has not only accomplished much fcu" the race, 
but has disclosed the earnest patience there is 
in h.is nature. The subject of this sketch, Ed- 
win S. Correll, is such a person. The first 
years of his early manhood was devoted to 
teaching and he met with such gratifying suc- 
cess that he continued in the business for seven 
years. 

Edwin S. Correll was burn Decemlier 14, 
1863, in Canton township. Stark county, Ohio, 
on a farm situated about two miles west of 
the city of Canton. His father was Josiah Cor- 
rell, a sketch of whose career will be found in 
another part of this volume, and his mother 
was Alary Mentzer. Both were natives of 
Plain township, and were the parents of five 
children, Charles G., Edwin S., Minnie M., 
Nettie J. and Lillie L., Nettie dying in the 
twenty-seventh \ear of her age. Each of the 
survivors has received a good educatic^n, is 
prosperous and comfortably settled in life. 
From childhood Edwin S. Correll has lieen a 
resident of Plain township, and it was there 
that he received his early educatimi in the 
common schools, becoming proficient in all 
the branches there taught. Eater he attended 
the university at Ada, Ohio, and qualified him- 
self for the calling of a teacher, which business 
he followed in his native county for a period 
of seven years. His work in this line was most 
satisfactory to pupils and patrons, but, like 
many others, he found the business most irk- 
some and by no means as remunerative as it 
should be. 

Api'il 4, 1894, Mr. Correll was united in 
marriage to Miss Mary E.. Firestone at the 
residence of the bride's parents in Plain town- 
ship. Her pai^ents were Hiram and Margaret 
(McDowein Firestone, old and highly re- 
spected residents of Plain township, both now 
deceased. Mrs. Correll is a native of Plain 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



777 



township, bom March 31. 1864, and is a lady 
of good education and many accomphshments. 
Two children have lieen born to this union, 
AVilbur D. and Harrold F., both bright, intelli- 
gent lads and giving fair promise of growing" 
to manhood and becoming worthy, useful cit- 
izens. 

The farm owned by Edwin S. Correll and 
upon which he and his family reside comprises 
one hundred and thirty acres of fertile, well 
improved land. He is a farmer and stock rais- 
er, and, managing his business according to 
m.odern methods and with the aid of all the 
late improvements in machinery, he has been 
most successful. Mrs. Correll is deeply inter- 
ested in church work, is a member of the Pro- 
gress'Ae Brethren church and a liberal support- 
er of that denomination and every other worthy 
cause. The home life of the Correll family 
is all that could be desired. The evidences of 
happiness and prosperity everywhere abound 
and the visitor to the home cannot fail to be 
impressed with the affectionate regard each 
member displays tow^ard the others. Still 
young in years, Avith ample means to supply 
e\'ery want, there is no good reason why the 
career of Edwin S. Correll should not be even 
more illustrious than that of any of his an- 
cestors. 



JOHN RAEBER, deceased, was a native 
of the fair and distant little republic of Switz- 
erland, and his character partook of the rugged 
characteristics of a section where the "mount- 
ains still are free; they hurl oppression back 
and keep the boon of liberty." 

He was born in the village of Niederbepp, 
canton of Bern, on the 5th of July, 1821, being 
son of Oswald and Elizabeth (Liest) Raeber, 
the former of who for many years conducted a 
general store in the little town mentioned. The 
subject received his early education in the ex- 
cellent schools of his nati\e canton, in one of 



the German pro\inces of Switzerland, attend- 
ing school from the age of six to that of seven- 
teen, and being then confirmed in the German 
Reformed cliurch, whose faith he has ever held 
inviolate, guiding and guarding his life 
through its gracious and beneficent influence. 
In April. 1840, Mr. Raelier severed the tender 
ties wliich bound him to home and fatherland 
and proceed to the city of Havre, prance, 
where he embarked on a sailing vessel whose 
destination was New York city. Arriving in 
the i\merican metropolis he remained one 
week, after which he came westward to Bel- 
mont county, Ohio, where lived a former citi- 
zen of his native town. This friend was at the 
time located in the village of Captina, on the 
Ohio river. Mr. Raeber found work in the 
harvest fields during that autumn, and after the 
season was over he went to Licking county, 
where he passed the winter with some old 
schoolmates, who had pre\'iously come to Amer- 
ica and established their home in that locality. 
In 1841, in compau}- with a fellow countryman, 
he went by boat down the Ohio and Mississippi 
ri\-ers to St. Louis, Missouri. They were un- 
successful in finding work there and continued 
their journey, going up the Missouri river and 
through Iowa. At intervals the subject payed 
his fare on the ri\-er boats by working as a deck 
hand, and he also found work for short inter- 
vals on various farms. In their travels the 
two friends encountered numerous camps of 
Indians, but had no trouble in the connection. 
Finding no work of satisfactory nature they 
returned eastward as far as Cairo, Illinois, 
^^■here they embarked on a boat destined up 
the Ohio, their funds being at this time entire- 
ly exhausted. AMiile the vessel was en route 
its boilers exploded, and twenty or more per- 
sons were killed outright, while the boat was 
entirely wrecked. Mr. Raeber and his com- 
panion chanced to be at the stern of the boat at 
the time of this explosion, and escaped almost 
bv miracle. They jumped into one of the small 



778 



OLD LANDMARKS 



boats attached to the vessel and with this man- 
aged to make their \va}^ to tiie shore in safety. 
They next traveled on foot through the state 
of Indiana, often losing their way and endur- 
ing many discomforts and hardships. One 
night, to escape attack from the wolves, they 
secreted themseh-es in tlic trunk of a large syca- 
more tree, where they remained till morning. In 
the summer of 1841 the two comrades contin- 
ued their journe}- eastward, our subject giving 
his watch tn pay his fare to the city of Pitts- 
burg, whde his companion worked his passage 
to Wheeling, West Virginia, the two becoming 
se])arated at this time. In Pittsburg Mr. Rae- 
her secured a position in a ])nnting office, where 
he served an apprenticeship of about three 
years, gaining a practical knowledge which 
served him well in his later career. lie re- 
maineil in that city until the great fire of 1845, 
when he lost all (jf his possessions save the 
clothing which he wore. He then returned to 
Ohio and for a time remained with an old 
schoolmate in I'remcn. Fairfield county. In 
the fall of the same year he went to Detroit, 
Miciiigan, where he associated liimself with a 
Mr. Kaininsky iu estal)lishing the first (Jerman 
paper ever published in that city, the enterprise 
enlisting his attention about two years. He 
then secured employment in translating the an- 
nual message of Governor Chase into the Ger- 
man language, being well paid for this work. 
He Ihcn went to the city of Chicago in search 
of employnieni. the ])lace at that time giving 
slight evidence of ever Ijeconiing the magnifi- 
cent metropolis which it stands todav. He 
failed to find work .and continued his journev 
to a point near Jolict, llinois, where he took up 
fort\- acres ot land, the purchase ])rice being 
two (l(>llars and lifty cents an acre. I le was 
accompanied by another young man and they 
took up their abode ni a log Imt and began tlie 
work of clearing and breaking the land, suc- 
ceeding in ])utting in a crop. Mr. Kaeber re- 
mained on his embr}-onic farm for a i)eriod of 



two years, when he grew \\eary of attempting 
to ward oft the ceaseless attacks of ague, and 
abandoned his farm and returned to Chicago, 
where he secured employment in the printing- 
department of the Chicago Times, receiving" 
the princely stipend of fifty cents per week and 
board. After a short interval he secured work 
on a German paper, and he remained in Chi- 
cago for some time, and then recei\-ing a small 
sum of money from home, and as he still con- 
tinued to suffer from "fever and ague." he de- 
termined to leave that section, and accordingly 
came by boat to Toledo, Ohio, whence he pro- 
ceeded by canal to Cincinnati, where he \\as 
employed one year in the office of the A'olks- 
b1att. He then took a position in the office of 
a German religious paper' in Circleville, this 
state, where he remained two and one half 
years. Within this interval occurred an ini.- 
portant event in his life, for he was there mar- 
ried to Miss Wilhelmina Wagner, who jjroved 
to him a true hel]Jineet from the initiation of 
their hap])y wedded life. I'rom Circleville Mr. 
and Mrs. Raeber went by wagon to Millers- 
burg, Holmes count}-. Ohio, and there he estal)- 
lished a German pajjcr. which, associated with 
a partner, he continuetl for nine months. lie 
then removed to \\'anesburg, in the same coun- 
t}-. where the citizens of the town and vicinit\- 
held a meeting and organized a stock coni|)an\- 
for the purpose of establishing a German i)a- 
per, tlie locality ha\-ing a A-ery large percentage 
of German population. Air. Raeber was ])laced 
in charge of the paper, the Deutsche en 
Plolrnes. the office being e(|nipi)ed with a new 
press and other accessories required, and for 
nearly a <leca<le he. conducted the pa])er and 
printing business with marked success, a lib- 
eral sujjport being accorded and the suliscri])- 
tion list running up to ful!\- fifteen hundred. 
Mrs. Raeber assisted her husband in the press 
work and other details and no two jjersons 
could ha\e been more faithful ;md industrious, 
for they worked night and da}-, one in hope and 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



779 



purpose, and strung in mutual sympathy and 
lielpfulness. 

In .\ugust, 1858, Mr. Raeljer reninved liis 
printing- office to Canton and here resumed 
husiness by estal^lishing Der Deutsche en Ohio, 
in whose publication and in handling" of job 
\\ I >rk he achiexed marked success, securing 
much of the county printing and Ijeing known 
as an able writer and as one \\\\n was true to 
e\-ery contract and to his word at all times and 
under all conditinns. In 1862 he sold his plant 
and business to Peter Kauffman, an<l lived 
]M-actically a retired life until his death. In 
I'eliruary, 1862. he returned to Switzerland to 
\isit his father, whci was \eneral)le in years 
and in precarious health, but he was denied 
the prixilege of nnce more greeting his loved 
su'e. who died while nur suljject was en route, 
the ocean voyage having consumed twenty- 
one days, the steamer ha\ing been delayed by 
severe storms. ]Mr. Raeber remained about 
eighteen months amid the scenes of his child- 
hoo(l. returning to Canton in the fall of 1863. 
Aliout two years later he was appoined deputy 
in the office of County Treasurer Steele, dur- 
ing whose admini'^tration he continued in this 
capacity, as did he later under Treasurers 
l-"es?ler and Sullivan, his entire period of serv- 
ice thus co\'ering nnie vears. He then estab- 
li'ihed himself in rhe insurance business and be- 
came agent for twelve ,\tlantic steamship lines 
and was also commissioned as notary public, 
an office which he held at the time of his death. 
^d^e great loss and bereaxement of the suL>- 
ject's life was that which came on the jOth of 
January, 1897, when his lo\-ed and devoted 
wife, his comiianion and helpmeet for so many 
years, was summoned into eternal rest, pass- 
ing forward to the "land of the leal" after a 
life of self-aljuegation and signal lieautx- in all 
its relations. The loss to the subject was the 
more se\cre from the fact that no children 
were liorn to tlieir union, and his wife was all 
in. all to him and he to her as thev walketl side 



In' side in mutual respect, love and sympathy. 
In politics Mr. Raeber always gave a stanch 
alleg'iance to the Democratic party, and bijth 
through his editorial utterances and his per- 
sonal influence has done much to further its 
cause. He was a member of the German Re- 
formed church, as prex'iouslv noted, and liis 
wife likewise was a devoted and consistent 
member of the same. He died March 6, 1903. 



WILLIAM J. POYSER was biH-n in the 
parental homestead, at 716 South Cleveland 
axenue, in the city of Canton, on the 27th of 
November, 185G, and to the puljlic schools of 
his native city he is indebted for the excel- 
lent educational ])rivileges xvhich fell to his 
portion as a boy, xxhile later he supplemented 
this discipline bv a course of studx' in the Uni- 
versity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, one of 
the most important educational institutions in 
the L'nion. and xvas graduated as a mem])er of 
the class of t88o. He then estaljlisbed himself 
in the practice oi his profession in Canton, 
successfully continuing operations in the line 
f(lr a period ot two years, at the expiration 
of which ex'erits so conspired as to make it 
seem exjiedient for him to withdraxv from pro- 
fessional work, and accordingly, in 1882, he 
became associated with his father in the xvhole- 
sale and retail lumber business in Canton, 
under the firm name of John R. Poyser & Son. 
This enter[jrise xvas conducted under these 
ausjjices lUitil 1891, xxhen the firm disposed of 
the business and purchased stock in the Bucher 
& Gibbs Ploxv Company, of xvhich John R. 
Poyser xxas made xice-iiresident ;uul the sub- 
ject of this sketch secretary, of which office he 
has since remained in tenure. He is knoxvn as 
a progressive x-oung business man and as a 
public-siiirited citizen, ex'er maintaining a lixely 
interest in all that touches tlie welfare and ad- 
vancement of the city of his natix'ity. In poli- 
tics he acccjrds a stanch allegiance to the Re- 



78o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



publican party, and he was a member of the 
finance committee of tlie birthday anniversary 
memorial held in C anton on the 27th of Janu- 
ary, 1903. He is a comunicant of St. John's 
church, Roman Catholic, and fraternally is 
identified with the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, the Knights of the Maccabees 
and the United Commercial Travelers. In ad- 
dition to his association with the plow manu- 
facturing business he is also a stockholder and 
director of the Canton Foundry S: Machine 
Company and a member of the directorate of 
the Dime Savings Bank of Canton. 

On the 13th of September, 1882, ]\Ir. 
Poyser was united in marriage to Miss Helene 
Buchcr, who was born and reared in Canton, 
being a daughter of John R. Bucher, who was 
the founder of the business which eventually 
developed into the Bucher & Gibbs Plow 
Company, with whose interests he continued 
to be actively identified until his death, having 
been one of Canton's most honored and in- 
fluential citizens. ]\Ir. and ]\Irs. Poyser are the 
parents of three children. Edna L., Helene E. 
and John R. 



AUGUST SCHUFFENECKER is a na- 
tive of the province of Alsace, France, which 
is now part of the German empire, and was 
born on the 5th of April, i860, being a son of 
Martin and Walburga (Ehret) Schuffenecker, 
both of whom passed their entire lives in the 
province mentioned, being people of sterling- 
character and de\out members of the Catholic 
church. The father was a shoemaker by trade, 
and this constituted his vocation during the 
years of his active business career. Of their 
children our subject is the only one in the 
United States, and in his native land reside 
his three sisters and one brother. 

The subject of this sketch attended school 
in his nati\-e place in a somewhat iregular wav 
until he had reached the age of tweh-e years. 



Fie worked in a tanner \' until he had attained 
the age of twenty years and then served an 
apprenticeship at the butchering business. In 
1883, at the age of twenty-three years, he bade 
adieu to home and native land and set forth 
to seek his fortunes in America. He landed 
in New York city on the 22d of July of that 
year, and thence came directly to Canton, 
where he worked at his trade for various 
firiu? and individual projirietors of meat 
markets until 1892. on .Vpril 4th of which year 
he entered into business on his own responsi- 
bility, l^y opening- his present well equipped 
market, at 829-831 South Market street. His 
thorough knowledge of the business and his 
discrimination in catering to the demands of 
his customers soon made the venture a very 
successful one. and two years after inaugurat- 
ing the same he was enal)led to purchase the 
business lilock in which the market is located, 
while in March, IQ03. he efi^ected the purchase 
of the Mary Cook residence, on South Market 
street, wliere he has a ])Ieasant and attractive 
home. He has labore<l indefatigably and is 
well deserving of the success which has re- 
sulted, while he has so ordered his course as 
to retain the confidence and respect of all with 
whom he has come in contact. In politics he 
gives his support to the Democratic party and 
fraternally he is identified with the Catholic 
Mutual Benefit Association and the Order of 
Eagles. Both he and his wife are commitni- 
cants of St. Peter's church. Roman Catholic. 
On the 20th of ]\Tay, 1890, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Schuffenecker to Miss 
Katherine Nist, w ho was born in the kingdom 
of Bavaria, (lermany, on the 27th of Septem- 
ber, i86q, a daughter of Frank and Katherine 
(Steel) Mist, the father having been a farmer 
in the fatherland. In 1882 he emigrated to 
America with iiis family, two of his sons hav- 
ing jireceded liini hither, and he took up his 
residence in Stark county, where he passed tlie 
remainder of liis life, his death occurring in 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



781 



Canton, on the Sth of iNIarch, 1892, at which 
time he was sixty-two years of age. His wid- 
ow still resides here and is se\'enty-two years 
of age at the time of this writing. Mr. and 
j\Irs. Schutfenecker have two children, Mary 
K. and Victoria R. \\'., both of whom are 
atten.din^' school. 



XDWl PHILLIPS.— The paternal grand- 
father of the subject was a resident of the 
village of Gunstadt, in the province of Alsace, 
France, now a portion of the German empire. 
There he passed practically his entire life, and 
in his family were four sons and at least two 
daughters, three of the sons having been 
soldiers in the army of Napoleon, one of these 
being the father of the subject, who was the 
only one to return to his home. He, likewise, 
bore the name of Adam, and was born in Gun- 
stadt, France, in 1792. There he was reared 
to maturity, learning the trade of shoemaker 
under the direction of his father. During the 
various campaigns in which he participated 
while in the army he suffered great hardships, 
and on one occasion, having been taken 
prisoner, he and a number of his comrades 
passed a period of nine days without food of 
any sort. They finally made their escape, and 
in their famished condition had recourse to eat- 
ing the body of a dea"d horse which they found 
on their way and which was in the last stages 
of decomposition. Several of the party ate so 
ravenously of this decayed matter as to cause 
their death, their sufferings having- been such 
as to render them quite incapable of judgment 
according to the normal standard. Adam 
Phillips finally returned to his home. In Gun- 
stadt he married Miss Magdalena Spiel, and 
in 1838 they emigrated with their five children 
to the United States, embarking at Havre, 
France, on a sailing vessel, which did not drop 
anchor in the harbor of New York until thirty- 
one days had elapsed. They came westward 



to the city of Buft'alo and thence by lake Erie 
to Cleveland, Ohio, from which point they 
made their way to Massillon, Stark county, by 
canal, and finally from that point overland to 
Canton, so that it will be seen that our subject 
is, indeed, a representative of one of the coun- 
ty's pioneer families. After passing a few 
months in Canton the family took up their 
abode on a small tract of land, on the Bolivar 
road, in Canton township, where the father de- 
voted his attention to the work of his trade as 
opportunity oft'ered, while for a period of six 
years he was employed on \^arious farms in 
the locality. He then returned to Canton and 
opened a shoe shop on South Cherry street, 
between Ninth and Tenth streets, where he 
followed his trade for a time and then traded 
the property for a tract of five acres adjoining 
the town on the southeast, and there he main- 
tained his home until his death, which occurred 
in 1858. His wife survived him by many 
years, being summoned into eternal rest in 
1880, at the -venerable age of eighty-seven 
years. Botli were communicants of the 
Catholic church and were people of the most 
unwavering integrity, while in politics the 
father gave his allegiance to the Democratic 
party. Of their six children all save the 
youngest were born in France, and of them we 
enter brief record, as follows : Joseph, who 
married Agnes Pecher, died in the state of 
Indiana; Adam, Jr., is the immediate subject 
of this review; Frances is the wife of George 
Gonder, of Canton ; Mary, who became the 
wife of Lawrence Bechel, died in Canton, in 
1899; George, who married Mary Herdt, 
is a successful farmer residing south of the city 
of Canton ; and Magdalena, who was born in 
this county, is the wife of Frederick Seikel, 6f 
this city. 

Adam Phillips, to whom this sketch is 
dedicated, was born in the village of Gunstadt, 
Alsace, France, on the 26th of February, 1827, 
and there he attended school until the emigra- 



782 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tion of the family to America, at which tinie 
he was a lad of about eleven years. He here 
continued his studies in the somewhat primitive 
schools of the day. liut e;irly beyan to depend 
to a large extent on his own resources. From 
the age of twelve until he attained his legal 
majority, he worked during the summer 
seasons for \arious farmers in this vicinity, 
and when twenty-one years of age he entered 
upon an apprenticeship at the blacksmith trade, 
under the direction of Charles Mesmer. at New 
Berlin, this county, becoming a skilled me- 
chanic in the line and devoting his attention 
to the work of his trade for a period of twenty- 
three years, within which time he was located 
for varying intervals in Canton and Tiffin, 
Ohio ; Moline, Illinois, and other points. In 
1868 he purchased thirty-one acres of land, the 
tract being now a portion of Westlawn 
cemetery, and on the land which he thus owned 
has been selected the site for the erection of the 
national monument to the memory of the la- 
mented and honored Tresident, William Mc- 
Kinley. Canton's loved citizen. Mr. Pliillips 
cleared the greater portion of his farm of its 
native timber and on the same erected a 
comfortable residence, wliich he removed to 
his present farm on disiiosing of the original 
place, and he has since made excellent improve- 
ments on the building, wliich is now a com- 
modious and attractive residence. He took up 
his abode on his farm in 1870, and there, in 
connection with his agricultural operations, he 
conducted a lime kiln and a coal bank on the 
])lace, his efforts being attended with a due 
measure of success. In 1879 he sold the 
property to the Westlawn Cemetery Associ- 
ation and jjurchased a tract of forty-eight acres 
on the opposite side of Harrison avenue, to 
which place he removed his dwelling, as has 
already been noted. At tlie time he came into 
possession of his present property the farm was 
in l)a(l condition, but bv contintious and well 



directed effort he has improved and developed 
the same until it is now one of the valuable 
farm properties of the county, and, though 
seventy-six }-ears of age, our iKjnored subject 
still continues in the acti\'e management of his 
farm, while he also has a blacksmith shop on 
the place and personally does all needed repair 
work in the line in cnnncction with the farm, 
and also shoes his own horses. In politics, 
though ever free from personal ambition for 
office, he has shown a lively interest in the 
questions and issues of the day and has ever 
g-iven an intelligent and unequivocal support 
to the principles and policies of the Demo- 
cratic party, \\hile he and his family are com- 
municants of the Catholic church, being mem- 
bers of St. Peter's parish in Canton. 

On the 2 1 St of June, 1855, Mr, Phillips 
was united in marriage to ^liss Elizabeth Aus- 
tin, will I was lx>rn in U'ayne county, Ohio, on 
the 4th of December. i^^J. WHien she was a 
child her parents removed to Tiffin, Seneca 
county, and later to a farm ten miles west of 
that city, where she remained until she had at- 
tained the age of sixteen }'ears, her educate linal 
training lia\ ing been received in the public 
and parochial schools. From the age of six- 
teen until her marriage she resided in Tiffin, 
and she is a \\oman of broad information, hav- 
ing been a close obserx'cr and a constant read- 
er and ha\ ing- gained much by absorption dur- 
ing the long years of her mature life. She is 
a daughter of John G. and Agnes (Stein) 
Austin, the former of whom was born in the 
village of Hesse Cassel, Germany, in the year 
1801, while the latter was born in the ])rovince 
of Bavaria in 1803 or 1804, their marriage 
having l;)een solemnized in their fatherland, 
where Mr. Austin had learned the blacksmith 
trade. Thev emigratefl to the Chiited States 
with their family abinit the year 1838-40, land- 
ing in New York and thence coming forthwith 
to Ohio, locating on a small tract of land near 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



783 



Canal Fulton. \\'a_\'ne county, where ]Mr. Aus- 
tin continued the work of his trade, later pass- 
ins;' a year in TiHin. Seneca county. While in 
Wayne county he had entered a tract of eighty 
acres of land five miles distant from Fostoria, 
Seneca county, and to this he finally removed," 
reclaiming- the land from the forest and mak- 
ing good uuprovements on the same. Later 
he i)urchased and remo\-ed to another farm, of 
one luuK.lred and sixty acres, located in the im- 
mediate vicinit}' of the city of Tiffin, that coun- 
ty, and there he passed the residue of his 
life, his death occurring in 1888, at the age of 
eighty-se^'en, ha\ing been a man of remarkable 
energy and hax'ing continued his active labors 
up to within about two years prior to his de- 
mise. His wife passed away on the loth of 
June. 1853, lioth liaving lieen consistent meiu- 
l;ers of the Catholic church. Of their chil- 
dren we give brief record, as follows : Cath- 
erine, the wife of John Unser, died in Tiffin, in 
Al)ril, 1900: Mary, liorn in 1828, died in that 
city in 1853; (jeorge and William also are 
deceased; John met his death as a Union sol- 
dier, being killed in the battle of IJulI Run; 
Elizabeth is the wife of the subject of this 
sketch; and Jacob, who served three years in 
the Civil war, as a member of the Fourth Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, is now dead. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Phillips ha\e been born 
si.K children, namely: Theodore Joseph, now 
a resident of Canton, married Mary Burk, of 
Cincinnati, and they have three children, 
Edgar R., ]\lary .N.. and Theodore J., Jr. ; 
George E., a resident of Canton, married Mary 
Stucker, and they have two children, Paul 
Adam and Agnes E. ; Flora E. is the wife of 
Hetu-y Striff, of Wheeling, West \'irginia, and 
they have had three children, Theodore F. 
Cdeceased), Cecilia and Irene; William A., of 
Canton, married .\ntoinette Dannemiller. and 
they have two chiUlren, Eugene William and 
John Ferdinand: Henry .Vugustus, of ^^'eston, 
West \'irginia, married Fulu Miller, one child. 



Virginia Pearl, having been born of the union ; 
and Victor A. is preparing himself for the pro- 
fession of dentistry. 



JONATHAN RENICK came of German 
lineage, the name lia\-ing originally been spelled 
Renewick. Fie was born on a farm near Dar- 
by\'ille. Pickaway county. Ohio, on the 6th of 
January, 1823. and there received his earlv edu- 
cational tr;iining- in the district scIkxiIs of the 
pioneer epoch, his parents ha\-ing been num- 
bered among the early settlers in that section 
of the state. His father, Thomas Reiiick. was 
a representative of one of the sterling families 
of the Old Dominion state of Virginia, where 
Thomas was born and reared, and whence as 
a young man he emigrated to I'ickaway county. 
Ohio, where he developed a farm in the midst 
of the primiti\-e wilds and there passed the re- 
mainder of his life, his wife, whose maiden 
nam was Tabitha Radclift'e, having been a na- 
tive of Kentucky. Both died in Pickaway 
count}', lia\ing become the parents of fourteen 
children, of whom eleven lived to attain years 
of maturity. .Vfter iea\-ing the district schools 
Jonathan Renick continued to assist in the work 
of the homestead farm, and finally he entered 
a college in the state of Pennsyl\-ania. where 
he was duly graduated, and thereafter he took 
up the study of law and eventually entered a 
law school in the city of Dayton, Ohio, where 
Iike\\ise he was graduated, being admitted to 
the l.)ar at Circle\ille. the county seat of his na- 
ti\e county. He was a man of fine intellectual 
gifts and marked talent in his profession, in 
wliich he attained jjrestige as one of the able 
members of the bar of the state, engaging in 
the active ])ractice of his profession in Circle- 
ville and having- there served as ])rosecuting at- 
torney of Pickaway countv. Such was his 
forceful individuality and such his character 
that he would have undoubtedly been called 
t<_) positions of distinctive trust and responsi- 



764 



OLD LANDMARKS 



bility had his Hfe been spared. He \vas orig- 
inally a Know-Nothing- in politics, but identi- 
fied himself with the Republican party at the 
time of its organization, having been one of 
the most uncompromising" advocates of the pol- 
icy of federal government in refusing to per- 
mit the further encroachment of human slav- 
ery and the secession of the southern states. 
At the outbreak of the war he tendered his ser- 
vices in tlelense of the Union, but was requested 
to take a position as a recruiting officer, which 
he consented to do instead of going to the front 
in accord with his personal desires. He ren- 
dered most \aluable service in the capacity noted, 
being unrenutting in his application to the se- 
curing the recruits, otherwise upholding the 
hands of the administration, and while he was 
thus engaged he contracted a severe cold from 
exiMSure, and the same became attended with 
complications which resulted in his death, 
which occurred on the 20th of September, 1862, 
at Circleville. He was a man of gracious and 
kindly personality and possessed of a fine phy- 
sique, being six feet in height and weighing 
two hundred and seventy-five pounds. He 
commanded the unmeasured respect of all who 
knew him, and his death was deeply deplored in 
the community in \vhich practically his entire 
life was passed. 

At Mt. Airy, in the year 1847, '^^'is sol- 
emnized the marriage of Mr. Renick to Aliss 
Lavinia Graham. After the death of her hon- 
ored husband Mrs. Renick removed from Cir- 
cleville to Massillon, Stark county, where she 
resided for eight years, and since that time she 
has maintained her home in Canton, where she 
is cared for in her venerable years by her 
daughter, Mrs. Alexander, who accords her the 
deepest filial solicitude. Mrs. Renick is a rep- 
resentative of one of the early pioneer families 
of Stark count_\\ and her memory links in an 
indissoluble chain the trend of events from the 
time when this section was a primitive wild up 
to the present epoch of peace and prosperity 



as the twentieth century swings into the cycle 
of ages. She was born on the old homestead 
farm, in Jackson township, this county, on the 
17th of January, 1826, and completed her edu- 
cational training in the seminary conducted in 
Canton by Mr. Goshorn, one of the prominent 
pioneer educators of the county. She has long- 
been a devoted n:ember of the Presbyterian 
church, and is re\ ered and cherished by a wide 
circle of friends and honored as one of the 
noble pioneer \\omen of the community. She 
has ever remained faithful to the memory of 
the husband of her }'outh, and her widowhood 
has now covered a period of more than forty 
years. Of their six children we enter the fol- 
lowing brief record : Emma died in infancy ; 
Caroline is the wife of West L. Alexander, of 
Canton, concerning- whom individual mention 
is made elsewhere in this volume; Mary, who 
became the wife of Thomas B. Albert, died in 
Canton in 1876; Matilda died in her twenty- 
third year, Thomas at the age of twenty-nine 
and Edward at the age of eighteen. 



WILLIAAI P. MARTIN.— Jacob Martin, 
grandfather of the subject, was a native of 
Hagerstown, Maryland, where he was reared 
and educated and where he retained his resi- 
dence until 1821. when he located in Loudon. 
Mercer county, Pennsylvania, where he was 
engaged in business for a number of years. 
In 1834 he removed with his family to Stark 
county, Ohio, and took up his abode in the 
village of Navarre, and of this section of the 
state he continued to be a resident until his 
death, which occurred in the village of Paris, 
'this county, in 1850. His son Rudolphus, fa- 
ther of the subject of this memoir, was born in 
Hagerstown, Maryland, and was a child at 
the time of his parents' removal to Loudon, 
Pennsylvania, where he grew to nianhood, and 
where he learned the trade of harnessmaking. 
becoming a particularly skillful workman and 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



785 



haxing the distinction of manufacturing- the 
first five-ring harness ever produced in the 
United States, while he was also the first to 
manufacture the famous Loudon whips, which 
are still manutactured on a large scale. In 
1834 he came to Navarre, Stark county, where 
he entered into partnership with John Chap- 
man and estahlished a general store. They dis- 
])osed of the business at the expiration of about 
two years and purchased a sawmill a few miles 
to the east of the village of Louisville, this 
county, operating the same about four years. 
Mr. Martin then opened a general store in Par- 
is, this county, while Ezra Smith later became 
associated with him in the enterprise. Li 1847 
Mr. Smith withdrew from the firm and the 
original owner thereafter continued the busi- 
ness individually until 1868, in which year he 
practically retired, being succeeded by his sons 
James M. and William P., who conducted the 
enterprise successfully until 1877, when they 
disposed of the same. 

In Loudon, Pennsylvania, Rudolphus 
Martin was united in marriage to Miss Ruha- 
nia Uncles, who was l)orn in that state. After 
his retirement from business he continued to 
make his home in Paris until his death, which 
occurred on the 6th of April, 1882, while his 
loved and devoted wife did not long survive 
him. for she was summoned into eternal rest 
on the 6th of the following July. Mr. Mar- 
tin was converted in the Methodist Episcopal 
church, but in later years became very liberal 
in his views, though he ever retained a deep 
reverence for the spiritual verities, aside from 
creeil or dogma, and was kindly and toler- 
ant in his judgment, observing the very letter 
of t!ie golden rule. His wife remained a mem- 
ber of the church until her death. Li politics 
he was originally a stanch Democrat, but uni- 
ted with the Free-soil party at the time of its 
organization and was thus naturally led to 
espouse the catise of the Republican party at 

the time of its inception. Rudolphus and Ru- 
49 



hama Martin became the parents of five chil- 
dren, namely: Amanda, who is the widow of 
Benjamin Estep and resides in Canton : Thom- 
as Benton, who died in 1857; Anna E., who re- 
sides in Canton ; James M., of whom specific 
mention is made on other pages of this work; 
and William P., who is the subject of this me- 
morial tribute. 

William P. Martin was born in the village 
of Paris, this county, on the 26th of May, 1848, 
and he attended the public schools of his native 
village until he had attained the age of seven- 
teen years, thus laying an excellent foundation 
for the signally active antl successful business 
career which was to be his. As a youth he be- 
gan to assist in the general store conducted by 
his father, and in order that he might more 
thoroughly fortify himself for practical busi- 
ness life his father sent him to the city of Pitts- 
burg after he left the public schools, and there 
he entered the Iron City Business College, 
where he completed the prescribed course and 
was graduated as a member of the class of 
1866. He then retm-ned to Paris and soon aft- 
erward he and his brother James acquired con- 
trol of the business which had been conducted 
by then- father, as noted in a preceding para- 
graph, the concern representing one of the 
most extensive general stores in this section of 
the state. While still residing in Paris Mr. 
Martin also became interested in the dry-goods 
business in the city of Philadelphia. Pennsyl- 
vania, being associated with a partner and 
continuing his connection with the enterprise 
several years. In 1877 he and his brother dis- 
posed of the business in Paris, having been very 
successful in the conduct of the same, while 
in the meanwhile the subject of this memoir 
had given evidence of his distinctive business 
acumen and prescience b}' making judicious 
investments in various sections of the Union, 
having become the owner of valuable property 
in and about Bismarck, North Dakota. He 
took up his residence in the city of Canton in 



785 



OLD LANDMARKS 



1888. and fnr 'leN-eral years thereafter lie tra\'- 
eling extensi\-ely, s]jecnlating successful 1\' in 
improved and unimproved property, in the 
citv of Duhilh. Minnescita, he and his l)r(itlier 
James acquired a vahial)le d(Kk property, the 
same having greatly ajjpreciated in value widi 
the gTowth and develi'jinient of the city. His 
husiness affairs vvere ever held well in hand: 
he was systematic and methodical, never \i(i- 
lated an agreement or tailed to meet an en- 
gagement, while he was a stickler for ])rompti- 
tude and exactness in all things. He left a 
large estate and all of his investments were 
I)roperiv looked after and so classified as to 
render the management of his affairs the more 
facile for his devoted wife, who assumed con- 
trol after his death. Xo man was ever more 
appreciative of home and friends, and none 
ever had a more kindlv disposition. He died 
on the 18th of Decemher, 1901, there having 
heen no premonitions tliat he was thus to he 
called from the scene of life's activities in the 
])rime of his nohle and useful manhood. He 
had I)een at his office attending to his husiness 
affairs and while on the street was attacked 
witii a severe fainting or dizziness, and soon 
returned to his liome, and his death occurred 
six days later. Mr. Alartin was puhlic-spir- 
ited and his influence and tangihle aid could 
a.lways l)e counted u])on in the promotion of 
all worthy ohjects for the general good of the 
community. Tn jiolitics he was a stanch advo- 
cate of the ])rinciples of the Republican party, 
hut he never sought ofhci.al jjreferment of any 
desc'^iption, and such was his strength of in- 
tellect that he studied deeply and appreciative- 
ly throughout lite, being a wide reader and 
taking particular pleasure in reading to the 
members of the family circle. 

In the city of Canton, on tlie 1st of August. 
i88(), he was united in marriage to Miss Kate 
A. lilake, daughter of the late Patrick Blake, 
who was born in the city of Cork. Ireland, and 
who was brought bv his parents to America 



when an infant. He was for many years a rail- 
road contractor, with headcjuarters in the city 
of Alliance, Stark county, and met his death 
as the result of an accident. One year after 
his marriage Mr. Martin built an attractive 
residence at 1905 Xortli ]\larket street, and 
there his death occurred, his wife still retaining 
her home S(_) thoughtfully provided. Of this 
marriage one .son was born. Brooke, who is 
thirteen years of age at the time of this writ- 
ing and who is a solace and comfort to his wid- 
owed mother. 

■*—¥ 

J 1111,11' j. BERNOW ER.— Mr. Bernow- 
er was Ijorn m the \illage of Canal Fulton. 
Lawrence tov nshi)). this county, on the 31st of 
July. 1837. and was there reared to the age 
of nineteen years, his educational privileges 
having been such as were afforded in the pub- 
lic and ]jarociiial scliools, while as a mere boy 
he assumed individual responsibilities, having 
become a clerk in the grocery of Timothv 
Sullivan when Init twelve years of age, wdiile 
his school discipline under that line was of ir- 
regular order. At the age of sixteen vears he 
was ]>laced in practical charge of the grocery 
establishment of John P>ames, in his native 
town, and he retained this incumbency until he 
had attained the age of nineteen years, when he 
came to Canton and secured a position as trav- 
eling salesman for tUe wbolesate notion house 
of W. .A. McCrea & Company, wifli which con- 
cern he remained tw<_i and one-half vears. while 
later lie was a commercial salesman for reprir- 
sentative firms in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and 
Cleveland, Ohio. In 1885 be gave u]i travel- 
ing, b.aving determined to establish himself in 
a ])ermanent business upon his own responsi- 
bility, and in that year he l)egan his opera- 
tions in Canton as a lumber dealer, as a mem- 
ber of the brill n{ U. Holwick & Company. 
In i8g3 he established his present lumber busi- 
ness in bis own name. Throug-h discriminat- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



7^7 



mg management and fair dealing- he has huilt 
uj) a pi'ospcrons enterprise, having a well 
e(|uipped plant and ade(inate storage yards on 
the corner of Cle\'eland avenue and Navarre 
street and controlling a representative trade 
throughout the territory ndrmally tributary to 
Canton. Mr. Berno\\er has lahnred consecu- 
tively to attain the goal of success, and has not 
been denicl a due reward for his well directed 
efforts, while incidentally he has invariably 
commanded the confidence and esteem of those 
with whiim he has come in contact. Though 
never an aspirant for public oifice he has ever 
given a stanch support to the principles and 
])olicies of the L3emocratic partv and takes a 
loyal interest in local affairs. His interest in 
public affairs is demonstrated ijy the fact that 
he served efficiently as a member of the Canton 
board of elections for a period of six years. 
He and his wife are communicants of St. John's 
church, Roman Catholic, and fraternally he is 
identified w itli the Cath.olic Mutual Benefit xAs- 
>(iciation and the Knights of Columbus. 

On the 2ist of November, 1888, in the city 
of Findla}', Ohio, was solemnized the marriage 
of Mr. Bernower to Miss Mary E. Julien, a 
daughter of Augustus Sylvester and Sarah Gil- 
lespie Juhen, of that place. 

Regarding the genealogy of the subject, we 
may say that he comes pf stanch German line- 
age. His father, Godfrey Bernower, was 
l)orn in the grand duchy of Baden, Germany, 
on the 29th of September, 1 81 9, and he was 
there reared to the ag'e of eighteai years, re- 
eei\-ing his educational training in the excellent 
schools of the fatherland. As a youth, depend- 
ent entirel}' uix^n his own resources, he emi- 
grated to America, making his way from New 
York to Ohio and locating at Canal Fulton, 
Stark county, where he worked as a 1>iok- 
keeper for a number of vears. He served as 
postmaster of the town for several years, and 
was a candidate for county treasurer in 1861, 
having been a man of ability and inflexible in- 



tegrit}' and having commanded unqualified con- 
fidence and esteem in the community in which 
he so long lived and lal)ored. He was a stal- 
wart Democrat ui politics and both he and his 
wife were communicants of the Catholic 
church. He died on the 22(\ of February, 
1862. an honored pioneer of the countv. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Houk, 
was likewise a native of Germany, whence she 
came to America with her parents when a girl, 
and she died in Canton October 8, 1887, ^^ the 
age of sixty-eight years. Of this union were 
born seven children, concerning whom we offer 
brief record, as follows : Charles W. died in 
1875. at the age of thirty-three years; he \vas 
a member of Company A, One Hundred and 
Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at the age 
of nineteen years: Harriet is the wife 6f Will- 
iam Mullally, of Canton; Elizabeth, who be- 
came the wife of Patrick O'Brien, died in the 
city of Wheeling, West Virginia; Isabelle, who 
married Daniel Holwick, died in Canton, Ohio, 
in March, 1899; Margaret is the wife of Chris- 
tian Fishley, of Canton; Philip J., subject ot 
this sketch, was the next in order of birth; and 
John A., who married Josephine Haines, of 
Fostoria, Ohio, and resides in Canton, is asso- 
ciated with Phih]) f. in the lumber business, the 
firm name i^f which is the Canton Lumber 
Company, with \'ar(ls on East North street. 



ASA WHITCOMB BALLARD was a na- 
ti\'e of the old Bay state, having' been born in 
tlie town of Peppered, Middlesex county, Mass- 
achusetts, on the 15th of December. 1823, and 
there he ^\■as reared to maturity, recei\'ing ex- 
cellent educational advantages for the day. 
while in his youth he learned the machinist's 
trade, in which line he became an expert arti- 
san. It is altogether jjrobable that his disci- 
]>line in this line was received under the effec- 
tive direction of his father. A\ho was one of 
the best machinists in that section of the Union, 



788 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and vvh(j altaiiicl iji-iikcd prestige in liis cluwen 
vocation. I ic; accompanied IiIh parcnls on tlicir 
removal lo the city of I'itlslnirj^', TennHylvaiiia, 
where he was engaged in ihe work of \m trade 
lor ;i. nnnilicr of years, and where hin marriage 
was solemnized in tlie year (^50, lie there- 
after conlinned to reside in that city niitil i^sS, 
I'rior to this, Ix fore the coni|(letifjti of the l'>|>Ii- 
raim Hall maimfactiiring plant in (!antfjn, Ohio, 
Mr. llallarrl was iniportnned to come to tliis 
city and assume the forananshi]) <)i one <>i tlie 
departments in the factory, but hin wife's par- 
ents were in advanced yc;irs and needed her at- 
tention, .so that she was mr^t relitctant to leave 
thein, and Mr, F.allarfj thus declined the ]>rr;f- 
fer,e<l position anrl sent his brother Martin to 
assume the place, the latter so'>n afterward be- 
ing nnitwl in marriage to Sophia, a daughter of 
his employer, Mr, l',;dl. In theyefir \H()(), Mrs, 
I'lallanl's parents having in the meantime l>cen 
summoned into eternal rest, our subject re- 
moved to Canton to accej>t the forcmanship 
vacated by his Ijrrjther, who fjcoamc »tipefin- 
tcndetit of tlic cf/iicern at this time, and he 
thereafter continued in the employ of the Ji, 
l'»all C(;mpany tnitil the reorganization of the 
Irttsiness uu'ler the name of the ('.. Aulfmati 
Company, and with the new cwicern he re- 
mained in active service for a number of y«ir«, 
until 1884, when he received a strf>ke of j/firaly- 
si», which rendered him partly helpless. So 
greatly were bis services nccfle/1 and aj;j>reci- 
ated, however, that when he had .suffici<:ntly re- 
covered to be able to move a}x>ut, through with 
difficulty, Mr, Miller, one of the interested 
])rincipals in the greit concern by wliich be 
Itad been employed, came to Mr. liallard and 
urgefl upon her the propriety of her hushAnd'» 
continuing in the m?magcment of his Aejmrt- 
ment, since this wfjuld di.stract his mind frrmi 
his infirmities atid prove more in harmony with 
bis wishes, and the c/^nsiderate and kindly prr/- 
posal of the com|any was acccjrtcd, anrl there- 
after Mr, liallard was carried to atid frou) the 



»hop» each <lay for ;i nMinber of years, and until 
such lime as he became .noenfecrbled as lo render 
servi<:e nnpossible. 'I litis .'ifter years of faith- 
ful and able service Mr, iJallard finally was 
comjjclled to lay aside lii» active duties and he 
thereafter remained (jiiietly in his home, re- 
ceiving the most tender ,'ind solicitous care from 
his devotcfl wife nntil his death, which oc- 
currefl on the /7th of January, iH«7, at vvliich 
time he was sixty-six years of age, while thus 
was realized his wish ih.'it he might be calle/l 
to the life eternal lx;fore the summons came 
to his beloved wife. His v/as the faith that 
made faithful, and he was signally true in ;dl 
the relations of life, coininandiiig the iinr)uali- 
fied confidence anrl high regard of all who knew 
him, In politics he originally gave his siip 
]H>ri ill the Whig parly, but ii|jon the organiza- 
ti'rti of the Kejiublican party transferred his 
allegiance to the same and ever afterward re- 
mained a stanch advocate ni its principles, 1 Ic 
was interested in all th;(l tended to promote the 
))(i¥,t jnterc«t« of the cr/jiimunily, and scrvfcrl 
for a iiumlwr of years as a member of the 
(jioard ofcdncation, Me was one of the ze^tl- 
'/US and consislent members of the I'irsf I'rcs- 
bytcrjan church, in which he served as rieacon 
for a long t^-rm of yc'irs, and of which his 
widow has long been ;i »lev'/(ed iiicinlx;r. 

On the 7th of October, (850, in the city of 
V\ii%\nxrfi, Pennsylvania, Mr, I'.allard was unit- 
ed in hmrriiif^f. to Miss .Margaret Irwin, who 
was ly<rn in the family homestead, ntt Smith 
villc str«rt, that city, ofi the (Kih of (''ebrn 
ary, 1H22, t.>dng a rianghtci; of John and Anna 
^VVhife; frwin, both of whom were lK<rn in 
C'/tinly 'fyr'it/e, Ireland, where they wi'rt- 
rettre'l and c/liicatcd, and where their marriage 
wa* v/letnnize/l. After the birth of their first 
child th«ry emigrated from (he l'',nierald Isle t/. 
America, landing in Ihe rUy of ,\'ew York, 
whence they proceeded (o I'illilrtirg, f'ennsyl 
vania, near wfiidi city resided Mr«!, Mary 
S;mTpv>n, a si».t'T •'' Mr, (rwin. Shortly after 



CAN ION AND SI AUK COIINIV, OHIO. 



789 



\\ ;ii i| III' .11 i|iiii I'll |ii I >|ii'i I \ III I'll I Jiiii 1'^ .1111 1 
iJicK- iiinl, ii|i III', rcHidfiici'. I '1 h M Id Ins 
I'llil/^l :il Inn In llii' I inli'il Slal<"< lir Im<I ln-cn 
i'n).',;i>;i'i| III llir inn I ;inl ill' lilisinc'/, in In, ii.i 
I iv'i' l.'iin I, .iiii| .1 III I Imi .il nil' III I 'n I liiii I', III' 
llicif ii|i('n('i| ;i .'ilirii- ;iii<l 1 1 iiil iniii'i I In In- iln-ic 
kIi'iiI iIii'iI w nil iili'i I .nil ill iiih 1 1 ' I iinl 1 1 lir, 
i|c:il li. < )l In;, m;-, i IiiMi m vvf luih'i In h I 1 n 

nlil, ,1, InllnvVK; J;ill'', \\'ll'l W.'IS iinin III I li' 

I.IIM I, lll'l .mil' I III- will' n| jnllll K'.l \ , .lljij jll' 

ilicil III llii' liniiic III liri il.iiirliii'i , Mi-i. S;ii:ili 
I ;i^;>;;ilM, in VVmrilii, 'iln.,, hn 1 riii:ilii'i liciiif.; 
Illkcn In llic nil I Imnii' in I'll I Inn ;; l< >i iiili'l' 
iin'iii , |',li/,i, \i III I III I .11111 I 111 u 1 li' III ! i;niiin'l 

-\lllll<|r|, illcil III rill'.liin;;, M.liy iicr.niii' llir 

will- III Willi.'iiii .Allimlri , .nnl .lie lil-.i*\\ I' I' 'lii'il 
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III I III' iili|ri I III I III . ini'iiii HI ; :ii|i| M.il iM.i, 
u I In III I .mil' Mil' V. lie III \Villi;iiii VViiiliu'Vi ilinl 
III I 'ill'Jiin f',. n ili:il Mi-i, It.'iil.'inl is imw llic 
I iiilv siuvivm 111 1 III iniiiiiili.ili' l.nnil\', 

' »l Mil' I liiMii'ii III Ml .nil! Mrs, r,;ill;inl wf 

illlnl |li II ,||l llir |i illnw in;,' lilici IITllI'll, ;i|| III' 
I 111' I Inlijl I'll ll.l ' IIIL' lll'i'll linl II 111 I III' I II \ III 

I'm liiilf',. I 'I'liir 'i Iv .nil. I )nliii I rwill, will) 

W .1'. I.I II II nil I III- I ' I III I III I'liilii'l , I r'. , .', .mil 
wlln \V;i'i i;l.|i|li:ili'i| III ;i li'.nlllii' 1 nlji'^'r ii| 
iji'iil i'il i\' III rinl.ii |i'l{ilii;i , W.'IS Inii'iii.m in mir 

111 I III' i|i'|i.ll I llli'lll '. nl I hi |ir||i|i III i.il y III ( '(> 

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'■|| III in.ll I i;i(.ft* If) MiHM l''li/.!llirll| liiilli-, wlln 

tiii'vivrs Iniii, ;iK docM llirir • InM Inilin 
VVIiili'iiiiili, wild w;i« lidiii dii llic .'dill 111 \|ii il, 
iM'vl. w;i'i lirsi iii;iiTii'(| In iVJis', (iinn- (in-rn 

Wnml, .nnl .illrl IhI ilr.illi In 'Vll';', Iji'ljc Al"- 
iilK'Mr, llnc'<' rllllilli'ii lii'iiij' linlii III lln jh'h): 
llliii III :ilii| 1 III'' nl I 111 ■ 11 mill III r, n. ••■, en 
f/;i|.M-i| III I III' jil .11 I |i I nl i|i III I'l I V III llir I II V nl 
.Mil. mil', lln, inlllll' llirmlnlr j-' , W'lln WAH 

iinin nil llir J'.lll nl I )ri 1 1 1 1| ,1 1 , iH-^i), WJIS .llinlll 
'•l^lllrrli innllllr, nl .iff .il lln linU'' df lli- ji.ll 

riiN' rciiidiV'.'il I'miii I'lll'.liin (.' In • .mlmi, .nnl 

ill lln l.illi I I ll y III- I'fCf ivfil Ins r.il ly rillli .illnli 



ni llir |iiililii ,1 lindh, wliirli lir .'I'llfinlnl imlil 

III' ll.nl .lll.illiril llir ,i{.'r nl liinrlrrii yfi'irH, wllllt! 
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IdWrij llir 'i.lllir ,1'. .1 Vi il'.l I inl I. Ah il. yOllllf'' 

III. Ill III- sci'vi'il .1 iiiiiiilii'i 111 vi'.'irrt .'iH (:l(-rl< in 

llir nllli I' 111 iIk' IILiyiil 111 I .nilnii, .iliij vvil'. .ll'in 
mnillllirlil nl I III- nlli. r III I n\\ 11 1 1 1 1 1 i Ir I |.. , wllllr 
Inl llllci- \r.ll', III' llrlil llir {iirlllnli nl ilrjillly 
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i'll\. Ill l.'-'ii)l III- rll|.;.l|.'ri| m llir in.il lilisi- 
lli'!is III III". |il'i'scill liicallnli, .ll llii' rdl'iici' itl' 
Sdiilli M.iii-.rl ami N:ivarn' '.lirri',, wlu-u- lu" 
iidU' 1 mil 1 1 ll'. .1 111 111 I r.l line liii ,1111 ■. ., Iiniif.; inn 11 
lll'l 11 1 .111 u llic represi'iii.iiiM' .nnl inn^'j'c'SHive 

lilisiiii".'. iiini nl liii' lily ;ini| iidli|iii|.; llic lllii' 
Idini C'lll'l'lll nl ihr inllllllllllily ill wliii ll jiiac 
lii'.llh III . I'lilllr lllr ll.l', |ict;|| paSHC'll, III III'. 

Iininr iil\. mi llic /III 111 ()r|ii|ii'i, iHHg, Mr. 
Itallanl was iinili'il in iii.ii 1 i.'i|.;c In Miss .'\iiiia. 
I'.ark, wild vv;i'i limn m '.rwirklcy, Allc).;liciiy 
(■dimly, I'l'mr.N I', .nii.i, mi lln dlli nl |.iiiiiai'y, 

1M5J, hcilll^ .1 ilail^'.lllcl III I'rlci .nnl I' h/.ilirlli 

r.'irls. Ml hallaiil r. .1 ■.l.'iin h lv'i'|inlilii .111 
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llCI'idl llic iVIcI 111 iill'.l |'.{ir,i n|i.ll illlinll, v\lll|r 

I I .lln ii.illv In- I', iilnil ihril w il Ii lln | iiiiidi ( )i 
i|n nl Mnili i| /\ini'i n .III i\l''i li.nin ., Iicmj.' a 

IIIi'IIiIm'I nl III illlir I nl|||i ll I J i i .| I TIlC 

Wi'ldW nl lln ' llll|ri I III. mil. llir, lll'l li'ilill'IICd 

ill llir nli| liniin , \' lin ll I , 'ill li.illdvvcil .nnl en 

i|r.l I 111 In 111 I li\ I 111 nil 1 1 in I 11". .nnl .'|->'ii >i l.ll ll III'. 

III Ihr |,.l I 



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NfVV Itlij-'Jllnll, l',llf;l.nii|, mi lln (,| nl Jllllr, 

1K55, ami was llitTf icnni .mil nlnralPil, vvliilc 

lie c.illy 'I'l'iii'i'il li'i'lilin ,i| li.iiiiilif.; wllii'll Wfll 
|i|i|M|ri| limi Inl Ihr yiii',i||iili In wllil'll ll<^ 

is lldW (|c\ dlill^.;' Ilis .illriil I 1 1- is a HfMl of 

S, Mai'.h.ill ami Mary M, ( K'alllcs) \M\fy, 
liiilli nl wlinnr pas.scil llicir cnliic lives in l''.iif>'' 

I. nnl In iH'/y (lit* fllllljccl nl' lIlJH Hkfll'll IMM1« 

Id lln I iinh'il SlalvH Mild Mddii al'lcivvard ai'- 



790 



OLD LANDMARKS 



rived in Canton and assumed the position of 
chemist in tiie works of Bolton, Myers & Com- 
pany, wlio had here estabHshed business in 
1875, the concern constituting the nucleus from 
which has been Iniilt up the present Canton 
Steel Company. Later the tirm became Bol- 
ton. Bulley & Company, and subsequently a 
reorganization took place and the business was 
incorporated under the laws of Ohio, the title 
of the Bolton Steel Company being then adopt- 
ed, while the next distinctive change was that 
in\iil\ed in the incorporation of the concern 
under the laws of Pennsylvania, with the title 
of'the Bolton Iron & Steel Company, this be- 
ing the immediate predecessor of the Canton 
Steel Com]3an}-. the only change being in the 
name. Mr. Bulley has been consecutively 
identihed w ith the enterprise during the several 
changes and has retained a capitalistic interest 
throughout. The works uriginally utilized 
Avere erected by a m.dleable iron company, and 
later were changed to a steel plant under the 
title of the .Vultman Steel Compan^•. but they 
had ceased ti) be maintained in operation some 
time ])rior to the securing of the plant b}- Bnl- 
tiin. M}'ers & Company, while ^Ir. Anltman 
continued to be an interested principal for sev- 
eral years after the organization of the new 
oi)erating hrm. The original jjlant was 
e(|uip|)ed with a twehe-inch rolling mill and a 
few crucible melting holes and one or two ham- 
mers, while an open-hearth furnace was in- 
stalled 1)\- the Bolton & Myers Company soon 
after they secured control of the ])lant. this 
liaving been among the first furnaces of this 
class built in the United States. The plant has 
been continuously enlarged, to meet the de- 
mands placed upon it. and at the time of this 
writing its equipment includes three melting 
furnaces, three mills and an adequate batterv 
of the best type of steam hammers. The out- 
put is comprised entirely of high-tempered 
steel, and a large quantity of steel and mining 
drills are annually shipped to the most diverse 



sections of the United States, Canada and Me.x- 
ico, wdiile the balance of the prodtict is utilized 
almost entirely for the manufacturing of 
springs for railway cars and x'arious lines of 
^'ei^icles, a large ])ercentage of the carriages and 
other conveyances made in the United States 
beiiig equipped with springs manufactured from 
the steel produced in the works of the Canton 
Steel Company. At the time of the inception 
of the enterprise the ]iractical superxision nf 
the works was ]jlace<l in charge of (_)gden Bol- 
ton, who continued to e.xercise such functions 
tmtil 1884. when he dispo.sed of his interests to 
Colonel J. J. ^'oung. of Pittsburg. Pennsyl- 
vania, who contintied in the actixe supervision 
of the works until his death, in 1893. since 
which time Mr. Bulle\' has been the general 
manager, while W'iliiam \\. Young, a cousin 
of Col(.)nel ^'oung. has held the <iffice of sujjer- 
intendent since i88t. 



JOHN SYLVESTER Kn:>DEY is the son 
of Charles Kiddey. who was Ixirn and reared 
in Columbiana county. Ohio, and there learned 
the trade of boilermaking. Charles Kiddey 
worked at his chosen calling for a number of 
years in \\'ellsville. and it was in that city that 
he met with an accidental death in the year 
1881. The maiden name of the subject's 
mother was Mariah J. Close; she was born in 
Jefferson county. Ohio, and departed this life 
in the month of March. 1903. Her .son. the 
subject of this re\iew. first saw the light of 
day in East Liverpool. Ohio, the event dating 
from May ri. 1869. \\nien he was quite 
young his ])arents remo\-ed to Wellsville. and 
it was in that city that he received his limited 
scholastic education and grew to maturity. The 
death of his father, which occurred when John 
S. w;is in his twelfth vear. left the familv of 
seven children dependent tipon the widowed 
mother, and for some time thereafter hard 
work and the most frugal economy on the part 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



791 



of all were re(|uired to keep the hungry wolf 
from the door. By reason of his services be- 
ing needed to assist in the general suppnrt 
of the family, the subject was obliged to quit 
school, and from his twelfth to his fourteenth 
year he worked in different pottery shops, earn- 
ing l)ut meager wages, which he generously 
contrilnited tn the common fund. At the age 
of fourteen he entered the boiler works of the 
Cleveland & I'lttsburg Railroad, at Wellsville. 
for the purpose of learning boiler making', and 
after remaining some years at that place fin- 
ished the trade at the Fulton Boiler Works, of 
the same place, before reaching his twentieth 
year. The master of a handicraft upon which 
he could rely with the assurance of a comforta- 
ble livelihood and something more, Mr. Kid- 
iley then engaged with the Cleveland & Pitts- 
burg Railroad, in the Wellsville shops, and 
there remained until 1897, ^'''^ meanwhile de- 
veloping' eificiency and skill at his trade besides 
obtaining an insight into A'arious lines of me- 
chanical work with the object in view of ulti- 
mately engaging' in business for himself. In 
■ November, 1898, he came to Canton and ac- 
cepted a p(«ition in the lioiler works of the 
Cleveland. Canton &- Southern Railroad Com- 
pany, in which capacity he continued until rgoi . 
when he resigried and carried out a desire of 
long standing by establishing a shop of his own, 
the beginning of which dates from October 
of that year. 

Mr. Kiddev l)egan ujieratii ins on a modest 
scale in a small building which stood at the 
rear of the .^rtificial Ice Compan^^'s plant, and 
meeting with a liberal patronage was soon 
obliged to increase his force of laborers and en- 
large his works. In less than two years after 
establishing his business it had so grown in 
magnitude and importance as to render a Iniild- 
ing' of still greater capacity necessary ; accord- 
ingly, in January, T903. he erected his present 
plant at No. 1150 Marion street, where he now 
has a large and fully cr|ui])])ed shop in which 



all kinds of boiler work is done with neatness 
and tlispatch. the establishment ranking with 
the foremost in this part of the state. A skilled 
artisan himself, and appreciating the \alue of 
first-class workmanship. Mr. Kiddey emi)!o}'s 
none but efficient and thoroughly reliable, men 
and the high grade of the products of his shops 
has won him a reputation for excellence such 
as few of his calling attain. Since coming to 
Canton he has Ijeen constantly before the peo- 
ple in his industrial capacity, and the interven- 
ing years have steadily added to his high 
repute as a business man and to his en\iable 
standing as a citizen in ever\' relation of life. 
He possesses good judgment, excellent char- 
acter and habits, is a hard worker and success- 
ful manager, careful and conservative in his 
dealings and progressive in all matters in which 
the public welfare is concerned. His early 
years of rugged practical experience, by de\el- 
oping a spirit of self-reliance, thoroughly fitted 
him ioY leadership in industrial enterprises, and 
he engaged in his present undertaking with a 
full realization of its difticulties and responsi- 
bilities, l)ut with well grounded faith in the 
splendid success iiv which his efforts have been 
crowned. 

In the year i8Xy. in the city of \Vells\'ille. 
Ohio, Mr. Kiddey was united in marriage to 
Miss Lillie M. Wilson, who has since presided 
over his home with dignity and true wifely de- 
votion, besides presenting him with four bright, 
interesting children, whose names, in order of 
birth, are as follows: Beulah. Lester, Clark 
S. and Stuart D. Politically Mr. Kiddey ex- 
ercises the greatest amount of independence 
compatible with good citizenship, declining to 
obey the liehests of aiiy party, and relying upon 
his own judgment as to the principles he es- 
pouses and the candidates to whom he gives 
support. He was reared in the Methodist 
Protestant church, but has profound regard for 
religion regardless of creed and assists gen- 
erously in the support of different organiza- 



792 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tions, not forgetting to encourage unto his in- 
fluence and material means the notable work of 
charity and bene\'olencc of \v]i;ite\er name or 
order. 



RICHARD A. CHRISTIAN is a native 
of the old Keystone state, having been born in 
Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, on the 25th of 
August, 1857, and being a son of Robert and 
Margaret (Jackson) Christian, the former a 
native of Pennsylvania and the latter of West 
Virginia. The father of the subject was a 
butcher by trade and vocation, and he died in 
the city of Pittsburg", Pennsylvania, in 1873, 
at the age of thirty-nine years. His wife was 
reared in Pennsylvania, where her father, Rob- 
ert Jackson, passed the later years of his life, 
and she now maintains her home in Canton. 
She is a member of the United Brethren church. 
as was also her husband. The latter was a son 
of Robert Christian, Sr.. who was born in Ire- 
land, whence he came with his wife and five 
children to America, locating" in Allegheny 
City, Pennsylvania, where two other children 
were born to them, and of the number three 
are living at the present time. The subject 
of this sketch was the eldest in order of birth 
in a family of nine children, of whom three are 
living. 

Richard A. Christian attended the public 
schools of his native city until he had attained 
the age of sixteen years, and then he began an 
apprenticeship at the moulder's trade in the 
works of the Crawford Malleable Iron Com- 
pany, of Allegheny City, and after becoming 
thoroughly skilled in his trade he continued to 
be employed at the same in his home city until 
November. 1886, when he came to Canton, 
where he was employed in the works of the 
Elbel Company until 1892, when he became 
foreman of the works of the Canton Malleable 
Iron Company, serving with such discrimina- 
tion and efifectiveness that in 1896 he was made 



superintendent of the plant, and he has since 
remained in tenure of this office, holding the 
confidence and good will of those employed un- 
der his supervision and also of the members of 
the company which has granted him the prefer- 
ment. In politics Mr. Christian is a stanch 
adx'ocate of the principles and policies of the 
Republican party, but he has never been afflict- 
ed with office-seeking proclivities. He and 
his wife are prominent and valued members of 
the United Brethren church, of which he served 
as trustee for four years, while for five years 
he was superintendent of the Sunday school, 
and assistant superintendent for four years, tak- 
ing an active interest in all departments of the 
church work. 

In Alleghenv City, on the iSth of /\ugust, 
1880, Mr. Christian was united in marriage to 
Miss Nancy Porter, who was born in Marietta, 
Ohio. Ijeing" a daughter of Ezekiel Porter, and 
they are the parents of ten children, namely : 
Elsie (wife of Henry L. Baird. of Canton), 
Lillie. Charles, Pearl, Ella, Richard, Ruth, 
Tames, Esther and Paul. 



OTTO THEOBALD GIESSEN. — 
Among Stark countv's leading Imsiness men of 
the past, none were more closely identified with 
its material growtli and best interests than the 
late Otto Theobald Giessen. of Canton, who 
for many years was an lionored resident of 
the city and a leader in its industrial life. 
Tliroughout this long period he became wide- 
ly- known for his sterling qualities, his. fearless 
lovaltv to his honest convictions, his sturdy 
stipport of tiie sound principles that underlie 
true democracy, and for his discrimination and 
tact as an inaugurator and manager of large 
and important enterprises. His career as an 
intelligent, broad-minded citizen of large heart 
and generous impulses was one of signal use- 
fulness and honor, and during his acti\-e years 
he not only achieverl business success, but gave 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



793 



seme of the best efforts of his life to the build- 
ing up of the city's social interests and to the 
elevations of thmgs relating to the moral wel- 
fare of the communit}-. The representative of 
an old, intelligent and highly respected family, 
he not only maintained the high standard of 
an honored ancestral name, but by a character 
above reproach and a course of conduct sin- 
gularly free from adverse criticism continually 
added to it new luster, and made it stand for 
upright manhood and sterling citizenship. A 
self-made man, he stamped the impression of 
his vigorous personality, not only upon the 
city, in which his most eminent success was 
achieved, liut upon the county and business cir- 
cles of the state, and his death, a few years ago, 
remoxed from Canton one of its characters 
whose intluence and leadership, during a ca- 
reer of remarkable endeavor, was as instru- 
mental as that of any other man in fixing the 
business status of the city and giving it its 
present high reputation among the leading in- 
dustrial circles of the commonwealth. 

Otto Theobald Giessen was born July 14, 
1848. in Kusel, an industrious, thriving little 
town of Rhine Plats, in the western part of Ba- 
varia, Germany, being the sixth child of Henry 
Julius and Elizabeth (Ritter) Giessen, both 
natives of the Bavarian Palatinate, as were 
their respective ancestors for several preceding 
generations. The father was a man of intelli- 
gence and marked influence, a graduate of the 
universities of Eslanger and Heidelberg, and 
for a number of years held the office of notary 
public, a position of far greater importance in 
Germany than is the ofifice of the same name in 
the United States. To be a notary public in 
Bavaria requires not only sound judgment and 
good social standing, but also rigid intellectual 
discipline and thorough professional training, 
one of the essential qualifications required of 
a candidate of the office being a university de- 
gree. Henry Julius Giessen discharged the 
duties of Ills office in an able manner and was 



highly esteemed by the people of his juris- 
diction, having been a man of profound learn- 
ing;, wide experience and superior professional 
ability. The subject's maternal grandfather 
was also a man of much more than local repute, 
as is attested b}' the fact of his having been 
honored with a number of high public posi- 
tions, notably among which was that of post- 
master of his province. During his incum- 
bencv, -which was before the days of railroads, 
the mail was carried on horseback or in 
coaches, and the many routes over which he 
exercised jurisdiction and the large number 
of offices under his control show him to ha\'e 
possessed business and executive ability of a 
high order, as merit alone is the pre-requis- 
ite to official station in all parts of Germany. 
Both the Giessens and Ritters were of superior 
birth, being among the first families of Ba- 
varia, and they were also connected by nature 
and the ties of marriage with a number of the 
leading people of the Empire. When the sub- 
ject was about eight years old, his parents re- 
moved to Kirchheimer, a beautiful town of 
northeastern Bavaria, on the Mount Dones- 
burg, where he first attended the public schools, 
later entering the lower classes of the Latin 
schools at the same place, which course of 
study he pursued until a youth in his early 
teens. When a lad of nine years, Mr. Giessen 
suffered the loss of his father, who died in the 
above town, and from that event until old 
enough to look after his own affairs he re- 
mained under the tender care and faithful guid- 
ance of his mother, a woman, as already indi- 
cated, of beautiful character, varied culture 
and marked piety: also spending considerable 
time with his grandparents. Being an ardent 
admirer of nature and a great lover of outdoor 
life, he was given ample opportunity to exer- 
cise these tastes while living with his grand- 
father, the latter, as already stated, being- post- 
master, with a great many horses at his com- 
mand. Young Giessen rode over a number of 



794 



OLD LANDMARKS 



mail routes, and in this way laid the founda- 
tion of the superb ]:)hysical health wliich he sub- 
sequently enjoyed, also increased his admira- 
ticin fur the beautiful and mmantic in nature, 
which was afterwards one of his most pro- 
nounced characteristics. At the age of four- 
teen, he entered the Kaiserslantern, a hue tech- 
nical school for lioys. where he prosecuted his 
studies the greater part of the ensuing two 
years, making ra])id progress while in that in- 
stitution. 

In 1865. when but sixteen years old. Mr. 
Giessen bid farewell to the fatherland, and 
emigrated to America, where brighter pros- 
])ects for ad\ancement in life ajjpealed to his 
restless energy than obtained in the country 
of his birth. Locating in Cleveland. Ohio, 
where his brother-in-law. Car! Schmidt, was 
then lixing. he took a full business course in one 
of the commercial colleges of that city, after 
which lie learned, under the direction of his 
relative, the brewer's trade. Some months 
prex'ious to coming to this country he made 
a careful study of the art of making vinegar, 
and becoming efficient in the manufacture of 
that article. full\- intended following it as a 
business, .\fter settling in Cle\-eland. however, 
he decided to turn his attention to a pursuit 
which ])romised more liberal financial reward, 
accordingly, as alread\- stated, he entered his 
brother-in-law's brewery, and in due time be- 
came familiar with e\'ery detail of the business. 

In iJ^/O '\\r. Giessen went to .\kron. where 
lie formed :\ ])arlnershi]) with another party 
for the manufacture of beer, the firm thus 
constituted lasting until about 1872. when he 
disposed of his interest in the concern and came 
to Canton. Al\va\s .alert for oj)])ortunities. he 
saw a fine business jjrosjject in the old Gralier 
brewery, about two miles southwest of the 
citv, and piu'chased ibe same, conducting it 
with encouraging success until the year 1883. 
when the jirojierty was destroyed by fire, en- 
tailing upon him a \ery heavy and embarras- 



sing loss. With his characteristic energ}', he 
at once set about to retrieve his liroken fortune, 
and in due time built up the brewery on Cherry 
and East Fourth streets, which, after operating 
with liberal financial results until i88(). he 
sold and which since that vear has been known 
as the Canton Brewing Company. 

]\Tr. (jiessen in 1885 organized the Crystal 
.""Springs Ice Company, of which he was made 
secretary and treasurer, and some time later 
helped establish and incorporate the Canton 
Buggy Company, being the largest stock- 
holder in the enterprise, and for several years 
served in the dual capacity of secretary and 
treasurer. In 1891 he was a leading spirit in 
organizing anfl incorporating the Royal Brick 
Company, of which he was also elected secre- 
tary and treasurer, and these two offices, to- 
gether with that of general manager, he held 
until his death, suffering se\eral serious losses 
the meanwhile by the destructi\e agency of 
fire. From an apjiropriate obituary published 
immediately after Iiis death, the following par- 
agraph, pertinent in the connection, is quoted : 

Mr Giessen was an indefatigable worker, and 1>\' 
perseverance and energy he monnted the ladder of suc- 
cess, despite tlie innumerable reverses that at tinie> 
threatened to obliterate the results of his years of toil. 
The all-devouring element of fire proved a destructive 
agent during his career. His first great loss was the 
brewery th.it he had spent large sums of money in im- 
proving. Later the ice houses, constructed near the brew- 
ery, were consumed, and then the Royal brick plant 
went up in smoke. More recently the Canton Buggy 
Company and tb.e Hear Company's manufactory, in 
whic'.i he held large interests, were completely de- 
stroyed. Tliro'igh all these, disasters, however, he 
maintained the even tenor of his way and surmounted 
the difficulties with the ease born of a resolute will. 

Mr. Giessen was married in -\kron, ( )hio. 
February 13. 1871. to Miss Julia Angne. a na- 
ti\-e of that city, but born of (lerman parentage, 
her father and mother coming from the old 
world sr>me vears ])rior to her I)irth. The 
uncle of Mrs. Giessen served as colonel of an 
Ohio regiment in the late Civil war, and left 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



795 



the army at the close of the struggle with a dis- 
tinguished record. Seven children ha\e re- 
sulted from the marriage of Mr. and ]Mrs. 
(iies.sen, six of whom are li\ing. namely: 
l'"rederick, horn July 2t^, 1873; Otto, April 13, 
iSj^: Karl, December 13, 1876; Homer, Feb- 
ruary 8. 1879; Kurt, October 28, 1881, and 
J lenry, who was born on October 25, 1886. 
Elsie, the deceased memlier of the family, was 
Ijorn Octoljer 3, 1882, and departed this life 
]'>bruary 2, 1884. 

In 1871 Mr. Ciiessen returned to the land 
of his linlh, and spent some time reyisiting the 
scenes of his childhood, antl renewing acquain- 
tances with friends whom he had not seen since 
bidding them good-bye so many years ago. 
I le was always deeply interested in matters per- 
taining til liis German--\merican fellow citi- 
zens, was identified with several of their or- 
ganized societies, and in 1891 assisted with the 
Northeastern Ohio Saengerfest. which he 
ser\-ed for s(~imetime as secretary. It is need- 
less to state in this connection that he was 
prosperous in his business affairs, his connec- 
tion with the many large and important enter- 
])rises already alluded tn being sufficient e\i- 
dence of the fact. \\x ddigent attention and 
snperi(jr management, he succeeded in accumu- 
lating a handsome fortune, and was also lili- 
eral in his contributi(Mis to eyer\'" worth\- ob- 
ject, ha\'ing been charitable in all the term im- 
l)lies, and a leader in a number of private and 
organized Ijenex'olences. 

Tn i8q3 Mr. (iiessen purchased Hartford 
Heights, a beautiful and imposing residence 
property situated in the eastern part of Can- 
ton, on the highest point of land in Stark coun- 
ty, which he greatly improved and -beautified, 
and which lie made his home the remainfler of 
his days. Here, surrounded by many features 
\vhich apiiealed to his lo\'e of nature, and \\ith 
everything calculated to minister to his com- 
fort, he silent the remaining years of his life 
in almost ideal enioynient, his family and many 



friends appearing to vie with each other in con- 
tributing to his happiness. Mr. Giessen was a 
men;ber of several secret fraternal organiza- 
tions, Init, with the exception of the Knights 
of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protecti\e 
Order of Elks, manifested little interest in them 
during his latter }'ears. He was a charter 
member of the Pythian lodge of 'Canton, and 
for twenty years one of its zealous workers, 
and was also identified with the United Com- 
mercial Travelers' Association. He united 
with the Elks lodge alx)ut six years pre\'ious 
to his death, and when he passed to his final 
reward that organization officiated at his obse- 
quies, passed ap]iropriate resolutions concern- 
ing his life, and different members spoke elo- 
quently and feelingly of his character and \ir- 
tues a.s a worthy lii-other and honorable citi- 
zen. Karl Claus.sen, of Cleveland, conducted 
the services, after which Past Exalted Ruler 
Thomas F. Turner, of Canton, in behalf of the 
Elks, rendered the following beruitiful tribute 
to the memory of the dece;'.sed : 

.My friends, among the first acquaintances wliicli 
I made upon cnming to this city, a little more than 
ten years ayn. was that which I formed with him at 
whose bier we have gathered this afternoon. It was 
my good fortune that the acquaintance thus early 
formcd was destined to ripen into a warm and last- 
ing friendship. T soon learned to know him as a man 
who scorned the mean and petty things of life; who 
never spoke ill of, nor did an act of wrong toward any 
man : whose given word was sacred as his written 
bond ; who held above all other things respect of vir- 
tue, and the love of wife and home and friend. No 
loftier tribute can be paid to any man than to have 
it said: "He lived an upright and honest life." Too 
often the living hear words of censure only, 
while praise is reserved for the dead, wdiich, "Like tlow- 
ers on coffins laid, imparts no sweetness to departed 
days," It was the good fortune of him who lies be- 
fore us, however, that during his lifetime those who 
knew him best were frequent and willing witnesses to 
his sterling worth. I recall that some years ago one 
of Canton's most prominent and influential citizens, in 
speaking of this thing which we call moral worth, said: 
"There are in this city two men who have lieen success- 
ful in life whom 1 know to be absolutely honest, up- 
right men." The man wdio spoke these words has al- 



796 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ready "answered to the dread summons and joined the 
innumerable caravan which moves to the mysterious 
reahns," while one of those of whom they were spoken 
has just solved the great mystery, and lies before us, 
cold in death. Tt is scarcely two years since Otto Gies- 
sen became a member of the brotherhood of Elks. In 
his life were exemplified the great principles upon 
which the order was erected. Justice, impartial ; char- 
ity, unlimited: brotherly love, unrestrained; fidelity, un- 
wavering — these were the guiding and controlling in- 
fluences of his life, which, like great golden strands, 
were woven into tlic warp and woof of his very exist- 
ence. But, my friends and brothers, words upon an oc- 
casion such as this are but empty nothings — silence, 
silence alone, is truly eloquent. Let us emulate the 
lofty and noble purposes of his life, let us "write his 
faults upon the sands, his virtues upon the tablets of 
our love and memory." 

J 11 November, 1896, Mr. Giessen contracted 
a severe cold, which with frecjuent relapses, 
finally developed in a typhoid condition, from 
which he sitffered until the 21st day of the 
following February, wlien his spirit gently 
passed into the great beyond, leaving behind 
him a memory fragrant \vith good deeds and 
noble endeavor, and a name whose Itister, is 
destined to grow brighter with each succeed- 
ing year. 



SAMUEL O. LAUGHLIN.— Canton has 
gained a wide reputation through the great in- 
dustrial concerns which are here located, and 
her manufactured products go forth into all 
quarters of the civilized world. Two of the 
extensive and important manufacturing enter- 
prises of the city are those conducted by the 
Cleveland-Canton Spring Company and the 
Cleveland Axle Manufacturing Company, of 
both of which the subject of this sketch is treas- 
urer. 

The Cleveland Axle Manufacturing Com- 
pany is the outgrowth of the Kritch & Crane 
Manufacturing Company, which was estab- 
lished in the city of Cleveland more than half 
a century ago. for the manufacture of wagons 
and carriage axles. In 1875 the business was 



incorporated and the title of the concerr 
changed to the Cleveland Axle Company, and 
in 1887 the subject of this sketch becaine as- 
sociated with his brothers, George A. and Will- 
iatn H,, in the purchase of the business anc 
plant, the latter havmg at that time been lo- 
cated opposite the estal)lishment of the Standarc 
Oil Company, on Broadway, in the city oi 
Cleveland. In the autumn of 1892 the Can- 
ton plant was established, and the outptit ha; 
since that time increased threefold, the enter- 
prise being one of the largest of the sort ir 
the Union, while its facilities are unexcelled 
representing a large capitalistic outlay and en- 
listing the best of skill and experience, as is alsc 
true of the Cleveland-Canton Spring Company 
in whose plant are manufactured carriage 
wagon and truck springs of the higliest type ol 
excellence. The latter plant was erected, ad- 
jacent to that of the axle company, in 1901, anc 
the three brothers are likewise interested prin- 
ciples in this large and prosperous industria' 
enterprise. The official corps of the Clevelanc 
Axle Mamifacturing Company is as follows 
George A. l^aughlin. president; Samtiel O 
Laughiin. treasiu'er; Gordon M. Mather 
secretary; and Joiin G. Obermier, sup- 
erintendent, while that of the Cjeveland-Cantor 
Spring Company is as follows : George A 
Laughiin, president; William H. Laughiin 
vice-president; Samuel O. Laughiin, treasurer 
Gordon M. Mather, secretary ; John G 
Obermier. general manager. The employes 
of tlie two companies enjoy the privi- 
leges of a fine club house, which was 
erected for their use by the two concerns, the 
same being conveniently located between tlu 
two plants, and being equipped with baths, ban- 
quet room, library, ball room, gymnasium, etc 
The three Laughiin brothers are all na- 
tives of the city of '\Vheeling. West Virginia 
and in the public schools of that place Samue! 
O. received his early educational training, while 
later he continued his studies in the Washing- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



797 



ton & Jefferson College, at Washington, Penn- 
sylvania. The brothers were engaged in the 
steel and nail manufacturing business at Mingo 
Junction, Jefferson county, Ohio, prior to be- 
coming identified with their present lines of 
enterprise. 



JOHN H. LIND. — Occu[)ying the responsi- 
ble position of postal clerk on the line of the 
Cleveland & Marietta Railroad, and maintain- 
ing his home in Canton, Mr. Lind is well known 
to the people of Stark county, where he was 
born, and where the major portion of his life 
ha."; been passed, while he is a representative 
of the third generation of the family in the 
county. Mr. Lind was born on the old home- 
stead farm, in Plain tow nship, three miles north 
of Cantou. on the 30th of June, 1841, and is 
a son of Samuel and Hannah (Housel) Lind. 
His paternal grandparents were John and Eliz- 
abeth (Hess) Lind, or l''underlund, as the name 
was originally spelled, the former of whom was 
born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, com- 
ing of a stanch old German family early estab- 
lished in the I\eystone state, while his wife was 
lx)rn in the same state, near the Maryland line. 
In 1806, when their son Samuel, father of 
the subject, was a lad of eight years, they left 
the i>ld honie in Pennsyh'ania and canie through 
to Stark county, where Grandfather Lind se- 
cured a tract of wild land, in Plain township, 
there de\'el(.)ping a good farm and becoming one 
of the wcirthy pioneers of the county. Both 
he and his wife passed the remainder of their 
lives on the old homestead, and each attained 
a venerable age. Samuel Lind was reared to 
manhood on the old homestead, which he pur- 
chased after the death of his father, the same 
comprising one hundred and sixty acres, and 
eventually he disposed of this property and 
purchased a smaller farm a short distance west 
of the old place, and there he lived until he 
was called from the scene of life's activities. 



He was four times married, and became the 
father of thirteen children, all of whom are li\'- 
ing at the present time, the subject of this re- 
view being the eldest of five sons born of the 
first marriage. His mother was a daughter 
of Anthony J-fousel, another of the sterling 
pioneers of Stark comity, and one of whom 
more specific mention is made in the sketch of 
the life of his son Peter, on another page of 
this work. Hannah (Housel) Lind died in 
185 1, and her husband was thrice married 
thereafter, first to Mary Holm, next to Kate 
Stover, and finally to Amanda Flohr, the last 
named having survived him until 1901. Sam- 
uel Lind was a man of inflexible integrity, was 
successful as a farmer and commanded the re- 
spect of all who knew him. 

John H. Lind, the immediate subject of this 
sketch, continued to assist in the work of the 
home farm until he had attained the age of 
eighteen years, his educational advantages in 
the meanwhile having been such as were af- 
forded in the common schools in the vicinity of 
his home. .\t the age noted he came to Can- 
ton, where he learned the trade of harness- 
making, under the direction of C. C. Snyder, 
and after learning the trade he worked at the 
same for one year in Massillon, where he was 
residing at the outbreak of the war of the Re- 
bellion. On the 5th of August, 1862, he mani- 
fested his loyalty as a true son of the republic 
by tendering his services in defense of the Un- 
ion, enlisting as a pri\ate in Company E, One 
Hundred and Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 
which was commanded by Colonel James Riley. 
Mr. Lind continued in active service until July, 
1865, when he received his honorable discharge 
in the city of Cleveland. He participated in all 
the battles of the ever memorable Atlanta cam- 
paign and those of Franklin and Nashville, as 
well as all the engagements in North Carolina 
leading up to and culminating in the final vic- 
tory for the Union armies. After the close of 
the war, in which his record was that of a 



798 



OLD LANDMARKS 



valiant and faithful soldier, Mr. Lind returned 
to Canton, where he engaged in the harness 
business, in company with Charles Hane, and 
later he conducted an individual enterprise in 
the same line at Beach City, this county, con- 
tinuing the same until 1883. when he entered 
tlie railway mail service, being a postal clerk 
on the line of the Cleveland & Pittsburg Rail- 
road for eleven years and then being trans- 
ferred to his present run. He has proved a 
most efficient ofhcer and has the confidence and 
good will of all with whom he has come in con- 
tact, in a business or social way. He exercises 
his franchise m support of the Republican party, 
fraternall)' is identified with the Grand Army 
of the Repul)]ic, and both he and his wife are 
members of the First Presbyterian church of 
Canton. 

On the 25th of October, 1866, Mr. Lind 
was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca J. 
Shriver, of Canton, she being a daughter of 
Jacol) Shris-er, one of the jiioneers of the 
county. Of this union have been born four 
children, namely: Veronica, who is the wife 
of John Stidger, of Cleveland ; Mary, who is 
still under the paternal roof; Elizabeth, who is 
the wife of Calvin A. Wise, of Cleveland; and 
Florence M., who also remains at home. 



PROF. JOHN W. KlRTv is one of Ohio's 
native sons, having been born March 9, 1854, 
in the county of Stark. In an early day his 
grandfather, John Kirk, a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, moved to Holmes county, Ohio, where 
he purchased land and engaged in agricultural 
])ursuits. A little later he changed his abode 
to I-awrence town.ship, Stark county, where he 
also followed farming for a livelihood, and he 
there spent the remainder of his days, mean- 
time accumulating a comfortable competence 
and l^econiing a jnan of considerable note in 
the community. The maiden name of Mrs. 
John Kirk was Fli^a 'Clark. She also was of 



Pennsylvanian Ijirth, and bore her husband 
three sons and four daughters, only two of 
whom are li\ing at the present time. In 
politics Jcjlin Kir-k was an old-line Whig and 
appears to have Ijeen an active party worker. 
He and his wife were zealous Presbyterians and 
are remembered as a pious. God-fearing couple, 
whose lives were in harmony with their re- 
ligious professions and wdio early impressed 
upon the minds and hearts of their children the 
strict precepts for whicii their church has long 
been distinguished. Among their sons was 
one by the name of J. Fox Kirk, whose birth 
occurred at Beech Creek, PennsyKania, in the 
vear 1826. He was quite young when his 
parents moved to Ohio, and bis early years 
were spent in Stark county, where he received 
his educational training in the common schools. 
Reared on a farm, he engaged in agricultural 
])ursuits for himself when a young man and 
later carried on the livery business in additinn 
to tilhng the snil, running an establishment for 
some years in the town of Canal Fulton. J. 
Fox Kirk was a gentleman of excellent parts, 
and all with whom he had business or other re- 
lations respected him for his sterling (jualities 
of head and heart. He served for se\eral 
years as township trustee and was also a mem- 
ber of tlie school board of Canal k'nlton, in 
which capacity he did much to awaken an inter- 
est in the cause of education and promote the 
efiiciency of the local system. He owned a 
fine farm of ninety acres in Lawrence town- 
ship and as an agriculturist ranked with the 
enterprising and progressive men of his neigh- 
borhood, enjoying distinctive prestige as a citi- 
zen and iiilelligent man of affairs. Politically 
he was a Democrat, but not an active party 
worker, notw ithstanding which he was honorefl 
with various official positions, in all of which 
he deported himself in an able ;ind praise- 
worthy manner. When a young man J. ¥ok 
Kirk was married to Miss Lavina Caskey, 
daughter of John Caskey, wlio was born in 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



799 



Penik.\'l\aiiia, near J.ancasler, and was at one 
lime sheriff (if Slark CdUiiiy. lie was a car- 
penter by trade, and worked at same until death.. 
Mr. Kirk died on the ist day of May, l88o, 
and left liis descen(knits the menmi'v of a sjiot- 
less repulaliiin which they ])rize more than the 
richest he(|uest of gold or houses and lands. 
liis widow is still living', making her home at 
tins lime in Oherlin, Ohio. To J. V. and 
La\iiia Kirk were horn the folhjwing children : 
Mary J., John \V., of this review, Ada, l'"lora 
and Lovie, all li\ing hut the last named. 

The earh years of Prof, Kirk were marked 
hy no e\ent of especial iiote, having been spent 
amid the quiet scenes and gentle influences of 
ru.ral life, the farm a(Tl'<3rding him am])le means 
for the de\elopment o1 his physical powers, 
wliile his mental growth received its first stim- 
ulus in tlie ])ublic schools of Canal Fulton, 
which he entered at the ]>roper age. After 
Completing the common school course he was 
desirous of further increasing his scholastic 
i<nowledge: accordingly he became a student 
of. 01)erlin College, where he ])rosecuted his 
studies i'or se\eral \ears with the object in view 
of entering the teacher's ])rofession. The bet- 
ter to pre])are himself for educational work, 
he took a special normal course at Oberlin, 
meantime entering uiioii his career as a teacher 
.'it the early age of si.\lcen years. 

I'ro'f. Kirk's first experience as an edu- 
cator was in the country, and that he succeeded 
with the school of which he took charge is at- 
tested by the fact of his retention for several 
successive years in or near tlie same neigblior- 
Iwiod. ,\fter teaching in the rural districts for 
six' years, and establishiing an honorable repu- 
tation as an instructor and disci])linarian, he 
was cm])loyed by the school board of Canal 
Fulton, and from thai time to the ])reseiu da\- 
this thri\'ing town has been his tield of labor. 
Thus far twenty-two of his twentv-eight years 
of active educational work lia\-e been devoted 
to the vouth (jf the x-illai-e. duriii"- which Ion"- 



teiuu"e of ser\-ice he has come to the front as 
an efiicient instructor, and today there are few 
teachers in the county as widely and favorably 
known, lie has always been a growing man, 
putting forth every effort within his power to 
keep ]jace with the progress of modern educa- 
tional thought aiul axailing himself of e\'erv 
opportunity to add to his scholarship and in- 
crease his efficiency in matters of method. In 
point of continuous service he is one of the 
oldest teachers in the county, and judged by 
results his success has been second to that of 
none of his contemporaries. 

Aside from his profession, I'rof. Kirk has 
long l)een an influential factor in the public af- 
fairs of the communitw liaxing served nine 
years ,'is town clerk and two years as township 
treasurer. lie is now holding the office of 
township clerk, a ])osilion which his abilities 
well ipialify him to lill. Like all good citi- 
Kcn^. he manifests a li\ely interest in politics, 
being an earnest supporter of the Republican 
])ariy. and as such he was elected to the various 
positions with which he has been honored. His 
fraternal relations are represented by the order 
of Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to 
I'dlioti i-odge No. 314, at Canal Fulton, in 
which he now holds the office of recording" sec- 
retary, and was worslii])ful master of the lodge 
four years. 

On June 25, i8y6, Prof. Kirk was liai)])ily 
married to Miss Emma Moke, daughter of 
Jt)hn Moke, a well-known citizen of Canal F\il- 
ton. a most fortunate union in that Mrs. Kirk 
is in every res]:)ect well c|ualified to be the wife 
;md com])anion ol such a husband, co-o|)erat- 
ing with him in all ol' his aspirations and pre- 
siding over his home with dignity and grace. 
Prof, and Mrs. Kirk- are highly esteemed in the 
l)est social circles of the town ;iiid as members 
of the Presbyterian church take no small i^art 
in religious and charitable work, doing with 
their might what their hands find to do in the 
wav of ministering lo the sufifering, relieving 



8oo 



OLD LANDMARKS 



llie distressed and laboring for the nitellectuai 
and moral advancement of the community. 
I'rof. Kirk is also deeply interested in the Sun- 
day school connected with his church, and for 
a numlier of years has been a teacher and an 
official in the same, and at the present time he 
holds the position of superintendent, being also 
treasurer of the church. 



DAVID N. OWEN is the present incum- 
bent of the office of councilman at large in the 
city of Canton, and is a scion of the third gen- 
eration of the family in this city, where his 
paternal grandfather took up his abode fully 
eighty years ago. He is likewise of the third 
generation to be represented in the business of 
bricklaying- and contracting. 

Mr. Owen was born in the family home- 
stead, on South Cherry street. Canton, on the 
8th of April, 1858, and is a son of Peter and 
Hannah (Fielding) Owen. Peter Owen was 
likewise a native son of Canton, where he was 
born in the year 182 1, and here he passed his 
entire life, liaving learned the brickmason's 
trade under the direction of his father, and he 
1)ecame one of the prominent and successful 
contractors and builders of the county, continu- 
ing to l)e identified \vith this line of enterprise 
until his death. He was a man of fine 
character and nuich aliilitv, and was esteemed 
by all who knew liini. In |)olitics he 
was a Republican. lia\'ing identified him- 
self with the party .-it the time of its 
organization, and both he and his wife were 
prominent and zealous members of the l-'irst 
Christian church. The subject's mother was 
born in the city of l^eeds. England, in 1S23, 
Her father, John Fielding, died in England, 
and when she was about twelve years of age 
she accompanied her widowed mother to 
America. They first located in the city of 
Pitt.sburg, Pennsylvania, but soon afterward 
came to Canton, wliere she was reared to ma- 



lunt_\ and where her marriage was solemnized. 
Robert Owen, grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch, came to the United States from 
Wales, in company with his wife, and he was 
engaged in contracting in Canton at the time 
of his death, having been a brickmason by 
trade, as previously intimated. 

David N. Owen was reared and educated 
in Canton, which has been his home during his 
entire life, and here he has well maintained the 
prestige of the family name, both in the matter 
of loyal citizenship and in the trade and busi- 
ness to which he has devoted his attention. — 
the same followed by both his father and 
grandfather. He attended the public schools 
until he had attained the age of nineteen years. 
and then l)ecame associated with his father, 
who was at the time a leading contractor, and 
under his careful instruction oun subject be- 
came a skilled brickmason, and he has ever 
since followed this vocation as a contractor, 
having erected many fine public and business 
Iniildings in the county and doing a large and 
important business. He and his family are 
members of the First Christian church, in which 
he served as deacon for about fifteen years, 
taking a deep interest in all departments of the 
church work. In politics ]\Ir. Owen accords 
an unwaxering allegiance to the Republican 
partv, and in 1902 he was elected to represent 
the fourth ward in the city council, while on 
the 6th of April, 1903, under the new municipal 
code, he \\'as elected councilman at large. He 
was the second Republican candidate ever elect- 
ed from the fourth ward, and his services in 
the council have been such as to commend him 
to the confidence and good will of his colleagues 
and to gain him a gratifying public enrlorse- 
ment- Fraternally he is identified with both 
the senior and junior Orders of ITnited Amer- 
ican Mechanics. 

In March, 1881. Mr. Owen was united in 
marriage to Miss Catherine Neidlinger, who 
was born in Canal Dover, Ohio, being a daugh- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



80 1 



ter ot Philip and Elizabeth NeidUnger. and 
their liapp\' union has been blessed with three 
children, Helen ^Marie, Ruth H. and ^^lildred. 



JOHN E. YARGER is a native son of the 
Buckeye state and a representative of one of its 
sterling pioneer families. He was for three 
years superintendent of the Stark county work 
house, and in his administration of this im- 
portant office he showed marked discrimina- 
tion rmd ability and well justified the selection 
made when he was inducted into the office. 
He is a man of intrepid personal cotirage, calm 
and self-contained in the face of extreme emer- 
gency or hazard, and his forceful individuality 
makes him peculiarly eligible for such a posi- 
tion, in caring for the unfortunate wards of the 
county. He is honored for his sterling integ- 
rity of character and for the worthy efforts 
which have conserved his success in life, for he 
has been dependent upon his own resources 
from his boyhood days. 

The Yarger family is of stanch German 
lineage, and the name has been identified with 
the annals of American history for several gen- 
erations, the original ancestors in the' new 
world having taken up their abode in Pennsyl- 
vania, presumably in the pre-Revolutionary 
epoch . 

John E. Yarger is a son of Adam and Mary 
A. Yarger, and was born in Sandyville. Tus- 
carawas county, Ohio, on the 14th of July, 
1S58, and was there reared to the age of ten 
years, his father having died and left him to 
the care of his widowed mother when he was 
but five years of age. He secured a good com- 
mon school education, having completed his 
schooling in Waynesburg, at the age of seven- 
teen years, his mother having removed to tliat 
place about fi\e' years after the death of her 
husband. He early began to assist his mother 
and to provide for liis own maintenance, hav- 
ing been employed at farm work in the vicinity 

50 



of Waynesbiu'g until 1876, and having eventu- 
ally engaged in the conducting of a meat mar- 
ket in that town, continuing the enterprise for 
a period of seven years and being successful in 
his endea\'ors. Later he followed various oc- 
cupations, having been village marshal of 
Waynesburg- for a period of eighteen years 
and ha\'ing gained a high reputation as a fear- 
less and able officer. On the ist of January, 
1900, Mr. Yarger was appointed to the 
superintendency of the Stark county work 
house, in which capacity he served until Janu- 
ary I, 1003, and gave a most efficient adminis- 
tration, having the confidence and good will 
of those under his charge and having secured 
the unequivocal endorsement- and approval of 
the people of the county. In politics he is a 
stanch supporter of the principles and policies 
of the Republican party, and fraternally he is 
identified with the Ivnights of the IMaccabees. 
In September. 1882, in Waynesburg, this 
county, Mr. Y'arger was united in marriage to 
Miss Cora Klotz, daughter of Louis and Sarah 
(Van Meter) Klotz, of that place, and her 
death occurred on the i8th of July, in the fol- 
lowing year. On the 6th of September, 1884, 
oin- subject consummated a second marriage, 
being then united to Miss Caroline Winters, 
of Sandy township, this county, she being a 
daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Storm) 
Winters, and to them have been born .six chil- 
dren, namely: Maggie M., Ralph, E.. Walter 
W., Vesta L. Wilbur W. and Mamie K. 



FRANKLIN PIERCE CALHOUN, M. 
D., is a son of Thomas and Harriet (Ma- 
ple) Calhoun, and was bom in Jefferson coun- 
ty, Ohio, March 15, 1853. He was reared 
on a farm and early became familiar with the 
varied labors pertaining thereto and of winter 
seasons attended the district schools until his 
seventeenth year. Meantime he clerked for 
a while in his brother's store at Wellsville, and 



So 2 



OLD LANDMARKS 



later spent Sdine time camassinj)' for \ari(ius 
articles in ditferent parts of the country, in this 
way earning" money to pa}- his way through col- 
lege, having decided while a mere ho\' to de- 
vote his lite to the meihcal profession. [lis 
father tried to make a farmer of him and used 
Ills utmost endea\'ors io induce the lad to 
change his mind, Init in vain. Realizing the 
value of intellectual training as a preparatory 
step to the medical profession, the Doctor, 
when hut se\enteen years old, entered Rich- 
mond College, at Richmond, Ohio, where he 
pursued 1ms studies at intervals for about three 
years, spending his vacations canvassing to 
earn means to meet his tuition and other ex- 
penses. At the age of twenty he secmxd a 
teacher's license and took charge of a country 
school, hut the work being repugnant to him, 
he soon resigned the ])osition and turned iiis 
.attention to otlier means of earning money. 
At that time the oil excitement in Pennsyhania 
was at its height and young" Calhoun was led 
to believe that he might do well in that field. 
As soon as he could arrange his afifairs and get 
together sufficient money to pay his way he 
went to RennsyKania, where he soon found re- 
muner;iti\e emplo\-nnent as a tool dresser in a 
machine shop, .\fter working thus for about 
nine months he ])ecame agent for a pulilishing 
liouse to sell x'arious jjajiers and magazines 
throughimt tiie oil countrv. an<l in this capacity 
he canvassed several counties, spending about 
two years as an agent and meeting with an en- 
couraging success. 

\\"\Xh his finances in much better condition 
than formerly the young man was now enabled 
to carry into effect his desire to become a phy- 
sician, and he accordingly entered the office of 
his older brother. Dr. W'illiam Calhoun, who 
was then practicing at Mechanicstown. this 
■ state, and after remaining under his instruction 
one and a liall ^■ears became a student at the 
Western Reserve I'ni versify at Cleveland. He 
was graduated from the medical department of 



that institution in 1883 and at once opened ;m 
office in Salineville, Columbiana county, where 
he practiced with professional and financial 
success until his removal to Canton, in 1891. 

Hr, Calhoun's success as a [ilnsician and 
surgeon has been marked, and since locating 
in Canton he has rapidly risen to a prominent 
jiosition among the leading medical men of the 
city. By strict attention to the duties of his 
profession he has won a conspicuous place in 
public esteem, the result being an e.xtensixe 
])ractice and an ample com])etence. His in- 
tercoiu'se with his fellow men has been such 
as to merit the high regard of all and as a citi- 
zen, fullv alive to whatever concerns the best 
interests of the comnumity. he discharges his 
every duty as liecomes a true and loyal mem- 
ber of the l)ody politic. 

Dr. Calhoun was married on the 30th of 
Ma}', 1888. to Miss Ariel Caroline Cilson. who 
was born near Salineville, Ohio. June 19, i8()3. 
the daughter of William and hdizaijeth ( draf- 
ton ) Ciilson. .Mrs. (."alhoun was educated in 
the public schools and Mt. Cnion College and 
is a lady of rcfhiement and culture, eminenti}' 
fitted in e\er\- respect to be ihe companion and 
helijn'ieet of the husband with whose life her 
own is intertwined. Her father and mother, 
liotli natixes ot Columbiana county, were l.)orn 
ii' the )-ear 1817 and 1823. respectively, Mrs. 
Calhoun being their onlv child. Dr. Calhoun 
and wife have one son, Thomas .\ustin, a 
bright and promising lad of eleven years, who 
is now a pu])il in the city schools. The Doctor 
belongs to the Canton Medical Societx', the 
Medical Societ\' of Xortheastern Ohio, the 
Stark Count\' and ( )hio State Afedical Socie- 
ties, and axails hnnself of ever\- means which 
these and other organizations afford of ad\'anc- 
ing" him in liis noble calling. In politics he is 
an uncompromising Democrat of the old, school 
and while acli\e in behalf <if his part\'"s inter- 
ests has no as])irations in the wa_\' of In mors or 
])ublic distinction. ReligiousK' he was reared 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



803 



a Presbyterian, i)ut he entertains broad and 
catliolic \-ie\vs in matters of faith, g-iving to all 
churches due credit for their work in inlluencc 
in leading- mankind to a higher plane of li\ing. 
]_)r. Calhoun is now in the prime of man- 
hood, courteous and genial in manner and his 
positii.m as a ])h\'sician, neighbor and citizen 
rests upon a substantial foundation. 



MISS LEILA S. ROPER.— The ancestral 
history of the subject of this sketch dates from 
the earliest settlement of New England, the 
jiaternal line being directly traceable to the 
PiuMtans of Massachusetts who came over in 
the "Mayflower." The Ropers were actix'ely 
identified with, tiie ])ioneer period of that cfMn- 
nionwealth, as were also the Richardsons, be- 
tween whiini and the former a marriage re- 
lation was consummated many years later. 
Ephraim Roper, the subject's grandfather, was 
born near Worcester, Massachusetts, Septem- 
ber \y, 1799, in which part of the state his 
ancestors . had long been quite prominent in 
public life. On the 9th day of July, 1821, he 
was united in marriage to Miss Eunice Rich- 
ardson, whose birth occurred in the neighlior- 
hood of the above town May 9, 1799. She 
was also descended from one of the first Puri- 
tan settlers of Massachusetts and came of a 
family distinguished for devotion to religion 
and for a high order of musical talent. Sev- 
eral of the Richardsons became prominent cler- 
gymen of the Congregational and Unitarian 
churches, while others achieved eminent dis- 
tinction as singers. Ejjhraim and Eunice 
Ro]>er spent their lives in their native state and 
had children as follows : Daniel, born March 
15, 1X22, died in infancy: Charles E.. father of 
the subject: Roswell David, born May 11, 
1826. has been in the employ of the LTnited 
States goxernment for over a half centm'v and 
at the present time is connected with the armorv 
at Springfield, Massachusetts ; Foster Harris, 



born April 17, 1829, was graduated from an 
eastern college when a young man, afterwards 
went west and is now living a retired life on a 
farm in Napa, California, his daughter. Belle, 
being the wife of Hon. Frank Comlis, a con- 
gressman from-tliat state: ]\Iary Augusta, born 
October 21, 1832. was graduated from Mt. 
Holyoke College, Massachusetts, anfl married 
Rev. Lyman Taft. but is now a widow ; Sarah 
Swan, the se\'enth of the family, was bom De- 
cember I, 1834, and died in childhocid: James 
.S.. born May 28. 1838. also died in childhood; 
and Eunice E., the youngest of the children, 
was born on the 19th day of July. 1841. She 
was also graduated from Mt. Holyoke College. 
Charles Ephraim Roper, the father of Miss 
Leila S.. was bom October 2y. 1823. at Sterl- 
ing. Massachusetts, and. like the rest of his 
family, was gi\-en the best educational ad\an- 
tages the times afforded. After completing 
the pul)lic school course he attended college at 
Northampton and later became a skilled arti- 
san at various kinds of handicraft. At a very- 
early age he developed unusual efiiciency in all 
kinds of delicate mechanism besides dis])lav- 
ing inventive genius, which in due time 
won him a national reputation. When 
but fourteen years old he in\-ented a 
]nin-ip which afterwards came into general use 
throughout New England and other parts of 
the L^nion and later his name was associated 
with a number of in\'entions which have been 
adii])ted in the L'nited States and several Euro- 
l)ean countries. In manv respects he was 
much more than an ordinary man. as will be 
seen from the following obituary published in 
the Canton Repository on the 24th of March, 
1901. a few days after his death, and written 
by Robert A. Cassady. one of the office force 
of Col. Ephraim Ball : 

Of tin- n;aiiy e.\ceptionaIly skilled mechanics who 
fri)iii linu- til time have contributed to the material ad- 
vancement of Canton and aided in its almost world- 
wide reputation as an industrial center the late Charles 



804 



OLD LANDMARKS 



E. Roper held a deservedly conspicuous place. He wa.; 
born and reared on a farm, amidst the rugged environ- 
ments characteristic of western Massachusetts, and after 
completing a collegiate course in one of the best insti- 
tutions of New England, entered one of the leading 
industrial establishments which have distinguished his 
native state in the production of high-grade machinery, 
especially that employed in the manufacture of other 
forms of machinery. After a complete course of prac- 
tical instruction from forge to finish, including a very 
thorough mastery of mechanical drawing, and through 
all the departments of labor-saving mechanical devices, 
he passed into the higher realm of invention, as well as 
the mechanic arts. 

During the Civil war his talents were largely em- 
ployed in the invention, improvement and manufacture 
of firearms of various descriptions at Philadelphia and 
other places and his services proved a great value to 
the government. Among the most notable products of 
his genius and handiwork, perhaps, was the well-known 
Catling gun, which was perfected about the close of 
the war. Mr. Roper, with his own hands and with the 
aid of other skilled artisans under his supervision, pro- 
duced the first practical sample of the present rapid- 
firing artillery, the most successful because the most de- 
structive agency of modern warfare. This has given 
his name an international reputation and for it alone 
he will always be remembered as one of the greatest 
of American inventors. 

Mr. Roper canie to Canton about 1866 for the pur- 
pose of aiding Colonel Ephraim Ball in the develop- 
ment and perfecting of the renowned World reaping 
and mowing machinery. The manufacture of these ma- 
chines required the invention and construction of labor- 
saving devices of the highest order, and to him we are 
indebted for the conception and development of some 
of the finest mechanical ideas ever used in our indus- 
tries. His machines for the cutting of the gearing of 
the World mower and reaper are marvels of mechanism, 
particularly the cutter, by means of which bevel gearing 
is produced with absolute accuracy, entirely automatic- 
ally, and at a cost much below tliat which attended the 
performance of the same work by previously known 
method. Mr. Roper was a genius as well as a thorough 
mechanic and by his death Canton lost one of its most 
highly esteemed and valuable citizens. During his later 
days, enfeebled by age iind bending under the weight 
of heavy physical infirmities, he retired from the public 
gaze and therefore was little known by the present act- 
ive generation : but his old associates in the field of 
mechanics will loni; cherish the memory of this dis- 
tinguished invetUnr .uid sterling friend and co-laborer. 

Charles Rijper was twice married, the first 
time to Miss Lucy orooks, who died after a 
l>rief wedded lite of eight months; four years 



later Mr. Roper mo^'ed from Massachusetts to 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he became 
superintendent of a large manufacturing estab- 
lishment operated by H. H. Ryan and it was 
while serving in that capacity that he married, 
in 1854, a neice of his employer by the name of 
Mary Coombs. ?\liss Coombs was born July 
15, 1830, in Loudoun county, Virginia, the 
daughter of Presley Coombs, whose father 
achie\ed distinction as one of the bravest 
American generals in tlie Revolutionary strtig- 
gle and in the war of 1812. Gen. Coombs' 
name occupies a conspicuous place in American 
history, ranking- with those of other prominent 
men who devoted their all to the cause of 
liberty and independence. He was twice mar- 
ried, became the father of twenty-two children 
and died at the almost unprecedented age of 
one hundred and nine years. The wife of 
Presley Coombs was Ann Rhein, a meml)er nf 
an old and highly respected (ierman famil_\-, 
"epresentatives of which came to this country 
in an early day and settled in Pennsylvania. 
In the course of years the name was Ang-licised 
to Ryan and as such it has since been known. 

As already stated. Mr. Roi>er was connected 
for many years with the industrial interests of 
Canton, and after his health began to fail he 
resigned his position and from that time un- 
til his death looked after his farm near the city. 
He died at his home on Cleveland a\enue, 
March 11. igoi. Shorth' after moving to this 
city he united with the First Methodist Episco- 
pal church., in which he w as a faithful and act- 
ive worker to the end of his days. In politics he 
was an unswerving Republican and always kept 
himself well informed relative to the great 
questions and issues tipon Avliich i)arties were 
divided. 

The foIlo\\"ing are the names nf the chil- 
dren born to Charles and Mary Roper : 
Howard Harris ; Charles Presle)'. an artist and 
portrait painter who was killed in a railroad 
accident in the year 1887 ; Leila S., whose name 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



805 



heads this sketch ; \\'alter Ephraim, of Canton ; 
George A., of Steuben ville, this state, who 
formerly studie<l law umler Jndge Fawcett, of 
Canton, but is now a traveling salesman for a 
large wholesale house. He married Jean Kinsey, 
of Xew Philadelphia, and is the father of two 
children. George and Kenyon; Lyman Taft, 
the next in order of birth, is a resident of Can- 
ton, as is also Frank F., the youngest of the 
family. 

Miss Leila S. Roper was born in Pitts- 
burg. Pennsylvania, and was c|uite young when 
her parents moved from that city to Canton. 
Here she s]ient the years of her childhood and 
youth and at the proper age entered upon her 
educational career as a pupil in the public 
schools. Hers was a studious nature and her 
progress was in e\'ery way commendable. She 
made a creditable record in the high school, 
from which she was graduated with the class 
of 1876, and the better to fit herself for teach- 
ing she subsecjuently took special courses in 
mathematics, history, literature and the lan- 
guages in Chautaucjua College, New York. 
!Miss Roper's career as an educator began in the 
fall of 1877, when she took charge of a room 
in the South AlcKinley Avenue school and from 
that time forward she taught various grades 
in the different buildings until promoted, in 
1896. to the high school, where she has taught 
English literature and history to the present 
time. Of her abilities as an instructor much 
may be said, but the high character of her 
work speaks much louder in her praise than any 
eulogy from tongue or pen. Actuated by a 
laudable ambition to excel, she has devoted her 
splendid talents to this end, and that she has 
realized, at least partially, her ideal of what a 
true teacher should be is attested by her long 
period of service in a citj' where only the 
highest order of intellectual and professional 
attainment is recognized. Miss Roper is highly 
esteemed by her professional associates and by 
reason of her own personal worth as well as on 



the account of the social standing her family 
has long enjoyed, occupies a prominent po- 
sition in the society circles of Canton. 



CHARLES C. LOYD.— The parents of 
the sul)ject were H. P. and Cynthia J. (Craw- 
ford) Lo}-d, the former a native of Maryland 
and tlie latter of Carroll county, Ohio. Grand- 
father Loyd, who was descended from one of 
the old and well-kn(jwn families of Maryland, 
was also a, native of that state. When a 
N'oung man H. P. Loyd removed from Mary- 
land to Carroll county, Ohio, where for some 
time he followed his trades, those of shoemaker 
and harnessmaker. Subsequently he engaged 
in the mercantile business at Magnolia and 
P)Owerstown and met with good success in his 
enterprises. He retired from active business 
life in 1901 and now makes his home in Jefifer- 
son, Harrison county, this state. His wife's 
death occurred in 1887. They were the par- 
ents of six children, three sons and three 
daughters. 

Charles C. Loyd was born at Bi.werston, 
Harrison county, Ohio, on the i8th of Xii\-em- 
ber, i860, and was reared at that place and at 
Perrysville, this state. His boyhood days were 
s])ent upon his father's farm, and in the mean- 
time he faithfully attended the common schools 
of his neighborhood, acquiring a fair educa- 
tion. Indeed, so proficient had he become in 
his studies that at the age of eighteen years he 
was granted a license to teach school. After 
being thus occupied a short time, Mr. Loyd 
learned the carpenter's trade and worked at it 
fur four years. At this time he was elected 
clerk of his township and at the same time he 
accepted a position in his father's store. Two 
years later he was elected justice of the peace, 
and performed the duties of the office to the 
perfect satisfaction of the public generally. In 
1887 I\Ir. Loyd removed to Canton, where for 
a time he was employed at his trade. Subse- 



Hob 



OLD LANDMARKS 



([ueiith- he engaged in newspaper work, in a 
repurtorial capacity, and served as court-house 
reporter for The Rejiositor)-. By reason of his 
])ron()unced ;d)iHty and ind(iniita1)le energy he 
had earned for liimself the unbounded confi- 
dence of tlie leailers of his party and other in- 
lluential people in Canton and on Ajiril 15, 
1891, lie was elected to the responsible posi- 
tion of city clerk, and is still filling that office. 
During the more than a decade in which he 
has been retained in this positi(_in he has dem- 
onstrated his eminent fitness for his post and 
has thus justified the wisdom of his selection 
by the electors of Canton. He has for a num- 
))er of x'ears l)een inlluential in the councils 
of the Repuljlican party and has teen active, 
aggressive and effective in advancing tlie inter- 
ests of the jjarty. For the past ten years he 
has representetl his ward as a delegate in all 
tile nnportant party conventions and has taken 
an imp(jrtant part in directing- the kical policy 
and outlining the city and county campaigns. 

i^'raternally Mr. Loyd has been a member 
of the Knights of I'ythias since 1885 and takes 
a deep interest in the welfare of the order, hav- 
ing served as a representative from his lodge 
to the grand lodge. 

In 1882 Charles C. Loytl was united in 
marriage with ^liss Jennie B. Wears, the 
daughter of Cyrns C. Wears, of Shero(ls\ille, 
Carroll county, this state. This union has 
been a most happy and congenial one and has 
resulted in the birth of one child, Ross E. 

The ((ualities which ha\e made Mr. Lo\d 
one of the prominent and successful men of 
Canton have also brought him the good will 
■and esteem of his fellow citizens, for his ca- 
reer from tlie beginning has been one of well- 
directed energ)-. strong determination and hon- 
orable methods. Endowed by nature with 
strong powers of mind and possessing the en- 
ergy to direct his faculties in the proper chan- 
nels, he early became a man of resourceful 
capacity, as the able administration of his im- 



portant ofilicial position abundantly testifies. 
Socially he is a most agreeable gentleman, al- 
ways genial and ]3leasant in manner and pos- 
sessing the liap])v faculty not only of making 
friends, but of binding them to him by his 
good qualities of heart and head. 



HARRS' W. H. VINES, who is superin- 
tendent of the _\'ards and shipping department 
of tlie Canton Bridge Company, one of the 
important industrial concerns of the cit\- of 
Canton, is a native of the state of Xew Jer- 
sey, haying been born near the city oi Camden, 
on the i.^th of August, 1847, and he remained 
on the homestead farm until he had attained 
the age of fourteen years. ha\ing in the mean- 
while attended the township school. At the 
age noted he secured emploNuient in a window- 
gla.ss manufactory in W inslow . where he con- 
tinued to work until b^ebruary 2. 1865. when 
he enlisted as a memlier of Compan\- B. Sec- 
ond Xew Jersey Volunteer Infantrx'. in which 
he continued to ser\e until the close of the 
war of th.e Rebellion. In March. 1867. Mr. 
Haines came to (lliio and located in the town 
of Salem, where he engaged in the blacksniith- 
ing business, liax'ing jjreN'ioush' ser\ed an ap- 
prenticeshi]) of fifteen months at this trade. 
He remained in Salem until the autumn -of 
1867, when he came to Canton, where he was 
employed for fi\e years as a blacksmith in the 
shops of the C. ,\ultman Conipanw while for 
more than a year thereafter he was in the em- 
ploy of tile L hroniatic Rrinting Pr,ess Companw 
of this city. He then entered the eni])lov of 
tlie Russell ('onii)any. with whom he remained 
until .\ugiist 10. 1874, when he took a posi- 
tion_ in the blacksmith (le];artnient of the 
\'\'rouglit lit '11 ISridge Coni])aii\'. being ])laced 
at tlie he;id of said departnieiit 111 1880 ami 
Continuing in this jjosition until 1801. when. 
up<;m the organization of the Canton Hridge 
Conipaii}-, he was made superintendent of the 



CANTON And stark county, OHIO. 



807 



\\'(jrks. retaining' this incumhency imti! tiie 
antiinin oi the succeeding year, wlien he as- 
sumed iiis present position as superintendent 
of the yards and shipping department of the 
business, in which capacity he has continuously 
servetl from tliat time. 1)eing one of the pop- 
ular and liighly esteemed employes of the com- 
pany and being known as a capable and dis- 
criminating official. In politics he gives his 
support to the Repuhlicaii party, and his re- 
ligions \ iews are in harmonv with the teach- 
ings ijf the Methodist ]'4)iscopal church, in 
whose faith he was reared. l''raternally he is 
identified with deorge D. Harter Post No. 
555, Grand .\rniy oi the Republic; Nimisilla 
Lodge Xo. 39, Independent- Order of Odd Fel- 
lows: and Lodge Xo. .26. Protected Home Cir- 
cle. While he has not been an aspirant for 
ofiicial preferment he ser\-ed onei term as a 
mehiber of the citv council, representing the 
second ward. 

In Salem, Ohio, on the 19th of August. 
jS()8, Air, Haines was united in marriage to 
Mi.ss Catherine Bilger, of that ])lace, she be- 
ing a daugliter of Daniel Bilger. now deceased. 
]\Jr. -and Mrs. Haines became the parents of 
seven chiklren, of whom onlv one is living, 
H. Xelson, who is in the eniplo\' of the Canton 
llriclge Company, of Canton. 



EDWWKD E. EARIA'. the efficient elec- 
trician lif the Canton Bridge Company, was 
liorn .Vpril 6, 1870. in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, 
and is the son of John and Ella (.Strong) 
Early. The father died when the subject was 
a boy and the mother, who subsecjuently mar- 
ried a man by the name of Johnson, departed 
this life a numl'.er of _\ears later in the city 
of ( "hicago. b'dward ]i. Earlv sj^ent the first 
eight years of his life in his native city and 
then was taken by his ])arents to Jamestown, 
New ^'llrk^ later removing tn Chicago, Illi- 
ncjis. wliere lie grew tn maturitx'. He received 



his literary education in the scIkjoIs of James- 
town and Cliicagd, sulisequentK' timk a special 
course m mechanical and electrical engineer- 
ing in the International Correspondence School 
and after completing the same was employed 
as machinist in the latter city until 1S91. In 
that year he came to Canton and accepted a 
position with the Canton Supply Company, 
which he held for several years, the meanwhile 
engaging in business for himself at his resi- 
dence, wdiich he still carries <.>n in connection 
with his other duties. 

In .Vngust, 1902, Mr. Early engaged with 
the Canton Bridge Companx- as head electri- 
cian, and the same \'ear installeil the first plant 
in this city, since which time he has assisted in 
estal>lishing other i)l;uits in varinus parts of 
the country. He is an accomplished electri- 
cian, is also familiar with the most advanced 
mechanical work of the day and as a tiiorough 
master of his profession fills the responsible 
position he now holils, with credit to himself 
and to the entire satisfaction of the firm with 
which he is identified. Mr. Flarlv is ;i close, 
critical student ruid axails himself of e\'ery 
possible opportunity to add to his technical 
knowledge and to increase his efficiency in re- 
ducing the same to i)ractice. He is an up-to- 
date man. with progressive ideas, enterprising 
in all he untlertakes and any work to which 
he addresses himself is sure to be ])ushed to 
successful completion with the least possible 
delay. Idioroughly dcxnted to his prcjfession 
and a business man in all the terms implies, 
he also manifests a !i\-ely interest in pu1)lic 
affairs and is not unmindful uf his dut\' as a 
cili7en. Foliticalh' he yields allegiance to no 
political party, being independent in the matter 
of voting, and he usually casts his ballot as his 
judgment or conscience dictates, regardless of 
partisan leadership. In his religious faith he 
is a Lutheran, to which church his wife also 
belongs, both being esteemed members of the 
congregation worshi|i])ing in Cant('n. 



8o8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Mr. Early, in the year 1893, was unitetl in 
marriage with Miss Alice Jones, of Canton, the 
iini.in re-ulting- in the birth of four cliildren 
whose naines are as follows : Rolaert, Edith, 
Genevieve and Kramer. 



ULRICH HUBER.— The subject of this 
sketch is a native of Switzerland, having been 
born in that country October 15, 1838. In 
1852. when fourteen years of age, he came to 
America, unattended by any relative, his par- 
ents liaving preceded him some time. They 
had located in Sulli\-an county, New York, and 
thither the youth went. He attended school 
and readily acquired a fair knowledge of the 
English language and applied himself to such 
work as he found to do until after the break- 
ing out of the war of the Rebellion. 

In the spring of 1864, when the cause of the 
Union was in most dire straits and Federal 
troops were badly needed, Llrich Huber en- 
listed, became a soldier in Company F, One 
Hundred and Thirty-Fourth New York \^olun- 
teer Infantry, and served until the close of the 
war. He was with Sherman in his march 
through Georgia to the sea, participated in a 
number of warm engagements during his term 
of service and was one of that magnificent 
army which was the feature of the grand re- 
view in the city of Washington, in June, 1865. 

On receiving his discharge, Mr. Hul)er re- 
turned to his ijarents, who by that time had 
moved to Luzerne county. Pennsylvania. He 
then entered the emplo}- of the Delaware & 
Lackawanna Railroad Comjiany, at Scranton, 
as a helper in the department of blacksmithing. 
In 1866 he was united in marriage to Miss 
Elizabeth K. Cook, a native of the city of 
New York, born November 25, 1847. For 
two years after their marriage they continued 
to reside in Scranton, then moved to Stark 
county, Ohio, settling in Plain township, 
where they have lived e\'er since. Thev are 



the parent.s of two children, Julia ]\I., the wife 
of George White, and Nettie AL, the wife of 
Horace G. McDowell. Each has received a 
good common school education and is a wor- 
thy, amiable matron. 

For a number of years after coming to 
Ohio i\Ir. Huber was in the employ of the 
Aultman Manufacturing Company, though 
latterly he has been engaged in farming. He 
is the owner of a well-kept, well-tilled and 
fertile little farm of ten acres in Plain town- 
ship, and on it is a nice residence, a good barn 
and outbuildings, the \\h(^le constituting an 
ideal little home. He is a meml)er of the 
Grand .\rniy of the Republic and was a mem- 
ber of the school board a number of times, 
being in politics a Republican. As did many 
other natives of a foreign land, he proved his 
loyalty to the land of his adoption by I'isking 
his life in its behalf. 

The Huber family has l:>een ior genera- 
tions one of the foremost families in Switzer- 
land. Alany of them became geologists of 
prominence, one became an eminent divine, 
noted throughout his country, and many others 
have become noted in their respective profes- 
sions. 

■*—~^ 

HOWARD \\\ YANT comes of stanch 
German ancestry in the agnatic line, the fam- 
ily having early been established in Pennsyl- 
vania, while from the old Keystfjuc slate ha\'e 
gone forth worthy representati\'es into the most 
diverse sections of the Union. Philip Yant. 
Jr., his paternal grandfather, was reared and 
educated in Northaiuptun county. Pennsyl- 
vania, and there was solemnized his marriage 
to Miss Elizalieth Scroyer. They became pio- 
neers of Stark county, having come hither 
from Pennsylvania about the year i8jo and 
taken up their abode on a tract of heavily tim- 
bered land in Pike township, where they passed 
tlie remainder of their li\es, the grandfather 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



809 



eventually succeeding in reclaiming a consid- 
erable portion of his farm, which is now one 
of the valuable and well improved places of 
that township. He died in 1867 at the age of 
seventy-six years, and his wife passed away in 
1 85 1, at the age of forty-nine years. They 
became the parents of eight children, of whom 
tv.'o are living at the present time. Eli Yant, 
father of the subject, was born on the old 
homestead farm, in Pike township, on the 
iith of December, 1836. and he was reared 
under the environments and influences of the 
pioneer epoch, early beginning to lend his aid 
in the work of clearing and culti\-ating the 
farm, while his scholastic prixileges were such 
as were afforded in the primitive log school 
houses of the locality and period. He devoted 
the major portion of his life to agricultural 
pursuits, having liecn for a few years em- 
ployed as a mechanic in the shops of the Col. 
Ball Plow Company, in the city of Canton. In 
1850 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Ann Aliller, who was born in Stark county, 
being a daughter of the late John Miller, one 
of the sterling pioneers of Pike townshi]), and 
a sister of Eli Miller, who is one of the repre- 
sentative citizens of Canton. In the spring of 
1882 Eli Yant removed with his family to 
Huntington count}', Indiana, where he contin- 
ued to be engaged in farming until 1893, since 
which time he has lived retired, making his 
home with his daughter, Mrs. Emley, in the 
citv of Huntington, this county. Plis devoted 
wife was summoned into eternal rest in 1893, 
both she and her husband having originally 
been members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, while later they identified themselves 
with the German Baptist church, in whose faith 
they ever remained firm and unwavering. Eli 
"^'ant was formerly a Republican in politics, 
but in late years, in harmony with his uncom- 
promising opposition to the liquor traffic, he 
has exercised his franchise in support of the 
principles and policies of the Prohibition par- 



ty. He is a man whose life is unshadowed by 
wrong or suspicion of evil, and he has ever 
commanded the unequivocal confidence and re- 
gard of all who have known him. Of his six 
children we enter the following brief record : 
Clara is the wife of Anthony A. Weber, of 
Huntington, Indiana; Olive F. is the wife of 
John Mapes, of Wabash countv, Indiana; Al- 
bert C. is a resident of Centerville, Iowa ; Cora 
M. is the wife of Anthony C. Emley, of Hunt- 
ington. Indiana; David M. M. is a resident of 
Chicago, Illinois; and Howard W. is the im- 
mediate subject of this sketch. 

Howard ^\^ ^'ant Avas born on the home- 
stead farm in Pike township, Stark county, on 
the i6th of April, 1877, and here he gave an 
inceptive glance into the rudiments of scholas- 
ticism, having here begun his primary educa- 
tion in the district school. He was but five 
years of age at the time of the family removal 
to Huntington county, Indiana, and there he 
continued his studies in the district schools and 
completed the curriculum of the township high 
school, in the city of Huntington. Later he 
was a student for se\eral years in a pri\-ate 
normal school in that place, and he was early 
led to take up the profession of teaching, for 
which he manifested a natural predilection. At 
the age of nineteen )-ears he Ijegan teaching in 
tlie public schools of Huntington county, where 
he was thus engaged for two years, and he 
then came to his native county and after teach- 
ing one year in the district schools of Pike 
towii.sliip he took up his residence in the city of 
Canton, where he has since made his home, 
though for two years he was the able and popu- 
lar instructor in tlie grammar school at Na- 
varre. In January, 1903, Mr. Yant resigned 
his position as teacher and accepted a position 
in the freight department of the Pennsylvania 
Railroad, in which he is now ser\ing. In poli- 
tics Mr. Yant is a stanch Republican, keeping' 
well informed in regard to the questions and 
issues of the hmu'. and his religious faith is 



8io 



OLD LANDMARKS 



that of the Methodist Episcopal cluircli, his 
meinhersliip 1)eing maintained in tlie Simpson 
church, in tlic city of Canton. He enjoys 
niarlx'cd ijopnlarity in echicational and social 
circles and is a young man for whom a hright 
future may conhdenth' he predicted. 



Cil.\RLl<:S ]■. HAINES.— The suhject 
of this re^.iew is a representative of a family 
which has heen identified with the annals of 
American history fnjm the pre-Revointionary 
ei)och. his great-grandfather in the ])aternal 
line ha\ ing heen a nati\e of England and ha\- 
ing heen a patriot soldier in the Continental 
arni}' during the war of the Revolution. Will- 
iam n. Ilaines. the father of the suhject, was 
a n:iti\e of New Jersey, where he was engaged 
in farming for the major i)ortion of his life, 
coming to Canton, ()hio, in 1899, where he 
passed the remainder of his life, dying- on the 
Sih of June, H)Oi, at which time he was eight)'- 
one x'ears of age. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Salome King, was horn in the ])ro\- 
ince of .\lsace, hrance, whence she came to 
America in her youth, and she died in Canton, 
on the 4th of January, lyoo, in her seventy- 
se\'enth year. This worthv couple Ijecame the 
parents of se\ en children, of whom four are 
lixing at the present time. The parents were 
(knoted memhers of the Methodist Ejjiscopal 
church, an<l in politics the father ga\'c his al- 
legiance to the Rcpuhlican part\- from the time 
of its organization. 

Charles \\ Jlaines Avas horn on a farm neai' 
the city of t"am<len, Xew Jersey, on the 20th 
of June, 1835. and he was reared to tlic sturd_\- 
disci])linc of the farm, while his educational 
aiKnntages were such as were .afforded in the 
suhscription ;in(l puhlic schools of the locality. 
I !e remained on the old homestead until he had 
.attained the age of twent\' years, .and there- 
after \\;is eni])loycil fcir some time in a saw- 
mill, lie coiuiiuicd to re>ide- in Xew |erse\' 



until 1881, when he came to Canton, where 
he was in the emj^loy of the Wrought Iron 
I^iridge Com])any until 189J, when he engaged 
with the recently organized Canton Bridge' 
Company, in whose employ he since remained, 
working in the forging dei^artment and com- 
manding the respect and esteem of all win > 
know Ihm. In politics he is a stalwart Re- 
]3uhlican and has e\-er taken a li\ely interest in 
th.e party cause. In the spring of k)oi Mr. 
Hain.es was elected a memher of the citv coun- 
cil, as a representatixe of the secontl ward, and 
in this hody he served most efficiently for two 
years, while he is known as a progressive and 
puhlic-spirited citizen, h'raternally he is iden- 
tified with the Junior Order of Cnited Amer- 
ican Mechanics and the Knights of the Macca- 
hees. 

In Camden county. Xew Jerse)'. on the 
19th of January, 1876, Mr. Haines was united 
in marriage to Miss Keziah Beehe. who was 
horn and reared in that state, and of their 
SIX children three are lixing, n;nnelv: Ann;i, 
Grace and Benjamin H. 



W'lELIAM W. MARSHALL was horn 
OP. a farm in the immediate \-icinity of Har- 
marxille. Allegheny count\', Pennsx'h'ania, on 
the ,^d of March, 1867. His great-grandfa- 
ther, Samuel Marshall, settled in I'enjisyl- 
x'ania in an earh' da\'. while the original 
American ]n'ogenitor emigrated hither from 
Scotland in the colonial epoch of our national 
history. Sanniel Marshall was the father of 
seven ciiildren. \iz : William. James. Hugh. 
Alexander, Samuel, ( ieorge and Elizaljeth, of 
whom James, the grandfather of the suhject, 
was next to the eldest. He de\oted his lite 
to agricuhurnl pursuits, as ha\-e the majorit}' 
of his descendants, and in the old Keystone 
state are to vet he found munerous representa- 
ti\-cs of this stanch old ])ioneer family. James 
Mar'h;dl was Imrn in the eastern part of I'enn- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO.^ 



>ii 



sylvania, and after lie and his bruther William 
had attained niatnrity they purchased adjoin- 
ing tracts of land in Allegheny county, and 
their father siiuuUaneousl}' seciu'ed an adja- 
cent pro])ei'ty, each of them becoming the 
owner of a (juarter section, lie married Jane 
AIcCool. and both died in the count}' last men- 
tioned, ha\ing become the parents of se\'en 
cliildren, namel_\- : Marv is the widow of 
Thomas McLaughlin and lives in Westmore- 
land count)-, I'ennsyhania : John was the fa- 
ther of the subject of this sketch; Elizabeth 
married, James (irithlh, and >he li\es in De- 
troit, Michigan; Martha is the wife of John 
Tlibotson, of Canton, Ohio; Samuel resides on 
the old homestead farm in I'ennsylvania; Har- 
riet is the widow of Thomas McPhillamy; 
and [Margaret is the wife of Charles Engie, 
of .Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. 

John Alarshall. father of the subject, was 
born on the old home farm in Indiana town- 
slii]), .Mleghen}- county. l'enns_\l\ania, about 
th.e year 1S42, and his early educational ad- 
\'antages were such as were enjoyed b_\' the 
average farmer boy of the localit}- and period, 
Ijeing confined to a soiuew hat irregular attend- 
ance in the district school in the \icinit\- of his 
home. 1 Te continued to be identihed with ag- 
ricultiu'al ])ursuits in his natix'e countv until 
1870, when he removed with his famih' to the 
city of Pittsburg, where he secured emplo\'- 
ment in the rolling mill of one of the exten- 
sive steel works of that i)Iace, and he continued 
to be thus em|)loycil for the greater portion of 
his time until his death, which there occurred 
in October, 1S81. While residing on the fariu 
he took an active ])art in local affairs of .a pub- 
lic nature, having been a zealous work'cr in 
the cause of the Republican ])artv\ 1 le and his 
w\ie were both consistent members of the 
Metliodist I-Cjjiscojjrd church and were folk 
of sterling character, e\ er holding the esteem 
ot all who knew them. The subject's mothei"'s 
maiden name was hlizabeth (Irifhth anil sh.e 



was a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Irif- 
fith. The Griffith family is of Irish extrac- 
tion, and in the Emerald Isle Joseph C.rithth 
was born and reared. After his marriage he 
emigrated to America and took uj) his residence 
in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, where the 
mother of the subject was born, and eventually 
he purchased a fine farm in that county, where 
both he and his wife passed the remainder of 
their days. The mother of the subject passed 
away in 1001, at the age of sixty years. 

William Marshall, the immediate subject 
of this review, was reared to the age of twelve 
veai's on the old homesle id farm in Allegheny 
county, Pennsylvania, being the third in order 
of birth in a family of nine children, concern- 
ing the others of whom we ofTer the following 
hrief record: Joseph died in iSSi, aged about 
nineteen x-ears; Lydia is the wife of Albert 
McKelebv, of Uutler countV, Penns\ Ivania : 
Robert resides in Xew Kensington. Pennsxl- 
\ama:' Hugh died in 18S1. at the age of ten 
years: Charles is a resident of Natrona. Alle- 
gheiiy county, Pennsylvania. Harry and John 
both died in ]88i, making four of the 
children who ])assed awav within the one 
year; :md Irene is the wife of a Mr. Ma- 
son, of C'aniegie. Pennsx Ivauia. The sub- 
ject attended the district school until he had 
attained the age of eleven years, assisting in 
the work of the farm during the summer 
month';. At the age of eleven ye;n\s he left 
the jiarcnlal roof and began the battle of life 
on his own responsibilitv. lie secured em- 
ployment on a farm lor the lirst year, and t"or 
the following Iwc vein's he w ;is em|)loved bv 
( ieorge L. W alter.s, who was engaged in the 
lumber business in the town of Sharpsbiu'g. 
I'ennsvlv.ania. .\t the age of fifteen he began 
work in ;i steel rolhng mill in Pittsburg, under 
the direction of his uncle. Air. Ibbotson, with 
whom he came to t';inton in 1883. Here he 
was eiu])lov'ed lor fifteen vears in the works 
of t'''e ( 'anton Steel ('oiupany, vvDrking in the 



8l2 



OLD LANDMARKS 



capacity of hammer man, and for the follow- 
ing year he was an employe of the Canton Cru- 
cible Steel Company. In June, 1902, he estab- 
lished himself in Ihe retail liquor business and 
cafe at 204 East Tuscarawas street, where he 
has since conducted a successful enterprise, 
haviiig a well equipped establishment. 

In this city, on the 23d of November, 
1898, Mr. JMarshall was united in marriage to 
Mrs. Jennie JNIiller, who was I)orn in Canton, 
being a daughter of Robert and Alice Larmar, 
and nf this union one child has been born, 
Lydia. Mrs. Marshall died in Canton, on the 
19th of November, 1902, mourned by all who 
knew her. 

Mr. Marshall cast his first presidential 
vote in support of the Hon. James G. Blaine 
and he has since continued to give a stanch 
allegiance to the Republican party, having 
been an active and zealous worker in its local 
ranks. In the spring of 1900 he was elected 
to represent the seventh ward in the city coun- 
cil, and in 1902 was elected as his own succes- 
sor, a fact that indicates that his services had 
met with the approval and endorsement of his 
constituency. Fraternally he is identifietl with 
the Junior Order of ITnited American Mechan- 
ics and is a charter member of the local aerie 
of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He is well 
known in the city and enjoys marked ]jiipu- 
larity williin a wide circle of acquaintances. 



FREDERICK H. SIGRIST.— The fair 
little republic of Switzerland figures as the 
place of Mr. Sigrist's nativity and he comes of 
one of the ancient and jirominent families of 
that land. His father, Frederick Sigrist, was 
born in 1824, and his mother, who.se maiden 
name was Elizabeth Neifenegger, was bcrn in 
1830. Their marriage was solemnized in 
1852, and Frederick H., the subject of this 
review, was their only child. The father came 
to the United States in 1867, and in 1870 his 



wife and Frederick made the voyage across the 
Atlantic and joined him in Massillon. Here 
he passed the remainder of his life, his death 
occurring on the 26th of March, 1887. His 
widow still survives and maintains her home 
in the city of Duluth, Minnesota. She is a 
member of tlie German Reformed church, as 
was also her husband. 

Frederick Henr}- Sigrist was born in In- 
terlachen, canton Bern, Switzerland, on the 
14th of Fe])ruary, 1857, and there his early 
educational discipline was received. He com- 
pleted a course in a normal school in his native 
town and was graduated therein, though he 
was but thirteen years of age at the time of his 
coming to America with his mother. After the 
family located in Canton he continued his 
studies for three years in the local high school, 
after which he was matriculated in Mount 
Union College, near Alliance, this county, in 
T878. completing the philosophical course in 
this institution and being graduated as a mem- 
ber of the class of 1878, with the degree of 
Bachelor of Philosophy. Fie then returned to 
Canton, where he held a clerical position in the 
offices of tlie C. .\ultnian Company for the 
ensuing three years, after which he was a 
traveling salesman for two years. At the ex- 
piration of this period he entered the employ 
ot Stone, Odean & Company, wholesale gro- 
cers, of Duluth, ^Minnesota, having charge of 
the city trade of the house, while he eventually 
became an interested principal in the same. 
He disposed of his interest in the business in 
1893 and engaged in the commission broker- 
age business in Duluth, following this line of 
enterprise about se\en years. He returned to 
Canton in 1900 anfl identified himself with 
the Knight Manufacturing Company, in the 
capacity of C(")nfi(lential clerk, and of this posi- 
tion he still remains incumbent, being knowrt 
as a business man of (listincti\-e executive abil- 
ity and good judgment and holding prestige 
in connection with the industrial interests of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



813 



the city. In politics he is an independent Re- 
puhhcan, advocating the generic principles o£ 
the party, but reser\ ing to himself the privilege 
of supporting men and measures which meet 
the approval of his judgment, regardless of 
the closely defined partisan lines. 

In Canton, on the 25th of May, 1882, Mr. 
Sigrist was united in marriage to Miss Sarah 
Elizabeth Howenstein, daughter of John and 
Julia (Sanford) Howenstein, of this cit}'. 
Mr. and Mrs. Sigrist have three children, 
Mary Helen, who was born August 11, 1884; 
flora Elma. who was bom March 25, 1891, 
and Robert J., who was hnvn ]u\\ 18, 1898. 



CHARLES L. WORRALL. M. D., was 
bom in the village of Chester Hill, Morgan 
county, Ohio, on the 27th of April, 1872, be- 
ing the only child of Edward P. and Ruth 
(Smith) Worrali. His father was bom in 
the same village, on the 23d of January, 1846, 
being the youngest of the twelve children of 
Zebulon and Martha R. (Radcliff) Worrali, 
the former of whom \\'as born in Germantown, 
Penn.sylvania, in 1798, and the latter in the 
city of Richmonci. V^irginia, in 1803, both be- 
ing of English lineage and of old Quaker 
stock, Ijeing birthright members of the So- 
ciety of Friends. Both accompanied their re- 
spective parents on their remox'al to Mount 
Pleasant, Jefferson county, Ohio, in the early 
pioneer epoch, and there their marriage was 
solemnized. Shortly afterward they removed 
to Morgan county, Ohio, where they passed 
the remainder of their lives, folk of intelligence 
and sterling worth of character. As members 
of the Society of Friends the Worrali family 
were, both by discipline and conscientious con- 
viction, opposed to warfare, and during the 
progress of the war of 1812 they were sore 
pressed and heavily fined because of their re- 
fusal to take part in the conflict. During the 
crucial epoch leading u[) to the war of the 



Rebellion the members of the family in Ohio 
assisted many a poor slave to freedom, the 
home of Grandfather Worrali having been a 
station on the famous "underground railroad," 
through which so many slaves were transfer- 
red from one point to another until they gained 
their liberty. Zebulon Worrali was a tailor by 
trade, and to the same he devoted his attention 
during the major portion of his active business 
career, but in the later years he engaged in 
the nursery business, in which he met with 
marked success. 

Edward P. Worrali was reared beneath 
the parental roof and \\as thoroughly trained 
in tiie nursery business under the direction of 
his father, who was conducting a prosperous 
business during the years of his boyhood, while 
he had such educational advantages as were 
afforded by the common schools of the pe- 
riod. He succeeded his father in the nur- 
sery business, in which line of enter- 
prise he was actively engaged until al)out 
1884, while during the intervening years 
he had put his distinctive artistic talent 
to effective use, painting many pictures of a 
high order of merit and disposing of the same 
t') advantage. The niu'sen' business pro\ed 
uncongenial to him, and about 1884 he with- 
drew from the same and turned his attention 
to photography, in which line of art produc- 
tion he has since been engaged, having a well 
equipped studio in the town of Chester Hill. 
Morgan county. In politics he is a stanch 
advocate of the ]>rinciples of the Republican 
party, and, though reared in the Quaker faith, 
he is now a member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church, ha\ing- been quite active in its 
work for a number of years past. The mother 
of the subject was born in Chester Hill, Ohio, 
on the 1st of January, 1852, being a daughter 
of JosqDh and Mary (Fawcett) Smith, both 
of English ancestry and of the old Quaker 
stock early established in America, Dr. Wor- 
rali ha^•ing in his possession a complete record 



8i4. 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of tlie Smith family fruin the first emigrant 
a'ice>t(r v,ho came (>\er with William Penn's 
original colony, a? a part of the first expedi- 
tion organized hv that honored man. The 
Smith family also took a prominent part in 
tlie condncting of the nnderground railroad in 
the ante-Rel)ellion days, as well as dnring the 
progress of the war. ['he mother of the Doc- 
tor died nine days after his hirth, antl later his 
father married Miss Lucy Snowden, daughter 
of Professor James F. Snowden. who was for 
many \ears ]n"inci])al of the city schools at 
Wheeling, West \'irginia. One child was 
horn of tiiis union, James S.. wlio is a printer 
liy \iication and who is now a resident of 
Amesville. Athens county, Ohio. After the 
death of his second wife tlie father of the Doc- 
tor married Miss Rebecca \\'orthington. of 
Chester Hill, and iIkw are the parents of three 
children, Paul. Edith and Mary, all of wlmm 
still remain beneath the home roof tree. 

Doctor \^'orrall was reared in his natix'c 
tiiwn. md received a mother's care from his 
father's second wife, while his early educa- 
tional discipline was secured in the ]niblic 
schools, including a thorough course in the 
Chester Hill high school, under Professor J. 
A. Stone, a most able educator and one who 
has attained a high reputation in his chosen 
]jrofessiori. This school has sent more stu- 
dents to the State University of Ohio than any 
other high school, with the same average at- 
tendance, in the sfate. The Doctor gave par- 
ticular .attention u i the study of civil engineer- 
ing, with the intention of adopting this pro- 
fession as a vocation, and he also was prepar- 
ing to c-iUer the state university after his grad- 
uation in the high school. However, he 
started on a trip down tlie Ohio river with his 
l)arents. and this cost him dearly since he con- 
tracteil malarial fe\er ,-uid did imt rcco\er from 
the same for two years, his health being seri- 
ouslv impaired during this i)eriod. He was 
thus disappointed in taking u]) his uni\ersity 



coiu^se and, ratlier by accident than design, 
drifted into the ])hotographing business, which 
he had learned in his father's studi(.i. He 
tra\-eled into \'arious sections of the Union, 
taking \ie\vs and placing the same on sale to 
interested persons, and while he was thus en- 
gaged lie \i sited Bartlett, Ohio, where he 
forme<l the ac(|u;iintance of Miss (jertrude 
Jewell. \vh(,i two years later, on the nth of 
]\[ay, 0S93. became his wife. She was born 
in Ironton. being a datighter nf Will- 
iam C and Margaret (Barrows) Jewell, who 
now resitle in Marietta. Ohio, where Mr. Jew- 
ell is erigaged in the real-estate business. When 
but thirteen years of age Mr. Jewell enlisted 
as a drummer buy in a regiment of Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, and when but tifteen years of 
age he was incumbent of the position of drum 
major. ser\ing during tlie entire ])eriod oi the 
Rebellion. He jilayed the long roll for the 
onening of the battle of Stone River, and later 
was captured at Chickamauga and confined in 
the famous Pibby j^rison. at Richmond, \'ir- 
ginia. At the time of his capture he smashed 
liis drum over a stump to ])re\ent its falling 
into the hands of the enemy, and upnii his be- 
ing exchanged and rejoining his regiment its 
members presented him with a handsome new 
drum, which he still retains and which he 
naturalh' jirizes most highly. The uiuiui (~if 
Dr. and Mrs. ^^'orrall has lieen blessed by the 
birth of a daughter. 1\uth Anna, burn Ma\' 17. 
1896. 

After his marriage Dr. Wurrall engaged in 
the mu^sery business at Chester Hill and a])- 
])lied himself assiduously to the same for the 
ensuing three vears. In the spring of 1895 he 
began reading medicine under the ])receptnr- 
shi)i i>t Dr. O. .\. Pambert. then nf Chester 
?Iill. but iiiiw ;i ])racticing phvsician of ^Pu'i- 
etta. (>hi(i. nf which citv he is mayor at the 
time cif this writing, and in the autumn nf the 
following vear our subject was matriculateil in 
the Ohio Medical L niversitv. at Columbus, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



815 



wliere he was graduated in l)oth medicine and 
pliarmacy, in the s])ring' of 1900, receiving the 
degrees of Doctor of Medicine and (irathiate 
in Pharmacy. He was particularly ambitious 
ard earnest in his technical study and investi- 
gation, as is evident in his having simultane- 
ously carried forward the two courses, and 
upon leaving the college he was thoroughly 
well equipped for the active work of his pro- 
fession. While he was prosecuting his medical 
Course his finances reached a low ebb. and he 
had recourse to his knowledge of photography, 
through which he supplied the requisite funds 
to complete his course, a\-eraging more than 
fitt\' dollars a month through this source, and 
finding hi? devoted wife an able helpmeet and 
coadjutor, smce he exposed and (levek)ped the 
negatives, giving his attention to the latter 
portion of the work in the evenings, while 
Mrs. W'orrall assumed charge of the printing 
and finishing of the photographs. 

Tn the same spring in which he was grad- 
uated Dr. Worrall came to Magnolia and es- 
tiblished himself in the active practice of his 
protessi(jn. and it ma)- well be said that his 
ncnitiate was \'er_\' brief, for his unmis- 
takable ability and gracious personality soon 
gained him a rejjresentative support and he has 
already built up a most successful and grati- 
fying j^ractice. He is a member of the Ohio 
State Medical Society and is a con.stant and 
earnest student, so that he keeps in close 
t')uch with the advances made in the sciences 
of medicine and surgery and is a skilled and 
discriminating member of the profession. He 
is medical examiner for several life insurance 
oini])anies and for .\l;ignolia Lodge No. lo^, 
Ancient Order of Tnited Workman, of which 
he is a valued member, while he is also identi- 
fied, with Chester Hill Lodge Xo, 737. Inde- 
IH-ndent Order of Odd b'ellows, and Wavnes- 
l)urg Tent No. 20. Knights of the Maccal^ees. 
The maternal grandmother of Mrs. U'or- 
rall bore the maiden name of Susan Haves, 



and she was a first ccnisin of the lafe President 
Rutherford B. Ha\'es. Her paternal grand- 
f.'ither. William Jewell, was of Scotch ances- 
try and came to Ohio from Pbiladel]ihia, 
Pennsyhania, in an early day, having for a 
number of years been engaged in the shoe busi- 
ness, wdiile in later years he devoted his at- 
tention to farming. He serveil in the L'nion 
army during the war ot the Rebellion. Her 
maternal grandfather, Henry Iku-rows who 
was a grandson of Captain Barrows, of the 
Revolution, was a miller by vocation. In pol- 
itics the Doctor gi\es his allegiance to the Re- 
publican party. The}- have a jileasant home in 
Magnolia and take a iM-ominent part in the 
.social life of the community, in which their 
friends are in number as their acquaintances. 



f^KTF.R H. BARR is- a native of Stark 
county, Ohio, and the youngest in a family 
of fi\-e children, whose parents were b>sci)li 
a!id IClizabeth (Dollerer) Barr. the fatlier 
l)orn in La'icaster county, Pennsylvania, the 
mother in Adams count\ , the same state. Jo- 
cph Ikirr liecame a resident of Stark countv. 
Ohio, as early as iS.-;-', settling at Paris, where 
he ])urcliase(l land and engaged in farming, 
w-hich location he continued to the end of his 
days. In connection with agriculture, he also 
conducte(' an undertaking establishment at 
Paris for a '.lumber of years and niet with fair 
success in his business afi'airs, liaxing been a 
man of intelligence, energy and sound judg- 
ment. He died in iS.] 1 , lijs wife surviving him 
a number of years, departing this life at tiie 
ad\'anced age of ninety-three. The following 
are the names of their children. Henrv. John. 
Eliza, Andrew- and Peter H., all of whom .spent 
the greater part of their lixes in Stark countv. 

Peter PL Barr was lii>rn on the familv 
h(.)niestea(l. near Paris, Sejitember :5. 1836. and 
there spent the early }-ears as a farmer's bo_\-. 
laboring in the fields in the summer time and 



8i6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of winter seasons attending tlie village school. 
He remained at home until about twenty years 
of age, and then started out to make his own 
way, leaving his native place on ]\Iarch 4, 
i8,'^6, the day of President Buchanan's inaugu- 
ration, and going to South Bend, Indiana, where 
he shortly afterwards secured a position in the 
office of the Studebaker JManufacturing Com- 
pany. The mammoth establishment into which 
this enterprise has since grown, being now the 
largest wagon and \ehicle factory in the 
world, was then a small concern and so de- 
lighted were the proprietors with the ability 
and gentlemanly demeanor of their new clerk, 
that the}- urged upon him to continue with 
them permanently and take an interest in the 
business. One of A'Ir. Barr's early acquain- 
tances in South Bend was Schuyler Colfax, 
afterwards C(ingressman and vice-president of 
tlie United States, between wh(im and himself 
a warm friendship sprang up, which continued 
unbroken as long as that gentleman lived. 
Much to the regret of the Studebakers. Mr. 
Rarr, after two years of efficient and faithful 
service, during a part of which time he was 
traveling auditor for the company, resigned 
his position and, returning to Stark county, 
engaged in the drug trade at Canton, purchas- 
ing an interest in the oldest establishment of 
the kind in the city. The drug business to 
which he succeeded was established as early as 
1.S45 or 1846, by a German by the name of 
\Vitting, after whose death, about 1850, it 
])assed into the hands of Dr. Conrad J. Geiger, 
witli whom the suljject effected a copartner- 
ship, as above noted, which lasted until 1862. 
Jn the latter year Mr. Barr opened a drug 
house in Alliance, where he conducted a very 
successful business until 1876, when he re- 
turned to Canton and bought the establishment 
with which he had formerly been connected, 
his old partner. Dr. Geiger, having died oji 
January 6th of the preceding year. He has 
managed the house very successfully ever 



since, and is now not only the pioneer druggist 
of Canton, but also one of the city's oldest and 
most highly esteemed business men. The es- 
tablishment, which he personally manages, has 
had a continuous existence for considerably 
more than a half century, during which time 
it has kept prominently to the front and is to- 
day one of the solid, reliable and popular 
houses of the kind in this part of the state, 
commanding a full share of patronage and en- 
joying a reputation which has always been 
honorable and a credit to the city. 

In addition to the drug business, Mr. Barr 
has been identified at different times with other 
enterprises, notably among which is the City 
National Bank of Canton, an institution he 
assisted in organising and which he served for 
a number of years as president, having been 
the first man elected to that position. Later he 
took an active interest in establishing the Cen- 
tral Savings Bank, of which he was also made 
president and to the success of which he con- 
tibuted greatly by his infiuence, correct busi- 
ness methods and superior executive abilit}-. 
For many years he was a director of the Fair- 
mount Orphans' Home of Alliance, in the man- 
agement of which excellent institution he still 
manifests a lively interest and of which he is 
at the present time a director. 

Mr. Barr, in the year 1859. contracted a 
matrim.onial alliance with Miss Ada Franklin 
Geiger. daughter of Dr. Conrad J. Geiger. his 
old business associate and at one time a prom- 
inent physician of Canton. Dr. Geiger was 
bornabout 1810 in Eppingen. duchy of Baden, 
Germany, came to the United States with his 
parents, when a boy, and was reared on In- 
dian Run, \yhere his father took up land and 
engaged in farming, the family being one of 
the earliest in that locality. Dr. Geiger studied 
medicine at Massillon, this county, under Dr. 
Bowen, became in due time one of the leading- 
physicians and surgeons of Canton, and, as 
already stated, conducted a successful drug 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



817 



business for some years, in connection with 
his profession. He married Miss Lydia Ann 
Adams, a near relative of President John 
Ouincy Adams, and reared several children, 
who became useful members of society and 
Iionorable in their respective spheres of life. 
'J\:i the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Barr seven 
children have been born, namely : Minnie L., 
Winnie G., wife of George P. Pettitt, United 
States consul at Dusseldorf, Germany; Daisy 
D., now Mrs. U. S. Johnson, who lives in 
Canton ; Fannie, also a resident of this city, 
is the wife of C. W. Keplinger; Bessie married 
George Kimbark and lives in the city of her 
liirth; Fred, teller of the Central Savings 
Bank, married Clara Wikidal, the youngest of 
the family being Marie E., who is unmarried 
and still lives with her parents. 

In 1899 Mr. Barr and wife made an exten- 
sive tour of Europe, during which they trav- 
eled over a number of countries and visited 
many places of interest, among them being the 
old home of his father-in-law in the kingdom 
of Baden. The trip was not only interesting, 
but to a gentleman of Mr. Barr's intelligence 
and wide reading exceedingly instructive, both 
he and his w-ife having greatly enjoyed the 
outing and returning from it much refreshed 
ill body and mind. 

Mr. Barr has been an lionored member of 
the Masonic brotherhood for many years, and 
now holds the title of past-master of Canton 
I-odge, having also served as eminent com- 
mander of tiie commandery. Knights Templar. 
Religiously he was reared in the Evangelical 
Euth.eran faith and is still a faithful and con- 
sistent member of the church, as is also his 
wife, bofh being active in all lines of work 
under the auspices of the congregation with 
which they are identified. In politics he is a 
Republican, having cast his first presidential 
\ote for Abraham Lincoln, since which time 
he has neven wa\ered in his allegiance to his 
party. 

51 



WILLIAM HASSOLDT.— This gentle- 
man, for many years a prominent Ijusiness niau 
of Canton, but now deceased, was born iit 
Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, on Ai)ril 21, 182 1. 
His father, Conrad Hassoldt, also a native o£ 
that country, spent all of his life in the father- 
land, as did also the mother, both of whonx 
now sleep in the old cemetery in which is 
mingled the dust of several generations of their 
ancestors. As soon as old enough the subject 
entered the schools of his native place, and, 
being designed for the ministry, subsequently" 
prosecuterl his studies in one of the colleges of 
Darmstadt, receiving in due time a finishecl. 
education. For some reason he decided not 
to take holy orders, but instead applied him- 
self to the tailor's trade and soon became ef- 
ficient thereat, after which he worked at \ari- 
ous places in his native land, finally making: 
his way to Switzerland, where he followed hi? 
chosen calling for a number of years. Not 
long after his arrival in the latter country Mr.. 
Hassoldt formed the acciuaintance of an es- 
timable young lady by the name of Sophie 
Richard, who was born in the city of Neauf- 
chatel, June 29, 1824, and between whom and 
himself a tender attachment soon sprang up, 
which eventualh- led to their marriage. Aftei* 
working at his trade in Switzerland until 1847,^ 
Mr. Flassoldt decided to go to America, ac- 
cordingly, on May 22d of that year, in com- 
pany with his wife and others, he took passage- 
at Antwerp, on the sailing ship "Juniata," 
Captain Shields, of Boston, commanding, anc? 
after a \nyage of eight weeks duration landed 
at the harbor of New York. .Vfter seven 
months in that city, he came to Stark county 
and settled in Canton township, about four 
miles south of Canton, where he taught a Ger- 
man school for a short time, then entered the 
emplo}' of a tailor in Canton by the name of 
Nichols Bour, in wdiose establishment he con- 
tinued for some time, later engaging \vith Ab- 
salom Kitt. Being a fine workman, his repu- 



8i8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tation soon attracted a large number of cus- 
tomers to the shops where he was employed, 
many jieople coming- long distances to have him 
cut and make their garments. In due time he 
started a tailoring" estaljlishment cf his (jwn, 
A\hich from the beginning was liberally pat- 
ronized, although during the first few years 
he was obliged, by reason of the great scarcity 
of money, to take produce and different articles 
of trade as pay for his work. In 1856 he 
mo\'ed his famih to the cit}-, and during the 
ensuing three years lived on East Tuscarawas 
street, at the end of that time changing his 
abode to a small frame building which stood 
on the i)resent site of the St. Edward's Hotel. 
After spending three years at the latter loca- 
tion, he mo\'ed into a brick building on South 
Market street, which he subsequently pur- 
cliased and remodeled with extensi\e altera- 
tions and additional im])ro\ements, nut only 
converting it into a beautiful and imposing 
dwelling, but adding greatly to its \alue also. 
]\Ir. Hassoldt's business CDUtinuing to grow, he 
was soon al)le to start a merchant tailoring es- 
tablishment, and. with the timely assistance 
of his good wife, this in due time became one 
of the leafling places of the kind in the city. 
Ele built up a large and lucrative trade, which, 
by rea.son of the excellence of his w'orkmanship 
and the high grade of his goods, grew in 
magnitude and importance as the years went 
by until in the course of years he found him- 
self the |)(issessor of a handsome fortune and 
able to retire from active wrirk. 'Sir. Hassoldt 
made a numljer of ju.dicious investments in 
Canton real estate, which subsequentlv be- 
camt rpiitc valuable and in this way no small 
portion of his wealth was acquired. He 
erected next to his residence a fine brick block, 
which has since been known as the Hassoldt 
lili)ck, in addition to which he also ymi u]) a 
nuiul)er of tenement houses in other parts of 
the city, the rental from the different proper- 
ties returning him a handsome income. 



When a youth, Mr. Hassoldt united with 
the Evangelical church and. as already indi- 
cated, was educated with the object in view of 
entering the ministrv. Although giving' up 
that profession, he remained ever after^vards 
a true and devoted Christian, and after be- 
coming a resident of Canton joined the Re- 
formed church, of which Rev. Herbruck was 
for so manv years the belo\ed pastor. He was 
a member of the choir of this congreg'ation for 
seventeen years, assisted in getting up many 
public entertainments for the different 
churches of Canton, both Protestant and Cath- 
olic, and, lieing a fine vocalist, his services 
were in almost constant demand. He was 
deeply and fervently religious, and demon- 
straterl his piety in his relations with his fellow 
men, his character having been above re- 
liroach. and liis honor and integritv unques- 
tioned. In politics he was stanchlv Demo- 
cratic, but he ne\-er entered the arena of par- 
tisan afl:'airs nor asked any official positi(in at 
the hands of iiis fellow citizens. Fraternally 
he was a prominent Mason, and a charter mem- 
ber of tlie (ierman Odd Fellows r)rder. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hassoldt reared a family of 
five children, th.c oldest of whom, a son by the 
name of William, married Miss Lelia Ander- 
son, and lives in Canton : they have three chil- 
dren. \\z: Bertha. Carrie and Lucv : ranline, 
who also resides in this city, is the wife of 
Thomas Tomer and thev have two children, 
Stella and Elsie : Emma married Frank Jay, 
of Canttin, and Eina is the wife of Ednumd 
Groetzinger. and the mother of three chil- 
dren, viz: Alice, ncjw ]\lrs. Harry Hiles, 
Emma and Gretchen. The youngest of the 
f;nuih- was Bertha, wife of Thomas Keefer, 
of Canton, Ixith she and her husband being 
deceased. The\" were the parents of two chil- 
(l'"en, 1vul)\- and Sophie, who make their bonie 
with ]\Irs. Jay. 

The iwrents o\ ]\Irs. Hassoldt came to the 
United States in 1830 for the purpose of join- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



819 



ing their daughter, but the fatlier. receiving 
a fatal injury aboard tlie ship in which they 
took passage, died in a Xew York hospital 
shortly after landing. -His wife, whose maiden 
name was Marie Raunseir. survived him 
many years, dying at the home of one of her 
sons in Bethlehem township. Stark county, at 
the advanced age of ninety-one. ]\[r. Hassoldt 
lived to be sixty-six years old, and departed 
this life on April 21, 1888, honored and es- 
teemed by all who knew him. his loss being 
tleei)ly dei:ilored in Canton and throughout the 
county of Stark. 



EDWIN D. Sl'REB. farmer and mer- 
chant, is a nati\'e of .Stark county, Ohio, born 
on the paternal homestead in Canton town- 
ship, Octol^er 8, 1850. Peter Streb, his father, 
a native of Germany, came to the I'nited States 
at the age of twenty and located at New Ber- 
lin, Stark county, where he worked for a num- 
ber of years at the blacksmith trade- He was a 
skillful mechanic and in addition to his regu- 
lar line of work made all kinds of farming 
tools and implements, and it is stated that the 
lirst buggy springs ever used in Canton were 
manufactured in his shop. Peter Streb was 
twice married, the first time at New Berlin, 
and after the death of this lady he chose for a 
companion and helpmeet Miss Mary Frantz, 
who bore him chddren as follow"s : Frances, 
now Mrs. Frederick Kemery, of Findlay, this 
state; Elizabeth, who became the wife of 
Henry Martin, of Mapleton, and died at that 
place: Josephine, wife of William Thouvenin, 
of Stark county ; Edwin D.. of this review ; 
Joseph, a resident of Canton, and Nettie, an 
\inmarried lady, living in this county. After 
spending a number of years in New Berlin and 
acquiring a comfortable competence from bis 
trade, Air. Streb purchased a farm south of 
Buck Hill, in Canton township, to wdiich be 



remoyed shortly after bis second marriage and 
in which the remainder of his life was spent, 
dying there in 1880. He was a quiet, law- 
abiding citizen, a Democrat in politics, a mem- 
ber of St. Peter's Catholic church and in 
every relation of life a most excellent and 
praisew(irtb\' man. His widow, also a devout 
Catholic, and a lady of excellent standing, now 
resides in the city of Canton. 

Edwin D. Streb was blessed witli excellent 
parental training, added to which the whole- 
some and invigorating discipline of the farm 
had much t(5 do in forming his character and 
shaping his future course of life. At the 
proper age he entered the Buck Hill school, 
near his home, where he enjoyed for 
some time the instruction of Miss Sarah Stay- 
er, his first teacher, and later continued his 
studies at the same place until eighteen years 
of age, making substantial progress the mean- 
while. Quitting school he assisted with the 
farm Avork until the death of his father, at 
which time, when about twenty-one years old, 
he entered the old Buck Hill Mill to learn the 
trade of flour making. After serving the full 
time with the Rank Brothers, proprietors of 
the above establishment, he follo\ved his chosen 
calling at different ]">laces during the ensuing 
six years, and at the expiration of that time 
boug'ht twelve acres of ilne land, south of the 
Aultman Hospital, and engaged in market 
gardening, to which line of work he de\-oted 
his attention very profital)l_\- until iqoo. 

Disposing of his gardens at a good figure 
in that year, Mr. Streb purchased the Max- 
well farm, consisting of thirty-six acres lying 
between Navarre and ^lassillon streets, Can- 
tt;>n. which be cultivated with liberal financial 
results until the summer of 1902, when he 
erected a combined dwelling and Inisiness 
house on the corner of Navarre and Garfield 
avenues, where he has since carried on mer- 
cb.andising' in connection with agricultural 
pursuits. 



820 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Mr. Streb is not alone in business, having 
a partner by the name of Herman Goodman, 
who looks mainly after the interests of the 
large general store which they own, the sub- 
ject devoting the greater part of his attention 
to the farm. The latter is being successfully 
conducted and yields every year a liberal in- 
come, the store also proving a fortunate ven- 
ture, having a large and lucrative patronage, 
which is steadily growing in magnitude. Mr. 
Streb is a man of great energ}- and his well- 
directed industry has placed him in a situation 
of comparative independence. He exercises 
good judgment in his business affairs, his deal- 
ings with his customers and witli the trade in 
general are upright and honorable, and the po- 
sition he now occupies in commercial circles 
has given him a reputation in e\'ery respect 
eminently worth)'. Personally he is quite pop- 
ular, having a large acquaintance in the city 
and throughout the county, all \\ith whom he 
has bus-iness or other relations speaking in 
complimentary terms of his many estimable 
qualities and characteristics. Politically Mr. 
Streb votes the Republican ticket, but being- 
more of a business man than a politician, his 
ambitions have never been aroused by a desire 
for office or public station. Born a Catholic 
and reared in that faith, be has always remained 
loyal to the mother church, at this time being a 
member of St. Mary's parish and a regular at- 
tendant of its stated services. Mr. Streb is a 
married man, his wife ha\-ing formerly been 
Miss Mary ;\ionnot, of Louisville, Ohio, 
daughter of L. V. Monnot, a well known and 
much respected resident of the city. The union, 
which was solemnized in the year 1882, al- 
th')ugh without issue, has been a very happy 
one, both husband and wife moving in respect- 
.able circles and being \-ery highly esteemed by 
a large number of friends and acquaintances in 
the city of their residence and elsewhere. Mr. 
Streb is a member of the Protected Home 
Circle. 



WAI.TP:R ANDREWS.— Catering to a 
large and r:e])resentative patronage and stand- 
ing exponent of a line of industry of marked 
importance in any populous community, the 
Andrews Baking Company, of Canton, has at- 
tained a high degree of success and prestige 
under the able management of Walter An- 
drews, who is the head of the concern and one 
of the well known and honored business men of 
the city of Canton. In the year 1890 Mr. 
Ancb'ews engaged in the baking business on 
Cherry street, his operations at the start being 
conducted upon a modest scale, but by careful 
business methods and the outputting of a su- 
perior class of goods he soon Iniilt up a good 
trade, which has ever shown a cumulative ten- 
dency. In 1892, to accommodate his increas- 
ing business, ]\Ir. Andrews purchased his pres- 
ent eligible and well equipped quarters at 210 
South Market street, providing' the same with 
the requisite accessories for the facile carrying 
on I if the business. He piuxhased the property 
at sheriff's sale, and it is somewhat singular 
that he later sold the property and repurchased 
it again under similar conditions, retaining it 
for a time and then repeating the operation 
when the sheriff again placed it upon the mar- 
ket, it thus seeming evident that bis interposi- 
tion has been demanded to make the business 
a success. He has attained prosperit\- thrdugh 
his individual efforts, ha\ing been indefatigable 
in his efforts and progressive in bis policy. He 
manufactures all lines of bakery goods and 
caters to both the wholesale and retail trade, 
operating from six to ten wag'ons during the 
year, while his corps of emplo}-es has at times 
reached an ag'gregate of twenty-eight individ- 
uals, from which statements ma}' be gained an 
idea of the proportions of the trade which the 
establishment controls. In the process of man- 
ufacture an average rif one hundred barrels of 
flour is utilized each week. 

IMr. Andrews is a native of England, hav- 
ing been born in Essex county, on the 8th of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNT V, OHIO. 



821 



January, 1843, ^"'^ having- there passed his 
lx)yhoo(l days, receiving a common-school edu- 
CPtion. He then went to the city of London, 
having pre\iously served an apprenticeship of 
three years at the baker's trade, receiving- no 
\^•ages during- this interval but laying the foun- 
dation for his future success I)}' acquiring an 
intimate and thorough ]<no\vledge of the busi- 
ness in all its details, while it was the custom at 
the time for a definite sum to be paid an em- 
ployer for thus carrying an apprentice through 
a trade, the mother of our subject ha^•ing paid 
twent}' pounds for his instruction in the line. 
At the age of eighteen years Air. Andrews, 
relying upon his own resources and being with- 
out financial reinforcement, decided to seek his 
fortunes in America. He embarked in tlie 
city of Liverpool and in due time reached his 
destination in the city of New York, where he 
found himself verital)ly a "stranger in a strange 
land." but the self-reliance, energy and indus- 
trious habits which he brought to bear proved 
efficacious from the start, as have they through- 
out the entire course of his career, which has 
not been without the reverses usually attend- 
ing the man of business, but which has been 
one of consecuti\e and successful application 
as a whole. Since coming to America Mr. An- 
drews has made fifteen trips to his native land. 
During the war of the Rel^ellion he was sig- 
nally loyal to the land of his adoption, serving- 
as steward on a government transport. After 
the ;close of the war he went to Mead\'ille, 
Pennsylvania, where he engaged in the bakery 
business on his own account, later coming to 
Akron, Ohio, where he was similarly engaged 
in business for the long period of eighteen 
years. Tn 1880 Mr. Andrews came to Canton, 
^\•here he has since been consecutively engaged 
in business with the exception of a short inter- 
' val. Llis'pai-ents, Robert and Elizabeth (Reeve) 
Andrews, both passed their li\'es in England, 
where liis father was engaged in the grain busi- 
ness during the major portion of his active ca- 



reer, and both he and his wife were members 
of the Episcopal church. They became the par- 
ents of eight children, of wdiom four are liv- 
ing at the present time. The subject is a stanch 
advocate of the principles and policies of the 
Republican party, but has never been an as- 
pirant for office, and his religious views are in 
harmony with the tenets of the Episcopal 
church, in Avhose faith he was reared. 

Tn ^^'adsworth, this state, on the 29th of 
December, 1887, Mr. Andrews was united in 
marriage to Miss Rosetta Bird, and they have 
two children, Bessie and Rose. 



SEWELL L. HODGDON.— It may be 
said, in an initiative way that the subject comes 
of stanch old New England ancestry, the orig- 
inal ancestors in the agnatic line having disem- 
barked in the Plymouth colony only a short 
time, relatively, after the Pilgrim fathers had 
landed from the "Mayflower" at Plymouth 
Rock ; again, we find that by members of the 
family was valiant service rendered in the war 
which determined the independence of the colo- 
nies from the British crown, w'hile in both the 
war of 181 2 and that with Mexico were repre- 
sentatives of the line found defending their 
country's righteous cause, while to the L^nion 
armies in the greatest civil war in the annals of 
history the family contributed its cjuota, among 
the numl)er being the honored subject of this 
sketch, Mho thoroughly proved his loyalty and 
intrinsic patriotism and adds new laurels to an 
honored name. 

Mr. Hodgdon is a native son of the old 
Pine Tree state, having been born on the pa- 
rental homestead farm, in the immediate vi- 
cinity of the town of Trenton, Hancock county, 
Maine, on the 25th of September, 1837, and 
having remained on the farm until he had at- 
tained the age of sixteen years, his incidental 
educational discipline having been received in 
the village schools, in which he laid an ample 



822 



OLD LANDMARKS 



foundation for the broad fund of knowledge 
which he has gained in the great school of ex- 
perience, whose headmaster is a wise and dis- 
criminating one. His father, Stephen Hodg- 
don, was born in Portsmouth, Rockingham 
county, New Hampshire, in the year 1799, and 
after attaining years of maturity he took unto 
himself a wife, in the person of Miss Sarah R. 
Coolidge, who was born in Trenton. Maine, in 
1801. Silas Coolidge, her maternal grand- 
father, served as a valiant .soldier in the Conti- 
nental line during seven and one-half years in 
the war of the Revolution, ha\"ing lieen a par- 
ticipant in the battle of Bunker Hill and hav- 
ing been with Washington's forces at \'al- 
ley Forge during the memorable winter in 
whicli so fearful hardships were endured by the 
brave and loyal yeomen wha were Ijattling in 
freedom's holv cause, stri\ing to hurl oppres- 
sion back and keep the boon of libert\-. Mr. 
Coolidge was wounded in a skirmish with the 
Indians. i)ut din'ing his long term of service 
escaped further injury of a serious nature, 
wiiile he was mustered out with the rank of 
first sergeant. ha\ing been a member of a 
Maine regiment. His son Silas was a S(3!dier 
in the war of 181 2. in which lie maintained the 
military ]5restige of the family name. The 
original ancestors of the Coolidge line came 
from England with the Pilgrim Fathers and 
identifiefl themselves with the Plvmouth 
colony, the lineage being of pure English ex- 
traction. Tn the ilexican war a Mr. Watson, 
a re!ati\e of the subject, went forth as a mem- 
ber of a Massachusetts regiment raised by 
Caleb Cushman, who was in command of the 
same. 

.Stephen Hodgdon devoted his entire life to 
agricultural ]iursuits and was one of the ster- 
ling and highly honored citizens of Hancock 
county, Maine, his death occurring in the vil- 
lage of Trenton, that county, in 1867, at \vhich 
time he was sixty-ei.ght years of age. w bile his 
widow survived him by several years, passing 



away in 1873, at the age of seventy-two, both 
being laid to rest in the old cemetery in the 
town where so many years of their lives had 
been passed. Both were devoted members of the 
Baptist church, and theirs was the "faith that 
makes faithful," a faith that justifies humanity 
in the face of the eternal. In politics Air. 
Hodgdon was original 1_\- an old-line Whig, but 
he espoused the cause of the Republican party 
at the time of its inception and ever afterward 
remained a stanch supporter of the same. 

At the age of sixteen years Sewell L. Hodg- 
don, ilie immediate subject of this sketch, 
shipped on the sailing \essel "Henrietta," pl\'- 
ing between Trenton and Boston and later in 
the West India trade, his ser\-ices being ren- 
dered in the capacitv of cook on his initial voy- 
age, while he continued to follow a seafaring 
life until he bad attained his legal majority. 
ha\'ing in the meanwhile risen to the position of 
second officer on the sailing vessel "A. Blanch- 
ard," of Boston, vliile in his various voya.ges he 
encountered manv ]i;u\lships and also had many 
interesting experiences. On his last voyage he 
snft'ered an attack of yellow fever, at the port 
of Santia,go de Cuba, and was kept on l)oard 
his ship, beiri.g attended liy Captain Clark, of a 
New York ship and being incai)acitated for 
dutv for onh' three weeks. At the age of 
tweritv-one vears Mr. Hodgdon went to \\ al- 
tham, Alassachusetts. A\here he entered upon 
an ap]irenticeship to the machinist trade, lieing 
thtis engaged at the time when came the clanon 
call to arms, as the integrity of the nation was 
placed in jeopardy through armed rel)e]lion. 
Inherent and intrinsic loyalty i)rompted a ready 
response on his part, and on tlie i()t1i of .\pril. 
]S6!. Air. Hodgdon enlisted as a pri\'ate in 
Com])any H. Sixfeenth Massachusetts A'olun- 
teer Infantrv. the captain of bis company be- 
ing Gardiner Bank';, a l)rot]ier of (ieneral 
Banks, while the colonel of the regiment was 
Powell T. W}-man. Fie ])roceeded to the front 
with his command and continued in active ser- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



823 



vice until May 3, 1863. when lie received a 
severe wound in the left shoulder, which was 
penetrated by a musket ball, incapacitating him 
for further work in the tield. He was sent to 
Washington, D. C, and thence to the Mower 
hospital, on Chestnut Hill, in the city of Phila- 
delphia, where he remained until June, 1864, 
when he receixed his honorable discharge, his 
term of enlistment having expired. He was 
present at tlie capture of Xorfc;lk, Virginia, in 
.\pril. 18O2; ]5articipated in the entire Penin- 
sula campaign, with its memorable and san- 
guinarv battles, from in front of Richmond to 
Harrison's Landing; was in action in the sec- 
ond battle of Bull Run; was in the battle of 
Fredericksburg, u.nder Burnside; \vas present 
at Chantilly when General Kearney fell, and 
then took part m the b&ttle of Chancellorsville, 
where he was wounded, as already noted. He 
was discharged with the rank of first sergeant 
and his record was that of a faithful and loyal 
soldier of the republic. 

After recovering his health Mr. Hoclgdon 
finished learning his trade at Waltham, at 
which he \\as engaged as an employe of the 
Tremont \\ atcli Company, in Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, and later in Pro\idence, Rhode Isl- 
and, and be then entered the employ of the 
New York Watch Conipau}-, on the 6th of Xo- 
vember, 1867, and witli this concern and its 
successors he has ever since been identified. — 
a period of more than thirty-fi\-e years. This 
fact is ade(|uatel_\' significant to render further 
remark unnecessary in the connection. The 
name of the company was later changed t(j the 
Hampden Watch Company and finallv to the 
Dueber-Hampden Com|)any, under which name 
the magnificent business in the city of Canton 
is conducterl at the present time, while the 
products of the establishment lia\e gained a 
wr)rl(l-\vide reputation. The companv estab- 
lished its factories in Canton in the year 1888, 
at which time Mr. Hodgdon came here in its 
employ, lia\ing long held a resjionsible posi- 



tion with the concern and being one of its old- 
est and most trusted employes, while he has 
gained a wide circle of friends in Canton and 
is held in the highest esteem by all who know 
him. 

Jn politics Mr. Hodgdon has ever gi\en an 
unequivocal allegiance to the Republican party, 
in whose cau.se he has lent his influence and 
active support. \Mule he was employed by the 
Xew "^'(M-k Watch Company in their former 
works in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, 
he ser\ ed three terms as a member of the city 
ctaincii, while for two years he was a member 
of the lioard of education in Canton, being its 
president for one year. Fraternal 1\' be mani- 
fests his abiding interests in his old comrades 
in arms by retaining memliership in the Cirand 
Arm\' of the Republic, whose ranks are being 
so rapidly decimated by the one invincible foe, 
death, and his affiliation is with McKinley 
Post X'o. J5. He is also a member of Hamp- 
den ]^odge Xo. 27, Independent Ortler of Odd 
Fellows, in Springfield, Massachusetts, and of 
U. S. Grant Council X^o. 35, Senior Order of 
United American Mechanics, in Canton. In 
this cit}' he was one of the organizers of the 
Maine Club, whose object is the proper com- 
memoration of the destruction of the battle- 
ship of the name, while he was also a member 
of the committee having in charge the birth- 
day memorial to the late President McKinley, 
in his home cit)' of Canton, on the 27th of 
Januar\\ 11)03. 

In the village of Flushing, Long Island, on 
the 15th of January, 1866, Mr. Hodgdon was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Young, 
who was born in that place, a re])resentative of 
a prominent old family of X'ew York. She 
died in Springfield, Massachusetts, on the 26th 
of August, 1889, and while Air. Hodgdon was 
thus calleil upon to face the great loss and 
bereavement of his life, there comes the con- 
solation of the memory of her beautiful and 
self-abnegating character, — a memory that 



«24 



OLD LANDMARKS 



rests "like the 1)enediction that follows after 
prayer." She was a devoted and consistent 
member of the Episcopal church, of which the 
subject has also been a member for the past 
forty years. Of the children of this union we 
enter the following- brief record, as a proper 
conclusion of this brief sketch : ^Vilson R. is 
assistant teller in the Chicopee National Bank, 
at Springfield, Massachusetts, and Arthur E. 
is an empliiye of the Dueber-Hampden Watch 
Company, in Canton. 



ARTHUR T. HILLES, to whom this 
particular sketcli is dedicated, is one of the 
representative farmers and citizens of Wash- 
ington township and is one of Ohio's native 
sons who rendered valiant service in that great- 
est of all internecine conflicts, the war of the 
Rebellion, so there are many points of a salient 
order which render him eligible for biographic 
orders in a compilation of the province as- 
signed to this. He was born in the Aillage of 
Albany, ?dahoning county. Ohio, on the I2th 
of January, 1842, l)eing a son of Enos and 
Mary A. (Harris) Hilles, whose five children 
are all living, Arthur T., of this sketch, being 
the eldest, while of the other four we enter 
brief data as follows : Jennie is the wife of 
Johnson Grant, of Washington township ; 
Howard is a prominent member of the bar of 
the state of Kansas, being engaged in the prac- 
tice of his profession in its capital city of To- 
peka : Charles H. is a successful farmer of 
Washington township and is individually 
mentioned on anollier page of this volume; and 
Ella is the wife of Dr. Byron Douds, of Can- 
ton, this county. Enos Hilles was l:)orn in 
Chester county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1816, 
"being a son of Robert and Jane (Lee) Hilles, 
the former of whom was a prominent and influ- 
tial farmer of that county and a leading agi- 
tator in favor of abolition of slavery in the 
earlv davs. He was a son of David and Dinah 



(Milhouse) Hilles, the former of whom was a 
son of Hugh and .Ann Hilles, who emigrated 
from Ireland to Vmerica prior to 1750 and 
took up their residence in Bucks county, Penn- 
syhanin, whence they removed to Chester 
cotmty. in 1756, David being the youngest' of 
their four children, and from this worthy cou- 
ple has sprung a numerous family, their de- 
scendants being now found in the most di- 
verse sections of the Union. Jane (Lee) Hil- 
les. the paternal grandmother of the subject 
of this sketch, was a daughter of Isaac 
and Mary Lee, of Berks county, Penn- 
sylvania, and both the Lee and Hilles 
families were prominent in the Society 
of Friends in the early history of the 
Keystone state. Both the grandfather and 
grandmother lived to about the age of eighty 
years, and the latter was related in a collateral 
way to General Robert E. Lee, the distin- 
guished officer of the Confederate army dur- 
ing the Rebellion. Robert Hilles removed with 
his family to Mahoning c<iunty. Ohln, in 1832, 
settling near the town of Salem, and ab(>ut 
184J he came to .Stark county and purchased 
about sixty acres of land in section 14. Wash- 
ington township. Though they suljsequently 
made one or more changes of abode, they con- 
tinued to reside in this townshl]) until the 
time of their death and were ln'iiurcd pujneers 
of this section. 

Enos Hilles was reared to the age of six- 
teen Aears in his native county in Pennsylvania, 
and then accompanied his parents on their re- 
UKnal to Mahoning county, Ohio, and later 
to Stark county, where he personally purchased 
a small farm, of about twenty acres, in section 
14. Washington township. In 1853 he pur- 
chased a farm in section i, this township, and 
forth.with removed to the same, the property 
being now owned bj' his son. the subject of this 
sketch. lie resided on this homestead until 
within a few years of his death, when he took 
up his home with our subject. Enos Plilles 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



825 



■\vas a mail of exceptional intellectual ability 
and mature judgment, a close student of the 
questions of the hour and able in dialectics and 
in debate, while as a public speaker he proved 
himself forceful and convincing. He was one 
of the wheel-horses of the Republican party in 
his section and did effective campaign work on 
various occasions, while he was called upon to 
serve in a number of the township oftices. He 
was an ardent advocate of the established 
gold standard in connection with the govern- 
ment's financial polic}', and through the papers 
in the city of Alliance he carried on a vigorous 
discussion with Charles Bonsel and others on 
the money question. I)eing one of the first to 
thus strenuously advocate the gold standar'l, 
while in the connection he gained a high repu- 
tation for his masterful handling of the prob- 
lem, though his exertions in the line undoul)t- 
edlv hastened his death, as he had been for a 
number of years quite seriously afflicted with 
heart disease. He was reared in the faith of 
the Quaker church, and while in later years he 
was not formalh' identified with any religious 
body he never wavered in his faith in the all- 
wise Providence and \vas an earnest Christian, 
exemplifying his belief in his daily life, which 
was exemplary in all its relations. His death 
occurred about the i8th of December, i8go, 
and his cherished and de\(5tetl wife entered into 
eternal rest on the 22(1 of February, 1894, so 
that ill death they were not long divided. 

Arthur T. Hilles, whose name initiates this 
sketch, was reared on the homestead farm and 
was afforded the advantages of the public 
schools of tlie locality and period, after which, 
in 1 86 1, he was matriculated in Mount Union 
College, near Alliance, this county, Ijut a few 
months later he \\'ithdre\v to assume the re- 
sponsibilities and hardships involved in the call 
to higher duty tci which he thus barkened as a 
loyal son of the Republic. At this time the 
dark cloud of civil war, obscured the national 
horizon, and on the sd of Februarv, 1862, Mr. 



Hilles enlisted as a private in Company K, 
Seventy-si.xth Ohio V^olunteer Infantry, his 
company being recruited at Canton, and with 
this command he continued in active service 
until the close of the war, participating- in a 
number of the most notable conflicts incidental 
to the great struggle, including the battles of 
Fort Donelson, Pittsburg Landing, Memphis, 
siege of Vicksburg, Chattanooga, the Atlanta 
campaigni and thence with Sherman on the 
ever memorable march to the sea, after which 
his command proceeded through the Carolinas 
and Virginia to Washington, and, Lee having 
in the meanwhile surrendered and the war been 
declared closed, he participated in the grand 
review of the victorious armies in the national 
capital, and received his honorable discharge on 
the 25th of July, 1865. He was never in the 
hospital and never rode a mile in an ambulance 
during liis entire period of service, being ever 
found at the post of duty and making the rec- 
ord of a valiant and faithful .soldier. 

After receiving his discharge from the 
service Mr. Hilles returned to his home, and 
after liis marriage, about two years later, he 
purchased thirty acres of land lying" across the 
road from his father's homestead, and he re- 
tained possession of this place aliout two years 
and then purchased his present homestead 
farm, wh.ere he has ever since maintained liis 
home. In this farm are included one hundred 
acres, and he still owns the old homestead, 
comprising thirty-seven acres. Mr. Hilles 
gives his attention to diversified famiing and 
every portion of his farm gives evidence of 
scrupulous care and wise management, while 
the improvements of permanent order are of 
substantial and attractive order. Mr. Hilles 
is public-spirited and progressive and has the 
uniform confidence and regard of the commu- 
nity. He has given a stalwart allegiance to the 
Republican party, and has been called to vari- 
ous local offices of trust and responsibility, hav-' 
ing .ser\'ed several terms as township trustee 



826 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and also as justice of tlie peace. In connection 
with his agTicultural industry he lias for sev- 
eral years devoted s[)ecial attention to the 
feeding- of cattle and placing the same on the 
market, and in this way utilizes the major por- 
tion of the products of his farm. Fraternally 
he vitalizes the more gracious memories of his 
army life and keeps in touch with his old com- 
rades in arms by holding" membership in the 
Grand Army of the Republic, being identified 
with John C l-'renmnt Post Xo. ^42, in tlie 
cit\' i)f Alliance. 

On the nth of September, 1807, Mr. IJilles 
was united in marriage to Miss Phoebe A. 
Lillew who was born in Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, being a daughter of the late 
Ellis N. Lilley, who was numbered among the 
l)ioncers of Washington county, Pennsylvania, 
where his death occurred. Mr. and Mrs. Hilles 
became the parents of three children, namely: 
Frank E., who is a successful farmer of Wash- 
ington township: Lilly M., who became the 
wife of Victor (inittard, and died in June, 
iijoj. being- survixed by one child. Arthur J.; 
and l'.lizal)eth. wIkj remains at the parental 
home. While Mr. and Mrs. Hilles are not 
meniijers of any church, they nevertheless 
identify themselves with Christian jjrinciples 
and carry the regard and esteem of the com- 
nnmity at large. 



WASHINGTON R. REEVES was born 
in Greene county. I'ennsylvania. on tlie nth 
of May, 18J7. As a mere boy he began to de- 
]jend u])on bis own efforts for a maintenance, 
and his natru-al inecbanicd aliilitv was turned 
to u«e in divers directions, since he learned sev- 
eral trades, though he devoted the major por- 
tioii of his active life to work as a carpenter 
and nincbinist. As a mason be set the sti.ine in 
the locks of the Ohio canal at New I'hiladel- 
piu'a. On the 7th of Ai)ril, iS^g. in Ganton, 
Ohio, whither be came as a voung man, he was 



united in marriage to Miss Ann Baxter, a sis- 
ter of the late William Baxter, who was one 
j of the early sheriffs of Stark county, she ha\-- 
ing- been Ixjrn in Canton, on the 7th of May. 
1822. After his marriage Mr. Reeves con- 
tinued to reside for some time in Canton, where 
his eldest child was born, and then he removed 
to Salem, this state, while later he resided again 
in Canton, as well as in Bethlehem (now Na- 
\-arre ) , this county. During his residence there 
he built one of the first steam engines ever con- 
structed in this section of the country, the same 
continuing in use for a period of forty years. 
He was for some time employed in LairdV 
foundry and machine shops in Canton, and 
wliile thus engaged he invented the tubular- 
arch brid,ge, a great im])ro\-ement o\er the 
Aarious types then in use. l"or a time after his 
marriage he also resided in the city of Colum- 
bus, where he owned an interest in a sawniill. 
He later associated himself with David Ham- 
mond in the manufacture of bridges, under the 
firm name of Hammond & Reeves and with 
headquarters in Canton. Later on a stock com- 
pany was formed, under the title nf the 
^^'rought Iron Bridge Comi)any. and Mr. 
Reeves sold his interest in the enterprise about 
the time of the organization of this compan}-. 
while from that period until his death be lived 
])ractically retired fr(jm acti\e business. Mr. 
Reeves was for forty -five _\-ears ideiuihed with 
the Masonic fraternitv. ha\-ing- been initiated 
in Bethlehem Lodge, from which he \\as later 
dimitted to the lodge in Canton. He was a 
Democrat in his political adherency until the 
organization of the Re]niblican ])art\-, when he 
identilied himself therewith and e\er afterward 
remained a stanch ,-i(l\ocate of its ])rinciples. 
Of the children ot Mr. and .Mr.-,. Reeve- 
we incorporate brief record, as follows: \\ ill- 
iam G. enlisted as a member of Company 1-. 
Fourth Ohio N'nlnnteer Infantry, at the out- 
break of the war .if the Rel)ellion. and he died 
at Harrison's Landing, while in the ser\-ice, at 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



827 



the age ut twenty-one years; Catherine E. he- 
came the wife of Michael Adler, and after his 
death married George Mox'cr, and tlie}- now re- 
side in L'niontown, Ohio; Sarah Jane is the 
wife of John Bhim, of Canton; James L. is 
deceased ; John \\'esle\ . deceased ; Mary Jo- 
sephine is the wife of E. W". Nichols, of La- 
chine. Canada; Ann Eliza, deceased; Harriet 
Ellen is the wife of Edward Adler, of Canton; 
Charles W'., deceased; h'rancis B., deceased; 
Homer A., deceaseel;. Charles, deceased; and 
IJlvsses Shcrriian, who resides in the city 
of Can.lon. The [parents were consistent 
and zealous memhers of the Methodist 
Episcopal church and were numbered among 
the sterling pioneers of Stark county. The 
father of the subject was William Reeves, 
who wa'; born in renns)-l\ani;i on the 
1st of December, ^777- and he <lie<I al 
Uniontown. that state, on the lOth of June, 
1822. 

L'lvsses S. Ree\es was born in the city of 
Canton, on the 5th of November, 18^)5, and his 
educationrd training was secured in the i)ul)lic 
schools of his nati\e cit\'. At the age of six- 
teen Acars he entered ujjon an a])prenticeship 
at tlie trade of machinist, serving four years 
and becoming an e.\])ert artisan in the line, 
while he has since contimied to l.)e employed as 
a journeyman, save for short interv^als. He 
has been prominently identified with the erec- 
tion of the best ty])e oi modern bridges, and 
for nine months he was assistant superintend- 
ent of the building of the dry dock at Esqui- 
malt, British Columljia. while for twelve years 
he held the important preferment as chief engi- 
neer and master mechanic for the A\'rought 
Iron Bridge Companx", of Canton. He then 
accejited the positiim i^i mechanical superin- 
tendent of the Dominion Bridge Company, of 
Montreal. Can.ada. which position he filled until 
June. T903. 

Air. l\ee\'es was united in marriage at Xew 
Philadelphia. Ohio, .\ugust 21. 1888, the lady 



(if his choice being Miss Xettie Warner, and 
to this union iiave been born four children, 
W dliam, Mthel. C harles and a daughter not yet 
named. 

4 » » 

H.\R\J':V H. SrXSSER. internal rev- 
enue ins])ector Pjr the district composed of 
Ohio. Indiana. Michigan, and the si.xth divis- 
ion of Kentucky, is a nati\-e of Stark conntw 
Ohio, and the .son df Daniel and Lydia ( Hol- 
w'ck) .Slnsser. both parents still living at their 
old home in the low 11 of J.ouisville. Harvev 
1!. was born al th;u place 1 m June 2^, j86j, 
and there spent his childhood and \-outh. at- 
tending, meanwhile, the \illage schools, and 
later prosecuting his studies for some time in 
Otterliein L'nixei'sity. The tr.aining thus re- 
ceived was later sui)plemeuted 1)\- ;i full cnni- 
mercial course in Ml. Cniou College, wlu're lie 
finished his education at the age c)f iwentx. 
after which he came to C'antun and I'ugaged in 
the mercantile business. o])ening a grocerv 
story on the corner of Tuscarawas street and 
C ie\'eland a\enue. After devoting two \-ears 
to this line of tr.ade he dis])o^ed of his establish- 
ment and in i88() entered the Cnited States 
rex'enue service as sugar iiisjjector of the Louisi- 
ana and Te.\as ilistrict, \vilh he;ulf|uarlers at 
New Orleans. 

Mr. Sltisser jiroved a \-ery energetic and 
capable official, but after iwii years of efficient 
service in the iield noted, resigned his office, 
and returning to Canton was soon afterward 
ai)pointed de])ut)- sheriff under Hiram Doll. 
the duties ot which exacting i)osition lie dis- 
charged in an able and >atisfact< ir)- inanner un- 
til the exjiiratioii of his su])erior's term. Later 
he re-entered the revenue service, receiving his 
ap]joiulment under the McKinle\" administra- 
tion. Jul}' I. i8(j7. and holding the s.ame to 
date. In the discharge of his official functions 
Mr. Slnsser has met with many interesting ex- 
])eriences. thrilling ;i<l\entures. and not a few 



i)28 



OLD LANDMARKS 



clangers, his duty frequently calling him to 
localities where the revenue laws are flagrant- 
ly violated and the authority of the govern- 
ment set at defiance with impunity. In and 
ahout the city of New York he assisted in lo- 
cating and suppressing twenty-three illicit dis- 
tilleries and from thirty-five to forty places 
where the makers of cigars were evading the 
law, the stock of the latter being confiscated 
and their appliances destroyed. 

'i'hc most thrilling- of Mr. Slusser's many 
adventures occurred in the mountain region of 
Kentucky, where, as is well known, the manu- 
factm-e of illicit whiskey has been car.ried on 
for years, despite all the efforts of the govern- 
ment to suppress it, many revenue officers hav- 
ing lost their lives in their attempt to run down 
the moonshiners and locate their stills. With 
several deputies, he once made a thorough 
search of a large area of the mt:)untain region 
known to be infested by moonshiners, but ere 
he succeeded in ridding the country of their 
presence and putting an effectual stop to the 
business three of their men were killed, all 
meeting their deaths in one day. On another 
occasion in the same district, two of their 
deputies were shot and at one time while trying 
to locate a distillery in a particularly danger- 
ous locality, he and his men were obliged to 
take refuge in a ca\e to escape the fury of the 
moijushiners. 'I'he officers after remaining in 
hifling for a considerable time, finally saw their 
opportunity: making a sudden dash and run- 
ning for their li\cs. they succeeded in effecting 
their escape, though not without a number of 
shots coming in close ]:)roximitv to their per- 
sons. ]\Ir. Slusser has been the target for 
moonshiners' bullets on many occasions, l)ut 
thus far he has escaped with no injury save 
now and then a missile through his clothing. 

ISIr. Slusser's physical courage makes him 
an absolute stranger to the feeling of fear, but 
being exceedingly cautious, he never exposes 
himself to daneer if it can be avoided. When 



necessary, however, he faces the most trying 
situations unflinchingly, and in the line of duty 
hesitates at no obstacles or dangers, making 
his life a secondary consideration to the accom- 
plishments of his purposes. He is considered 
one of the most capable and faithful officials 
in the revenue serxice, his record being with- 
out a stain and his reputation such as any man 
might feel proud to achieve. In private life 
Mr. Slusser is also highly esteemed, being re- 
spected as a friend and neighbor, and as a pub- 
lic spirited citizen, manifesting an active inter- 
est in all that makes for the good of the com- 
munity and the welfare of his fellow men. He 
was reared a Republican and has ever remained 
loyal to his political faith, being a stanch sup- 
porter of the party and one of its most zealous 
workers in the county of Stark. Religiously 
he was brought up in the United Brethren 
church, and still inclines to the belief of that 
denomination, though liljeral in his views and 
recognizing good wherever he sees it rnid under 
whatever name it may be known. 

Mr. .Slusser wa*^ married, at Downingtown, 
Pennsylvania, June <», 1.S86, to Miss Mary 
Bromback, a native of that place, the union be- 
ing blessed with two r)ft'spring, a son by the 
name of Holland B. and a daughter, Ruth M. 



ADAM KNOBLOCH comes of stanch old 
German stock, and the great empire of 
Germany claims him as a native son, he having 
been born in the province of Prussia, on the 
Tst of March, 1843, being a son of Henry and 
Elizabeth (Doetsch) Knobloch, both of whom 
are deceased, the mother dying in 1891 and the 
father in 1003. The subject was but three 
years of age at the time of his parents' re- 
moval from the fatherland to America, and 
they came forthwith to Stark county, and 
Adam received his ]ire!iminary educational 
training in the public schools of the village of 
Richville, while he has ample reason to recall 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



829 



liis first teacher, Levi Stump, for this master 
believed imphcitly in the old maxim, "Spare 
the rod and spoil the child," and he faithfully 
manifested this belief in a practical way, 
bringing into frequent and often indiscriminate 
requisition his hickory rods, to the physical 
discomfiture of his pupils. At the age of four- 
teen years the subject began clerking in his 
father's grocery, at Massillon, and later he at- 
tended the German school in that city, while 
he also took a three months' course in the Iron 
City Business College, at Pittsbtu'g, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he well fortified himself for the 
practical work of business. He continued to 
assist iiis father in the conducting of his 
grocery store until the }ear i<S72, when he be- 
came similarly engaged in llie grocery con- 
ducted by bis fatber-in-Iaw, in the city of 
Massillon, where be remained until 1S75, and 
during the fall of the same year be came to 
Canton, where be became the owner of the 
Union brewery, which he coirtinued to operate 
until 1889. after which be was for three years 
in tlic enipliiy oi the Canton Buggy & Gear 
Company. The busine.ss then changed hands, 
and six months later Mr. Knobloch entered in- 
to partnersbi|) with Conrad Scliaeffer and en- 
gage! in the m.'mufacturing of wagons of 
various styles, while they also devoted a de- 
partment of their well ■ equipped plant to re- 
pairing, painting, trimming, etc., and through 
energy, good management and correct methods 
the firm has built u]) a liourisbing business, 
the concern now re])resenting one of the in- 
dustrial enterprises of the city, while the in- 
terested principles command the un(|ualified 
confidence and good will of the community 
and of all with whom they have had dealings. 
Mr. Knobloch t;ikes a juiblic-spirited in- 
terest in all that concerns the progress and ma- 
terial |)r(]sperity of bis home city and county, 
and in his ])olitical proclivities be has ever 
given a stanch sui)pori to the Republican ])arty. 



his first presidential vote having been cast for 
Abraham Lincoln. 

Henry Knobloch, father of the subject, who 
was one of the most veneral)le pioneer citizens 
of Canton, was born in the village of Brobl, 
province of Prussia, in the Rhine district of 
Germany, on the 20tb of December, 1814, be- 
ing a son of Jacob and Margaret (Weaver) 
Knobloch, the former of wliom was a farmer 
by vocation. He entered Napoleon's army in 
1805 and took part in the campaigns in Portu- 
gal and Spain. He died at bis home in Ger- 
many at the age of fifty-three years, while his 
wife survived him several years, her death 
occurring in the fatherland after the emi- 
gration of her son Henry, to America. Henry 
Knobloch was the last snr\-ivor of a family 
of ten children, of whom be was the eldest. 
He .secured his education in the excellent 
government schools of bis nati\e land and as a 
young man served for three and one-half years 
in the l^russian army. In 1S42 he was united 
in marriage to Miss l'"lizal)etb Doetscb, who 
was born in the x'illage of Polcb, in 1805, and 
in 1848 they embarked, at Havre, France, on 
the sailing vessel "Albany," on which they 
made the voyage to America, landing in Xew 
^'ork forty-two days after embarking, The\' 
came forthwith to Stark county, and here ]\Ir. 
Knobloch purchased twenty-eight acres of land 
near the x'illage of New Berlin, where he w^as 
engaged in farming for a time, then disposing 
of the ])ropert\- and remoNing to a fifty-acre 
farm near the village of Ricbville, this county, 
while later lie took up his residence in the city 
of Massillon, where be was engaged in the 
grocery business for a period of seventeen 
years, being one of the representative and suc- 
cessful business men of the place. He was 
thereafter engaged in the malting business un- 
til 1875, \\'hen he came to Canton, where he 
afterward resided until his death, his devoted 
wife having passed away tweh-e years previous.. 



830 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Of tlieir tliree cliililren. Adam, tlie subject of 
tliis sketch, is the nnly mie who grew to ma- 
turity. Plenrv Knohloch was tlie [xissessor of 
a medal whicli he j^rizes very hig-hly, the same 
having l)een conferred upon liim 1)y King 
^^'i!l^eh^^, of I'russia, in recognition of liis 
l)ra\-ery in sa\ing a man from (h'owning, and 
witli tlie medal he also received the sum of 
forty dollars. 

On the 5th of Decemher, 1868, Adam 
Knohloch, the immediate subject of this sketch, 
Avas united in marriag^e, in the city of Mas- 
sillon, this county, to Miss Ellen F. Oberlin, 
a daughter of Conrad and Nancy (McDowell) 
Oberlin. the father having been a leading- 
grocer and influential citizen of Massillon, near 
Avhich place he was born, his parents having 
located in this countv in an early day, coming 
hither from the state of Pennsylvania. Mr. 
and ]Mrs. Kno1)locli have two children, namely: 
Harry C" , who is deputy county treasurer and 
who married Miss Harriet Kintz, one child 
having been born of this union, Donald; and 
Nellie, who remains at the parental home, be- 
ing a stenographer in the employ of the Mc- 
Kinley Alemorial T'und Association. 



WALTER \\. P.VTTERSON.— The Ac- 
tual Business College Company, of which the 
subject of this sketch is ^•ice-president. proves 
a valuable comjilement to the ])ublic schools of 
the city and also offers great inducements to 
those who have Ijeen denied the full advantages 
of -the latter. The subject is a young man of 
marked administrative ability, has gained pres- 
tige as an able educator ;uid is well deserving 
of specific mention in a work which has to do 
with the representative citizens of Stark 
county. 

The Patterson family is of stanch Scotch- 
Irish lineage. The great-grandfather of the 
sul^ject was the first representative in the 
I'nited States, wdiither he emigrated from the 



noVth of Ireland in the colonial epoch. He took 
up his abode in what was then Mercer county, 
!'cnnsyl\an'a, in that portion which later 
f(jrmed a ])art of Lawrence county. There he 
reclaimed a good farm, upon which he passed 
the residue i>f his life. There he reared his 
chiUlren. one of whom was Samuel Patterson, 
the grandfather of the subject, and he, too, 
passed his entire life in that section of the old 
Keystone state. 

Robert D. Patterson, father of the subject, 
was of the third generation of his family in 
Pennsylvania, having been born on the parental 
homestead in Mercer count}', and was there 
reared to manhood. He received excellent edu- 
cational advantages and became a man of ma- 
ture judgment and marked influence in the 
community where he \\\&\ and labored to so 
goodly ends, ha\ing been a prominent and suc- 
cessftil farmer. He ser\ed for many years as 
justice of the peace and was also incunilient of 
\'arious other offices of Incal trust and responsi- 
bility. His wife, \\hose maiden name was 
Mary M. Pinkerton, was born in Lawrence 
county, Pennsylvania, being a daughter of 
James Pinkerton, who was a stone mason l)y 
trade and who was one of the influential 
farmers of Lawrence county, where he died. 
The father of the suliject died on the old 
Pinkerton homestead, in that county, in 1889, 
at the age of sixty-six years, and his cherished 
and de\'oted wife survi\-es him, residing in 
1 New Castle, Pennsyhania, and ha\ing attaine<l 
the veneral)le age of seventy-two years. Of 
the children of this union we enter brief record 
as follows : fames L. is a resident of New 
Castle, Pennsylvania: Estella. who has never 
married, remains at home with her widowed 
mother; Samuel is a prominent contractor of 
New Castle; Robert F. is a resident of Canton, 
Ohio: John W. is a merchant in Pittsburg, 
Pennsyh-ania : Judson S. is head salesman in a 
leading mercantile house in that city, and Wal- 
ter W. is the immediate subject of this sketch. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



831 



\Valter \\'. Patterson was l^oni on the old 
ancestral homestead in Mercer county, I'enn- 
S}lvania, on the 8th of August, 186S, and he 
attended the ]>ul)Hc schools of that locality un- 
til he had attained the age of se\-enteen years, 
when he was matriculated in Grove City Col- 
lege, at Grove City, Pennsylvania, where he 
continued his studies for one year, taking a 
normal course and preparing himself for teach- 
ing. He initiated his pedag'ogic career when 
eighteen years of age, teaching in the district 
schools of his native county for ahout a year, 
while in the following year, to still further 
fortify himself for his chosen work, lie took 
a course of study in the normal department of 
Westminster College, at New Wilmington, 
Pennsylvania. During the ensuing three years 
he was a successful and popular teacher in the 
public schools of Mercer and Lawrence coun- 
ties and the following year he had charge of a 
mercantile establishment at New Castle, Penn- 
sylvania. 

In the spring of i8c)j Mr. Patterson came 
to Canton and here effected the purchase of an 
interest in the Actual Business College, on the 
20th of September, 1893. He at once actively 
identified himself with the practical work of the 
institution, and through his eft'orts its standard 
was greatly raised. In i8(>7 the institution was 
consolidated with the Cantrm Business College, 
the name of the former Ijeing retained, and at 
the time of the attending re-organizatinn Mr. 
Patterson was elected \ice-president and treas- 
urer of the institution, in \^hich dual office he 
has since continued to ser\e, while, in addition 
to his more i)urel_\- administrative duties, he is 
also the efficient jirincipal of the short-hand de- 
partment of the school. The institution has 
gained a high re])utation and its support has 
been cumulative, while its usefulness can not 
I'e ii\-erestimated. The suiiject is a memlier of 
the National Teachers' .Association, of the 
Ohio Commercial and Special Teachers" As- 
sociati(Mi and of the Gregg Association of 



America, in politics he exercises his franchise 
in the support of the principles and policies 
of the Republican party, and his religious faith 
is indicated in his membership in Caharv 
Presbyterian church. 

In the city of Canton, on the J5th of 
August, 1897, ^^'i'' solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Patterson to Miss Helen Reid, who was 
Ixirn in Ireland, where she was reared to the 
age of sixteen years, when she accompanied her 
parents, Robert M. and Margaret (Moody) 
Reid, on their removal to America, the family 
taking up their aliode in Canton, where Mr. 
Reid died in 1901, his widow still maintaining 
her home in this city. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson 
ha\-e two children, Margaret Teresa, who was 
born on the 25th of June, 189S. and Mary 
E\aleen, whose birtli occurred October 6, 
1902. 

■*—¥■ 

AlATN T. DENNIS, dealer in real estate 
and msurance and commanding a lucrative 
patronage in botli hues of business, is a native 
of Carroll county. Ohio, where his birth oc- 
curred on September 21. 1865. Paternally Mr. 
Dennis is descended from Irish ancestors, who 
came to the Cnited States at a \'ery early date, 
the family later settling in Carroll county, 
Ohio, where the su1>ject's grandparents, Cyrus 
and Mary (Hart) Dennis are still living, 
both lieing ovev ninety years of age. It is a 
fact worthy of ncite that there has never been 
a death in the immediate family, all of their 
eig'ht children lieing alive at the time of this 
writing, the majority of them well ad\-anced in 
ye;irs. W illiam Dennis, father of the subject, 
was born in Carroll county and is still an 
honored resident of the same, being a farmer 
by occupation, and well-to-do in ]5oint of ma- 
terial wealth. His wife. Caroline Taylor, is 
a native of Columbiana county, and the daugh- 
ter of Jacob and "Mary Taylor, who were 
pioneers of that part of the state, and among 



832 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the most highly esteemed people of the com- 
munity in which they lived. 

Alvin T. Dennis -was reared on a farm, 
early l^ecame acquainted with the duties of 
agriculture and enjoyed the best educational 
advantages his neighborhood afforded, attend- 
ing school the greater part of the time until 
his twentieth year. He remained at home until 
the age of twenty-two, when he purchased a 
farm and engaged in the pursuit of agriculture 
upon his own responsibility until 1893, at 
which time he disposed of his real estate and 
accepted the position of trax'eling salesman for 
a commercial fertilizing company of Boston, 
Massachusetts. While representing the inter- 
ests of this concern on the road, he worked 
insurance as a side issue, and finding the latter 
nil ire protitalile than his regular business, he 
aljandoned the former at the expiration of 
about six years and in the summer of 1899 
o]jened an insurance and real estate office in 
the city of Canton. Since that year his patron- 
age has steadily increased until he is now re- 
garded as one of the leading men in his line 
in this part of the state, his real estate business 
lieing large, far reaching and lucratixe. his 
sales running far up int(_i tlie thousands every 
month. .Mr. Dennis represents the Equitable 
l.ife Insurance Company of Des Moines, Iowa, 
and his honorable business methods, together 
with his prompt and satisfactory adjustment of 
losses, have attracted to him a large number of 
patrons, his energy and honorable dealings as 
a real estate man also prompting many people 
of the city and throughout the county to place 
their property in his hands for disposal. He 
has a hue suite of offices in the Folwell build- 
ing and his encouraging success, since engag- 
ing in business only a short time ago, leads 
his friends to predict for him a still larger 
])atronage and cnntinucd prosperitv in vears to 
come. 

Mr. Dennis has taken an active interest in 
public and political affairs ever since old 



enough to read and think intelligently, and as 
an eanrest and enthusiastic Democrat he has 
been an iniluential factor in his party, con- 
tributing not a little to its success in Canton 
and Stark couni). In 1903 he was nominated 
for the office of sheriff and at this writing is 
maknig an energetic and thorough canvass of 
the county, v ith e\ery prospect of greatly re- 
ducing the formidable strength of the oppo- 
sition if not being successful in the ensuing 
election. Mr. Dennis subscribes to the Metho- 
dist faith and holds membership with the 
church of that denomination at Minerva, this 
county, of whicli his wife was also a member. 
His fraternal relations are represented by the 
Odd Fellows order, in which he enjoys a hig'h 
personal standing and in which he has also been 
honored witli different official positions. 3ilr. 
Dennis is an intelligent, wide-awake, enterpris- 
ing gentleman, who numbers his friends by 
the score and who is highly esteemed in social 
as well as in business circles. As a citizen he 
dischargees his duty to the best of his ability', 
and in whatever relation considered, his life 
and conduct have been honorable and singular- 
ly free from fault, and in the main eminently 
worthy of emulation. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Ella Brogan. was untimely called 
away, her death, which was mourned by all 
who knew her. occurring January 18, 1902. 
She was a daughter of Morris and Mary 
Brog"an, and bore her husband three children. 
Ethel, Floyd L. and Bessie, of whom the first 
named is deceased. 



HENRY F. ROTH is a son of Peter F. 
and Elizabeth rShriver) Roth, both of whom 
were likewise nati\-es of Stark county, the 
former ha-\-ing been bom on the 29th of De- 
cember, 1820, while the latter was born on the 
1 6th of March. 1824. The great-grandfather 
of the subject on the paternal side was a nati\-e 
of Germany, whence he emigrated to the United 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



835 



States when a young man, and became one of 
the pioneer farmers of Canton township, Stark 
county, where both he and his wife died. The 
Shriver family is of English extraction and 
was early established in the state of Virginia, 
whence representatives of the name have gone 
forth into divers sections of the Union. Peter 
F. Roth was reared to manhood in this county 
and became a successful farmer of Canton 
township, his place being located a few miles 
sout'h of Canton. About 1858 he removed to 
Pana, Christian county, Illinois, and later he 
resided for varying intervals at various points 
in the state of Missouri. At the time of the 
Civil war, however, he was a resident of Pana, 
Illinois, and on the 30th of September, 1862, 
he tendered his services in defense of the 
I'nion, enlisting as a private in Company H, 
One Hundred and Sixteenth Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry, with which he proceeded to the front, 
rendering \'aliant service for one year and sac- 
rificing his life on the altar of his country, his 
death resulting from an attack of fever. He 
]jasscd away at Memphis, Tennessee, on the 
/\h of November, 1863, and his remains were 
taken back to Pana, Illinois, where they were 
interred with military honors. He was a man 
of spotless reputation and held the esteem of all 
who know him. His marriage to Elizabeth 
Shri\'er was solemnized, in Canton, on the 13th 
of October. 1842, and of their seven children, 
two of whom attained maturity, the subject of 
this sketch is now the only survivor, having 
been the fifth in order of birth. The names of 
t'le others are here entered according to preced- 
ence in nativity : Mary Magdaline. Franklin, 
Hiram, Christian, Sarah, and George Wash- 
ington. ""The devoted wife and mother was 
summoned into eternal rest on the 27th of De- 
cember, 1854, and her remains are interred in 
the Rowland cemetery, in Canton. Both she 
and her husband were zealous members of the 
derman Reformed church, and the former was 
a stanch supporter of the Republican party 

52 



from the time of its organization until his 
death. 

Henry V. Roth, the immediate subject of 
this review, was born in the city of Canton, 
this county, on the ist of September, 1848, 
and thus was only six years of age at the time 
of his mother's death. He received his early- 
education in the public schools of Canton, and 
in 1858, when ten years of age, accompanied 
his father on his removal to Pana, Illinois,, 
while one year later he was with his father at 
Jeft'erson City and other points in the state of 
Missouri. In i860 he entered the home of his- 
uncle, Samuel Tillet, of Versailles, Morgan 
county, that state, whom he assisted in the 
work of the farm. Ii> November, 1861, he re- 
turned to Canton, where he made his home 
with his aunt, Mrs. Elizabeth Shriver, until 
.Vugust 4, 1870, at which time he removed to- 
his present home, at No. 1703 North Cleveland 
a\'enue, his marriage having been solemnized 
on the date noted. After returning to Cantorti 
he had served an apprenticeship at the painter's 
trade, under the direction of George Hass, and 
he has consecutively followed his trade, as one 
of the leading contractors in the line in the city, 
for the long period of thirty years, while he is 
well known throughout his native county and- 
has so ordered his life in all its relations as ta- 
command the unequivocal confidence and re- 
gard of all who knew him. In politics he is- 
stanchly arrayed in support of the principles 
and policies of the Republican party, which has- 
held his allegiance from the time when he at- 
tained his legal majority, and his religious faith 
is indicated in his membership in the First Bap- 
tist church, in which he held the office of deaconi 
for four years, his wife being a member of the 
Christian .Scientist church. Fraternally he is 
identified with the Canton Lodge No. 589, 
Knights of Pythias, and with North Star 
Lodge No. 18, Royal Arcanum, while for four- 
teen years he held the office of secretary of the.- 
Royal Arcanum. 



S34 



OLD LANDMARKS 



On the 4th of August, 1870, Mr. Roth was 
united in marriage to Miss Ada Smith, of Can- 
ton, who was Ijorn in this county, being a 
daughter of Daniel II. and Susan (Minich) 
Smitli, natives respecti\ely of Plain and Canton 
towiisiiips. Stark county, Ohio, and both now 
'leceased. Her father was for many years en- 
gaged in the agricultural business in Plain 
township. Mr. and ]ilrs. Roth have two chil- 
<lren : Elizabeth .\nn, who was born on the 
2T,i\ of July, 187^, is the wife of Marshall F. 
Clay, and they reside in Barberton, Summit 
county, Ohio, where Mr. Clay is engaged in the 
])akery and confectionery business: .\rthur 
Henr}-, who was Ijorn rm the 23d of January, 
1878, is secretary of the Cedar Rapids Supply 
Company, at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in which 
city, on the ist of October, 1902, was solem- 
nized his marriage to jNIiss Ida E. Ciardner. 



IvOBERT !■. r..\RXETT claims the old 
Keystone state as llie place of his nati\'ity. ha\-- 
ing been born in the town of Rehrersburg, Berks 
county. Pennsylvania, on the 26tli of July, 
)864, and being a son of John B. and Hannah 
( Tryon ! Barnett. His father was born in 
Berks county, Pennsylvania, the famih' having 
been early estal:)lished in that state, whence the 
original \merican ancestors came. John B. 
Barnett was reared to manhood in his native 
stale and for the long term of twenty-four 
years was engaged in the mercantile business in 
Rehrersburg, where he was also incumbent of 
the office of postmaster for nearly an equal in- 
terval, holding this position at the time of his 
death, which occurred in 189Q, when his wife 
succeeded to the office, of which she has since 
been in tenure, retaining her residence in the 
old homestead, which is endeared to her bv the 
memories and associations of many years. She 
A\as horn in lierks county. Pennsylvania, be- 
ing .1 daughter of Jacob and Sabilla (Sevier) 
Tryon, her father having been a successful 



physician an.d having lived to attain the pa- 
triarchal age of ninety years, \vhile his wife 
passed aw'ay at the age of eighty-nine, the orig- 
inal progenitors. of Ijoth the Tryon and Seyler 
families having emigrated U) Pennsyhania 
from Germany. Tlie father of our subject was 
a Republican in his political proclivities, and 
both he and his wife early became members of 
the Lutheran chmxh. 

Robert E. Barnett was reared in his nati\'e 
tiwvn, where he recei\ ed his educational train- 
ing- m the public schools, and as a boy he began 
to assist in the work of his father's store, hav- 
irjg taken charge of his delivery wagon at the 
age of twche years and ha\-ing gi\'en excellent 
service in this capacity for a number of years. 
He remained at tlie parental home until he w.is 
about eighteen years of age, and then set forth 
to work iiut his independent career. Eor one 
su.mm.er lie had tlie eminent satisfaction of 
drix'ing nniles on the tijwpath of the Schuylkill 
& Raritan and the I'^rie canals, and he thus 
grew duly lamili.ar with the gracious natures of 
these beasts of elongated ears and "dejected 
ha\-ior of the \isage." Thereafter he was em- 
ployed on steam packet-boats on the canal f(.)r 
a part of one season, and he then turned his 
attention to the raising of tobacco in Lancaster 
county. Pennsylvania. In 1881 he returned 
home and iilanted four acres (if land to tobacco, 
with a A'iew to engaging in the business on his 
own resjjonsibility. but the ^•enture proxed a 
failure. He then again became a clerk in his 
father's store, where he contmueil to l)e em- 
ployed tmtil 1880. when he came to Canton, 
and here he opened a ])hotogra])h galler\' at 
North Market street, disposing of the same 
al'out six months later. He then engaged in 
oi)erating a po]i deliverv wagon for Henrv 
\^ogelgesang. in whose employ he continueil 
for a ])eriod of nine years. At the expiration 
of this time, on the Toth of January. i8()8, he 
purchased the interest of Edward \\'onderly, 
imiior member of the firm of Whitmer & A\'on- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



835 



ileiiy, manufacturers of all kinds of soft 
drinks, and at this time the firm name became 
XMiitmer & Barnett. The linn have built up a 
profitable business and control an excellent 
trade throughout the city and in neighboring 
tmvns, while the business policy \\ hich has been 
maintained lias been such as to elicit the highest 
degree of confidence and esteem. 

Tn politics Mr. Barnett has ever given an 
unequivocal support to the Republican part}-, 
having cast his first presidential \'ote for the 
"plumed knight," the late James G. Blaine. In 
April, 1902, Mr. Barnett was elected to the city 
council, as a representative of the fifth ward, 
the preferment criming Ic) him without solicita- 
tion on his part, and he has spared no pains tn 
properly and satisfactorily meet the wishes of 
his constituency and further the interests of 
€t¥ective municipal go\-ernment, and it ma)" 
well be said that he has amply justified the 
choice of the people who honored him with the 
office. In 1903 he was elected to the council 
from the fourth ward, which comprises what 
\\as, under the old division, part of the fourth 
and fifth wards. He and his wife are worthy 
and valued members of the Lutheran church. 

In his nati\e town of Rehrersburg, Pensyl- 
vania, on the 26th of July, 1889, was solem- 
nized the marriage of Mr. Barnett to Miss 
Anna L. Miller, who was born in that place, on 
the 1 2th of April, 1866, lieing a daughter of 
Jaciib Miller, an honored citizen of the town. 
Mr. and Mrs. Barnett are the parents of four 
children. licrbtrt. I'lorcnce. IMarie and Helen. 



^^MLLTAM Y. SCHUMACHER.— .\s the 
name indicates, the suliject comes of German 
stock, and the name is one which has ever stood 
for integrity aTid honor in all the relations of 
life, while incidentally mention may A\ell be 
made of the fact that in our great republic, 
^\•ith its cosmopolitan makeup, there has been 
no element of greater ^-alue than that supplied 



by tljie empire of Germany. The Schumacher 
family is one which for many generations has 
been, one of prominincc in the province of 
Baden, Germany, and there Frederick Martin 
Schumacher, grandfather of our subject, was 
born and reared, while he prepared himself for 
the active responsibilities of life by learning the 
trade of stone mason, to which he devoted his 
attention throughout his business career. In 
his native province he was united in marriage 
to Elizabeth Weiler, and there they reared their 
children to lives of usefulness and honor. 
They continued to reside in the fatherland un- 
til 1871, when they came to America to pass 
their declining days with their son Frederick, 
father of our suliject. From New York they 
came directly to Canton, and here they were 
pro\ided for with true filial solicitude until they 
were called from the scene of life's activities, 
Mrs. Schumacher entering into eternal rest in 
i88t, at the age of se\enty-three years, while 
her husband sur\'i\'ed until Decemlier. 1899, 
when he passed, away at the \eneral)le age of 
eighty-seven. They were folk of sterling char- 
acter and were consistent members of the 
Lutheran chtirch, in whose faith thev reared 
their cliildren, of whom three are li\'ing at the 
]>resent time. 

Frederick Schumacher, father of the sub- 
ject, was born in Baden, (iermanv, in the vear 
1844. and was there reared to maturity, recei\'- 
ing the advantages afl-'orded in the unexcelled 
schcjols of the fatherland and earh' beginning 
an a])prenticeship at the trade of stone mason, 
under the et¥ective direction of his honored fa- 
ther. In accordance with the custom of the 
land he ser\-ed three ^'cars in the German army, 
as had also his father. In the }^ear 1868, in 
his native province he was tmited in marriage 
to ]Miss Aurelia ^^^eiIer, and shortly afterward, 
in [868, they set forth for America, severing 
the ties which bound them to friends and fa- 
therland that thev might establish a home in a 
country offering better ad\'antages for advance- 



836 



OLD LANDMARKS 



meat throiigli iiulividual effort. Landing in 
New York city_, they tarried but a few days in 
the metropoHs, whence they came directly to 
Canton, where INIr. Schumacher readily found 
employment at his trade, being a skilled 
and careful workman, and he continued to fol- 
low the same, eventually engaging in contract 
work on his own responsibility, until 1894, 
when he retired from active business, and he 
has been enjoying the rewards of his years of 
earnest toil and endeavor, having a pleasant 
home in Canton and having acquired a com- 
petence SLifiicient for the needs of himself and 
his cherished and devoted companion, who has 
been his worthy helpmeet. In politics he has 
given a stanch support to the Democratic party 
from the time of attaining the right of fran- 
chise, and Ijoth he and his wife are worthy 
members of the German Lutheran church. 
Their six children, all of whom are residents of 
the United States, are as follows: William F., 
the immediate subject of this sketch; Andrew, 
wild is a painter l)v trade in Canton; Gustave, 
who is a traveling representative of the East 
Ohio Gas Company of this city ; Leo, who is 
employed in the Case chair works of Canton ; 
and Rose and Emma, who remain at the 
parental home. 

In what was known as the (ild Mock home- 
stead, located at the southwest corner of Cherry 
and Third streets, William F. Schumacher, 
subject of this review, was born on the 20th 
of January, 1869. He attended the public 
schools until he had attained the age of four- 
teen years and then began the active duties of 
life, securing a position in the malleable iron 
works of the Gilliam Company, where he re- 
mained for a short interval, after which he be- 
gan to learn the trade of stone mason with his 
father, continuing to follow this as a vocation 
until the age of nineteen, when he found a less 
prosaic occupation, becoming a memljer of the 
band connected with the Great Northwestern 



circus, with which he traveled for two year: 
gaining much experience and surfeiting himse! 
sufficiently with the roving life, so that he ws 
not reluctant to turn his attention to other lin« 
of endeavor. It may be noted in the connectio 
that he early manifested marked native taler 
as a musician, and he has always manifested 
deep interest in the art, being particularl 
skilled in band work. After his career with th 
circus Mr. Schumacher entered the employ c 
the Diebold Safe Company, of Canton, wit 
which he remained two and one-half years, an 
in 1 89 1 he became first lieutenant at Statio 
No. 2, of the local fire department, where h 
rendered most efficient service for the ensuin 
five years, resigning the position to engage i 
the restaurant business, in which he has sine 
continued, having an attractive and we 
equipped establishment at 1027 East Tuscara 
was street and catering to a large and apprc 
ciative patronage. He has recently associate 
himself with the Stark Brewing Company, an 
is now holding the position of collector. 

In politics Mr. Schumacher has been a stal 
wart Democrat from -the time of attaining hi 
legal majority, and about 1890 he began t< 
take an active part in local political affairs, be 
ing a vigorous and enthusiastic worker in th 
party cause. In April, 1902, in recognition o 
his zeal and unmistakable eligibilitv, he wa 
elected to his present office as a member of th 
city council, as the Democratic candidate fron 
the third ward, and an evidence of his persona 
popularity was given in the gratifying majorit; 
which he received over the Republican candi 
date, who was up for a second term. He is ; 
member of four committees in the municipa 
body, namely : The committees on fire, water 
public lights and sidewalks. Fraternally he i 
identified with the Knights of P}'thias and tin 
Red Men, and he also holds membership, in th( 
Firemen's Aid Association and the Baden Ai( 
Society, while he is an honorary member of tin 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



837 



G. A. R. Band of Canton. On June 2, 1903, 
he became a member of the Canton Eyrie of 
Eagles. 

In his home city, on the 12th of August, 
1892, Mr. Schumacher was united in marriage 
to Miss Matilda Kerlein, who was born in 
German}-, whence she was brought by her par- 
ents to America in early childhood. The sub- 
ject and his wife have two sons, William and 
Charles. 



A. HURRAW & SON.— Albert Hurraw 
is a nati\e son of Stark county, having been 
born in the village of Wilmot on the 27th of 
July, 1845, ^ son of John and Elizabeth (Mc- 
Clintock) Hurraw, the former of whom was 
burn in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and 
the latter in Holmes county, Ohio, whence she 
accompanied her parents, James and Mary 
(Clark) McClintock, on their removal to Sugar 
Creek township. Stark county, in the year 1832, 
her father entering a claim of one hundred and 
sixty acres of heavily timbered land near the 
present village of Wilmot, where he reclaimed 
a gooti farm and where he and his wife passed 
the remainder of their lives, being numbered 
among the honored pioneers of this section. 
Air. McClintock was originally a Whig in pol- 
itics, luit espoused the cause of the Republican 
party at the time of its organization and took 
a prominent part in furthering its interests in 
a local way, while for many years he served as 
justice of the peace. He died in 1865 at the 
age of seventy-two years, and his wife lived 
to attain the age of sixty-nine years. John 
Hurraw came to Stark county from Pennsyl- 
vania when a young man, and here was sol- 
emnized his marriag"e to Elizabeth McClin- 
tock. He located in Wilmot, and here was 
employed for many years in the foundry of 
Putnam, Johnson & Company, and after his 
retirement he here continued to make his home 
until his death, which occurred on the 5th of 



October, 1897, at the age of eighty-two years. 
He was a Republican in politics and his re- 
ligious faith was that of the Disciples church, 
of which his venerable widow, who has now 
attained the age of eighty-two years, is like- 
wise a devoted member, while she still resides 
in Wilmot, having passed her entire life in 
Stark county. John Hurraw was a man who 
lived a life of signal industry and usefulness, 
and his sterling integrity and honor gained 
and retained to him the unqualified confidence 
and esteem of all with whom he came in con- 
tact. 

Albert Hurraw was reared and educated in 
the village in which he now maintains his home 
and after he attained years of maturity he en- 
gaged in the slate roofing business, in which 
he continued for the long period of twenty-six 
years, having held and filled many important 
contracts throughout the county and in other 
sections of the state. At the expiration of 
more than a quarter of a century he retired 
from this line of enterprise, selling the business 
to the firm of Mullet & Keefer, and in January, 
1902, in company with bis son, John P., he es- 
tablished his present business, in which they 
are building up a satisfactory trade, while he 
personally may well be regarded at the present 
time as one of the pioneer business men of the 
town. In politics Mr. Hurraw has ever given 
a stanch support to the principles and policies 
of the Republican party, with whose aims he 
was strongly in sympathy at the time when the 
party stood as the exponent of an undivided 
Union during the crucial epoch of the Civil 
war. At this time Mr. Hurraw manifested his 
intrinsic loyalty by enlisting, in January, 1865, 
as a private in Company C, One Hundred and 
Eighty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with 
which he served until victory had crowned the 
Union arms, when he received his honorable 
discharge, the regiment having been attached 
to the Army of the Cumberland and having 
served principally in the state of Tennessee. 



338 



OLD LANDMARKS 



On the 29th of December, 1871, Albert 
Hurraw was united in marriage to Miss Eliza- 
Ijetli ]"\>gle, who was born in Massillon, Ohio, 
being a daughter of George Fogle, who was 
here engaged in molding for many years, and 
who is now dead. Mr. and Mrs. Hurraw have 
only one child, John P., who is associated with 
his father in business, as has already been 
noted. 

John P. Hurraw was born in W'ilmut, this 
count)', on the 8th of October, 1878, and here 
he received his educational training in the ex- 
cellent graded schools, in which he was gradu- 
ated at the age of eighteen years, after which 
he assisted his father in his business operations 
until the time when he was admitted to the 
present firm of A. Hurraw & Son, and he has 
proved himself a progressive and discriminat- 
ing young business man and. like his father, 
enjoys unequivocal confidence and esteem in 
the community where both have passed their 
lives. He likewise pins his political faith to 
the Republican party and takes a public-spir- 
ited interest in local afi^^airs of a public nature. 

On the j8th of Deceml^er, 1899, was sol- 
emnized the marriage of John P. Hurraw to 
Miss Millie Bash, who was born in Stark 
county, being a daughter of John Bash, a well 
known citizen of Sugar Creek township. 



MAJOR A. VIGXOS.— The father of the 
subject, Joseph Vigiios. though of French ori- 
gin, has resided in this countrv since earlv boy- 
hood, having reached our hospitable shores 
when eighteen years of age. He was of a 
steady and industrious disposition and early 
learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner. 
Upon reaching years of maturity he was united 
in marriage with ^liss Thresa Frontz, who ac- 
companied her parents to the United States at 
the age of sixteen years. Her family came from 
New York city to Ohio, but she remained 
awhile in New York. She later lived for a time 



in Cleveland, Ohio, but eventually came to Can- 
ton. She was of a deeply religious nature and 
wandered about, looking for a place in which 
to worship, at length finding the object of her 
search, which was the old Catholic Mission 
church, then standing at the corner of Fulton 
and Second streets. Mr. Frontz, her father, 
first went to Nimishillen township. Stark 
county, and there entered a quarter section of 
land near Harrisburg. He here built a house 
of logs in the midst of the wilderness and com- 
menced to clear aiid improve his tract of land. 
From this place the family were compelled to 
go to Canton afoot for their groceries and 
other household necessaries. There were no 
roads and it was necessary to "blaze" trees in 
order to find their way home. Joseph Vigiios, 
after his marriage, removed directly to Canton 
in 1833. He went at once into the tavern busi- 
ness at Louisville, at first occupying an old log 
house. He prospered and was subsequentls' 
enabled tn build a substantial brick structure, 
and was there engaged in the liotel business a 
number of years, or until the subject and his 
brother enlisted for service in the war of the 
Rebellion, w hen he retired from active Ijusiness, 
his death occurring about six months later. 
His wife survived liim a number of years, dy- 
ing at the age of seventy-three years. They 
were the parents of three children, brietlv men- 
tioned as follows ; Joseph, who served in the 
Nineteenth Ohio A'olunteer Infantry for four 
vears during the Ci\il war. died at Louisville, 
this county, in iS9<j: the subject is next in or- 
der of birth: Catherine is the wife of Charles 
D. Monn(it. of Canton. 

The subject was l)orn in Louisville. Stark 
county, Ohio, on the i6th of September, 1838. 
In his vouth his opportunities for obtaining an 
education were meager, but he faithfull_\- at- 
tended the countr)- schools whene\'er possible. 
and by persistent application and subsequent 
close observation of men and events has become 
a well informed man. In his bovhood he was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



839 



eniplfiyed in \aricius ways abmit his fatlier's 
hotel until aliout the time of the breaking out 
of the war of the Rebellion. Imbued with a 
deep spirit of patriotism and love of country. 
Mr. \'ig-nos watched closely the signs of the 
impending conflict between the North and the 
South, and when it became evident that a de- 
termined and persistent effort was to be made 
to shatter the union of states he promptly vol- 
unteered his services in JDehalf of the perpe- 
tuity and integrity of the nation. In September, 
i8()i. he enlisted as a private in Company I, 
Nineteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantr\', 
and served faith full\- with this command until 
the following May, having in the meantime 
taken part in the sanguinary conflict at Shiloh. 
He was detailed on recruiting duty and suc- 
ceeded in organizing Company H, One Hun- 
dred and Se\^enth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, of 
\vhich he was elected captain. He served in 
this capacity one year as captain, and with his 
Command ])articii)atcd in the Ijloodv battle of 
Chancellorsville, ]vlay 2. 1863. and the terrible 
and decisive conflict at Gettysburg. During 
the first da\' of the last named engagement 
Captain A'ignos had his right arm shot of¥ by 
a cannon ball and lay in the hospital three days 
before the wound was properly attended to and 
the arm amputated. He was then sent home 
and by the early part of the following October 
had so far recovered as to rejoin his regiment, 
which was then stationed at Forty Island, 
South Carolina. His wound was not entirely 
healed and on the way to the front he stopped 
oft' at Washington. District of Columbia, to se- 
cure transportation, but the surg'eon there said 
he ought to give hiiu tran.sportation back home 
instead of to the front. But the subject in- 
sisted on going forward and after much difii- 
cnlty obtained the desired passage. Shortly 
after reaching the front he was promoted to 
the rank of major and assigned to his old regi- 
ment, the One Hundred and Seventh Ohio. 
The ci"»lone]c\- and h'eutenant-colonelcv of this 



regiment were both vacant, and the command 
thus dev(ilved upon Major Vignos, who faitli- 
fully led the regiment through much actixc 
service for ten months. During all this time 
his old wound gave him considerable trouble, 
and it at length compelled him, in October. 
1864. to resign his command and return home. 
Afajor Vignos participated in some of the most 
arduous campaigns and hard-fought battles of 
the Civil war, and at the battle of GettysljurL:' 
the loss of the regiment was fifty per cent., am! 
at Chancellorsville the command was in the 
thickest of the tight and suffered a terrible loss 
of men. 

I'pon his return from military service 
Alajor Vignos accepted Horace Greeley's ad- 
vice, "Go west, young man," and invested his 
saxings in a number of business ^•entures. 
wdiich. how'e\'er, proved unsuccessful and he 
lost all he had invested, returning home practi- 
cally penniless. He was not entirely discour- 
aged, liowever, and was willing to accept any- 
thing in the way of honorable employment. He 
was first employed as a night watchman in a 
lumlier yard and later took the position of jan- 
itor at the court house. He was at this time 
incumbered with a debt of about two thousand 
dollars, and his e\'erv energ'v was devoted to 
the extinguishment nf this debt. He did all 
kinds of odd jobs, exercising the most rigid 
economy, and at length was enabled to cancel 
his obligation. He received the appointment 
as postmaster of Canton, in which position he 
served faithfully and efliciently for eight years, 
under the administrations of Presidents Hayes. 
Garfield and Arthur, but Avas reinoved from 
office by President Cleveland. In 1886. in com- 
pany with one of his former mail carriers, 
^lajor Vignos commenced the manufacture of 
transparent pocket knives under the firm name 
of the Novelty Cutlery Company. The busi- 
ness was successful from the start, and in 1892 
the subject was enabled to purchase the interest 
of his partner and has since conducted the busi- 



840 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ness alone. Considering the modest beginning, 
the business has assumed wonderful propor- 
tions. At first Ijut six or eight persons were 
•employed, but now there is an average of 
eighty employes. The present main building 
was erected in the fall of 1887, and to this two 
additions have been made. By careful man- 
agement, keen discrimination and sound judg- 
ment Major Vignos has been enabled to reach 
a high position on the ladder of success and has 
acquired not only a goodly share of material 
wealth, but has earned for himself a splendid 
reputation as a careful, conservative and yet 
progressive and enterprising business man. He 
owns a beautiful and commodious home on 
"West Tuscarawas street and also owns much 
real estate. All in all, the subject's success is 
most commendable and has been richly earned. 

In February, 1866, at Louisville, this 
county, Major Vignos was united in marriage 
to Miss Phoebe L. Devinny, a daughter of 
Henry Devinny. Her father was a native of 
Ireland and died at Louisville at the age of 
ninety }-ears. To the subject and his wife have 
been born eight children, as follows: Henr_\ 
died at the age of nineteen years; Loretta died 
when thirteen years old; Charles, who is at 
present the active manager of his father's busi- 
ness, married Catharine Moek; Blanche is a 
music teacher and lives at home, having for- 
merly studied music for three years in Liepsic, 
Germany; Alice is at home; Alfred, who re- 
sides in this city, married Clair McGov^'an ; 
Helen and Frank are at home, all employed in 
the cutlery works. 

Mr. Vignos has been an extensive traveler 
and made a number of interesting and profit- 
able sight-seeing excursions. Li 1895 ^^ ^'""^^ 
his wife made a trip to Europe, with the ob- 
ject in view of accompanying their daughter 
home. While abroad they visited England. 
Holland. Prussia, Austria, Bohemia. Italy, 
Switzerland and France. In 1896 they made 
an extensive trip through the western states. 



and in the winter and spring of 1898 he went 
alone to old Mexico. While at Oxaca they 
first received news of the destruction of the 
"Maine," and remember that at that time there 
was intense excitement among the Spaniards. 
In January, 1899, Major Vignos sailed again 
from New "S'ork for a trip through the south- 
ern seas. He visited the West Indies and the 
Leeward islands, stopping at Martinique, the 
scene of the recent seismic disturbances, and 
also spending some time at Havana. In 1900 
the Major, with his wife and daughter, visited 
tlie Paris Exposition, where he was honored 
l)y l}eing made a juror in the awards on cut- 
lery. In 1902 the Major and his wife started on 
the steamer "Moetk," sailing from New York 
to the Madeira islands, thence to Gibraltar, 
then to Granada, Spain, visiting Valgambra, 
thence to Algeria, Malta, Athens, Greece; Con- 
stantinople. .Smyrna, and then to Ilaffia, where 
they took train for Jerusalem, visiting the Dead 
sea and Betlilehem. They then came back to 
Hafifia, where they boarded the steamer for 
.Mexandria, Egypt, then to Cairo. Returning 
to Alexandria, they sailed for Naples, visited 
1'iimpcii and Rome, and Ijack to Naples. From 
there they went to Nice, France, then to Paris, 
and then back to New York, one of the most 
agreeable and educational trips ever made. 
They traveled under the direction of the Thom- 
as Cook &- Sons' excursions, going- first-class in 
all respects. 

Politically the subject was originally a 
Democrat, but from the firing of the first shot 
on Fort .Sumter he has been a stanch adherent 
of the Republican party. He keeps alive his 
old army associations through membership in 
McKinlev Post No. 25, Grand Army of the 
Republic, and is also a member of the Loyal 
Legion, Ohio Commandery. Religiously he is 
a Catholic, being a faithful and consistent mem- 
ber of St. John's church. Canton. 

In manv respects Major Vignos has earned 
a standing among the leading men of his city 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



841 



and has achieved a most encouraging success. 
He aims to be progressive in what he does, is 
always in sympathy with enterprises having 
for their object the common good, and his in- 
fluence is ever exerted on the right side of 
every moral issue. Like all men of positive 
character and independence of mind, he is out- 
spoken in defense of what he considers right. 
His private life has been exemplary and be- 
cause of his genial disposition and genuine 
■worth lie holds the hig-h regard of all wlio 
know him. 

The Major having come to Canton about 
the same time as the late President McKinley 
and soon making his acquaintance, they from 
that on became fast friends in politics, in so- 
ciety and otherwise, this friendship lasting 
throughout life. The first appointment Mc- 
Kinley made after going to the W'liite House 
was to appoint Major Vignos postmaster of 
Canton. 



GF.ORGE DEUBLE.— The Deuble fam- 
ily is of stanch German lineage, the kingdom 
of Baden having been the ancestral residence 
for many generations. The first representa- 
tives of th.e name in Canton were Henry Deu- 
ble and his sister, who located here about 1830, 
the father of the subject having been their 
brother. The sister subsequently became the 
wife of John Piering, who was a tombstone 
cutter by trade and who became eventually a 
promiinent merchant in Canton, in the early 
days. Henry Deul)le established himself in 
the meat market business in this place and here 
passed the residue of his life, a man of integ- 
rity and sterling worth. He was born in Ger- 
many, as was also his sister, of whom mention 
has just been made. George M. Deuble, the 
father of our suljject, was born in Baden, Ger- 
many, where he was reared and educated, there 
learning the trade of watch and clock making. 
In 1825, when about twenty-five years of age. 



he emigrated to America and for a time re- 
sideil in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
later locating near Reading, that state, whence 
he came to Ohio in 1833, taking up his abode in 
Canton. In Philadelphia he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Susanna Smith, who likewise was 
a native of Baden, Germany. Upon coming to 
Canton he established himself in business in a 
modest way in the work of his trade as a clock 
maker, and he eventually built up an excellent 
enterprise as a jeweler and watchmaker. His 
first shop was located on the east side of Mar- 
ket street, between Second and Third streets, 
and latei- he secured finely appointed quarters 
at North Market street, where he continued to 
conduct a profitable business until 1851, when 
he turned the enterprise over to his sons, Mar- 
tin and George, the latter being the subject of 
this review. The father thereafter lived retired 
until his death in i860, at the age of sixty-two 
_\ears, liis wife passing away in 1866 at the age 
of sixty-six years. They became the parents 
of four sons and two daughters, of whom one 
survives at the present time. George M. Deu- 
ble and his wife were devoted members of the 
Reformed church, e\'er retaining- the confi- 
dence and esteem of the community in which 
so many years of their lives were passed. 

George Deuble, whose name initiates this 
article, was Ijorn near the city of Reading, 
Pennsylvania, on the 4th of October, 1832, and 
within the following year his parents removed 
to Canton. Ohio, becoming pioneers of the 
town, which was scarcely more than a frontier 
village at that time. The journey of the fam- 
ily of the old Iveystone state was made by 
means of a one-horse wagon and was a long 
and weary one. In crossing the mountains 
they were compelled to tie saplings Ijack of the 
wagon so that the same might act as a brake 
and avoid a too precipitous speed in going 
down the mountain sides. The early educa- 
tional discipline of our subject was secured in 
a German school taught in Canton by George 



842 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Held, and later he continued his studies in the 
public schools of the town, the same being still 
of a prin^itixe order at that time. At the age 
of fifteen he assumed the practical responsibili- 
ties of life by entering his father's establish- 
ment for the purpose of learning the jewelr}' 
and watchmaking trade, and he continued to 
be tlnis associated with his honored father un- 
til he had become an expert workman, taking 
an act:\c part in the conducting of the busi- 
ness, of which hf became part owner at the 
time of his father's retirement in 185 1. At 
that time he associated himself in a partnership 
with, liis elder brother, Martin, and they re- 
moved tlieir establishment to the Wikidal 
block, where they remained for a period of ten 
years, at the expiration of wdiich, in 1861, the 
!)usiness was established in its present location 
at 130 South Market street, the original build- 
ing having been replaced by the present at- 
tractive structure in 1892. The enterprise was 
conducted under the Hrm name of Deuble 
Brothers until the death of Martin Deuble, the 
senior member, in 1872, at which time our sub- 
ject i)urcliased his interests and has ever since 
remained in sole control of the business. He 
carries a large and select stock, has one of the 
most finely appointed establishments of the sort 
in the city and caters to a representative and 
discriminating patronage, while he holds the 
unequivocal confidence and esteem of all who 
know him and is regarded as one of the pro- 
gressise and public-spirited citizens of Canton, 
which has been his ln)me from his childhood 
days. In ])olitics he maintains an independent 
attitude, ]^referring' to give his support to men 
and measures ratlier than to follow strict par- 
tisan, dictates. He and his wife are both con- 
sistent and ]:)rominent meml)ers of Trinity Re- 
formed cluu'rh. Fraternally Mr. Deuble is an 
appreciative member of the time-honored order 
of Freemasons, in which he has ach'anced to 
the Knight Templar degree, holding member- 
ship in Canton cdmm.andery No. 60. 



In the city of Canton, in 1857, Mr. Deuble 
was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Her- 
bruck, daughter of Rev. Peter and Sarah Her- 
Ijruck. the former of whom was a highly 
revered clergyman of the Reformed church. 
To the subject and his wife have been born six 
children, namely: Laura, who is at home: 
Alice, who also is at home; Norman, who died 
at the age of twenty-eight years ; Walter H., a 
jeweler of Canton, and Horace E. and Homer. 
who are in the store with their father. 



CHARLES F. LANG is a native of Stark 
county, Ohio, Init traces his family history to 
Alsace, France, now a part of the German em- 
pire, wdiich province was for man}" generation- 
the home of his ancestors. Jacob Lang, the 
subject's father, was born in SchirrhofYen, Al- 
sace, June 21, 181 8, and there niarried in lis 
young manhood Miss Madeline Baechel, a na- 
ti\'e of the same place. Jacol) Lang received 
his preliminary education in the land of his 
birth and afterward became quite a noted 
scholar, graduating with an honorable record 
from the University of Strasburg. Shortly 
after the birth of his first son, which occurred 
in 1838, Jacob Lang came to the United States 
and located in Canton, Ohio, where, as soon 
as circumstances would admit, his wife and 
family joinetl him. Soon after coming to this 
city lie opened a private school in a room next 
door to his dwelling, his scholarship and super- 
ior professional attainments soon attracting to 
him (|uite a number of pupils from the best 
families, especially those speaking the German 
language. Among his students were several 
who afterwards became prominent in local and 
public affairs, while all who enjoyed the bene- 
fit of his instruction attributed to him much, 
of the success which they snbsequentlv 
achieved. After teaching a private school for 
se\-eral years Mr. Lang became teacher of the 
German languages and literature in the Canton 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



843 



high school, hiter accepting the principalship of 
St. Peter's pai'ochial school in Canton. He 
held the latter position until failing health com- 
pelled him to forego further educational work, 
and upon his resignation his son Augustus suc- 
ceeded to the place. Jacob Lang died on the 
i(;th day of October, 1861, deeply lamented by 
all who knew him. He was a man of profound 
learning and varied culture, deeply read upon 
all great subjects, and widely informed relative 
to the leading events of his da_\'. In religion he 
was a Roman Catholic and throughout his life 
he made every other consideration subordinate 
to his iluties to the church and the cause for 
which it stood. By his first wife, whose name 
is given ir. a preceding paragraph, he was the 
father of six children, whose names are as fol- 
lows : Augustus, who succeeded him as prin- 
cipal of the St. Peter's school, and whose death 
occurred in Canton in 1896, after twenty-five 
years of ser\'ice as an able and conscientious 
educator; John B., a resident of Cleveland; 
Edward, who lives in Canton; .\emelius J., of 
Fort \\'ayne, Indiana; Charles ¥.. whose name 
introduces this article, and Mrs. Rosa C. Klor- 
er, of Canton. The second marriage of Mr. 
Lang resulted m the birth of one daughter, 
Emma, who is now the wife of Michael Baech- 
el, of this city. 

Charles F. Lang was born on I'liun street, 
now McKinley street. Canton, and spent the 
greater ]>art of his }-outh and early manhood in 
the city of Cleveland, where he remained until 
his twent}-second year, .\fter acquiring a 
thorough scholastic training in the schools of 
that citv, he studied abroad, spending several 
years in Europe, where he made a specialty of 
music, recei\-ing instruction fr<;)in some of the 
greatest master.-, of the art in Germany and 
other countries. i\.eturning to the L^nited 
States, he went uixjii the operatic stage and 
followed that profession for a period of twen- 
ty-one years, during which time he was con- 
nected with x'arious tmups, traveling exten- 



sively over nearly every state of the Union. 
He achieved honorable distinction as a musi- 
cian and v^hile on the stage enjoyed the repu- 
tation of one of the most skillful artists before 
the public. 

Air. Lang's operatic career terminated in 
1896, at which time he retired from the stage 
and, returning to Canton, accepted, at the sug- 
gestion of his friend, Mr. Klorer, a position 
\\itli the Berger Manufacturing Company. 
Three years later lie was elected vice-president 
of this enterprise and has continued in that 
capacit}- e\-er .since, demonstrating abilit}- of a 



hiyli 



ler in the discharp"e of his official func- 



tions. The Langs have long been noted as a 
musical family, not a few of the name achiev- 
ing much more than local distinction, several, 
including the subject, attaining national repute. 
Mr. Lang is a gentleman of strong men- 
tality ,111(1 refined tastes, a reader and thinker, 
and ill his sjiecialty-— music — standing in the 
front ranks as an artist. Deeply interested in 
the city's industrial growth and general ma- 
terial prosperity, he encourages all enterprises 
to these ends, and as a wide-awake, progressi\'e 
man of the times, he occu])ies a ])roniinent place 
in the confidence and esteem of his fellow 
citizens. 



DA\'in B. SHAFFER, of Washington 
townshi]-), has long enjoyed worthy prestige 
as a farmer, st(jck raiser and public spirited 
man and his life presents many lessons that 
should apjieal with force to the young and ris- 
ing generation. His ancestral history is al- 
luded to in the biography of Joseph Shafifer, 
the family of which he is a representative being 
one of the oldest and most widely known in 
this -section of the state. William Shaffer, 
father of the sul)ject. was l)orn in Schuylkill 
countv, Pennsylvania, in 1808, and when a 
small box- was brought to Stark county by his 
parents. William and Sophia Shaffer, who set- 



844 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tied in Washington township as early as 1816, 
the father purchasing land from the govern- 
ment. William, Jr., grew up at home with 
limited educational advantages and after his 
marriage with Miss Sarah Berger began farm- 
ing the paternal homestead. A short time aft- 
erwards he mo\'ed to an eighty-acre tract 
which had been entered for him by his father, 
and on this he erected a small log cabin and ad- 
dressed himself to the forinidable task of re- 
moving the virgin forest with which the land 
was covered. Subsequently the primitive cabin 
was replaced by a more comfortable and com- 
modious hewed-log structure and in due season 
the land was cleared and brought to a success- 
ful state of cultivation. As the years went by 
he added to his possessions and became one of 
the prosperous farmers of his township, also 
took an acti\-e interest in the general develop- 
ment of the country, besides using his influence 
at all times for the moral improvement of the 
community. Mr. Shaffer was a man of strong 
personality, honorable and upright in all of 
his dealings, honest to a fault, and his rela- 
tions with his fellow men were characterized 
by a conscientious regard for the principles of 
rectitude which won him the unbounded friend- 
ship and confidence of his fellow citizens. He 
stood firm for the right under all circumstances 
and his scruples were so exact that it has been 
stated he would have suffered martyrdom 
rather than knowingly commit the slightest 
wrong or defraud one of his fellows to the 
value of a penny. In the early days he was one 
of the leading Whigs in his township, but when 
that old party fulfilled its mission and ceased to 
exist he became just as ardent and active in his 
support of Republican principles. Mrs. Shaf- 
fer died in 1848, from which time until his 
death in June. 1902, at the advanced age of 
ninety-four years, two months and seven days, 
]Mr. Shaffer remained a widower, his daughter 
Lovina keeping his house and otherwise minis- 
tering to his comfort and happiness. In 1882 



he left his old home and, with his daughter, 
moved to another farm in the same neighbor- 
hood and it was on the latter that he spent the 
last twenty years of his long and useful life. 
Mr. Shaffer grew old gracefully and experi- 
enced few of the weaknesses and infirmities in- 
cident to advanced age. At the time of his 
death he was in full possession of his strong 
mental faculties and until his last illness he re- 
tained to a remarkable degree the vigorous 
physical powers for which he was always 
noted. To the end of his life he kept in close 
touch with the times, maintained a lively inter- 
est in political issues and public questions and 
at the advanced age of ninety-three cast his last 
presidential ballot for his friend and fellow cit- 
izen, the late William McKinley. Although 
not identified with any church, he was a pro- 
found believer of the sacred scriptures, the pre- 
cepts of which he ever made his rule of life. 
For many years he attended the United Breth- 
ren church in his neighborhood, an organiza- 
tion which profited much by his liberal finan- 
cial support. 

Mrs. Sarah Shaft'er was the daughter of 
Rev. Christian Berger, one of the first minis- 
ters of the United Brethren church to pro- 
claim the gospel in eastern Ohio. He was a 
member of the first general conference held in 
the United States and appears to have been 
influential in ecclesiastical circles, as his name 
is frequently mentioned in the early official 
records of the church in this and other states. 
Mrs. Shaffer was born in 181 1 in Pennsylva- 
nia, bore her husband six children and died in 
1848 in the thirty-seventh year of her age. Her 
life was a beautiful example of true piety, hav- 
ing been reared by godly parents, and from 
childhood until death she was a faithful and 
self-denying member of the United Brethren 
church. Of the six children who originally 
constituted the family of William and Sarah 
Shaffer only two are living at the present time. 
Lovina, a maiden ladv, residing in Wash- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



845 



ington township, and the subject of this re- 
view. 

iJavid B. Shaffer was born January 19, 
1836, in Washington township, Stark county, 
anil irom that time to the present day he has 
lived within a short distance of his birthplace. 
His early experience on the farm taught him 
the valuable lesson of self-reliance, and there 
alsu were fostered and developed the strong 
trails of character that subsequently rendered 
him an influential factor in the material af- 
fairs and public concerns of his township and 
county. He was well reared and in the public 
schools acquired an intellectual training- which, 
supplemented by several years' attendance at 
Mt. Union College, made him one of the well 
educated young men of his community. 

When about twenty years old Mr. Shaffer 
began his labors as an educator, intending to 
make it his life work, but after teaching two 
teriiis he decided to withdraw from the profes- 
sion and devote his attention to husbandry. In 
1838 he was united in marriage with Miss 
Ruth A. Keller, daughter of the late John Kel- 
ler, for many years a prominent farmer of 
Washington township, and during the two 
years following cultivated the home place for 
a shire of the proceeds. At the expiration of 
thai time he purchased a small farm of 
eighteen acres, on which he lived until about 
18'^t-l, when he sold the place and lx)ught his 
present home in Washington township, which 
orii';inally consisted of twenty-seven and a half 
acres. By subsequent purchases the farm now 
embraces an area of fifty -five acres ©f fine till- 
able land, the improvements on which rank 
with the best in the township. Mr. Shaffer 
takes worthy precedence as a farmer and stock 
raiser and since attaining to the years of man- 
hoi H 1 has been one of the most enterprising and 
priigressive citizens of Washington. He has 
been especially active in organized efforts for 
the promotion of agriculture, being one of the 
leading members of Fairmount Grange, and his 



influence in this direction has been largely in- 
strumental in unifying the farming interests in 
this part of the country. He has labored ear- 
nestly with others to eft'ect a systematic co- 
operation among the agriculturists of the 
county, and that these efforts have not been 
altogether fruitless is attested by the rapid 
strides farming has made since the various or- 
ganizations W'Cre established. Like all good 
citizens Mr. Shaft'er is a politician, not in the 
sense of seeking ol^ce or aspiring to leadership, 
but to the end that the laws be properly en- 
forced and good local government be main- 
tained. He is an unyielding supporter of the Re- 
publican party and ever since old enough to dis- 
charge the duties of citizenship has been a 
power in local politics. He attends the various 
nominating conventions, and his opinions carry 
weight and conviction, not only in these bodies, 
but in the more influential personal work while 
campaigns are in progress. In 1861 he was 
elected assessor of his township and subse- 
quentlv held the oftice at various times, besides 
filling for seven consecutive terms the position 
of township clerk. These marks of public fa- 
vor were not self-sought, but were rather 
thrust upon ^Ir. Shaft'er by reason of his intel- 
ligence, judgment and peculiar fitness to dis- 
charge their functions. He has shown himself 
worthy the omlidence reposed in him by at- 
tending strictly to his duties in a straightfor- 
ward, business-like manner, his official record 
meeting with the unqualified approval of the 
people of all parties. Personally he is held in 
high esteem and to say that he is one of the 
strong-minded, public-spirited, enterprising 
and influential citizens of the county is to state 
what all who know him cheerfully testify. 
Himself and wife move in the best social cir- 
cles in the community and are alive to all good 
work for the general welfare of their kind, 
taking an actix-e part in all moral and social 
reforms and dispensing their charities with 
liberal hands. 



846 



OLD LANDMARKS 



j\Ir. and iNlrs. Shaffer are the parents of six 
children, iuur hving, namely: Jesse, a resi- 
dent of Trumbull county, this state ; Thomas, 
\\ho li\es in Charleston, West X'irginia; Ira, a 
farmer of Washington township, and Cora, 
who married Henry Youtz, of Stark county. 
Mr. and Airs. Shaffer are earnest and consistent 
members of the United Brethren church, both 
becoming members about 1857 ^"^1 have de- 
voted a great deal of time and monev to the 
cause of tlie cliurch. He has held practically 
all of the offices of the church, but at the pres- 
ent time is not holding any official positions. 



THOMAS POWELL was born on a farm 
near New Lisbon, Columbiana county, Ohio, 
on the 2il of November, 1820, being a son of 
Thomas and Mary M. (Sell) Powell, of whose 
eleven children he is the elder of the only two 
sur\-i\ors, the other being his sister Anna, who 
is the widow of Joseph Wallace, and resides in 
Washington township, being now sesenty-nine 
years of age. Thomas Powell, Sr., was a na- 
tive of tlie state of Maryland, where he was 
born in the year following that memorable 
one in which was signed the Declaration of In- 
dependence, and thus his childish couch was 
watched and guarded in the midst of alarms 
and the stern conflict of grim-visaged war. He 
was reared and educated in his native state, 
and there learned the blacksmith trade, but the 
■\-ocation did not suit him and he there 
turned his attention to farming. He was mar- 
ried in Maryland and there five of his children 
\vere Ijorn. In the year 181 1 he emigrated to 
Ohio, whicli was at tliat time considered as 
being on the \eritable frontier of civilization, 
and he located on a tract of land near New Lis- 
bon, Columbiana county, securing the same on 
an improvement lease, which involved the clear- 
ing of the land and placing it under cultivation. 
There lie continued to reside until 1830, when 
he came with his family to Stark county and 



located on the southeast c[uarter of section 13, 
Washington township, the proj^erty being 
owned by his older sister, Elizabeth Hahn. He 
took a life lease of the property, and here con- 
tinued to make his home until his death, which 
occurred on the ist of October, 1846, prior to 
wliich tune he liad effected the reclamation ui a 
considerable portion of the farm. He was a 
Democrat in his political proclivities, but had 
no ambition for public office of any sort. He 
was in his earl\' life a member of what was 
commonly designated as the old "blue stock- 
ing" Lutheran church, but shortly prior to his 
demise he Jjecame a member of the Freewill 
Baptist chmxh, with which his wife also was 
identified. She was born in ^Maryland in 178J, 
and her deatli occurred in 1863 at the venerable 
age of eighty-one years. 

William Powell, the paternal grandfather 
of the subject, was a nati\-e of England, where 
he was reared and where he learned the trade 
of cooper, and as a youth he took passage on 
a sailing ^•essel Ijound for America, be- 
ing Jiound out in Paltimore to pay his passage., 
in accordance with a previous agreement. He 
eventually took u]) his residence in Maryland, 
where he passed the remainder of Iiis life. 

Thomas Powell, whose name introduces 
this sketch, was ten _\ ears of age at the time of 
his ])arents' removal to Stark county, and there 
fell to his portion such limited educational ad- 
\antages as were afforded in the pio- 
neer schools of Columbiana and Stark coun- 
ties, and he became familiar with the privations 
and hardshi])s necessarily incidental to pioneer 
life, while his \outh was filled with incessant 
and arduous toil and endea\'or, tor he early 
l^egan to render material contribution to the 
work of reclaiming and otherwise improving 
the home farm. He was twenty-six years of 
age at the time of his father's death, and his' 
mother retaining a life lease on the farm, he 
assumed charge of the same for her, and in 
18^8 he became associated with his brother 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



84; 



Levi ill tiie purchase of the place, whereupun 
lie biult lor himself a separate residence 011 the 
northern side of the farm, ha\iing- been mar- 
ried in 1847. He continued to be actively en- 
g-aged ill agricultural pursuits for a long- term 
of years and developed one of the valuable 
farms of the township. In 1884 his son-in- 
law secured the ownership of the half interest 
formerly held by the subject's brother,- and in 
1S95 Mr. Powell disposed of his own interest 
to the same son-in-law, Hiram Conrad, with 
whom he has since made his home, and in his 
\eiierable age he is living retired and in the 
enjoyment of the comforts and blessings which 
constitute the titting crown of a well spent 
life. He is a Democrat in politics and has al- 
ways taken a lively and intelligent interest in 
the party cause, though he has never been im- 
l)ued v\itli the slightest desire for official pre- 
ferment. He has long been a devoted and con- 
sistent member of the Evangelical Association, 
and he is today revered and honored as one of 
the sterling pioneers of the county, retaining 
the high esteem of the people of the commun- 
\{y in which practically his entire life has been 
passed. 

On the yth of March, 1847, Mr. Powell 
was united in marriage to Miss Elsie A. Wal- 
lace, who was born in Butler township, Colum- 
biana Cdunty. being a daughter of William and 
Elizabeth (Mall) Wallace, concerning whom 
iiKjre specific mention is made in the sketch of 
their son, John S. Wallace, appearing ipn an- 
other page of this v^olume. She wa^ sum- 
moned into eternal rest on the 21st of Septem- 
ber, 1862, and of her six children four are still 
living, namely: Emily, who is the widow of 
Emainiel Miller and resides at ]Mount Union, 
this count}- : Elizabeth, who is the wife of 
Hiram Conrad and with whom her father now 
Shakes his home; Calvin, who is a successful 
farmer of Columbiana county: and ]Mar\- A., 
who is the wife of James Maxwell, of Jefferson 
county. On the 28th of November, 1867, Mr. 



Powell consummated a second marriage, be- 
ing then united to Miss Lucinda Cameron, who 
was born in Columbiana county, being a 
daughter of ^Absalom Cameron, who resided 
in that county for a number of years but who 
eventurdly returned to his native state of Penn- 
sylvania, where he died. Mr. and Mrs. Powell 
have three children, namely : Margie, who is 
the wife of Jerome Saiior, of Columbiana 
county; Homer, who is an oil distiller in l-Cen- 
tuck}-; and Dallas, who remains w-ith his 
parents. 

Hiram Conrad, who is now- the owner of 
the old homestead farm, was born in Lancaster 
count}', Pennsylvania, lieing a son of David and 
Sail}- (Doup) Conrad, pioneers of that sec- 
tion. He w'as born on the ist of October, 
184c), and was there reared and educated, 
growing up under the sturdy discipline of the 
farm. On the 19th of Eebruary, 1869, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Powell, 
daughter of the subject, and they have ever 
since lived on the homestead wliich he now 
owns, and he is known as one of the progres- 
sive and reliable farmers of the county and as 
a man of undebatable integrity in all the rela- 
tions of life. He is independent in politics, vot- 
ing for whom he thinks best qualified for office, 
and he and his wife hold membership in the 
Evangelical Association. They have eight 
children, concerning w-hom we offer the fol- 
lowing brief record : Ida is the wife of Ran- 
kin Wolf, of Washington township; Elsie E. 
is the wife of Emanuel Roose, of the same 
to\vnship: Ralph remains at the parental home; 
(jrace is the wife of George McCannon, of At- 
w'ater, Portage county ; and Clyde, Craig. 
Erank and Howard still remain bene:ith the 
parental roof. 



WESLEY KNOLL.— This native-born 
citizen of \\'ashington township. Stark county, 
Ohio, had his nativity July 7, 1857, and is a 



848 



OLD LANDMARKS 



son of George Knoll, a full history of whose 
life is given on another page of this volume. 
Wesley Knoll secured a very good common 
school education at Mount Union, and was 
later graduated from the commercial depart- 
ment of Mount Union College when about 
eighteen years of age. At nineteen he began 
to teach in the district schools and followed 
the vocation for four winters. In 1882 Mr. 
Knoll accepted the position of head farmer at 
the Fairmount Children's Home, of which he 
retained charge for one year. 

February 2, 1883, Mr. Knoll was first 
joined in marriage with Miss Nora J. Guthrie, 
and after marriage he immediately purchased 
his present farm from his mother. To the 
union of Wesley and Nora J. (Guthrie) Knoll 
were born two children, the elder of whom, 
Zella E., is a student in the high school, and 
the younger, Elsie, is a pupil at the Mount 
Union grammar school. But little more than 
a decade had passed when the conjugal bliss of 
Mr. Knoll was destroyed by the invasion of 
his household by death, who, on the 30th of 
March, 1894, bore away the soul of Mrs. Nora 
Knoll. After a lapse of over a year and a half 
of loneliness, Mr. Knoll found a second help- 
mate in the person of Miss Carrie A. Buck, 
whom he married October 22, 1896. This 
amiable lady is a native of Alliance, Ohio, and 
a daughter of the eminent Dr. Henry Buck, 
who for two or more terms served as mayor of 
Alliance, where he had enjoyed also a most 
remunerative practice, but is now residing in 
Versailles, Missouri, at the advanced age of 
eighty-seven years. Robert Buck, father of 
Dr. Henry Buck, was a native of Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, was a pioneer of Ohio 
and one of the first settlers of Columbiana 
county, where he entered a farm in Knox town- 
ship, and had a large share in opening the 
country to the progress of civilization. The 
family of Wesley and Carrie A. (Buck) 
Knoll consists of two children, who are named 



George Henry and Charles Merrill. Mr. 
Knoll carries on miscellaneous farming, rais- 
ing the crops indigenous to the soil and cli- 
mate, and also breeds choice or graded live 
stock. In conjunction with general farming, 
Mr. Knoll keeps a number of Jersey cows, the 
product of which he disposes to the creamery 
of his neighborhood. 

In. politics Mr. Knoll is a strong Prohi- 
bitionist in his proclivities, but has voted with 
the Republican party, inasmuch as it is recog- 
nized as one of the two general political bodies 
of the land, and under the auspices of this 
party he has served as township clerk for seven 
years. Fraternally Mr. Knoll is a member of 
Fairmount Grange No. 1459, Patrons of Hus- 
bandry. His religion is that of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, in which he holds the office 
of steward and the teachings of which he and 
family implicitly follow. 



JOSIAH COR REEL, of Plain township, 
Stark county, Ohio, the subject of this sketch, 
'is not a remarkably aged man either mentally, 
physically or in the number of years during 
which he has lived, and yet his father, John 
Correll, was born a few months previous to 
the inauguration of Washington as President, 
Tosiah Correll was born in Stark county, Ohio, 
November 19, 1836. His father was John Cor- 
rell, born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, Jan- 
uary 5, 1788, and his mother was Elizabeth 
I.ind. a native of Carroll county, Maryland, 
born in August, I794- In their native county 
they grew to maturity, were married and be- 
came the parents of children, and in May, 1834, 
they moved to Stark county, Ohio, and set- 
tled in Plain township on a farm. There two 
other children were born to them, of whom 
Josiah, the subject, is the youngest. The f^ 
ther died at his home in Plain township, April 
15, 1859, in the seventy-second year of his age, 
■while his wife survived him many years, dying 




MR. AND MRS. JOSIAH CORRELL. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



S49 



Llarch I, 1875, when \\ithin a few months of 
beini;- t'ight\'-two j^ears old. 

In his native towjiship of Plain, Josiah 
Correll was reared and educated and there he 
has resided continuously since, with the ex- 
ce])tion of about three years which he spent in 
Canton township. He has always followed 
agricultural pursuits and at present is the own- 
er of one hundred and se\-enteen acres in three 
tracts. They are well improved, fenced, 
ditched, arid the buildings are substantial and 
commodiously arranged. 

On March 20, 1S62, Josiah Correll w'as 
united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Mentzer, 
a nati\e of Canton township, Stark county, 
Ohio, born March 9, 1838. She is a daughter 
of David and Christena (Hull) Mentzer, her 
father being a native of (Jhambersburg, Penn- 
.sylvania, while her mother was a native of 
Canton township, Stark county. His death 
occurred in Canton townsliip, hers in the cit}' 
of Canton. Five children have been born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Correll, viz: Charles 
(irant, Edwin Sherman, Minnie May, Nettie 
J. and Lillie. Nettie is dead, having passed 
into eternity in her twenty-seventh year. Of 
the ele\-en brothers and sisters of the subject, 
but three are now living. They are Sarah J., 
who is the wife of Andrew Pontius, a sketch 
of whose career will he found in another part 
of this volume; Jeremiah, who is now a resi- 
dent of lJuc}'rus, Ohio; ^largaret, who is the 
wife of William Miller, of Perry township. 
Stark county. Those who have departed this 
life are Maria, Jacob N., John, Fanny, Nancy, 
Catherine F., Samuel and Eliza. Nancy was 
the wife of Isaac Ruthrautt. Catherine became 
the wife of Reuben Flohr, and Anna Eliza was 
the wife of William Essig. 

In pohtics, Mr. Correll is a Republican, 
earnest and energetic in his advocacy of the 
principles of that ])art}- and a firm believer in 
the policy of the present admini.stration and 
that which preceded it. Flott'ever, he has never 
53 



sought ])olitical preferment at the hands of his 
party and has only filled such local positions as 
his friends insisted upon his accepting. He 
ser\-ed as school director nine years and was a 
number of times a road supervisor. Fie is a 
luember of Canton Lodge No. 60, Free and 
-Vcce])ted Masons, of Canton Chapter and of 
Canton Connnandery No. 38. Personally, he 
is genial and comjianionable, unselfish almost 
.to a fault, kind and sympathetic to the unfor- 
tunate and suft'ering and charitable even be- 
yond his means. Idiere is no question that 
I'lain township and Stark county ha\e been 
greatly benefited by his residence of sixty-six 
vears \\-ithin its boundaries. 



liENRY STAHL.— The old Keystone 
state of the Union has contributed •■materially 
to the citizenship of Stark county, Ohio, from- 
the early pioneer era when here w'as instituted 
that ardous labor of subduing the wilderness 
and ushering in the march of civilization, and 
among the many who thus crossed o\'er the 
Ohio river into the newer state where a large 
number of the sturdy German stock which had 
played so important a part in the pioneer annals 
of the okler state. Among this number gained 
from Pennsylvania by Stark county is the hon- 
ored subject of this review, who has here made 
his home since his boyhood days and who is 
now one of the representative members of the 
community in Washington township, one of the 
most prosperous and favored sections of the 
county. He resides near the village of Home- 
worth, near the line of Col«mbiana county, and 
is the owner of a finely improved farm in 
Washington township. Stark county, and for 
many years was a leading carpenter and builder 
in this section, while he is at the present time 
engaged in the undertaking business. He is 
one of the prominent and representative citi- 
zens of the community and his standing is such 
as to deiuand for him consistent consideration 



S50 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in this publication, which has to do with those 
who have been the founders and conservators 
of the county's prosperity. 

Henry Stahl is a native of Adams county, 
Pennsylvania, having been born in the imme- 
■cliate vicinity of the historic city of Gettys- 
burg, on the 13th of December, 1824, and' be- 
ing a son of Samuel and Jane (Hurst) Stahl, 
the former of German and the latter of Irish 
ancestry. They became the parents of six 
children and of the numljer the subject of this 
-sketch is the eldest of the four surviving, the 
others being as follows: William, who is a 
resident of Cleveland, this state; Mary A., who 
is the wife of Zadock Holies, of Alliance, 
this county, and Sarah, who is the wife 
<of Jesse Ruff, of Washington township. 
Samuel Stahl was Ijorn in York county, 
Pennsylvania, where he was reared and edu- 
cated and where, as a young man, he learned 
the tailor's trade. He removed to Adams 
county, this state, where he maintained his 
liome a number of years, and on the 3d of May. 
1838. he arrived in Salem, Columbiana county, 
Ohio, where he remained less than a year and 
then came to Stark county and settled in Wash- 
ington township, where he continued to work 
iit his trade during the residue of his active 
career, his death here occurring on the 2d of 
March, 1871, at the age of sixty-eight years, 
iour months and fifteen days. The paternal 
grandfather of the subject emigrated to the 
X'nited States from Germany, .while his mater- 
nal grandfather came from Ireland. Samuel 
Stahl was a Republican in his political ad- 
lierency, though previously voting with the 
Democracy, and his religious views Avere those 
represented in the doctrines of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, of which his wife also was a 
^levoted member. She entered into eternal rest 
on the 2 1 St of March, 1886, at the age of 
nearly eighty-two years. 

Henry Stahl, the immediate subject of this 
Te\ iew, was about fourteen vears of age at the 



time when his parents removed from Penns)l- 
vania to Ohio, and his early educational dis- 
cipline was secured in the public schools of the 
two states, while he soon began to be a dis- 
tinctive wage-earner after coming to Stark 
coimty, being a vigorous and sturdy youth and 
doing much heavy work in the way of clear- 
ing land, chopping and log-rolling. At the age 
of twenty-one jears he entered upon an ap- 
prenticeship at the carpenter trade, becoming a 
thoroughly skilled artisan in the line, and for 
thirty-three years he continued to follow his 
trade as a vocation, becoming one of the lead- 
ing" contractors and builders of this locality, 
-while there arc still standing many buildings 
which bear evidence of his ability and careful 
workmanship. In 1844 he purchased his 
present home farm, in section twenty-fi\-e, 
Washington township, the tract at the time be- 
ing covered \\\x\\ its dense growth of native 
timber, and the first house erected was a prim- 
itive log cal)in. which was put up by his father, 
with the assistance of his neighbors, for mutual 
aid was the order of the day in the pioneer 
days, and practicalh' every man's neighbor — 
and they were usually far removed — \\2ls his 
friend : confidence and esteem were freely ac- 
corded, and from the doors of the little cabins 
tlie latch-string hung hospitably out, so that 
even the "houseless stranger" need not lack for 
welcome. Though toil was incessant and ar- 
duous in the old days, and deprivations and 
hardships many, there was much in sentiment 
and association that may well be recalled with 
pleasure and appreciation by those whose 
memory touches that epoch and who are no\v 
living under conditions radically different. In 
1872 Mr. Stahl established himself in the un- 
dertaking business in Homeworth, and for the 
past e\venty-se\en years he has devoted his en- 
tire attention to this enterprise, having pro- 
■\ided the best of equipments and accessories for 
the work of a funeral director, while his timely 
and delicate sympathy in the handling of the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



831 



same has won to him the high esteem and re- 
gard of the people of the community. His son 
is associated with him in the business, which is 
conducted under the tirm name of H. Stahl & 
Son, the junior member of tlie firm being a 
capable and progressive young business man 
and proving an able coadjutor to his father. 
In politics Mr. Stahl is a Republican, but has 
never» sought office in the gift of the party, 
though he has e\er manifested a deep interest 
in all that concerns the welfare of the commun- 
ity. For several years he served as a mem- 
ber of the school board, and for two years he 
was a member of the directorate of the Home 
Insurance Compan}- of Washington and Paris 
townships. He has Ijeen a prominent figure in 
Washington Grange No. 1167, Patrons of 
Husbandry, of which he served as master for 
four years. For an equal period he was presi- 
dent of th.e Western Reserve Undertakers' As- 
sociation. He is a prominent and valued mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian church, in which he is 
incumbent of the office of deacon, and his w'ife 
likewise is an earnest and devoted member of 
the church. 

On the 30th of March, 1848, Mr. Stahl was 
united in marriage to ^Nliss Serena Burns, who 
was born in Butler township, Columbiana 
county, Ohio, being a daughter of Hugh and 
Sabina (McFall) Burns, her father being 
«:ine of the sterling pioneers of Columbiana 
county, and of this union one child has been 
born, Dennis, who married Miss Amanda J. 
Ickes. of \\'est township, Columbiana county, 
Ohio, who has borne him one son, Ross. 
Hennis Stahl is associated with his father in 
liusiness, as has been already noted. 



ADA^^I SHORB.— The Shorb family has 
long been established on American soil, and ac- 
cording to w^ell authenticated family tradition 
the genealogy touches the Hohenzollern line, — ■ 
that of the present reigning house of the em- 



pire of Germany. Concerning the family an 
article appeared in the Washington Post (D. 
C), of March 23, 1902, and it will be apropos 
to reproduce the same in part at this point; 
"Johann (or Jacob) Shorb, so the family tra- 
dition goes, marriecP a daughter of the royal 
line of the Hohenzollerns and brought her to 
America, settling in what was then upper 
Maryland. He was a man of considerable 
wealth and the owner of a large fleet of trad- 
ing vessels, all the fittings of which were 
marked with the royal coat of arms. A few of 
these belongings are still preserved as heir- 
looms among the family, as well as a number 
of pieces of silver plate and china, bearing the 
same markings. A large tract of land was 
purchased by this Johann (or Jacob) Shorb, 
and a comfortable home established, where for 
years he dw^elt in peace with his royal wife and 
brought up a good-sized family of children. 
Of the most of these little record can be found, 
the aforesaid family tradition dealing with a 
few of the children onl\-, — the ones probably 
who took most interest in genealogy. Tw^o 
sons are mentioned, John and Jacob, and two 
daug'hters, one of whom probably married a 
Fink and the other a Sneeringer, these tw'O 
names being connected with the royal branch 
in the story." 

Andrew' Shorb, grandfather of the subject, 
was born in the province of Alsace, France^ 
which is now a portion of the German em- 
pire, and he thence emigrated to America when 
a young man, landing in the city of Baltimore, 
where he passed the remainder of his life. His 
son John, father of the subject of this memoir, 
was born in the city of Baltimore, in 1 760, and 
there aiiarried Catherine Gross, a sister of the 
wife of Andrew Meyer, who was another of the 
prominent and influential pioneer citizens of 
Stark coiint}^ In the year 1805 John Shorb 
came to Ohio with his family and located in 
Steubenville, Jefferson county, while two years 
later he came to Stark countv and became later 



852 



OLD LANDMARKS 



associated \\\t\\ a Air. Wells in laying out the 
original plat of what is now the city of Canton. 
He entered a crnisiderable tract of government 
land and recei\ed pjdent to the same in 1809, 
the document having been signed, in February 
of that year, by Thomas Jefferson, President of 
the United States, and James Madison, secre- 
tary of state. .\Ir. Shorb was an honorable 
and hard-working pioneer and contributed his 
quota tijward the upbuilding of Stark county. 
The ax with which he "blazed" his trail from 
Steuben^■i]le to Canton is still retained in the 
possession of the family. In 1S09 he built a 
homestead on his farm, and a portion of this 
building is still standing, the same having been 
remodeled and standing just north of the 
present Shorb home, at 416 Shorb street, in the 
city of Canton. John Shorb met his death in 
the year I.S24. as the result of an accident. He 
was assisting in tlie erection of the first build- 
ing of St. John's church, Roman Catholic, and 
a rafter fell in such a way as to break his back, 
his death nccurring llie following day. Up to 
this time the church services had been held in 
his house. He had been actively engaged in 
farming up to the time of his death and lived 
up to the full tension of life on the frontier, 
with its strenuous though isolated activity. It 
was a firm and robust epoch and yet it was not 
lacking in the soft touches of ideahsm, else not 
ours would be the many tales of romantic in- 
terest which have fallen from the lips of those 
who here established their homes in the midst 
of the forest primeval. The wife of John 
Shorb Ixire the maiden name of Catharine 
Gross, and she survived him i)y many years, 
passing away in i84r. Of their five children 
brief record is entered as follows: John, who 
married !\!iss Harriet Stidger, died in Canton, 
in 1856, having been a miller and banker and 
having been concerned in the organization of 
one of the first banking institutions in Canton, 
the same having Iieen located at the corner of 
Cleveland avenue and West Tuscarawas 



street; Mary became the wife of Dr. Andrew 
Rappe, one of Canton's pioneer physicians, and 
she died in this city in 1851 ; Adam, the next in 
order of birth, is the subject of this memoir; 
Betsy became the wife of Henry Barnes, and 
she died in Canton in 1831 ; and Joseph died in 
Sandusky, Ohio, where he was long engaged 
in the mercantile business. 

Adam Shorb was born in the city of Balti- 
more. Maryland, in 1796, and was a mere child 
at the time when his parents came to the wilds 
of Ohio, though he had attended school in 
Emmittsburg, Mar}'land, prior to the emigi'a- 
tion to Ohio, wliere his further educational ad- 
vantages were such as were aft'orded in the 
district schools of Jefferson and Stark counties. 
He was reared under the environments and in- 
fluences of pioneer life and contributed his due 
(|Uota to the reclaiming' and cuUivation of the 
old homestead farm, where he was reared to 
maturity. In the city of Canton, on the 20th 
of February. 18-'/, he was united in marriage 
to Miss Eliza Smith, who was i)orn in Hagers- 
town, Maryland, and who accompanied her 
parents on tlieir removal to Stark county, Ohio, 
in 1825. ;\dam Shorb purchased the home 
farni after the death of his father, and for a 
time he resided in a house at the corner of Fifth 
and Wells streets, while later he remo\-ed 10 
the old liomestead. where he passed the remain- 
der of his life, his death there occurring on the 
4th of October, 1866, at Avhich time he was 
se\-enty vears of age. His wife survived him 
hv more than a score of years, parsing away on 
the 1 2th of November. 1892, at the age of 
eighty-seven years. Mrs. Shorb was a Luther- 
an and Mr. Shorb a Catholic, while in politics 
the latter gave .an unqualified supi^ort to the 
Democratic party. He was a man of inflexi- 
ble integrity and was held in the highest con- 
liilencc and esteem by all who knew him. Of 
his children brief recor.d is incorporated as fol- 
lows : Mary died at the age of thirty-nine 
years; Catherine, the wife of James Rider, died 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



853 



ill Canton, in 1864; Eliza1)eth and Juseph died 
in childhood ; Harriet resides in the old home- 
stead ; Frances, the wife of Peter Barlet, died 
in Canton, in 1887; Evana died in childhood; 
Andrew married Harriet Knowling, and his 
death occurred in Canton, in 1892; and Ella 
E. was the wife of John A. Moore, of Balti- 
more, Maryland, and since his decease in 1899 
has returned to Canton to reside. Of Miss 
Harriet Shorli, daughter of this honored pion- 
eer, we may say tiiat she was born in the home 
<in h'ifth and VV'eJls streets, and in the Union 
school she secured her early education, her 
teaclier havivig been Miss Betsey Cowles. She 
has always resided in Canton, where she has a 
wide circle of devoted friends. She is a com- 
municant of St. lohn"s church. 



^^'ILLIAM D. DAVIS, M. D., is a native 
of Mayville, Knox county, Tennessee, where 
he was Irorn on the 19th of October, 1868, be- 
ing- the youngest of the three children of Will- 
iam T- and Sarah E. (Slaughter) Davis, the 
others being Samuel T-. of Jellico, Tennessee, 
and Jacol) \\'., (if Knoxville, that state. The 
father was likewise a nati\'e of Tennessee, 
where he was born in the year 1835, being" 
reared on a farm and continued to follow agri- 
cultural pursuits diu"ing his brief life, his death 
occurring- when he was but thirty-four years of 
age, as the result of exposures and hardships 
endured while serving in the Union army dur- 
ing the war of the Rebellion, his father likewise 
having been a Union soldier, while one of his 
brothers, Avho bore the name of George Wash- 
ington, was a lieutenant in the Confederate 
service, these family divisions signifying one 
of the most pitiable features of that gTeatest 
internecine war in the annals of historv. 
AVilliani J- Da^"is entered into eternal rest in 
J869. ha\'ing been a stanch Republican in his 
political proclivities, while his religious faith 
was that of the Methodist Episcopal cliurch, of 



\\ hich he was a consistent member. His wife 
had been pre\'iously married to George Snyder, 
and nf this union four children were born, of 
whom three survive, namel}- : Rev. George L., 
who is a clergyman of the Methodist church 
and a resident of the state of Washington; 
Mary, who is the wife of William R. Morgan, 
of Robbinsville, North Carolina, and Josephine, 
who is the wife of John Blair, of Blunt county, 
Tennessee. i\fter the death of her second hus- 
band Mrs. Davis consummated a third marriage, 
l)eing tlien united to Joel H. Cathran, who 
is yet living-, one child having been born of this 
union, Andrew Jackson, who is a resident of 
Jellico, Tennessee. The mother of the Doc- 
tor passed away on the 20th of June, 1902, and 
the memory of her gracious and gentle charac- 
ter remains as a benediction to her children. 

Dr. Davis was reared in the parental home, 
receiving his preliminary educational discipline 
in the public schools and supplementing the 
same by a course of study in Mary\-ille College, 
at Marj-ville, Tennessee, after which he put 
his scholastic acquirements to practical test by 
engaging in pedagogic work, being success- 
fully engaged in teaching in the public schools 
of his native state for a period of two years, 
after which, in 1890, he was matriculated in the 
Tennessee Medical College, at Knoxville, 
where he was graduated in tlie spring of 1893, 
recei\ing the degree of Doctor of jMedicine, 
and recei\'ing the fourth honors in a class of 
thirty-five members. A\'ithin his last year in 
college, on the loth of November, 1892, he was 
united in marriage to Mrs. Rosa \'ernier, 
widow of George Vernier, of Canton. Ohio, 
wliere she was born, being a (Laughter of 
(Jeorge Fultz, and in the spring following his 
graduation the Doctor and his wife came to 
.Stark county, locating in the village of Osna- 
burg, where he entered upon the jjractice of his 
profession, his novitiate being of lirief duration, 
for his abilitv soon became rec(^gnized, Avhile 
In's personality is such as to readily attract 



854 



OLD LANDMARKS 



strong friendships. He has succeeded in build- 
ing up a large and representative practice in 
this locality, his services being in requisition 
throughout a wide radius of country. Mrs. 
Davis has one child by her previous marriage, 
Miss Hazel Vernier, no children having been 
born of the present marriage. 

In politics Dr. Davis is one of the leading 
members of the Republican party in this town- 
ship, being at the present time incumbent of the 
office of township clerk, while lor the past three 
years he has been a member of the Republican 
central committee of the county and a zealous 
worker in the party cause. He is identified 
with the Cantun ^ledical Society; with Osna- 
burg Lodge Xo. 507, Knights of Pythias; 
Lilierty Council No. 70, Junior Order of 
Ifnited American ^Mechanics, and Mollie 
Pitcher Council Xo. 10, Daughters of ^Vmerica. 
His religious faith is that of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, of which both he and Mrs. 
Davis are devoted members, while he is at 
the present time serving as a member of the 
Ijoard of trustees of the church in Osnaburg. 



JOHX I.. SIEIN.— The subject's father, 
John Stein, was born near Berlin, Germany, 
and upon reaching the years of maturity chose 
farming for his occupation. However, in ac- 
cordance Avith the national custom of that 
country, he served a term of three years in the 
army. He married Christina Rupp, also a 
native of Berlin. In 1870 John Stein came to 
the United States with his family and located 
at once at Canton, Ohio. He obtained employ- 
ment at the moulding trade, principally with 
C. Aultman & Company, and for about twenty- 
seven years has been thus employed. He is 
a faithful member of St. Peter's Catholic 
church and enjoys a splendid reputation among 
those who know him. To him and his wife 
have been born the following children : Lizzie 
has been twice married, first to Al. Baxter and, 



second, to Rudolph W'itter, of Cleveland ; John 
L. is the subject; Katy is the wife of L. A\'. 
Brown, of Cleveland; Fred is a cigar maker 
and lives in Canton; Amelia is unmarried; 
Joseph, of Canton ; August is employed at the 
Dueber-LIampden works at Canton; Henry; 
Jacob, of Cleveland; William, of Canton, and 
Alosius. 

John L. Stein first saw the light of day near 
Berlin, Germany, on the 14th of April, 1867. 
At the age of three years he was brought to 
America by his parents and as soon as old 
enough began attendance at the Catholic paro- 
chial schools and later attended the public 
schools of tiie city. Upon completing the com- 
mon schools he spent two years in the high 
school, but not being in very good financial 
circumstances, was compelled, at the age of 
fifteen years, to c[uit school. His first occupa- 
tion was as clerk in the store of Henry Piero. 
after which for nearly three }ears he was in 
the emplo}- of Elbel Gillam Company. Leav- 
ing this firm, he learned the trade of a bai'ber 
with Phil Heidrick and remained with him for 
eight years. He then conducted a shop at the 
Yohe hotel for one year and afterward ran a 
shop of his own at 430 East Tuscarawas street 
for six years. ]Mr. Simmonds Avas at that 
time running the Hotel Barnet and offered the 
subject inducements to open up and run a bar- 
ber shop in the hotel. He accepted the offer, 
refitted the shop and opened it up for business 
on the 7th of January, 1900, and on October 
I, 1902, opened a shop in the McKinley Hotel. 
Of genial disposition and courteous manners, 
he has won for himself a host of warm personal 
friends and is the recipient of a full share of 
the public patronage. 

Mr. Stein has all his life taken a keen in- 
terest in political affairs, but his first active par- 
ticipation aside from the casting of his ballot 
was in 1899, when, in response to the wish of 
his friends, he ran for the nomination for city 
council. He was defeated, but the following 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



855 



year was nominated for the office by acclama- 
tion and at the ensuing election was elected to 
represent the fourth ward, receiving a major- 
ity of thirty-seven. His political principles are 
embodied in the platform of the Democratic 
party, of which he is a firm and uncomprom- 
ising adherent. Religiously he is a faithful 
member of St. Peter's Catholic church, while 
in his social relations he is affiliated with the 
C. M. B. A., the C. O. F. and the P. H. C. 

Mr. Stein has been twice married. liis first 
wife, wliom he married in Canton, was in her 
maidenhood Miss Lizzie Grosenklaus, and to 
this union came one child, Robert. Mrs Stein 
was removed by the hand of death five years 
after tlieir marriage, and for his second wife 
Mr. Stein chose Miss Hattie Huffman, of 
Peoria, Illinois. To this marriage have been 
born two chiklren, Ethel and ]\Iillard. 



MISS GRACE POYSER.— Miss Poyser 
is a representative of two of the early families 
of Stark county, both widely and favorably 
knoAvn by reason of their respectable social 
standing and wholesome moral influence. The 
name she bears has long been s}-nonymous for 
all that constitutes sterling womanhood and 
not the less so is the name of her ancestors on 
the maternal side. William F. Poyser, the 
subject's father, Avas born February 16, 1828, 
in Sugar Creek township, Stark county, and 
grew to maturity on a farm, attending at inter- 
vals during his minority the district school 
near the family homestead. When a young 
man, he came to Canton with his brother and 
took up the carpenter's trade, at which he soon 
became a very efficient workman. For some 
years he was in the employ of the Russell Ma- 
chine Company, of this city, as traveling sales- 
man, but after resigning that position he re- 
sumed mechanical pursuits, de\-oting special at- 
tention to cabinetmaking, in which he acqiaired 
great efficiency and skill. IMr. Poyser ran a 



shop of his own and in addition to general 
cabinetmaking frequently worked for John 
Danner, manufacturing the hitter's celebrated 
revolving book-cases. He was an honest, in- 
dustrious man, provided well for those depen- 
dent upon him and lived an honorable life in 
the sight of men and in the reverent fear of his 
maker. On the 9th day of June, 1853, in the 
city of Canton, was solemnized the ceremonvr 
hy which Mr. Poyser and Miss Catherine A_ 
i^ittle were united in the bonds of wedlock- 
Mrs. Poyser's father was Elias Little, a mem- 
ber of one of Stark county's oldest and most 
highly esteemed families, his antecedents hav- 
ing moved to this part of the state when the 
country was little more than an untrodden 
wilderness. The birth of Mrs. Poyser oc- 
curred in Canton and her education was suclx 
as the public schools could impart. Among; 
her teachers was the late Mr. McGreggor, one 
of the oldest school men in the county, whose 
death in Canton was of recent occurrence. 

The married life of Mr. and Mrs. Poyser 
covered a period of a little over twenty-six 
years, when it was terminated by the death ot 
the husband, which event occurred on the nth 
tlav of October, 1879. Their union was blessed 
with four children, namely : Helen I., wife of 
F. H. Smith, of Akron; Alary F., deceased; 
Charles W., who married a Miss Likes, of 
Caml)ridge, this state : Miss Grace, whose name 
furnishes the caption of this review, and who 
lives in Canton. Mr. Poyser was a zealous 
Christian whose daily life harmonized with the 
precepts of the religion he professed. He was. 
an active member of the First Baptist churcli! 
of Canton and for many years labored earnest- 
ly in the Sunday school, having held various 
official positions in that organization. In pol- 
itics he was a pronounced Republican and as 
such did much in a quiet way to promote the in- 
terests of his party. He had profound convic- 
tions on many things, was honorable and just 
in all his dealings and endeavored to realize in 



856 



OLD LANDMARKS 



himself his high ideal of manhood and citizen- 
ship. l\Trs. Poyser survives her husband and 
still lives in Canton, where she is popular with 
a large circle of friends. She is a lady of ex- 
cellent character and respectable social status, 
a sincere Christian, and to her in a very large 
measure is due the success which her children 
have thus far achieved. 

^liss (irace Poyser was born at her present 
home in Ihe city of Canton on the 27th of 
November. 1870. Blessed with godly parents 
and i)rii]>c'r Iiduic training", her nn'nd earlv re- 
sponded to these influences and while still a 
mere child she de\-eloi)ed an aptness for study 
and a taste for the true and beautiful, whicli 
portended well for her future course of life. 
Her admission to the pulilic schools at the age 
of six years marked the beginning of an educa- 
tional career which as a pupil terminated witli 
her graduation in i8go; but which as a teacher 
is still in progress. Miss Poyser made not 
only a creditalile but a brilliant record as a stu- 
dent, as is evident from lier having' comjileted 
the high school course when Init little past 
eighteen years of age. Two years after her 
graduation she accepted a position in the citv 
sch(tiils. taking charge of the second and third 
grades in the Lijjerty street building, where she 
demonstrated abilities which soon brought her 
to tlie favorable notice nf her superiors and to 
her patnms. During the ensuing four year^; 
she tauglit in the liuilding on East Fourth street 
and at the e\])iration of that period was pro- 
moted to her present position in the North 
Cherry street school, where she has charge of 
the sixth grade, which is considered one of the 
most im]iortant year's work in the entire 
course. As a teacher Miss Povser is exceed- 
ingly careful and painstaking and possesses not 
only the .-ibib'ty to instruct well, but also that 
nameless and iindefinablc tact which enable-:, 
one to direct and control pupils with little ap- 
preciable effort. Indeed, she is a born teacher, 
and the apparent ease with which she manages 



those under her charge, while leading them 
along the devious pathways of knowledge, at 
the same time bringing out the better elements 
of their natures, demonstrates a peculiar fitness 
for the work which the majority of instructors 
do not possess. Thus far her labors ha\'e been 
eminently satisfactory to all concerned, and the 
firm hold w hicli she has on the affections of her 
]")upils and the high esteein in which she is helil 
by the superintendent and official board is 
pn.iof that her tenure of service is destined to 
continue as long as she deems fit to remain in 
tlie educational field. !Miss P(iyser is as pi>pu- 
lar socially as she is professionally, and few 
ladies in Canton are more widely and fax'oralily 
Ivuown. ^\'hile tlioroughly devoted to the 
no])le work in which she is engaged, she does 
mit permit it to d\\ arf or narrow her nature, as 
too manv teachers do, finding rest and recrea- 
tion from its exactions in the societ\' of 
kindred s])irits. whose com])anionship is mu- 
tualh' lielpful in arousing' that peculiar intel- 
lectual and social ;uiimation which gi\es to life 
so much of its charm. In every relation of 
life her work has been well done and judging 
b\- what she has already accomplished her many 
friends are justilied in predicting lor lier a 
future of distinguished usefulness. 



DANIEL BOUGHM.XN is a native of 
Pennsvlvania. which state has conlrilnited so 
\-aluable an element to the citizenshi]i of Stark 
county, having l)een born on a farm in Cum- 
berland county, on the T4th of August. 1826, 
and being a son of Josepli and P.arbara (Wal- 
ters) Roughman. the former of whom was 
lik-ewise a nati\-e of the Keystone state, while 
the latter was born in A'irginia, both fan.iilies 
having been founded in America in the colonial 
davs. The paternal grandfather of the sub- 
ject likewise bore tlie name of Jose])]i. and he 
passed his entire life in Cumberland county, 
T'ennsvlvania, where he flied at the adxanccd 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



857 



age of eighty-five years, while his wife, wliose 
maiden name was Catherine Cleaver, passed 
I away at the age of eighty years. John and 
}v'Iary Walters, the maternal grandparents of 
the subject of this re\-iew, both died in Cum- 
berland county. Pennsylvania, the former hav- 
ing' reached the patriarchal ag'e of ninety-five 
years, while his wife was ninety years of age 
at the time of her death. From these simple 
statements it is e\'ident that the subject comes 
of stanch and long-lived stock in hotli the pa- 
ternal and maternal lines, and in his own per- 
son he exemplified the sturdy vigor which e\'er 
implies longevity. 

In iS,;^3 die father of the subject removed 
\\ith his family from Pennsylvania to Stark 
county. C)hio. locating on a tract of land in 
Sugar Creek township, and it is interesting to 
ad^•ert to the fact that this pioneer homestead 
has e\Tr since remained in the possession of the 
family, being now in charge of the two sons of 
the lionored subject of this sketch. Joseph 
Boughman ]i\-ed only a few years after coming 
to Ohio, his death occurring- in 1839, as the re- 
sult of an accident, while he was but fifty-seven 
years of age when his life was thus summarily 
closed. His devoted wife ever remained faith- 
ful to his memory and her widowhood contin- 
ued f<)r the long period of thirtv-seven vears, 
lier death occurring on the old homestead in 
1866. at which time she was seventy-eight 
\-ears of age. P)Oth were de\'oted members of 
the K\-angelical or Albright church, and the 
fatb.er was a stanch supporter of the Democratic 
]jarty. taking an active and intelligent. interest 
in the questions of the day and being known as 
a man of high principles and strong intellect. 
He became the owner of three Inuidred and 
twenty acres of land in Stark county and would 
have undoubtedly pro^■ed one of the wealthy 
men of this section liad his life been spared, as 
the propert}' became valuable through its rec- 
lamation and improvement and enaliled his 
family to li\e in comfort and independence. 



though hard work was the portion of all its 
members in the early days. The father of the 
subject owned forty acres of land in Cinnber- 
land county, Pennsylvania, and there started 
out his married life under the most modest cir- 
cumstances, having to depend entirely on his 
own resources for a livelihood. In the family 
were six sons and six daughters, and of the 
number one of the sons and one of the daugh- 
ters are living at the present time, the subject 
of this review having been the tenth in order 
of birth. 

Daniel Boughman. to whom this sketch is 
dedicated, was about .se\-en years of age at the 
time of the family reniowil to Stark county. 
and he was reared to maturity on the old 
homestead, to the work of which he early be- 
gan to contribute his due quota, his father be- 
ing not long- spared to supervise the reclaiming 
of the land, so that each of the sons assun-ied 
his proper share of the work. Daniel received 
his early educational discipline in the district 
schools, and he gained mi httle prestige in 
mathematics, while it is ex'ident that he duly 
profited bv the privileges afforded him. since 
he became eligible for pedagogic work, and 
successfully taught one term of district school. 
He however did not find, it expedient to con- 
tinue in this field of endea\-or. and as a young 
m;m he learned the trade of carpenter, and for 
many years he devoted his attention to work 
along this line, becoming- one of the prominent 
contractors and builders of this .section of the 
counts', and having erected manv hi->uses 
and barns, as well as a number of 
church edifices. lie Ijecame the owner 
of two hundred and twenty acres of 
land, and one hundred and sixty acres 
of this he has given to his two sons, who are 
enterprising and honored farn-iers of Sugar 
Creek township, their l;md being a portion of 
the old homestead secured by their paternal 
grandfather upon coming to the county. The 
subject still retains the sixty acres. He has se- 



858 



OLD LANDMARKS 



cured the property through his own efforts, 
having inherited from the estate only forty- 
seven acres, while the remainder has been se- 
cured b}- purchase. Not only did he to a large 
extent reclaim his land from the virgin forest, 
but as the years passed and prosperity attended 
his well directed efforts he continued to make 
the best of improvements on the same, and the 
farm which he thus owned became one of tire 
valuable properties of the sort in the county. 
He has a commodious and pleasant home and 
there he has since lived practically retired. _ 
In politics Air. Boughman formerly gave his 
.support to the Democratic party, but so zealous 
an advocate has he been of the cause of tem- 
perance that in 1883 he decided to exercise his 
franchise in harmony with his convictions, and 
has since been stanchly arrayed in support of 
the I'rohiliition party. For the past thirty-six 
years he has been a zealous and consistent 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and within this time he has held all the import- 
ant ottices in the same, his tirst wife having 
likewise ]ieen a devoted member of the church, 
as is also the present Mrs. Boughman. 

On the 3d of Octol)er, 1S50, Mr. Bough- 
man was united in marriage to jNIiss Charlotte 
Gallatin, who was born in Lancaster county. 
Pennsylvania, in 1827, being a daughter of 
Jacob Gallatin, and she died on the iQth of 
September, 1875. ^t llie age of forty-eight 
years. Of this union were born tln-ee sons, 
namely: Franklin A., who died at the age of 
seven \\eeks, and IMelancthon A. and Homer 
I.. M'ho are prominent farmers of Stark county, 
as h;is been previously intimated in this context. 
On the 7th of March, 1878, Mr. Boughman 
consummated a second marriage, Ijeing then 
united to Mrs. Jane E. (Galehouse) Blocker, 
widow of Samuel Blocker. She was born in 
Wayne county, Ohio, and is a daughter of 
Daniel and Mary Galehouse. both of whom 
died in Wayne county. Ohio. Of this second 
union no children have been born. 



REV. E. E. ESSELBURNE is a native of 
the state of Wisconsin, having been born in the 
city of Appleton, on the 29th of November, 
1869. His elementary educational training 
was inaugurated in his native town, but he was 
a lad only seven years old at the time of his 
parents' removal to Cleveland, where he con- 
tinued his studies in the public schools, attend- 
ing the high school for two years, at the expira- 
tion of which he entered the academic depart- 
ment of the Western Reserve University, at 
Hudson, Ohio, where he completed his prepara- 
tory course, after which he was duly matricu- 
lated in the collegiate department. Shurtl\- 
afterwards he enterred Williams College, at 
Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he was 
graduated as a member of the class of 1888, re- 
ceiving the degree of Bachelor of Art^. 
Finally he was led to the determination of con- 
secrating" his life to the work of the Divine 
Master, and with this end in view he entered 
Bexley Hall, the divinity school of Kenyon 
College, that magnificent old institution so long 
conducted under church auspices, in Gambler, 
Ohio, and there he completed a thorough 
course of technical study and was graduated in 
1896. In June of that year he received dea- 
con's orders, and in Alay of the following year, 
in Trinity cathedral, in the city of Cleveland, 
he was ordained to the priesthood, under the 
a|)ostolic offices of Rt. Re\-. AV. A. Leonard. 
l)ishop of the diocese of Ohio. The subject 
initiated the work of his ministry as rector of 
-St. Paul's chtn"ch. in East Cleveland, where he 
remained in pastoral charge for four years. 
In March, 1901, he was appointed to his pres- 
ent position as rector of St. Paul's church, in 
Canton, where he has labored with devoted 
zeal. 



BENJAMIN F. REYNOLDS.— The in- 
dustrial activities of the city of Canton enlist 
the services of many worthy and honored citi- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



8 59 



zens, and among the number is the subject of 
this review, who has here maintained his home 
for more tlian three decades. The name which 
he bears is one that has been identified with the 
annals of American history from the early 
colonial epoch, the original ancestors in the new 
world having immigrated thither from Eng- 
land and taken up their abode in New England, 
ilr. Reynolds rendered honorable service in de- 
fense of the L'nion when its integrity was 
menaced by armed rebellion, and in all the re- 
lations of life he has ever been found true to 
duty and has pursued the even tenor of his way 
with a due sense of responsibility and with a 
wholesome appreciation of the dignity of hon- 
est tiiil. in whatexer sphere of action. 

The Reynolds family was established in 
Xew Haven, Connecticut, al^out the year 1880, 
and there Benjamin Reynolds, father of the 
subject, passed practically his entire life, his 
death there occurring, as did also that of his 
wife, whose maiden name was Moore. There 
they reared their children, one of whom was 
Benjamin Reynolds, the present subject. 

Benjamin F. Revnolds was born in the city 
of New Haven. Connecticut, on the 5th of 
September, 1830. and there his early education- 
al training was seciu'ed in the public schools. 
He was there residing at the time when the 
dark clouds of civil war obscured the national 
horizon, and. the loyalty and patriotism of his 
nature led him to tender his aid in behalf of the 
I 'nion. In t86i he enlisted as a private in the 
First Connecticut Fleavy Artillery, Avitli which 
he was in active service for three years, his 
command haA'ing been attached to the Army of 
the Potomac for the greater portion of this 
period and ha\ing ]iarticipated in many of the 
notable battles of the great internecine conflict, 
while the subject endured his full quota of the 
hardships which are invariablv the fortunes of 
warfare. 

At the close of the war he received an hon- 
orable discharge and was duly mustered out, 



after which he returned to New Haven, where 
he resumed the work of learning the trade of 
machinist, to which he had given his attention 
prior to going forth as a soldier of the repub- 
lic. In that city, in 1869, he was united in 
marriage to Miss Martha Lancaster, a native 
of New Haven, where she was born on the 6th 
of May, 1850, being a daughter of Henry and 
Sarah (Kimball) Lancaster, the former of 
whom was born in the state of Vermont, where 
his ancestors were numbered among the lirst 
settlers, the family being of English lineage. 
Henry f.ancaster eventually removed to New 
Haven, being- then a young man, and there he 
and his wife passed the remainder of their 
lives. 

In September, 1871, Mr. Reynolds came 
from New Haven to Canton, being accom- 
panied by his wife and their one child, then 
about a }ear old. Mr. Reynolds came to this 
city to enter the employ of P. P. Bush, who 
was here engaged in the manufacture of no\- 
elty iron goods, and he continued to hold the 
position of foreman in this establishment until 
the enterprise ceased tu exist, after which he 
Avorked for various concerns until 1888, Avhen 
he took a position in the great works of the 
Aultman Company, and has here been em- 
ployed as a maciiinist from that time to the 
present, being known as a skilled artisan and 
as one ever faithful to the duties devolving 
upon him. In politics Mr. Reynolds has ever 
given a stalwart allegiance to the Republican 
party. Mr. Reynolds' religious faith is that of 
the Protestant Episcopal church, of which he 
and the daughters are communicants. Frater- 
nally Mr. Reynolds is identified with George 
D. Harter Post No. 555, Grand Army of the 
Republic. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds have two 
children. Jessie Edith was born in New Haven, 
Connecticut, and was a mere infant at the time 
of her parents' removal from that city to Can- 
ton. Here in due course of time she entered 
the public schools, and when seventeen years 



S6o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of age she \Yas graduated in the Canton high 
school, and in the foUowing year entered upon 
a peculiarh- successful career as a teacher in the 
city schools, first becoming the instructor in 
the third grade of the Deuber school, and later 
being ])romoted to the fifth and finally to the 
sixth grade, in \\liich she is now teaching. She 
is known as one of the popular, enthusiastic 
and progressive teachers of the city and state, 
being a dexoted student and ever keeping 
abreast of the advances made in her profession. 
She holds membership in both the Stark County 
and the lii-County Teachers' Associations, and 
at all times takes a deep interest in the same. 
The younger daughter, Ruth b^hillips, was born 
in Cantou, and here completed her education 
in the high school, where she was graduated as 
a member of the class of 1897. In October of 
the following year she began her pedagogic 
'career as teacher of the second grade in the 
North Cherry Street school, and she is now 
teaching the fifth grade, wliile slie is a member 
of the same professional associations as is her 
elder sister and for the past year she has been 
a teacher in the Sunday school of St. Paul's 
I'rotestant Episcopal church, of which the 
familv are members. Both daughters are prom- 
inent in the best social life of the city and are 
young ladies of distinctive culture and refine- 
mentsl 



PROF. FR.\NK JONES.— The paternal 
ancestry of Prof. Jones is traced back 
to his great-great-grandfather, who was a na- 
tive of Wales. liis son, David Jones, the 
subject's great-grandfather, was born in the 
same country in 1781, his mother giving up her 
life at the birth of her son. Being thus bereft 
of a mother's care, he was taken in charge by 
two aunts, by ^\■hom he was reared. In 1798, 
when about eighteen years old, he emigrated to 
America and for a time located in Chester coun- 
ty, PennsN'lvania. where he met and married 



Sarah Mace. She was a native of Chester 
county, though of Irish descent, her father, 
Robert Mace, ha\"ing l:)een biirn on the Emerald 
Isle. After his marriage David Jones resided 
for a time in Chester county, but in 1835 came 
to Ohio, locating in Columbiana count}'. The 
long and tiresome jijurney was made in 
"Conestoga" wagons, and during the trip all 
of their children were sick. Reaching his des- 
tination Mr. Jones purchased a tract of land in 
West townslii]!. which he proceeded to clear up 
and impro\-e. 'i'heir first home was built of 
rough round logs and consisted of but one 
room, twentv li}- twenty feet in size, one end 
of tlie room l)eing occupied bv an old-fashioned 
fire ])lace, in which enoruKius fire logs were 
burned. Witli the assistance of his sons, Mr. 
Jones brought his farm up to a splendid condi- 
tion, and he resided upon this place until his 
death, in July, 1846. His widow survived him 
several years, dying in 1862, at the age of sev- 
enty-six years. Politically Mr. Jones was an 
old-line Whig, and he and his wife were both 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
They were the parents of the following children : 
(i) John, who was born in Chester county, 
Pennsylvania, remained there upon the old home 
farm and there died. For a life companion he 
chose Miss Sydney Seeds. ( 2) Joseph was tlie 
grandfather of the subject. (3) Sarah, who 
became the wife of Wesley Craig, died in 
Alinerva, Stark county, Ohio. (4) Anna, 
Mrs. Jereniiali Ilasslcr, makes her home with 
a son in Hamlin township, Eaton county, 
]\licliigan. (5) ^Margaret, who married Daniel 
I*". Hassler, died on the home farm in ^^'est 
township, (^'oluml>iana count}'. (6) Theo- 
philus died in 1845 in Columbiana county. 
(7) Mary, born in Pennsylvania, died in that 
state in infancy. (8) Daniel died in infancy. 
Tl-.e subject's grandfather, Joseph Jones, 
was born on the home farm. in Chester county, 
Pennsvlvania. on the 16th of NovembeT. t8o6, 
and in 1835 accompanied his parents up<:in their 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



86 1 



removal to Ohiii. lie recei\ec.l a fair educa- 
tion ill his native state, in riiiladelphia, 
Penns}-!\ania, iMay i8, 1828, he was united in 
marriage witli Miss Ann Robinson, a native of 
Briilgetop, Cumberland count}-, New Jersey, 
horn March 1, 1807. Her father was William 
R()):)inson and the maiden name of- her mother 
was Xancy Aloncrieff. The latter was born 
in l'~rance but accompanietl her parents to 
.America where they became e.xiles from their 
native land because of their identification with 
the Bonapartes. .\ member of this noted 
royal faniil}- married Miss Tatterson, of Balti- 
more. Maryland, and the Moncrieffs lived with 
them for a time at Bordentown, New Jersey, 
later remii\-ing to Bridgeton, that state. Upon 
his arrnal in Ohio Joseph Jones settled on sixty 
acres of land in West township, Columbiana 
county, and made this his home during the re- 
mainder of his life. His death occurred there 
in 1890 and his wife died September 7, 1874. 
In politics he was first a Whig, and later a Re- 
publican ;md A\ as elected and served for many 
years as trustee of his township. He and his 
wife were members i:>f the Disciples church. 
Mr. Jones had but one law suit during his en- 
tire life, and in that instance the jury accepted 
his own evidence as sufficient without the 
necessity of corroborating- witnesses. To 
Joseph Jones and his wife were bom children 
\\ho accompanied their parents upon their mi- 
gratiini to Ohio and four cliildren were born 
in the latter state. Their names are as follows : 
John, father of the subject; Thomas, who died 
in February, igoj, in Missouri, married Miss 
Julia Trilligarl. He plastered the house at St. 
Joe. Missouri, in which Jesse James was shot, 
and he afterwards picked out a bullet which had 
Ijeen inilieddecl in the wall : Sarah became the 
wife of John Myers, but died in West town- 
ship. Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1866; Eliza- 
beth was born in ^\^est township in August, 
184T. She received her primary education in 
the district schools, supplementing this by at- 



tendance for two terms at Mount Union 
College. Subsecjuently she engaged ni teach- 
ing, which occupation she followed five years. 
She married John Foulks, of Columbiana coun- 
ty, who was l)orn in West township, that coun- 
[y. June 5, 1840. At the outbreak of the \var 
of the Rebellion, Air. Foulks enlisted in Com- 
pany I, One Hundred and Seventy-eighth 
Regiment (Jhio A'olunteer Infantry, as a pri- 
\-ate and ser\'ed for eleven months as such. He 
was then made a special orderly to the general 
commanding and was in \\'ashington, D. C, 
until l'"ebruar}' ij. 1865, when he went back 
to Newbern, North Carolina, and was engaged 
in the fight with Bragg at Kingston. He re- 
ceived an honorable discharge at Charlotte, 
North (.'ar(jlina. June jy, 1865, and returned 
home. He remained upon his farm in West 
township until the spring of 1901, and then re- 
moved to' New Franklin, Stark county. Mr. 
and Mrs. I'oulks have one child. Anna, who is 
the wife of D. W. Bates, of West tow^nship. 
The si.Kth child of Joseph Jones is Hosea R., 
a contractor of Canton, wdio married Sarah 
Walters. Margaret is the wife of Calvin 
I'oulks. of Springport, Michigan. Theo]jhilus 
died in infancy. 

John Jones, father of the sulijcct, was born 
March i, 1829, at Valley Forge, Pennsyh-ania, 
Fie was about six years old at the time of his 
parents" remo\-al to this .state and he was reared 
to manhood on the home farm in West town- 
ship, Columbiana county. He acquired his 
education in the old log school house of that 
day. but, flespite the disadvantages and draw- 
backs, he became possessed of a good knowl- 
edge of the common branches. Upon reach- 
ing manhood's years he learned the trade of a 
stone mason and followed that occupation until 
his removal to Misoin-i in 1880. On the 27th 
of April, 1856, in ^^'est township, Columbiana 
county, Ohio, he was united in marriage with 
Miss Matilda Geisleman. She was born April 
23. 1837. the daughter of Jacob and Nancy 



862 



OLD LANDMARKS 



(Pancake) Geislenian, both born near Beaver, 
Pennsylvania. From the latter place they came 
to Ohio, locating near New London, Stark 
countv, where l\lr. Geisleman followed the pot- 
tery business. He subsequently purchased a 
farm just over the line in Columbiana county 
and lived there until Irs death in 1S79. He was 
twice married, his second wife having been 
]\Irs. Ann Crowl. 

After his marriage John Jones lived the 
greater part of his time until 1880 in Paris 
township. Stark county. In the years men- 
tioned he removed to Gait, Grundy county, 
Missouri, where lie purchased a farm and fol- 
lowed agriculture for some time, but is now 
retired. Politically he is a Republican, while 
religiously he and his wife are both consistent 
members of the Disciples church. They are 
the parents of the following children : Win- 
field S., born April 12, 1857, married Ellen 
McLaughlin and resides at West Liberty, 
Logan county, Ohio; Mary, born May 8, 1858, 
married Lewis Edwards and lives in Iowa; 
Frank, the subject, is the next in order of birth; 
Lawson, born October 6, i860, married Ethel- 
inda Snowden and resides at Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania : Olive, born February 15, 1865; 
William, born April 25, 1863, married Alverta 
Myers, and now resides at Mjnerva, Ohio; 
John, l)orn October 30, 1864, married Effie 
W'ebstcr and resides at Gait, Missouri ; Emma, 
l)orn November 25, t86S, liecame the wife of 
Isaac Vandegrift, of New Franklin, this state; 
Joseph, born January 13, 1871, died October 4, 
1876; Nancy, born March 7, 1873, married 
W^illiam Seamon, and died at Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania, September 29, 1901; Warren, born 
May 3, 1875, unmarried; Webster G., born 
March 31, 1877, unmarried, and David, who 
died in infancy. 

Frank Jones was born on the parental 
homestead in Paris township, Stark county, 
Ohio, on the ist day of June, 1859. At the 
age of five years he commenced attending the 



district schools, his first teacher being James 
Huston. As a boy Mr. Jones was fond of hunt- 
ing and trapping, acquiring this fondness from 
association witli his father, who was an ex- 
pert hunter. He continued his attendance at 
school until his eighteenth year, though during 
the summer ^•acations he and his brothers were 
employed in the work of the farm, and were 
also hired out to neighboring farmers. In 1877 
Ml". Jones, having decided upon teaching as a 
life work, attended the normal department of 
Ada University, and the following summer 
taught a term of school in what was known as 
the Fox district, Washington township. The 
following summer he taught at Paris and the 
next three years in the town schools of New 
Franklin. Having a desire to further improve 
himself in scholastic knowledge, he then en- 
tered Ada Uni^•ersity and ^^'as graduated there- 
from in 1885. During his entire college period 
his expenses were paid for through his own 
efforts. After leaving the university Mr. 
Jones taught one term of select school at Moul- 
trie, Ohio, after which he taught one winter 
term in his old home school. In 1886 he was 
employed as a teacher in the grammar school 
of Louisville, holding that position two years, 
and was then elected and served as superintend- 
ent of the same school for four years. In 18S0 
he attended a meeting of the state board of 
school examiners and was granted a teacher's 
life certificate. In November, 1892, Mr. Jones 
resigned his position in the schools of Louis- 
ville and accepted that of bookkeeper and man - 
ager for the Beatty Fire Plate Company. He 
shortly afterward gave up this position in or- 
der that he might take a course in chemistry, 
in pursuance of this plan attending Mt. Union 
College. Two months later he was ofifered the 
principalship of the South Market Street school 
at Canton, which he accepted and efficiently 
filled this post for six years. At the end of that 
time he went to Charlotte, Michigan, and en- 
gaged in the newspaper business, but shortly 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



863 



afterward went to St. Marys, Ohio, where for 
eighteen months he was engaged in the same 
hne of work. He was then offered and ac- 
cepted the principalship of tlie Fourth Street 
schools, Canton, and is stiU serving in that ca- 
pacity. 

On the 17th of August, 1886, Frank Jones 
was united in marriage with Miss Menie Rae- 
del. She was born March 29, 1864, at New 
FrankHn, and is the daughter of David Raedel. 
Her father was born at Isna, Wurtemberg, 
Germany, January 21, 1824, and came to the 
United States in 1849, landing at Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania. From there he went to Steuben- 
\ille. Ohio, thence to Canton, and from there 
to New Chambersburg. He married, in Paris 
township, Lydia Conrad, and to them has been 
horn one child, Anna M., whose birth occurred 
in Louisville, Ohio, May 23, 1892. 

Politically Professor Jones has all his life 
ijeen a stanch advocate of the principles of the 
Republican party, while religiously he and his 
wife are faithful and consistent members of 
the Trinity Reformed church, taking an active 
interest in the work of that society. Professor 
Jones is also a member of the Stark County 
Teachers' Institute and of the Bi-County 
Teachers' Association. Fraternally he is a 
member of the Free and Accepted Masons and 

1 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

Professor Jones is a well educated, sym- 
metrically developed man, his record as an edu- 
cator having brought him prominently to the 

. notice of the public, the result of which is a 
demand for his services where a high standard 
of professional excellence is required. He is 
a gentleman of scholarly tastes and studious 
habits, keeps abreast the times in advanced ed- 
ucational methods and his general knowledge 
is broad and comprehensive. Because of his 
courteous manners, genial disposition and gen- 
nine worth he has gained a host of warm per- 
gonal friends in the city of Canton and else- 
where. 



MARY J. PRINCE.— Among the efficient, 
well-known and popular educators of Canton 
is Miss Mary J. Prince, who has long been en- 
gaged in the city schools and who because of 
her many fine personal qualities and her pecu- 
liar fitness for her chosen vocation has won for 
herself a warm place in the hearts of all with 
whom she has formed an acquaintance. The 
subject's family name was originally "Printz." 
but by the last several generations ot the family 
the name has been used in its present form. 
Miss Prince's great-grandfather, George 
Printz, was a native of Hesse-Cassel, Ger- 
many, and was reared about as were other 
farmers" sons of the period, his father being a 
wealthy land owner. He came to America 
with his father when eight years of age, in 
1749, this being at a period antedating the 
.\merican war for independence. Upon their 
arrival in this country they proceeded at once 
to Pennsylvania, and the father later entered a 
tract of land situated among the Blue Ridge 
mountains in Virginia. He married a Miss 
Shaffer, and by lier had two sons, Reuben and 
Joseph. In an early day George Printz made a 
trip to Ohio and there entered one hundred and \ 
sixty acres of land in what is now Canton town- 
ship, Stark county, the tract being now known 
as the Rohrer farm. Returning to his home in 
Virginia, he subsequently divided this Ohio 
property equally between his two sons, who had 
expressed their willingness to settle upon it. 
George Printz was very prosperous and was a 
large land owner. He and his wife both died 
in Virginia. 

Reuben Prince, one of the sons just men- 
tioned, and the grandfather of the subject, M-as 
born on the parental homestead in Virginia, 
and was reared and educated in his native state. 
Upon reaching years of maturity he married 
Miss Anna Judd, a native of the same state, 
though of English extraction. In 1826, with 
his wife and children, he came to Ohio, mak- 
ing the journey in "Conestoga" wagons, and 



864 



OLD LANDMARKS 



at once located on the eighty acres of kuul 
which had been given to him by his father. It 
\yas located in tlie midst of a dense wilderness, 
but he built a rude log cabin for the protection 
of the family and at once entered upon the task 
of clearing the land and making it ht for culti- 
vation. He remained upon that place until the 
death of his wife, in 1S34, when he removed to 
Canton, remaining there during the remainder 
of his life. He was again married after com- 
ing" to Canton, his second wife's maiden name 
Ijeing Dolly Souers. His children, all born to 
the first union, -were as follows: William, who 
married Christina Rex, died in Canton: George 
is the father of the sul)ject : Frances is the wife 
of Isaac Douber and resides near Fort \A'ayne. 
Indiana ; Al^salom left Canton for the west 
many years ago and has not since been heard 
from : John, who was a vetran of the Civil war, 
married Miss Jane Poole and his death took 
place at Minerva, this county ; Christina wa- 
the wife of William Double, but died some 
vears ago in Indiana: Daniel, who died in Can- 
ton, was twice married, first to Elizabeth Yam, 
whose death occurred in Canton: Henry, who 
also died in Canton, married Elizabeth Moos- 
hower: Rebecca l)ecame the wife of Hemy 
Bemenderfer. 

George Prince was born on the home farm 
of Page county, Virginia, November 18, 1818, 
and recei>-ed but little schooling in his native 
state. At the age of eight years he came to 
Stark ciinnty, Ohio, and liere completed his 
education, first attending what was known as 
the old Brenner school in Canton township and 
later attending what was known as the "Old 
Salt Box." When fifteen years old he came 
to Canton and was ap])renticed to a Mr. White 
to learn the trade of shoemaking, making" his 
home A\'ith Iiis employer. He successfully fol- 
lowed this trade a1»ut thirty years and then 
entered the employ of the Bucher-Gibbs Plow 
Works, remaining there until about 18S3, since 
\\hich time he has li\ed retired. In 1834 he 



was united in marriage with 2\Iiss IMartha J. 
Kille, \\ho was horn in Paris, Stark county, in 
1830, the daughter of Thomas C. and Jane 
(Hines) Kille. 

The Hines family were among the pioneers 
who settled along the Juniata river in Pennsyl- 
vania, the emigrant ancestors of the family be- 
ing John and Henry Hines, who came to Amer- 
ica from Hano\er, Germany, in 1767. John, 
who settlcil at a place then called Standing 
Rock, was the great-great-grandfather of Mary 
J. Prince. He entered land there and during 
the Revolutionary war took an active part on 
the side of the colonists. The Indians at- 
tacked the settlers in that section and they 
were compelled to flee for safety. The mem- 
bers of the Hines family all escaped except one 
son, ■\\ ho was killed, d'hev had been H\ing in 
a stone building that at one time had served as 
a fort, but upon the outbreak of hostilities they 
fled to the eastern part of the state. John 
Hines was a prominent and well-kno\\'n man, 
noted for intelligence and as a man of consid- 
erable means, his brother and he acquiring 
large tracts of land at Standing" Rock. They 
were getting along nicely when, one night in 
1776, some settlers stopped at their place and 
told them that the Iroquois and ^lohawk In- 
tlirins were on the war path, killing and mo- 
lesting all the settlers in the valley. The 
brothers started at once in search of their 
horses, but became separated. John found two 
horses and, hastily hitching them to a wagon, 
put into it the members of the family and 
started for a place of safety. His son John. 
the subject's great-grandfather, was among the 
children, being then but two years old. They 
started down the river, and though diligent in- 
quiry was made, no news Avas e\"er afterward 
received of the missing brother. John Hines, 
with his family, succeeded in eluding the sav- 
ages and located in Delaware county, Pennsyl- 
vania. But he had escaped the savages only 
to come in contact with the British General 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



865 



Howe and his Hessian soldiers, so he soon af- 
terward cast his fortune with the army of 
patriots under General Washington. He 
fought bravely for the cause of independence 
and in the battle received a sabre cut at the 
hands of a Hessian soldier, being thus crippled 
for life. It is related that once a party of 
Hessian soldiers came to the Hines place, just 
after Mrs. Hines had finished baking. The 
soldiers immediately proceeded to clean the 
place of all kinds of eatables, thus placing the 
family in an embarrassing situation. Upon 
the close of the war John Hines found himself 
ruined in health and in finance, and in the hope 
of recouping his fortune he removed to Lan- 
caster county, the same state. In this new 
home the son John was reared to manhood 
and eventually married Miss Mary McKnight, 
I after \\ hich they made their home on an island 
in the Susquehanna river. Here Jane Hines. 
grandmother of the subject, Avas born June 4, 
iSoo. John Hines remained in Lancaster 
county until 1806, when he removed to Win- 
chester county, Virginia, and from there, in 
1808, went to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In 
1 8 16 or 1824 he came to Stark county, Ohio, 
locating in Paris township. 

The ]\IcKnight family came originally from 
Ulster county, Ireland, and it is a matter of 
record that Mary, wife of John Hines, had a 
sister Margory, who became the wife of an 
uncle of President James Buchanan. In 181 1 
Jane Hines witnessed the launching of the first 
steamboat on the Ohio river. 

The Kille family, from whom the subject 
is descended on the maternal side, had its 
origin in the Highlands of Scotland, coming 
frnni the town of Kille Cran-kee, northwest of 
Li ich Lomond, the latter place the scene of two 
noted events. One was the burning of Kille 
Christ church, by the Macdonalds, at a time 
when the church was filled with women, of 
whom not one escaj^ed. The second noted 
event was the battle of Kille Cronks, between 
54 



the armies of King William of England and 
King James of Scotland. Robert Burns made 
reference to the family name in several of his- 
poems, referring in one instance to "The high- 
born dames of Kille." Upon their emigration 
to the new world the ancestors of the Kille 
fainily first settled at Salem, New Jersey, their" 
location there antedating the landing of Will- 
iam Penn. Great-grandfather Kille was a 
(juaker in his religious belief, and his wife was 
an out-and-out Tory, taking especial delight 
in abusing George Washington. Grandfather 
Thomas Kille was born at Salem, New Jersey,. 
December 8, 1785. At the age of fourteen 
years he went to Philadelphia, remaining there 
about ten years. He did not inherit the Tory 
procli\-ities of his mother, being neither Quaker 
nor Tory, and during the war of 1812 he vol- 
unieered to fight against the British, for whichj 
he was condemned by the Quakers and he sub- 
sequently joined the Methodist Episcopal 
church. For his services during the war o£ 
1812, the government granted to his wife a 
warrant to land near Paris, Stark county. The 
Penns, Claytons, (laskells and Killes intermar- 
ried and several members of the families at- 
tained to positions of marked prominence and 
inlluence. Thomas Kille's first wife was a 
]\Iiss Chandler, of Mayflower stock. 

The mother of the subject died in Septem- 
ber, 1873. ^"<^^ George Prince, on June 18, 
1876, married Miss Mary Risher, whose death 
occurred in 1883. To the first union were 
born the following children: Charles O., of 
Canton, married Minnie Cowley; Mary J. is- 
the subject; William R., of Canton; Thomas 
C. maintains his residence in Canton, but is 
now stationed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
where he fills the position of quartermaster in 
the United States navy, holding the rank of 
major; Anna died in infancy. 

Mary J. Prince, whose name appears at the 
head of this sketch, was born on the 22d of 
August, 1856, in a house that stood on the site 



866 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of her present home, East Tuscarawas street, 
Canton, Oliio. Her education was obtained 
in the pul)Hc schools of the city of Canton, her 
attendance there ending", however, when she 
was about sixteen years old. She liad been a 
iaithful and conscientious student, and at tlie 
j\o;e of nineteen years was granted a hcense to 
teach her tirst school, it being what is now 
known as the Liberty Street school. After 
four years' successful service here she was 
transferred to the East Fifth Street school for 
one year and then to the East Eighth Street 
school, where she remained four years. She 
then returned to the Liberty Street school for 
four years. Her close confinement to^ her 
school duties caused her health to fail in a 
measure, and for a year or more she was com- 
pelled to give up teaching, but when a1)le to 
resume her pedagogical labors she was as- 
-signed to duty at the East Eighth Street school, 
where she has since maintained a deep and 
abiding interest in her profession, realizing the 
responsibility resting- upon her as a guardian 
o^■er the minds and hearts of those committed 
to her charge. She keeps closely in touch with 
the most advanced and up-to-date methods in 
teachmg- and maintains an active membership 
in the Stark l"ounty Teachers' Institute. Re- 
ligiously she is a member of the First ^leth- 
odist church. Popular alike with school pa- 
tr'ins and pupils, amljitious at all times to e.x- 
cell in her work and ever courteous and com- 
panionable, she has long held a warm place in 
the hearts of all with \vhom she has formed ac- 
tiuaintance 



CHARLES FREDERICK STOKEY, A. 

M. — From the most reliable information ob- 
t:iinal)le it appears that the original ancestors of 
the Stokey family were of Anglo-Saxon blood. 
Inn many centuries ago some of them went to 
Switzerland, in which country the name, with 
<lifferent spellings, has lieen familiar to the 



present day. Prof. Stokey's paternal great- 
grandfather, Henry Stokey. was a native of 
Switzerland, and. when a young man. changed 
his residence to France. His son Frederick, 
with his family, including his son Charles, came 
to the United States in 1827, locating for a 
while in New Jersey. He was a skilled me- 
chanic, working at various places in this coun- 
try, finally locating at Syracuse, New York, 
where his death occurred a number of years 
ago. His wife. Susan (LeClair) Stokey, sur- 
vi\ed him some years, dying at the home of 
her daughter. Mrs. Fercist, in Wood county. 
Ohio, aged about ninety years. 

Cliarles Stokey was born in the department 
of the D<:iul)s. h'rance. about si.x miles from the 
Swi.ss border, in the year 181 1. \\\i\\ the ex- 
ception of private instruction he had compara- 
ti\el\' few educational advantages, notwith- 
standing whicli he early became proficient in 
(German and brench. besides acquiring by pri- 
\ate reading a wide general knowledge. I'nder 
his father's instruction he became a skilled arti- 
san, and the twi > worked together in their native 
countiw- until the family immigrated to the 
Ignited States. Charles being' sixteen vears old 
at the time. For some time after coming to 
this country Charles Stokey worked in an es- 
tablishment in New York city where surgeon's 
instruments were r.ianufactured. and while 
there met Air. Hassler. superintendent of the 
coast surve}'. l.\v whom he was employed to 
go to Washington City and undertake, under 
Joseph Saxton. uncle of Joseph S. Saxtoii, df 
Canton, the work of making a full set of stand- 
ard weights and measures to be used through- 
out the United States, a task requiring great 
skill and the utmost scieiitihc accuracy. '\\r. 
Stokey was well fitted to do this work, and in 
due time the set for the general government was 
in readiness, after Avhich he was required to 
make a similar set for each state in the L'niuii. 
These standards of weight and measure may be 
seen todav at the different state capitals, the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



867 



ones at the national capital being' kept securely 
locked in a certain room of the treasury de- 
partment. The measures are made of brass 
and, like everything else in the possession of 
the go\'ernment, are kept in the best possible 
condition, being so brilliantly polished that the 
slightest touch of the finger will leave a tarnish 
upon the bright surface. During the Civil 
war Prof. Stokey was stationed near Wash- 
ington city, and desiring to see these specimens 
of his father's handiwork, he visited the patent 
ofTice. where they were then kept. Later, in 
1876, in the presence of professors and students 
of Mt. Union College, he was permitted to lay 
his hand upon the bright bushel measure. No 
sooner had he done this than the custodian be- 
gan rubbing the spot touched with a piece of 
chamois skin, until its original brilliancy was 
restoretl. Mr. Stokey always considered these 
standard weights and measures his master- 
pieces of workmanship, as they are mechan- 
ically as perfect and scientifically as accurate 
as human skill could make them. Charles 
Stokey spent four years of close, hard work 
on these devices, and resided in the national cap- 
ital from 1837 to 1841. In the latter year he 
abandoned mechanical pursuits and moved to 
the woods of Wayne county, Ohio, where he 
cleared and developed a farm, on which he 
lived for a period of about twenty-one years. 
Disposing of his fru'm in 1S62, he came to Can- 
ton, and for some time thereafter worked for 
Ephraim Ball & Company, of this city, con- 
tinuing in their employ until failing health 
I'ibliged him to retire from actixe life. He died 
in the year 1872, deeply lamented by all who 
k-new him. ]\Ir. Stokey was married at Phila- 
delphia. Penrisyhania, in 1837, to Miss Mary 
Eicher, who was liorn in France in the }ear 
1 81 3. She accompanied her parents to the 
I'nited States in 182S, and died at Canton in 
t8c)i. C^riginally Charles Stokey was a Hugue- 
not in his religion, but after coming to Canton 
united with the INIethodist Episcopal church, to 



the teachings of which he continued faithful to 
the end of his days. ^Irs. Stokey was also a 
member of the church to which her husband be- 
longed, and like him exemplified her faith by a 
life singularly upright and pure. 

Charles Frederick Stokey was born in Mil- 
ton township, Wayne count}", Ohio, January 
20, 1845. ^'^t the proper age he entered the 
district schools of his native place and there 
pursued his studies until his parents moved to 
Stark county, when he became a pupil in the 
Canton schools. After spending two years in 
the city high school he entered Allegheny 
College, at Meadville, Pennsylvania, and in due 
time completed the prescrilied course of that in- 
stitution, graduating in the year 1872. Mean- 
time, in 1867, Prof. Stokey began teaching in 
the public schools of Stark county and after 
iinishing his collegiate course taught one year 
in the state of Pennsyhania. His next edu- 
cational work was in a military school at 
Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1874 he was 
elected principal of the high school at East 
Li\erpool, Ohio. Severing his connection with 
the schools of that city, Prof. Stokey accepted 
the chair of modern languages (French and 
German) in Mt. Union College, and after hold- 
ing the position two years he came to Canton 
in 1877 to take charge of the special depart- 
ment of the' public schools. While here he 
was elected superintendent of schools at Cha- 
grin ]""alls, where he served one year. While 
at Ciiagrin Falls he was elected teacher of Ger- 
man in the Canton schools, where he served 
three years, when he was transferred back to 
the special school, then to tiie high school, as 
assistant, and finally he was made principal of 
the Crystal Park schools. 

Possessing marked abilit}' as a teacher and 
manager of schools, an indefatigable worker 
and thoroughly in love with his profession, it 
follows as a natural sequence that Prof.- Stokey 
should become an important factor not only in 
connection with the educational work of his 



868 



OLD LANDMARKS 



prescribed province, but in a field far transcend- 
ing local limitations. His distinctive intel- 
lectuality and high attainments give him pres- 
tige among the leading educators of Canton 
and Stark county, and his efficiency is shown in 
a most pronounced way by his work since be- 
coming identified with the city school system. 
The Professor is a member of the Stark County 
Teachers' Institute and the author of the pres- 
ent constitution of that body. He has been a 
potential factor in the deliberations of this and 
. other educational assemblies, taking a leading 
part in their pul.ilic discussions and frequently 
addressing his fellow teachers or reading 
liefore them carefull}- prepared papers noted 
for scholarship and erudition. In addition 
to his professional duties Professor Stokey 
is now employed by the national weather 
bureau as special rain-fall and the corn and 
wheat region observer. He also has a mili- 
tary record, having served during the last 
year of the Civil war, in the One Himdred and 
Ninety-lifth Ohio Infantry, which was sta- 
tioned during the greater part of that time in 
the Shenandoah valley and then in Washing- 
ton, D. C. He discharged his duties as a 
l^rave and faithful soldier, but did not experi- 
ence any very trying ser\-ice, owing to the late- 
ness of his enlistment. He had enlisted in 
1862, under Lieut. Thaddeus K.'Cock. of the 
Seventy-sixth C)hio \'olunteer Infantry 
Capt. Muhlenberg, of the Thirteenth United 
States Army, refused to muster him into the 
service, because he was only seventeen. 

In his fraternal relations Prof. Stokey is 
identified with the Royal Arcanum and the 
Grand Army of the Republic, having served 
five years as quartermaster of McKinley Post 
Xo. 2-f and two years as adjutant. Politically 
he is an unswerving supporter of the Republi- 
can party, and as such has wielded a strong 
influence in its behalf, although he is by no 
means narrow or intolerant in his views. Per- 
sonally he is a most companionable gentleman, 



a fa\orite in social circles and courteous in h 
demeanor to all with whom he comes in cor 
tact. His long residence in Canton has mad 
him well acquainted with the people of th 
city and county, and wherever known he : 
honored for his inflexible integrity in though 
word and deed. 

On the 23d day of December. 1874, in tli 
city of Pittsburg, was solemnized the marriag 
of Prof. Stokey and Miss ]\Iargaret Grace 
Provines, of Washington county, Pennsylvanij 
daughter of John and Jane (Gracey) Provine; 
both of Scotch-Irish descent. This union ha 
resulted in the birth of fi\'e children, the oldes 
of whom is William Provines, first lieutenan 
in the engineer corps of the United State 
army, stationed at Washington, D. C. H 
was graduated from West Point in 1900, an^ 
is a young man of exceptional abilities, with 
bright and promising future before him. Aim 
Gracey, the second in order of birth, is a stu 
dent at Oberlin College; Fred Eicher is a ma 
chinist in the emplo}' of the Hampden \\'atcl 
Works. Laura Euphemia, who is still a mem 
ber of the home circle, attended the Deacones 
School in Washington, I). C, and is now ; 
nurse in the Aultman hospital in this city. Ev; 
Christine, the youngest of the fannl}-. is ; 
senior in the Canton high school, with a fin 
record as a student. 



PROF. WALTER S. RUFF.— Prof. Ruf 
is descended on the father's side from an ok 
German family whose representatives came tc 
America in colonial times and settled in \\'est 
moreland county, Pennsylvania. Several o 
his ancestors did distinguished service in th( 
war for independence and in flie early annal: 
of the above county the name frequently ap 
pears in connection with civil as well as witi 
military affairs. Daniel Rufif, the subject"; 
grandfather, was a native of Westmorelanc 
count}, but as long ago as 181 6 migrated tc 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



869 



Columbiana county, Ohio, settling in the wil- 
derness of what is now West township. He 
A\as a true type of the sturdy pioneer of the 
early day and performed well his part in clear- 
ing the land, in developing the resources of 
^\ hat has since become one of the most enter- 
prising and enlightened sections of the Buck- 
eye state. He married, in the county of Co- 
lumbiana, Barbara Bair, and the two lived long 
and happily together on a farm near the town 
of New Chambersburg, the wife dying- in 1880, 
aged seventy-six, the husband in 1892, in his 
eighty-fifth year. 

Among the children. of Daniel and Bar- 
bara Rui'f was a son by the name of Albert, 
\\ho was born in Columbiana county on the 
14th day of September, 1839. He was reared 
as a tiller of the soil and has spent all of his life 
in that honorable vocation, being still a resi- 
dent of the township and county of his birth. 
\\'hen the late Civil war broke out he enlisted 
at New Chambersburg in the Eighty-sixth In- 
fantry, with which he served three months, at 
the expiration of which time he joined the One 
Hundred and Ninety-first Ohio Volunteers. He 
accompanied the latter command to the front 
and saw considerable active service, but re- 
ceived his discharge one year later, having en- 
listed for only that length of time. Albert 
Ruff was married, in 1873, to Miss Malinda 
Summer, daughter of Noah Summer, of Co- 
lumbiana county ; Mrs. Ruff was born at East 
Rochester, Ohio, in the year 1849, ^^d is 
still living in West township, where she and her 
husband set up their domestic establishment 
immediately after the celebration of their mar- 
riage. She is the mother of three children, the 
subject of this review being the eldest; the 
other two are Carrie and Agnes, both living in 
their native county. 

Prof. Walter S. Ruff was born on the fam- 
ily homestead near New Chambersburg, Co- 
lumbiana county, Ohio, January 4. 1874, and 
until the age of sixteen remained with his par- 



ents, assisting as soon as old enough with the 
varie<l labors of the farm. At the proper age 
he entered the district school near his home, 
and his progress may be inferred from the fact 
that when but sixteen years old he secured a 
teacher's license and entered upon his career as 
an educator. Mr. Ruff taught his first term 
in the village of New Alexander in the sum- 
mer of 1890, and the winter following attended 
school in order to fit himself for more efificient 
service as an instructor. The next year he 
took charge of his home school, known as the 
Bunker Hill district, and after a very success- 
ful term there was elected during the ensuing 
three or four years to teach near the village of 
Minerva. Appreciating the demand of the age 
for teachers of professional training, as well as 
intellectual qualifications, he spent his vaca- 
tions attending the Normal University at Ada, 
where, in addition to a critical review of the 
common and higher branches, he took a thor- 
ough course in pedagogy. In this way he pre- 
pared himself for greater efificiency in his 
chosen field of endeavor, bring'ing to his work 
a well-disciplined mind and a full apprecia- 
tion of the responsibilities resting upon him, 
not only as an instructor but as a builder of 
character. 

From 1897 to 1900, inclusive, Prof. Ruff' 
taught at New Water ford, and while there was 
united in marriage, on the 23d of November, 
1898, to Miss I^retta Sanor, who had former- 
ly been his pupil at New Alexander. In Aug- 
ust, 1900, Prof. Ruff accepted the principalship 
of the Clarendon Avenue school. Canton, and 
after filling the position one year was made 
principal of the larger building on East Eighth 
street, where he now labors. Prof. Ruff's 
continued success as a teacher convinces him 
that his sphere of usefulness lies in the educa- 
tional field, consequently he proposes making 
it his life work. He is essentially a self-made 
man, and has risen to his present responsible 
station bv his own efforts. Fortune cast no 



870 



OLD LANDMARKS 



glittering favors in his pathway, but instead 
he was obhged to surmount discouraging ob- 
stacles, and it was only by sheer force of will, 
backed by a laudable ambition to rise, that he 
was eventually able to reach the goal of suc- 
cess. Like all progressive educators, he has 
become identified with several teachers' organi- 
zations of the city and county, being a member 
of the Bi-county Teachers' Institute. He also 
belongs to the Masonic lodge in Canton, and in 
politics is a stanch supporter of the Republican 
party. In matters religious he is a Presby- 
terian, belonging, with his wife, to the First 
church of that denomination in this city. Prof, 
and Mrs. Ruft have a neat and attractive home 
on Woodland avenue, where they dispense with 
a spirit that sweetens the welcome a generous 
hospitaiit\- tn their many friends and acquaint- 
ances. 



D.W'ID S. SO]\l.MER.— Joseph Sommer. 
father of the subject, was born near the famed 
old city of Strassburg, in the province of Al- 
sace, L^'rance. now a part of Germany, the year 
of his nativity ha\-ing been 181 7. There he 
was reared and educated and there he learned 
the miller's trade. As a Aoung man. and de- 
pendent entu'eh" upon his (iwn resources in 
fighting the stern battle of life, he proceeded to 
Har\e, France, whence he set sail for America, 
landing in New York city and thence making 
his way directly to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he 
had acquaintances. In that city he secured em- 
ployment in a brewery, later was engaged in 
farm work and eventually entered the employ 
of Joseph .\ugspurger, who was engaged in 
the distilling Inisiness in Butler county, this 
state. T'nere, in the year 1 844, he was united 
in marriage to !Miss Catherine Augspvu'ger, a 
daughter of his employer, and shortly after- 
ward he came with his bride to Stark county, 
where he rented a farm near the \-ill'ige "f 
Paris, in the township of the same name. He 



continued in agricultural pursuits on rented land 
until, b}' industry and good management, he 
had accunuilated sufficient funds to justify him 
in the purchase of a farm of his own. In 1849 
he bought a tract of one hundred and sixty 
acres, in Perry township, and there remained 
until 1S69, having made good improvements 
on the place and brought it under effective cul- 
tivation. In the year mentioned he disposed 
of the propert}' and purchased the fli:iuring- 
mills at Plain Center, three miles north of 
Canton, in Plain township, and continued tc> 
successfully operate the same, being a thor- 
oughly competent and practical miller, until 
about 1878, when he retired in favor of his 
sons, Joseph, John and Henry, who have since 
carried the enterprise successfully forward, 
ha\-ing been thoroughly trained liy their father. 
Joseph Sommer finally came to Canton, where 
he passed his declining days in the home of 
his son John, on South McKinley avenue, 
where he died in ]Sc)i. honored by all who knew 
him and known as a man of ability and in- 
flexible integrity. In politics he accorded a 
stanch adherence to the Democratic party, and 
his religious faith was that of the ]\Iennonite 
church, of which his wife likewise was a con- 
sistent member, her death having occurred in 
the year 1876. They became the parents of 
seven children, concerning whom brief record 
is as follows : Joseph died in Canton, on the 
i8th of March, 1897, a bachelor; Henry re- 
mains at the old home in I'lain township, (Op- 
erating the mills to which reference has been 
made, and he married ^lary Kropf ; Jrihn, who 
is engaged in the grocery business in Canton, 
married Fannie Kropf: Jacob died near Eaton, 
Ohio, in iNlay, 1902; Catherine is the wife of 
Christian Auspurger. of Berne, Intliana ; Da- 
vid S. is the immediate subject of this sketch, 
an.d Lizzie is the \\ife of Charles Beard, of 
Plain township. 

David S. Sommer was born on his father's 
farm, in Perr\- townshii), this count\', on the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



87 s 



29th ol Fel.)ruary, i860, and thus he has the- 
oretically a birthday anniversary only once in 
foitr years, as February can claim twenty-nine 
days only in the leap years. He grew up un- 
der the sturdy discipline of the farm, and 
from the age of fourteen contributed his ([uota 
to its work during the summer seasons, while 
he attended the district schools during- the win- 
ter months, his first teacher. having" been I\Iiss 
Sarah l^ohrer. He C(jntinued to work on the 
farm and in his father's mill until he had at- 
tained the age of eighteen years, after which 
he continued his studies for two years in the 
normal school at Lebanon, this state, where he 
rounded out a good practical education. After 
leaving school he was for eight 3'ears employed 
as clerk in Hamilton county and for one year 
was similarly engaged in a mercantile estab- 
lishment in Canton. The following year he 
acted as collector for his brothers, in connec- 
tion with the milling business. In 1888 he was 
married, and shortly afteward established his 
home at 906 East Second street. Canton, and 
here he engaged in the freight hauling or trans- 
fer busmess, in \\liich he continued for eleven 
years, building up a successful enterprise in 
the line and gaining- a wide circle of acquain- 
tances in the city. In 1899 he was elected to his 
present responsible office as street commis- 
sioner, as the candidate on the Democratic 
ticket, and that his handling of the work as- 
signed to his control has been satisfactorily 
handled needs no further voucher than the fact 
that he has i)een continued in the office consec- 
utively to the present time. He has shown 
m.arked discrimination and judgment in his 
office, and through his excellent executive abil- 
ity has not only done much to bring about 
needed improvements but also has conserved 
economy in this department of the municii)al 
service. Mr. Sommer has ever given an un- 
compromising allegiance to the Democratic 
part}', his first presidential vote having been 
cast in support of (_iro\-er CleAeland. at the 



time of his first nomination, and he has taken 
an active interest in the party work. He and 
his wife are zealous members of the Mennonite 
church, of which he became a member in 187S 
and she in 1883. 

On the 1 6th of February, 1888, Mi: Som- 
mer was united in marriage, in Canton, to Miss 
Anna Kropf, a sister of the wives of his broth- 
ers Ilenry and John. She was boni near Paris, 
this county, on tlie iJth of October, 1867, be- 
ing a daughter of Christian and Barbara 
(Keese) Kropf, who are now residents of Can- 
ton. They removed from Paris townsliip to 
New P)erlin, I'lain townshi]), when she was an 
infant, and there she was reared to maturity, 
receiving her education in the pul)lic schools. 
i\Ir. and Mrs. Sommer ha^•e four children. 
namely: Walter J., who was born in Cantun, 
on the 20th of April, 1889 ; Homer D., who was 
born in this city on the 26th of December. 
189T ; Marie C, who was born on the 18th of 
September, 1894, and Helen B., who is likewise 
a native of Canton, where she was born De- 
cember 31,1 896. 



ELMER E. SCHECJ.— AmiMig the able 
and pojiular representatives of educational in- 
terests in the city of Canton is the subject of 
this sketch, who is incumbent of the responsible 
position of principal of the Hartford Street 
school. He is a native son of the Buckeye 
state, and thus the more interest attaches to a 
consideration of his life history in the compila- 
tion. He is a son of Henry Scheu, who was born 
in tiie jiicturesque and historic old universitY 
city of Heidelberg, Germany, in the year 1822. 
There he attended school until he had attained 
the age of fourteen years, after which he was 
identified with agricultural pursuits in that sec- 
tion of the great German empire until 1843. 
when, at the age of twenty-one years, he sev- 
ered the ties that bound him to home and fa- 
therland and set forth to seek his fortunes in 



8-2 



OLD LANDMARKS 



America, where so many of .his countrymen 
ha\e found homes and attained success and in- 
dependence, the German element in our com- 
plex social fabric being one of the most valu- 
able in the entire composite makeup. He 
landed in New York city, whence he came di- 
rectly to Ohio and located in the town of 
Ragersville, Tuscarawas county, where he for 
a time gave- his attention to agricultural pur- 
suits, but eventually engaged in the dry-goods 
business in that town, continuing in this line 
of enterprise during the remainder of his act- 
ive career. He began operations in a modest 
way and succeeded in building up a large busi- 
ness becoming one of the leading and most 
inihicntial citizens of the town and being hon- 
ored for his sterling integrity and his honor- 
able life. About two years after locating in 
Ragersville he was united in marriage to Miss 
I.ouisa Steiner, who was born in Switzerland, 
about the year 1836, and who was there reared 
ami educated, being al)Out twenty-one years 
of age when she accompanied her parents on 
their emigration to the United States, the fam- 
il_\' locating in Tuscarawas county, where her 
parents passed the residue of their lives. She 
died in Ragersville, in 1882, and her husband 
passed away in 1887, both having been devoted 
members of the German Reformed church, 
while he was a stanch Democrat in his political 
proclivities. Of their children the following 
is a brief record: Charlotte is the wife of 
Fred Zimmerman, of Tuscarawas county; Liz- 
zie is the wife of Christian Beller, of that coun- 
ty : Caroline is the wife of John Kline, of 
Midvale, that county ; Henry is deceased, as 
is also Charles; Mary is the wife of William 
Canada, of Cleveland, Ohio, in which city also 
resides Louisa, the next in order of birth; 
Susan, tlie wife of Thomas Walker, is de- 
ceased; Rose, the wife of Frank Garver, of 
Ragersville. is deceased; iMcClelland is a farm- 
er near Osnaburg, Stark county ; Lewis resides 
in Ragersville ; lilnier E. is the immediate sub- 



ject of this sketch ; Phoebe is the wife of Daniel 
Rice, of Canal Dover, and Robert is a resident 
of the state of Washington. 

Elmer E. Scheu was born in Ragersville, 
Tuscarawas county, on the 21st of November, 
iS68, and there his early educational discipline 
was received in the public schools, his boyhood 
days being passed on' a farm, which was in 
close proximity to the village, and when not 
in school he assisted in the work of the home- 
stead. At the age of eighteen years, in 1887, 
he was matriculated in Smithville Normal 
School, in Wayne county, this state, where he 
continued his studies for three terms, after 
which he completed a special course in penman- 
shi]) at Bixler's Pen Art School, at Wooster, 
Ohio. Li 1888 he entered the Ohio Normal 
Uni\ersity, at Ada, where he contimied as a stu- 
dent for two and a half years, while in the win- 
ter vacations he engaged in teaching, having de- 
termined to devote his attention to pedagogic 
work, for which he had a natural predilection 
and in preparing for which he spared no pains 
or a])plication. After leaving- the university he 
continued to teach lor six winters in the dis- 
trict schools, and for eight years he was prin- 
cipal of the Second Street school at Canal 
Dover, Puscai-awas county. In the spring of 
1902 he accepted his present position as prin- 
cipal of the Plartford Street school, in Can- 
ton, entering upon liis duties at the opening of 
the autumn term, in the following- September. 
His reputation through previous pedagogic 
work stands as a voucher for the value which 
will attach to his services in his present posi- 
tion, and he is proving- a valuable acquisition 
in connection' with the work of the public 
schools of Canton. He is a member of the 
Ohio Teachers' Association, and fraternally is 
identified with the Masonic order, the Protec- 
tive Home Circle and the Junior Order of 
L'nited American Mechanics. In politics he 
maintains an independent attitude, though 
manifesting a deep interest in the qucsticms of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



873 



the day and being stanchly fortified in his con- 
\ictions as to matters of pubhc pohty. 

On the 31st of March, 1894, at Canal Do- 
A'cr, Tuscarawas count}', Mr. Scheu was united 
in marriage to Miss Irene Peters, of Ragers- 
■\ille, where she was born, being a daughter of 
Dr. Herman J. Peters, of that place. Mr. and 
j\lrs. Scheu have a winsome little daughter, 
Florence Belle, who was born at Canal Dover, 
on the 5th of April, 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Scheu 
are active members of the Trinity Reformed 
church of Canton, Ohio. 



MARTIN DEUBLE.— The life history 
of him whose name initiates this paragraph 
most pertinently illustrates what may be at- 
tained liy faithful and continued effort in car- 
rying out an honest purpose. His career was 
manly, his actions sincere, his manner im- 
affected, and his speech from his heart. He 
was a worthy representative of one of the 
sterling pioneer families of Canton, where he 
was himself a pioneer business man and where 
he continued to make his home until his death, 
in the fullness of years and honored by all who 
knew him, for his was a simple but noble life, 
true to itself and to the dictates of conscience. 
He well merits a tribute and memorial in this 
volume. 

The Deuble family is of stanch German 
origin, and in the town of Treschlingen, Grosz- 
hertzogthum, Baden, Germany, George Mi- 
chael Deuble, father of the subject, was born, 
while there also was born his wife, whose 
maiden name was Susanna Schmitt, their mar- 
riage being' solemnized in the fatherland. 
About 1825 they emigrated to America and 
located in the city of Philadelphia, where they 
remained for a short time, during which Mr. 
Deuble undoubtedly followed his trade, that of 
weaver, in which he was an expert artisan, 
weaving counterpanes and other articles of that 
order. During the residence of the family in 



the "City of Brotherly Love" Martin Deuble, 
subject of this memoir, was born, the date of 
his nativity being April 16, 1827. Shortly after 
his birth his parents settled at the foot of the 
Blue mountains, in I'ennsylvania, and there 
his father began the manufacturing of clocks, 
being associated with a partner, and they ped- 
dled th.eir products throughout the surround- 
ing' country. While following this line of en- 
terprise he had three different partners, each 
of whom betrayed his confidence and defrauded 
him of all his stock, but his valiant spirit did 
not quail beneath these discouragements, and 
he determined to conquer adversity and to at- 
tain a position of independence, if these aims 
were to be accomplished b}' honest and inde- 
fatigable effort. He finalh' decitled to come to 
Ohio, leaving his family for the time being in 
Pennsylvania. His funds were reduced to a 
low ebb, and he left the major portion for the 
use of his family and then l)ravely set forth on 
foot to make the long and weary journey to 
Canton, Ohio, where his brother Henry and 
half-brother, John Deuble, were engaged in 
business as butchers, their shop being located 
on N(>rth Walnut street, near Third street. 
The father of the subject was a week in mak- 
ing the trip, and a goodly portion of his meals 
while en route were secured from apple or- 
chards along the way. He finally arrived in 
Canti>n. in the year 1834, and, after 'consult- 
ing with his brothers, determined -to make a 
permanent location here. He began work in 
his brothers' shop <^ind after a time his family 
joined him in the new home, taking up their 
abode in a brick house located on a part of lots 
II and 12, on North Market street. 'Mr. 
Deuble worked earnestly and constantly to 
provide for his family, and about the year 
1836 he fitted up a watch-making and repair- 
ing shop in his home, having' become a good 
workman in this line, in which he had served an 
apprenticeship, while he was endowed by na- 
ture with exceptional mecham'cal ability. He 



874 



OLD LANDMARKS 



was also an accomplished musician, and in a 
room adjoining his shop he placed a piano, 
which he used in connection with his work of 
teaching vocal music, while he also hecame or- 
ganist and choir-master of the German Re- 
formed church, with, which the family have 
• all been identified as consistent and zealous 
memhei"s. As time passed, his business in- 
creased in scope and importance, and die con- 
tinued the same up to within a few years of 
his death. ha\'ing in the meanwhile put in a 
good line of jewelry, watches, clocks, etc. 
.\fter his reth'ement his sons Martin and 
(ieorge continued the business, moving the 
same to the Wikidal home, which was located 
on the site of the present l'"olwell bliick. Con- 
cerning the business and the family history 
further mention is made in the sketch of the 
life of the subject's brother George, appear- 
ing elsewhere in this volume. In politics the 
father was a stanch Democrat, and both he and 
his wife were devoted members of the Re- 
formed church. He died in i860, and his 
widow passed away in September, 1866. Their 
two children ^\■ere Martin, subject of this me- 
ninir, and George, who continues the jewelry 
business in Canton, as is duly noted in his 
I)ersonal sketch on another page of this work. 
Martin Deitble was born in Philadelphia, 
as lias Ijeen already noted, and he was a mere 
boy at tile time when his mother and younger 
brother came to Canton to join their father. 
He learned the trade of watch-maker and jew- 
eler in his father's establishment, while his ed- 
ucational advantages were such as were af- 
forded in the pioneer schools of Canton. Soon 
after his father's retirement fmm business he 
and his brother opened a store in the corner 
room of the Wikidal house, as before noted, 
and there they remained until 1861, when they 
purchased the Re\-. Fast property on the east 
side of the public square, near the corner of 
South ]\tarket and East Seventh streets. Into 
this the\- rcmiixed their stock, which thev 



greatly enlarged in the new and more preten- 
tious quarters, and later they remodeled the 
building, rendering it more eligible for their 
use. There they continued to be associated in 
business until the death of the subject, which 
occurred on the nth of August, 1875, and 
within this time they had built up a prosperous 
enterprise, having gained the highest reputa- 
tion for fair and honorable dealing and being 
known as able and conservative business men. 

In his political proclivities, though never an 
aspirant for official preferment, he was a stanch 
Democrat, taking an active and intelligent in- 
terest in the party cause. He was a member 
of the Reformed church, and his faith was ex- 
emplified in his daily life. He was for many 
years a member of the choir, and at times acted 
as organist, being ever ready to do his part in 
all portions of the church work. 

In Canton, on the 6tli of October, 1857, 
Mr. Deuble was united in marriage to Miss 
Susanna Herbruck, a sister of Rev. Feter Her- 
bruck, a pioneer clergyman of the German Re- 
formed church in this county and one to whom 
specific reference is made elsewhere in this 
compilation. She was born in Grosse-Steiiv- 
hausen, in the kingdom of Baieren, Germany, 
on the 8tli of l^'ebruary, 1832, being a daughter 
of Fhilip and Barbara ( Schlemnier) Herbruck. 
and she attended school in her native town until 
slie had attained the age of fourteen years, 
when she accompanied her parents on their em- 
igration to America, the family taking up their 
residence in .Stark county, where her parents 
passed the rest of their li\es. She still resides 
in this city, her pleasant home, so hallowed 
and endeared to her bv the associations and 
memories of the past, having been erected Ijy 
her husband in 1868. Of the six children born 
to Martin and Susanna (Herbruck) Deuble 
the following data is entered : Emma, w ho was 
born on the i^lh of October, 1858, died on the 
31st of March, 1863 ; Charles G., who was born 
Octolier 9. 1800. secured his education in the 



/ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



875 



public scliools of Canton, being fourteen years 
of age at the time of his father's death, and 
after learning the jeweler's trade under the 
direction of his uncle, George Deuble, he 
eventually engaged in business for himself, and 
now nas a well equiped store in this city; he 
married Miss Laura Lewton, of Malvern, Car- 
roll county; Elten H., who was born on the 
20th of April, 1864, married Miss Ella M. 
Muncaster and they reside in Canton, where 
he is engaged in F. Herbruck's dry goods 
store; Clara E., who was born June 19, 1866, 
is the widow of Re\-. Louis M. Weiss, who was 
an able young clergyman of the Reformed 
church, and she now makes her home in Can- 
ton; Louis E., who was born July 12, 1871, 
married Miss Pina A. Fohl. and they reside in 
Canton, where he is engaged in the Canton 
water works ; and Bertha E., who was born 
Septemlier 23, 1873, remains with her mother 
in the attractive home, which is located at 424 
North ^larket street. 



THADDEUS C. N1GH]\L\N.— George 
Nighman, the subject's grandfather, was an 
early settler of the \A'estern Reserve. l(icating 
manv years ago about four miles northwest of 
Kent in the county of Portage. His son 
George was born near the above town and 
grew to yoimg manhood amid the environ- 
ments of pioneer life, attending at intervals 
during his y(_nith such schools as were then 
common in the Western Reserve. On leaving 
home he went to York, Pennsylvania, where 
he lived for some time with an uncle b_\- the 
name nf David Hahn. and while there met 
Miss Lydia Kellen. wlm became his wife (ui 
the 26th of August. 1821. ]Mr. Nighman 
worked for some time in his uncle's brewery 
and distillerv. but after his marriage he beaded 
his few hi:)usehi.ild goods on a wagon and with 
an ox team returned to Ohio, settling on Nimi- 
shillen creek. Stark count\". Meantime, his 



uncle had built a small distillery on the abo\-e 
creek and it was for the purpose of assisting in 
its operation that he left a comfortable home in 
Penns}'h'ania and moved into what was then 
an almost unbroken wilderness. After run- 
ning the distillery until becoming convinced that 
his relative was not treating him right in a 
business way, Mr. Nighman withdrew from the 
concern and at the instance of George Dewalt. 
who backed him financially, bought a lot on the 
corner of North Market and Second streets. 
Canton, on which he erected a brick building, 
thirty-three by seventy-five feet in size, for 
brewing purposes. The enterprise proved suc- 
cessful from the beginning and. as rapidly as 
circumstances would admit, the indebtedness 
was reduced until the establishment stood free 
from incumbrance. ]\lr. Nighman fitted up 
five rooms in the west end of the brewery Imild- 
ing for a dwelling, and continued to live there 
in peace and comfort to the end of his days. 
He was an. honest, industrious man and no 
doubt hastened his death by the immense 
amount of labor he performed. Beginning the 
brewery business heavily in debt, he persevered 
until e\erv dollar was honestlv paid, after which 
he labored just as diligently to provide comfort- 
ai3h- for his family. During the great cholera 
plague which broke out in 1832 Mrs. Nighman 
was taken sick \vith the disease, but owing to 
skillful nursmg ami assiduous care she re- 
co\-ered. onlv to lose her husband the following 
year. Mr. Nighman departed this life on the 
17th ot March, 1833. and in his death Canton 
lost one of its most estimable and enterprising 
citizens, .\fter his death his widow took charge 
of tke lirewery and distilling and carried on tlie 
business \er\- successfully for several years, ac- 
cumulating a handsome competence. She mar- 
ried a second time, and died on the loth of Jul}'. 
1880. honored and esteemed by a large circle 
of friends in this city and elsewhere. She bore 
her first husband two sons and one daughter. 
n;niielv: George, wh<.) died in infancy: Anna- 



876 



OLD LANDMARKS 



bella E., bom August 10, 1828, married George 
W. Heil, and died August 11, 1902 ; and Thad- 
deus C, whose name furnishes the caption to 
this article, was born in this city on the 2d day 
of February, 1831. He first saw the hght of 
day in the old brewery homestead, wiiich stood 
on the lot now occupied by the Schhtz [Music 
Hall, and it is a fact worthy of note that his life 
has been spent within the block in which he was 
born. His early experience was similiar in most 
respects to that of the majority of city lads, the 
only exception, if any, being- an excessive tend- 
ency to .sport and athletic exercises. When a 
mere boy he developed unusual physical powers, 
and being full of animal spirits, his strength 
frequently led him to engage in fistic encounters 
with his playmates and companions until he be- 
came noted as one of the young champions of 
the town. At the proper age he entered school, 
but here as elsewhere his love of sport predom- 
inated and as a consequence his studies were for 
a time sadly neglected. One of his early teach- 
ers was Archibald McGregor, between whom 
and himself a life long friendship has existed. 
During the late Civil war Mr. McGregor pub- 
lished in Canton a Democratic paper, which 
aroused the animosity of the ultra-Union party 
of the city. By reason of certain treasonable 
sentiments which appeared in the columns of 
the sheet from time to time, the loyal men of the 
city decided to destroy the office and drive the 
editor from the place. Accordingly a mob was 
raised for the purpose and when about to carry 
their design into execution Mr. Nighman, at 
that time city marshal, appeared upon the scene 
and efilectually put a stop to their acts of vio- 
lence, thus saving the property and perhaps the 
life of his friend. 

Owing to the death of his father, which oc- 
curred when he was a child, young Nighman 
grew up practically unrestrained, missing that 
gentle home influence which c\-ery boy should 
feel in order to bring out the belter part of his 
nature. In \-iew of this fact it is no wonder that 



he became a leader among the wild boys of the 
city and proved a trouble to his teachers and a 
source of annoyance to those who had him in 
charge. Rut back of his exuberant spirits was 
good, sound material, of which strong charac- 
ters are made, and under proper influence it be- 
gan in due time to manifest itsVlf. At the age 
of thirteen he hired to a farmer by the name of 
Shriver and after working for him for seven 
months, accepted a position with a wholesale 
drug firm in Massillon. He went to that city 
in answer to an advertisement he saw in a paper 
for a general utility boy in a drug store, and the 
proprietors of the house, being pleased with his 
appearance, at once took him into their employ. 
He entered upon his duties with fixed purpose 
of learning the business, and but few months 
elapsed befo're he had a general knowledge of 
buying' and selling besides a practical acquaint- 
with the nature of drugs. He was quick to 
learn and absolutely reliable and during^ the two 
years he remained with the firm he was con- 
'sidered one of the most trustworthy and valu- 
able employes in the establishment. Resigning 
his position with ilessrs. Bigger & Baldwin, 
the proprietors of the drug store, Mr. Nighman 
returned to Canton and engaged with Bicking 
& Melchoir, brewers, the former'his uncle, and 
worked for these parties during the two years 
foll'iwing. In the fall of 1848 he took charge 
of the Ijrewery and did a very satisfactory busi- 
ness during the ensuing twelve years, mean- 
time, on the 1 2th of May, 1850, being united 
in marriage with Miss Emeline Bitler. of near 
Navarre. In i860 Mr. Nighman suspended the 
brewer}' business and two years later (in the 
spring of 1862) he was elected city marshal, 
the duties of which oflice he discharged in an 
able and satisfactory manner for one term, re- 
fusing a renomination by his party. The same 
year in which he \\"as elected city marshal he 
was ap])ointed by Capt. John F. Oliver deputy 
provost marshal for the eighteenth district and 
as such served until the close of the war, prov- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



S77 



ing in this, as in his other official capacity, a 
faithful, reliable and popular public servant. 
In 1867 or '68 Mr. Nighman sold his brewery 
and for some time thereafter was not actively 
engaged in any vocation, devoting his time to 
his private interests. His next venture was in 
the transfer business, which he followed for 
several years with success and profit. He ran 
a number of teams in this city and was never 
without a liberal patronage, as the public had 
long before learned that whatever he engaged 
to do would be prosecuted with satisfaction and 
dispatch. Discontinuing teaming, he opened a 
large boarding stable and to this line of busi- 
ness he has since devoted his attention, meeting 
with most encouraging success, as his place is 
patronized by the best people of the city and 
those in the county having fine horses to be- 
cared for. 

It will be seen from the foregoing brief out- 
line that the career of Mr. Nighman has been 
one of great activit}-. and that he has been 
more than ordinarily fortunate in a financial 
way is attested by the ample competence now in 
his possession. His life has been one of con- 
stant advancement and that, too, in the face of 
discouraging obstacles, as the reader may infer 
frpm his youthful environments. While allowed 
to follow his own inclinations when young, it 
is much to his credit that he ne\er formed a 
bad habit and his life has been entirely free 
from the vices which the majority of people 
contract to a greater or less degree. He is, and 
always has been, strictly temperate, in the mat- 
ter of intoxicants and tobacco, never having used 
the latter in any of its forms and in the former 
carrying his dislike to the extent of eliminating 
coffee from his bill of fare. His character is 
open and free, his actions in the main ha\-el.ieen 
above criticism and as a citizen his honor and 
integrity are unassailable. 

Mr. Nighman's first wife, to whom reference 
is made in a preceding paragraph, dietl in the 
year i88o. after bearing him four sons and one 



daughter, namely : Thaddeus C. ; Frank W. 
and Charles A., of Jersey City, New Jersey; 
George W., of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and 
Ruella, who holds a position with the natural 
gas company of Canton. In 1883 Mr. Nigh- 
man married his present wife, Mrs. Elizabeth 
De Peyster, of Kent, Ohio, a union without 
issue. 



WILLIAM JENNINGS MELCHER 
was born on the old homestead farm, near 
Zanes\-ille, Muskingum county, Ohio, on the 
6th of" October, 1841, being a son of Conrad 
and Catherine Elizabeth (Joy) Melcher. His 
father was born in the province of Hessen- 
Darmstadt, Germany, being a son of John 
Melcher, who was there engaged in farming, 
as had been his ancestors for many generations. 
He there ac<juired a competency and had a 
comfortable home, but he w-as led to emigrate 
to America in or.der that his sons might es- 
cape military duty in the German army, while 
he was also convinced that in the new world, 
free from the restrictions and limitations of 
monarchical* rule, his children could secure 
better opportunities for personal advancement 
and definite success. Thus, about the year 
1827, in company with his family, he bade 
adieu to the fatherland and set sail for the 
L'nited States, the father, of the subject be- 
ing at the time about seventeen years of age. 
The family remained a' short time in York, 
Pennsylvania, and then came to Ohio and lo- 
cated on a farm near Zanesville, Muskingum 
county, where the grandfather of the subject 
devoted the remainder of his life to agricult- 
ural pursuits, becoming one of the successful 
and influential men of that localitv, where he 
acquired a large amount of land. The home- 
stead farm eventually came into the possession 
of his eldest son, Casper, while he also pro- 
vided his son Conrad, father of the subject, 
with a farm in that county. His youngest son, 



8/8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Henry, became a cabinet maker and located in 
Adamsville, this state, where he was engaged 
in business in this hne for many years. 

Conrad Melclier remained on his farm in 
]\luskingum county until about 1843, when he 
remoxed to Hocking county, where he pur- 
chased a farm in Laurel township, which con- 
tinued to be his home until the death of his 
loved and devoted wife, who passed away at 
the age of nearly ninety years, and he then 
came to the home of his son William J., the 
subject, and his death here occurred only twen- 
ty-one days after the decease of his wife, as 
the result of injuries received from a fall. He 
died in Canton, on the 15th of January, 1898, 
at the age of eighty-seven years. Both were 
devout members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and the father was a stanch supporter 
of the Republican party. They were folk of 
sterling character and held the unqualified con- 
fidence and esteem of all who knew them. Of 
their eleven children only two are living, the 
subject and his elder brother, Henry, who is 
a resident of Akron. Plymouth county, Iowa. 
Henry ]\Ielcher was born in Muskingum coun- 
ty, Ohio, where he was reared, and at the time 
of the Civil war he enlisted as a private in the 
One Himdred and Sevent\-tliird Ohio Volun- 
teer Infantry, with which he served until the 
close of the war, after which he returned to his 
family in Hocking county. The farm which 
he there owned he later sold to his father and 
then removed to \"an Wert county, Ohio, where 
he purchased a farm about seven miles from 
Van Wert. From that place he removed to 
Iowa, where he continued to make his home 
for a period of about fourteen years, after 
which he located in South Dakota, where he 
resided until 1899. when he returned to Iowa 
and took up his abode in the village of Akron, 
where he has since resided, being- one of the 
influential and honored citizens of the place. 

William J. Melcher, the immediate sub- 
ject of this review, was but three rears of age 



at the time of his parents' removal from 
Aluskingum county to the farm in Laurel town- 
ship, Hocking county, where he was reared to 
maturity and wher,e he received such educa- 
tional advantages as were to be had in the pub- 
lic schools of the locality and period. With 
the thundering of rebel guns against the ram- 
parts of old For,t Sumter, his intrinsic patriot- 
ism was roused to responsive protest, and on 
the 2 1st of October, 1861, only fifteen days 
after his twentieth birthday anniversary, he en- 
listed as a private in Company K, Fifty-eighth 
Ohio \'olunteer Infantry, Charles Parker be- 
ing captain ot the company, while the regiment 
was commanded by Colonel Bousenwein. Aft- 
er serving for a period of ten months ^Ir. 
JMelcher was discharged on account of physi- 
cal disability, and he returned to his home, 
where he remained about seventeen months, 
within which time he recuperated his health, 
and at the expiration of this period he re-en- 
listed in his old regiment, with which he con- 
tinued in active service until the close of the 
war, r.eceiving his honorable discharge on the 
25th of September, 1865, at Camp Chase, in 
the city of Columbus, Ohio. During his first 
term of service he participated in the battles of 
Fort Donelson and Shiloh, and after his re- 
enlistment he took part in no general battles, 
but was engaged in many skirmishes. After 
the close of the war he returned home, with 
greatly impaired health, and there he remained 
until the spring of 1866, when he removed to 
\'an Wert, this state, where he purchased a 
small farm and also became the owner of real 
estate in the city. He remained there one 
year and five months and then, on the 2d of 
June, 1867, took up his residence in the city 
of Canton. Stark county, purchasing property 
on Liberty street and there erecting a comfort- 
able residence, while for tiie ensuing six and 
one-half years he continued in the employ of 
the Aultman Company. He then purchased 
his present property, on Xavarre street, the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



879 



original tract comprising six acres, a portion of 
whicli lie later sold for buiUling lots. Here 
he lias a spacious and attractive residence and 
is living practically retired from active busi- 
ness, enjoying the rewards of his former toil 
and endeavor. For nearly a quarter of a cent- 
ury after attaining his legal majority Mr. Mel- 
cher gave an unequivocal allegiance to the Re- 
publican party, and for several years since he 
has exercised his francloise for the advance- 
ment of the cause of the Prohibition party. He 
has never formally identified himself with any 
religious organization, though he has a deep 
reverence for the spiritual verities and has 
given h.is support to church work, his wife hav- 
ing been a devoted member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church from her youth. 

In the city of Canton, on the 19th of No- 
vember, 1869, Mr. Melcher was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Alice Stover, who was Ijnrn in 
.Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, l>eing a daugh- 
ter of the late Christian Stover, who, when 
'S\rs. Melcher was about two years of age, re- 
moved to Canton, Ohio, and for thirty-five 
years was engaged with the Aultman ^lanu- 
facturing Company. Fo ]Mr. and Mrs. Mel- 
cher were born six children, namely : Minnie 
May, who died on the 5th of February, 1877, 
at the age of eight years; John Henry, who is 
engaged with the Cleveland Axle \\'orks, in 
Canton ; Flora B., who remains at the parental 
home: Ida E., who is the wife of Samuel C. 
Smith, of this city, Charles \\'., who is in the 
employ of the J. H. McLain works, in Canton, 
and Pearl, who remains with her parents. 



MAURICE S:\IITH, M. D., was bom in 
West Brook-field, Stark county, Ohio, on the 
28th of December, 1864, being a son of John 
and H;irriet (Wagner) Smith, the former of 
whom was born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
^ania, and the latter in Stark county, Ohio. 
The father of the Doctor was a successful 



teacher in the public schools of the western 
part of Stark county for the long period of 
forty- two years, being a man of fine intellectual 
attainments. During the war of the Rebellion 
he served on the staff of (General Sherman, in 
the capacity of secretary, he ha^'ing enlisted in 
1863 in the One Flundred and Fourth Ohio 
Regiment and served nine months. He was 
boni' April i, 1824, and was brought to Ohio 
in 1835. He died June 28, 1894. His widow, 
Harriet, was born in Stark county, Ohio, alxiut 
one and one-half miles east of Massillon, the 
daughter of Christian Wagner, a pioneer. 

Dr. Smith received his early educational 
discipline in the public schools of West 
Brookfiekl, Stark county, and at the age of 
twenty }-ears he began teaching in the schools 
of the county, continuing to follow this profes- 
sion at intervals for a period of eight years, 
and by this means earning the funds with which 
to defray the expenses of his course in medi- 
cine. In 1892 he was matriculated in the 
medical department of the Western Reserve 
University, at Cleveland, and was there grad- 
uated on the 22d of May, 1895, receiving the 
degree of Doctor of J\ledicine. He soon after- 
wards came to Massillon and established him- 
self in practice, his professional novitiate be- 
ing of short duration, since his professional tal- 
ent and de\'otion to his work soon g-ained to 
him a representative sup]xirt, and he is now rec- 
ognized as one of the leading lUiembers of the 
me(h'cal fraternity in this city. That he has 
been successful in his work from a temporal 
standpoint is shown in the fact that he has 
.erected a fine modern residence at the corner 
of I\lain and Henry streets, and there also he 
has his office. He has that equable tempera- 
ment and gracious personality which are so 
potent factors in the makeup of a successful 
])hys'cian, and his ])opularilv in his home cilv 
is of the most unqualified order, while he 
holds the confidence and esteem of all who 
know him. In politics the Doctor gives his 



88o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



allegiance to the Republican party, and fra- 
ternally be is identified with the Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons, the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, the Knights of the Maccabees, 
the Protecti\e Home Circle, the Knights of 
Pythias, and the Royal Arcanum. 

On the 31st of May, 1886, Dr. Smith was 
united in marriage to Miss Belle Patterson, 
who was born and reared in West Brookfield, 
this county, being a daughter of Thomas and 
Maria TPeasly) Patterson, the former of 
whcim \\'as born in the Western Reserve of 
Ohio and the latter in New England. Dr. and 
Mrs. Smith became the parents of three chil- 
dren, namely: Blanch, Florence and John 
Maurice, the last mentioned having died at the 
age of twenty-three months. 



PETER SCHARLES.— In tracing the 
subject's genealogy it is learned that his gxeat- 
grandfather, Matthias Scharles, was a native 
of Germany and that he lived and died at or 
near the place of his birth ; his wife was Annie 
M. Landis, daughter of Peter and Susanna 
(Ruht) Landis, both representatives of a very 
old family of the empire. Among the children 
of Matthias and Annie M. Scharles was a son 
by the name of Valentine, who married in his 
native country Elizabeth Helm, both dying in 
Germany many years ago, leaving descendants 
who have since represented the family there and 
in the United States. Peter Scharles, a son of 
Valentine and Elizabeth, married in the old 
country Miss Catherine Albrecht, and about 
the year 1S57 came to America, settling near, 
the city of Massillon, Ohio, on the farm which 
the subject of this sketch now owns. Mn 
Scharles was a tiller of the soil, as were many 
of his ancestors before him, and spent the re- 
mainder of his life in Tuscarawas township, 
dying February 19, 1893, at the age of seventy- 
eight, his wife following him to the grave the 
next December, when sixty-nine years old. 



Nicholas Albrecht, father of Mrs. Peter 
Scharles, was a native of Bavaria, born and 
reared in Seele, near the river of Rhine. His 
wife was Christina Engel, also a native of Ba- 
varia, as were her ancestors for many preced- 
ing generations. 

Peter Scharles, Jr., to a brief review of 
whose career the remainder of this article is de-' 
voted, was born May 2, 1846, in Gangreweirler, 
Germany, and when about eleven years of age 
accompanied his father to the United States, 
since which time he has been a worthy resident 
of Stark county. In the schools of his nati\'e 
land he obtained a fair knowledge of the fun- 
damental branches of learning and for a few 
years after coming to America, he attended the 
public schools of Tuscarawas township, in this 
wa)' mastering the English language and ac- 
quiring much more than a superficial acquaint- 
ance with the prescribed course of study. 

Mr. Scharles was a mere youth when the 
war of the Rebellion broke out, but with true 
patriotic fervor he tendered his services to his 
adopted country, which he had already learned 
to lo\-e as if he were one of its native sons. In 
1862 lie enlisted in Company E, One Hundred 
an.d Fourth Ohio Infantry, and in due time u'as 
at the front sharing with his comrades all the 
terrible realities of war in some of the bloodiest 
battles and noted campaigns in which the army 
took part. With the exception of the battle of 
Nashville he participated in all the actions in 
which his regiment was engaged, and vn^ouIcI 
have been present there had he not previously 
received, at Franklin, a painful wound which 
necessitated his removal to the hospital at Jef- 
ferson Barracks, Missouri, where he remained 
until his recovery. Mr. Scharles' military ex- 
perience was replete with duty bravely and 
faithfully performed and his record as a soldier 
is without spot or stain. At the close of the 
war he received an honorable discharge and, 
returning home, engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits, which he has since followed with en- 




MR. AND MRS. PETER SCHARLES. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



.8Se 



couraging success. When but thirty-three 
years old he was made superintendent of the 
^\^arrick farms, in Tuscarawas township, and 
in that capacity displayed abihty and ripeness 
of judgment rare in one so young. He dis- 
cliarged the duties of the position to the satis- 
faction of his employers and after resigning 
the place began farming upon his own respon- 
sibility, taking charge of the paternal home- 
stead, a fine little place situated near the cor- 
])orate limits of Massillon. Here he has since 
li\-ed and prospered and while not carrying on 
husbandry quite so extensively as do some of 
his neighbors, he has made it remunerative, as 
is attested by the fine condition of his farm and 
improvements and the comfortable competence 
A\hich he has accumulated. 

Mr. Scharles has always manifested a live- 
ly interest in the material development of his 
adopted county and is justly entitled to the 
appellation of a public-spirited man. Ranking 
with progressive agriculturists of Tuscarawas 
and enjoying the reputation of being careful 
and judicious in matters of business, he also 
Icnxfs his influence to all measures for the com- 
mon welfare and supports every laudable enter- 
])rise whereby the community may be benefited. 

April 27. 1866, Mr. Scharles was united in 
marriage to Miss Sophia Albrecht, daughter of 
Jiihn Albrecht, a representative of Perry tovvn- 
shi]), whose life history will be found elsewhere 
in these pages. This union has been blessed 
with four children, the oldest of whom is 
Clara, a wife of Jacob Rippel; Mr. and Mrs. 
Rippel have one son by the name of Andrew 
T- ; A-melia, the second daughter, married John 
Walter and is the mother of one child, Elmer; 
Lewis, the third in order of birth, married Miss 
Annie Schuler, the union resulting in the birth 
of a daughter, named Inez ; Hattie, the young- 
est o" the family, is unmarried and lives with 
her parents. 

In politics Mr. Scharles is independent, 
considering it inconsistent with true manhood 
55 



to obe}- the behest of any party or to come and 
go at the beck and call of partisan leaders. 
Nevertheless he reads much concerning polit- 
ical issues, keeps himself well posted on the 
great questions of the day and exercises the 
rights of citizenship as his judgment dictates. 
He was ser\'ed as a member of the school board,, 
has alwaj's taken great interest in the cause of 
education and is a friend of all organizations- 
having for, their object the intellectual and. 
moral well being of the community. Frater- 
nally he belongs to Hart Post No. 134, Grand 
Army of the Republic, and in religion subscribes 
to the Evangelical creed, being identified with 
St. John's Evangelical church in Massillon, 
Mrs. Scharles is also a member of the same 
congregation and, like her husband, is an active 
worker in disseminating the truths of Chris- 
tianity. 



GOTLIEB CONRAD ROESLE.— The 
life of the late Gotlieb C. Roesle was like an 
open book, read and understood by the people 
of Canton, among whom he dwelt. He was a 
native of Germany, born in the town of Illingen^ 
near Stuttgart, August 4, 1826, and at an early 
age was left an orphan by the death of his fa- 
ther.V After attending school until his -four- 
teenthyear, he served an apprenticeship at the 
tailor's trade and becoming an efficient work- 
man, followed his chosen calling in Germany 
until locating in the city of New York. After 
spending several years in that city, he set out 
for Zoar, Ohio, where certain relatives were 
then livin„g, traveling the greater part of the 
way on foot, riding only when invited to do so 
by farmers and others driving along the high- 
way. While crossing the Ohio river with a com- 
panion who had joined him en route, an attempt 
was made by a gang of foot-pads to rob the 
two just as they reached the opposite shore. 
Young Roesle succeeded in breaking away from 
the robl^ers and, climbing the steep bank, ran 



S8i 



OLD LANDMARKS 



into the thicket, where he remained concealed 
xinti! he could stealthily creep into the woods 
near by. This reached, he ran at full speed un- 
til completely exhausted, when he lay down to 
rest and, falling asleep, spent the night alone in 
the heart of the deep forest. In the morning he 
resumed the journey, footsore and alone and 
after experiencing many hardships and vicissi- 
tudes finally reached the home of his relations 
Avhere he was received with open arms. After 
remaining a while at Zoar with his friends, Mr. 
Roesle proceeded on his journey until reaching 
Canton and here he began working at his trade 
and in due time built a large and lucrative busi- 
ness. A few years after his arrival at Canton he 
was united in marriage with Miss Mary Prince, 
who lived but a short time thereafter. Having 
■established himself in a well-paying business 
Air. Roesle, in i860, returned to Germany for 
the puqjose of bringing his mother to the 
Inited States. The great Civil war breaking 
out soon after he reached the old country, his 
mother, being fearful of the conditions resulting 
therefrom, could not be induced to leave home, 
in consequence of wluch he decided to remain 
across the water until the strife should cease. 
During the ensuing five years he acted as a local 
minister in Germany and at the end of that time. 
iti company with his mother, he returned to 
Canton, Ohio, where he again opened a shop 
and resumed the tailoring business. 

Mr. Roesle married for his second wife a 
widow by the name of Mrs. Hoover, but their 
wedded life was also of short duration, being- 
terminated by the death of Mrs. Roesle a few 
^•ea^s later. Subsequently, October 3, 1876. 
lie entered the marriage ixlation with Miss 
jMarv Miller, who bore him one child. Edwin 
Ceorge, who lives with his widowed mother in 
(Canton at the present time. Mr. Roesle suc- 
ceeded well in his business as long as he was 
jihysically able to prosecute it, and in the course 
of years reaped the results of his industry and 
good management in a comfortable competence. 



including, besides a liberal share of personal 
propert}-, a tine liome on the corner of Third 
and Orchard streets, which he built in 1886. 
He was a potential factor among his German 
fellow citizens nf Canton and always main- 
tained a lively interest in whatever concerned 
their welfare. He also stood high in the esteem 
of the people irrespective of nationality and all 
who came \\'ithin the range of his influence were 
profuse in their praise of his many sterling 
qualities and upright, maul}- conduct. He was 
reared according to the faith of the German 
Lutheran church and for a numlier of years 
was one of the leaders of the congrega- 
tion worshipping in Canton, serving as superin- 
tendent of the Sunday school Ijesides holding- 
other official positions in the organization. In 
politics he generally voted the Democratic 
ticket, but in city and county affairs paid little 
attention to party ties. Mr. Roesle was a gen- 
tleman of quiet demeanor and made his pres- 
ence felt by a correct life, rather than by a dis- 
play of words. He was the soul of honor in 
business transactions and in social circles im- 
pressed all with w hom he came in contact by his 
integrity and upright Christian character. He 
died, deeply lamented by his immediate family 
and the public generally, on the 3rd da}- of Ma_\-, 
1899. 

Mrs. Mary Roesle, who is still living, was 
born March 8, 1841, in Germany and three 
weeks after her birth her parents set sail for tlie 
United States, embarking at the city of Bremen. 
W'hile on the sea, the child was taken danger- 
ously ill and despite all that oiuld be done for 
her she gradtially grew worse until the physi- 
cian gave her up to die. To all appearatices she 
did pass away and preparations were matle to 
consign the little body to the waxes. While 
matters were being arranged for the sad cere- 
mony of sliding the remains o\-erboard, the pJiy- 
sician forttinately discovered sig-ns of life and 
with all haste possible went to work to restore 
animation, .\fter much labor he tinallv sue- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



883 



ceedeci in resuscitating the child, who at once 
began to improve and from that time until the 
end of the voyage she daily grew in strength 
and vitalit}'. But for the physician's timely dis- 
co\ery the body would have been consigned to 
the deep, the escape from death bordering al- 
most upon the miraculous. 

Mrs. Roesle's parents landed at New York 
and from that city proceeded via Bufifalo and 
Cleveland to Massillon, Ohio, making their way 
to the latter place by canal. Her father, Air. 
]\Iiller, located at ]\Iassillon and there spent the 
remainder of his life, dying in 1875 "^^ the age 
of eighty-tive years; his widow survi\ed initil 
1878 when she, too, entered into rest, aged 
seventy-nine. Of their three children, Mrs. 
Roesle was the youngest, the other two being 
AN'illiam, a business man of Massillon, and Au- 
gustus, also a resident of that city. 

Mrs. Roesle was reared and educated in 
Massillon and until marriage spent the greater 
part of her life at that place. She is a lady of 
many admirable traits of character, a sincere 
Christian and is highly esteemed in the social 
circles in which she moves. Her son, Edwin 
Cieorge Roesle, -was horn in Canton, August 6, 
1877, received his preliminary education in the 
public schools and was graduated from the city 
high school in i8q6, at the age of nineteen. 
From his early boyhood he manifested a great 
liking and decided skill in the way of fine me- 
chanical work and while still a mere boy could 
take apart and put together with the utmost 
nicety the most delicate watch. On leaving 
school he spent one year in a drug store and at 
the end of that time took up watchmaking and 
the jeweler's trade in the establishment of 
Waiter Deuber, of this city. He is still in that 
gentleman's employ and has steadily ad\anced 
in workmanship until he is now considered one 
of the most skilled artisans in the establishment. 
He is a young man of good habits and excellent 
social standing and has before him a bright and 
promising- fu.ture. 



JOHN REX BUCHER was born in the 
old family homestead, which stood on the 
site of the present Barnett hotel, at the corner 
of East Tuscarawas and Cherry streets, the 
date of his birth being August 29, 1827. He 
was a son of Jacob and Christina (Rex) 
Bucher, who were natives of Pennsylvania. 
Jacob Bucher was of German lineage and was 
reared to maturity in the Keystone state, 
whence he came to Canton in the early pioneer 
epoch, securing large tracts of land in the 
county and becoming an influential citizen, both 
he and his wife dying in Canton. They became 
the parents of twelve children, of whom three 
are living at the present time, namely : Har- 
riet married a Mr. Doxie, of Massillon; Amelia 
married a Mi]. Hafileigh, nf Philadelphia; 
Catharine is unmarried. 

John R. Bucher was early called upon to 
assume individual responsibilities and contrib- 
uted his full share to the culti\ation and im- 
pro\-ement of the farm land Dwned by his fa- 
ther. As a youth the subject of this memoin 
was fond of study, having a very receptive 
mind, and thus he availed himself of such op- 
portunities as presented for attending the 
common schools of the place and period, while 
his ap])reciative application in all the later 
years of his life made him a man of broad and 
comprehensive information. At the age of 
seventeen years Mr. Bucher engaged in the 
clothing business, in which he was associated 
w ith John Danner, they establishing a business 
on a small scale at Carrollton, in the adjoining 
county of Carroll. Subsequently he disposed 
of his interest in this enterprise and entered 
the employ of Charles Rawson, a pioneer mer- 
chant of Massillon. After remaining a num- 
ber of years in that city, which was then a small 
village, he returned to Canton and here es- 
tablished himself in the mercantile business on 
the south side of the public sfpiare, his head- 
quarters being in a building which stood on the 
present site of Ream's grocer}-, while later he 



884 



OLD LANDMARKS 



removed to the Eagle block, on West Tusca- 
rawas street, near Market street. Subse- 
quently Mr. Bucber and John Banner agaui 
became associated in business, their enterprise 
at this time taking- a more pretentious form, 
since they engaged in the manufacture of 
stoves, the venture proving successful under 
their energetic and careful management. In 
i<S64 Mr. Bucher and the late Lewis Gibbs en- 
tered into partnership under the title of the 
Bucher & Gibbs Plow Company. Of his con- 
nection with this industry it has been said, "He 
completely consecrated himself to his work. 
It took earnest and constant efifort to make a 
success of the enterprise, and twenty years of 
persistent labor and executive application were 
required to place the company upon the high 
and enduring plane which it now occupies, 
llie business was conducted under the firm 
nam_e of Bucher, Gibbs & Company until 1886, 
when Mr. Gibbs' interests were acquired by 
John Is. Poyser, and the enterprise was then 
incorporated under the laws of the state, with 
a capital stock of two hundred and fifty thou- 
sand dollars, Mr. Bucher being elected to the 
presidency of the new company at the time of 
its organizatidu and continuing to hold this 
office until the time of his death, while the 
title of the concern has been retained as the 
Buchpr & Gibbs Plow Company to the present 
lime." The industry has become one of the 
most important of the manufacturing enter- 
prises of Canton, its protlucts being shipped to 
all parts of the Union and to many foreign 
countries, while its capital stock has been in- 
creased and also its facilities, the plant Ijeing 
one of the noteworthy ones of the city, while 
the great enterprise will stand as a perpetual 
monument to the ability and effective labors of 
Mr. Bucher. 

At this point we quote from a previously 
published estimate of the life and services of the 
honored subject, whose grasp of business af- 
fairs of wide scoi)c was ever masterful and 



whose life was unassuming and kindly in all 
its relations : "Mr. Bucher was a hard worker 
in his earlier life, Imt with advancing years he 
laid aside some of his business cares, as his 
earlier efforts had brought him prosperity. For 
a number of years his health had been impaired, 
since he was a sufferer from heart ilisease, but 
he bore all without complaining, desiring to 
avoid causing anxiety to those nearest and 
dearest to him. Several times he approached 
the portals of death, but rallied from the at- 
tacks. At last, however, the man who had suc- 
cessfully combated with hardships and with 
many obstacles in the business and financial 
world, was called upon to obey the inexorable 
summons of death, and he entered into eternal 
rest on the 29th of February, 1892. secure in 
the esteem of all who had known him. Mr. 
Bucher was deeply and sincerely mourned. 
Plis generous nature endeared him \o his em- 
ployes, who felt for him the tenderest regard, 
and those who were associated with him in Inisi- 
ness speak of him in the highest terms of 
praise, having had the utmost confidence in 
him. His aim in life was ever to uplift and 
benefit, and his record tells the story of mani- 
fold good deeds, through Avhich he won the 
affection of all classes. His e.Kcellencies of 
character were man}- anil 'even his failings 
leaned to virtue's side.' As a prudent man of 
affairs he was a model of rare excellence. As 
a successful captain of industrial development 
his place was in the front rank. As a 'social 
companion he was peerless; as a citizen he was 
without reproach. As a husband and father he 
was the type and embodiment of whatever is 
truest and kindest and best in human concep- 
tion. His home Avas to him the dearest spot 
on earth and he could not do too much to en- 
hance the happiness of his family." These are 
the words endorsed 1)}' those who knew the 
man long and Avell, and what more need be 
said to indicate to future generations that he 
was all in all a tvjie of nolile and s}-mmetrical 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



885 



manhood? In politics Mr. Bucher was a 
stanch advocate of the principles of the Re- 
publican party and ever took a deep and in- 
telligent interest m the questions and issues of 
the hour, while he was signally loyal to all 
that tended to conserve the best interests of 
his home city. He was reared in the Lutheran 
church and his views were ever in harmony 
with its faith, while he was a regular attend- 
ant and liberal supporter of Trinity church 
\\Y> to the time of his death. 

In Canton, on the nth of September, 1856, 
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bucher to 
]\Iiss Emma Wikidal, who was bom here, be- 
ing a daughter of the late Martin Wikidal, 
who was one of the prominent and honored 
pioneer merchants and bankers of Canton, an 
individual tribute to his memory appearing on 
other pages of this work, so that a recapitula- 
tion of the family and personal history is not 
demanded at this point. Mrs. Bucher was born 
in the old Wikidal homestead, which stood on 
the site of the present Folwell building, in 
Canton, and in her girlhood she attended the 
Canton Female Seminary, conducted by the 
Goshorns, while later she continued her studies 
in an excellent Moravian seminary at Lititz, 
Pennsylvania, where she completed her edu- 
cation. She recalls that during her childhood 
days Canton was a small village, and that the 
?ite of the present home of Mrs. George D. 
Barter, on North Market street, was consid- 
ered to be in the country. Mrs. Bucher still 
resides in her beautiful home, at 822 North 
}.Iarket street, the same being doubly dear to 
her through the grateful memories and asso- 
ciations of the past, and in the days of her wid- 
owhood she is solaced and comforted by the 
love of her children and exceptionally wide 
circle of friends, having long taken a prominent 
part in the social life of Canton, which has 
ever been her home. Of the children of Mr. 
and Mrs. Bucher we enter the following data 
in conclusion of this sketch : Helen is the 



wife of William J. Poyser, secretary of the 
Bucher ik Gibbs Plow Company; Martin W., 
who married Miss Catherine Cobaugh ; and 
Clara, the wife of Willis H. Shanafelt, of 
Canton. 



PROF. J. M. WYMAN.— For many years 
the subject of this sketch has been engaged in 
teaching- in the public schools of Canton and 
elsewhere and is well entitled to representation 
in the biographical history of Stark county. His 
ancestors were among the earliest settlers on 
the New England coast and it is a well-au- 
thenticated fact that his genealogy is directly 
traceable to one of the Puritan immigrants 
who came over in the Mayflower. The name 
Wyman has been familiar in various parts of 
Massachusetts from the earliest history of the 
state and from the frequency with which it 
appears those bearing it in olden times must 
have been people of no inconsiderable import- 
ance. Without attempting a closely connected 
family history in this connection, suffice it to 
state that George Wyman, the subject's grand- 
father and a lineal descendant of the original 
Puritan referred to, was born in Massachu- 
setts, and when a young man went to West- 
moreland county, Pennsylvania, where he mar- 
ried a lady by the name of Polly Frye. Sub- 
sequently he and his family migrated to Stark 
county, Ohio, and settled in the woods near 
the present site of Minerva, Mr. Wyman hav- 
ing some time previously entered eighty acres 
of land in that section, and on this he built 
his small cabin home and began life in the man- 
ner of the pioneers. With the assistance of his 
sons, some of whom were strong men at the 
time, he developed a farm on which he spent 
the remainder of his life, dying at the age -of 
sixty years. His widow survived him a num- 
ber of years, being ninety-four when called 
from the scenes of her earthly labors and trials. 
George Wyman was twice married, Polly 



886 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Fry being his second wife. By a former mar- 
riage he had several children, one of whom, 
George, lived the greater part of his life in 
the county of Stark, d}ing here a number of 
years ago. The second marriage resulted in 
the birth of two sons, Jacob, who died in Kos- 
ciusko county, Indiana, and Abraham, the fa- 
ther of the subject of this review. 

Abraham Wyman was born in Westmore- 
land county. Pennsylvania. July i, 1822, and 
was three years old \vhen his parents mo\-ed 
to Ohio. He grew to mature years amid the 
stirring scenes of the pioneer period and in a 
rude cabin on the banks of Still Fork was 
taught those homely virtues and manly princi- 
ples which made him a useful citizen in after 
life. A\'ith the exception of nine months' at- 
tendance at a ]X)or subscription school, he had 
nri educatiDnal advantages, hut 1)a' poring o\'er 
sucli books ;is he could procure he suljsequent- 
ly liecame quite proficient in several branches 
of study. ^Yhen a youth of sixteen he hired 
out to a farmer by the name of Messimore, be- 
tween whose daughter, Julia Ann. and himself 
a warm attachment soon sprang up, which led 
to marriage six years later, the ceremony being- 
solemnized on the 7th day of November, 1844. 
Mrs. \V)-man was born at New Chambersburg, 
Columbiana county, Ohio, August 21, 1S25, 
the daughter of Henry aufl Sarah Messimore, 
of jNIassachusetts. Mr. ]\lessimore in an earlv 
day emigrated to Westmoreland county, Penn- 
sylvania, thence, about 1820. to Columbiana 
county, CMiio, where he lived tlie life of a 
farmer. 

Shortly after his marriage Abraham Wy- 
man took up the trade of stonemasonrv and 
worked at the same for a number of years in 
the county of Columbiana and other parts of 
eastern Ohio. Later he purchased, in Paris 
township. Stark county, what is locally known 
as the Shepard farm, on which formerly stood 
one of the oldest fulling-mills in this part of 
the state, and from that time on he devoted all 



of his attention to the pursuit of agriculture. 
.Subsequently, in 1892, he sold ninety of the 
one hundred and sixty acres which the place 
contained and in 1898 disposed of the remain- 
der, meanwhile, from 1885 to the present time, 
making his home with his son. the subject of 
this sketch, his wife having died in 1866. The 
following are the names of the children born 
to Abraham, and Julia Ann Wyman : Rachel 
married Philip Harsh and died at the age of 
thirty-nine: b'rank is a farmer living near 
Ouida. Ohio; J. M., of this review; Smith is a 
telegraph operator and station agent in the em- 
ploy of a railroad in Idaho; Lavina died in 
childhood and Alpheus also departed this life 
when quite young. Mr. ^^'yman has lived to 
a ripe old age, and has always been a good citi- 
zen and useful member of society. Years ago 
he and wife united witli tlie tiernian Baptist 
church, in the faith of which the latter quietly 
passed to her eternal rest and in the hope of 
which the devoted hus])an(I. true to her mem- 
ory, is proceeding" calmlv onward to the twi- 
light and^he joiu'ney's end. 

Prof. J. M. Wyman was born on the old 
homestearl in Paris township. Stark count}", 
Aug"ust 6, 1857. When nine years old he lost 
that best of all earthly friends, his mother, aft- 
er which his early training was only too sadly 
neglected. \\'ithout tlie hrm but gentle inllu- 
ence wiiich none but a mother can exercise, he 
was permitted largely to follow his own in- 
clinations, the result being" the development of 
an independent and rather wa\ward disposi- 
tion .which his father and afterwards his teach- 
ers founil it difficult to curb. The father's 
absence from home while Avorking at his trade 
left the lad to follow his own sweet will and 
being thrown in the company of otiiers as full 
of life and vigor as himself, he .s<^)on became 
exceedingly impatient of any kind i"if restraint. 
Until his eighth year he ne\"er saw the interior 
6f a school house as a pupil and he was fully 
aware tint he could not distinguish one letter 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



887 



fi'om another. When he finally entered school 
it was to canse liis teaclier. i\Iiss Molhe Rouch, 
no end of trouble, ■ and to suppress the animal 
spirits of the Httle reiiel, she was obliged fre- 
quently to test the efficacy of a handful of 
tough willows. -Miss Rouch's experience was 
about the same as of several of her successors 
and it was not until about his fourteenth year 
that the wayward l)oy opened his eyes to the 
advantages and real necessity of educational 
training. Finalh' a teacher Iiv the name ol 
liiliu fTart took charge of the school and to 
him yunng AVyiuan yielded a rather reluctant 
obethence. Taking advice from his better judg- 
ment, the Ijoy at last resolved to make the most 
of his opportunities and, applying himself dili- 
gentl}- to his studies, soon made such ad\-ance- 
nu-nt as to place himself at the head of nearly 
all of his classes. From now on his progress 
\\as rapid and in every way commendable, and 
in a few years he had so mastered the common 
branches as to pass successfully the rctpiired 
examination for a teacher's license. Mr. Wy- 
man received his first certificate when eighteen 
years old, but did not begin teaching until the 
year following, when he took charge of the 
Oneida district at a compensation of one dollar 
and forty cents per day. His first term ])ro\ed 
eminently, satisfactory and such was the repu- 
tation be achieved in i-nanaging what was con- 
sidered a difficult school that the patrons of 
adjoining districts made a liberal ofifen for his 
services the following year. Accepting their 
proposition, he not only taught the ensuing year 
in iheir district, but continued there for eight 
successi\-e terms, meantime spending his \aca- 
tions attending school with the oljject in \iew 
of fitting himself for greater efficiency as an 
instructor. To this end he spent the spring and 
summer seasons from 1879 to 1881 inclusive 
in Ada College, and during the spring and fall 
of 1882-83 pursued his studies in Mt. Union 
College. Following this, he taught the Pleas- 
ant Valley school f(nu" }-ears and later spent 



the same length of time with the Ouida sch(ji J. 
after which he taught one term in the Roberts- 
\ille district. Fie then took charge of the 
schools of Pekin, Carroll county, where he 
taught five terms, and at the expiration of his 
period of service there he accepted, in 1892. . 
the principalship of the North Cherry Street 
school, Canton. After filling this position two 
years Prof. Wyman was transferred to the East 
Fourth Street building, where he remainecf 
diu'ing the ensuing six years, at the end ot 
whic time he was returned to the North 
Cherry Street school, his ])resent ]ilace of labor. 
Prof. Wyman is identified witli the Stark 
County Teachers' Institute and the Ohio State 
Teachers' Association, being a regular attend- 
ant at their sessions and an active participant 
in their deliberations. As a teacher he has feu- 
equals in Stark county and his name is widel\* 
known in the educational circles of the state. 
He is a fine scholar, a polished gentleman and 
possesses in a marked degree those traits of 
character which insure success in his chosen 
calling and popularity in (lie domain of citizen- 
ship. His career as an educator presents a 
series of continued advancements and his pres- 
ent responsible position has been won by merit 
alone. Prof. Wyman is not entirely tied down 
by the claims of his profession, but is a public- 
spirited man. deeiily interested in whatever 
concerns the material and moral good of the 
city and county of his residence. Fie is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic lodge in this city and for a 
number of years has been a zealous worker 
in the First Presbyterian church of Canton, in 
which he now holds the office of elder. Be- 
fore moving to Canton he was for six year.? 
elder of the Bethlehem church, served three 
years as superintendent of the Sunday school 
of that organization, besides holding for the 
same length of time the superintendency of 
the Sunday school with which he is at present 
connected. Prof. Wyman is a liberal in poli- 
tics, but in state and national affairs generallv 



S8S 



OLD LANDMARKS 



supports the Democratic party. He reads 
much, keeps himself well informed upon cur- 
rent events and national issues and has no 
hesitancy in expressing" his opinions. He dis- 
cliarges the duties of citizenship as becomes 
an intelligent, broad-minded American and in 
every relation of life endeavors to live up to 
the right as he sees and understands the right. 
Prof, ^\■yman was married on the i6th of 
Tebrxiary, 1S82, to Miss Althea M. Crowl, 
•whose birth occurred near Minerva, this coun- 
ty, May 28, 1 861. Mrs. Wyman is the daugh- 
ter of George W. and Caroline (McNamara) 
Crowl, the father deceased, the mother still 
living. Prof, and Mrs. Wyman are the parents 
of four children, namely: Myrtle J., born 
March 8. 1883; Victor G., born July 8, 1892; 
'Wilbur 1'".. born July 2, 1895, and Wilma 
Caroline, who was Ijorn on the 25th of Au- 
gust, iqoj ; the twn older were born in the 
town of Minerva, the other two in the city of 
Canton. 



GEORGE H. WALLACE was secretary 
of New Mexico at the time of his sudden pass- 
ing away, which carried bereavement to a large 
circle of friends throughout the United States 
and in various parts of the world. Of Scotch- 
Irish ancestry, the sturdy traits of the Scot 
found an able exponent in him who bore the 
name so dear to those who trace their lineage 
to "Old Scotland." From childhood he was 
known to all who came in contact with him as 
"a true Wallace." His grandfather, George 
Wallace, with his brother Robert, sons of James 
Wallace, went from New Hampshire to 
Youngstown, Ohio, in 1795, where they en- 
gaged in surveying. They afterwards located 
on the site of the present city of Cleveland, 
and were largely interested and instrumental 
in the development of that section in the early 
part of the last century. Dr. Perkins Wallace, 
father of the deceased, was educated at Cin- 



cinnati, and in 1834 was married at Canton, 
Ohio, to Rebekah, daughter of William and 
Elizabeth Seabury Fisk Raynolds, in the home- 
stead on South Market street, by the Rev. Tim- 
othy Hopkins, the Presbyterian minister. Cap- 
tain Fisk, a retired wealthy sea-captain, went to 
Canton in 1810 and invested in a large tract of 
land, taking with him from Rhode Island his 
motherless and only child, Betsy. In 181 1 she 
became the wife of William Raynolds, recorder 
of the United States land office, whose father, 
Major William Raynolds, removed from Vir- 
ginia to Zanesville, Ohio, in 1802. The son 
William settled in Stark county in 1808. An 
active business man, he established a sawmill, 
large flour and woolen mills. He died at the 
early age of thirty-seven years. 

Dr. and Mrs. Wallace lived at Massillon ; 
later they resided for a time at Akron, where, 
on December 26, 1842, their son, George II. 
Wallace, was born. They removed to Massil- 
lon, where the residence built by Dr. Wallace 
is still st;uiduig. In 1847 they returned lo 
Canton, to reside permanently in the old home- 
stead built by Captain Fisk for his daughter, 
the mother of Mrs. Wallace, and where she, 
]Mrs. Raynolds, died in 1853. Of the seven 
children born to Dr. and Mrs. Wallace, only 
one, the youngest, Cora Bell Wallace — Mrs. 
W. R. Farrand, of Detroit — survives. 

Mr. Wallace was educated in the public 
schools of Canton, in the organization of which 
his father had taken a most active part. He be- 
came a favorite pupil of Miss Betsy Cowles, 
who was a graduate from Oberlin and a well- 
known educator in northern Ohio. His warm 
attachment and grateful appreciation of her 
thorough teaching were often manifested in 
later life. At this early stage he developed a 
special aptitude for mathematics. His interest 
in public afifairs, in national questions, may be 
directly traced to the influence and early teach- 
ing" of his father, one of the ablest physicians 
in northern Ohio, who was for several years an 




£h0 ^i,/'.^t^'i'//a2,- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



889 



invalid, suffering from asthma, which resulted 
from the fatigue and exposure incident to a 
large practice in that early day. Rarely is the 
influence and teaching of the parent more 
marked, and the attachment between parent and 
child stronger, than in the case of Dr. Wallace 
and his son — "My dear son," as he was al- 
ways called by the father in his letters or in his 
diaries, so carefully and methodically kept. The 
boy read much aloud in those stirring times, 
when conditions were leading on to the Civil 
war ; and the father spared no time, no pains, to 
give clearly, and in detail, correct knowledge 
and thorough understanding of all he read — 
a gift he possessed in rare degree, and which 
also developed in the son. Many, both children 
and adults, have admired the accurate and lucid 
explanations of obscure points so aptly and 
readily given by Mr. Wallace. His uncle. 
General W. F. Raynolds, of the engineer corps 
in the regular army, was placed in command of 
an expedition for the exploration of the Yellow- 
stone and Missouri rivers in May, 1859. His 
nephew, but little more than sixteen years of 
age, was made a member of it. His duty was 
to make astronomical observations, and to cal- 
culate latitude and longitude, which proved con- 
genial work, as he inherited from his mother 
a liking for mathematics. It was hoped that 
roughing it m the mountains might materially 
aid in strengthening a delicate constitution. 
That hope was realized. From a slender lad 
of scarce more than one hundred pounds he re- 
turned, at the end of eighteen months, weigh- 
ing one hundred and sixty pountls, and the 
father's joy was expressed in the greeting. 
"Thank God, he is big !" 

The mountain experience proved a never- 
failing source of pleasure and interest, not only 
to himself but to others, by reason of his gift 
of vivid portrayal of scene and incident. His 
naturally keen powers of observation were 
quickened and developed, his love of nature was 
cultivated, and his knowledge of men and life 



was extended. It was an education of a rare 
and beneficial kind, under exceptionally favor- 
able conditions and guidance. The white man 
for the first time saw the smoke of the Yellow- 
stone Geysers, and looked down into the won- 
derful section since made the National Park. 
Professor Hayden, of the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution, was a member of the party, as was also 
Colonel James Stevenson, afterwards a famous 
collector for the Smithsonian, then learning his 
first lessons with Professor Hayden. The col- 
lection of birds made by the expedition was 
classified, arranged and described by Dr. Elliott 
Coues, whose book on "The Birds of the North- 
west," among the earliest of his works, is still 
the recognized authority on that subject. The 
last two summers of the life of this eminent and 
lamented scientist, a warm personal friend of 
Mr. Wallace, were spent in Santa Fe in study 
and research. The association thus made pos- 
sible was a source of much pleasure to both. 
The government report of this important and 
interesting expedition was lost sight of in the 
exciting events of the Civil war. Mr. Wallace 
was not permitted, on account of his physical 
constitution, either to pursue a collegiate educa- 
tion or to enter upon the confining duties of a 
professional life, which seemed most unfortu- 
nate, as he was posses.sed of an eminently legal 
mind. 

When the Civil war began he was pursuing 
a special course of study in an institution at 
Cleveland, Ohio. He gave himself at once to 
his country's defence, and the first duty to 
which he was assigned was the hospital service. 
Afterwards, as division superintendent of mili- 
tary telegraphs, he served in the Army of the 
Cumberland, but always where he could be 
readily released if summons came from his in- 
valid father. After the war he engaged in com- 
mercial life, upon which he entered first at Wil- 
mington. Delaware, then at Omaha, Nebraska. 
But not until 1868 did the final message come 
which summoned him home. It was a source of 



Sgo 



OLD LANDMARKS 



lifelong sorrow and regret that he was unable, 
on account of distance from the railway, to re- 
turn in time for his father's blessing". With 
his sister, he tenderly nursed his mother in 
her last painful illness in 1870. On March 14, 
1 871, he was married at Wilmington, Dela- 
ware, to Miss Eliza Bradley Jones, who died of 
consumption on the 31st of the same month. 
He was at Omaha through that most interest- 
ing' time in its history, the building of the Union 
Pacific Raih\ay. I^ater, connected with a man- 
ufacturing firm at Canton, he travelled exten- 
si\el)' throughout the states. Always active 
in church work, he aided materially, while at 
Canton,, in keeping up the services in St. Paul's 
Episcopal church, acting as lay reader under 
Bishop Bedell. On October 14, 1875, he was 
married at Massillon, Ohio, to Miss Catharine 
.\. Patten, niece and ward of Thomas McCul- 
lough. ]\Iost of the centennial year was spent 
at Philadelphia. 

In the spring of 1877, seeking the benefit of 
an cnitdoor life, he bought a plantation in How- 
ard county, Missouri, one of the oldest-settled 
and most conser\-ati\'e sections of the state, the 
home of many of the most eminent Missouri 
statesmen and officials, where he engaged in 
sheep-raising and wool-growing'. With his 
strong Republican principles and patriotic tem- 
perament he soon entered upon his political 
duties and organized the county and district, 
and had Republican tickets out for each elec- 
tion. He was chairman of the congressional 
committee, and for ten years a member of the 
state central committee. In 1888 he declined 
the nomination for congress, and, although the 
convention had adjourned, they met again and 
re-nominated him. The following day, most 
unexpectedly to him. he was nominated by ac- 
clamation, in the state convention, for lieuten- 
ant-governor. Then followed one of the most 
exciting, vigorous campaigiis ever conducted 
in Missouri. At the election Mr. Wallace ran 
several thousand ahead of the ticket. As a 



result of the wearing campaign, bronchial 
trouble and asthma developed, necessitating 
a change. For months his Hfe seemed to hang 
by a thread. Under the care and skillful treat- 
ment of Dr. Biggar, of Cleveland, the bron- 
chial affection was healed and the asthmatic 
conditions reheved, though not entirely over- 
come. 

While residing on his plantation, which was 
four niiles from Fayette, the county seat, he 
acted as lay reader under Bishop Robertson in 
the little parish of St. Mary, one of the oldest 
in the diocese of ^Missouri, taking the services 
one Sunday in each month for some years, 
during the ministration of the venerable father. 
Rev. J. L. Gay. When the time came to leave 
this section, the expressions of regret, of appre- 
ciation and of kindly good-will, came fi^om all. 
of Avhatever creed or political faith. 

An ardent protectionist, and believing that 
"the wool tariff is the keystone of the arch of 
protection," Mr. Wallace, working always in 
the interest of the farmer, the jiroducer, gave ■ 
careful studv to the question of the tariff on 
wool. As president of the ^Missouri Wool- 
Gro\\ers' Association, his energy and ability 
made that organization one of the most acti\'e 
in the country. Through his efforts in enlist- 
ing the interest of the citizens of St. Louis, and 
the members of the Cotton and Wool Ex- 
change, the Wool-Growers' First National 
Convention and Sheep-Shearing was held in 
that city in 1886, with Hon. Columbus Delano, 
ex-secretary of the interior, as president, and 
General Sherman one of the speakers. Dele- 
gates were attendance from New England, the 
northern states, the west and southwest, and 
from Old ]\Iexico. A large sum of nioney, 
contributed in St. Louis, was paid as premi- 
ums in the competitive sheep-shearing. 

As secretary of the National Wool-Grow- 
ers" Association he spent the winter of 1889-90 
in Washingttin, working with Hon. Columbus 
Delano and Judge Lawrence in the formation 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



891 



of schedule "K" of the ]\IcKinley tariff bill. 
His appointment as consul-general to Mel- 
bourne was delayed till the bill had passed the 
lower house of the national congress in the last 
week of J\lay. After he had left Washington 
in preparation for the journey abroad he was 
called back to \\-ork for its passage in the sen- 
ate, and did not sail from San Francisco till 
three months later. His appointment as con- 
sul-general to Australasia was not made as a lo- 
cal one credited to Missouri, but, as President 
Harrison stated, it was a national one, asked 
for and lu^ged 1)}" the wool interests from Bos- 
ton to California, from Oregon to Texas. In 
August, 1890, he sailed for Melbourne. Dur- 
ing his residence in that city, while the present 
governor-g-eneral of the federated colonies, the 
Earl of Hopetoun. a true and loyal Scotch- 
man, \\as governor of Victoria, he won the 
confidence and esteem of all. Before he com- 
jjleted his term of office he visited each of the 
fiN'e colonies of Australia, also Tasmania and 
New Zealand, thus gaining personal knowledge 
of the \'arious consulates, and was the first 
Ignited States representative to visit, officially, 
the ports of \A"est Australia. He travelled as 
the guest of the go\'ernment, and every cour- 
tesy, official and social, was shown him. When 
by reason of the change in our national admin- 
istration, he returned to the United States, 
universal regret was expressed. It mav well be 
doubted if any representati\'e of the United 
States go\-ernment to Australia equalled him, 
from a social as \\ell as a commercial stand- 
point, in kindling warm and kindly 4'eelings 
toward the United States. The thorough study 
he gave to the wool industry of Australasia 
resulted in an exhaustive special consular report 
which has proved invaluable to the wool inter- 
ests in our country. The Ijetter part of a year 
was occupied in making the journev Ijack to 
the United States liy the perilous passage along 
the coast of Queensland : passing Thursday 
Island: tln-ough the Arafura and Flores seas 



to Java; through the straits of Sunda to "In- 
dia's utmost isle," "'heavenly Ceylon," which 
he loved so well ; spending several weeks in In- 
dia, followed by a month in Egypt; across the 
Mediterranean to Italy, over the Alps, through 
Switzerland to Paris and London, thence to 
New York ; thus completing the circuit of the 
globe. 

Attracted by the favorable climatic condi- 
tions of New Mexico, the winter of 1895-96 
was spent at Las Vegas, and the following- 
winter at Santa Fe. Mr, Wallace organized 
the New Mexico- Wool-Growers' Association, 
of which he was made an honorary member, 
and, as ever, was at work with his pen to fur- 
ther the cause of protection and the sheep in- 
dustry. In April, 1897, he was called to Wash- 
ington b_v Judge Lawrence, to a meeting of 
the National Association, to assist in securine' 
protection for the wool-gro'wers in the formu- 
lation of the Dmgley tariff bill. Early in June 
he was appointed l)y President McKinley sec- 
retary of the territory of New Mexico. He re- 
mained at Washington a month after, working 
in the interest of the wool-growers, confident 
he could thus better serve the people of New 
Mexico than by at once assuming- the duties of 
his office. His interest in this subject never 
flagg'ed. Notwithstanding the many demands 
on his time and strength, he responded liber- 
ally to the constant solicitations from the press 
for \\ool-tariff propaganda. Official duties pre- 
\eiUed his attendance at the meeting of the 
National Association of Wool-Growers at 
Salt Lake City in January. 1901 ; however, he 
prepared the prcigram, and, by request, furn- 
ished twi) of the papers read in that convention. 

The fondness for travel de^•eloped in early 
life was never lost. Aside from the physical 
benefit, no opportunity thus afforded for enrich- 
ing his funrl of information escaped so keen 
an oljserver as JNIr. Wallace; and. being thor- 
ough and practical, he lost no detail. His resig- 
nation had l>een in the hands of the President 



892 



OLD LANDMARKS 



for several months, and plans were being made 
for rest and foreign travel when the duties of 
the office, necessarily confining, should be given 
over, when the final end came. His life had 
been varied and eventful, his talents versatile, 
and his attainments only limited by physical 
infirmities. He was a man of indomitable 
energy and perseverance, sterling integrity, un- 
swerving loyalty and devotion to duty, with 
marvelous patience and cheeerfulness and 
Christlike forbearance. In all his physicial 
suffering no complaint was ever heard. Of a 
delicately-sensitive organization, sympathetic, 
tenderhearted as a child, he was always ready 
with a kind word, a cheering smile and a help- 
ing hand to brighten the lives and lighten the 
cares and sorrows of others. The precious 
memory of the beautiful life, so lovingly un- 
selfish, so tenderly gentle, so patiently cheerful, 
so firmly upright, . lingers — lives to bless, to 
strengthen, to sweeten many lives. It seems 
eminently fitting that the passing of the spirit 
came quietly, without a pain or struggle. At 
the dawn of the early morning the gates of Life 
were opened, and the patient spirit entered in. 
His death occurred on April 13, 1901, at Santa 
Fe, New Mexico. 

Many tributes have been given to Mr. 
Wallace's ability and worth, among them the 
following being noteworthy : 

People who have met Mr. Wallace, the United 
States consul-general to Australia, will regret that the 
system of political patronage that prevails in America 
necessitates a change of consuls with a change of gov- 
ernment. A typical American in face, manner and 
speech, the retiring representative of the government 
at Washington has made for himself scores— nay hun- 
dreds—of good, sound friends in this country, who will 
not soon forget him. He is a capital public speaker. 
T-Iis oration at the Columbus Centenary celebration last 
vear was a model.— Melbourne Argus. August, 1893. 

The retirement of Mr. G. H. Wallace from the 
American consulship in Melbourne is. naturally, a sub- 
ject for regret. .'\t the mayor's luncheon, yesterday, 
Mr. Wallace was good enough to say that the consul- 
general to Victoria has not been recalled, as he would 



always be a permanent resident in the colony, although 
represented by different individuals. But that is a mat- 
ter which calls for regret. The position is unchanged, 
but the men are different. But with no feeling of dis- 
respect to Mr. Wallace's unknown successor, it may 
still be pointed out that the former's continuance in 
ofificial position would be exceptionally pleasing to Mel- 
bourne citizens. It must be of some concern to the 
country interested to have its affairs looked up by a gen- 
tleman who enjoys the respect and confidence of all 
circles. This was the position occupied by Mr. Wal- 
lace ; consequently, it is a pity that circumstances do 
not permit of the extension of his stay in Victoria.^ 
Melbourne Evening Standard, August 10, 1893. 



To George H. Wallace, Esq., United States Consul- 

General to Australasia at Melbourne : 
Dear Sir : 

We learn that, by reason of the change in admin- 
istration, yoii are soon to return to the United States, 
and we desire to express our appreciation of the val- 
uable services you have rendered during your residence 
among us as consul-general to Australasia, and to bear 
testimony to the prompt attention and courtesy you 
have extended to all having business connected with 
the consulate, to the patience and readiness with which 
you have furnished valuable information, to your in- 
terest in and study of the development of our indus- 
tries, with a view to facilitate and increase trade rela- 
tions between the United -States and Australia. 

The uniform urbanity and manly patriotism with 
which you have discharged your duties — business, of- 
ficial and social, have not only gained for you the es- 
teem and regard of the entire community, but en- 
deared you to them personally, and we trust the pleas- 
ant, interested association j'ou have had with us may 
help to draw the people and interests of the two great 
countries, America and Australia, into closer relation- 
ship. 

Ill expressing our regret at the severance of the 
pleasant relations which for the past three years have 
existed, we desire to add the hope that health and pros- 
perity may attend you, and that you will cherish pleasant 
memories of Australia and her people. 

We are. dear sir. yours, very truly, 
Str James B. P.mterson, Premier of Victoria. 



Some men die, and their passing away makes 
scarcely a noticeable impression on the community. 
Others die, and everybody stops and wonders, and is 
sad. Even little children are made unhappy. The 
death of Secretary Wallace was a shock to Santa Fe. 
He had so identified himself with the community's 
life and welfare that bis loss was like a personal be- 
reavement. It will be a long time before Santa Fe 
can forget his .genial personality, his devotion to her 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



«93 



best interests, his work as a citizen and officer, and his 
steadfastness as a friend. 

Mr. Wallace took up his work as Secretary of the 
Territory comparatively unknown to the rank and file 
of its citizens. Tie at once evinced'such capacity for the 
duties of his ofhce, and such integrity and fidelity, as 
won for him the esteem and confidence of our best 
public men. This esteem and confidence he held until 
he died. Indeed, 1 have heard it said repeatedly by 
well-infornicd men that no one has ever occupied offi- 
cial position in New Mexico who was better equipped 
by business ability and culture and unswerving honesty 
than Secretary Wallace. This is high tribute, and well 
deserved. It is all the more notable when one reflects 
upon the general reputation of public men in this op- 
pressed territory, and when one considers the opportu- 
nities for dishonesty and the chances of escaping de- 
tection. To lose such an officer as Secretary Wallace 
is a public calamity, and especially so at this time, 
when men of strong character are needed to save New 
Mexico from the greed of irresponsible officialism. 

No man had the interests of the territory more pro- 
foundly at heart. He believed in the territory's re- 
sources and possibilities, and was stirred by a strong de- 
sire to promote her best development. He was anxious 
to do something to overcome the difficulties that have 
so long retarded her progress, and that ought never to 
have been in her way. I have talked with him again and 
a.^ain on public aft'airs. and 1 know that New Mexico 
had no stauncher friend. He had large faith in the ca- 
pacity of the native people, and always spoke in deep 
interest of them. He condemned indignantly the 
.shameless instances in which the personal greed of the 
American had robbed them of their rights, and he saw 
that nothing but honorable dealing with our Mexican 
population wo\ild win them to good government and 
bring the territory to fitness for larger responsibilities. 
If New Mexico had always been governed by men of 
his convictions and capacity, she would have been long 
ago in her place among the sisterhood of states. 

It has been worth while that Secretary Wallace 
came among us, even for so few years. His manly life, 
his straightforward public career, his fine example every- 
where, will not soon fade from memory. He has left a 
record to be emulated by our boys and young men. 
On moral questions, his position was wise and .strong. 
He lent his influence to every public good. He en- 
couraged every progressive enterprise. He was a re- 
ligious man, but not narrow. His friends were in all 
denominations. A thorough Protestant, he numbered 
among his closest associates many e.xcellent Catholics. 
His gentle tolerance and kindly spirit made him be- 
loved by all creeds. 

One other thought. His home was the synonym 
for hospitality. How many have been at his table and 
enjoyed his sincere friendliness ! His devoted wife was 
his happy counterpart. They were among the first to 



welcome me and my family to Santa Fe, and the warmth 
of their welcome is still a pleasant recollection. To 
say that these good people are missed seems little ; but 
what words can more strongly express their worth and 
the vacancy they have left in many hearts? They are 
sadly missed. Another Wallace made the old Palace 
famous by his Ben-Hur. This Wallace and his lovely 
wife have made it famous by their hospitality. Long 
may the memory of their residence spread its fragrance 
among us ! W. Haves Moore, 

Pastor Presbyterian Church, Santa Fe, N. M. 

The foregoing paragraphs are in the main 
quoted from a memorial sketch prepared for 
circulation among friends of the deceased. 



JOHN E. RARER.— Among the pros- 
perous industries which contrilnite to the pres- 
tige of the city and county is that conducted 
under the title of the Columbia Iron & Wire 
Works, of which the subject of this review is 
proprietor, being recognized as one of the en- 
ergetic and representative liusiness men of 
C'antoii. The concern has a large and well 
equipped plant and the same is given over to the 
manufacture of builders' iron, wire and brass 
goods of divers descriptions, including archi- 
tectural iron work, wire and brass work of 
every sort, wire window guards, elevator cabs 
and enclosures, liank and office railings, and 
iron stairs, fencing, fire escapes and other 
specialties. The plant is located at Union 
street and in juxtaposition to the tracks of the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, thus controlling 
excellent shipping facilities. 

John E. Raber was born on a farm sixteen 
miles south of the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, 
on the 31st of October, 1864, being a son of 
Emanuel and Harriet (Myers) Raber, the 
former of whom is a native of Stark countv 
and representative of one of its pioneer families, 
having been born in Greentbwn, and having 
been a resident of Canton for more than thirty 
years. His wife was liorn in Millheim. Sum- 
mit county, this state, her father having re- 
moved there from Pennsylvania and was an 



894 



OLD LANDMARKS 



early pioneer farmer. She died in Uniontown, 
tliis count}', in 1873, and her husband later 
married Mrs. Mary Daum, who is still living. 
\\ hen the sul)jcct of this sketch was four years 
of age his parents remo\-ed to Uniontown, this 
county, and he passed his boyhood days in that 
village and Greentown, while his tirst educa- 
tional advantages were comprised in attending 
two winter terms in the country schools and 
two in the public schools of Canton, while la- 
ter he was a student in the high school and con- 
tinued his studies for one term in Oberlin Col- 
lege, after which he effectively supplemented 
tliis discipline by taking a three years' course in 
the Ohio Xornial University, at Ada. He then 
returned to Canton, his funds being entirely 
exhausted at the time of reaching his home 
city, and he walked from this place to Akron, 
having no mone}' with which to pay railroad 
fare, and there he took the teachers' examina- 
tion, having just enough money left to buy a 
simple luncheon after thus proving that his 
mental resources were not at so low an ebb 
as his financial. He then returned on foot to 
Canton and w;is employed in the harvest tield 
during that summer, also selling implements 
for the handling of hay. In the autumn he 
was matriculated in the Indiana Normal 
School & Business University, at Valparaiso, 
Indiana, where he continued his studies for 
two years, working on a farm in Stark county 
during his vacation. Thereafter he was suc- 
cessfully engaged in teaching school in Sum- 
mit county for the ensuing four years, princi- 
pally at Lake View, in the mining district, and 
his experience with the somewhat incorrigible 
children of the miners taxed both his mental 
and physical powers. This school was also 
taught previously by his father, who there had 
his first pedagogic experience. In 1888 he 
was married in that county, and shortly after- 
ward he removed to Detroit, Michigan, where 
he entered the employ of J. E. Bolles & Com- 
pany, manufacturers of iron and wire goods, 



remaining with this concern four, years and 
gaining an intimate knowledge of the business 
in its various details. In 1893 ^^^ returned to 
Canton and engaged in the same line of enter- 
])rises on his own account, and here he has suc- 
ceeded in building up a large and profitable 
business under the title of the Columbia Iron 
& \Vire Works. 

In Summit county, Ohio, on the 5th of 
April. 1888, Mr. Raber was united in marriage 
to Miss Emma Moss, who was born in that 
county, being a daughter of William and Anna 
(Littlewood) i\Ioss. her father being superin- 
tenden.*: of mines at Lake View, that county. 
Mr. and Mrs. Raber ha\'e four children, Irene 
May. aged fourteen ( 1903) ; Ethel Edna, aged 
thirteen ; Grace, aged nine ; and Florence Er- 
\-eta, aged two years. Mr. and Mrs. Raijer are 
members of the First Alethodist Episcopal 
cliurch in Canton, politically he is a Repub- 
lican, and fraternally a member of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. 



HIUVRV M. WATTS is a native of the 
state of New Jersey, having l)een born in the 
town of Washington, on the 12th of August, 
1864, and being a son of William H. and Ra- 
chel F. (Fries) ^^'atts, the former of whom 
now resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, Ijeing a 
tinner by trade and vocation, while the latter, 
who was for many years prominenth- engaged 
in the milliner business in Canton, died in this 
citv in x886. Our sul)iect was reared ti;> the 
ag'e of eleven years in his native place, where 
he received his earl}- educational training, and 
he then came with his parents to Canton, where 
he continued his studies in the public schools 
until he hatl attained the age of se\enteen years. 
He began his identification with the "art pre- 
servative" by assuming the dignified antl inde- 
pendent position of "devil" in the job-printing 
establishment of Charles Thompson, of Can- 
ton, and after becoming a skilled workman he 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



895 



\v;is for five years employed at his trade in In- 
dianapolis, Indiana. In 1896 he returned to 
Canton, and was here employed by tlie Gibbs 
]\Janufactnring Company until the year 1900, 
having had charge of the book department of 
their printing and publishing business. In 
January, 1900, l\Ir. Watts laid the foundation 
of the important business of which he is now 
the manager, by establishing a small job-print- 
ing office in a room of his residence, and May 
7. 1901, he effected the organization of the 
Watts Printing Company, which is a stock con- 
cern and incorporated under the laws of the 
state. Concerning the establishment we can 
not do better than to quote from two articles 
which appeared in the News-Democrat of Can- 
ton : "The growth of the Watts Printing- 
Company during the past yean has been re- 
markable. It is attracting attention every- 
where. The business was started one year ago 
last April, by II. M. Watts, with one small 
ji:>b press, and cmpli:)yed but one boy and occu- 
pied two hundred and sixteen feet of floor 
space. At that time they were able to print 
■ <n\\ calling cards and other job work of that 
kind. The business has been steadily develop- 
ing until it now has eighteen hundred and 
eighty feet of floor space, employs twenty-eight 
persons and has nine first-class job presses. 
The presses and type are all new and modern, 
making this the model printing plant of the 
city. The company can now print anything 
from a calling card to a catalogue, and they 
have all the latest improved machinery of a 
supplemental nature, such as machines for 
punching, perforating, numbering, cutting, etc., 
and an important feature of the enterprise is 
that only first-class union men are employed. 
Commercial printing is the specialty of the 
concern. The Iniilcling utilized was remodeled 
-^l^ecially for the purpose and is occupied e.\clu- 
>i\ely by this concern, llie rapid growth of the 
l>usiness ind'cates that the excellent work 



turned out is appreciated by the business com- 
munity of Canton." 

In politics Mr. Watts is a stanch Repub- 
lican, taking a public-spirited interest in the af- 
fairs of the day, and fraternally he holds mem- 
bership in the Junior Order of United Ameri- 
can Mechanics and the Woixlmen of the World. 
As a business man he is energetic and progres- 
sive, as is clearly evident in the light of the 
fine enterprise which he has built up, and he is 
held in high esteem in the community. 

In this city, on the 1 ith of August, 1888, 
Mr. \Vatts was united in marriage to Aliss Nel- 
lie A. Miller, wdio was reared in Stark county, 
being a daughter of Louis and Jennie Miller, 
who now reside in Canton. Air. and Mrs. 
Watts have one child, Vivian M. 



LEON P. W. STIEHL.— Among those 
who have accomplished notable results in con- 
nection with the establishing and maintenance 
t)f the highest grade of commercial and 
business colleges is Mr. Stiebl. who has 
an able coadjutator in his wife, a thi:)r- 
oughly skilled and capable teacher. Mr. 
Stiehl's operations in the educational field 
ha\e been of wide scope and importance, as is 
evident when we refer to the fact that he has 
been the founder of the business colleges 
which bear his name in Canton and Uhrichs- 
\'ille, Ohio; San Francisco, California: Charles- 
ton, South Carolina; Raleigh, North Carolina; 
Lynchburg, V^irginia ; and Salt Lake City, 
Utah. He is at the present time owner of the 
Ohio schools mentioned and remains a stock- 
holder of several other of the institutinns 
\\hich owe their organization to him. 

Mr. Stiebl comes of stanch old Revolu- 
tionary stock in both the paternal and maternal 
lines, and is a native of the state of ^^'est \'ir- 
ginia. having been born in Monroe countA'. on 
the 23d of September, 1854. and being a ^^p 



896 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of \\. G. and Alalinda (Blanton) Stiehl, the 
former of whom was born in the state of Vir- 
ginia and the latter in Kentucky. The subject 
received his early educational training in the 
public schools of Pennsyh'ania and Ohio and 
thereafter continued his studies in various in- 
stitutions, making it his special aim to thor- 
oughly fortify himself for the successful 
handling of practical educational work. Thus 
it may be said that he was a student in the 
National Normal School, at Lebanon, Ohio ; 
the Spencerian Commercial and Shorthand 
School, at Cleveland, Ohio; Packard's Busi- 
ness College, New York city ; the Graham 
Shorthand School. New York city; the Pit- 
man I'honographic Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio; 
and the San Francisco Business College, in the 
ciiy of the same name, while both he and his 
\\ ife have the most flattering endorsments and 
credentials from many of the leading educa- 
tors in 'the business line from all sections of the 
Union. It is not incompatible at this point to 
enter a list of the colleges and celebrated au- 
thors from whom i\lr. and Mrs. Stiehl have 
received diplomas or certificates : Spencerian 
Commercial and Shorthand School, Cleveland; 
San Francisco Business College, L. C. Ellis 
and N. S. Phelps, founders, and also authors 
and publishers of the Ellis System of Fiusiness 
Practice and Practical Bookkeeping ; Phuno- 
gra]>hic Institute, Cincinnati, Benn Pitman and 
Jerome B. Howard, founders and conductors, 
and also authors and publishers of American 
Pitman Shorthand, etc. ; Andrew J. Graham, 
author and publisher of Standard Phonogra- 
phy, New York city ; S. PI. Goodyear, associ- 
ate author and publisher of the Goodyear- 
Marshall Systems of Bookkeeping and Busi- 
ness Practice, and also president of the com- 
pany; George \Y . Davis, principal shorthand 
department of the Bryant & Stratton Business 
College, Buffalo, New York, and author of 
Shorthand Simplified, exemplifying the Gra- 
ham system; Isaac S. Dement, author, publish- 



er and champion stenographer of the world ; 
National Associations of Accountants and 
Bookkeepers, of which Mr. Stiehl is a member ; 
H. M. Rowe, associate conductor of Sadler's 
Bryant & Stratton Business College, Balfi- 
more, Maryland, and author of Sadler-Rowe 
publications. The Stiehls are also authors and 
publishers of works on various branches of the 
work to which they have gi\-en their attention 
for the past twenty years or more, and it is 
needless to say that Canton is fortunate in \va\- 
ing secured the establishment of one of their 
colleges within its confines. Their institution 
here was founded in September. if)02, and has 
met with a gratifying support, while its busi- 
ness is certain to be cumulative as its superior 
advantages in all departments become more 
widely known. The school at Uhrichsville. 
Ohio, was established in 1896, and both are 
under the immediate control and supervision of 
Mr. and Mrs. Stiehl, the latter being principal 
of the school at Uhrichsville. 

Mr. Stiehl is a man of fine executi\e abil- 
ity, as is evident from the success that has at- 
tended his \'arious educational enterprises, and 
the cor]:)s of assistants retained in his colleges 
is selected with special reference to the ability 
of each individual as pertaining to the special 
work assigned. In politics Mr. Stiehl accord? 
allegiance to the Republican party, and fratern- 
all}- he is identified with the Free aufl Ac- 
cepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Order of 
Red Men, and the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks. He has gained the confidence 
and esteem of the business men and general 
public in Canton, and his college is here main- 
tained under most favorable auspices. 

In the city of San Francisco, on the 9th 
of October. 1890, Mr. Stiehl consummated a 
marriage, being united to Miss Lula A'incent, 
a daughter of Thomas Vincent, and a lady of 
fine attainments, and she has proved a most 
enthusiastic and capable coadjutor of her bus- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



897 



band in his chosen field of endeavor. He has 
one son, Harry Garfield Stiehl, who is identified 
with him in his chosen work and gives promise 
ot carrying on the work in due course of time. 



THEODORE PARKER PAXSON.— 
Holding the important position of cashier of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad at Canton and en- 
joying distinctive prestige not only in railway 
circles but as an accomplished business man 
and public-spirited citizen, the subject of this 
review is entitled to specific mention with the 
I'epresentative men of Stark county. Mr. Pax- 
son is of English descent and his paternal an- 
cestors were among the early settlers of Penn- 
sylvania. His grandfather, Rev. Joseph Pax- 
son, for many years a well known clergyman 
of the United Brethren church, was born near 
the city of Harrisburg and in early life moved 
to Columbiana county, Ohio, where in addition 
to the duties of the ministry he gave consider- 
able attention to mechanical pursuits. In an 
early day he had charge of a number of 
churches scattered over a large territory and 
in order to reach them was obliged to ride his 
extensive circuit on horseback, being frequently 
absent weeks at a time in the discharge of his 
pastoral functions. He lived to the remark- 
able old age of ninety-two years, dying in 1892. 
His children were Josiah, Jesse, Milton, Jane, 
Hannah, and John, the father of the subject 
of this sketch. 

Theodore Parker Paxson was born in 
Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 23d of Sep- 
tember, 1854, and spent the first fourteen years 
of his life in that county. During his boyhood 
he attended the public schools in his native 
town, and after his parents removed, in 1868, 
to Stark county, he prosecuted his studies for 
a period of four years at Mt. Union, subse- 
quently spiending one year in the Canton high 
school. Mr. Paxson accompanied his parents 
to Canton and later accepted a clerkship in a 

56 



grocery at Alliance, in which capacity he con- 
tinued until 1881, when he resigned his po- 
sition and returned to the former city. Shortly 
after his return to Canton he entered the em- 
ploy of the Pennsylvania Railroad company 
as clerk in the office at this place. In 1892 he 
was promoted cashier of the freight depart- 
ment, which position he still holds. Mr. Pax- 
son's business career has been one of success, 
the result of industry, integrity and faithful- 
ness to duty, and he has the confidence not 
only of his superiors in the railway service, 
but of his fellow citizens. His official functions 
have not interfered with his duties to the com- 
munity as a citizen, as he maintains a deep in- 
terest in the welfare of the city of his resi- 
dence. In the spring of 1902 he was elected 
to represent the first ward in the common coun- 
cil and as a mem.ber of that body he has been 
given places on some of the most prominent 
committees, notably among which, being the 
fire department, ways and means and city of- 
fices. He has been active in promoting much 
important municipal legislation and spares no 
pains in proving himself worthy of confidence 
as a faithful, judicious and conscientious public 
servant. Politically he votes the Republican 
ticket, but in local affairs is more interested in 
getting the right kind of men into office than 
he is in strictly upholding party principles. 
Fraternally he holds membership with the 
Masonic and Odd Fellows orders, in which he 
is in good standing. Mr. Paxson was married, 
at Alliance, Ohio, in 1880, the lady of his 
choice being Miss Emma Clappsaddle, daugh- 
ter of Samuel Clappsaddle, of that city, the 
union resulting in the birth of one child, 
Rachel Beatta. 



GEORGE NAGLE WEBB is one of the 
highly respected citizens of Canton, where he 
was born on the 4th of August, 1832, and 
where he has passed the greater portion of his 



■59S 



OLD LANDMARKS 



long and useful life. He is a son of George N. 
and Eliza (Cake) Webb, the former of whom 
was born in Pennsylvania, and the latter in 
Hagerstown, Maryland, of German extraction, 
while they became numbered among the 
pioneer settlers of Stark county, where they 
continued to reside until their death. The sub- 
ject of this brief sketch secured his rudi- 
mentary education in the primitive schools of 
the pioneer days, attending the same during the 
winter terms, and when fifteen years of age 
he entered the newly organized union schools 
in Canton, where he continued his studies until 
he had attained the age of nineteen years. He 
then entered upon an apprenticeship in a car- 
riage manufactory in his native town, serv- 
ing two years and three months and becoming 
a skilled workman. After learning his trade 
he went to Salem, Ohio, in order to gain a 
broader experience and perfect himself in all 
details of his trade. He there entered the em- 
ploy of the Sheets Carriage Company, and re- 
mained about one year and three months, re- 
turning to Canton in 1855 and there securing 
employment in the shops of C. Aultman & 
Company, manufacturers of agricultural ma- 
chinery. He was employed in the wood-\\ork- 
ing department and later identified widi the 
construction of the wooden portions of various 
machines manufactured, and he has been con- 
secutively in the employ of this concern for 
nearly half a century, having seen the industry 
• levelop from a modest enterprise into one of 
tlic most extensive of the sort in the Union, 
Avhile he has ever retained the confidence of 
the com])any as is evidenced by his long ser- 
^ice (luring the various changes in executive 
control of the management. He was until the 
first of April, 1903, engaged with the great 
sho])s of the company and was one of the oldest 
ruid most trusted employes, though he was 
compelled to resign on account of ill health. 
PTe was liked by both em]:)loyer and employes 
and is held in the highest esteem in the city 



which has been his home for so many years. 
In politics he was a Democrat up to the time 
of the Civil war, when he arrayed himself in 
support of the Republican party, and in later 
years he has been affiliated with the Prohibition 
party. He was for two years a member of the 
board of education of Canton, and from his 
youth he has been an earnest and consistent 
member of the First Methodist Episcopal 
church, of which he has been a trustee for a 
number of years and also assistant superinten- 
dent of the Sunday school, taking an active 
interest in all departments of church work and 
ever striving to follow in the footsteps of the 
lowly Nazarene and to aid in the uplifting of 
his fellow men. He was formerly a member 
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, l)ut 
has permitted his active affiliation to lapse. 

On the 30th of March, 1858, Mr. Welil) 
was united in marriage to Miss Susan Miller, 
\\lio was born on a farm in Sandy township, 
this county, on the 28tli of April, 183 1, jjeing 
a daughter of Samuel and Esther Miller, one 
of the sterling pioneers of the county. She 
was summoned into the life eternal on the 27tli 
of April, 1902, having been the devoted com- 
panion rmd helpmeet of her husband for more 
than two score years, and having been a valued 
menii)er of the First Methodist Episcopal 
church for the greater portion of her life. 
Her remains rest in the beautiful cemetery 
of Westlawn and the spot is sacred to the large 
circle of friends who loved her in life. Of the 
children of this union we enter the following 
epitomized record: Harry X., who was born 
in 1859, 'S cashier for C. Aultman & Company, 
of Canton ; Charles Lee. who was born in 1861, 
is a resident of Canton, where he is connected 
with the Best Street Light Company; Etlia 
Esther, who was born in 1865. is the wife of 
Varian S. Corey, a sketch of whose life apjiears 
el.-ew'here in this volume; and Clara Ann, wlio 
was born in 1872, is now- the wife of Finley 
T. Fisher, anti resides in Canton. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



899 



SAMUEL BECHERER.— The subject 
of this brier sketcli is one of the old and 
honored citizens of Canton, a native of Stark 
county and a representative of one of its sterl- 
ing- pioneer families of the stanch old German 
stock. He was for a number of years turnkey 
of the city prison and was a faithful public 
servant and as one merited the confidence and 
esteem in which he was so uniformly held. 

Mr. Becherer was born on the old home- 
stead farm in Plain township, this county, on 
the 27th of January, 183CS, at which time was 
but a village. He is a son of Constantine 
Becherer, who was born in Baden, Germany, 
where he was reared to maturity, being a 
laix)rer by occupation and ready to turn his 
hand to any honest occupation. He emigrated 
from the fatherland to the United States in the 
year 1834, landing in the city of New York, 
whence he soon afterward came to Stark coun- 
ty, where he purchased of Peter P. Trump a 
tract of fifteen acres of land, in.Plain township. 
In the following year he returned to Germany, 
\vhere he was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Langenbach, and he shortly afterward came 
again to Stark county with the bride whom he 
had made sO' long a journey to Aved. They took 
up their abode on the little farm, where he con- 
tinued to reside until about 1878, when he dis- 
posed of the property. In 1866 the house on 
the farm was set afire by some miscreant who 
imagined the family had money which might 
be secured during the excitement, and though 
Ixith the father and mother of our subject were 
ill at the time, the former managed to carry 
his wife from the burning building to the home 
of a neighbor, where she was kindly cared for, 
but she died only a few months later. After 
disposing of his little farm, in 1878, Constan- 
tine Becherer came to Canton and passed the 
remainder of his life in the home of his son, 
the subject of this sketch. He died in 1881, 
at the age of seventy-three years, while his 
wife was sixty-nine years of age at the time of 



her death, in 1866. Both were devoted com- 
municants of St. Peter's church, Roman 
Catholic, in Canton, and were conscientious 
and worthy persons, hard-working and God- 
fearing. Mr. Becherer assisted to the best of 
his ability in effecting the erection of St. 
Peter's church, and he also aided in building 
old St. John's church. This worthy couple 
became the parents of nine children, John, 
Samuel, Catherine, Mary, Emma, Constantine, 
William, Elizabeth and Louisa, the latter two 
dying when quite yO'ung, the balance reaching 
the age of maturity. 

Samuel Becherer, the immediate subject of 
this review, was reared under the conditions 
of the pioneer epoch in the county, and as a 
boy began to assist in the work of the home 
farm, while he attended the little school in the 
Mexico district of Plain township for the 
three-months' winter terms, the institution be- 
ing of the primitive type implied in the log 
school house, with its puncheon floor and slab 
seats and benches. At the age of twelve years 
he dame to Canton and secured a position as 
porter in the old Franklin hotel, which stood 
on the site of the present Hurford house. He 
was employed there for six years, at the e.x- 
piration of which he became an employe of the 
American hotel, and he had charge of this 
hotel during the illness of the proprietor, 
John D. Snyder, and for one year after the 
death of the latter, whose widow came into 
control of the property at the time. Mr. 
Becherer then learned the trade of carpenter 
under the direction of Joseph Weaver and 
George Geiger, receiving forty dollars for his 
services the first year, fifty the second and 
seventy-five the third year of his apprentice- 
ship. He thereafter continued to work at his 
trade as a journeyman until there came to him 
the call of higher duty, when the war of the 
Rebellion was inaugurated. In 1862 he en- 
listed as a private in Company E, One Hun- 
dred and Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 



900 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the same being commanded by Colonel Lucey, 
while the captain of the company was Joseph 
Harter. He continued in the service until the 
close of the war, his command having been in 
turn attached to the Twelfth and Twentieth 
Army Corps, and he assisted in the building 
of block houses along the line of the Chatta- 
nooga & Nashville Railroad, a body of troops 
being detailed for this purpose, in order that 
the line might be protected and communication 
afforded with the troops at the front. Mr. 
Becherer held the rank of sergeant over the 
men thus engaged in the construction of the 
block houses. During Hood's raid out of seven 
of these block houses the only one not de- 
stroyed was that in command of Lieutenant 
Glosser and the subject, who defended the 
same with but thirty-two men, and they re- 
ceived a letter of commendation and thanks 
from Major General Thomas for the gallant 
defense which they made on this occasion. Mr. 
Becherer received his honorable discharge in 
Cleveland, Ohio, in July, 1865, having ren- 
dered the valiant service of a loyal son of the 
I'epublic. He has suffered more or less ever 
since from a partially disabled leg, from the 
effect of erysipelas contracted while in service. 
He returned to Canton, where he was engaged 
in the work of his trade for the ensuing eight 
years, after which he engaged in the restaurant 
business and still later opened a grocery at the 
corner of North Market and Second streets. 
He conducted the latter enterprise for six 
years, and soon afterward was made a member 
of the Canton police force, under the adminis- 
tration of Mayor John F. Blake, and he served 
as policeman and city marshal for the long 
period of fifteen years, gaining a high repu- 
tation for his faithful and capable discharge , 
of his official duties. In 1897 he was appointed 
turnkey at the city prison, and remained an 
incumbent of that position until July, 1903. 
He is well known to all classes of citizens and 
is held in high esteem as a man and officer. 



He is a member of McKinley Post No. 25, 
Grand Army of the Republic, and is a com- 
municant of St. Mary's church, Roman 
Catholic, having served on the building com- 
mittee of the same at the time of the erection 
of the present edifice. In politics he is a stanch 
advocate of the principles of the Democratic 
party, in whose cause he has ever taken an 
active interest. 

On the 28th of October, 1865, Mr, 
Becherer was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Walter, of Canton, she being a daughter of 
Anthony and Elizabeth Walter, natives of 
Germany, whence they came to Stark county 
in the early days. Mrs. Becherer was sum- 
moned into eternal rest on the 21st of October, 
i88t, having became the mother of six chil- 
dren, Laura A., Henry J., Minnie I.. Clara 
O. (deceased), Charles A., Victor F. 



ARMSTRONG ASHBROOK is the 
present efficient and popular city auditor of 
Canton, to which responsible office he was 
elected in April, 1903, by a majority of one 
hundred and fifteen votes, as the candidate on 
the Republican ticket. He was born on a 
farm in Augusta township, Carroll county, 
Ohio, on the 8th of April, 1861, being a son 
of William and Susan (Turnipseed) Ash- 
brook, the former of whom was born in Little 
Washington, Washington county. Pennsyl- 
vania, whence he came to Carroll county, Ohio, 
with his parents when a boy, being there reared 
and educated. He learned the trade of black- 
smithing and followed that vocation for many 
years. He still resides in Aug-usta, that county, 
and has attained the ripe old age of seventy- 
five years, while his wife, who is a native of 
Carroll county. Ohio, is now seventy-four 
years of age. Mr. Ashbrook is a Republican 
in his political proclivities and both he and his 
wife have long been zealous members of the 
Disciples church. They ijecame the parents of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



901 



four children, of whom tliree are living at the 
present time. The ancestry in the paternal 
line is of blended Scotch, Irish and Dutch ex- 
traction. Henry Turnipseed came from West 
Virginia to Ohio, and his father had been a 
slaveholder in Virginia and a man of promi- 
nence in the Old Dominion before the segre- 
gation of West Virginia. 

Armstrong Ashbrook, whose name initi- 
ates this article, was reared to maturity on the 
old homestead, while his early education was 
received in the common and select schools of 
the locality. He continued his educational 
work until he had attained the age of twenty- 
two years, but at the early age of fourteen he 
had initiated his business career, securing at 
that time a position as clerk in a general store, 
and he was thus employed during the school 
^•acations for a number of years. He finally 
accepted a clerkship in a dry-goods establish- 
ment at Augusta, Ohio, where he was em- 
ployed for some time, when he secured a po- 
sition as traveling salesman for an eastern 
house, selling carpets and other lines and con- 
tinuing to be thus engaged for four years. 
He then came to Canton and became a sales- 
man in the dry-goods establishment of Halde- 
man, Kiplinger & Company, with whom he 
remained for a number of years, while later he 
was in the employ of other local concerns for 
varying intervals, while for the two years prior 
to his election to the office of city treasurer he 
was with the firm of Kenny Brothers, who are 
here engaged in the drj'-goods business. He 
thus gained a wide acquaintanceship in Can- 
ton and the county., and his popularity in the 
city is indicated in the official preferment which 
has come to him and in which he is making a 
most excellent record. He has been a radical 
advocate of the principles of the Republican 
party from the time of attaining his majority, 
and has taken an active part in forwarding 
the cause of the same in a local way. He 
and his wife are members of the First Baptist 



church, of Canton, and fraternally he is affili- 
ated with McKinley Lodge No. 60, Free and 
Accepted J!vlasons; Fleetfoot Tribe No. 139, 
Improved Order of Red Men, and the Home 
Guards of America. 

In Carrollton, Ohio, on the 28th of March, 
1883, Mr. Ashbrook was united in marriage to 
Miss Margaret Scott, daughter of Dr. George 
Scott, of that place. 



WILBUR C. ANDERSON.— The career 
of the subject of this sketch has been one of 
varied experience, characterized throughout by 
a devotion to principle and loyalty to duty, 
which have g.iined for him a position of no 
sn:all influence and importance in the business 
world. Wilbur C. Anderson is descended from 
an old Pennsylvania family, the history of 
which in this country dates from the time of 
the colonies. His paternal great-grandfather 
served as an artilleryman in the war of the 
Revolution, and at the close of the struggle 
settled at Canonsburg, Washington count}-, 
Pennsylvania, where the family continued to 
reside until some time in the 'sixties, when they 
removed to the state of Delaware. Subse- 
quently they returned to the former state and 
located in Huntingdon county, of which the 
subject's parents, Stephen and Alice (Wilson) 
Anderson, are still honored residents. 

Wilbur C. Anderson was born November 
12. 1869, in Mill Creek township, Huntingdon 
county, Pennsylvania, and remained under the 
parental roof until a youth of fourteen, enjoy- 
ing- meanwhile the advantages of a common 
school education. From fourteen to seventeen 
he attended an academy at Cassville and on 
lea\ing that institution engaged as clerk with 
the Rockhill Iron and Coal Company at Or- 
bisonia, in which capacity he continued until 
1889, when he resigned to accept a position 
with the Thompson-Houston Electric Com- 
pany of Philadelphia. Shortly after entering 



t,02 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the employ of the latter firm he was assigned to 
duty in the plant at Hoboken, New Jersey, and 
later he was made collector for the company, 
the duties of which responsible post he dis- 
charged until his promotion in 1893 to the po- 
sition of assistant superintendent. Mr. Ander- 
son continued in the latter capacity until 1899, 
when he severed his connection with the firm 
to become secretary of the North River Light, 
Heat and Power Company at Hoboken, anil 
after holding the position one year he engaged 
as office manager with the Rider, Erricson En- 
gine Company of New York city. His period 
of service with that enterprise terminated in 
1901, at which time he was employed by the 
Electric Company of America to take charge 
of the light, heat and power plant in the city 
of Canttm, which honorable and responsible 
position he still holds. As already stated, Mr. 
Anderson's business career has been a very act- 
ive one and from the beginning it has been 
marked by a series of continued advancements, 
which demonstrate his ability to fill worthily 
important positions and to manage faithfully 
and well enterprises requiring a high order of 
business talent. In every post to which called 
he has enjoyed the unbounded confidence of his 
employers and his relations with the public 
have'l)een such as to gain him the confidence 
and esteem of all classes of people in his differ- 
ent fields of labor. Thoroughly conversant 
with his duties, a skillful accountant and pos- 
sessing fine executive ability, he devotes his at- 
tention closely to the important trust now in his 
charge and the e>:cellent condition of every- 
thing connected therewith and the satisfactory 
manner in which he discharges his functions 
indicate a supervision which none but a safe 
and reliable manager could exercise. 

In the year 1894, at Newark, New Jerse}-, 
l\Tr. Anderson was united in marriage with 
Miss Emma A. Eno. daughter of Joseph and 
.Annie (Bovingdonl Eno, the father a promi- 
nent inventor of tliat citv, the mother a native 



of London, England. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson 
have a pleasant home and their domestic circle 
in addition to themselves includes two bright 
and interesting children, whose names are Har- 
riet J. and Wilbur C. In politics Mr. Ander- 
son gives an unwavering support to the Repub- 
lican party and his fraternal relations are rep- 
resented by the Alasonic brotherhood and the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 



]MILTON BALL.— The Balls were among 
the early settlers of Stark county, the subject's 
father, the late Colonel E. Ball, having been 
one of the pioneer manufacturers of Canton 
and a man of high standing and commanding 
influence in the city's social and business cir- 
cles. He married in this county a Miss Lavina 
Babb, and reared a famih- of se\^eral children, 
the oldest being Milton of this review, whose 
birth occurred at Greentown on July 23, 1836. 

Milton Ball sjient his early life in his na- 
tive tillage, and after recei\ing a good educa- 
tion in the public schools and under the direc- 
tion of private tutors, took up the trade of 
molding in the siiops of Ball, Aultman & Com- 
pany, at Canton, coming to this city in 1850, 
when fourteen years of age. After becoming 
an efficient workman he was employed b\- the 
above company and continued with the sanic 
until b-is father, w ho was a partner in the busi- 
ness, withdrew from the concern and resigned 
his position to become superintendent of the 
reaper works, wliich the latter established. As 
long as the elder Ball continued in the manu- 
facturing business his son Milton served as 
superintendent of the works and right loyally 
did he discharge his duties in that responsible 
and exacting" position, his efforts as manag"er 
contributing greatly to ihe success of the enter- 
prise, which, as all know, became one of Can- 
tor.'s most important industries. When the 
father sold out and retired the subject resigned 
and, in partnership with a gentleman by the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



903 



n-iine of Kuhn, purchased a sliop at IJniontovvji, 
Oliio. which was removed to Canton with every 
prospect of doing a large and lucrative busi- 
ness, withdrew from tlie concern and resigned 
expectations were not to he realized, lor while 
transferring the establishment he contracted a 
severe cold, \\hich, developing into tuberculo- 
sis, finally resulted in his death, the event tak- 
ing place on the i6th of May, iS6q. Mr. Ball's 
business career \vas creditable in every respect 
and it demonstrated his capacity as a resource- 
ful man and capable manager of important 
trusts. He mastered thoroughly everything 
committed to his care, possessed sound judg- 
ment, keen perception and rare foresight; as su- 
perintendent lie did much to promote the suc- 
cess of the enterprise with which he was con- 
nected and had he lived he would doubtless have 
become a leader in the city's industrial circles. 
Socially Mr. iJall was a most agreeable gentle- 
man, always genial and pleasant in manner, a 
loyal friend and an excellent neighbor and as 
a citizen intertisted in every laudable movement 
for the general good of the community, he 
i"anked with, the best of his compeers. A Re- 
jjublican in politics, he was never misled by 
political aspirations to the neglect of his busi- 
ness interests and with no ambition to gratifv 
in the way of public di^'tinction, he prosecuted 
his affairs with diligence and dispatch, satisfied 
with the legitimate gains accruing therefrom 
and contented with his lot as a common man 
of the people. 

The married life of Mr. Ball began in i860, 
on September 4th of w hich year he entered into 
a matrimonial alliance with Miss Susan Swish- 
er, of Canton. She is a native of Wayne 
count} , Ohio, w here her birth occurred May 2.i, 
T83S, and is a daughter of Abraham and Han- 
nab. (Tate) Swisher, a union blessed with one 
child, a son by the name of Charles M. Ball, 
who was born July 2, 1861, in the city of Can- 
ton. * 

Charles W. Ball was educated in the public 



sch.ools and in a private institution of learning 
conducted under the efificient management of 
Profes.^or Avery, one of Ohio's most successful 
teachers, and the training thus received was aft- 
erwarrls sup]>lemented by a business course in 
a commercial college at Poughkeepsie, New 
York. Mr. Ball's first experience in the prac- 
tical affairs of life was as clerk in the old St. 
Clotid Hotel, then kept by Mr. Barnett. He 
was later employed in the office of r. C. Sny- 
der, manufacturer of steel roofir.g, and after 
spendin.g two years in ihat gentleman's employ 
he resigned his position to become clerk <if the 
Burford Hotel in Canton. He remained twel\e 
years with this house, became widely acquaint- 
ed and deservedly popular with the traveling 
public, and 1)\- his courteous and obliging de- 
meanor won a large number of warm, de\-oted 
friends and made himself indispensible to his 
emplo\er. He married in this city Miss Flora 
Bockins and lived tiie life of an upright, exem- 
plary citizen, making his influence felt for good 
in all of his relations and gained a large share 
of public esteem. Endowed by nature with 
good men.tal powers and possessing the energy 
to direct his faculties into proper chaimels, he 
ro.se to a respectable position in the business 
world and his death, which occurred on March 
30, 1897, was felt as a keen personal loss by his 
many friends in Canton and throughout Oliio 
and other states. 



JAMES A. BROOKS is a native of the old 
Keystone state, having been born in Alle- 
gheny county on the 31st of January, 1848. the 
original ancestors in the paternal line having 
settled in that section of the state many gen- 
eration.? ago, having emigrated to America 
from Germany. James Brooks, father of our 
subject, passed his entire life in Pennsylvania, 
as did also his \\ife, ^\•hose maiden name was 
Rachel Scott. Thcv became the parents 01 



904 



OLD LANDMARKS 



fourteen children, of whom four are living at 
the present time. 

James A. Brooks was reared to the sturdy 
discipline of the farm, continuing to assist in 
its work and to prosecute his studies in the lo- 
cal schools until he had reached the age of nine- 
teen years. He then entered upon an appren- 
ticeship at the trade of carpenter at Sewickley, 
to which he there continued to devote his at- 
tention for some time. He came to Stark 
county, Ohio, in 1870 and was united in mar- 
riage at Mount Union on the 29th of Septem- 
ber of the same year to Miss Mafia Painter, 
daughter of James and Sarah Painter, pioneers 
of the county. Soon after his marriage he re- 
tu.rned with his bride to Pennsylvania, where 
he remained until July, 1879, when he brought 
his family to Canton, wdiere he was engaged 
independently in the work of his trade until 
the autumn of 18S0, when he entered the em- 
ploy of the John Danner Manufacturing Com- 
pany, mak'ers of desks and fine cabinet work of 
other descriptions, and he has ever since been 
identified with this firm in a responsible posi- 
tion, being a skilled mechanic and having ex- 
cellent executive ability. 

Mr. Brooks has ever accorded a stanch sup- 
port to the Republican party and its principles, 
and while he has not been imbued with office- 
seeking proclivities, he was made the candidate 
of his party for member of the council from 
the sixth ward in the election of April, 1903. 
and was accorded a gratifying majority at the 
polls and entering upon the discharge of his 
official duties on the 4th of the following May. 
His first presidential vote was cast for General 
Grant at his second candidacy, and from that 
time forward he has been known as a zealous 
advocate of the cause of the "grand old party." 
He and his wife hold membership in the Simp- 
son Methodist Episcopal church and frater- 
nally he is identified with the Independent Or- 
der of Odd Fellows. 

Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Brooks we 



enter the following brief record : William Ed- 
gar, who is a druggist in Canton, married Miss 
Vinnie Crowd ; Sarah L. is the wife of Charles 
Bevington, of Canton ; James R., who is a ma- 
chinist at the Hamdon works in this city, mar- 
ried Miss Grace Guest, and Nettie and Dora 
May remain at the parental home. 



ARTHUR C. OBERLIN is the son of Jo- 
seph Oberlin, whose life story will be found at 
some length on another page. On the 8th of 
July. 1864., in Tuscaraw'as township, where he 
now resides, the subject first saw the light of 
day, and since that time his life has been spent 
at or \'ery near the ])lace of his birth. His 
childhood and youth on the farm tended to the 
development of a well-rounded character and 
his physical growth amid such favorable en- 
vironments was all that bracing air, active exer- 
cise and sound health could possibly produce. 
T'br some years during his minority, his time 
was divided between labor and study, and until 
about twenty-four years old he remained under 
the parental roof, doing all within his power to 
assist his father, the meanwhile formulating 
]Vians for the guidance nf his future course of 
action. 

Mr. Oberlin made a wise choice when he 
decided to devote his life to husbandry, as the 
series of continued successes that have attended 
his efforts bear witness. He began farming 
upon his own responsibility in 18S9, and has 
pursued the vocation ever since with marked 
results, owning at this time one hundred and 
forty-nine acres of fertile and well-improved 
land in Tuscarawas township, besides various 
interests in other enterprises. For a number of 
years he has been cpiite actively engaged as a 
coal driller in Stark county and other parts of 
Ohio, his efficiency in this line of w^ork having 
long since brought him to the favorable notice 
of some of the leading coal operators in the 
eastern part of the state. He has a full and 




ARTHUR C. OBERLIN GROUP. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



905 



complete equipment for successful effort ia 
this line, understands every detail in the busi- 
ness, and his ^vork has resulted in the great 
financial advantage of the different men and 
firms by whom, from time to time, he has been 
employed. Another line of activity to which 
Mr. Oberlin gives considerable time and atten- 
tion is that of threshing grain, having followed 
the same with handsome profits during the past 
seven years. In this he is also well equipped, 
owning a complete threshing outfit of the latest 
and most approved pattern, which is in great 
demand throughout the county during the sea- 
sons when it can be utilized. He is a member 
of the Threshers' National Protective Associa- 
tion, and as such has been untiring in his efforts 
to make tlie organization meet the purposes for 
which intended, taking an active interest in its 
sessions and doing all within his power to re- 
duce such important work as threshing to some- 
thing more than the mere semblance of a sys- 
tem. 

Mr. Oberlin is a man of much more than 
ordinary energy and personal force, possesses 
fine business and executive abilities, and seldom 
fails in any of his undertakings. He foresees 
with remarkable clearness the possible outcome 
of future action and, gauging his efforts in har- 
mony therewith, is rarely mistaken in his con- 
clusions. He wields an influence for the Demo- 
cratic party, but is not a politician in the sense 
the word is generally accepted, taking no very 
active part in public affairs and having no 
political ambitions to gratify. Mr. Oberlin be- 
lieves in a strict enforcement of the law of the 
land, and has little sympathy with the class that 
habituall} violates or sets them at defiance. 
Such a man cannot be indifferent to the claims 
'if the Christian religion and a number of years 
.go he joined the Reform church and began a 
course of life which he has since very closelv 
followed, a life of faith and active service bear- 
ing rich fruitage in his own character and in 
making his presence a blessing to the world. 



Mr. Oberlin chose for a life companion an 
estimable lady who formerly bore the name of 
Jennie Christman and to whom he has united in 
the tonds of matrimony on the 4th of October, 
1888. She is the daughter of William and La- 
vania (Felder) Christman, both natives of 
Pennsylvania and now residing in the town- 
ship of Tuscarawas, throughout which they 
have been known and respected by reason of 
exemplary lives and upright conduct. Mr. and 
Mrs. Oberlin have one child, a daughter, Zella 
Grace, who was born April 28, 1892. Mrs. 
Oberlin is a faithful member of the church to 
which her husband belongs, and, like him, is 
deeply interested in its various lines of Chris- 
tian work. 



CAPTAIN THOMAS WILSON was 
born in Monroe county, Ohio, on the 12th of 
December, 1836, being a son of William and 
Mary (PTupp) ^^'ilson, of whose ten children 
six are living at the present time. The father 
is still residing on his fine farm estate in Mon- 
roe county and has attained the patriarchal age 
of ninety years, and this old homestead is the 
one on which his father also lived and labored, 
having been one of the early pioneers of the 
county. His paternal grandfather served under 
General ^Yashington for seven years during the 
war of the Revolution, while the father of his 
wife. Henry Hupp, was a lieutenant in the war 
of 18 [2 and commanded his company during 
much of its active service. The paternal grand- 
father of our subject's mother also won an en- 
viable military record as a scout and Indian 
fighter, having been for twenty years in the 
employ of the government in the protection of 
the frontier and having been a contemporary 
of Boone and Kenton, in many of whose scout- 
ing expedition.s he jiarticipated. He was in 
Crawford county, Ohio, at the time when 
Colonel Crawford was burned at the stake by 
the Indians and had been in conversation with 



9o6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Uiis martyr shorti)' before his death. This stal- 
wart and patriotic ancestor of Captain Wilson 
was an inveterate and implacable foe of the 
Indians, and it is not strange that such was 
the case, for his mother, a brother and a little 
sister and his stepfather were all massacred by 
the bloodthirsty red men. For his distin- 
guished services during the war of the Revolu- 
tion the government gave him a large grant of 
land in Florida, and in later years the mother 
of our subject released all claim to her share 
in this valuable heritage for the diminutive con- 
sideration of one hundred dollars. Captain 
Wilson's great-grandmother in the agnatic line 
lived to attain the age of one hundred and five 
years. She was present at the siege of Wheel- 
ing during the Revolution and personally saw 
the intrepid heroine, Betty Zane, when she left 
the fort and, in the face of the firing of the 
Indians, carried back a quantity of powder to 
the beleaguered garrison. 

The father of the subject has devoted his 
entire life to the great basic art of agriculture, 
and r.otwithstanding his great age he person- 
ally supervises tlie work of his fine farm of 
about four hundred acres, while he individually 
continues his physical labors with as much en- 
ergy as many a man thirty years his junior. He 
is remarkably well preserved, his intellectual 
faculties being unimpaired, while he is revered 
as one of the jjatriarchs and sterling pioneers 
of the Buckeye state. He voted for William 
Henry Harrison at the time of his first election 
to the prcsidenc}-. and thereafter gave his sup- 
port to every Whig candidate up to the time 
of the organi/iation of the Republican party, 
for whose every presidential candidate likewise 
he has cast his l)allot, being a stanch advocate 
of the princi]^les of the "grand old party," 
whose age is far less than liis own, and keeping 
well informed in regard to the questions and 
issues of the hour. J^is devoted wife was sum- 
moned into eternal rest in 1891 at the age of 
seventv-seven veru'si haviu"" lieen a zealous 



member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as 
is also her husband, who has for many years 
been active in church work. 

Captain Thomas Wilson, whose name ini- 
tiates this resume, was reared on the old home- 
stead farm, assisting in its work and receiving 
his early educational discipline in the common 
schools of the locality, while he has ever con- 
tinued to be an extensive reader and careful 
student of events, and thus, as coupled witli the 
valuable lessons learned under the direction of 
the wise head-master, experience, have made 
him a n.ian of broad information and mature 
judgment. As a young man he became identi- 
fied with the development of the Macksburg oil 
fields, in Washington county, and was a suc- 
cessful operator in this line of industry at the 
time of the outbreak of the war of the Rebel- 
lion. Hi=; inherent and intrinsic patriotism was 
forthwith stirred to responsive protest, and he 
laid aside his business affairs without regard 
to the sacrifice invoh'ed, and turned his atten- 
tion to doing his part in preserving the Union, 
whose integrity was in dire jeopardy. Under 
a military commission he recruited Company 
D of the Twenty-seventh Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantry in June and July, 1861. He was placed 
on detached duty and did not serve with this 
company. In August. 1862. he enlisted and 
was commissioned captain of Company K. 
Ninety -.second Ohio A^olunteer Infantry, ha\-- 
ing likewise recruited this company, and he 
proceeded with his command to the front, the 
regiment being assigned to the Army of West 
Virginia. He continued in active service until 
July. 1864, when he was mustered out on ac- 
count of ])hysical disability, receiving his hon- 
orable discharge at Tullahoma. He reci\uited 
and sent to the front fully three hundred men. 
and his service in all capacities was that of a 
loyal and fervent patriot. 

After the close of his military career Ca[)- 
tain Wilson returned to his native county, 
where he became extensively engaged in the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



907 



buying and shipping of live stock, retaining his 
residence in Monroe county, where he was the 
owner of a valuable landed estate of two hun- 
dred and twenty acres, and Jie continued to be 
most successfully identified with this industry 
until 1888, when he came to Alliance in order 
to afford his children the advantages of Mount 
Union College. In the following j'ear he was 
elected to the city council of Alliance, and he 
served four years as president of tlie body and > 
tAAO years as vice-president, while he continued 
to be a member of the council for a full decade, 
his continuous tenure of this office being longer 
than that of any other man who has ever served 
in this capacity, while his efforts were such as 
to gain to him the heartiest endorsement and 
such as to conserve the best municipal govern- 
ment. In Monroe county he was for eighteen 
years incumbent of the office of justice of the 
lieace, iiis commission ha\ing been signed by 
Rutherford B. Hayes, ihen governor of the 
state. He is at the present time ser\-ing his 
fourth year as a member of the county board 
of elections and he is one of the stalwart advo- 
cates of the cause of the Republican party, in 
wh.ich he has been an active worker from the 
time of its inception. Fraternally he vitalizes 
his interest in and association with his old com- 
rades in arms through his affiliation with John 
C. Fremont Post No. 789, Grand Army of the 
Republic, in Allipnce. of which he is a valued 
and popular member, while he holds the confi- 
dence and regard of all who know him and is 
one of the representati\e men of the city of his 
home. He and his wife are devoted members 
of the Union y\\-enue Methodist Episcopal 
church and are active in its work. 

On the 30th of April, 1858, was solemnized 
the marriage of Captain Wilson to Miss Rachel 
Flannah, vdio was l)orn in Guernsey county, 
Ohio, being- a daughter of John ami Elizabeth 
Flannah. while her paternal grandfather was a 
soldier in the war of 1S12 and her great-grand- 
father. Judge Charles Hannah, was an influen- 



tial citizen of Center county, Pennsylvania, and 
the founder of the town of Hannah, that 
county, which was named in his honor. Captain 
and jNlrs. Wilson became the parents of nine 
children, of whom seven are living, and these 
seven, all but the two elder, received the pri\i- 
leges of Mount Union College. Of them we 
enter record as follo^vs : Oscar P. is a success- 
ful farmer of Washington township, this 
countv ; Alston G. is engaged in farming and 
stock raising in the same township ; Thomas E. 
is engaged in banking in JMineral City, Ohio; 
John V.'. is postmaster at Del Norte, Colorado: 
Rev. Allicrt H. is a clergyman of the Methodist 
Episcopal church; Charles F. is identified with 
mining operations at Cripple Creek. Colorado ; 
and Irene J. is the wife of Clarence Egan, who 
is likewise engaged in the same line of enter- 
prise at Cripple Creek. 



PERRY A\". AA'ErdxER, M. D.— Comspic- 
uous among the men who have gi\-en dignity 
and prestige to the medical profession in east- 
ern Ohio is the distinguished physician and sur- 
geon of .\lliance whose name furnishes the cap- 
tion of this sketch. By no means an old man. 
Dr. Welker has already had a life full of worthy 
lal)or, crowned with signal professional success 
and he stands today in the front ranks of those 
who devote their energies and abilities to the 
noble work of alleviating human suft'ering-. 
Paternally the Doctor comes of sturdy German 
stock, the history of the family in this country- 
dating from the early settlement of Pennsyl- 
vania. Many years ago his grandfather, Philip 
Welker, moved from the state to the wilds of 
eastern Ohio, settling in ]\Iahoning county, of 
which he was one of the first pioneers. He 
entered land, improved a farm, reared a family, 
and spent the remainder of his life in that coun- 
ty, dying' a number of years ago where he orig- 
inally settled, after reaching an advanced age. 
The AA'elkers have long been noted for longe\- 



9o8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ity, eight of the nine children ol the above 
Philip having lived beyond four score years, a 
record perhaps unparalleled in the history of 
any family in the state of Ohio. David Welker, 
son of Philip and father of the subject, was born 
in Mahoning county, in the year 1812, and grew 
to manhood amid the stirring scenes and varied 
experiences of the pioneer period. In his youth 
he learned the carpenter's trade but devoted the 
greater part of his life to agriculture, having 
cleared and improved a farm adjoining the old 
homestead while he was still a young man. 
David Welker was a successful farmer and a 
most excellent public-spirited citizen. In early 
life he was a stanch Whig, but later became a 
Republican and as such exerted considerable in- 
fluence for the party in his community. For 
many years he divided his time l:)etween agri- 
culture and carpentry and many monuments 
of his skill as a builder are still standing in vari- 
ous parts of Mahoning county, as his services 
appear to have been in great demand through- 
out a large area of that section of the state. 
Elizabeth Davis, wife of David Welker, was 
born in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, in 1822 
bore her husband three children and departed 
this life in the year 1898, at the age of seventy- 
six. Mr. Welker preceded his wife to the other 
world by about four years, dying some time in 
1894. Of their three children, two are living at 
the present time, William, of Mahoning county, 
and the subject of this review. 

Perry W. Welker, a native of Mahoning 
county, Ohio, and was born on the old home- 
stead December 22, 1852. Plere he was 
brought up, sharing all the hardships and pleas- 
ures incident to farm life until his seventeenth 
year, his education the meantime consisting of 
the best the country schools afforded, his at- 
tendance being alternated with work in the 
fields. The intellectual discipline thus derived 
was supplemented by a course in the Poland 
Seminary, after which, when only seventeen 



years old, he began teaching in the public 
schools of his native country, which line of 
work he follow'ed of winter seasons for three 
years with a creditable record as an instructor. 
Having decided to devote his life to the medical 
profession, Mr. Welker began a preliminary 
course of reading under Dr. S. S. Schiller, of 
Youngstown, and after pursuing his studies 
there until 1872, entered the Eclectic Medical 
Institute at Cincinnati, from which he was 
graduated three years later. 

Immediately after receiving his degree the 
Doctor opened an office at Petersburg, Mahon- 
ing county, and during the ensuing four years 
practiced in the town and surrounding country, 
building up a large patronage which was satis- 
factory both professionally and financially. De- 
siring a larger field wherein to exercise his 
talents, he wound up his affairs in Petersburg 
and in 1879 removed to Alliance where he has 
since steadily grown in favor as a successful 
physician and skillful surgeon, his practice tak- 
ing a wide range and earning him a reputation 
second to that of none of his compeers. While 
combining many of the essential qualifications 
of the ideal family physician and meeting with 
distinguished success in the general practice, 
the Doctor is especially efiicient as a surgeon, a 
branch of the profession in which he has few 
equals in this part of the state. He has attended 
many critical cases in his own city and else- 
where and his services are frequently called into 
requisition by his associates when delicate oper- 
ations, requiring a high degree of skill, are to 
be performed. He has availed himself of every 
opportunity to keep in touch with modem medi- 
cal thought and the most approved methods of 
practice, devotes himself assiduously to his 
laborious duties, and as a consequence has built 
up one of the largest practices in the city, to 
say nothing of the lucrative patronage that 
comes to him from places at a distance. His 
popularity, which is steadily growing", is in the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



909 



main attributable to Iiis efficiency as a healer, 
but not a little of it is due to his genial nature as 
well as to his tnct in winning the confidence of 
patients and their friends, characteristics which 
enter largely into the make-up of the enterpris- 
ing, successful practitioner. The Doctor is a 
member of the various local medical societies 
of Alliance and Stark county and he also be- 
longs to the National Medical Association and 
the Sfite Medical Association of Ohio. For the 
past ti fteen years he has served the city as health 
officer, and since 1882, with the exception of 
President Cleveland's administration, he has 
been • member of the Stark county board of 
pension examiners. 

Dr. Welker is a Republican in politics and 
since coming to Alliance has been active in be- 
half of his party's interest, local, state and na- 
tion d. While a .7ealous partisan and a man 
whose advice is always looked for and of much 
weight in party councils, he has ever sought to 
advance the interest of others, rather than to 
pave his own way to public preferment. He 
is an enthusiastic member of several fraternal 
organizations and a leading spirit in the affairs 
of the various lodges to which he belongs. He 
is identified with the Knights of Pythias, being 
a member of the Uniform rank, belongs to 
L.odge No. 467, Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, which meets in Alliance, and 
also stands high in Masonic circles, holding 
membership with the blue lodge in this city and 
with the Al Koraii Temple, Mystic Shrine, in 
Cleveland. 

Dr. Welker was lirst married, in .\pril, 
1875. to Miss Bina Heisy, of Columbiana coun- 
ty, who died after a brief but happy wedded 
life of only six months' duration. Subsequent- 
ly, '879, he contracted a matrimonial alliance 
with his present companion, Miss Jennie C. 
Swisher, of Petersburg, Mahoning county, the 
union resulting in the birth of a son, Paul R., 
who died in childhood. 



CHARLES O. SILVER is a native of 
Pennsylvania and the only child of Amos C. 
and Sarah A. Silver, both parents born in Ohio. 
Amos C. Silver first saw the light of day Sep- 
tember 3, 1838, in Columbiana county, and was 
one of three children whose parents were James 
and Nancy (Tharp) Silver. He received a lib- 
eral education at New Lisbon school and Da- 
mascus Academy, taught school for several 
winters and in 1861 entered the Union service 
as a builder and repairer of telegraphs. By 
reason of an injury in 1865, he was obliged to 
leave the service and after his return home the 
following year he engaged with the Pittsburg, 
Fort Wayne & Chicago and Cleveland & Pitts- 
burg railroads to keep their telegraph lines in 
repair, continuing in that capacity until 1878. 
At the latter date he embarked in the boot and 
shoe business in Alliance and was prominently 
identified with the city's commercial interests 
until his death, in the year 3892. January 11, 
1866, he married Sarah A. Ivelty, who, like 
himself, was a native of Columbiana county 
and who is still living in the city of Alliance. 

Charles O. Silver was born Jul}' 6, 1869, in 
Rochester, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and 
received his education in the public schools, 
supplemented by a commercial course in Mt. 
Union College. When quite young he entered 
his father's store, where lie obtained his first 
practical instruction in business and during his 
school years he spent his vacations behind the 
counter, in this way developing early not only 
a liking for business life but also great efficiency 
as ?. salesman. He continued as his father's 
clerk until the latter's death in 1892, when he 
took up painting and paper lianging, which 
trades he followed until entering the employ of 
the American Express Company four years 
later. His position with this company was that 
of chief clerk to the general agent in the main 
office in Cleveland, a responsible post, requir- 
ing a high degree of clerical ability, and he held 



9IO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the same tor a period of two years, discharging 
his cUities in snch a manner as to gain the con- 
fidence and eHcit the praise of his superior. Re- 
signing his position in 1897, ^^i'- Silver re- 
sumed painting and paper hanging at Alhance 
and was thus engaged until his appointment as 
journal clerk of the house of representatives of 
the seventy-third general assembly, which posi- 
tion he filled with an honorable record. During 
the years IQ00-2 he was secretary of the state 
]x)ard of equalization and after his duties in 
that capacity ceased he served for some time as 
assistant clerk of the lower house of the state 
legislature. Mr. Silver, on July 21, 1902, was 
appointed city clerk of Alliance to fill out the 
unexpired term of J. H. IVlcConnell, which posi- 
tion he has since held with credit to himself 
and 10 the entire satisfaction of the pub- 
lic, his previotis business and clerical training 
peculiarly fitting him for the office. Careful, 
methodical, thoroughly competent and with the 
good of the pulilic at heart, he discharges his 
duties efliciently, as his record thus far attests, 
and his relations with all having business to 
transact in his ofhce have Ijeen as courteous and 
agreeable as to win for him a measure of popu- 
larity such as few of his predecessors enjoyed. 
May 4, 1903, Mr. Silver was, by a large major- 
ity, elected city auditor. 

Air. Silver is a Republican of the most 
orthodox type and for a number of years past 
has been one of the standard bearers of his 
party in Alliance. He has rendered valued 
service as a member of the Lexington town- 
ship central committee and as an effective cam- 
paigner is perhaps without a superior among 
the aggressive and intiuential young Republi- 
licans of Stark county. He is a member of 
Line Rock Lodge No. 23, Knights of Pythias, 
Blaine Tent No. 220, Knights of the Macca- 
bees, and Alliance Lodge No. 467, Benevolent 
and Protective Order of Elks, and in religion 
is a Methodist, belonging to the First churc\i of 
that denomination in Alliance. He was mar- 



ried, on the 14th day of February, 1901, to 
Miss Lotta Craft, of North Benton, Mahoning 
county, the accomplished daughter of Eli Craft, 
formerly of North Benton, but now a resident 
of Alliance. Mr. and Mrs. Silver have no chil- 
dren. They are popular in social and religious 
circles, are identified with much good work in 
the city of their residence and their home is a 
congenial resort where hospitality and refined 
good cheer are dispensed with a liberality and 
bountifulness bespeaking an earnest effort to 
make pleasant the lives of those with whom they 
associate. 



GEORGE F. S. MELBOURNE.— In the 
sketch of the life of William E. Melbourne, 
brother and business associate of our subject, 
appearing on another page of this publication, 
is given an outline of the genealogy of the fam- 
ily, so that recourse needs not be had to the_ 
data in the preparation of the present article, 
since ready reference may be made to the one 
mentioned. George Frederick Sawyer Mel- 
bourne was born at Alount Rath, Queens coun- 
ty, Ireland, on the 6th of December, 1869, be- 
ing a son of Henry and Jane (Sawyer) Mel- 
bourne, both of whom represented the French 
Huguenot stock. He attended the public and 
private schools of his native land until he had 
reached the age of sixteen years, when he went 
to Australia to join his brother Frank, w ho was 
engaged in the real-estate business in Brisbane, 
the capital city of Queensland. The subject had 
been greatly interested in the turf from his boy- 
hood and had been connected with racing prior 
to his removal to Australia, and there he became 
identified with two of the most celelirated racing 
stables in that section of the world, riding in 
the steeplechase races for said stables during, the 
season for nearly four years and gaining an 
enviable reputation as a rider. \Vhile tlius en- 
gag"ed he visited India, the Fiji islands, New 
Zealand, Egypt and Port Said, thus gaining a 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



911 



valuable and interesting experience and l)ecom- 
ing familiar with die life of the people in the 
Aarious countries which he visited. Finally his 
eyesight became quite seriously impaired and 
lie was compelled to return to his home in Ire- 
land, and after he had recovered from the 
optical disorder he engaged in dealing in horses 
in his native land, continuing in this line of en- 
terprise until 1894, when he came to the United 
States and joined his brothers John and Will- 
iam in Canton, and under the contract held by 
them he was foreman of the work of erecting 
the west part of the court house, continuing to 
be engaged in this capacity until the completion 
of the building. His health failed and he again 
returned to his home in the Emerald Isle, where 
he remained until 1900, when he again came to 
the United States, adding another large span to 
his extensive travels, and after his arrival he 
made a tour through various western states, 
having been in Cialveston, Texas, the day after 
the terrible flood which so nearly destroyed that 
city, and having been one of the fifst strangers 
to enter the city after the lamentable cataclysm 
which cause so great a loss of life and property. 
Finally he returned to Canton, in February, 
J 90 1, and liere he was given charge of the 
brickyard of his brother John, at Malvern, 
where he remained until Septeml^er, his brother 
having been ill during this interval. In the 
month last mentioned he entered into partner- 
'-hip with his brother William in the contract- 
ing business, in which they have since success- 
fully continuefl, under the firm name of Mel- 
bourne Brothers. 

In politics Mr. Melbourne is a stanch Re- 
publican, and he holds membership in the First 
Presbyterian church, while fraternally he is 
identified with \\'illiam McKinley Lodge No. 
-13 1, Free and Accepted Masons. Notwith- 
standing his wide travels and knowledge of the 
charms of the fair sex in the most diverse quar- 
ters of the world, Mr. Meltourne has not as 
yet succumbed to the sway of the god Hymen. 



LESTER L. NAVE.— Among those suc- 
cessfully laboring in connection with the edu- 
cational interests of the city of Canton, and 
Stark county, is Prof. Nave, who is incumbent 
of the responsible position of principal of the 
Garfield Avenue school anil wIk) has attained 
gratifying jirestige in his chosen profession, to 
which his de\-otion has been earnest and un- 
flagging. As a native of Indiana and a repre- 
sentative of one of Ohio's honored pioneer 
families, as well as by reason of his prominent 
identification with the public-school work of 
Canton and Stark county, he is well entitled 
to consideration in this compilation. 

In the agnatic line Mr. Na^e is of stanch 
German ancestry, but the name has been identi- 
fied widi the annals of American history for 
several generations, the original American 
progenitor having established a hopie in eastern 
Pennsylvania, in the colonial epoch. In that 
section of the Keystone state occurred the birth 
of Michael Nave, grandfather of the subject, 
and there he Avas reared to maturity. As a 
young man he came to Ohio, in the early 
'twenties, locating near the present town of 
Richville, Stark county, as one of its early 
pioneers. There he secured a tract of wild 
land, which he reclaimed from the native 
forest, and eventually he developed a good farm 
and was rewarded with a due measure of pros- 
perity as the result of his earnest etTorts. He 
there continued to make his home until his 
death, as an octogenarian, in 1863. He mar- 
ried in PennsyUania and reared a family of 
three sons and two daughters, the youngest son, 
William, being the father of the .subject of this 
sketch. After the death of his first wife 
Michael Nave consummated a second marriage, 
and his second wife sm-\'ived liiim by a number 
of years. 

William Nave was born on the pioneer 
homestead mentioned, the date of his nativity 
having been July 5, 1828, and when; a mere boy 
he began to assist his father in the reclamation 



912 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and cultivation of the farm, while his edu- 
cational advantages were such as were common 
to the place and period, though he was enabled 
to avail himself of somewhat more advanced 
discipline than the average youth similarly 
placed, for he continued his studies in Twins- 
burg Academy and also attended school in 
Massillon, Stark county, where his instructor 
was Lorin Andrews, who was one of the first 
Ohio men to tender his services in defense of 
the Union at the time of the outbreak of the 
Rebellion. William Nave made good use of 
his scholastic opportunities, as is evident from 
the fact that he became eligible for pedagogic 
honors and proved a capable instructor. He 
taught his first term of school in what was 
known as the Stump district, near Richville, 
but after teaching for several terms he decided 
that he could make his efforts more prolific in 
some other field of endeavor. In 1851 he was 
united in marriage to Miss Frances Wimerd, 
of Canton, and one year later they removed to 
Huntington county, Indiana, where Mr. Nave 
was later elected to the office of county sur- 
veyor, in which capacity he rendered most 
efficient service, retaining the incumbency for 
some time. In the interim he had become the 
owner of a farm of eighty acres in that county, 
and to this he gave his attention until 1855, 
when he disposed of the property and took up 
his residence in the village of Roanoke, in the 
same county, where he engaged in the general 
merchandise business, and there his wife died, 
in February, 1856. About one year later he 
removed to the city of Fort Wayne, where he 
resided six years, giving his attention to 
carpentering and railroad work. At the ex- 
piration of the period noted, in 1862, he re- 
turned to the homestead, near Richville, to care 
for his venerable parents, who were in feeble 
health, and in that lociHty he followed the 
carpenter trade until 1867, having in the pre- 
ceding year consummated a second marriage. 
Miss Lucinda Hisner becoming his wife. In 



1867 he came to Canton, where he worked as a 
carpenter and millwright and where he made 
his home untd 1895, when he removed to the 
city of Cleveland, where he has since resided. 
The subject of this sketch is the only child of 
the first marriage. 

Fester L. Nave was born in the town of 
Roanoke, Huntington county, Indiana, on the 
2ist of y\ugust, 1853, and was a mere child 
at the time of his father's removal to Fort 
Wayne, that state, where he attended the public 
schools until 1862, when he accompanied his 
father to Richville, Ohio, where he attended 
the public schools until he had attained the age 
of fourteen years, when the family came to 
Canton. Here he was employed for two and 
one-half years in the steel works of the Canton 
Steel Company, after which he secured em- 
ployment on a farm in Pike township, in the 
meanwhile attending the district schools. In 
the autumn of 1872 he came to Perry township 
and went to work on the farm of John P. 
Floom, and here also he was enabled to at- 
tend district school during the winter months 
of two years. His ambition to further round 
up his education was one of decisive action, and 
through his own efforts he earned the funds 
with which to defray the expenses of a course 
of study in Smithville Academy, in Wayne 
county, this state, where he amply fortified 
himself for the vocation in which his efforts 
have been attended with so marked and grati- 
fying success. In February, 1874, he became 
a leacher in the Halter district, Jackson town- 
ship. Stark county, and thereafter he continued 
to teach in tiie district and village schools of 
the county until 1889, when he accepted a po- 
sition as instructor in the public schools of 
Massillon, this county, where the best evidence 
of the satisfactory character of his services is 
afforded by the fact that he was retained in 
the schools nf that city for the period of 
thirteen years, within which time he advanced 
to the position of principal. In June, 1902, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



913 



he was elected principal of the South McKinley 
Aveiuie school in Canton, and in June, 1903, 
was elected to the principalship of his present 
school. In politics Prof. Nave gives his al- 
legiance to the Republican party, though liberal 
in his political views. His religious faith is 
that of tlie Baptist church, and fraternally he 
is identified with the time-honored order of 
Free and Accepted Masons, affiliating with 
Clinton Lodge No. 47, at Massillon. and serv- 
ing as eminent commander of Massillon Com- 
manflery No. 4, Tvnights I'emplar, in igoi. 

On the 19th of March, 1878, Prof. Nave 
was united in marriage to Miss Arietta Free- 
man, a daughter of John and Mary (Scott) 
Freeman, of Peny township, this county, both 
of whom are now deceased. Prof, and Mrs. 
Nave have one child, Letha, who is the wife of 
Fred PI. Lehman, a popular young business 
man of Canton. * 



ANTON KOPP was horn in Augusburg, 
Bavaria, on the 15th of September, 1840, being 
a son of Joseph Anton and Ursula (Strahli) 
Kopp, lx>th of whom passed their entire lives 
in the kingdom of Bavaria, the. latter having 
died \vhen the subject of this review was but 
two weeks old. One brother of Anton Kopp 
was a priest of the Catholic church in Dill- 
ingenander Donau, Germany, and another 
studied for a priest, but died before completing 
his course, and two of his sisters were Mother 
Su]>eriors in a convent at Maria Mietingen, 
while another brother attained prominency in 
the office designated in Germany as that of 
judge. One of his cousins became an arch- 
bishop and is at the present time a cardinal in 
the Romish church. Anton Kopp was reared 
and educated in his native city, where he 
learned the brewer's trade, becoming an expert 
in all details of the Imsiness. He remained in 
the fatherland until he was about twenty-eight 
57 



years of age, when he emigrated to the United 
States, and first located in Newark, New- 
Jersey, where he secured employment at his- 
trade, while later he was similarly engaged in- 
Philadelphia and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; 
Youngstown and Warren, Ohio ; Chicago, Illi- 
nois ; and Cleveland, Ohio, remaining for ^ 
mnnber of years in the last mentioned city. 

While residing in Youngstown, Ohio, Mr, 
Kopp was united in marriage to Miss Kath- 
arina Smith, who died in Massillon, Stark 
county, in 1898. Two children were born o£ 
this union, Sophia and Otto, the former being: 
now a resident of Massillon. On the 7th o£ 
January, 1899, Mr. Kopp consummated a secom.C 
marriage, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, being 
then united to Miss Regina Nist, who was 
born in Steinfeld, Rheinfalz. Germany, Octo- 
ber 3, 1865, and who came to the United States 
at the age of twenty-three years, becoming a- 
re.sident of Canton on her arrival in this^ 
country. Of this marriage was Ixirn one 
daughter, Marie Antoinette, the date of whose 
birth was May 27, igoo. 

Mr. Kopp became a resident of Canton \rs- 
the year 1888, and soon after his arrival be- 
came foreman in the Canton brewery, in which' 
he later became a stockholder, but subsequently 
sold his interests in this institution and pur- 
chased a brewery at Massillon, which he con- 
tinued to operate until 1898, after which he re- 
tired from active business. His death oc- 
curred on the 5th of February, 1903. He was 
held in high regard by his business associates 
and by all who knew him in connection with 
business and social life, being a man of genial' 
presence and one whose kindliness was- 
proverbial. He was a communicant of St. 
Joseph's church, Roman Catholic, and ever 
deeply interested in its work, his wife, likewise, 
being a communicant in the same parish, and 
his political support was given to the Demo- 
cratic party.. Mr. Kopp attained success 
through his own efforts and was worthy of the 



9«4 



OLD LANDMARKS 



high ■ esteem in whicli he was so uniformly 

held. 

Johannes Nist, the father of Mrs. Kopp, 
was a successful farmer of Rheinfalz, Ger- 
many, where he passed his entire life, his death 
having occurred on the 8th of December, 1901. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Katharina 
Aprill, died on the 7th of April, 1898. They 
became the parents of four children, namely : 
.Franz, who still resides in Germany; Annie 
Mary, wJio is the wife of Andreas Hilgert, of 
Canton; Regina, the widow of the subject of 
this memoir, and Katharina, who still resides 
in the German fatherland. The paternal 
grandfather of Mrs. Kopp was Lorenz Nist, 
jind he died in Germany at the age of sixty- 
eight years, his wife, whose maiden name was 
Barbara Fritz, having passed away at the age 
of about sixty-five years. The maternal grand- 
parents of Mrs. Kopp were Joseph and Eliza- 
beth (Ott) y\prill, both of whom resided in tlie 
fatherland throughout their lives, the former 
passing away in 1877, at the age of seventy- 
seven years, while the latter died at the age of 
fifty-four. 



ALICE M. MONTGOMERY holds the 
responsible position of superintendent of that 
noble Canton institution, the Aultman Hos- 
pit;d, having been incumbent of this- office since 
1897, ^"d she has shown not only an enthusi- 
astic interest in her work and a marked ca- 
pacity for the handling of details, but has also 
proven herself possessed of exceptional execu- 
tive and administrative ability, and through her 
influence the service and facilities of the hos- 
pital have been greatly improved. She comes 
of stanch old Welch lineage, but the family 
name has long been identified with the annals of 
the fair Emerald Isle, whither her ancestors re- 
moved from Wales in 1646. In the north of 
Ireland her grandfather, John Montgomery, 
passed his entire life, and there her father. 



Joseph Montgomery, was burn rnul reared, re- 
ceiving excellent educational advantages. At 
the age of twenty years he emigrated to 
America and located in the city of Toronto, 
Canada, whence he eventually removed to a 
farm in Pickering township, province of 
C)ntario, where he resided until about 1883, 
when he removed to the town of Whitby, 
where he now resides. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Jane Hyfield, was born in that 
province and there she has passed her entire 
life. Joseph and Jane Montgomery became the 
parents of eight children, of whom four are 
living, the subject of this review having been 
next to the youngest in order of birth. 

Alice Maud INIontgomery was born on the 
homestead farm, at Pickering, province of 
Ontario, Canada, and after securing her pre- 
liminary educational discipline in the public 
schools she waS matriculated in the Whitby 
Collegiate Institute, where she was graduated 
as a member of the class of 1888. For the 
ensuing four years she was engaged in 
pedagogic work in her native province, and 
then came to Ohio and began the work of 
preparing herself for a trained nurse, entering 
the Jewish hospital in the city of Cincinnati, 
where she secured the most thorough discipline 
and experience in the line of her chosen pro- 
fession, being graduated in 1895 ^''O'" ^^^^ 
training school of that institution. She there- 
after continued her work in that hospital for 
a period of two years, during which she held 
the office of assistant superintendent, and then, 
in 1897, came to Canton to accept her present 
position, in which her services have been of 
inestimable value, gaining to her the hearty 
endorsement of all concerned. W'ithin Miss 
Montgomen-'s regime, the well equipped ward 
for children has been provided in the hospital, 
the same having been furnished through the 
generosity of the ladies of the Junior Assembly, 
of Canton, while other benefactions have been 
made which greatly augment the usefulness 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



915 



and facilities of the hospital. The third floor 
of the building is utilized by the nurses, and 
this was fitted up at the exisense of Mrs. George 
Harter, of this city, while Mrs. William Sher- 
lock contributed the furnishings for a private 
room mid the hospital workers provided for the 
equipment of another private room. The at- 
tractive reception room owes its conveniences 
and accessories to the generosity of the Hebrew 
Ladies' Aid Society of Canton. All of these 
improvements have been made since Miss 
Montgomery assumed charge of the institution, 
and various other changes have l^een made for 
the better, under her direction, while her gra- 
cious and sympathetic nature has endeared her 
to all with whom she has come in contact. She 
realized the necessity of discipline and main- 
tains the same with utmost vigor but unvarying 
kindness, thus insuring the best possible service 
W'ithout creatmg antagonism from any source. 
She is a member of the alumni association of 
the Jewish Hospital, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and 
her religious faith is that of the Wesleyan 
Methodist church. 



J. FRANK KAHLER, M. D.— The sub- 
ject of this sketch is one of the more recent ar- 
rivals in Canton, having come here in 1899, 
}et he has already taken a leading position 
among the city's representative men, besides 
winning prominence in the line of his profes- 
^iun. Dr. J. Frank Kahler is descended from 
an old German family, whose ancestors lived 
for man}' generations in the kingdom of Wur- 
temberg and whose history in the United States 
kites from 1835. J^h^ subject's grandfather, 
John Kahler, a native of Wurtemberg, was a 
farmer and follov.'ed that calling in the father- 
land imtil his immigration to America in the 
year referred to above. He married a Miss 
Buller and was the father of two sons and one 
daughter, all of whom accompanied him to the 
■lew world, and in after years became well 



known and useful citizens of Ohio. Landing 
at New York city after a tedious and somewhat 
prolonged voyage, John Kahler at once moved 
westward as far as Bolivar, Tuscarawas coun- 
ty, Ohio, near which place he purchased a farm 
and engaged in the pursuit of agriculture. Af- 
ter living there for about one and a half years 
he disposed of his place and bought a farm a 
little less than two miles north of Bolivar, in 
Bethlehem township. Stark county, where he 
spent the I'emainder of his life, dying in 1857 
at the age of fifty-eight ; his wife survived about 
thirty years, departing this life in 1885. Their 
two sons and one daughter were : Conrad, who 
died in the county of Stark ; John, father of the 
subject of this review, and Christina, a resi- 
dent of the county of Tuscarawas. 

John Kahler was born in Germany June 10, 
1827, and was a lad of eight years when the 
family immigrated to the United States. He 
grew up to the full requirement of sturdy man- 
hood on the farm in Tuscarawas county and 
after completing the public school course ac- 
quired a knowledge of the higher branches of 
learning under private tutors and in an edu- 
cational institution at the town of Canal Dover. 
He became a fine scholar and for two years 
taught successfully in the public schools, after 
which he devoted his attention exclusively to 
agriculture until within a year of his death, 
when he retired from active life. He was twice 
married, the fii'st time to Miss Hannah Duper, 
who bore him children as follows : Hannah, 
wife of Simon Longanecker. of Columbiana 
county, Ohio; Mary, now Mrs. George 
Schroyer, of Michigan ; Christina, who mar- 
ried John Stands and resides in the state of 
Kansas, and Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Krich- 
baum, of Canton. Some time after the death 
of the mother of these children Mr. Kahler was 
tmited in marriage with Catherine Kramer, 
whose birth occurred in Germany in the year 
1835. When she was six years old her par- 
ents came to the United States and settled at 



9i6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Navarre, Oliiu, near which place the father, 
Charles Kramer, ijurchased a farm and turned 
his attention to agricultural pursuits. 

After his second marriage Air. Kahler re- 
sided on a farm in Bethlehem township, this 
county, until 1897, when he retired to the town 
of Magnolia, where his death occurred the fol- 
lowing year. He was a man of excellent char- 
acter and good social standing, an active mem- 
ber of the Lutheran church and liberal in liis 
]jolitical \iews. He enjoyed the esteem of all 
who knew him and in his death the county lost 
one of its intelligent and most enterprising- 
citizens.^ His widow is still living, her home 
at the present time being with one of her daugh- 
ters. She is the mother of six children, of 
whom the subject of this review is first in or- 
der of birth; the others are: Ella, wife of 
George Koehler, of Bolivar; May, wife of 
Newton Casper, of Magnolia, this state; Hen- 
rv, late physician and surgeon, a graduate of 
the Western Reserve Medical College, of Cleve- 
land, and a man of high attainments and emi- 
nent professional success ; he married Miss 
Delia Siffert and died in Shelby county, Ohio. 
in the year 189S: Cora, the next in succession, 
became the wife of Curtis Casper and lives in 
the to\vn of Magnolia; Charles, the youngest 
of the family, is a well known and popular resi- 
dent of Canton. 

Dr. J. Frank Kahler was born on his 
father's farm in Bethlejiem township. Stark 
county, March 10, 1861, and, like the majority 
of country lads, \vas early taught the valuable 
lesson that nKm should earn his daily bread b_y 
honoral)le endeavor. When old enough to be 
of practical serxice he became his father's as- 
sista.nt in tlie varied duties of agriculture and 
by cop.iing in close touch with nature in health- 
ful outdoor exercise he developed a stiength of 
body and independence of mind \\hich had 
much to do in ^lia])ino- his character and di- 
recting his life in proper channels. His ele- 
mentarv edncaliini embraced the connnon 



school branches, and after prosecuting these 
studies until his nineteenth year he entered the 
normal school at Ada. Pie attended the suni- 
mer terms of that institution for three years, 
devoting the winter seasons to teaching in the 
public schools of Stark county, during which 
time he earned the reputation of a very capable 
educator. During the last year and a half of 
his school expei'ience he devoted his leisure 
time to the study of medicine under the direc- 
tion of Dr. Conklin, of Canton, and then en- 
tered the Medical College of Ohio at Cincin- 
nati, from which he was graduated with the 
class of iSqi. Immediately after receiving his 
degree Dr. Kahler began the practice of his 
profession at Quaker City, Guernsey county, 
Ohio, and remained there with encouraging" 
success until his remo\al, in 1899, t(j Canton. 
Since locating in the latter city his career has 
Ijeen a series of advancements, until he is now 
recognized as one of the ablest and most suc- 
cessful physicians and surgeons in a section of 
the state which has long been distinguished 
for a high standard of medical talent. He pos- 
sesses a strong yet sympathetic nature and by 
conscientious fidelity to duty has won the con- 
fidence of those w ho depend upon his profes- 
sional services for aid, possessing many of the 
essential qualities of the ideal family physician. 
Relying entirely upon his own energies and re- 
sources, his position to-day as a successful dis- 
])enser of remedies to suffering humanity re- 
flects the highest credit upon him, being not 
only a representative in his chosen calling, but 
also a citizen who commands the respect of the 
entire comnninity. 

Like all true healers who keep pace with 
the advancement of modern thought, the Doc- 
tor is a close and careful student, also belong- 
ing to the various medical societies Avith which 
the leading medical men of his part of the state 
are identified. Among these are the American 
Medical Association, the L^nion Medical Asso- 
ciation of Northern Ohio, the State Medical 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



917 



Society, Stark County Acadeni}- of Medicine 
and the Medical Society of Canton. He is a 
member of the surgical staff of the Aultman 
Hospital in this city, in which capacity his 
services have been valuable. He is also medi- 
cal referee for one of the largest life insurance 
companies of this country. Fraternally he be- 
longs to the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, the beautiful principles of which he en- 
deavors to exemplify in his relations with his 
fellow men. 

Dr. Kahler has never stepped aside from his 
chosen field of endeavor to mingle much in 
]wl)!ic and political affairs, although adhering 
firmly to his convictions and in no uncertain 
^\•a}• encouraging all enterprises for the com- 
munity's welfare. His domestic circle in- 
cludes, besides himself, a wife and one daugh- 
ter, and his home is most pleasant and har- 
monious in all of its relations and appoint- 
ments. His marriage was solemnized on the 
13th of October. 1886, with Miss Dora 
Snivelv, daughter of Levi and Elizabeth 
Snivelv, well known residents of the city. Mrs. 
Kaliler's Wrth occurred in Canton township, 
Stirk county, in the year 1866, and the daugh- 
ter whom she has Ijorne her husband answers 
to the name Lucille. 



JACOB J. HEXAMER was bom in Hesse, 
Hamburg vor der Hohe, Germany, August 24. 
1 8 18, being the son of George and Catherine 
(GrinO Hexamer, both parents descended 
from old families that for generations were 
tillers of the soil. He received a good educa- 
tion in the schools of his native place, grew to 
maturit^• on the paternal estate and followed 
agricultural pursuits as his chief occupation un- 
til 1842. when he bade farewell to the land of 
his birth and came to the United States. For 
a few months after his arrival in this country 
!Mr. LTexamer worked in New York and Penn- 
sylvania, and at the expiration of that time 



came to Canton, Ohio, making the trip to this 
place via Buffalo to Cleveland, and thence 
diiwn the canal to Massillon, from which place 
he reached his final destination on foot. Shortly 
after his arrival he entered the employ of 
George Reigler, the proprietor of a meat mar- 
ket, with whom he remained three years, during 
which time he became not only an expert 
butcher, but also acquired familiarity with 
e\erything relating to the meat business. Sev- 
ering his connections with his emploj'er. Mr. 
Hexamer opened a market of his own, which, 
in connection with the buying and selling of 
cattle, he operated for a period of forty-six 
years, his place during that time being by far 
the oldest as well as the most successful estab- 
lishment of the kind in the city. While thus 
engaged he attended closely to his business, 
built up an extensive trade, which he held as 
long as his market \vas in operation, and by 
good management and thrift accumulated a suf- 
ficiency of worldly wealth to enable him to re- 
tire from business and spend the remainder of 
his life in the quiet and comfortable manner 
which he now enjoys. 

During his active years Mr. Hexamer tra\'- 
eled over a great portion of this section of the 
.state, and became widely acquainted, his busi- 
ness of stock buying having brought him into 
personal contact with many farmers through- 
out the country. His dealings were always 
honorable, in consequence of which his name 
for man}- years was synonymous with honesty 
and integrity and among all classes of people 
he has ever been regarded with much favor and 
esteem. 

On March it, 1847. ^f'"' Hexamer con- 
tracted a matrimonial alliance with Miss Lydia 
Holben, whose parents, Daniel and Catherine 
(Loutzenheiser) Holben, were natives of Le- 
high county, Pennsylvania, the father being a 
son of Lawrence H. and Catherine Holben, de- 
scendants of old German families that settled 
in Pennsylvania at an early period in the time 



9i8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of the colonies. Daniel and Catherine Holben 
came to Stark county many years ago and after 
marriage settled on a farm about ten miles 
north of Canton, where they spent the remain- 
der of their lives. They reared a large family 
of children, of whom the following survive: 
Lydia, wife of Mr. Hexanier; Solomon lives in 
Indiana; Jacob, Joseph, Benjamin and William 
are residents of Michigan, and Catherine, 
whose home is at Middlebranch, Stark county. 

Mrs. Lydia Hexamer was born July i [, 
1827. She has presented her husband with 
twelve children, w hose names are as follows : 
Catherine, deceased ; George, deceased ; Li/^zie 
married John Miller and lives in Michigan; 
Julie, deceased ; Louis, a resident of Canton ; 
Caroline, deceased ; Jacob, of Canton ; Emma, 
wife of Peter Hahn, of Canton; Edward lives 
in Canton: Louisa is the wife of Philip Wilde, 
of this city : Joseph, deceased, and Charles, who 
at the present time Ii\es in Texas. 

^Ir. Hexamer and wife, although well 
stricken in years, are still remarkably active, 
both retaining to an unusual degree the posses- 
sion of their physical and mental powers. Emi- 
nently social and hospitable, they have many 
A\arm friends in Canton, who vie with each 
other in showing them favors, and it is doubt- 
ful if there is another as popular and highly es- 
teemed old couple to be found in the city. Mr. 
Hexamer has kept in close touch with the trend 
of events and still manifests a keen and abiding 
interest in all affairs relating to the well being 
of Canton and Stark county. While in busi- 
ness he made a number of judicious investments 
in real estate, one of which was the purchase 
of five acres of land on Lippert street within 
the city limits, which has since become very 
valuable. On this large lot are two commodi- 
ous d\\ellings w-hich he rents to good advan- 
tage. In politics Mr. Hexamer has always 
voted the Democratic ticket, and notwithstand- 
ing his advanced age, he still lends his influ- 
ence to the party and labors earnestlv in its be- 



half. Alany years ago he miited with the Ger- 
man Reformed church and began the earnest 
Christian life which has characterized his life 
to the present day, his conduct the meanwhile 
being above reproach and his character all the 
most critical and exacting could reasonably de- 
sire in a follower of the Nazarene. He has 
long been a leading member of the First Re- 
formed church of Canton, his wife also be- 
longing to the same congregation. 



ANTHONY FRANCIS comes of stanch 
Alsacian French lineage, the name having been 
originally spelled Francois, and the present .\n- 
glacized orthography was adopted by his father 
after his removal to the United States. Stephen 
Francis, father of the subject, was born in the 
province of Alsace, France, where he was edu- 
cated, being a man of fine intellectual attain- 
ments and having there been a successful teach- 
er for a number of years. There was solem- 
nized his marriage to Miss Marie Therese 
Marchand, who was also born in the pro\-ince 
of Alsace, and in that province were born six 
of their children. In 1S27 the family came to 
America, sailing from Havre, and in due time 
landing in the city of New York, where they 
remained for a short time and then came to 
Stark county, Ohio, being accompanied by a 
sister of Mrs. Francis, with her husband and 
children, who had previously resided for some 
time in the national metropolis. The trip was 
made by way of the great lakes to Cle^'eland and 
thence by the old Ohio canal to Massillon, this 
cotmty, from, which point the two families came 
overland to Canton. Stephen Francis [jur- 
chased twenty-one acres of land west of Nimi- 
shillen creek and on what is now East Tuscara- 
w-as street, the tract at the present time being 
divided into city lots and w ell Imilt up. On this 
little farm was a primitive log cabin, in which 
the family took up their alx)de. The father 
was engaged in the cultivation of his farm un- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



919 



ti! 1852, having in the meanwhile erected a 
commodious building on the place and there 
conducted a successful hotel business, the house 
being on the road between Massillon and Can- 
ton and thus gaining a good patronage from the 
farmers who passed through on their wa\- to 
the former place with their wheat and other 
produce, nearl}- all of which was taken to ]\[as- 
sdlon f(»r shipment by way of the canal, this be- 
ing prior to the advent of railroads in this sec- 
tion. In the series of articles by Mr. John Dan- 
ner, appearing in this work, reference is made 
to this tavern as one of the old landmarks of 
the county, while incidentally reference is made 
also to the precedence which Massillon then en- 
joyed as the "Wheat City." In the year men- 
tioned Mr. Francis sold this property to George 
Trump, and he then removed with his wife, the 
subject and the girls of the family to I.ucas 
county, Ohio, purchasing eighty acres of land 
a short distance west of the present city of To- 
ledo. His wife died on this farm, in 1856, and 
he soon afterward si^ld the property and re- 
moved into the city of Toledo, where he passed 
the remainder of his life in the home of one of 
his daughters, dying at the age of eighty- 
six years. He was first a Whig and later a Re- 
pulilican in politics and both he and his wife 
were de\'oted communicants of the Catholic 
church. ' M' their children we offer a brief rec- 
ord as follows : Therese, who became the wife 
of Joseph Glardon, died in Lawrenceville, Indi- 
ana ; Sel)astian died in St. Augustine, Texas; 
Frances, the wife of Edward McCleary, died in 
Toledo, in 1895 ; Catherine died in Canton, at 
the age of eighteen years; Mary Jane, who is 
the wife of Conrad Nicolette, resides in the city 
of Toledo; Filicite, the wife of Hernian Hen- 
ning, died in Toledo, all the above mentioned 
having been born in Alsace, France, while the 
following named were born in the United 
States: Stephen died in California; Anthony 
is the immediate subject of this review; Mary 
Ann is the wife of Peter Schwalm, of Joliet, 



Illinois; Alexis is a resident of California; and 
Elizabeth is the wife of Joseph Heinel, of Jack- 
sonville, Illinois. 

Anthony Francis, to whom this sketch is 
dedicated, was born in the little log cabin on the 
homestead farm, on East Tuscarawas street. 
Canton, on the 22d of May, 1832, and when he 
was eight years old his father built tliere the 
brick tavern to which reference has been made, 
and thus much of his boyhood was passed in 
this hcjtel, his reminiscences in regard to the 
early days being most graphic, as he well re- 
calls how the farmers from this and adjoining- 
counties passed through to JMassillon with their 
wagon loads of wheat, frequently ten or more 
wagons passing along together, while the road- 
side tavern.s furnished accommodatif>ns foPs 
men and horses. His initial educational train- 
ing was received in the pioneer sclioof house, 
under the direction of Hon. Benjamin V. Leiter, 
who was his first teacher and who later repre- 
.sented this district in congress, and his schoo! 
discipline ceased when he was fifteen yejirs of 
age. As a boy he began work on the home 
farm and he followed this A'ocation until he had 
attained the age of twenty-three years, when he 
left home and set forth on his independent ca- 
reer. It had long been his desire to learn the 
trade of blacksmith, but his father had objected 
to the plan, and thus upon leaving the parental 
roof he secured a position as striker in the 
blacksmith shops of the works of the C. .\ult- 
man C'ompany, in Canton, where he learned the 
blacksmith trade, being employed in the Ault- 
man shops as a journeyman for a period of 
seven years, after which he was identified with 
the grocery business for one year. He then be- 
came a clerk in the hardware store of C. C. 
Snyder, and was thus employed for the ensuing- 
eight years, after which he was, for somewhat 
more than one year, foreman in the shops of 
the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, of Canton, 
thereafter devoting about eight years to repre- 
senting this concern as a traveling salesman. 



920 



OLD LANDMARKS 



s\-hile later he was similarly engaged with the 
Massillon Bridge Company ahout the same 
length of time, at the expiration of which, in 
the autumn of 1892, he retired from active ])usi- 
ness life, still retaining his residence In Canton, 
^vhe^e he has an attractive home, at 600 North 
Walnut street. In politics he renders allegiance 
to the Republican party, and fraternally he is 
affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows and the Knights of Honor. He is not 
formally identified with any religious organiza- 
tion, but his wife is a zealous member of the 
German Reformed chiuxh. 

In Canton, on the 14th of October, i86j, 
Mr. Francis was united in marriage to Miss 
Mary Shooi, a daughter of Andrew and Cath- 
erine (I'lrichj Shoof, and of this union have 
been born fi\e children, namely : Helen, who is 
the wife of Charles Lind, of Canton ; Augustus, 
who remains at the parental home; Stephen, 
■who is a dealer in sewing and washing' machines 
in Canton ; and Emma and Minnie, who still 
remain beneath the home roof. 



JOSEPH OBERLIN, retired farmer and 
private citizen af Tuscarawas township, was 
born in Stark county, Ohio, July 5, 1826, the 
son of Peter and Susan (Cramer) Oberlin. 
Peter Oberlin was a native of Pennsyhania, 
and as early as the year 1813 accompanied his 
father to Stark county, Ohio, the' latter enter- 
ing a tract of government land in what is now 
the township of Tuscarawas. The name of the 
subject's grandfather was Adam Oberlin : he 
was one of the early settlers of the countv, and 
a m;'.n well fitted for the strenuous work which 
the pioneers were obliged to do in order to es- 
tablish homes in the dense wilderness which 
originall}- covered this part of the state. He 
faithfully ])eriormed his alloted task of laying 
the foundation of the community, finished his 
labors many years ago, and by the side of his 
good wife now sleeps the sleep that knows no 



waking. Peter Oberlin was reared a farmer 
and followed that pursuit all his life, acquiring 
a fine estate of one hundred and ninety-five 
acres in the county, beside a smaller place in 
the county of Wayne. He was a man of great 
industry, thoroug'hly reliable in all his dealings 
and achieved honorable repute as a neighbor 
and citizen. In his younger days he joined the 
United Brethren church, and it was in his 
dwelling in Tuscarawas township that relig- 
ious services were held as stated intervals dur- 
ing the earl}' settlement of the county. A num- 
ber of years later he x^ithdrew from that com- 
munion and united with the Reform church, 
to the precepts of which he remained loyal to 
the end of his days. His wife was also a mem- 
ber of the church, and is remembered as a 
wouKui of sterling worth and beautiful moral 
ch.aracter, and an earnest Christian, and, in her 
latter days, was looketl upr)n by her friends and 
n.eighbors as a veritable mother in Israel. Peter 
Oberlin finished his life \vork and entered unto 
rest in the year 1856, his wife dying suljse- 
quently. They were the parents of a large 
family, ele\'en children in all, of whom the sub- 
ject is the only living representative. 

Of the early life of Joseph Oberlin little 
need Ije said, as his experience on the farm in 
the summer time and in such schools as his 
neigliborhood afiforded in the winter time was 
similar in most respects to tliat of the majority 
of boys l)orn and reared in the rural districts. 
\\'hcn old enough to assume his share of the 
farm labor and after completing- the branches 
constituting the district school course, he pur- 
sued his studies in the Union school at Mas- 
sillon. Later he taught several terms of school 
in his native township, and in February, 1853, 
joined the tide of emigration westward to the 
gold fields of California, making the long, tire- 
some journey to that remote part of the con- 
tinent in the face of many thrilling experiences 
and dangers not a few. Mr. Oberlin remained 
on the Pacific coast a little over four vears and 




MR. AND MRS. JOSEPH OBERLIN. 



CANTON AND- STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



921 



was a participant in many of the thrilling epi- 
sodes and daring adventures which character- 
ized the early times in the far west. In June, 
1857, he returned to Stark county and eng-aged 
in farming in the township of Tuscarawas, 
where he has since lived and prospered, mean- 
while, by diligence and well directed industry, 
accumulating a hanclsi >nic property, including 
a line farm of one hundred acres which is well 
impriivod rmd successfully culti\'ated. 

Mr. Oherlin has not been unmindful of his 
duty as a citizen, as is attested by the deep in- 
terest he has always maintained in public and 
political affairs. A prominent supporter of the 
Democratic party, he has been long prominent 
in its local councils and an active worker in its 
ranks, and at one time was honored by being 
nominated for the legislature of his state, but 
failed of election by reason of the overwhelm- 
ing strength of the opposition. He has been a 
delegate to a number of county conventions, 
and, being a clear, forcible and logical speaker, 
it has fallen to him on divers occasions to pre- 
sent the names of candidates for nomination. 
His services have been especially valuable in 
campaign times and his leadership in his own 
tow'Hship has contributed much to the strength 
and success of the ticket in a number of elec- 
tions. Mr. Oberlin possesses a strong person- 
alty which, with his sterling character and in- 
vincible integrity, makes him an influential 
factor in any public work or private enterprise 
to which he addresses himself. 

On December 20, i860, occurred the mar- 
riage of Mr. Oberlin and Miss Mary A. Christ- 
man, the latter born in the county of Stark, in 
the year 1838. on the farm where her husband 
now lives. Mrs. Oberlin was the daughter of 
John and Margaret Christman, who came to 
iliis cdiintN- fri'm Pennsylvania about the year 
1834, and spent the rem;iinder of their lives in 
Tuscarawas township. Four chiklren were 
born to IMr. and Mrs. Oberlin. Mrs. Oberlin 
died on the 9th of January, 1871). Tn his relig- 



ious belief Mr. Oberlin subscribes to the Re- 
formed church, and for over twenty-three years 
he has been superintendent of the Sunday 
school classes under the auspices of the con- 
gregation with which he is identified. Mrs. 
Oberlin is also an active church worker, and, 
like her husband, has strong religious convic- 
tions which she exemplihes in her daily walk 
and conversation. The reader of the forego- 
ing" brief review need not loe informed that iNIr. 
Oberlin is a man of great energy, public spirit 
and a high order of business talent. His good 
fc:)rtune in temporal things has not come to him 
by accident, but througli perseverance, indus- 
try, undeviating integrity and correct dealings 
with his fellow men. He is also greatly in-' 
debtee! for much of his success in life to his 
frank and manly demeanor and great kindness 
of heart. 



JOHN B. ZETTLER, proprietor and man- 
ager of the Zettler nurseries and green houses at 
405 Clarence avenue. Canton, also an in\-entor 
of considerable renown, was born in Sandusky, 
Erie county, Ohio, February 16, 1855, being the 
son of John and Chrisantha (Iveiffer) 'Zettler, 
both ]iarents nati\-es of Germany. The father 
came to the United States in early life and set- 
tled in Erie county, Ohio, where he followed 
agricultural pursuits until! his removal to Can- 
ton in the year 1867. On coming to this city 
he entered the employ of C. Aultman & Com- 
pany and remained with that firm until his 
death, which occurred in 1886, his widow be- 
ing still a resident of Canti>n. 

John B. Zettler spent the first twelve years 
of his life in the county of his birth and there 
received his, early educational discipline in the 
public schools. He attended one term after 
coming to Canton in 1867, and when a youth 
in his 'teens took tip the carjienter's trade, which 
he followed with fair success until engaging in 
tlnriculliu'e and the nurserv business in 1883, 



922 



OLD LANDMARKS 



purchasing that year the grounds on which now 
stand the Zettler nurseries on Clarence avenue. 
Since beginning this enterprise, Mr. Zettler has 
built and extended from time to time the area 
of his nurseries and added many new features, 
the increase of patronage the meanwhile justi- 
fying him in the expenditures necessary to carry 
on this series of improvements. He now has 
one of the largest and most thoroughly equipped 
establishments of the kind in the eastern part 
of the state, keeping on hand at all times a com- 
plete stock of trees and plants, including- many 
varieties of rare and valuable flowers and fruits, 
and he spares neither pains nor expense in sup- 
plying the constantly growing demands of his 
numerous customers. JMr. Zettler has devoted 
much time and study to the fascinating pursuit 
in \vhich he is now engaged, and the knowledge 
thus derived has am]:)ly repaid him in the large 
business he now commands and the liberal in- 
come of w hich he is the recipient. 

Mr. Zettler, as indicated in a preceding 
paragraph, possesses mechanical talent of a high 
order, and his skill has been turned to good ac- 
count in the \'ari()ns devices which he has in- 
vented and given to the world. Among his 
best known and most ])ractical inventions is a 
revolving book case which by simply removing 
the shelves can be transformed into a wardrobe, 
with every convenience found in those made 
especially for the latter pui'pose. Another of 
his inventions, the butted glass sash bars, a 
labor-saving device of great utility, designed to 
replace putty in fastening of glass windows and 
the replacing of liroken glass, has been warmly 
commended wherever tried, and ere long will 
doubtless come into general use by manufactur- 
ers of sash picture frames and all articles of 
like character, also by builders who find the old 
process not only lal)oriotis but expensive. At 
the present time he is perfecting a new steam 
and water boiler which is greatly superior to 
those now in use and which when completed 
gives e\'ery promise of Ijeiug generallv adopted. 



In September, 1891, Mr. Zettler met with a 
serious financial disaster, in the destruction of 
his place of business by fire, the loss to build- 
ings, stock, tools, etc., aggregating considerably 
in excess of three thousand dollars, only a small 
part of which was covered by insurance. With 
his characteristic energy, however, he at once 
set about to retrieve if possible his broken for- 
tune, and in due time new and much better 
buildings than the original were erected, the 
stock was fully replenished and since the fire 
his business has more than regained its former 
magnitude, with the promise of still greater 
prosperity in the future. 

On January 14, 1879, Llr. Zettler con- 
tracted a marriage with Miss Rosa Deyille. 
daughter of Nicholas and Mary (Bour) De- 
ville, to which union the following children 
have been born : Ferdinand, born May 7, 1880. 
was graduated from the Canton high school, 
and is now living in the city of Cleveland : 
Lester J., whose birth occurred February 13. 
1884. was educated in the city schools and in 
the Canton Business College : William X., his fa- 
ther's business associate, was born February 10. 
1886; Vincent V., torn September 26, 1888, 
is a graduate of the city high school and a youth 
of intelligence and much promise; Effie C, win. 
is now pursuing her studies in the public 
schools, was born on the 2d day of October. 
1890; Ralph I-eo was born June 14, 1892 ; Ma\- 
A. was torn June 6, 1894; Margaret A. was 
born October 6. 1897, and died January 22. 
1899; and Elizabeth, whose birth occurred July 
9, 1901. 

]\Ir. Zettler generally ^■oles the Democratic 
ticket, but is liberal in his political views, caring 
little for party ties ; in religion he is a Catholic, 
belonging with his family to St. Joseph's 
church, to the support of which he is a liberal 
contributor. He is a man of wide general in- 
telligence, a reader of the world's best litera- 
ture, and has a large and carefully selected li- 
brarv. in which nearlv all of his leisure time is 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



923 



spent. Thrown upon his own resources when a 
youth in his early teens, with no friends to 
whom he could apply for assistance or encour- 
agement, his life for man}' years was beset 
with vicissitudes and hardships. Not easily 
cast down, he addressed himself manfully to 
honest toil, saved his surplus earnings with 
scrupulous care, until he found himself the pos- 
sessor of sufficient capital to begin business of 
his own in a modest way. Since then his course 
has been steadily on\vard and upward, and by 
energy and ^^•elI-directed thrift he is now in in- 
dependent circumstances, with a competence 
laid up against the possible day of adversity and 
for his declining years. .\n incident in the life 
of Mr. Zettler worthy of note occurred on the 
night of October 27, 1899, when the family 
residence was broken into by l>urglars. Sitting 
in his office at the time, he did not hear them 
enter, but being informed of their presence by 
his wife throug'h a speaking tube, he at once 
rushed to the scene and succeeded in affecting 
their capture. On the way to the police station 
witli his prisoners, they showed fight and at- 
tempted to break away and in the struggle that 
fi>l!(5wed four revoh'er sh.ots were fired, one of 
which passed thrdugh I\Ir. Zettler's groin, in- 
fiicting a painful and dangerous wound from 
wliich he has e\er since ])een a sufferer. 



J-ACOB KLOSS. TR— The subject of 
this review is a native of Stark county, Ohio, 
and the second in a family of six children, 
whose parents, Jacob and Phoebe Kloss, came 
from German}-. The father was seventeen years 
old when he left tlie land of his birth, and after 
coming to America spent two years in New 
York, thence came to Canton, Ohio, where he 
engaged in the transfer Ijusiness, being one of 
the first men in the city to run a public dray. 
Later he followed teaming until becoming dis- 
abled, since whicli time he has been living in 
retirement at his home on South Cherrv street. 



having readied the age of seventy-four, in full 
possession of his mental faculties, but, as indi- 
cated, being somewhat enfeebled physically. 
Phoebe Uhland, who became the wife of Jacob 
Kloss, Sr., came to the United States at the 
age of fourteen with her step-father, and grew 
to womanhood in Canton, in which city she first 
met the gentleman whom she subsequently mar- 
ried. She is now a well-preserved woman of 
sixty-six 3?ears, and the mother of children as 
follows : Henry, a resident of Canton ; Jacob, 
of this review ; Amelia, who died when twenty 
years old; Pauline, Laura and Flora. 

Jacob Kloss, Jr., was born at the family 
home on South Cherry street. Canton, Novem- 
ber 5, 1864, and received his early education 
in the parochial school of the German Re- 
form church, subsequently attending until 
his eleventh year the public schools of the city. 
P.y reason of his services being required at 
home, he was compelled to lay aside his studies 
at that age and turn his attention to some pur- 
suit from which an income could be derived, 
accordingly, when only eleven years old, he be- 
gan working in a brick yard for fiftv cents per 
day. .After de\'oting about seven summers to 
this kind of labor, spending the winter seasons 
the meanwhile in a grocer}' store, he engaged 
with a Mr. Winner, in 1883, to learn the meat 
business. Tn due time he became an expert 
butcher, and in 1885 opened a meat market of 
his own on South Cherry street, which he con- 
ducted for a period of three years with grati- 
fying success, disposing of the establishment 
at the expiration of that time, after which 
he worked for other parties until 1891. spend- 
ing the greater part of the interval in the em- 
ploy of Houser tS: Buchwalter. In the latter 
year ]NTr. Kloss again embarked in business 
upon his o\\'n responsibilit}', establishing- him- 
self at his present stand at No. 1252 South 
Market street, where he has built up an exten- 
sive trade, his market at the present time be- 
ing one of the largest establishments of the 



924 



OLD LANDMARKS 



kind in the city, also one of the most liljerally 
patronized and popular. J\Ir. Kloss is an en- 
ergetic, wide-awake, progressive business man, 
who attends closely to his duties, and by indus- 
try and wisely directed thrift he has become 
the possessor of a fortune of no small magni- 
tude. He is an expert in his line, deals fairly 
with his customers, and stands high in the 
esteem of the people. Among his German- 
American fellow citizens he is regarded with 
peculiar favor, having always been interested 
in their welfare, and for a number of years he 
has been an influential factor not only in their 
business affairs, but also in their social, edu- 
cational and religious life. 

Mr. Kloss, on the 29th day of March, 
1885, entered the marriage relation with Miss 
Margaret E. Lichtenwalter, whose parents, 
]\Iichael and Mary Ann (Howenstein) Lich- 
tenwalter, lived for a number of years on a 
farm in Pike township, Stark county. During 
the eighteen years preceding his death the fa- 
ther lived a retired life in Canton, the mother 
being still an honored resident of this cit-\-. 
Mrs. Kloss was born and reared in Stark coun- 
ty, and her marriage has been blessed \\ith six 
children, namely: Alonzo H., who is engaged 
with his father in the meat business ; Marv May 
•died at the age of two years; Pauline; Will- 
iam Henrv; Cladvs died in infancv, and Earl 
Ralph. 

Politicrdly, Mr. -Kloss votes the Democratic 
ticket, and, as an intelligent, enterprising citi- 
zen, keeps well informed relative to current 
€\-ents and the great public questions of the 
<lay. Religiously he is a member of the German 
Reformed church of Canton. 



WILLIAM M. GLASS, proprietor of a 
large lilacksmith shop at No. 403 East Fourth 
street. Canton, and one of the leading crafts- 
men of the kind in the city, is a native of Penn- 
sylvania, and was luirn in Rosstown York 



county, on the 7th day of December, 1834. His 
father, William Glass, was born and reared in 
the same count}- and for a long time worked at 
the l)lacksmith trade in Rosstown, where his 
death occurred a number of years ago. The 
Glasses came originally from England, and 
the family was represente'd in Pennsylvania 
in an early day, and from that commonwealth 
descendants moved to different parts of the 
I'nion and the name has since become familiar 
in a number of states, ^\'illiam Glass, Sr., 
married, in Pennsylvania, JNIiss Elizabeth My- 
ers, who was born in York county, the daugh- 
ter of Peter ]\Iyers, whose ancestors came to 
th'is country in an early day. settled in the 
state noted and become well known in the re- 
spective localities where they lived. 

The early life of William ]\I. Glass was con- 
trolled by conditions which, nnich to his re- 
gret, deprived him of advantages and privileges 
which fall to the lot of the majority of lads, 
including among others the inability to ac- 
quire any but the most limited education, the 
sum total of his schooling covering a period of 
only six months. He was almost literally 
reared in a blacksmith shop, and when but ten 
years old hired to his older brother, James, 
who took charge of his father's establishment in 
Rosstown, recei\ing for his ser\"ices the munifi- 
cent sum of fifteen cents per day. In due time 
he became an efficient workman and after fol- 
lowing the trade for some years in his native 
state, came, in 1854, to Jefl:'erson county. 
Ohio, where he started a shop of his own. 
which he conducted with encouraging success 
at the place he originally located for a period 
of three years. Mr. Glass continued his chosen 
calling in the towns of Smithfield and Mt. 
Pleasant in the above county until 1892. in 
which vearfhc came to Canton, and from that 
date to thcpresent has operated establishments 
in this city, with a large and constantly in- 
creasing patronage. In 1895 lis moved to his 
present location, Xo. 403 East Fourth street. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



925 



where he has a large and well equipped shop, 
and does all kinds of Avork in his line with neat- 
ness and despatch, being assisted by a number 
of efficient workmen. 

Air. Glass was married, in Jetiferson county, 
Ohio, in the year 1852, to Miss Ruth Ann Hus- 
sey, a lady of strong mental powers, intense 
religious convictions and for some years a noted 
e\ange!ist in the Society of Friends, with which 
religious body he is ako identified. She bore 
him three children, all deceased, and departed 
this life in 1865, deeply lamented not only by 
her husband and near relati\'es and friends, but 
by the chiu'ch throughout Ohio, in which she 
had long- exercised such a potent and beneficial 
influence. Mr. Glass's second marriage was 
.solemnized in 1S66, with Mary Samantha Tal- 
bott, also a representative of an old and highly 
respected Quaker famih'. the union lieing 
blessed with three children, William K., Caro- 
line and Mar}- E. Mrs. Glass is a daughter 
of Kinsey and Caroline E. (Lawrence) Tal- 
bott, the latter of whom was the noted Quaker 
evangelist who gained such a wide reputation 
throughout the Cnited States and England, 
for her temperance and Christian principles. 
Mr. Glass still hold membership with the old 
Friends church at Alt. Pleasant and has always 
been true to his religious couA-ictions, uphold- 
ing at all times the simple but beautiful teach- 
ings of the creed to which he subscribes and 
demonstrating by a life devoid of offense to 
God and man the reality and exceeding great 
value of Christianitv when practically applied. 
Fie was reared in the political school of Democ- 
racy, and in the main has supported the party 
of that riame, though of recent years he has 
Ijeen practically independent, being at the pres- 
ent time favorably inclined to the principles of 
prohibition. A strong advocate of temperance 
and himself a commendable example of the 
doctrines he advocates, he lends his influence to 
every laiulable means for the suppression of 
the li(|iiiir traffic, and of late has become con- 



vinced that the most eft'ective agency to rid 
the country of the e\"il is prohibition, fear- 
lessly enacted and strictly enforced. Mr. Glass, 
though rather quiet and somewhat conserva- 
tive in his relations with his fellow men and 
the public, is enterprising and progressive, en- 
tertains broad and liberal ideas and recognizes 
and encourages good, tmder whatever name it 
may appear. 



CHARLES E. NORRIS is a native son 
of the old Keystone state of the Union, hav- 
ing been born in the historic city of Gettys- 
burg, on the 27th of December, 1868, and being 
a son of Basil H. and Elizabeth •(Miller) Nor- 
ris, both of whom \vere likewise born in Penn- 
sylvania, wheuce the}' removed to Canton, 
Stark county. Ohio, in the early "seventies, and 
here the father, engaged in the work of his 
trade as a carpenter and cabinetmaker, to 
which he still devotes his attention, while his 
wife is still living also and both are honored 
residents of this city. They are the parents of 
four children, namely : Charles E., who is the 
injmediate subject of this sketch; William, who 
married Miss Emma Miller and who is en- 
gaged in the telephone business in Canton ; 
Frank, who married Miss Bessie Blanchard and 
who resides also in Canton, where he is en- 
gaged with the Canton Bridge Company; and 
Ida M.. who is the wife of Dr. Charles M. 
Crane, of this city. 

Charles E. Xorris attended the public 
schools of h.is native city about one year, and 
was about six years of age at the time when 
his parents removed U> Canton, where he con- 
tinued to attend the city schools until he had 
attained the age of fifteen years. At the age of 
ten years he assumed personal responsibilities 
in connection with the practical affairs of Hfe, 
becoming a newsboy in Canton and proving 
energetic and discriminating in the handling 
of the business assigned to his charge, while 



926 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the experience proved of no little value to him 
in the formative period of his character, be- 
getting that self-reliance and initiative power 
which have conserved his success in later years. 
He left school at the age of fifteen years, and 
thereafter was employed in a clerical capacity 
and also worked for the News Exchange until 
he had reached his legal majority. Thereafter 
he was employed by the Dueber-Hampden 
Company, the extensive manufacturers of 
watches, in his home city, until 1897, and with- 
in this period, in order to further reinforce him- 
self for the active responsibilities of life, he 
completed a course of stitdy as a member of 
the night classes in the Canton Business Col- 
lege. In the }"ear last mentioned he withdrew 
from the employ of the Dueber-Hampden 
Company to accept a position as collector for 
the Central Telephone Union, and such was 
his fidelity and capable discharge of the duties 
devolving upon him that \.\\o years later he 
was promoted to the position of cashier in the 
Canton office. In January, 1901, Mr. Norris 
was sent to Fi'emont, Ohio, as local manager 
for this company, and tliere he remained until 
May, 1902, when lie was transferred to the 
Canton office, in the same capacity, and has 
since remained incumlient of this responsible 
position, while he has shown distinctive exec- 
utive ability and discrimination in handling 
the afTairs of this office, which is the most im- 
portant maintained by the company by which 
he is employed. The preferment has come to 
him through recognition of his ability and 
marked fidelity, and he has the confidence and 
esteem of his employers and of the general 
public, being one of the popular and repre- 
sentative young business men of Canton. In 
politics he is a stanch supporter of the prin- 
ciples and policies of the Republican party, and 
he and his wife are \alued members of the 
I-titheran church. 

In the city of Canton, on the 8th of Novem- 
ber. 1888, Mr. Xorris was united in marriage 



to JMiss Clara T. Webb, a daughter of John 
\\'ebb, \\ho was formerly city marshal of Can- 
ton and who is now employed in the secret- 
service department of the government, in the 
state of Nebraska. The maiden name of her 
mother was Cordelia Harding, who died in 
1887. Mr. Webb subsequently married again 
and resides in the city of Omaha, Nebraska. 
Mr. and Mrs. Norris have two children, Carl 
E. and Bernice Fay, hoih. of whom are in the 
public schools of Canton. 



CAPT. PETER R. KAUF:\I.\N was born 
in Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 26th of 
June, 1829. He was a son of Peter and Cather- 
ine (Wiltz) Kaufnian, both of whom were of 
stanch German lineage, and thej' came from 
, Pennsylvania to Canton in the early pioneer 
epoch and here passed the remainder of their 
lives. The father of tJie subject was a prii;ter 
by trade, and it is undoubtedly the fact that 
he was the first to establish a German printing 
office in Canton. His son, Peter, owing to the 
exigencies of time and place, received meager 
educational advantages in his youth, but his 
was a signally receptive mind and studious na- 
ture, and thus he effectively supplemented the 
rudimentary training received in the schools 
of the pioneer town. As a boy he entered his 
father's printing office, and the discipline thus 
received was one of great \alue, for it has 
been well said that the training of a printing 
office is equal to a liberal education. He be- 
came a skilled workman at his trade, having 
marked facility as a compositor in both Eng- 
lish and German. After leaving his father's 
establishment he went to the city of Cleveland, 
where he became an employe in the office of the 
Cleveland Herald, in the meanwhile having 
been in service as a private in the Mexican 
war. Unfortunately definite information as to 
this period of his career is not attainable, and 
it must thus be noted with but a cursorv olance. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



927 



He was still in Cleveland at the time when the 
dark cloud of civil war began to spread por- 
tentiously across the national horizon, and the 
intrinsic loyalty and patriotism of his nature 
at once manifested itself in decisive action. He 
responded to the call for volunteers and 
effected the organization of Company E, Fifty- 
eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantrj', recruited 
from Canton and vicinity and from Cleveland 
districts. His enthusiasm was contagious and 
in the regiment were found many of his per- 
>onal friends, who had been through his in- 
fluence induced to enlist. The regiment went 
into camp at Columbus, and after a sliort term 
of training proceeded to the front, being as- 
signed to the x\rmy of the Cumberland. Mr. 
Kaufman was made second lieutenant of his 
company at the lime of its organization, and 
later was promoted to the office of first lieu- 
tenant, and he was an active participant in 
many of the important engagements incidental 
to the early period of the war, having taken 
part in the campaign in and about Vicksburg. 
After a sendee of eleven months he returned 
home on a furlough, and upon rejoining his 
regiment he was elected to the captaincy of the 
company in whose organization he had been so 
largely instrumental. Of the details of the 
battle in which he met his death and of the 
way in which his noble and valiant soul was 
released from its mortal tenement, we can 
not, perhaps, offer a more touching and per- 
tinent record than by entering in full the letter 
to his widow by the orderly sergeant of his 
company within a few days after his death, 
which occurred on the 29th of December, 1863. 
The letter is as follows : 

January 7, i86j!. 
>[rs. Ida Kaufman, Canton, Oliio: 

Madam — I regret to write the following statement 
'■> you in regard to your husband and our most beloved 
tid esteemed commander and friend. I believe he had 
vritten you from Helena, Arkansas, about an cxpedi- 
uon which was going down the river with the intention 
to take Vicksburg. Mississippi. We went down with 



eighty-nine transports, all loaded with troops, and ar- 
rived at Johnson's Landing, on the Yazoo river, on the 
26th of December (1862). We departed the same day 
for Fort Morgan and arrived on the 27th. In the after- 
noon our regiment was sent out to employ the rebel 
skirmishers. We found them and drove them about 
one mile, with the loss of our captain and four pri- 
vates killed. We were relieved at dark by another 
regiment. The next morij^ng we were employed in 
supporting batteries and in the afternoon we were en- 
gaged in keeping rebel sharpshooters from our lines, 
but we had no loss this day. The next day, December 
29th, was the day fixed to take the fort by storm. 
Blair's brigade was ordered up to do it. It consisted 
of the Thirteenth Illinois, Twenty-ninth Missouri, 
Thirty-first Missouri and Fifty-eighth Ohio Regiments 
— altogether about 2,500 men. 

At about II o'clock A. M. we were ordered to fi.K 
bayonets, and in a double-quick, with hurrah after 
hurrah, we commenced the fearful struggle. Yes, it 
was murder by wholesale, privileged by law ! We had 
hardly reached the edge of the woods where we could 
see the fortifications, when the rebels commenced to 
throw shell after shell into our ranks. We could hear 
nothing but whizzing of balls and cracking of shells. 
To have an imagination of the thus fearful struggle 
you only need to look at our loss. We lost, in about 
an hour's time, thirteen hundred of our brigade, and 
your husband shared their fate. He died a soldier's 
death, on the dark and bloody battlefield. He re- 
ceived a slight wound in the right arm first, and we 
begged him to go back, but he would not do it, but 
urged us to go on. Then we lost sight of him. The 
battle was- over, and we could not find our beloved 
Peter. We looked evei^where — on every hospital boat 
and hospital — but we could not find him. The next 
day we tried, with a flag of truce, to go on the battle- 
field and look for our wounded, but the rebels would 
not let us. At last, on the 31st, they agreed to let us 
bury our dead, and then it was we found your hus- 
band's body. He was stripped of everything valuable — 
woolen clothing, sword, revolver and money ; even his 
boots had been pulled ofif. He had received a wound 
in his right breast from a piece of shell. He looked as 
natural as in life. We buried him not far from the 
battlefield, and on his grave we placed a board with 
his name engraved thereon. Your husband's trunk will 
be forwarded as soon as practicable. If you want any 
other information I am always at your service. 

Hoping this calamity will find you well prepared, 
I remain, your obedient servant, 

Robert Specht. 
Orderlv Sergeant Co. F. Fiftv-eiahlh O. V. T. 



Captain Kaufman ^vas not a member of 
anv orthodox church, InU was a firm believer 



928 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in God. His was a symmetrical, honorable and 
useful life, and though it was cut short it was 
tilled with more and worthier effort than falls 
to the lot of the average man, his name merit- 
ing a place on the roll of the nation's noble 
patriots, while the story of his career is full 
of both lesson and incentive. His was a buoy- 
ant, genial nature, and he won and retained 
firm friendships, his word ever being inviolable 
and his integrity beyond question. 

In 185 1 Captain Kaufman was united in 
marriage, in Paris, Ohio, to Miss Ida Jean- 
neret, who was born in La Chaud de Fond, 
Switzerland, on the i8th of January, 1831, 
and who was brought by her father tO' America 
when about eighteen years of age. Her father, 
Ulysses Jeanneret, here engaged in the jewelry 
business. Captain Kaufman's widow is still 
living. When the cruel war robbed her chil- 
dren of a father, she played the part of both 
father and mother to her boy and girls, and 
taught them to be honest, self-reliant citizens 
of the Republic, whose integrity cost her hus- 
band his life. Of her children we enter the 
following record :. Louis K. is engaged in 
farming in Canton ; Kate E. is the wife of 
James Baxter, of this city; Maria L. is indi- 
vidually mentioned in an appending paragraph ; 
TJllie remains at the old home in Canton, as 
does also the youngest daughter, Flora J. 

Maria L. Kaufman was born in Canton 
and has here passed her entire life, being now 
incumbent of the position of teacher in the first- 
grade department of the North Cherry Street 
school. She received her educational training 
in the public schools of Canton, having been 
graduated in the high school as a member of 
the class of 1876. Her pedagogic career has 
covered a period of more than a quarter of a 
century of consecutive work in the same school 
and same grade in \vhich her services are now 
given. She began teaching in the North 
Cherry Street school in September, 1876, and, 
as before stated, has been retained in charge of 



the first grade year after year to the present 
time. She is a consistent member of the First 
Baptist clnuxh. 



CHARLES H. HILLES was born on the 
parental homestead, in Washington township, 
this county, on the 3d of August, 1848, be- 
ing the fourth in order of birth of the five chil- 
dren of Enos and Mary A. (Harris) Hilles. 
Of the other four children ^\'e record that 
Arthur T., a successful farmer of this town- 
ship, is mentioned on other pages of this work ; 
Jennie is the wife of Johnson Grant, of this 
townshi]) ; Howard is engaged in the practice 
of law in the city of Topeka, Kansas; and 
Ella is the wife of Dr. Byron Douds, of Can- 
ton, this county. Enos Ililles was a native of 
Chester county, Pennsylvania, where he was 
born in the year 1816, a son of Robert and 
Jane (Lee) Hilles, the former of whom was an 
influential farmer of that county and prominent 
in anti-slavery agitation during the crucial 
epoch leading up to and culminating in the war 
of the Rebellion. He was a son of David and 
Dinah (Millhouse) Hilles, the former of 
whom was a son of Hugh and Ann Hilles, the 
original progenitors in America, whither they 
immigrated from Ireland prior to the middle 
of thfe eighteenth century and took w\> their 
abode in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, whence 
they removed to Chester county in 1856, and 
there passed the residue of their lives, David 
being the youngest of their four children. 
They -were worthy members of the Society 
of Friends, and members of succeeding gener- 
ations have to a greater or less degree held 
to the simple and noble faith of this organi- 
zation. Robert Hilles removed with his family 
to Mahoning county. Ohio, in 1832, settling 
in the vicinit}^ of the village of Salem, as a 
pioneer farmer, and thence, in 1844, he came 
to Stark county and purchased about sixty 
acres of land, in Washington township, where 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



929. 



both he and his wife hved until their death, 
each attaining the age of about eighty-six 
years. The latter was a daughter of Isaac 
and Mary Lee, of Berks county, Pennsylvania, 
where she was bom, and from a collateral 
branch of the family came. General Robert E. 
Lee, the distinguished Confederate officer. 

Enos Ililles was about sixteen years of age 
at the time of his parents' removal to Mahoning 
county, Ohio, and he later accompanied them 
on their removal to Stark county, where he 
individually purchased twenty acres in section 
14, Washington township, near the homestead 
of his father. In 1853 he bought and removed 
to a farm in section i , same township, and this 
place is now owned by his son Arthur T. 
During the closing year of their lives he and 
his wife made their home with their children. 
Enos Hilles was a man of alert mentality and 
forceful individuality, and was naturally 
equipped for leadership in thought and action. 
He read widely and with discrimination 
and was particularly well informed on the 
questions and issues of the hour, in which he 
ever maintained a deep interest, while he was 
a potent factor in advocacy of the cause of the 
Republican party, being an able public speaker 
and logical and concise writer on political 
topics and having been an effective vi'orker in 
various campaigns. He was a zealous advo- 
cate of a sound financial system in govern- 
mental affairs, and was one of the first to main- 
tain that a change from the gold or inter- 
national standard would be fatuous in the 
extreme, and in connection he entered into a 
series of newspaper discussions in defense of 
his convictions, gaining a high reputation 
through his masterful handling of the problem 
through the local press. His life was one 
dominated by the highest principles of honor 
and integrity, and his faith in' the verities 
of the Christian religion was unwavering. He 
died on the i8th of December, 1890, while his 



wife passed forward to the "land of the leal," 
on the 22d of February, 1894. 

The boyhood days of Charles H. Hilles 
were, in their surroundings and incidental 
duties and pleasures, not radically different 
from those of the average farmer boy of the 
place and period, and to the public schools 
he was indebted for his early educational 
advantages. In 1872 he was married and 
shortly afterward he purchased a tract of 
thirty acres lying contiguous to the old home- 
stead farm, and for the ensuing four years he 
had charge of both places. In 1876 he traded 
his farm for his present fine homestead, in 
section 12, which has thus continued to be his 
home and field of endeaA'or for more than a 
quarter of a century. He has erected modern 
and substantial buildings and made his farm 
one of the model places of the township. In 
1^81 he acquired a farm of fifty-five acres in 
section 16, and in 1890 he still farther added 
to his landed estate by the purchase of a farm 
of two hundred acres in Marshall count}', 
Indiana, a property which he still retains. On 
his home farm he gives his attention more 
particularly to the dairy business, while his 
Indiana farm is principally devoted to the rais- 
ing of fat cattle for the Chicago market, a line 
of enterprise in which his well directed eft'orts 
have been attended with a full measure of suc- 
cess, since he raises nothing but the highest 
grade of stock, having of late directed his at- 
tention almost entirely to the raising of the 
Durham type of cattle and Poland-China 
swine. 

In politics, though never an aspirant for 
pulalic office,Mr.Hilles has given his unequivocal 
support to the principles and policies of the 
Republican party, and he is recognized as one 
of the wide-awake and thoroughly progressive 
men of this section and as one eminently 
entitled to the unqualified esteem in which he 
is held. He is identified with the Patrons of 



58 



930 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Husbandry, being a member of Fairmount 
Grange No. 242. 

On the 14th of August, 1872, Mr. Hilles 
was married to Miss Martha J. Philhps, a lady 
of refinement and gracious personahty. She 
was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, 
being a daughter of Ellis and Phoebe (Lilley) 
Phillips, the former coming of staunch old 
Quaker stock, of Welsh extraction, two broth- 
ers of the name having come from Wales to 
America in the early colonial epoch and estab- 
lished homes in Pennsylvania, whence their 
descendants ha^•e become disseminated through 
the most diverse sections of the Union. The 
Lilley family is of Irish lineage. Mrs. Hilles 
was reared and educated in Uniontown, Penn- 
sylvania, and her parent? are now both de- 
ceased, her father passing away in 1879, at the 
age of eighty-one years, while her mother 
entered into eternal rest in 1850, at the age 
of forty-two years, both having been devoted 
members oi the Quaker church. The eight 
children born to them are stiH living. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hiles have three children, namely : Jennie, 
who is the wife of Dr. Charles E. Cook, a 
prominent dentist of Crestline, Ohio, and who 
have two children, Winifred and Loyd; How- 
ard, of Washington township, married Miss 
Sadie A. Croade, and they have two children, 
Marian and Martha Lillian ; and Harry E., the 
youngest child, remains at the parental home, 
assisting his father in the management of his 
liusiness affairs. 



EDWARD L. HAYMAKER. — Too 
careful or too frecjuent references can not 
be made in the pages of history concerning 
those who have figured as the founders and 
builders of a great commonwealth, and in con- 
nection with this brief review of the personal 
history of Mr. Haymaker it is a privilege to 
touch incidentally and specifically upon inter- 
esting data in regard to the sterling pioneer 



pioneer family of which he is a representative 
and which has been identified with the annals 
of Ohio from practically the time when it was 
admitted to statehood. Frederick Haymaker, 
the great-grandfather of the subject, was born 
in Germany, where he was reared to manhood 
and where he was married. A number of years 
later, accompained by his wife and children, he 
emigrated to America, probably about the mid- 
dle of the eighteenth century, and settled in 
Franklin county, Pennsylvania. He was a man 
of means, and in the old Keystone state he 
established a shipyard and engaged in the 
building of vessels for maritime use, conduct- 
ing an extensive business for the day. At the 
outbreak of the Revolution he signalized his 
loyalty to the land of his adoption by tendering 
his services as a soldier in the Continental 
army, in which he became an officer and which 
he rendered effective service, having been 
trained in military tactics and manoeu\ers in 
his native land. After victory had crowned the 
colonial arms and independence established at 
so great cost and sacrifice, he returned to his 
home in Pennsylvania, where he passed the 
residue of his life. His son Frederick, grand- 
father of him whose name initates this article, 
was likewise born in Germany and was a young 
man at the time of the immigration tO' America. 
He became a man of prominence and influence 
in Pennsylvania, having owned much valuable 
property and having shown much discrimina- 
tion in his real-estate transactions. About the 
time of the Revolution, or shortly afterward, 
he located in the city of Pittsburg, where he 
became an extensive speculator in real estate. 
Through misrepresentations he was led to 
espouse the cause of Aaron Burr, to whom he 
furnished large amounts of money, while he 
also loaned large sums to the state of Virgina. 
He was thrice married, and became the father 
of twenty children. Li the year 1804 this able 
and progressive citizen determined to seek a 
new field of endeavor and came to Ohio with 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



931 



his family, taking up a large tract of land in 
Portage county, on a portion of which is situ- 
ated the present thriving little city of Kent. At 
the time when he there located the section was 
a veritable wilderness, the primeval forest still 
remaining untouched by the inconoclastic hand 
of man, while the white settlers were compelled 
to dispute dominion with the beasts of the for- 
est and the aboriginal inhabitants, who were a 
constant menace. He erected a log house of 
the primitive type, though of larger proportions 
than the average, in order to accommodate his 
numerous family, and one of his grandchildren 
\\'as the first white child born in Franklin town- 
ship, that county. Frederick Haymaker and 
his sons reclaimed much land in that section 
and there the grandfather continued to reside 
for many years, finally removing thence to 
Newton Falls, Mahoning (now Trumbull) 
■county, where he continued in agricultural pur- 
suits for a time and then took up his residence 
in Leavittsburg, that county, where, in com- 
pany with sons of his third wife, he established 
a flouring mill, one of the first in that section, 
and thereafter continued in business in this line 
until his death, in 1853. 

Andrew Haymaker, father of the subject, 
was one of the seven children of his father's 
first marriage. He was born on the old 
pioneer homestead, in Beaver county, Penn- 
sylvania, on the i8th of January, 1801. and 
came Avith his parents to Portage county, 
Ohio. He was reared to maturity there, aiding 
in reclaiming the homestead farm and, owing 
to the exigencies of time and place, his educa- 
tional advantages were very limited. He learned 
the trade of a mason, and to the same devoted 
his attention, to a greater or less extent, for 
a number of years. At the age of twenty-nine 
years he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza 
Loomis, who was born in Hartford, Connecti- 
cut, in 181 1, a daughter of Asa Loomis, who 
made the long overland trip from Connecticut 
to Ohio in 1818, the means of transportation 



being an ox team and Conestoga wagon, while 
the journey covered a period of thirty-three 
days. Mr. Loomis entered land in the locality 
where the town of C'harlestown now stands, 
and there he reclaimed a farm and passed the 
remainder of his life, his wife also dying at the 
old homestead. After his marriage Andrew 
Haymaker located on a small farm near Char- 
lestown. Portage county, where he continued 
the work of his trade and also placed his land 
under cultivation. There he continued- to 
reside until the death of his wife, in 1876, 
when he came to Canton. He was summoned 
into eternal rest in 1878, his declining days 
having been passed in the home of the subject 
of this sketch, who accorded to him the utmost 
filial solicitude. Both parents were consistent 
members of the Presbyterian church and were 
folk of sterling character, honored by all who 
knew them. Li politics Andrew Haymaker 
was originally arrayed with the Whig party, but 
upon the organization of the Republican party 
he identified himself therewith and ever after- 
ward was a stanch advocate of its principles. 
Edward L. Haymaker was born on the 
paternal homestead in Charlestown, Portage 
county, Ohio, on the 25th of August, 1844, 
and as he personally gives the statement : "As 
a boy I attended school a little and worked on 
the farm much." The school house of the dis- 
trict was located on the home farm and this fact 
militated rather against than aided in securing 
to him the educational advantages which could 
have been desired, since he was really accessible 
in case of any special duty to be discharged 
about the farm, and his services were so fre- 
c(uently in demand in this way that his school- 
ing was of intermittent aiid desultory nature 
during his boyhood days. He remained at 
home until he had attained tlie age of seventeen 
years, when, like many another loyal young son 
of the republic, he abandoned the plow to take 
up the sword in defense of the nation, whose 
integrity was in jeopardy through armed 



932 



OLD LANDMARKS 



rebellion. Scarcely had the smoke of rebel 
guns lifted from the ramparts of old Fort 
Sumter ere .he responded to the call of volun- 
teers, and in August, iS6i, he enlisted as a 
private in Battery' A, First Ohio Light 
Artillery, under Captain C. F. Cotter. Of all 
the troops that went from the state of Ohio, 
this battery had the distinction of firing the first 
shot in defense of the Union. This opportunity 
came at Gallipolis, across the Ohio river, where 
the battery engaged with a party of Confed- 
erates who were in advance of their main army. 
The battery was assigned to the western army, 
or Army of the Tennessee, and participated in 
every battle in which this army took part from 
Shiloh to Nashville. At Stone River Mr. Hay- 
maker was captured, but was immediately after- 
ward rescued by the Union forces. He con- 
tinued in active service until the expiration of 
his term, when, in 1863, he veteranized, being 
granted a thirty-days' furlough, which he 
passed at his home, after which he rejoined his 
company at Nashville and continued in active 
duty until victory perched triumphant on the 
falchions of the northern armies and the per- 
petuity of the Union was insured. Mr. Hay- 
maker .returned with his command to the city 
of Cleveland, where he received his honorable 
discharge in August, 1865, having served 
through the entire period of the great fratrici- 
dal conflict and having shown himself pos- 
sessed of true soldierly qualities. 

After receiving his discharge the subject 
returned to his home in Portage county, where 
he continued to be identified with agricultural 
pursuits until 1877. At Randolph, that county, 
on the 23d of August, 1868, he was united in 
marriage to Miss Rebecca Loomis, who was 
born in Atwater township, that county, her 
father having been one of the pioneers and 
honored farmers of that section. In 1877 Mr. 
Haymaker came to Canton and for the follow- 
ing three years he was engaged in the 'bus 
business, after which he associated himself with 



W. S. Shertzer, in the establishing of livery 
and sales stables, at the corner of Seventh and 
Court streets, the enterprise being conducted 
under the firm name of Shertzer & Haymaker. 
The building was destroyed by fire \n 1883, but 
the firm immediately errected another on the 
same site, and the partnership continued until 
1885, when a dissolution took place and Mr. 
Haymaker then formed a partnership with 
Henry Miller in the coach and livery business, 
utilizing the same quarters. Two years later 
they sold the real estate and purchased property 
on Court street, between Ninth and Tenth, and 
at this time Captain H. H. Housel succeeded 
Henry Miller in the firm, which they continued 
in the same line of enterprise until 1891, under 
the firm name of Haymaker & Housel. In 1893 
Mr. Haymaker purchased his present premises, 
at the corner of Tenth and Court streets, where- 
he erected a fine brick stable, seventy-five by 
one hundred and eighteen feet in dimensions 
and two stories in height, and here he has ever 
since continued in the livery business, having a 
finely equipped establishment and catering to 
a large and discriminating patronage. 

In politics the subject has ever given an 
uncompromising allegiance to the Republican 
party, though he has had no ambition for 
official preferment. He was a member of the 
famous McKinley Escort Troop, which attend- 
ed the lamented President in 1896 and con- 
tinued its organization until 1899. His inter- 
est in his old comrades in arms is signalized in 
his retaining membership in McKinley Post 
No. 25, Grand Army of the Republic, and he is 
also identified with the Knights of Honor. 

Mrs. Rebecca (Loomis) Haymaker died 
on the 7th of January, 1890, being survived by 
three sons, namely : Elden, who married Miss 
Cora Robinson and who resides at Canton; 
Everett, who married Miss Emma Vogelgesang. 
is a ship architect and is in the employ of the 
government, at Washington, D. C. ; and Harry 
Adelbert was married October 16, 1902, to- 



CANTON AND STARK CQUNTY, OHIO. 



933 



Miss Clara Sliker, of Canton, Ohio, and he is a 
member of the firm of Ilaymaker & Son. In 
October, 1893, Mr. Haymaker married Miss 
Ella Cobbs, of Damascus, Columbiana county, 
and of this union two sons have been born, 
George and Lyman. 



LEONARD R. TRESSEL, who was for 
a number of years freight and ticket agent for 
the Conotton Valley Rai-lroad in the city of 
Canton and who was thereafter engaged in 
business here until his death, was a native son 
of the old Buckeye state and a representative 
of one of its sterling pioneer families. He was 
bom on a farm in the vicinity of Harrisburg, 
Carroll county, Ohio, on the 3d of September, 
1839, being the youngest of the ten children of 
Mathias and Catharine (Llarsh) Tressel, the 
former of whom Avas a native of Pennsylvania 
and of staunch German lineage, having been 
one of the early settlers in Carroll county, 
Ohio, where he reclaimed a farm and devoted 
the residue of his life to agricultural pursuits. 
The subject of this sketch was reared on the 
farm and received a good common school edu- 
cation in his boyhood days, later suplementing 
the same by study and discipline which he was 
able to gain through his own efforts. He con- 
tinued his studies for a time in a select school 
at Malvern, and later was a student for a short 
interval in Mount Union College, while after 
Tiis return from the war, wasted in strength and 
vigor, he went to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 
■where he further equipped himself for the prac- 
tical duties of life by a -course of study in a 
business or commercial college of high order. 

The subject was a mere boy at the time of 
his father's death and his widowed mother 
thereafter took up her residence in the village 
of Malvern, Carroll county, where the family 
home was established at the time of the out- 
break of the Rebellion, Mr. Tressel being then 
about twenty-two years of age. In Malvern 



was recruited Company A of the Eiglitieth 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and in October of 
that year Mr. Tressel enlisted as a private in 
this company for a term of three years. He pro- 
ceeded to the front with his regiment, with 
which he participated in many of the notable 
engagements of the great internecine conflict. 
He was. in the battle at luka, Mississippi, and 
in the five days' fight at Corinth, and thereafter 
took part in the many skirmishes incidental to 
moving forward to a position in the rear of 
the army at Vicksburg, where he was again in 
action, as was he also at Fort Gibson, Raymond 
and Jackson. In the engagement at the last 
mentioned place sixteen of his company were 
wounded, his fortune being to receive a very 
serious wound on this occasion, a ball passing 
through his left foot. He fell back and was 
captured by the Confederates, by whom he was 
held about a fortnight in Jackson and then sent 
to the famous Libby prison, of odious mem- 
ory, in Richmond, \''irginia, where he endured 
great suffering from his wound, which was not 
properly treated, causing him to endure a con- 
tinuous fever, while food was poor and insuffi- 
cient in quantity and the conditions otherwise 
almost unendurable. He was held there for a 
period of three months, being then released on 
parole and sent to the hospital at Annapolis, 
Maryland, and thence, six weeks later, to 
Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was assigned 
to detached duty, in which service he continued 
until October, 1864, when he received his 
honorable discharge, having made the record 
of a brave and loyal son of the republic. After 
his course of study in Pittsburg, Mr. Tressel 
returned to Malvern, Carroll county, where he 
engaged in the dry-goods business and also 
became local agent for the Cleveland & Pitts- 
burg Railroad. He eventually withdrew from 
the mercantile business and was for a time 
agent for the Conotton Valley Railroad and 
the Cleveland & Pacific Railroad, at Oneida, 
whence, in May, 1880, he came to Canton in 



934 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the capacity of freig'lit aiul ticket agent for the 
former of tlie two raih'oad.s mentioned and also 
for the Wheeh'ng & Lake Erie, giving faithful 
and effective service until his retirement, at 
the ex])irati(in of five ye;us, having hcen in 
the railroad business for about fourteen years. 
He then established himself in the coal business 
in this city and continued in this line of enter- 
prise until his death, which occurred on the 
28th of April, 1895. He was a man of genial 
and gracious presence and had the: capacity of 
Avinning and retaining friends, so that his 
death was deeply deplored in this community, 
as was it also in others where he had lived and 
labored. His pulilical allegiance was given to 
the Republican party and his religious views 
were in harmony with tlie teachings of the 
Presbyterian church, in whose faith he was 
reared. Fraternally he was an honored mem- 
ber of the Orand Army of the Republic and 
the Masonic order, in which latter he had ad- 
vanced to the degree of Knight Templar. 

On the 24th of March, 1868, Mr. Tressel 
was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Fishel, 
and they became the parents of four children, 
namely: Mary Charlotte, who ren^ains with her 
widowed mother; Anna June, who is married 
and has one child, Anna Helen ; Margaret C. 
and I^oberta L., who likewise remain with their 
mother. Mrs. Tressel was born in Carriill 
county, Ohio, on the i8th of August, 1843, and 
was there reared and educated, attending the 
district school and later continuing her studies 
in the seminary at Malvern. She is a daughter 
of Henry and Margaret fMcClurg) Fishel, the 
former of whom was born in Carroll county, 
whither his parents removed from Pennsyl- 
vania, being numbered among the very early 
settlers in Carroll county. He was a shoe- 
maker and millwright by trade and vocation, 
and both he and his wife passed their entire 
lives in Carroll county, the original ancestors 
of the McClurg family in America having come 
hither from the north of Ireland. These were 



John McClurg (grandfather of Mrs. Tressel) 
and his brother, the latter of whom eventually 
returned to Ireland, where he attained an emi- 
nent position in the P.ritish army. John located 
in Pennsyhania. where he married, and he 
came to Ohio in the |)ionecr days and here fol- 
lowed farming f(ir the remainder of his life. 
Mrs. Tressel has a pleasant home in Canton, 
where her friends are in number as her ac- 
quaintances, and she is a devoted member of 
the Presbyterian church. While deprived of 
one who was ever devoted to her and to the 
home, one whose true nobility of character she 
more than all other most fully appreciated, she 
finds a measure of consolation in the memories 
of the past and the hallowed as.sociations, 
though she may no more "feel the touch of a 
vanished hand nor the sound of a voice that is 
still." 



JOHN H. ]ir)LL.— The ] loll family is one 
which has been identified with the annals c)f 
American history from the ccjicjnial qxjch, the 
original progenitors in the new world having 
established themselves in the state of Pennsyl- 
vania, whence re])resentalivcs have been dis- 
seminated through the most diverse sections of 
the Union, while the name has ever stood spon- 
sor for sturd\- integrity of character ruid pro- 
lific usefulness in the .sphere of citizenship. 
Stark county, Ohio, gained representatives 
from this family in the pioneer epoch of its his- 
tory, and here the descendants are numerous at 
the ])resent day, one of the number being he 
whose name initiates this review and who is an 
honored citizen of Canton. As to the early his- 
tory of the family in America e.xcerpt is made 
from a histor\- concerning the descendants of 
F,j)hraim Holl, published in 189 1 ami comi)iled 
by Henry C\ H<ill, of Canton, an uncle of the 
subject : "Family traditions say that Jo- 
hannes (the German for Jojin) Holl and his 
young wife, se\ering man)- ties of affection and 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



935 



fricndsliip, ieft their home among the snow- 
chul nioi'.ntains of Switzerland and emigrated 
to America about the year 1730. Joliannes 
IIoll settled near what is now New Holland, 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania." Tn tracing 
the lineage to the subject it is found that the 
next in order of descent from Johan i'eter 
was through his eldest son, Ephraim. Kphraim 
] loll was horn July 5, 1772, and married Mag- 
(lalena, d:'.ughler of Hans (more projierly Jo- 
han) Roycr, whose paternal giTuid father canu> 
to America as early as 1718. Ephraim and 
Magdalena Holl became the parents of three 
children, — Daniel, Samuel and Catherine, — the 
line of descent In the Holls <if Slark cunn(\' 
coming through the second son, Samuel. Eph- 
raim TToll resided in a stone house not far from 
Eitil/, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where 
lu' die<l (in the 29th of June, 1808, at the age of 
thirty-six years, lacking six days. 

Samuel Holl, son of Ephraim and Magtla- 
Icna Holl, was the grandfather of him whose 
n.'imc initiates lliis review. Lie was born in 
Warwick township, Lancaster county, Penn- 
.sylvania, on the i ith of March, 1798, and re- 
mained with his mother until her second mar- 
riage, about the year 1812, after which he re- 
sided in the home of his uncle, Peter lIoll, in 
the same neiijliboi-hood, for the greater portion 
of the time until he had attained years of ma- 
turity. 

The following brief sketch of his life is 
from I lie work to which recourse has already 
been had: "lie was bi'ought uji to s|)eak the 
]'ennsyl\;inia Dutch dialect, but received his 
education in ICnglish. Lie afterward nias- 
tcrc-(| the Cerman language through his own 
exertions. In 1817 S;nnucl and his brother 
D.tnicI went to Canada to see after some land 
belonging to their grar.dfather. Johan I'eter 
IL)I1. On the T5lh of August, 1819, in com- 
pany with two of his associates, he started from 
Pcter.sburg, Pennsylvania, where his brother 
resided, and niade a hor.seback trip to Brook- 



ville, Indiana. They passed through LLarris- 
burg, Creensburg and Pittsburg, in Pennsyl- 
vania; Xenia, Steubenville, Zanesville, 
Chillicothe ;md Cincinnati, Ohio, having, 
ridden one thou.sand two hundred and 
thirty-nine miles. This was a remarkable 
tri]) for that time. On the 15th of 
l'"el)ruary, 1820, he married Mary, daughter of 
Iqjhraim and Magdalena (Kemper) Royer. 
l"he first year of their married life thev resided 
with his mother. in the spiing of 1821 he 
commenced farming on a farm one nnle south 
of Lititz, Pennsylvania, and while residing on 
this farm he carried on a distillery for nine 
ye;irs. Il;i\ing made several trips to .Stark 
county, Ohio, where his brother Daniel and his 
brotlier-in-law, Samuel Schrantz, had preceded 
him, he sold his farm and, in April, 1836, 
started for Oliio. They ariMved at their new 
home, m Lake township. Stark county, the 
second week in May, 1836. Li the fall of the 
same year they removed to an adjoining farm, 
afterward known as the David Leib farm. \\\ 
the spring of 1837 they removed to a farm near 
New Berlin, and a few years later Mr. LIoll 
exchanged his Lake township land for a tract 
in Jackson tt.)vvnsliip, belonging to Michael 
i leldebrand. In 1 S49 he Ixiught a farm nortii 
ol New i'erlin, on section 7, Plain township, 
'i'lie north half of this land he sold in iSqo. In 
April, 1851, Mr. IIoll left his I'arm in charge 
of his son • Mannassa and removed to New 
iierlin. In 1855 he entered into ]iartnershi]> 
with I'eter Kaufm.iu in the purchase of the 
Wissler mill |)roperty. They repaired the mill 
and changed the naiue.to the Empire mills. In 
1859 Mr. Holl sold his interest in the mill to 
Ml'. Kaufmrni, foi- live thousand dollai's. About 
this time he sold his Jackson township farni-to 
(lodfrey Roush. In 1863 he l)ought a farm one 
mile south of New Berlin, of one John Calhack. 
"During the dark days of the great Ivehellion 
.Mr. i loll was wh.at might be called a lil)erai 
Dt'nioer.il, for he voted the legular Democratic 



936 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ticket, but, contrary to the teaching of liis lead- 
ers, he was ever ready to procure means to raise 
the required number of volunteers. The Union 
soldiers always found him a 'friend in need.' 
During the autumn of 1865 he had a severe 
attack of bronchitis. As the cold weather in- 
creased he grew worse and was confined to liis 
house. In the second week o\ February, 1866, 
his daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, died, and 
tliis affected him so much that he grew worse 
and sank rapidly. On Sunday morning, Feb- 
ruary 25, 1866, he was in such a condition 
that his family physician was summoned, but 
'it was apparent that the end was near at hand. 
He was sitting in an easy chair, and after being 
removed to bed he expired almost immediately. 
For many years Mr. Holl had made the Bible 
his chief study and was so well versed in the 
New Testament that he could tell where any 
verse was found if it was only partly repeated. 
He became a member of the German Baptist 
church in 1835, and in 1863 he connected him- 
self with the Disciples church at New Berlin. 
He had a confiding disposition but was very 
slow to forgive when his ccinfidence was 
abused. He was ever ready to take an interest 
in any measure advanced for the public wel- 
fare. He was really the original projector and 
one of the founders of the Plain & Jackson 
Township Fire Insurance Company." 

Of the nine children of Samuel and Mary 
(Royer) Holl the following brief record is en- 
tered : Ephraim, who was born in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, September 15, 1820, 
married Ann Sprankel, of Stark county, Ohio, 
and he died on the 21st of February, 1848, at 
his home near New Berlin, this county; Mag- 
dalena. who was born in Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania, July 2, 1822, married Daniel 
Bomberger, of that county, and after his death 
became the wife of Jacob Sprankel, now de- 
ceased, and she resides in Canton at the present 
time; Reuben, born in Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, November 15, 1823, married Eliza 



Roush, and now resides in Jackson township, 
Stark county; he is the father of the subject 
of this sketch and further mention will be made 
of him in appending paragraphs; Catherine, 
born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 
August 20, 1825, married Samuel Hower, and 
they now reside in Sangamon county, Illinois ; 
Mannassa, born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
vania, December 28, 1828, married Sarah 
Reemsnyder, and is now living retired in Stark 
coimty ; Elizabeth, born in the same county of 
the old Keystone state, September 18, 1830, 
became the wife of Israel Carpenter, and she 
died in Stark county, in 1866; Sophia, born in 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, April 3, 1833, 
married Samuel Walter, and she now resides 
in New Berlin, this county; Samuel, Jr., born 
near New Berlin, Stark county, Ohio, Novem- 
ber 23, 1839, married Catherine Zerbey, and 
is now a resident of Canton township; Henry 
C, born near New Berlin, this county, May 22, 
1844, married Isabella Hossler, and is now a 
resident of New Berlin. 

Reuben Holl, father of the subject, was bom 
in Warwick township, Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, on the 15th of November, 1823, and 
was al>out twelve years of age at the time of his 
parents" removal to Stark county. In his 
native county he received his early educational 
! discipline, and was known as an apt student. 
After coming to Ohio he continued his studies 
in the common schools until December, 1844, 
when he entered a private school in Canton, the 
same being conducted by Archibald McGregor, 
who \y\\\ be well remembered by the living 
pioneers of the county. On the 9th of March, 
1848, he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza 
Roush, who was born in Jackson township, this 
county, on the 28th of December, 1826, where 
her father. Godfrey Roush, had located three 
years previously. She died on the i8th of 
August, 1890, having been a devoted member 
of the Lutheran church and a woman of gentle 
and noble character. For two vears after his 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



937 



marriage Reuben Holl devoted bis attention to 
teaching, and in tbe spring of 1850 be re- 
moved to a farm on section 13, Jackson town- 
sbip, and in connection witb bis agricultural 
operations he also devoted no little attention to 
surveying, in which work he was very pro- 
ficient. He was elected to the office of township 
clerk, and in 1857 was elected justice of tbe 
peace, in which office ■ be served nine terms, 
being succeeded by his son, John H., in 1876. 
In 1888 he retired from farming in an active 
way, taking' up bis residence in a house on the 
west end of his farm, where he has since main- 
tained his home. He has been zealous in the 
promotion of the general welfare through all 
legitimate means, and is honored as one of the 
sterling pioneers of tbe county. In politics 
he has ever given bis allegiance to the 
Democratic party, and in liis religious 
views be is liberal, ever showing a deep 
reverence for the spiritual verities and guiding 
his life according to the golden rule. He died 
March 11, 1901. Of his children is here incor- 
porated the following data: William P.. born 
in New Berlin, this county, March 10, 1849, 
married Alice A. Clay and now resides in 
Jackson township; John H. is the immediate 
subject of this sketch ; Daniel W., born in Jack- 
son township, June 29, 1854, is a bachelor and 
resides on tbe homestead farm, in Jackson 
township; Mary E., bom in Jackson township, 
Julv 2, 1856, married Josiah J. Zerbe, and 
they now reside in Canton; Oliver W., born in 
Jackson township, March 13, 1S58, married 
Alice Essig, and they reside in Alliance ; Ben- 
jamin Franklin, born in Jackson township, July 
I, 1 86 1, is an artist by profession and resides 
in the city of Brooklyn, the maiden name of his 
wife having been Ida J. Van Horn. 

John H. Holl, to whom this sketch is dedi- 
cated, was bom in Jackson township, this 
county, on the 12th of September, 1850, and 
was reared under the influences of tbe farm, 
while his early education discipline was secured 



in tbe district schools. Later be continued his 
studies m select schools at Canton and Spring- 
field, Ohio, thus rounding out a good academic 
education, while he became specially proficient 
in mathematics, having devoted special atten- 
tion to tbe study of surveying and civil engin- 
eering. During tbe winters of the years 1872 
and 187s he was engaged in teaching school, 
being very successful in bis efforts, and in 
1876 be was elected to the oflice of the county 
surveyor of Stark county, while in the same 
year be' served as justice of tbe peace in Jack- 
son township, giving most able administrations 
in each of these offices. In 1877 be took up his 
residence in the city of Canton, and here he 
was incumbent of the office of city engineer 
from 1878 to 1889, his long retention in the 
position indicating tbe appreciative estimate 
placed upon bis services. Since his retirement 
from this office Mr. Holl has been engaged in 
engineering and engineering work, with an 
office at 130 East Tuscarawas street. He is 
well known and highly honored in the county, 
being a worthy representative of one of tbe old 
and prominent familes of this section of the 
Buckeye state. His pleasant home is located at 
730 North Clarenden avenue. In politics Mr. 
Holl has ever accorded a stanch allegiance to 
the Democratic party, and he has kept in touch 
with the questions and issues of tbe day, being 
a man of broad information and a high order 
of intellectuality. He and his wife are con- 
sistent members of tbe Evangelical Lutheran 
church. 

On the 3rd of May, 1881, Mr. Holl was 
united in marriage to Miss Clara A. Essig, 
who was born in Plain township, this county, 
on tbe 6tii of May, 1859, being a daughter of 
\\'i11iam A. and Ann E. (Correll) Essig, who 
removed to Canton township when she was 
eight years of age. She received excellent 
educational advantages and is a talented musi- 
cian, having been a popular teacher of the 
"divine art" prior to her marriage. Mr. and 



938 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Mrs. Holl are the parents of three children, 
namely: Carrie B., who was born on the 6th 
of March, 1882, and who is now attending 
school; Alfred T., who was born on the 4th 
of September, 1883, and is now engaged in 
attending the Ohio State University, at Colum- 
bus; and Wilber E., who was born April 16, 
1886, and is now a student in the Canton high 
school. 



JAaIES F. CURRIE, son of Mr. and ^Irs. 
Thomas H. Currie, of Canton, was for years 
a reporter on the Canton Daily Repository, 
which, as the Ohio Repository, was the first 
newspaper to be published in Stark county. In 
the capacity noted Mr. Currie formed a very 
large circle of acquaintances among persons of 
business, professional and social standing in 
Canton. In the summer of each year during 
his connection with the Repository he was sent 
by his paper to distant points to report national 
gatherings and other matters of importance, 
thus making a number of long transcontinental 
tours. Among the first was his trip to Chicago 
to report the national encampment of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, in whose line of 
march were one hundred and fifty Canton vet- 
erans. This encampment was held during the 
strike on the new five-million-dollar post- 
office in Chicago, and it was said that it was by 
reason of said strike that the late President 
McKinley considered it inexpedient to attend 
the encampment. In the summers of 1901 and 
1902 Mr. Currie made two trips for his paper 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts. In the 
latter year his trip was one of seven thousand 
five hundred miles through the west, via Den- 
ver, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Los 
Angeles, Seattle, Yellowstone Park and St. 
Paul. From these and numerous other points 
in the far west he sent home a record of the 
names and positions of fully two hundred per- 
sons formerly residents of Stark county who 



hatl risen to positions of trust in the west. On 
this trip Mr. Currie rode a bicycle a distance of 
one hundred and fifty miles over the mountain 
roads of Yelowstone Park, making this dis- 
tance in two and one-half days, while the same 
circuit is made by the park stages in five and 
one-half days, so that, the ambitious newspaper 
man made a record on this occasion. 

The desire of Mr. Currie to travel became 
manifest while he was still in his teens, at 
which period in his life he and one of his 
young friends indulged in prolonged pedestrian 
tours over the hills and plains of Stark county, 
covering from twenty-five to forty miles on 
such occasions. His'predilection for newspaper 
work early disclosed itself. Of the twenty 
boys, from a class of forty, promoted from the 
Dueber school to the high school he was the 
only one to complete the course in the latter. 
He was the assistant editor of the High School 
Record, and liis first published article in the 
daily press had Canton as its subject, the 
article in question having been spoken of at the 
time by Judge W. R. Day, now of the United 
States supreme court, as the "Best description 
of Canton I ever read.'' Mr. Currie has com- 
ments on his illustrated history of "The Eighth 
Ohio Regiment, the President's Own," of the 
Spanish-j\merican war, from the lamented 
President McKinley, Colonel C. V. Hard and 
General Charles F. Dick. He has written a 
large amount of valuable matter in regard to 
Canton and Stark county. This is historical 
and descriptive in character, and of the same 
he h.as a tnounted collection of upward of 
two hundred and fifty thousand words. At 
one time he registered his name in the capital 
city, Columbus, to take up the reading of law, 
with a view of preparing himself for admission 
to the bar of the state, and for a time he con- 
tinued his technical studies along this line 
under the directions of ex-i\Iayor James A. 
Rice, of Canton. Fie. ho^vever, could not resist 
the fascination of newspaper work and later 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



939 



turned his attention to journalism. He has 
been employed at different times on all the 
dailies and weeklies of Canton, and for a time 
was incumbent of a position on a paper in 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In March, 1903, Mr. 
Currie retired from newspaper work, and then 
entered the West Virginia oil fields, at Smith- 
field, where he represents the interests of J. E. 
Carnahan, the millionaire oil, iron and steel 
operator of Canton. He is still incumbent of 
this important position. 



JOHN C. DEVINE is a native of Ireland, 
though the ancestors on the paternal side were 
of French origin. At a remote period the pro- 
genitor on the paternal side of the family 
joined a French expedition to assist the people 
of Ireland to regain their independence, but, 
like many similar efforts, the attempt proved 
futile, the vessel in which he embarked having 
been wrecked upon the coast of Ireland. He 
succeeded, however, in reaching the shore in 
safety, and later settled in Gal way, where he 
afterwards married and reared a family and 
became quite prominent in the affairs of his 
neighborhood. From this ancestor have sprung 
many descendants, one of whom was Mark 
Devine, the subject's father, who was born and 
reared in county of Galway. 

Mark Devine married in his native land 
Miss Mary Cunningham, daughter of Stephen 
and Mary (Mullin) Cunningham, who were 
natives of Ireland, where they remained until 
their deaths, though they were represented in 
the United States by four of their children, 
three of whom were pioneers of Iowa, while 
the other made his home in Kentucky. To 
Mark and Mary Devine were born a family 
of nine children, six of whom survive, namely: 
Michael, who lives in Ireland ; Jeremiah, a resi- 
dent of New Jersey; John C, of this review; 
Mary, who makes her home in Brooklyn. New 



York; Ellen and Margaret, the last two still 
at the old home in the Emerald Isle. 

John C. Devine was born September 24, 
1855, in county Galway, Ireland, and there re- 
mained until a youth of fifteen, in the mean- 
time receiving an academic education which 
served as a foundation for the courses he sub- 
sequently took in science and civil enginering. 
A brother and a sister having come to the 
Ihrited States he finally decided to join them. 
Accordingly in 1870 he set sail and in due time 
arriving at his destination, settling in Sussex 
county. New Jersey, where his brother Jere- 
miah, a contractor and builder, was then resid- 
ing. He lived with his brother for some years 
and under him served an apprenticeship in the 
building lines, in addition to which he took a 
special course in engineering, availing himself 
while thus engaged of every means to add ta 
his knowledge so as to become a master of his 
calling. After finishing his apprenticeship 
and becoming an efficient mechanic he found 
ample opportunity for the exercise of his skill, 
working first in New Jersey and afterwards in 
. New York city, where his operations were seri- 
ously interrupted by the panic of 1873. In 
1874 Mr. Devine went to Somerset, Kentucky, 
where he, in partnership with others, took a 
numlaer of contracts and it was while pushing 
these contracts to completion that he became 
interested in railroad construction, taking 
charge of certain work on the Cincinnati 
Southern Railroad, at that time in course of 
building through Kentucky and Tennessee. 
During the ensuing three years he devoted his 
attention almost exclusively to railroad build- 
ing in those two states, but in the fall of 1877 
left that part of the country and went to Mar- 
ble Head, Ohio, near which place he was en- 
gaged for the two following j^ears in the con- 
struction of the Sault Ste Marie canal. In 
1879 he came to Alliance. Ohio, his first work 
in this city being the stone work of the Catholic 
church, after which he took various other con- 



-940 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tracts liere and elsewliere, building up a good 
business. Among the more notable of his early 
works after coming to this section of the coun- 
try were the Catholic church edifice at Letonia 
and the construction of a section of the Nickel 
Plate Railroad east of Erie, and later he con- 
tracted for all the masonry work on the Roches- 
ter & Pittsburg line between the towns of Ridg- 
way and Punxsutawney. 

Subsequently Mr. Devine became associated 
with Page, Carey & Company, contractors, in 
construction work on the Salem Railroad, but 
the former gentleman becoming involved in dif- 
ficulties which caused him to leave the country, 
and the latter being accidentally drowned, the 
responsibility of the undertaking fell to the 
subject and in due time he completed it accord- 
ing to contract. Meanwhile Mr. Devine con- 
tinued his general contracting and building, in 
course of which he erected a number of large 
public edifices, including among others the 
Methodist Episcopal and United Presbyterian 
churches at Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, the 
United Presbyterian church at New Lisbon, 
Ohio, the Roman Catholic church at Niles, this 
state, and at the present time he has under way 
a large and imposing Catholic temple of wor- 
ship and parsonage in the city of Warren, 
Trumbull county. In addition to these he has 
TDviilt a number of private residences, notable 
among which is the elegant modern stone dwell- 
ing in Salem belonging to the late J. T. Brooks 
aild he also erected the Reeves boiler works, 
the bolt and nut works and- the greater part of 
the steel works in Alliance, besides doing much 
of the building for the Buckeye works in Salem, 
lo say nothing of his numerous lesser contracts 
in different parts of Ohio and other states. 
Mr. Devine makes a specialty of large contracts 
and is so situated as to push them to comple- 
tion with the least possible delay, his resources 
of all kinds being such as to cause him no 
hesitanc}', however extensive the undertaking. 

In other than business relations Mr. Devine 



has come to the favorable notice of the public, 
having long been an influential force in the 
affairs of the city of his residence, and a leader 
in the various enterprises having for their ob- 
ject its material growth and development. He 
served two terms in the city council and re- 
signed from that body to take charge of the 
postoflice, to which he was appointed by Presi- 
dent Cleveland in 1893. He proved a capable 
and obliging official and held the office to the 
satisfaction of all concerned for a period of 
four years, retiring therefrom in 1897 with the 
good will of the people regardless of political 
ties. A firm and uncompromising Democi^at, 
he has been for years prominent in the party in 
Alliance and Stark county and his labors and 
influence in its behalf have contributed greatly 
to the strengthening of the cause in this sec- 
tion of the state. Since residing here Mr. De- 
vine was appointed to a position in the railway 
mail service and he discharged his duties as 
postal clerk with the same energy and ability 
that he displays in his regular business, his 
standard of efficiency while thus engaged aver- 
aging ninety-nine and six-tenths per cent. At 
the present time he is identified with several 
important industrial enterprises in Alliance, be- 
ing a stockholder and director in the Standard 
Bolt & Manufacturing Company, also a direc- 
tor in the City Sa^•ings Bank, and he owns the 
brick plant at Garfield, the monumental works 
at Salem, besides having large lumber interests 
at the latter place. In addition to the above he 
is a memlTcr of the Alliance Board of Trade and 
an active participant in its deliberations; is 
also connected with the Land Company of Alli- 
ance and lends his influence to many other un- 
dertakings tending to the advancement of the 
city and affecting the vital interests of the peo- 
ple. In the matter of material improvement 
Mr. Devine has perhaps done more for Alli- 
ance than anv other man, having graded and 
pa\-ed its principal streets, erected many of its 
most sightly and imposing public buildings and 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



941 



private residences, besides investing his own 
■means in property. The cities of Niles and 
Warren have also greatly profited by his work 
as he laid over two miles of streets in those 
places in addition to the churches, private dwell- 
ings and other buildings erected by him at dif- 
ferent times. He now has under contract at 
home and elsewhere a number of notable struc- 
tures, one of which, the Reeves residence in 
Alliance, will be, when completed, the largest 
and finest of modern dwellings in the city and 
one of the most beautiful and expensive build- 
ings of the kind in this part of the state. 

On August 13, 1883, Mr. Devine entered 
the marriage relations with Miss Mary Mad- 
den, of Alliance, the union resulting in the 
birth of two children, Clement L. and Mary 
Grace. The former, after completing his lit- 
erary education at Mt. Union College, attended 
the Case School of Applied Science, at Cleve- 
land, where is preparing himself for a useful 
career as a civil engineer. I'he daughter is also 
liberally educated and is a young lady of char- 
acter and varied culture and a favorite in the 
social circles in which she moves. 

Mr. Devine was born a Catholic and reared 
according to the tenets of that faith. He has 
been a true son of the cliurch and at the pres- 
ent time with his family belongs to the St. Jo- 
seph Parish, Alliance, being one of its most de- 
voted members and a liberal contributor to all 
of its good works and practical benevolences. 
He stands high among his coreligionists, hold- 
ing membership with the Catholic Mutual Ben- 
tefit Association, the Knights of St. John and 
the Knights of Columbus and he is' also con- 
nected with tlie secular benevolent order of 
Foresters. 



GEORGE A. KELLEY, M. D.— The 
Kelley family is of Irish origin. The Doctor's 
grandfather, Walter Kelley, was a native of 
West Meath, Ireland, and a civil engineer, by 



profession. He came to the United States a 
number of years ago and followed his chosen 
calling in Ohio, where he earned the reputation 
of a skillful engineer. He married in this 
state Susan Elson, the daughter of Samuel 
Kaemmerer,a native of Pennsylvania, one of the 
earliest Lutheran ministers of Ohio and a man 
of considerable repute in his day. The maiden 
name of Mrs. Kaemmerer was Catherine Bor- 
der. Rev. Kaemmerer preached at many places 
in Ohio, established a number of churches of 
his faith and departed this life at Zanesville at 
the age of seventy-two, his wife dying when 
seventy years old. While prosecuting his work 
as an engineer Walter Kelley, the grandfather, 
contracted a cold which, running" into pneu- 
monia, terminated in his death, the event taking 
place in the county of Muskingum. Among his 
children was a son, also Walter by name, whose 
birth occurred in Muskingum county, Ohio, 
November 16. 1826. Walter Kelley, Jr., 
learned the shoemaker's trade and followed that 
vocation the greater part of his life. He was 
a man of strong mentality and considerable ed- 
ucation, a skillful workman and provided well 
for those dependent upon him. He served in 
the late war in the One Hundred and Fifty- 
ninth Ohio Infantry and spent the last few 
years of his life in Burns, Marion county, 
Kansas, dying in that town in December, 1891. 
His wife, who bore the maiden name of Selina 
C. Kaemmerer, was born in Ohio and departed 
this life in the city of Cleveland, in January, 
1900. She bore her husband children 5,3 fol- 
lows : Kate M. died May 14, 1876, at the age 
of twenty-three. Dr. Samuel W., a practicing 
physician of Cleveland, at this time filling a 
chair in the College of Physicians and Surgeons 
in that city. Dr. George A., of this review, 
and Anna J., who resides in Cleveland. 

George A. Kelley is a native of Muskingum 
county, Ohio, and dates his birth from the 27th 
of January, 1858. His first educational ex- 
perience was in the schools of Zanesville and la- 



942 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ter, about 1866, he was taken by his parents to 
St. Joseph, Michigan, where he continued his 
elementary studies until entering the high 
school of Wooster, Ohio, and later at Alliance, 
Ohio. After completing the course in the lat- 
ter institution young Kelley began the study of 
medicine at Wooster with Dr. R. N. Warren, 
under whose instruction he continued from 
1876 until 1880, completing his course of study 
and lectures at the Cleveland Homeopathic 
Hospital College during that period, and grad- 
ttating from the college in the class of '80. 

Finishing his professional course, Dr. Kel- 
ley entered into partnership with his former 
preceptor at Wooster and after practicing there 
one year removed to Burns, Kansas, where he 
soon built up a lucrative business and took 
high rank with the leading physicians of the 
place. He remained in the west until January, 
1895, when he returned to his native state and 
finally selected the city of Canton as the most 
favorable field in which to exercise his talents 
as a representative of the homeopathic school. 
Dr. Kelley has studied much and his success 
has been commensurate with the energy and 
devotion displayed in his practice. His pro- 
fessional career has fully met the expectations 
•of his friends and, as already stated, he stands 
today among the most successful physicians of 
his school in eastern Ohio. In his personality 
he realizes in a large measure the ideal of a 
•successful family physician and surgeon, add- 
ing to a quick apprehension and thorough pro- 
fessional knowledge the gentle manner and 
sympathetic heart of a true healer. In every 
relation of life with his fellow men he has borne 
well his part and he enjoys to a marked degree 
the confidence and respect of his associates in 
the profession and the high esteem of his fel- 
low citizens of every vocation. 

Dr. Kelley is a Republican, but while well 
informed upon party issues he cannot be called 
a politician, his time being fully occupied in at- 
tending to the wants of his patients and other- 



wise looking after the interests of his profes- 
sion. He is a member of the Northeastern 
Ohio Homeopathic Medical Society, the Can- 
ton Medical Society, the Stark County Medical 
Society and the Ohio Medical Society, in the 
deliberations of which he takes a leading part. 
Being an original thinker, a clear and logical 
writer, he has made known his investigations 
before these bodies from time to time in essays 
bearing the stamp of scholarship and deep pro- 
fessional research. He is identified with several 
fraternal organizations, notably among which 
are the Knights of Pythias, P^oresters, Modern 
Woodmen and Royal Neighbors, and in mat- 
ters religious he subscribes to the ^Methodist 
Episcopal creed, belonging with his wife to the 
First IMethodist Episcopal church of Canton. 
Beside himself and wife, the Doctor's home 
circle includes two children, Roger B. and 
Martha. Mrs. Kelley was formerly Miss ]\Iel- 
lie S. Barrett, the youngest daughter of \\"\\\- 
iam D. and Maria (Morris) Barrett, of Woos- 
ter, Ohio, and her marriage with the Doctor 
was solemnized in that city on the I4tli day 
of April, 1886. 



.'\NDREW J. LASH.— In the early pio- 
neer epoch in Stark county there settled on a 
tract of land in Bethlehem township Andrew- 
Lash, who was the father of the subject of 
this review, and the latter thus merits consider- 
ation as a member of one of the honored old 
families of the county, while such has been his 
personal career and such is his standing as one 
of the representative business men of the city 
of Canton, where he is successfully established 
in the hardware business, that specific mention 
of him in this volume becomes still more con- 
sistent. Andrew Lash, the father of the sub- 
ject, was born in Franklin county, Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1809, and was a mere boy at the time 
when the family removed thence to Stark coun- 
tv, and here he was reared to maturitv on the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



943 



o!d homestead farm, aiding materially in re- 
claiming the same and in its cultivation, while 
his educational privileges were sueh as were 
afforded in the public schools of the day, and 
the facilities were of primitive order, implying 
the little log school-house with its puncheon 
floors, slab benches, etc. As a young man he 
was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
Younkman, who was born in Stark county 
after her parents' emigration from the father- 
land to America. The father of the subject 
continued to reside on the old homestead until 
his death, in 1859, at the age of fifty years. 
His wife survived him by many years, passing 
away in 1895, at the age of eighty years. In 
politics Andrew Lash was a stanch advocate of 
the principles of the Democratic party and he 
served in various township offices of trust and 
responsibility, while both he and his wife \\ere 
de\-oted and consistent members of the Lu- 
theran church, exemplifying their faith in their 
daily walk and conversation and ever retaining 
the unequivocal confidence and esteem of all 
who knew them. Of their children we incor- 
porate the following brief record : Catherine 
is the wife of James Martin, of I^awrence, Kan- 
sas ; Jacob, who is engaged in farming in 
Bethlehem township, this county, married Miss 
Lydia Baker; Mary is the wife of John Parks, 
of Bethlehem; Levi, who is a representative 
farmer of Bethlehem township, this county, 
married Miss Christina i\Iase; Teresa is the 
wife of John F. Reiger, of Stark county; Will- 
iam, who married Miss F'rjscilla Shrefler, re- 
sides in Bolivar, Tuscarawas county; Caroline, 
a maiden lady, resides in Canton ; John O., who 
married Miss Caroline Smith, resides in Boli- 
var, Tuscarawas county; Andrew J., the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was the next in order of 
birth; Daniel F., a resident of Bolivar, married 
Miss Flora E. Carnes; David AL. a resident of 
the city of Canton, married Katy Parker; Ben- 
jamin F. died at the age of four years; and 
the two other children died in infancy. 



Andrew J. Lash, whose name initiates this 
review, was born on the old homestead farm, in 
Bethlehem township, this country, on the 23d of 
February, 1853, ''nd there he was reared, while, 
as he succinctly states the case, he received 
most of his early educational training in the 
lime-stone quarries, his technical scholastic dis- 
cipline being confined to an attendance in the 
district schools up to his eighteenth year. 
When but eleven years of age he left home and 
started out to face the battle of life on his own 
responsibility. He secured work as a farm 
hand, receiving five dollars a month and his 
board in compensation for his services, while 
he managed to attend school for brief intervals 
during the winter months, and that he duly 
profited by the advantages thus gained is evi- 
dent when we revert to the fact that he then 
proved himself eligible for pedagogic labors, 
and for the long period of nineteen years he 
was a successful and popular teacher in the 
district schools, while for one year he taught 
in the village school at North Lidustry. Dur- 
ing the summer vacations he continued to de- 
vote his attention- to farming, and for nine 
years of the period noted he had charge of the 
homestead farm. After giving up his work as 
a teacher, having carefully conserved his finan- 
cial resources, Mr. Lash, in 1892, came to 
Canton, and here he invested his savings in a 
hardware stock, beginning business in eligible 
quarters at 823 South Market street, having 
purchased the original stock from Christian 
Wilde, administrator, and having since greatly 
increased the same, in order to cater to the de- 
mands of a constantly increasing patronage, 
while he has remained in the original location 
to the present time, having a finely equipped 
establishment and having been successful in 
building up a most gratifying business. In 
politics Mr. Lash has ever accorded a stanch 
allegiance to the Democratic party, and he has 
been incumbent of various township offices. 
His religious faith is that of the United Breth- 



944 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ren church, and in the same he has been an 
officer for many years, being at the present time 
a trustee of the church in Canton and superin- 
tendent of its Sunday school, while both he and 
his wife are zealous and earnest workers in the 
church. Fraternally ]\Ir. Lash is identified with 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the 
Junor Order of L'nited American Mechanics 
and the Protective Home Circle. 

On the 22d of October, 1882, j\lr. Lash was 
united in marriage to Miss Amanda Newhouse, 
who was born in Sparta, this county, being a 
daughter of John and Nancy (Williams) New- 
house, honored pioneers of the county, and 
the subject and his wife became the parents of 
three children, namely : Zelma C, who re- 
mains at the parental home, as does also Carl 
E., whose twin brother, Paul E., died in 
infancy. 



ISAAC HARTER, Sr.— The distinguished 
biographer of the lord chancellors of Eng- 
land, in his sketch of Lord Eldon, speaks as 
follows : "We biographers generally make 
it equally redound to the credit of our hero 
whether he be of illustrious or humble parent- 
age, saying with the same complacency that he 
was the worthy descendant of a long line of no- 
ble ancestors, or that he raised himself by his 
talents, being the first of his name ever known 
to fame." There is certainly an element of truth 
in this statement and yet this is not an element 
of specific inconsistency, for honor should ever 
be accorded where honor is due. But we of 
America, where the greatest number of self- 
made men are to be found, find particular sat- 
isfaction in reviewing the hfe history of one 
who, without influence or aid of adventitious 
circumstances, has risen through his own ef- 
forts from a lowly position to one of promi- 
nence in any of the spheres of human endeavor, 
for in the potentialities thus implied lies the 
glory of our republic. Thus it is not in the 



least incongruous that greater credit is com- 
monly awarded to him who has risen from pov- 
erty and obscurity, through stern adversity, to 
a position of definite success and to high honor 
among Iris fellow men. It is a matter of daily 
observation that an experience of this sort is 
an element of popular strength in a candidate 
for public office, and this fact indicates the popu- 
lar estimate aside from such incidental promi- 
nence, while there is no injustice in thus hold- 
ing in high regard this potent antecedent. A 
man who made for himself a place in connec- 
tion with the honors and activities of life, who 
successfully surmounted obstacles and who 
gained high recognition for intrinsic worth of 
character was Isaac Harter, Sr., than whom 
no citizen of Canton has ever been held in high- 
er regard and esteem, while the record of his 
life is essentially coincident with the history 
of this now opulent and attractive city. A man 
of distinctive and forceful individuality, he 
left an indelible impress upon the industrial 
and civic life of the city and county in. which 
he so long lived and labored, while there was 
no shadow of wrong or injustice to mar any 
portion of his career. True biography has a 
more noble purpose than mere fulsome eulogy. 
The historic spirit, faithful to the record; the 
discerning judgment, unmoved by prejudice 
and uncolored by enthusiasm, are as essential 
in giving the life of the individual as in writing 
the history of a people, for the individual is the 
national unit, and if the unit be justly estimated 
the complex organism will become correspond- 
ingly intelligible. He whose name initiates 
this memoir was distinctively the artificer of 
his own fortunes, was true in every relation 
of life, faithful to every trust and stood as a 
symmetrical type of that sterling American 
manhood which our nation delights to honor. 
Though ]\Ir. Harter was a man of affairs and 
wielded a wide influence his life was one of 
subjective modesty and unpretentiousness, and 
it would be palpably incongruous in this con- 





^<.^C^^i 



'^^-cc^G^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



949 



ncction t(j indulge in an adulation from which 
he would ha\e shrunk during his lifetime, and 
yet it is but just that a proper estimate of his 
hfe and character as pronounced by those who 
knew him best be incorporated in this work as 
a due tribute to his memory. In offering sucli 
an estimate we can not do better than to quote 
at length, with occasional metaphrase, from an 
a])preciative re\'iew of his career previously 
])ublished and prepared by one familiar with 
the man and with his works: 

!t !s doubtful whether there has ever been a rcsi- 
diiit of Stark county more generally known through- 
out its province, personally and by reputation, than 
Isaac Harter. No one has been longer engaged in a 
business which brought him into contact with all classes 
nf people, nor has any one been more frequently quoted, 
m the character of boy and man, as an example for 
others. His father. Michael tlarter, came to this country 
from Wurtemberg. Germany, when twenty-three years 
of age. He married in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 
and soon afterward emigrated to Knox county, Ohio, 
when- he purchased a quarter section of government 
land, upon which he settled, .-^s the country developed 
and travel increased, he was induced to enlarge the 
dimensions of his log cabin and open a tavern, and 
this in time Iiecame a popular stopping place. He had 
four children, one daughter and three sons, of whom 
Isaac, the youngest, was born on the 14th of June, l8u. 
The father died at the age of fifty-three years, leaving 
the family in straightened circumstances. The sister, 
Christina, had previously married George Dewalt and 
they had taken up their residence in Canton, 
and it was mainly through her instrumentality 
that Isaac was brought to this place, with 
whose progress and civic life he was de.stined 
to 1)ecome' so prominently identified. This Mrs. 
Dewalt was the grandmother of Mrs. William Mc- 
Kinley .'Vt the age of eleven years he was indentured 
to William Christmas, a merchant, to serve him until 
he had attained his legal majority. The compensation 
nf an apprentice at that time was his board and clothes, 
including a freedom suit to be given upon the expira- 
tion of his service, together with an undefined amount 
of education, this provision being rarely complied with. 
It is certain that Mr. Harter's opportunities in that di- 
rection were extremely limited. The major part of the 
instruction he received from professional teachers was 
that secured in night schools. Isaac served his master 
and mistress faithfully; there was no menial service 
about the house and store that he was not required 
to (\n, and he was never known to grumble or be in- 
subordinate. So useful (lid he make himself that it 
59 



was not long liefore lie became an important adjunct 
ol the store. He had the qualities which make a young: 
m;ni a successful and popular salesman, patience, in- 
dustry and integrity. M that period the stock of the 
average store in this new section comprised a general 
assortment of dry goods, hardware, queensware, gro- 
ceries, liquors, etc. All kinds of country produce were- 
taken in exchange for goods, and the salesman was re- 
quired not only to handle lard and beef and hides, pile- 
up boards and shingles, etc., but also to measure tar 
and fish oil and do other work that many young men of 
the present day would consider beneath their dignity. 
During Mr. Harter's apprenticeship he never received 
a cent in money as compensation for his services, and in 
his latter years he often remarked, when alluding to the- 
comparatively easy times enjoyed by the young men of 
today. "I was so situated that I never had the oppor- 
tunity 10 earn a dollar for myself until I was twenty- 
one." After he had attained his majority, Mr. Christ- 
mas made him a partner in the store, allowing him for 
his services an interest in the profits. The firm was 
then Christmas, Harter & Company, the silent partner- 
being a Mr. Hogg, of Brownsville, Penn.syivania. Mr. 
Christmas died in 1836, when it became necessarj- to>- 
settle up the estate and the partnership was dissolved, 
Mr. Harter then commenced alone and he continued in. 
the mercantile business until i860, when he sold out and 
engaged in banking, in which occupation he continued 
until his death, which occurred on the 27th of Feb- 
ruary. 1876. 

There is in the life of ;\Ir. Harter much to encour- 
age the young man dependent upon his own resources, 
much that is worthy of imitation. He was emphatically 
a self-made man. To his sterling integrity, his indom- 
itable energy, his courteous and obliging disposition, 
his kind and unostentatious generosity, did he owe his. 
success. In his business relations, in his daily inter- 
course with his fellowmen, his real worth was best 
known and most highly appreciated. He was the zeal- 
ous friend of the laboring and industrious classes and 
always ready to help those who manifested a disposi- 
tion to help themselves. He was of a social disposition: 
and enjoyed society, but above all other that of his fam- 
ily. A more kind, afi'ectionate and devoted husband and 
father never occupied that sacred relation. .As a pro- 
fessed Christian, having been confirmed as a member of 
the Lutheran church when thirty-six years of age. 
while not demonstrative, he was confiding and hopeful. 
Though strongly attached to his own church and al- 
ways ready to lend a helping hand in time of need, 
he was tolerant and liberal in his attitude toward other 
denoniinations, while he was always interested in move- 
ments designed to promote the prosperity of the town 
and was liberal in his contributions to that end. Hi* 
largest losses in business were the result of an eftort 
to assist some local enterprise. He had great energy 
and to his last days was as active as a man of twenty- 



946 



OLD LANDMARKS 



years his junior. Although frequently urged by his 
family !•> retire from business and to take the world more 
easily,, as he had accumulated an abundance, his inva- 
riable answer was, "I would not be contented doing 
jiothing ■■ He was not envious of others, but rejoiced 
in their prosperity. He was strong in his convictions, 
but not intolerant, was always firm in defense of the 
right, but had no room in his heart for revenge. Com- 
passion and pity dwelt in him as constant guests. Flat- 
tery could not cajole him into compromise nor power 
awe hin: into silence, in his manners he was afifabl'-, 
courteous, social and dignified. He was quick in temper, 
l)ut read)' to forgive and never harbored ill will. He 
Relieved in earb' training boys to business and was in 
the habit of imposing responsible duties, involving heavy 
pecuniary trusts, upon his own sons when they were 
yet young, believing the way to train up successful 
husiness men was to trust them when young, that they 
tnight be inspired with confidence in themselvc> 

The Savings Deposit Bank was fotmded by 
]Mr. Harter in the year 1854, and under his 
able direction, with his associates, Julius Whit- 
ing, Martin Wikidal and Peter P. Trump, it 
<leveloped into one of the leading and most 
substantial monetary institutions in the state, 
the enterprise being still conducted under the 
title of Isaac Harter & Sons. He had many 
other important capitalistic interests and was 
distinctively a man of affairs, alert, broad- 
minded, and progressive, while a more public- 
spirited and loyal citizen Canton has never 
claimed. Standing in the pure white light of 
a life and character like that of Isaac Harter, 
■v\ e arc moved to a feeling of respect and venera- 
tion, and his name merits a high place on the 
roll of Stark county's noble pioneers. 

On the 7th of August, 1838, Mr. Harter 
■was united in marriage to Miss Amanda Z. 
]Moore. who was born in Beaver county, Penn- 
sylvania, and she sur\-ived him by several 
Acars, being summoned into eternal rest on the 
23d of Jani'.ary. 1895 at the venerable age of 
sevent}-nine years. They became the parents 
of nine children, of whom one son and one 
daughter died in infancy, while of the seven 
who attained years of maturity we incorporate 
the following brief record: Joseph S., who was 



gradtiated in Kenyon College, at Gambier. 
Ohio, was engag^ed in the study of law at the 
time when came the clarion call to arms that 
the integrity of the Union might l)e preserved, 
and he was one of the first to tender his serv- 
ices, enlisting as a private in the Ninteenth 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for a term of three 
months, and he rose to the office of lieutenant, 
receiving his honorable discharge as such. He 
soon afterward re-enlisted, becoming a member 
of the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio \'"olun- 
teers. in which he was made captain of his com- 
pany, and he was accidentally shot while in the 
barracks at Cincinnati, expiring a few hours 
later, on the 26th of August, 1863. Cieorge D.. 
who was one of the representative bankers and 
citizens of Canton, is the subject of an indi- 
vidual memoir appearing on other pages of 
this work. Michael D. was a resident of Mans- 
tield. Ohio, where he was prominently engaged 
in manufacturing and represented his district 
in the fifty-second and fift}'-third congresses, 
and \vas the first man who advocated the gold 
standard, and it was largely through his in- 
strumentality that the famous Bland bill was 
defeated. Isaac succeeded his father in the con- 
trol of the Savings Deposit Bank, and is one of 
Canton's influential citizens. Henry W.. who 
was graduated in Pennsylvania College, is a 
representative member of the bar of Canton. 
Christiana A. is now a resident of Duluth, and 
Eliza L. is the wife of Albert L. Ordean. presi- 
dent of the First National Bank of Duluth. 



ALBERT S. HTLLHOUSE.— The gen- 
ealogy' of Mr. ITillhouse is of English and 
Welsh derivation, and the name is one which 
has long been identified with the annals of 
American history. He is a native of the beau- 
tiful little cit}- of Kalamazoo, Michigan, which 
was long celebrated as being the largest cnni- 
munity maintained imder \illage gnvernment in 
the I'nited States, and there he was born on 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



947 



the i^tli of Xovember, 1867, being a son of 
Frank S. and Lizzie (Dunning) Hillliouse, na- 
tives respectively of Alabama and New York. 
Both still survive, ]Mr. Hillhouse at present 
living in retirement at Kalamazoo, Michigan, 
\\here for thirty-eight years he carried on the 
wholesale book and drug business under the 
firm name of Roberts Sc Hillhouse, • being at 
time of withdrawal from business the oldest 
firm in the city. He secured his preliminary 
educational discipline in the public schools of 
Kalamazoo, and thereafter was matriculated in 
the Baptist College in that city, where he con- 
tinued his studies until he had attained the 
age of nineteen years. He then entered the 
employ of the Michigan Telephone Company 
as messenger lx)y in connection with the Kala- 
mazoo office, receiving for his services a sti- 
pend of twelve dollars per month. Nine months 
later he was promoted to the position of night 
operator, in which capacity he likewise served 
nine months, being then appointed telephone in- 
spector, his duties in the line being confined to 
Kalamazoo county. He was in tenure of this 
position for five months, at the expiration of 
which, in November, 1887, he was made local 
manager of the American District Telephone 
Company in his native city. In February of 
the following year Mr. Hillhouse was sent by 
this company to the city of Grand Rapids, 
Michigan, where he remained as inspector and 
switch-board man until August 23, 1889, when 
he returned to Kalamazoo to accept the posi- 
tion of superintendent of the Kalamazoo Elec- 
tric Company. On the 15th of October, 1890, 
the plant changed hands, and Mr. Hillhouse 
then returned to the employ of the Michi- 
gan Telephone Company, in the capacity of 
traffic agent, while on the 13th of February 
of the following year, still in the employ of the 
same company, he was stationed in Muskegon, 
Michigan, as inspector and switch-board man. 
while on the 2Tst of the following May he was 
promoted to the office of manager of The Mich- 



igan Telephone Company at Big Rapids, and 
ov. the 24th of June, 1894, became the manager 
of the plant in the city of Jackson, Michigan, 
where he remainefl until the 15th of the fol- 
lowing September, when he was called to a po- 
sition in the traffic department of the same com- 
pany, in connection with the Detroit office, 
while on the iith of F'ebruary, 1895, ^e was 
installed in a similar capacity in the Grand 
Rapids office, where he remained until the 17th 
of the following September, when he returned 
to his home in Kalamazoo, where he assisted 
his A'enerable father in his business during the 
following winter. On the 15th of February, 
1896. Mr. Hillhouse again entered the employ 
of the Michigan Telephone Company, by which 
be was sent to the upper peninsula of the state 
to superintend the construction of lines and the 
installation of exchanges and toll lines, and 
this work demanded his attention until the 23d 
of March, 1897, when he again resumed work 
in the traffic department of the company in 
connection with the Detroit office, traveling 
throughout the lower peninsula of the state. 
On the 14th of September, 1897. Mr. Hill- 
house went to the city of Chicago and there 
accepted a position in the right-of-way depart- 
ment of the Central Union Telephone Com- 
pany, while on the i8th of the following No- 
vember he was appointed manager of the of- 
fice of this company at Washington Court 
House, F'ayette county, Ohio. On the loth of 
April, 1809, he was appointed assistant state 
superintendent of construction for the state of 
Ohio, with headquarters in Columbus, the cap- 
ital city of the state, while on the ist of May 
of the following year the Central Union Tele- 
phone promoted him to the office of district 
manager at Champaign, Illinois. On the 26th 
of November, 1901, Mr. Hillhouse accepted 
his present position as general manager of the 
. Stark County Telephone Company, with hea'l- 
quarters-in the city of Cantfin. He is thorough- 
ly informed in regard to all technical points in 



948 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the line of liis vocation and tln-onsjli his efforts 
and capable management tlie ntmost efficiency 
of service is insured, while the confidence in 
which he has been held in the work of his pro- 
fession is amply exemplified in the responsi- 
ble and important positions of which he has 
been incumbent. As has been previously inti- 
mated in this context, Mr. Hillhouse has shown 
a marketl predilection for electrical work from 
his bovhood days, he ha\ing- been associated 
with other boys in his native city in installing 
telephone lines between their respective homes, 
while he and his chum also entered inde- 
pendently into business in the installing of 
electrical call bells, in which line they realized 
a profit of ele\'en dollars for their first day's 
W(irk. Later they also engaged in putting in 
wires for electric-lighting purposes, in which 
connection they secured the contract for wiring 
the court house of Kalamazoo county, their 
Avork being done after sclxiol hours, while they 
conducted their lousiness under the firm name 
of Garage & Hillhouse. .\t the Michigan state 
fair, held in Kalamazoo, in 1884. the young 
men secured the first prize for the finest electri- 
cal exhibit. During the winter which he passed 
at home, for the purpose of assisting his fa- 
ther, he was also for three months superintend- 
ent of the electrical plant in the Michigan asy- 
lum for the insane in Kalamazoo. Dtiring the 
two years of his residence in Big Rapids. Mich- 
igan, he also held the oftice of deput\- cit}- mar- 
shal. He holds membership in the Presby- 
terian church in his home city of Kalamazoo, 
having become identified with the same when 
but ten years of age. and in jjolitics he has ever 
given a stanch allegiance to the Republican 
. party. 

On the 4th of ( )ctober. iSqq, in Washing- 
ton Court House, b'ayette county, Ohio, was 
st)lemnized the marriage of Mr. Hillhouse to 
?iliss Miniuc I.. Snyder, who was born in that 
])lace. being a daughter of Clarence S. and 
Mar\- Elizabeth (I'owles) .Sn\der, lioth of 



whom still maintain their home there. The 
maternal grandfather of the latter was George 
Cady, who was a valiant soldier in the war of 
1812, being at the time a resident of the West- 
ern Reserve. Ohio. Clarence F.. the only child 
of Mr. and Mrs. Hillhouse, was born on the 
21st of June, lyoo. and died on the 8th of the 
following March. 



♦ » » 



JOHN SHOOK was born in Canton Jnl\ 
-3- ^^35- '11''^' 's "^ son of Andrew and Eliza- 
l)eth ( Clrich) Slioof. Ijoth of whom were na- 
tives of (jermany, where they were reared and 
educated. The father was born in the year 
1708. and in his natixe i)ro\'ince be learned 
the trade of stone cutting, to which he there 
devoted his attention until 1833, when he set 
forth to seek his fortunes in America, his fu- 
ture >A ife taking passage on the same sailing ves- 
sel, which consumed fift}'-four davs in making 
the voyage tti New York city. They went 
thence to Hanover, Pennsylvania, where their 
marriage was solemnized, antl in the following 
ye;u" they came to Canton. Ohio, where Mr. 
Shoof engaged in contracting and building in 
the line of his trade, having erected manv of 
the substantial old buildings in this city and 
vicinity and ha\'ing been known as a man of 
a1)ility and sterling integritx'. He continued 
in this vocation until his death, which occurred 
at his home, on East Second street, at the age 
of fifty-six years. His wife siu'vived him and 
lived to attain the age of se\'enty-seven years. 
Both were devoted and consistent members of 
the Cierman Reformed church and were ])rom- 
inent in the the early church work in Canton. 
Of their children we incorporate the following 
brief data : John is the immediate subject of 
this sketch; Caroline is the wife of (ieorge 
(irumlauf, of Canton; Mary is the wife of An- 
thony Francis, of Canton ; Elizal)eth. who be- 
came tile wife of John Stuerhoff". died in this 
C't\'; b'liza. the wife of Hiram ( irant. also died 




/:- i-^W/iams ^^'r^ /Vy 



^^/J //// // / 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



949 



in Canton: Amanda is the wife cit \\'illiam 
Smith, of this connty ; and William. \\hi> is a 
contractor of Canton. 

The subject has passed practically his en- 
tire life in Canton, and here he recei\-ed his 
early educational training in a log- builfling, 
which is still standing, on Kast Fourth street, 
the same being known as the Orchard school 
house, while his first teacher was Mr. Geise, 
who will be remembered b\- many of our old 
citizens. He also attended (icrman school sev- 
eral summers. com])Ieting his educational dis- 
cipline at the age of nineteen years. At the 
age of fifteen years he had ))egun to learn the 
trade of brick and stone mason, under the effec- 
xive direction of his father, serving a full ap- 
I'jrenticeship and becoming a skilled artisan, 
tliat upon attaining his legal majority lie was 
well qualified to engage in 1)usiness for himself 
as a contractor. He has thus been consecutively 
identified with contracting and buikhng here 
for nearly a half century, and it is needless to 
sa\- tliat in the county are to be found many 
suljstantial and enduring monuments to his 
skill and fidelity in his chosen vocation. He 
lias erected some of the larg'est Ijuildings in the 
city of Canton, and among the number may 1)e 
mentioned the following: The court house 
Avhicb was in use until the erection of the ])res- 
ent building, the blagle block, the fine resi- 
dences of Mrs. Elizabeth Harter and I\Irs. Cor- 
nelius Aultman, the school houses on North 
I'herry street. South Market street and Mc- 
Kinlev avenue, respectively, the plant of the 
Bonnot Manufacturing Company and the most 
Tf the present buildings of the Aultman plant, 
one of the largest in this section of the state. 
In politics he was originally identified with the 
Democracy, but about fifteen years ago trans- 
ferred his allegiance t''> the Republican party, 
-)f whose cause he has since been a stanch advo- 
cate. He is know)i as a public-spirited citizen, 
an able and progressive business man and his 
iiiflexible integritv and sincerit\' in all the re- 



lations of life have retained to him unqualified 
confidence and esteem in the city which has 
been his home from the time of his birth to the 
present. He is a prominent and valued mem- 
ber of the German Reformed church, in whose 
work he takes an acti\e part, while his wife 
holds membership with the First Baptist church 
of Canton, with which she is prominently iden- 
tified. 

In Canton, on the 24th of March. 1837, was 
solemnized the marriage of IMr. Shoof to Miss 
Elizabeth Houtz, who was born in this county, 
being a daughter of the late Henry and Eliza- 
beth (Yomig) Houtz. Their children are as 
follows : Ida, who remains at the parental 
home: Charles, who is a resident of Xewton 
Falls, this state; Austin, Homer and Percy, all 
of whom reside in Canton ; Dora, who died at 
the age of eighteen years: and Emma, Stellie 
and Elsie, who are at the parental home. 



JAMES M. MARTIN.— Rudolphus Mar- 
tin, father of the subject, was born in Hager.s- 
tow'U, Maryland, and was a child at the time 
of his parents' removal to London, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he was reared to maturity and 
married, being there engaged in harness making 
until 1834, when he came to Ohio and located 
in X'avarre, Stark county, where he entered into 
partnership with John Chapiuan and estab- 
lished a general store. They continued the 
enterprise about two years, at the expiration 
of wdiich they .disposed of the business and 
l)urchased a saw-mill a few miles east of the 
village of Louisville, this county, operating the 
same about four years. Mr. Martin then 
opened a general merchandise store jn Paris. 
this county, eventually admitting Ezra Smith 
to a partnership interest. In 1847 ^^^'- Smith 
withdrew from the firm and the original owner 
thereafter continued the business individually 
until 1868. in which year he practically re- 
tired, being succeeded h\ his two sons. Tames 



950 



OLD LANDMARKS 



-M., of this sketch, and Wilham P., who there 
continued the enterprise successfully until 1883, 
when they sold out. While living in London, 
Pennsylvania, Rudolphus Martin learned the 
trade of harness making, becoming a particu- 
larly skillful workman, and he is was who had 
the distinction of making the first five-ring hal- 
ter ever manufactured in the United States, 
while he was also the first to manufacture the 
famous London Avhips. -which are still in active 
demand and manufactured on a large scale. 
In Pennsylvania he was united in marriage, 
a1x)ut 1832, to Miss Ruhamah Uncles, who 
was born in that state. After his retirement 
from business Mr. Martin continued to make 
his home in Paris, this county, until the close 
of his long and useful life, his death there oc- 
curring on the 6th of April, 1882, while death 
did not long separate him from her who had 
been his cherished and devoted companion, for 
she followed him to the grave on the 6th of the 
following July, an interval of three months. 
Mr. Martin was converted in the Methodist 
Episcopal church, being ever kindlv and tol- 
erant in his judgment and ordering his life ac- 
cording to the golden rule. Li politics he was 
for many years a stanch Democrat. l)ut upon 
the organization of the Free-soil party he es- 
poused its cause and was thus naturally led 
into the Republican ranks at the time of the 
organization of that jiarty. Rutlolplnis and 
Ruhamah (Uncles) Martin became the parents 
of five children, namely; Amanda, who is the 
wife of Benjamin Estep, of Canton; Thomas 
Benton, who died in 1857, at the age of nine- 
teen years; Anna E., who resides in Canton; 
James i\L, the immetliate subject of this sketch ; 
and William P., who died in Canton, in De- 
cember, 1901, at the age of fifty-three years. 

James M. 2vlartin, whose name initiates tliis 
sketch, was born in the village of Paris, Stark 
county, Ohio, on the 26th of October, 1845, 
and there he received his early educational dis- 
cipline in the pul)lic schools, laying the founda- 



tion for that broad and exact knowledge which 
he has gained in the practical school of life, 
where the diplomas are signed by the wise head- 
master, Experience. He began his business 
career as a clerk in his father's store, and after 
being thus engaged for one year, he and 
his brother were admitted to partnership, 
practically assuming control of the business, 
though continuing to consult with and abide 
by the decisions of their honored and able fa- 
ther, who was a careful and capable business 
man. In the autumn of 1877 they disposed of 
the business to the firm of King & Company, 
of Alliance, who withdrew from the establish- 
ment in 1 88 1, whereupon the ^[artin Brothers 
resumed business at the old quarters and con- 
tinued the enterprise until 1883, when they 
again sold out, neither of them again entering 
mercantile business. In 1885 the subject of 
this sketch removed to Kansas, where he re- 
mained two )-ears. passing the succeeding vear 
in the city of Chicago, and the next in Canton, 
after which he returned to Chicago, which con- 
tinued to be his home fi ir the succeeding fi\e 
years, within which period he made many judi- 
cious investments in local real estate, and 
throngli his ojierations in this line realized large 
profits. He then returned to Canton, where he 
has since continued to operate successfully in 
the same line of enterprise. ha\-ing made man^- 
investments and having done much to improve 
many of the properties which have come under 
his control, so that the result has been of 
marked value to the city and county. In 1895 
he instituted the erection of the fine modern 
business block, known as the Martin, at the 
corner of Third and Market streets, this being 
one of the most important and attracti\e busi- 
ness buildings in the city. Besides a large 
amount of city realtv Mr. Martin has interests 
in much valuable farm property in the count}'. 
and also in the Dakotas, while he is also the 
owner of valuable dock interests in the city of 
Duluth, Minnesota. He has shown marked 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



951 



iliscrimiimtion and judgment ia his real-estate 
investments, and is known as a lii^eral, progres- 
sive and energetic business man, while through 
his well directed efforts he has gained prestige 
as one of the substantial capitalists of Stark 
county and as one who is an able financier, with 
a distinctive facility in handling matters of 
wide scope and importance. In politics, though 
entirely without official ambition, Mr. Martin 
accords a stanch allegiance to the Republican 
party, keeping veil informed on the cpiestions 
and issues of the hour and being thoroughly 
fortified in his convictions in regard to mat- 
ters of public import and polit}-. 

On the 21st of August, 1884, at Topeka, 
Kansas, Mr. Martin was uiu'ted in marriage to 
Miss Eleanor Redmond, of Marysville, Mis- 
souri, and she died in 1893. In 1898 he was 
marriefl to Miss Emily Benson, of Des Moines, 
Iowa, who presides with gracious dignity over 
th.eir beatitiful home, which is a center of re- 
fined hospitality. ?ilr. Martin has no children. 



HENRY COOK was born in the town of 
Weingarten, Baden, Germany, on the j/tli ■<( 
October, 18 [8, lieing the youngest of the thir- 
teen chiiflren of Jacob Cook, Avho passed his 
entire life there, engaged in agricultui'al pur- 
suits. He died in 1823, -when the subject of 
this memoir was a mere child, his wife ha\ing 
passed away a few years previously. 11 enr\- 
was taken into the home of one of his elder 
sisters, who accorded him a mother's care and 
guidance, wliile lie received the usual se\en 
years of educational training in the excellent 
schools of his fatherland. After leaving school 
he served a thorough apprenticeship at the 
slioemaking trade, to which he there continued 
to devote his attention until he had attained 
the age of about twenty years, when, about 
1838, he proceeded to Ha\Te. France, where 
he embarked for America, landing in New York 
citv in due course of time and there continuing 



to follow his trade for a number, of years. 
There, on the 6th of May, 1841, he was united 
in marriage to Miss Barbara Janson, and about 
ten years later they removed to a farm in Sulli- 
van county, New York, four children having' 
been born to them prior to leaving the national 
metropolis. On this farm they continued to 
make their home for a term of about fifteen 
years, Mr. Cook being successful in his efforts 
and becoming one of the influential men of the 
community, where he served for eight year> iir 
the office of tax collector. This hoinestead 
figured as the birthplace of the other six chil- 
dren in the family. In 1866 Mr. Cook came with 
his family to Stark county, Ohio, and here he 
effected the purchase of the Good Intent Ta\— 
ern, situated on North Cleveland a\enue. one 
mile north of the city limits, while the property 
comprised seven acres of land. Mr. Cook Iniilt 
an addition to the hotel and otherwise improxed 
the property, and here he conducted a very suc- 
cessful hotel business, the stages all stopping at 
the place and leaving mail a-nd passengers, while 
it was the favorite stopping place for travelers 
from towns for miles around. 'S\r. Cook was 
of genial and kindly disposition, and his guests 
al\va\s found a hearty welcome and were af- 
forded tlie liest possible entertainment, the old 
tavern being one around which cluster many 
l)leasmg memories of the days long fled. He 
continued to i')ccupv the house until his death, 
which occurred on the 24th of Jamiarw 1882, 
and the property is still retained by his venerable 
widow, who there makes her home, though the 
house has long been closed as a place of pub- 
lic entertainment. He v.as a worthy memljer 
of the First Gennan Reformed church in Can- 
ton, and his wife also took a deep interest in its 
work, 1)eing- a devoted memljer of the same and 
resigning her active labors in the church only 
when compelled so to do by the infirmities of 
ad\-ancing age, though she still retains notable 
mental and physical vigor and enjoys the com- 
iia.niouship of her wide circle of friend'^ in the 



952 



OLD LANDMARKS 



community. In politics Mr. Cook ever gave a 
stanch support to the Democratic party. 

Of the ten children of Henry and Barhara 
Cook we enter the following brief record : 
Henry, Jr.. who is engaged with a street rail- 
way in Canton, married Alalinda i\lunn and 
they have three children. He was born in New 
York cit\" in r84J. Augustus, who was Ixirn in 
New '^"ork city, on the 22d of September, 1843, 
accompanied his parents on their removal to 
Sullivan cnuiit)-, Xew York, where he attended 
j^chool. In (864 lie jijined iiis maternal grand- 
father, Anthony Janson, in Pike township. 
Stark county, Ohio, with whom he made his 
home for a number of years, in the meanwhile 
learning the shoemaking trade, which he fol- 
lowed in Canton until sh(jrtly after his mar- 
riage. He then accepted a position as carpet 
layer with a Cantim linn, and continued to fol- 
low this line of work w itli different concerns, 
finally entering the employ of the J. O. Palmer 
Company, and remaining at the head of their 
carjK't-la^iug department for eighteen years. 
Pie died at his home in Canton, on the jgtli of 
April, 1900. He married Mary A. Robin, who 
.^ur\ives him. as does their child. Charles, wlio 
Avas born in Xew York city, in 1845, at the time 
of the C'ivil war, thou.gh scarcely more than a 
bov, enlisted from Sullivan county as a mem- 
ber of a regiment of mounted rifles, with which 
lie went to the front as a private. In a charge 
at the battle of Petersburg, ^'irgiuia, his horse 
Avas shot from under him. but he immediately 
sprung on to the liack of another and soon 
afterward recei\ed a terrible cut across the left 
shoulder with a saber, and was sent to the field 
hosi)ital, where his mother went to care for 
liim as soon as she could reach his side. She 
remained in the Held hospital for ten davs and 
then took her wounded young hero to his home, 
where he (lied shortly afterward, sacrificing his 
life on the altar of his country. Elizabeth is the 
^\•ife of Clrich TTuber, a successful farmer of 
Plain townshi]), this county. George died at 



the home in Canton, at the age of fifty-one 
years. .John remains with his mother at the 
old home. Constantine died at the age of fi\e 
years. Julia is the wife of Thomas ^\'. Leahy, 
a prosperous coal operator of Plain township. 
^Vdam died in chiUlhood, and William F. re- 
mains at the maternal home. 

Mrs. Barbara Cook, the \\idi)w of the hon- 
ored subject of this memoir, was born in the 
town of Wendelesheim, Hesse Darmstadt, 
Germany, on the 19th of May. 1820, and was 
there reared to the a,ge of se\enteen years, when 
she accompanied her parents on their emigra- 
tion to America, the family locating in Xew 
Y'ork cit)-, where they resided at the time of the 
memorable cholera epidemic, in the thirties. 
She is one of the six children born to Anthony 
and F.lizaljeth ( \lthouse) Janson, and of the 
number four are li\ing at the ])resent time. Her 
father died in \'an Wert, Ohio, in 1862. and 
his wife passed away in Canton, in iSCk), both 
having been lifelong members of the German 
Reformed church. 



SAMITEL F. I.OXAS is a native of Stark 
county, Ohio, born in Smoketown, Bethlehem 
township, on the i8th day of October, 1846, 
His parents John \\'. and Catherine (Hans) 
Lonas, were born, reared and married in Shen- 
andoah county, \'irginia, and about the year 
1835 moved to Stark countw where the father 
subsequently l)ecanie a large landowner and 
sticcessful agriculturist. He jjurchased se\eral 
tracts of real estate which greatly increasetl in 
value while he held them, and at one time 
owned three hundred and fifty acres, nearl)- all 
in cultivation. He accumulated his propert\- 
by his own efforts and was a conspicuou.s ex- 
ample of the successful, self-made man of his 
day. He lived an honorable life, reared a large 
famih- of thirteen children and died at his 
home in .Vugust, i86y, his ,good wife ])reced- 
ing iiim to the gra\'e two years before. For a 




SAMUEL F LONAS. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



953 



number of years he served as justice oi tlie 
peace, and by reason of his sound judgment 
and o'ood common sense was frequently called 
upon to settle estates and attend to various 
other business matters for his neighbors. In 
earl\- life he taught school in Virginia, and he 
bore the reputation of being one of the l^est 
educators and most thoroughly informed men 
of liie community in which he lived. Relig- 
iously, he was a member of the German Re- 
formed church, and for many years served as 
elder of the congregation to which he belonged, 
his wife also being connected with the same 
church. Tn politics he was a Democrat of the 
old sciiool, and as such proved an influential 
factor in local affairs, doing much in a quiet 
wav to ])romote the success of his ])arty. Of 
tlie thirteen children born to John \\'. and 
Leah Lonas, five only are living, the subject 
of this review being- the fifth of the family. 

Re\'erting- to the personal history of Samuel 
F. Lonas, it may be stated that he received first 
practical training- in life on the family home- 
stead in Bethlehem township, and that his early 
^"ea^s were devoted to honorable toil, assisting 
his father and brothers to run the farm. After 
the crops were gathered, he attended the public 
>chools of the neighborhootl and this he kept 
up during the winter seasons until young man- 
hood, meanwhile taking commendable progress 
in the \'arious branches which then constituted 
the regular course of stud}-. To those earh- 
A-ears, under the tutelage of parents, whose ear- 
nest desire was to impress upon the minds and 
hearts of his children such principles as would 
insure h'\-es of usefulness and honor, Mr. Lonas 
is largely indebted for the integritv of character 
and laudal)!e ambition that have since marked 
his life and conduct. The world is full of such 
examples and the student of biography will 
experience little difhcultv in recalling- instances 
of where farm life left its im])ress upoi-i .some 
of the most noted characters known to history. 
In earlv vears when the mind is taking its bent 



and w hen youthful ambitions are shaping them- 
selves for manhood's achievements, no influ- 
ence has ever been found more p<^tent for good 
than that which the f-iu^m affords. Reared 
imder such influences, it is not at all surprising 
that Mr. Lonas grew to the full .stature of well- 
rounded manhood with a pro])er conception of 
life and its responsibilities, and with a well- 
formed purpose of making the most of his op- 
portunities. Arriving at an age when it l)ecanie 
necessary for him to leax-e home and start for 
himself he decided to de\-ote his life to farming 
and this honorable Aocation he has since ])ur- 
sucd with success such as only comes to fax'ored 
few. \A'ithout narrating in detail the vari- 
ous steps in his career as a progressive tiller of 
the soil suffice it to .state that his course has 
been a series of continued advancements until 
he is now one of the largest land owners as well 
as one of the mo=t enterprising- agriculturists 
in the township in which he lives. At this time 
Mr. Lonas owns about four hundred acres of 
valuable real estate, to say nothing of the land 
he has recently given his children. His home 
place is one of the best improved and most 
highly culti^•ated farms in the count\-. In ad- 
dition to farming, Mr. l^onas has made con- 
siderable nioney from his mineral ])roperty. 
owning- at one time a mine \alued at eight 
thousand floHars, and there are now on his place 
over sixtv acres of \-aluabIe coal lands from 
which he derives a liberal income. 

Mr. Lonas's life has been exceedingly active 
and his income as a farmer and man of aft'airs 
is without a stain. He is a Democrat in poli- 
tics and an aggressi\-e worker for his party. l)c- 
licving in its ])rinci])les as the partv for (he 
peo]Dle and ever ready to maintain the sound- 
ness of his opinions. Pie is now a member of 
the school board, in which capacity he has been 
nritiring- in his efforts to advance the cau.se of 
education in his township. belie\'ing that knowl- 
edge universally disseminated to be the best 
safe guard of a free and enlightened peo])le. 



954 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Islr. Lonas is pre-eminently a fanner and for a 
number of years he has labored earnestly to 
promote agriculture, being a prominent mem- 
I)er of the Patrons of Husbandry and one of 
the leaders of the grange with which he is iden- 
tified. He is also a friend of the church and 
an earnest advocate and liberal patron of all 
tile movements having for their object the 
social and moral advancement of the commun- 
ity, standing firm for good government and an 
impartial enforcement of the law to this end. 
Religiously lie subscribes to the creed of the 
German Reformed church, belonging with his 
wife to the congregation worshiping in Myers. 
Mr. Lonas was married April 9, 1868, to 
Miss Frona Stoner, daughter of Jacob and 
Mary Stoner, of Tuscarawas township, the fa- 
ther a wealthy farmer and influential citizen. 
Eight children have lieen liorn of this union. 
namely: Jacob W. ; Ollie L., wife of William 
Baughman; Ira J., Charles M., Frederick W.. 
Samuel F. and Lillie M., and one that died in 
infancy unnamed. 'I'lie children win > liave 
severed home ties are well settled in life, the 
sons being well-to-do and highly respected 
farmers, all but one living" in the countv of 
Stark. 



CHARLES C. UPFL\M.— The name 
borne by the subject of this review, whd is a 
representative member of the bar of Stark 
county, is one which has been identified con- 
spicuously A\ith the history of the nation from 
the early ej>och when the Pilgrim Fathers 
established their colonies in Massachusetts 
while the annals of the nation show that many 
bearing the name have become distinguished 
in the public and civic life of the nation, not 
the least of these having been the grandfather 
and father of the subject. 

It is established that John L'''phani was the 
first to bear the name in America, aiul he was 
the progenitor of all claiming title to the same 



within the confines of the L'nion. He was a 
native of England and was born in Somerset- 
shire. He came to America with what was 
known as the Hull colony, the same having 
been organized by Rev. Joseph Hull, a clerg}-- 
man of the estal)lished church of England. In 
company with his little band of devoted fol- 
lowers, this worthy man set sail, on the 20th 
of March, 1635, from Weymouth, in old Dor- 
set, England, for the Massachusetts Bay Col- 
ony. The company comprised twent_\-one 
families — one hundred and five individuals, — 
and the little vessel arrived at its destination 
on the 6th of the following May. They settled 
at Wessaguscus, which name, in memor\- of 
the port in Dorset from which they had sailed, 
the}' changed to Weymouth. John Upham was 
accompanied by his family, including his wife, 
whose maiden name was Elizabeth Webb; his 
sister Sarah and his three children. He was 
born in 1600 and was thus thirty-five years of 
age at the time of his emigration to America. 
On the 2(1 of September, 1635, '^^ ^^'■^^ admitted 
a freeman at Weymouth, which was the second 
colony founded after Plymouth, and he was 
given an allotment of land. In 1636 he was 
elected a representative to the general court, 
held in Boston, and filled this office several 
terms. In 1642 he was one of the six who 
treated with the Indians for the lawful extin- 
guishment of their title to the lands at \\"ey- 
mouth, and in the following year he was elected 
selectman. About 1648 he removed to Mai- 
den, and was one of its original settlers, and 
there became a man of marked prominence and 
influence, ha\ing been elected selectman and 
held otlier offices. After the death of his first 
wife he married Katherine, widow of Angell 
Llollard. but all of his children were bom of 
the first marriage. He was a deacon in a 
church and was a man to whose life and char- 
acter his remote descendants may well look 
back upon with pride and satisfaction. From 
him the lineage is traced in direct line to the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



955 



subject through the following heads of the sev- 
eral generations : Piiineas, John, Samuel. 
Samuel (2cl), Samuel - (3d), William and 
William Keyes. 

Samuel Upham (3d), the great-grand- 
father of the suljject of this review, was born 
in Leicester, Massachusetts, in 1762, and mar- 
ried Patty Livermore, who was born in 1768, 
a daughter of Ji^nas Li\-ermore, of Leicester. 
She was the mother of his four children, and 
atcer her death he married again, the maiden 
name of his second wife having I)een Pike. He 
removed to Washington county. Vermont, 
when the region was almost a wilderness, this 
being in the }"ear 1802. and his home was one 
of the first in the present city of Montpelier. 
Pie served as a patriot soldier in the war of 
the Revohition, during which he held the rank 
of captain, a title by which he was afterward 
known. He died in \Vest Randolph, Vermont, 
May 12, 7848. Of his four children the eldest 
was Willian', the grandfather of the subject. 

Hon. William P^pham, of Montpelier, 
'N'ermont. will stand in history as one of the 
distinguished and g'ifted sons of the nation. 
Plis was a sjiotless reputation and he was a 
leader in thought and action, his influence 
transcending local limitations and permeating 
the life of the nation. Of recondite knowledge, 
positive and pcnverful indixidualitv, he left his 
impress ujxjn his times and upon the annals of 
the republic. He was born in Leicester, Mass- 
achu.selts. on tlie 3th of August, 1792. In 1814 
he married Sarah Keyes, of Ashford, Con- 
necticut, who died May 8. 1856. He was one 
of the foremost members of the bar of Ver- 
mont, which st.'ite he represented in the United 
States .senate from 1841 until his death, on the 
14th of January. 1853, his remains being 
interred in the Congressional cemetery, in 
Washington, where his death occurred. Wash- 
burn's History of Leicester, Massachusetts, has 
the following sketch : 

"His father mo\-ed to IMontpelier, Ver- 



mont, in 1802. William studied law with Judge 
Samuel Prentiss, and was admitted to the bar 
about 181 1. He was a prominent lawyer and 
was elected to the United States senate in 1841, 
re-elected in 1847, ^^d <^''cd at Washington, 
January 14, 1853. When a boy William 
crushed his hand in a cider mill ; it \\as trimmed 
with a hatchet. Being unlitted for maiuial la- 
bor, it was determined to educate him. He 
studied at the academy in 1709 and 1800. Af- 
ter his admission to the bar he Ivecame a ])art- 
ner of Judge Prentiss. He attained high rank 
in his profession, being particularly successful 
as a jury advocate. He possessed a great share 
of wit and huuKir, and oCcasionallv indulged 
in sarcasm with telling efl'ect. He was a social, 
pleasant anfl agreeable compduiDii, and had 
acr|uired su.cli a degree ot p()])ular favor and 
confidence that when his partner was appointed 
district judge of the United States court Mr. 
Upham became his successor in the United 
States senate. He did not often speak in the 
senate, but whene^-er he did, it was with much 
force, directness and effect. He was staunch 
in his political opinions and commanded atten- 
tion as an independent thinker and outspoken 
representative of New England sentiment." 

Another sketch speaks as follows: "In 
his professional career, to which the main ener- 
gies of his life were de\oted, he became widely 
known as one of the best advocates in the state. 
He was one of the most successful jury 
lawyers to he found in any country. Xev-er 
hesitating for a word, and fluent beyond exam- 
ple, the style of his speaking was rapid, thor- 
oughly earnest and often highly impassioned, 
and so magnetic was that earnestness and 
seeming confidence in his case, and so skill- 
fully wrought were his arguments, that bad, 
indeed, must have been his side of the question 
if he did not command the sympathies and 
convictions of a good part, if not all, of the 
jury." At the time of his death Senator Sew- 
ard said of him: 'AVilliam L^pham was of 



956 



OLD LANDMARKS 



A'ermont. — a consistent exponent of her institu- 
tions. He was a man of strong and vigorous 
judgment, whicli acted always by a process of 
sound, inductive reasoning, and his compeers 
liere (in tlie senate) will liear witness that he 
was equal to the \aried and \ast responsibili- 
ties of the senatorial trust. He was a plain, 
unassuming, unostentatious man. He never 
spoke for displav. hut always for conviction, 
•fie was an honest and just man. He had got- 
ten nothing by fraud or guilt, and so he lived 
without any fear of Insing whatever of fortune 
or position he had attained. Xo gate was so 
strong, no locks s<j fast and iirni as the watch 
he kept against the approach of corruption, or 
even undue influence or persuasion. His nat- 
ural policy was the increase of industry, the 
culti\-ation of ]jeace and the patn^nage of im- 
provement. He adopted his opinions without 
regard to their poi)ularit\- and never stifled his 
convictions of the truth nor suppressed their 
utterance through and fear or fa\(.»r of faction : 
but he was, on the contrar}-, consistent and 
constant "as pilot well expert in perilous wave, 
that to a steadfast starre his course hath bent.' " 
Of Mrs. Upham it is said that after her hus- 
band's death, "though of a buoyant disposition, 
and stri\ing hard to bear her loss with Chris- 
tarn resignation, she soon began visibly to^ 
droop, and on the 8th f)f May, 1856, followed 
him to the gra\c." The\' became the parents 
of three sons and two daughters, of whom the 
elilest was \\'dliam Keyes Upham, so honored 
in Canton and Stark county. 

N\'i!liam Keyes U])ham was born in Mont- 
pelier. Vermont, on the 3d of April, 1817, and 
he died in Canfield, Mahoning countv, Ohio, 
on the 22(\ of March. 1865. at the age of 
forty-eight. He completed his literarv edu- 
cation in the University of Vermont, at Bur- 
lington, w here among his classmates wre Luke 
P. Poland. Mat. Carpenter. Stei^hen A. Doug- 
las and Thaddeus Stevens, all of whom were 
Vermontcrs and studied law in Montpelier. re- 



maining his lifelong friends. He studied law 
in the oflice of his father, in Montpelier, and 
was admitted to the bar soon after attaining 
his majority, after which he remained in prac- 
tice in his native state for several years. In 
April. 1845. Mr. Upham remo\ed to New 
Li.sbon, Ohio, where he remained until 1S58, 
in which year he came to Canton, where he 
gained a large and lucrative practice, ultimate- 
Iv rising to the head of his profession in the 
state. Those who knew Mr. Upham best have 
ever maintained that he inherited in a large 
degree the talents and genius of his father. 
His was a v;iliant and loyal soul, and to such, 
success is a natiu'al jirerogative. He was well 
versed in the law and was an elocjuent advocate, 
and was at all times kind and considerate in 
his dealings with the younger members of his 
profession. He died in Canfield, Mahoning 
county, while attending court at that place, and 
at the time the Steubenville Herald paid the 
following appreciative tribute to his memory: 
"William K. Upham, was a native of Vermont 
and a S(in of the late United States Senator 
I'pham, of that state. He was a gentleman of 
fine family, education an<l presence, and as 
an attorney stood at the head of his profes- 
sion in this state, ranking with Chase. Stan- 
ton. Corwui. \'inton. John .\. Bingham and 
others. He had many noble traits, — was social, 
magnanimous and generous to a fault. As a 
man of talents he claimed our sjjccial admir- 
ation." 

Tn Westlawn cemetery, near the city of 
Canton, the members of the Stark county Iwr 
erected a monument in memory of the well- 
roimded, symmetrical character and a name 
that merits a high place on the roll of dis- 
tinguished dead who ha\e lent dignity and 
honor to the bar of the sovereign .state of Ohio.. 

In Func. 1X44. William I\. Upham was 
united in marriage to Mi.ss Maria Elizabeth 
Weeks, who was born in Stanstead. Vermont, 
on the 7th o\ March, "1822, being a daughter 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



957 



ot \\'illiain and Lucy Weeks, representatives 
(_>f sterling old Xew England families, and who 
died Xo\ ember 5. 18^4. They l^ecame the par- 
ents of fi\e children, ct)ncerning whom we 
enter brief record, as follows: Sarah AI., who 
was born in 1845, married Wallace H. Ballon 
and her death occurred in Kansas City, Mis- 
souri, January 26, 1882; Alattie P., born in 
1848, uKirried (ie<irge Rex and died in Can- 
ton, l'"ebruary 3. 1888, leaving one son, Harry 
R. Rex, who is engaged in the practice of law 
at Canton, Ohio; William Keyes, Jr., is a 
traveling salesman, li\ing in Cleveland, Ohio; 
Charles C. is the immediate subject of this re- 
view; and Mary Annette, born in 1859, '^ ^'^^ 
widow of F)ion L. Meredith, of Van Wert, 
Ohio, who died April 16, 1902. 

Charles Carroll Upham, whose name in- 
troduces this br-ef sketch, is a native son of 
the Buckeye state, having been born in New 
Lisbon, Columbiana county, on the ist of 
August. 1854. He recei^■ed his early edu- 
cational disci|)line in the public schools of Can- 
tun, being a child of about four years at the 
time when his parents removed hither from 
New Lisbon. He completed his literary edu- 
cation in the academy at Montpelier, Ver- 
mont, and at the age of nineteen began the 
study of law under the direction of Hon. 
George E. Baldwin, at Canton, Ohio, com- 
pleting his technical di.scipline in 1875, at Can- 
ton, and was admitted to the l>ar of Ohio the 
same year. Since that time he has lived in 
Canton and continued the practice of law. 



THOMAS H. CI'RRIE was born in Gart- 
sherrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the 4th of 
June. 1833, being the youngest .son of James 
and Janet (Henderson) Currie. He entered 
school at the age of five years, but owing- to the 
exigencies and conditions which compassed his 
youth he left school at an earlv age, and for 
tvventv vears he followed niinino-. becomins; fa- 



miliar with all branches of the industry. Dur- 
ing tliis i^eriod he applied much of his time to 
study at home and also attended night school, 
and through his efforts gained a wide and prac- 
tical knowledge, and he may well be said to be 
self-educated, even as he is, the architect of his 
own fortune. At the age of sixteen years he 
became a member of the Fourth Battalion, Lan- 
arkshire Ride \olunteers, resigning from the 
same in the second year of his service and, de- 
ciding that his mother country was too small 
for all her sons, he sailed for Canada, on the 
29t!i of May, 187.:;. After a short stay in that 
dominion he came to Stark county, Ohio, lo- 
cating in the city of Massillon in June of the 
same year. 

On Christmas day of the year 1877 Ah". 
Currie was united in marriage to Aliss Jennie 
Forrest, daughter of William and Sarah (Stev- 
enson ) Forrest, who had come to America from 
Scotland many }ears before. The marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Currie was solemnized in the city 
of \V)nng-.stown, Ohio, and they forthwith came 
to Stark count}-, where he had pre\-ionslv estab- 
lished his home, as before noted. Of this union 
three children were born, namely: James F.. 
who was born April 24. 1879, near Massillon, 
this county: William d.. who was born Decem- 
ber II. 1881. at Xewman. this count\-. wdiere 
also was born the onl\- daughter, Sadie M., the 
date of her nativity being April 17, 1884. 
James V. Currie has been for the past three 
years a reporter on the Canton Daily Reposi- 
tory. William Forrest, the father of Mrs. 
Currie. recently died at his home near Massil- 
lon, ?nd he was at that time one f>f the two sur- 
viving members in this county of the old Twen- 
ty-third Ohio Regiment of Volunteer Infantry, 
in which the late lamented President McKin- 
ley served during the Ci\il w ar. The other sur- 
vivor was the Re\-. C. L. Manchester, w ho was 
pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal church 
of Canton until loor. The regiment was re- 
cruited through counties north of Stark, and on 



958 



OLD LANDMARKS 



it? membership mil were a few volunteers from 
tlii-; county. Dr. Manchester, as pastor of the 
church mentioned, there officiated at the funeral 
of Canton's distinguished and loved citizen, 
President McKinley, in .September, 1901. 
\\"hen the late President visited his home in 
Canton Air. horrest called occasionally at his 
cottage to exchange greetings and to live over 
again the days of their military service, the 
] 'resident ever accorded him a most cordial 
welcome. The Twenty-third Ohio had within 
its ranks two men who later served in the chief 
executive office of the nation, — Hayes and Mc- 
Kin.ley. Among other members who afterward 
became distinguished were Hon. Stanley Mat- 
thews, once a prominent jurist of Cincinnati ; 
General Rosecrans rmd Russell Hastings, all 
prominent among Oliio's sons. Mr. Forrest 
served four jears in the Civil war and was 
wounded in tlu' battle of Winchester, Virginia, 
a piece of shell, weighing exactly sixteen ounces, 
passing through his thigh. He enlisted with a 
]^ennsylvania regiment and later went out with 
the Ohio regiment mentioned. He participated 
in the sanguinary contlicts of Antietam and 
Gettysburg and many others of the memorable 
battles of the great internecine war. He was 
six feet in height, w itb ])owerful physique, and 
he was seventy-four years of age at the time of 
his death. His remains were laid to rest in the 
cemetery at Newman, this county. 

Thomas H. Currie was made a citizen of the 
United States, at New Philadelphia, Ohio. He 
served several terms as township trustee and 
again as school director of Lawrence township, 
Stark county, and for years he was superintend- 
ent of the Sunday school at Newman, this coun- 
ty. Fifteen years ago he came to Canton and 
opened a grocery store in the west end of the 
city, and later he ^vas emjiloyed at the watch 
factory, in the vicinity of which he became in- 
terested in real estate, acquiring a considerable 
amount of valuable ])roperty, his first work at 
the watch factorv bcins' in connection with 



the construction of the plant, as has been 
previously stated in this cuutext. After the 
plant was put m operatinn he was em- 
ploved in \ariiius capacities and was finally 
promoted to the position of foreman of the 
gold and silver refining department, having pre- 
viously had laboratory experience in metallurg}^ 
with the Glasgow & Port Washington Iron & 
C"oa! Company, in Tuscarawas county, as pros- 
pector, upon which experience he enlarged in 
such a way as to enable him to become a suc- 
cessful assayer and refiner. In the years he has 
been with the watch company he has assayed 
and refined several million dollars' worth of 
precious metals, including some material from 
the TJnited States mints. He has taken an act- 
ive interest in the time honored fraternity of 
Freemasons, and in the same has recei\"ed the 
Knight Templar degrees. He was the first ])re- 
siding officer of Canton Home No. 43, Home 
Guards of America, which has a membership 
of two hundred and fifty. For years he has 
been an officer in the First Presbyterian church. 
Fie has taken no active part in politics since 
coming to Canton, although his friends ha\e 
repeatedly urged him to do so. Scotland, his 
native land, and the "bonny blue bell" are not 
forgotten, and when the scattered Scots come 
together on Caledonia days to re-sing "Auld 
Lang Syne'' he is aye there, and the "cannie 
chiels" of the Canton Burns Club have him as 
"keener o' their siller"' (treasurer). 



DAVID HINTON claims the old Keystone 
state as the place of his nativity, Iraving been 
born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, on the 
23d of December, 1851, and being a son of 
James and Sarah CBarnett) Hinton, of whose 
nine children six are living at the time of this 
writing, namelv : Louisa, who is the wife of 
Daniel Willaman, of New Berlin, this county; 
David, who figures as the subject of this sketch ; 
Samuel, who resides at INIiddle Branch, this 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



959 



county; Alfred, who makes his home in the city 
of Cleveland ; and Charjes, who is a farmer of 
Nimishillen township. James Hinton was born 
in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, where he was 
reared and educated and where he learned the 
carpenter's trade in his youth, becoming an ex- 
pert artisan in the line, and' continuing to fol- 
low the same at intervals until the closing years 
of his life. His wife was likewise a native of 
Pennsylvania, being a daughter of James Bar- 
nett, who was a tailor by trade and vocation and 
who passed the closing years of his life in Stark 
county. In 1853, when our subject was but 
four years of age, his father removed from 
Bedford county, Pennsylvania, to Stark coun- 
ty, locating in Nimishillen township, where the 
family maintained their home for several years, 
after which they removed to Plain township, 
where the father purchased a farni of fifty-six 
acres, upon which he passed the residue of his 
useful and honorable life, passing away in 1900, 
at the venerable age of seventy-seven years, se- 
cure in the esteem of all who knew him. In 
politics he was a stanch supporter of the Re- 
publican party, with which he identified him- 
self at the time of its organization, and he was 
a devoted member of the Church of God, as was 
also his cherished wife, who was summoned 
into eternal rest in 1895, at the age of sixty- 
eight years. 

Under the home roof David Hinton was 
reared to maturit)', receiving the advantages 
afforded by the common schools of the day and 
early beginning to work at the carpenter's trade 
under the effective direction of his honored fa- 
ther, who gave him most careful instruction and 
encouragement, so that he could claim the dis- 
tinction of being a master carpenter when only 
-eventeen years of age. Mr. Hinton was united 
in marriage to Miss Lncinda Stauffer, who was 
born in Canton township, this county, being a 
daughter of Jacob Staufifer, whose father was 
numbered among the early settlers of Stark 
county, with whose annals the name has l;een 



prominently and honorably identified from the 
pioneer epoch to the present tlay. To them have 
been liorn four children, of whom two survive, 
namely : George, who is a carpenter by vt)ca- 
tion and a resident of Nimishillen townshij); 
and Latu'a, who- remains at the parental home. 
After his marriage Mr, Plinton purchased 
his present home farm, in which are comprised 
one hundred acres of very fertile and productive 
land, while upon the place he has made the best 
of improvem.ents, his ability as a car[ienter and 
builder giving assurance that no imperfect 
workmanship would be tolerated in the erect- 
ing of the various buildings, including the com- 
modious and pleasant residence. Mr. Hinton 
still continues to work at his trade at varying 
intervals, his services being in requisition by 
many of the residents of this section, who ap- 
preciate his technical abilit}-, his sterling integ- 
rity and his fidelity to the terms of every con- 
tract. In the matter of politics he exercises his 
franchise in support of the principles and poli- 
cies of the Republican party, of which he has 
been a stalwart adherent from the time of at- 
taming his majority, though he has never 
sought the honors or emoluments of official 
preferment. He takes a lively interest in all 
that concerns the welfare of the community, be- 
ing progressive and public-spirited at all times, 
and recogiiizing his marked eligi])ility, the 
people of the district ha\e continuouslv re- 
tained him in office as school director for the 
past tweh'e A^ears. 



WILLIAM BLANK is a native of West 
Virginia, and the son of John and Elizabeth 
(Engleman) Blank, both parents born in 
Germany, but since 1857 residents of the 
L^nited States. On coming to this countrv. 
John Blank settled in West Virginia, but after 
a comparatively short residence there moved 
to Indiana, thence, after a short time, to Stark 
county, Ohio, locating at Canal Fulton, with 



t,6o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the Inisiiiess interests of wliicli he lias since 
Ijeen connected. At the present time he is 
enoaeed in the nianutacttire of cereal coffee and 
baking powder, lieing a large stockholder and 
practiad manager of the French Cereal i^Ianu- 
facturing Company, which he assisted to or- 
ganize and in the affairs of which he has since 
been a leading spirit. During President Cleve- 
land's second adiiiinistration he was postmaster 
at Canal Fulton, having been appointed to the 
office in recognition of his active and faithful 
party service, having been a pronounced Demo- 
crat ever since becoming an American citizen. 
William Blank vras torn on the 6th clay of 
August, i86i, and, with the exception of a 
few years, has spent his life in Canal Fulton, 
having been quite young when his parents 
mnvetl to the town. After receiving a good 
practical education in the public schools, he 
decided to devote his life to business pursuits. 
/\ccordingly. when a young man. he effected 
a co-partnership with his brother. John V. 
Blank, in the grocery trade, the firm thus con- 
stituted lasting about twelve years. The 
Blank l)rothers secured a large and lucrative 
patronage and became the leading grocers of 
Canal Fulton, their prestige as acti\'e, wide- 
awake and eminentlx' successful business men 
earning for them a reputation by wy means 
confined to the ])recincts of the town in which 
their establishment was situated. At the ex- 
piration of the alxive period the partnership 
was dissolved, the subject engaging in general 
merchandising tipon his own responsibility, and 
to this he has since de\'oted his time and at- 
tention witli large tinancial gains. Mr. Blank 
is an accomplished business man and bv suc- 
cessful management and fair dealing has built 
u]i a large trade, which is constantly growing 
in magnitude and importance. Xot a little 
of his patronage is due to his amiable qualities 
and gentlemanly demeanor, characteristics 
which have much to do in winning friends and 
gaining public conlidence. In addition to his 



mercantile business, he is interested in various 
otiier enterprises, among which is the French 
C ereal Manufacturing Company, of which he 
is now president. As already stated, Mr. 
Blank has held ?e\eral official positions, hav- 
ing served four years as town clerk, and at 
the present is discharging the duties of treas- 
urer of Canal J^ulton. He also held the im- 
portant position of treasurer of the Street Fair 
Association, in which, as in other offices re- 
ferred to. he displayed ability of a high order 
and discharged worthilv e\ery dtitv incumbent 
u])on him. At this time Mr. Blank is secretar\ 
of the Catholic Mutual Benevolent Association, 
with which organization he has been identified 
for several yeiirs in various other capacities; 
he is an acti\'e and inlluential factor in the 
social, fraternal and business interests of the 
place of his residence. In politics he is an un- 
compromising supporter of the Democratic 
party and has conti"il>uted much to its suc- 
cess not only in municipal and county affairs, 
but in state and national campaigns as well. 

Air. Blank was married, in 1883. to Miss 
Hattie Pfiff'er, who was born in Canal I-'ulton 
in 1866. the daughter of August and Julia Pfif- 
fer, natives of Cermany. The father was for 
a numl^er of years propriet(jr of a hotel in 
Canal Fulton, where his death took place in 
1808. Ti) Mr. and Mrs. Blank have been 
born' two children: Bertha, a jjrighl voung 
lady of fifteen, to whom is accorded the honor 
(jf being the youngest person ever graduated 
from the Canal Fulton high school, and 
Arnold, who is now pursuing his studies in 
the same institution. Mr. Blank and family are 
devoted members of the Catholic church, be- 
ing among the leading workers and liberal sup- 
porters of the congregation at Canal Fulton. 



WALL.VCE S. FOCLKS.— The history 
of the I""oulks family in the United States dates 
from the colonifil period and the name appears 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



961 



in connection with the great struggle which re- 
sulted in American independence. According 
to the most authentic information obtainable 
the Doctor's great-great-gneat-grandfather on 
the paternal side was William, a native of Ger-* 
many. He came to America prior to the war of 
the Revolution and when the colonists revolted 
espoused their cause and bore a distinguished 
part until the Briton was driven from our 
shores. He also proved his loyalty to his adopt- 
ed country by fighting her hereditary foe from 
1812 to 181 5. having served in a Pennsylvania 
regiment during that war. He is supposed to 
have first settled in Massachusetts, moving 
thence to New York and later to Westmoreland 
county, Pennsylvania, where he followed the 
life of a farmer until his death, which occurred 
about the year 1835. The subject's great-great- 
grandfather was William, a native of Philadel- 
phia, born June 10, 1770, married Elizabeth 
Morgan, born September 8, 1771. William 
died September 3, 1833, and his w'ife June 6, 
1845. The issue of their union was as follows : 
Nancy, who married a Mr. Fisher, born Octo- 
ber 22, 1791, died May 16. 1858; John, born 
June TO, 1793, at Darlington, Westmoreland 
county, Pennsylvania ; Sallie, born February 
12, 1796, died January i, 1856: Charjes, born 
July 26, 1798, died April 4, 1872; William, 
bom June 27, j8oo, died June 3, 1879; Eliza- 
beth, born August 25, 1802; Jessie, born June 

27, 1804; Mary, born July 18, 1806. died April 

28, 1845; Matilda, born September 20, 1808, 
died August 25, 1852; Jacob, born June 19, 
1810, died March 20, 181 t; Minnie, born De- 
cember 20, 1818, married a Mr. Stephenson, of 
near Mansfield, Ohio, and they have four chil- 
dren. John Foulks, the subject's great-grand- 
father, was born in Westmoreland county, near 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1793, and, like 
his father, devoted his life to the pursuit of 
agriculture. When a young man he came to 
eastern Ohio, settling at Moultrie, Columbiana 
county, where shortly after his arrival he mar- 

60 



rietl a widmv of the name of Mary Hassler, 
daughter of William Sleutz, who was also a 
native of Pennsylvania. John Foulks entered a 
section of land on which he built a small log 
cabin and lived the life of a pioneer, sharing in 
all the hardships and vicissitudes of the early 
times. He developed a fine farm, accunnilated 
a large estate and became one of the enterpris- 
ing men of the community in which he lived. 
Fie died in 1878, where he originally settled, his 
wife preceding him to the grave in 1869. The 
following are the names of the children born to 
John and Mary F""oulks : Lafayette, of whom a 
more extended notice will be found in another 
paragraph ; Mrs. Minerva Vink, born August 7, 
1834 ; William, born May 8, 1836, died in 1893, 
a soldier of the late Civil war; his widow, for- 
merly Miss Angeline Nunermaker, resides at 
New Franklin; Milton, born August 25, 1838, 
also a veteran of the Rebellion, died at Dunkirk, 
Lidiana, in 1901 ; John M., born June 5. 1840, 
served in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio 
^'olnnteers in the Civil war, married Elizabeth 
Jones and now lives at New Franklin, Ohio; 
Theodore Shannon, born March 29, 1842, was 
likewise a soldier, and at this time lives at 
Butte. Montana, a single man; Calvin, born 
April 15, 1845, a member of the One Hundred 
and Fifteenth Ohio Infantry in the Civil war, 
married Maggie Jones and makes his home at 
Albion, Michigan. 

Lafayette Foulks, the oldest of the above 
children, M-as born in Columbiana county, Ohio, 
December 24, 1832. He was reared to agricul- 
tural pursuits, attended at intervals when a boy 
the old fashioned schools of the times and made 
farming his life work. In 1851 he married Miss 
Nancy Whiteleather, who was born in Colum- 
biana county in the year 1836, the daughter of 
David and Elizabeth (Firestone) Whiteleather, 
natives respectively of Chambersburg, Penn- 
sylvania, and Wooster, Ohio. David White- 
leather came to this state in an early day and 
died in New Chambersburg, Ohio, about the 



962 



OLD LANDMARKS 



year. 1877. The Firestones moved to Ohio 
from Wayne county, Pennsylvania. 

After his marriage Lafayette Foulks moved 
to a farm in the vicinity of Moultrie, Colum- 
biana county, and there lived and prospered un- 
til his death, in 1889. Like his brothers, he too 
responded to the country's call in the dark days 
of the Rebellion, enlisting in Company D, One 
Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio Infantry, of 
which he was made second lieutenant at Colum- 
bus and later, for brave and meritorious con- 
duct, was promoted first lieutenant. He acted 
in the latter capacity until the close of the war 
and returned home after spending three and a 
half years in the service of his country. In poli- 
tics he was originally a Whig, but afterwards 
became a Republican, of which party all the 
male members of the Foulks family have been 
earnest supporters. He was a zealous com- 
municant of the jNIethodist church, as was also 
his wife, and as a man and citizen he command- 
ed the esteem and confidence of the community 
in which nearly all of his life was spent. La- 
fayette and Nancy Foulks reared the following 
children: Marion C, M. D. ; David W., born 
December 15, 1859, resides in Indianapolis, 
Indiana, married Frances Harrison, now de- 
ceased; William L., born March 30, 1866, died 
September 29, 1900, married Alpha Shively; 
Elizabeth, born March 29, 1862, married D. E. 
Lower, of Columbiana county, Ohio. 

Marion C. Foulks, M. D., was born INIay 15, 
1852, in Columbiana county, Ohio, and spent 
his early years on liis father's farm, meanwhile, 
as opportunities afforded,, attending the com- 
mon schools. He was an apt pupil, as may be 
inferred from the fact of his having success- 
fully passed the required examination for a 
teacher's license when but thirteen years of age, 
perhaps the youngest person in the state to re- 
ceive such an instrument. Mr. Foulks taught 
school for seven successive years, but in 1873 
abandoned educational work for the purpose of 
reading medicine, entering the office of Drs. 



Firestone and Carey at Salem, Ohio. Subse- 
quently he became a student of the medical de- 
partment of Wooster Uni\ersity, from which 
institution he was graduated in 1876, and im- 
mediately thereafter began the practice of his 
profession at North Georgetown, Columbiana 
county, where he remained during the ensuing 
ten years. Dr. Foulks built up an extensive 
practice in and around North Georgetown and 
in due time became one of the leading physi- 
cians and surgeons in that section of the state. 
In 1886 he opened an ofifice in Canton, and 
since that time has practiced in this city and 
adjacent country with a large measure of pro- 
fessional and financial success. His career has 
been one of uninterrupted prosperity, and today 
he occupies a commanding position among the 
medical men of eastern Ohio. He is now the 
consulting physician of the Aultman Hospital, 
and as a member of tlie Stark County Academy 
of Medicine, Canton Medical Society, North- 
eastern Ohio Medical Society, and the State 
Medical Association, he has done much to ad- 
vance the standard of professional efficiency in 
this part of the country'. Fraternally Dr. 
Marion C. Foulks is a Roy-at Arch Mason, a 
member of the Independent Order c»f Odd Fel- 
lows, the Knights of Pj'thias and an active 
worker in the Improved Order of Red Men. 
He is a pronoimced Republican in politics, yet 
he has never held political office nor aspired to 
public distinction, although acti\e in promoting 
the interests of his party and ever ready to 
maintain the soundness of his opinions. Relig- 
iously he was reared a Methodist, but in matters 
of faith entertains liberal views, believing all 
clunxhes to be potent instrumentalities for good 
if properly conducted. T!ie Doctor was mar- 
ried, at New Alexander, Columbiana county, 
Ohio, in 1873, to Miss Frances A. Lower, 
whose birth occurred in that town on the 4th 
day of July, 1856. Mrs. Foulks is the daugh- 
ter of Michael and Nancy (Smith) Lower, both 
natives of the countv of Columbiana, their re- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



963 



spective ancestors having moved to that part 
of the state from central Pennsylvania. Dr. 
and Mrs. Foulks have two children, namely : 
Anna M., educated in Canton public schools, 
graduated from the high school and from the 
Canton Business College; Wallace, S., M. D. 

Dr. Wallace S. Foulks, to a brief review of 
whose life and professional career the reader's 
attention is herewith respectively invited, was 
born June i, 1875, '''' Salem, Columbiana coun- 
ty, Ohio. When he was an infant his parents 
moved to North Georgetown and there he lived 
until about fourteen years of age, meanwhile 
beginning his education as a pupil in the village 
schools. He continued his studies at the above 
place until the family came to Canton, after 
which he attended the city schools until his 
nineteenth year and then entered his father's 
office to begin his preliminary preparation for 
the medical profession. In due time under his 
father's able direction he was ready to enter 
upon a more thorough course of instruction, 
and accordingly he became, in 1894, a student 
of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, 
and after attending that celebrated institution 
the greater part of three years was graduated 
in 1897 ^^'i'^h the degree of Doctor of Medicine. 

In October of the latter year Dr. Foulks be- 
gan practicing at his present quarters in Canton 
and since that time has made rapid advance- 
ment, enjoying toda}- worthy prestige among 
the successful professional men of the city and 
county. He prepared himself for his life work 
under some of the ablest medical talent on the 
continent, and, availing himself of every oppor- 
tunity for advancement, has gradually forged 
to the front, gaining an honorable distinction 
and a liberal share of patronage. He is a young 
man of fine intellectual and professional attain- 
ments, a student- and a thinker, and thus far his 
laudable ambition to excel has been crowned 
with most encouraging success. In common 
with the enterprising*and progressive members 
of t!ie profession everywhere he seeks the asso- 



ciation of those similarly engaged, and accord- 
ingly his name is found in the records of the 
Canton Medical Society, the Stark County 
Academy of Medicine, and other medical or- 
ganizations, whose object is the advancement of 
a higher standard of excellence among those 
whose lives and energies are being devoted to 
the alleviation of human sufifering. Realizing 
that to political parties are entrusted the govern- 
ment of the state and nation,: he gives his sup- 
port to the party which in his judgment best 
meets the requirements of the people and that 
most nearly subserves their interests, and be- 
lieving the Republican party best calculated to 
meet these ends he has been pronounced in his 
allegiance thereto since old enough to read and 
investigate intelligently, and he is now one of 
its younger leaders in the city of Canton. The 
Doctor is a member of the First Methodist 
Episcopal church of this city and in his frater- 
nal relations belongs to the Benevolent and Pro- 
tective Order of Elks, the Eagles,. Knights of 
Honor, Home Guards, Royal Templars and 
W'oodmen of the World. He is a married man 
and has a pleasant home in Canton, presided 
o-'.-er by a lady of culture and refinement who 
became his wife in this city on the 29th day of 
June, 1899. The maiden name of Mrs. Foulks 
was Florence M. Rockhill and she is the daugh- 
ter, of .Samuel H. and Margaret (Smith) Rock- 
hill. To them has been born a son, Raymond, 
born March 6, 1903. 



JOSEPH L. REED, M. D.— In the veins 
of Dr. Reed is mingled the blood of the sturdy 
Irish and Scotch races, blood that has con- 
tributed as much if not more than any other 
to the strength and firmness of our composite 
national life. His grandfather, William F. 
Reed, a native of North Ireland, came to the 
Ignited States a number of years ago, a single 
man, and settled in Westmoreland county, 
Pennsylvania, where he met a young lady by 



964 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the name of Susan Wyandt, who afterwards 
became his wife. Her parents migrated to 
Stark county, Ohio, when there was but a 
single log cabin on the present site of Canton, 
and entered a tract of land in what is now the 
township of Sugar Creek. They were joined 
a little later by another family of Wyandts, 
accompanied by William F. Reed, the little 
company making their way from Pennsylvania 
to what was then the far west in a wagon 
drawn by a yoke of oxen. Mr. Reed went to 
work as a farm hand, assisting his future 
father-in-law and others in clearing and pre- 
paring their lands for cultivation. After his 
marriage with Susan Wyandt he also settled 
in Sugar Creek townhip, cleared a farm and 
lived on the same until his death, at the age of 
fifty-six years. His wife survived him for 
some time, ' departing this life when about 
seventy-eight years old. 

Henry Reed, son of William F. and Susan 
Reed, was born on the old farmstead in the 
township of Sugar Creek, October 2, 1846, 
spent his early days beneath the parental roof 
and at the early age of seventeen joined an 
Ohio regiment to fight for the preservation of 
the Union. He entered the service of the 
country in 1862, and at the expiration of his 
period of enlistment veteranized in the Nine- 
teenth Ohio Regiment of Infantry, and remained 
in the army until the close of the Rebellion. 
After the war, he resumed agricultural pur- 
suits in his nati\e township and in 1867 was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary Shunk, whose 
birth occurred in Stark county, Ohio, on the 
25th of December, 1848. Michael Shunk, 
father of Mrs. Reed, was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, as was also his wife, who bore the 
maiden name of Christiana Putman, both 
coming from the county of Westmoreland. 
Tlie grandfather of Mrs. Shunk, Gabriel Put- 
man, is said to have been the first permanent 
white settler in the southern part of Stark 



county, taking up there three hundred and sixt 
acres of land and locating on the same whe 
the country was an unbroken wilderness. H 
became a well-to-do man and worthy citizei 
accumulated a large estate and died in 188 
at the advanced age of ninety years. At th 
time of his death he had two brothers and 
sister, the youngest being eighty-two years ok 
Not long after Henry Reed's marriage h 
purchased a farm of one hundred and sixt 
acres in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in what i 
now known as the "Rocks" and continued t 
live there and prosper until 1870, when h 
disposed of his place and formed a partnershi; 
with D. W. Rush in the manufacture of furni 
ture at the then town of Milton, now Wilmoi 
Two years later their shop was destroyed b; 
fire, but they immediately rebuilt and con 
tinned the business under the firm name o 
l^ush & Reed, until September, 1882, when th 
latter withdrew, but did not dispose of hi 
entire interest until three years later. In 188 
Mr. Reed purchased the old Gilbert farm ii 
Sugar Creek township and disposing of a par 
of the land for the purpose of erecting build 
ings made the place one of the finest and mos 
^•aluable of its area in that part of the county 
He still makes his home on this farm and i 
deservedly classed among the most successfu 
agriculturists as well as one of the most inteili 
gent and enterprising citizens of the community 
in which he resides. He and his good wif( 
are now practically retired and enjoying th( 
well-earned fruits of their many years of toi 
and honorable endeavor. In politics Henr} 
Reed is a stanch Republican and as such ha; 
been elected to several local offices, including 
that of township trustee, in which he is now 
serving his second term. He was a member ol 
the local school board for a period of fourteer 
years, during wiiich time he did much to pro- 
mote the educational interests of his township. 
Fraternally he is an actfve member of Wilmol 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



965 



Post No. 384. Grand Army of the Repviblic, 
and religiously belongs to the Protestant 
Methodist church, as does also his wife. 

Dr. Joseph L. Reed, the only child of his 
parents, was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, 
June 25, 1868, and when he was two years 
Did his parents removed to the town of Wilmot, 
Stark county. His early advantages were 
similar to those enjoyed by the majority of 
:ountry and village lads, and the public schools 
afforded him the means of acquiring a good 
education. He was graduated from the Wil- 
mot high school in 1885 and immediately 
thereafter began teaching', in which profession 
he made a reputation second to that of few 
3f his fellow educators in the count)' of Stark. 
He entered this field of endeavor at the age of 
seventeen and from that titne forward relied 
entirely upon his own resources not only for 
1 livelihood but for carrying to successful issue 
the plans for his future course of action. 
While teaching he spent his vacations at Mt. 
Union College and in this way succeeded in 
working his way through that institution, 
graduating in 1891 with the degree of Bachelor 
jf Science. 

During the three years following- the com- 
pletion of his collegiate course Dr. Reed served 
as superintendent of the Navarre public 
schools, meantime, on the 8th day of January, 
1892, being united in marriage to Miss Mildred 
Shorlx, daugiiter of James and Adelaide Shorb, 
of Canton. Although well cjualified by nature 
and intellectual training for school work. Dr. 
Reed did not see fit to spend his life in the edu- 
cational field, but had he done so there is no 
doubt that he would have achieved marked 
success both as a teacher and manager of 
schools. In 1894 he turned his attention to 
agricultural pursuits, not as an end, but as a 
means to an end, as he had long contemplated 
preparing himself for another calling- more in 
harmony with his tastes and much more re- 
munerative from a financial point of view, — 



the medical profession. Yielding to this de- 
sire, he entered in the fall of 1894 the Ohio 
Medical University, at Columbus, and there 
prosecuted his studies with great assiduity un- 
til 1897, on April 17th of which year he was 
graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medi- 
cine. Unlike many young physicians who 
choose for their first location some small vil- 
lage or remote country town, Dr. Reed at once 
selected a larger field, opening an office in 
May, 1897, at No. 430 South Market street, 
Canton. His reputation as a capable physician 
and surgeon soon became known and almost 
from the beginning his practice has been large 
and lucrative. He now ranks with the able 
medical men of the city, stands high in the 
estimation of the pul)lic and spares no pains 
to keep in touch with the trend of modern 
thought in all matters relating to his chosen 
calling. For two years he served as physician 
for the county infirmary and discharged the 
duties of the position in a manner highly credit- 
able to himself and satisfactory to all con- 
cerned. He is identified with the Stark County 
Medical Society and the Canton Medical So- 
ciety, and is regarded by older physicians as 
one of the promising medical men of the future. 
Dr. Reed belongs to several benevolent and 
fraternal societies, among which are Clinton 
Lodge No. 47, Free and Accepted IMasons, 
at Massillon ; Garfield Lodge, Junior Order 
of United American Mechanics, and Lodge No. 
26, Protected Home Circle, the last two in 
Canton. He is keenly alive to the great public 
rjuestions of the day, national and international, 
and as a stanch stipporter of the Republican 
party takes an active interest in political mat- 
ters, but not as an aspirant for ofiicial honors. 



WILIJAM G. MYERS was a native son 
of the Buckeye state, having been born June 
7, 1 820. in Chippewa township. Wayne county, 
the son of Peter and Sarah (]\Iiller) Myers. 



966 



OLD LANDMARKS 



His father was born in Rensselaer county, 
New York, while his mother was a native of 
Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. They both 
removed to Ohio, were married and located 
on the farm where the subject was born. Will- 
iam G. Myers is indebted to the common 
schools of Summit and Stark counties, Ohio, 
for his mental discipline and made good use of 
such opportunities as were afforded him, ac- 
quiring a good practical education. At the 
early age of sixteen years he was bound out to 
a cabinet maker and carpenter and learned 
those trades. Upon attaining his majority he 
commenced business on his own account, erect- 
ing houses and barns and doing such other 
jobs as came to him. He was a good work- 
man and generally found plenty of work await- 
ing him. His proficiency in the branches of 
learning then taught in the common schools 
had secured for him a license to teach and while 
still occupied at the trade of carpenter he put 
in his winters in the school room. His time 
was thus occupied until about the time of his 
marriage, in 1823, when he gave up the car- 
penter trade and commenced farming, continu- 
ing as before to teach school during the winter 
months. While engaged in his pedagogical 
labors he had been associated with several 
literary societies and took quite an active part 
in the debates and discussions of these societies, 
religious, scientific and political topics, engag- 
ing their attention. He acquired considerable 
skill as a debater and gained a reputation as a 
man who possessed definite and well founded 
ideas on questions affecting public interests and 
who was able to defend his convictions when 
opportunity offered. He was among the 
earliest anti-slavery, temperance and female 
suffrage advocates in his section of the coun- 
try, and to his discussion at that time of the 
great questions which then confronted the na- 
tion he ascribed his taste for the study of law, 
to which he subsequently applied himself. He 
commenced, in 184S, the reading of the under- 



lying principles of law, and after due exami- 
nation was admitted to practice at the bar, 
which profession he successfully followed for 
fifty years. He continued his farming interests 
until 1 87 1, when he removed to Canal Fulton, 
.Stark county, and continued the practice of 
his profession until in February, 1902, when 
he received the appointment as postmaster of 
Canal Fulton, and is now performing the duties 
of that office. By the exercise of sound judg- 
men, good business methods and a uniform 
courtesy to all the patrons of the office, he 
won the firm confidence and strengthened him- 
self in the good will of all, regardless of po- 
litical lines. 

Mr. Myers had a creditable military record, 
having enlisted, in September, 1862, in Com- 
pany G. One Hundred Twentieth Regiment 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, of which company 
he was commissioned captain. The regiment 
was first encamped at Mansfield and from there 
was sent to Vicksburg. They took part in the 
most arduous campaigns and marches of the 
Civil war and participated in several sanguin- 
ary conflicts, in all of which the subject nobly 
bore his part of the hardships and privations 
incident to the life of a soldier. Politically he 
was a Republican from the organization of 
the party in 1856 and took an active part in 
all the campaigns of the party for thirty 
years, having stumpetl the counties of Wayne, 
Stark. Medina, Summit and Holmes, and do- 
ing much other effective work in a political 
way. He was a forceful yet pleasing speaker 
and his words always carried conviction to the 
minds of his hearers. He kept alive his old 
army associations through his membership in 
the Grand Army of the Republic, and was at 
one time commander of his post. Religiously 
he was identified with the Methodist Episcopal 
church, of which he was an active and con- 
sistent member for sixty years. 

William G. Myers was united in marriage 
in Lawrence township, Stark county, Ohio, to- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



967 



Miss Sarah J. Hardgrove, the daughter of a 
well known and prominent farmer of that 
township. The union was a most feHcitous 
one and was blessed with six children, four 
sons and two daughters, namely: John W., 
William N., George AV., Richard F., Mary 
M. and Rosa. They also have eighteen grand- 
children. Mr. Myers, by a life of right li\'ing 
and strenuous endeavor, earned a warm place 
in the hearts of all who knew him. He was a 
devout lover of the pure, true and good, and 
was ever ready to encourage that which is 
worthy and to support that which is best. All 
found in him a friend and helper, and many 
were the expressions of sorrow and sincere re- 
gret when he died, the sad event occurring 
on the 14th of January, 1903. 



LEWIS D. BLANCHARD, D. V^ S.— 
Daniel August Blanchard, father of the Doctor, 
was born in Switzerland, where he was reared 
and educated, the date of his nativity having 
been 1825. As a young man he severed the 
home ties and set forth to seek his fortunes 
in America, arriving in due course of time in 
the city of New York, whence he made his 
way directly to Ohio, locating at Mount Eaton, 
WaTOe county, where he entered a claim to a 
tract of wild land, which he reclaimed from 
the forest and which he eventually developed 
into one of the many fine rural estates of that 
section of the commonwealth. He was pro- 
gressive, energetic and ambitious, had faith in 
the final outcome of his efforts, and in view 
of his present position none can doubt the wis- 
dom of his course nor the consistency of his 
early confidence in what the future had in store 
in connection with the agricultural resources 
of the Buckeye state. Tn Wayne county, he 
was united in marriage to Miss Julia Dodez, 
a daughter of Louis Dodez, an early and 
honored settler of that section. The parents 
of the subject still reside on the old homestead, 



which is doubly endeared to them by the mem- 
ories and associations of the past, and both are 
zealous and devoted members of the French 
Reformed church, with which they have been 
prominently identified for many years. In poli- 
tics Daniel A. Blanchard formerly gave his 
suport to the Democratic party, but since the 
organization of the Prohibition party, with 
whose principles his ideas are in thorough 
harmony, he has exercised his franchise in 
favor of the same. To him and his devoted 
and cherished wife were born four children, 
namely: Ellen, who is the wife of R. V. B. 
Pinkerton, of Canton; Lewis D., who figures 
as the subject of this review; Alii E., who is 
associated with the subject in business; and 
Flora, who died, at the parental home, in 1883, 
at the age of nineteen years. 

Lewis D. Blanchard was born on the old 
homestead farm, in Wayne county, Ohio, on 
the 7th of September, 1858, and he was reared 
to manhood under the invigorating discipline 
of the great basic art of agriculture, — an in- 
fluence which makes for both mental and physi- 
cal vigor, as the history of the American Re- 
public has demonstrated in a most significant 
way. He attended the district school in the 
vicinity of his home until he had attained the 
age of eighteen years, and thereafter was for 
two terms a student in the high school at 
Wooster, after which he resumed his labors on 
the home farm. At the age of twenty-one he 
went to Toronto, Canada, where he was 
matriculated in the Ontario Veterinary Col- 
lege, where he completed the prescribed course 
— a most thorough and exacting one — and 
where he was graduated as a member of the 
class of 1882, receiving his degree as Doctor of 
Veterinary Surgery. Immediately after his 
graduation Dr. Blanchard returned to Ohio, 
and in May of the .same year located in Can- 
ton, at his present headquarters, whei'ej' he 
established himself in the active practice of 
his profession. He soon secured a repre- 



963 



OLD LANDMARKS 



sentative patronage, his skill and thorough 
scientific knowledge insuring his definite pre- 
cedence from the start, and he is recognized as 
one of the most able veterinarians in the state. 
He is a great lover of that noble animal, the 
horse, and tlius takes marked satisfaction in 
this feature of his work. He was for a time 
located, for \arying intervals, at other points 
in the cit)-, l)ut returned to his original ipiarters 
in 1887, and here he has since remained. In 
that year he entered into a partnership with his 
brother and George W. Heldenbrand, in the 
livery, undertaking and transfer, business, un- 
der the firm name of Miller, Blanchard & Com- 
pany, and this association has since continued, 
while the business has grown to be one of the 
most important of the sort in the city, the 
firm having modern and complete facilities and 
equipments and being able to handle all work 
in the various departments to the satisfaction 
of their patrons. The business has so increased 
in scope and importance as to place a demand 
upon the subject for the major portion of his 
time and attention, and he has to a large de- 
gree abandoned the practice of his profession, 
thoug'h his interposition in this line is frequent- 
ly in requisition in consultation and in critical 
cases. 

In politics Dr. Blanchard gives an uncom- 
promising allegiance to the Democratic party. 
in whose cause he has been an active and ef- 
ficient worker, having served as delegate to 
the various conventions of the party in the 
county and congressional district, and having 
frequently been also a delegate-at-large to state 
conventions. He has never sought official 
preferment, but his interest in the work of 
education, and his marked eligibility, led to his 
being' twice elected a member of the board of 
education of Canton, in which capacity he 
served for two full terms, proving a valuable 
member of the body, while he received a large 
majority on the occasion of each election. 
Fraternallv he is a member of the Benevolent 



and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights 
of Pythias, in the former of which he is past 
exalted ruler of Canton Lodge No. 68, of Can- 
ton, Axhicli he represented as a delegate to the 
meeting of the national grand lodge of the 
order in Cincinnati (1896) and Miimeapolis 
(1897). His religious faith is that of the 
French Reformed church, and he holds mem- 
bership in the church at Mount Eaton, near his 
birthplace. 

In the city of Canton, on the 26th of March, 
1891, Dr. Blanchard was united in marriage 
to Miss Laura B. Milhoff, daughter of Frank 
Milhoff, of this city, where she was born and 
reared. Dr. and Mrs. Blanchard have two 
children, Florence, ^vho w-as born on the 4th 
of J\Iay, 1893, ^"^^ Donald L., born in April, 
1903. Their home is a center O'f generous 
and refined hospitality and they are prominent 
in the social life of their home citv. 



JOHN F. FARBER was born in Pike 
township. Stark county, on the 22A of Novem- 
ber, 1834, and there his youthful days were 
passed on the parental homestead, while it is 
needless to say that he early became familiar 
with the manifold details which entered into 
the reclamation and cultivation of a pioneer 
farm, this formative period in his life being one 
which has had its infiuence upon his entire sub- 
sequent career, since he then learned the value 
of consecutive endeavor and to appreciate the 
sturdy self-reliance and inrlependence which 
are ever begotten under such circumstances and 
environments. His initial scholastic discipline 
was received in the little district school, and he 
continued his efforts in this line until he had ac- 
c|nired a good common-school education. But 
ere proceeding farther with a consideration of 
his ]Dersonal career, we may well revert to the 
ancestral history. Llis father, the late James 
I^nrl^er, was likewise a native son of Ohio, and 
his was the distinction of having been the first 




JOHN F. FARBER. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



969 



white child born in Sandy township, Tuscara- 
was county, where lie was ushered into the 
world on the ist of March, 1808, being a son 
of John Farber, who emigrated to Ohio in 1806. 
He located in Tuscarawas county, where he 
took up a tract of land in tlie midst of the dense 
forest, there instituting the work of reclamation 
and thus contributing his quota as one of the 
founders and builders of a great common- 
wealth. He there passed the remainder of his 
life, and thence, as a young man, his son James, 
father of the subject, came to Stark county, 
becoming one of the first settlers in I'ike town- 
ship, wher,e he had the opportunity of repeating 
the pioneer experiences of his earlier years, 
though with the added responsibilities implied 
in becoming the head of a family and dependent 
upon his o\sn resources. He married Miss 
Caroline A. Weaver, who was born in the old 
Empire state of New York, on the 1 7th of July, 
181 5. They continued to make their home in 
Pike township until their deaths, and in their 
later years were permitted to enjoy tlie com- 
forts and the rest which are the fitting crown of 
years of earnest and indefatigable endeavor. 
On the 2 1 St of February, 1890, death set its 
seal upon the mortal lips of this noble woman, 
and her loved companion did not long survive 
her loss, his death occurring on the Jd of the 
following June, at the age of nearly eighty- 
three years, while she was in her seventy-sixth 
year at the time of her death. This worthy 
couple became the parents of seven children, 
namely : John F., the immediate subject of this 
sketch; Isabella, who became the wife of John 
Kiefer and who died in Carroll county, this 
state; Emma, who died at the age of about 
two years ; 01i\ er, who is a farmer in Osnaburg 
township; Philip, who is individually men- 
tioned elsewhere in this work; Abigail, who is 
the wife of Franklin Neuhouse, of Pike town- 
ship ; and Betsey, living in Sandy township. In 
politics the father of these children was a Demo- 



crat, and both he and his wife were members of 
the L'nited Brethren church. 

John F. Farber, the immediate subject of 
this .sketch, continued to assist in the work of 
the homestead farm until he had attained the 
age of twenty-seven years, when he removed 
from his native township to Rose township, 
Carroll county, where he made his home froni 
1863 until 1890, having been one of the suc- 
cessful farmers of that county. He then re- 
turned to Pike township and purchased his 
pr-esent fine homestead, which includes one hun- 
dred and sixty-eight acres, with the best of per- 
manent improvements and maintained under 
efl'ective cultivation. In addition to carrying 
on diversified farming Mr. Earlier also devotes 
no little attention to the raising of live stock of 
high grade. He is progressive and methodical, 
and thus has ever been able to secure the best 
returns from his labors, while his sterling in- 
tegrity of character and his genial personality 
have gained to him the esteem and good will of 
all with whom he has come in contact in the va- 
rious relations of life. In politics he accords 
allegiance to the Democratic party, and he has 
never been unmindful of the duties of citizen- 
ship, but has shown a proper interest in local 
afi'airs of a public nature, though he has never 
been imbtied with a desire for official prefer- 
ment. His interest in the cause of education, 
however, led to his election to the office of 
school director, of which he has been incum- 
bent for several years. He is a consistent 
member of the United Brethren church at Mag- 
nolia, of which his wife likewise was a member, 
exemplifying her deep Christian faith in the 
daily walks of a life that was one of intrinsic 
purity and beauty. 

In Pike township, on the 15th of April, 
i860, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Far- 
ber to Miss Harriet Flora, who was born 'in 
this township, on the 31st of January, 1839, 
being a daughter of the late George and Han- 



970 



OLD LANDMARKS 



nah (Bowman) Flora, honored pioneers of this 
county, where the death of both occurred. Mr. 
and Mrs. Far,ber became the parents of three 
children, namely: Emma E., who is the wife 
of Franklin Seaman, of Carroll county; Frank- 
lin F., \Aho married Laura Wadsworth and 
who is now engaged in stock dealing in Carroll 
county; and Philip F., who married Mary E. 
Crooks and who is now devoting his attention 
to farming in Sandy township, Tuscarawas 
county. The great loss and sorrow in the life 
of the honored subject was that entailed by the 
death of his cherished wife, who passed away, 
at the present homestead, on the 6th of Febru- 
ary, 1897. Hers was a noble and gracious 
womanhood, and her kindness and unvarying 
sympathy for those in any way afflicted, in 
mind, body or estate, gained to her the love of 
all who came within the sphere of her personal 
influence, while to those who were of the imme- 
diate family and who represented hen dominat- 
ing interest, remains the greatest appreciation 
of her beautiful character, while in this mem- 
ory is found the measure of consolation which 
robs death of its sting. In the cemetery near 
his farm Mr. Farber has erected a beautiful 
mausoleum; and here the remains of the loved 
wife and mother are laid to rest, safeguarded 
until the glorious resurrection is again typified. 



CHARLES TFIEODORE CARLSON is 
a native of Sweden, having been born in the 
town of Carlsborg, on the 3d of March, 1863, 
and being a son of Carl Abraham Stong, 
who is a tailor by vocation and who still re- 
sides in Sweden, the name of our subject teing 
Carlson, in accordance with the custom of his 
native land, which gives to the sons the sur- 
name from the father's Christian name. The 
mother of the subject is also still living, her 
maiden name having been Anna Caisa Peter- 
son. This worthy couple became the parents 
of five children, of whom three are living, while 



of the number two arc residents of the L'nited 
States. Charles T. Carlson was educated in 
the schools of his na^tive land, where he remained 
until lie had attained the age of seventeen years, 
when he severed the home ties and emigrated 
to America, landing in Xew York city, a 
stranger in a strange land and with no knowl- 
edge of the language of the country, while his 
financial resources were very limited. The 
problem was one which would have daunted a 
less valiant soul, but Mr. Carlson had the self- 
reliant spirit Avhich begets success, while he 
stood ready to turn his hand to any honest 
work which oftered. Owing to his youthful 
appearance he could find no work in the na- 
tional metropolis, and he then went up the 
Hudson river and secured employment on a 
farm, remaining one month, at the expiration 
of which he returned to the city for the pur- 
pose of seeking other work. There he met 
John D. Locke, a manufacturer of tinware, 
and this gentleman gave him employment 
about his residence, and about five months later 
his employer suggested he enter his establish- 
ment and learn the tinner's trade. Mr. Carl- 
son gladly accepted the proposition so kindly 
made, and in Mr. Locke's factory, at White- 
stone, Long Island, he served an apprentice- 
ship of four year? at the trade, and then served 
an additional period of fourteen months at the 
plumber's trade, while during this time he at- 
tended night school at College Point, Long 
Island, being anxious to properly learn the 
English language -and to otherwise supplement 
his educational training, in order that he might 
be the better prepared to face the battle of life 
in the land of his adoption. In the institution 
mentioned he secured a diploma in mechanical 
drawing, becoming specially skilled in this line. 
After leaving the Locke establishment Mr. 
Carlson was placed in charge of the metal de- 
partment of the shops of the Long Island Rail- 
road Company, where he remained two years, 
after which he went to Memphis, Tennessee, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



97 i 



where lie secured the position of foreman in the 
shops of the H. Wetter Manufacturing Com- 
pany, in which connection he so thoroughly 
proved his abilit}- and fidelity that at the ex- 
piration of two }'ears he was made superintend- 
ent of the factory, which incumbency he re- 
tained sixteen years, at the expiration of which, 
in July, 1 90 1, he came to Canton and accepted 
his present position, in which his discriminat- 
ing and efficient efforts have met with apprecia- 
tion and have done much to conserve the best 
interests of the concern with which he is identi- 
lied. In politics Mr. Carlson exercises his fran- 
chise in support of the principles of the Repub- 
lican party, and his religious faith is indicated 
in his holding membership in the First Presby- 
terian church, of which his wife also is a mem- 
ber. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Royal 
Arcanum, the Knights of Pythias, the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Im- 
proved Order of Red Men. 

On the i6th of January, 1902, Mr. Carl- 
son was united in marriage to Miss Mary Alt- 
house, a daughter of George W. and Susan 
(Baum) Althouse, of Canton. 



JOSEPH A. MEYER was born in Tuscar- 
awas county, Ohio, being a son of Col. Frank 
Meyer, who was an official in the service of 
the government and whose wife at the 
time of her marriage to Colonel Meyer 
was a widow. After the death of her second 
husband she came to Canton and here "estab- 
lished her home and passed the remainder of 
her life. In the public schools the subject of 
this memoir received his early educational dis- 
cipline, and in preparing for the active respon- 
sibilities of life he served an apprenticeship at 
the jeweler's trade under the direction of a 
man named Fry, the pioneer jeweler of Canton. 
When Mr. Fry finally removed from Canton 
Mr. Mever succeeded to his business, his 



original location having been on the site of the 
present Folwell block. There he continued to 
conduct a very profitable business for a long 
term of years, becoming one of the prominent 
merchants and influential citizens of Canton, 
and eventually he provided more commodious 
and attractive quarters for his establishment, 
by erecting an attractive and substantial brick 
building, with front of Berea stone, just to the 
north of his former location. Here he contin- 
ued to carry forward the enterprise, Avhich was 
the most important of the sort in the city, until 
he finally retired from active business, having 
by good management and scrupulous integrity 
and fair dealing attained a competence. He 
was the owner of one hundred and thirteen 
acres of the original Meyer's estate, at Meyer's 
lake, this county, and this greatly appreciated 
in value under his control. His death occurred 
on the 7th of June, 1887. He was a man of 
generous and kindly nature, had marked sagac- 
ity in business and was essentially public- 
spirited, taking a deep interest in all that con- 
served the welfare and progress of the city 
which was his home for so many years and in 
which he held the implicit confidence of all who 
knew him. In politics he gave his allegiance 
to the Republican party, and his religious faith 
was that of the Episcopalian church. 

Mr. Meyer was united in marriage to Miss 
Caroline Bleck, who was born in Pennsylvania 
and who died about 1885. Of this union were 
born the following named children : Frank 
C, who died in Canton, at the age of about 
forty years; Joseph A., who died at Bagdad, 
Turkey, was a graduate of the Boston School 
of Technology, and was engaged in the w^ork 
of his profession at the time of his death; 
Winifred, who was a teacher in a school for 
the deaf; John M. is a dentist, residing in 
Tacoma, Washington ; and Carrie is the wife 
of Otto Ryan, of New York. On the ist of 
September, 1886, Mr. Meyer consummated a 
second marriage, being then united to Mrs. 



•972 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Frances C. Cross, widow of Samuel F. Cross, 
and of this second marriage no children were 
born. Mrs. Meyer survives her honored hus- 
band and, as has been already stated, resides 
in Canton. She was born in the city of Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, on the i.st of June, 1S38, and 
her parents died while slie was an infant. She 
-was taken into the home of the Rev. Thomas 
Childress and was accorded the devoted care 
that would have been given by her own parents. 
Rev. Childress' wife, Phoebe, nee Perry, was a 
lineal descendant of Commodore Perry and was 
a noble Christian woman. Mrs. Meyer was 
thus favored in being reared in a home of 
marked culture and refinement, and at the time 
she was taken by these worthy folk they were 
residing in Butler county, Ohio, Rev. Child- 
ress being a clergyman of the Baptist church. 
After a few years they removed to Preble 
county, and Mr. Childress assumed pastoral 
charge of the church at Winchester, where Mrs. 
L'leyer received her early educational training 
in the public schools, being graduated in the 
high .-school. Her foster parents were very kind 
and devoted and afiforded her every advant- 
age in their power to provide, and she holds 
their memories in the deepest affection and 
veneration. Mr. Chddress gave a full half cen- 
tury to the work of the Christian ministry, 
and in the early days he traveled from place 
to ijJace on horseback, looking after the spirit- 
ual welfare of the pioneei* settlers in the isolated 
sections of the state. He enjoyed great pop- 
ularity in southwestern Ohio and was an ever 
welcome guest in all the best homes of that sec- 
tion. He died at Winchester, Preble county, 
jiliout the beginning of the Civil war. passing 
away in the fullness of years and well earned 
honors. His wife passed most of the remainder 
of her life in the home of her foster child, Mrs. 
j)\feyer, her death occurring in Canton in 1872. 
Mrs. Meyer has been thrice married. In 
1854, at Winchester, Ohio, she l^ecame the wife 
■of Henry Clawson, who was born in that towai, 



being the son of Randolph and Xancy (Wea- 
ver) Clawson, the latter of whom was a daugh- 
ter of Judge \\'ea\cr. one of the honored pio- 
neers of the southwestern part of the state. 
He was a }^ung man of sterling character. 
He d.ied at the age of twenty-three years, leav- 
ing his young widow with one child. Leonard 
E., who was born in Winchester, on the 8th of 
December, 1855 and who is now a successful 
business man of San Francisco, California, 
where his mother has visited him on four dif- 
ferent occasions, so that she has made eight 
trans-continental trips. In Winchester, on the 
J 6th of July, 1858, Mrs. Meyer was a second 
time married, becoming the wife of Samuel 
F. Cross, who was Ijorn near Oneida, Carroll 
county, Ohio, and who was engaged in the 
hardware business at Winchester at the time 
of his marriage, and there he remained until 
the spring of 1861, when with his wife and 
little ilaughter he came to Canton, where he 
maintained his home until his death, on the 
23d of February, 1874, having been for many 
years a traveling" salesman. In politics Mr. 
Cross was a stanch Republican and his religious 
faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, of which ]\lrs. Meyer has long been 
a devoted member. By her second marriage 
she became the mother of two children, Mary 
Lnella, who was burn in Winchester, Preble 
county, on the i6th of April, 1859, and who is 
now the wife of James B. Robinson, of San 
Francisco, California ; and Joseph Cameron 
Cross, who was born in Canton, September 19, 
1862, is now a resident of C'olumlius, Ohio. He 
married "Miss Bertha Dunning and they have 
two sons, Frederick H. and Joseph Cameron. 
i\lrs. Meyer's home is locatetl at 403 East 
Eighth street. She is a devoted and active 
member of the First Methodist Episcopal 
church and is prominent in the work of the 
Ladies' Aid Society and the Foreign Mission- 
ary Society of the church, as well as the 
Woman's Christian Temperance L'nion, -^xliile 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



97 3- 



her life is brightened by the kindly attentions 
and affections of an exceptionally wide circle 
of friends. 



JOSEPH SCHILLIG was born in Ximi- 
shillen township, Stark county, Ohio, on the 
i8th of April, 1841, being a son of Joseph and 
Sophia (Cupper) Schilling, of whose ten chil- 
dren eight are living at the time of this writing, 
namely: Joseph, the immediate subject of this 
sketch; Catherine, who is the wife of John 
Berg, of Maximo, this township; Mary A., 
who is the widow of Alexander Findlay and 
resides in the city of Canton ; Magdalene, who 
is the wife of Anthony Gerardot, of Maximo ; 
Josephine, who is the wife of Louis Gerardot, 
of Marlboro township; John, who is likewise 
a resident of that township, as is also Adam ; 
and Enialine, who is the wife of Joseph Ger- 
ardot, of Washington township. The father 
was born in the province of Alsace, France 
(now Germany), in the year 1812, being a 
son of George Schillig, who came to the 
United States with his family in 1824, making 
his way from the eastern seaboard to Ohio 
and taking up his abode in Columbiana county. 
There the father of the subject secured em- 
ployment in the tavern at New Garden, that 
county, doing the chopping of wood for five 
stoves by means of which the hostelry was 
heated and made comfortable for its guests 
and other inmates. He also looked after the 
horses and was a general utility boy, finding 
httle time for diversion. Later he went to 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he was em- 
ployed for a period of about twelve years, 
within which time he w^as married. One year 
after this eventful episode in his career he 
returned to Ohio, and came to Stark county, 
where he purchased a farm of one hundred and 
six acres, in Nimishillen township, the same 
having been partially improved, though much 
of the native timber was yet remaining. He 



thereafter devoted his attention to the clear- 
ing and otlierwise improving of his farm, 
bringing the same under effective cultivation, 
and here he continued to reside until his death, 
which occurred in the year 1863. His wife 
survived him a number of years, her (Ie:ith 
occurring in 1886. 

Th.e subject of this sketch was torn on the 
old homestead above mentioned, and as a boy 
he began to contribute his quota to its work, 
while he received such advantages in a 
scholastic way as were afforded in the public 
schools of the locality. He was about twenty- 
two years of age at the time of his father's 
death, after which he took charge of the farm 
and operated the same for his mother. In 1868 
he was united in marriage to Miss Louise 
Menegay, who was likewise born in Nimi- 
shillen township, being a daughter of John B. 
Menegay, who was born in France, whence 
he emigrated to America when a young man,, 
becoming one of the first settlers in this di- 
vision of Stark county, where he passed the- 
remainder of his life. The year after his 
marriage Mr. Schillig purchased and removed 
to his present home farm, which comprises 
eighty acres, and within the intervening years 
he has improved the place and made it one of 
the valuable farms of the county. In 1897 
Mr. Schillig erected on his farm a large and 
attractive house of modern architectural de- 
sign and equipment, and in the same years was 
also completed his large and well arranged 
bank barn, while all other buildings about the 
place are in harmony. After the death of his 
mother, in 1886, Mr. Schillig purchased the 
old homestead which his father had secured 
so many years ago, the same still comprising 
the original one hundred and six acres and 
being a valuable property. The subject still 
owns the homestead and personally superin- 
tends its cultivation. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Schillig have been born four children, one of 
whom died in infancy, while those surviving 



974 



OLD LANDMARKS 



are John M., who is a successful teacher in 
the city of Cleveland ; Mary J., who is the wife 
of Robert Martlet, of Canton, this county; 
and Charles E., who remains at home, being 
a popular teacher in the schools of this lo- 
cality. 

Mr. Schillig is known as a man of marked 
public spirit, taking a deep interest in all that 
touches the progress and material prosperity of 
the community, while in politics he is a stanch 
advocate of the principles of the Democratic 
party. He served three years as assessor of 
Nimishillen township and for the past nine 
years has been incumbent of the office of justice 
of the peace, in which he has given admirable 
service. The cause of education has been one in 
which he also manifested deep concern, doing 
much to advance the same in a local way, 
while for twelve years he did efficient service 
as director of the school board of his district. 
He is a communicant of the Catholic church, 
as is also his wife, they holding membership 
in St. Louis' church, at Louisville. 



ALFRED L. RIZER, M. D.— Back to the 
cradle of our national history must the gene- 
alogist go in tracing the history of the Rizer 
family on this side of the Atlantic, since its 
paternal ancestors settled as early as 1776 in 
Maryland, and in that state his grandfather, 
Martin Rizer, was born about the year 1798. 
The first of the Rizers to come to this country 
were three brothers, natives of Germany, one 
of them being the father of the above Martin. 
This ancestor was born and reared in Allegany 
county, Maryland, and spent his life there, 
dying about 1882. His wife was a Miss Close, 
whose antecedents were also pioneers of the 
above state, in certain localities of which the 
name is still familiar. Three sons of Martin 
Rizer, Solomon, Simon and Levi, were soldiers 
in the Union army during the great rebellion 
and did effective service in some of the most 



noted campaigns and bloodiest battles of the 
war. Like many of the German Americans, 
tlie Rizers were Lutherans and as such were 
noted for piety, allegiance to the church, and 
for true moral worth as citizens. 

Jesse Rizer, the Doctor's father, was born 
in Allegany county, Maryland, in February, 
1820, and grew to maturity there, learning 
while young the trade of blacksmithing. His 
brothers also appear to have been natural me- 
chanics, as they all adopted the same trade as 
the subject and became skilled workmen. 
After working in iron for a number of years, 
Jesse Rizer took up coopering and in due time 
acquired as much efficiency in that vocation as 
he had developed as a blacksmith. He mar- 
ried, in his native state. Miss Sophia IMiller, a 
lady much his senior, as her birth occurred 
about the year 18 10. She was a native of 
Germany and accompanied her parents to the 
United States, the family settling in the county 
of Allegany. Some time after his marriage 
Mr. Rizer loaded his household effects on an 
old-fashioned, two-horse emigrant wagon and 
moved to Ohio, locating at Mt. Vernon, Knox 
county, where some of his wife's relatives were 
then living. After spending a few years in 
that locality he changed his abode to the town 
of Danville, in the same county, where he made 
barrels and other articles of cooperage, until 
advancing age compelled him to discontinue 
manual labor. Mrs. Rizer departed this life 
at Danville, about the year 1888 and later Mr. 
Rizer took a second wife, who still survives. 

Dr. Alfred L. Rizer is the only child by 
his father's first marriage. He was born in 
Allegany county, Maryland, December 14, 
1844, and when about four years old was 
brought to Ohio by his parents, of which state 
he has since been an honored resident. After 
completing the common school course he 
entered the normal school at Danville, where 
he prepared himself for college, but owing to 
circumstances over which he had no control. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



97 S 



was not permitted to carry into effect his plans 
to acquire a finished education. It is proper to 
state that one of the reasons that materially 
interfered with this purpose was the lack of 
means, in consequence of which he was com- 
pelled to discontinue his studies and make his 
own livelihood besides contributing his earn- 
ings to the support of his parents. While a 
student he made rapid strides in mastering 
the branches constituting the curriculum of the 
normal school and at the early age of sixteen 
he was sufficiently advanced to pass the re- 
quired examination and receive a teacher's 
license. He taught his iirst term in the little 
vilage of Brownsville, Knox county, under 
rather peculiar circumstances, as two-thirds of 
the pupils were much older and larger than 
himself, quite a number of them being full 
grown men and women. He succeeded most 
admirably both as an instructor and a disci- 
plinarian and iinished the school with little or 
no difficulty, winning the high esteem of pupils 
and patrons and earning a reputation such as 
few older teachers achieve. He continued in 
the educational field for a number of years, 
dividing his time between working at various 
Tiinds of manual labor in the summer and teach- 
ing during the winter seasons. Not desiring 
to devote his life to a calling so poorly re- 
membered as school work, Mr. Rizer decided 
to adopt medicine for his profession, accord- 
ingly, in 1868 he began a preliminary course 
of study at Gambler, Knox county, with Dr. 
Sapp, a well known physician of that place, 
under whose direction he continued for about 
four years. He applied himself very assidu- 
ously to investigation and research, accom- 
panied his preceptor on his professional 
rounds and by close observation and practical 
experience made rapid advancement in the 
theory and practice of medicine. The better 
to prepare himself for efficiency in his chosen 
-calling he entered, in March, 1870, the Detroit 
Medical College, Detroit, Michigan, from 



which he was graduated two years later and 
immediately thereafter began the practice of 
his profession at Aurora, Portage county, 
Ohio. At the beginning of his career Dr. 
Rizer experienced the difficulties that usually 
beset the pathway of young physicians, but it 
was not long until he overcame these and grew 
in public favor. That he succeeded in Aurora 
is abundantly verified by the twenty-three years 
of practice there, during which he more than 
realized professionally and financially the 
bright hopes of his youthful days. In Decem- 
ber, 1894, the Doctor transferred his extensive 
business to other hands and changed his lo- 
cation to the city of Canton, from which time 
to the present his record has been a series of 
continual successes in a field where many of 
the state's eminent physicians have practiced. 

Dr. Rizer's ambition to excel in his chosen 
calling has gro\vn with his progress and as a 
physician and surgeon he now has few 
superiors in northwestern Ohio. He makes 
diagnoses readily, has had long and valuable 
experience in the treatment of nearly every 
disease to which humanity is heir and possesses 
a thorough knowledge of materia medica and 
pathology, with the ability to reduce the same 
to practice. Dr. Rizer has employed every 
means at hand to keep pace with modern 
theories and methods, but in the end he relies 
chiefly upon his own judgment and skill, 
backed as they are by long years of practical 
experience. By coming in contact with men of 
high profesional attainments in the medical 
society with which he is identified and by 
mutual interchange of opinions, he has greatly 
enlarged the area of his general knowledge and 
heightened the technical scholarship which has 
been such a potent factor in his field of en- 
deavor. He belongs to the Northeastern Ohio 
Homeopathic Medical Society and since be- 
coming connected therewith he has been an 
active participant in its deliberations. 

Dr. Rizer is a Republican in politics but 



976 



OLD LANDMARKS 



has never stepped aside from his profession 
to take a ver)' acti\e interest in party affairs, 
ahhough a mrm with the courage of his con- 
victions and well informed upon the leading 
questions before the American iieople. In 
matters religious he also has decided views, 
being an earnest believer in the fundamental 
truths of Christianity and a zealous member 
of the Lutheran church of Canton. While pro- 
nounced in his allegiance to his creed, he is 
not narrow in matters of faith but looks upon 
all churches and religious organizations as in- 
fluential factors in promoting the well being 
of society and winning mankind to a high and 
noble destiny. 

The Doctor was liappily married, in April, 
1895, to Miss Carrie Parsons, a most estimable 
and cultured ladv of Aurora, the union being 
without issue. 



CHARLES W. REAM was born on the old 
liomestead farm, in Plain township, this coun- 
ty, on the 3d of October, 1867, and his rudi- 
mentary education was secured in the district 
schools, this training being later supplemented 
by a course of study in the Canton Business 
College, at Canton, in which he was graduated 
as a member of the class of 1884. As a boy he 
contributed his quota to the work of the home 
farm, and w hen eighteen years of age he came 
to Canton and took a clerkship in the grocery 
of McCloud & ^'oung, where he gained his ini- 
tial cx]>erience in the line of enterprise in which 
he is now successfully engaged on his own re- 
sponsibilit)-. He continued to be employed as 
a clerk for a number of years, and on the 5th of 
July, 1892, he associated himself with W^illiam 
H. Leonhart, under the firm name of Ream & 
Leonhart, and opened the present grocery of 
the subject, (jn the east side of the public square, 
Mr. Ream ha\-ing purchased his partner's in- 
terest in the business on the i8th of September, 



1893, since ^\hich time he has continued the 
same independently, having been energetic and 
progressive in his methods and courteous and 
liberal in his 'dealings with his patrons, so that 
he has built up a prosperous and representati\e 
trade, having a well equipped and thoroughly 
modern store and catering to a discriminating 
])atronage. 

Henry Ream, father of the subject, was 
tern on the homestead farm in Canton town- 
ship, on the 28th of September, 1823, being a 
son of Philip and Mary (Aultman) Ream, who 
were native? of Pennsylvania. His grandpar- 
ents were natives of Germany, whence they emi- 
grated to America, having bound themselves 
out to pay their passage. After they had ar- 
rived in the new world, and after this obligation 
was discharged they were married and settled 
in Pennsylvania, where they afterward resided 
until their deaths. Philip and Mary (Aultman) 
Ream were married in their native state, and in 
1806 emigrated to Columbiana county, Ohio, 
and one year later to Stark county, where they 
entered land in Canton township, and de- 
veloped a valuable farm, and there passed 
the greater part of their lives, though about 
two years previous to their deaths they 
went to live with one of thein daughters in 
Nimishillcn township, where their deaths oc- 
curred, the mother in January, 1851, and the 
father in October of the same year, he being 
in his eighty- fottrth year and she in her seventy- 
second. They became the parents of fourteen 
children, of whom the father of the subject is 
the youngest and the only survivor. 

Henry Ream is one of the representative 
and highly honored farmers of Plain township, 
where he has maintained his home for more 
than half a century, having taken up his resi- 
dence on his present farm in 1852. He was 
for a time engaged in the butchering business 
in connection with his farming industr}', while 
for many years he has maintained throughout 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



977 



this section of Ohio a very high rqiutation as 
an auctioneer, in which line he has disposed of 
more goods at public vendue than has any other 
person in the county, having followed this busi- 
ness fifty years. The first sale he ever took 
charge of was in 1849, 'ind the last one in 1899, 
and during this period auctioneered over fifteen 
hundred sales. He has also been in control of 
an excellent business in the operation of a 
threshing outfit, and it may consistently be said 
that few men in the county are better known or 
held in more unqualified esteem. 

On the 1st of January, 1846, Henry Ream 
was united in marriage to Miss Anna Oberlin, 
who was born in Plain township, this county, 
October 7, 1827, being a daughter of Adam 
and Elizabeth (Albright) Oberlin, who were 
pioneer settlers in that township, the farm on 
which they located being contiguous to the city 
of Canton, a portion of which is located on the 
same. Soon after Henry Ream's marriage he 
settled on his father's old home farm where he 
resided three years, then moved on his father- 
in-law's farm and lived there three years, then 
purchased and settled on his present farm, 
where he has since resided. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
Ream are earnest and consistent members of the 
Reformed church, and in politics Mr. Ream 
was a Whig until the organization of the Re- 
publican party, since which time he has ever 
been arrayed in support of its principles. Of 
the ten children of this marriage five are living 
at the present time, namely : Josiah W., who is 
a resident of Muncie, Indiana ; Ellen A., who is 
the wife of Edward E. Carnes, of Canton; 
Edwin L., who is likewise a resident of this 
city; Emma C, who is the wife of Frank J. 
Bordner, of Perry township and Charles W., 
the immediate subject of this sketch. Charles 
W. Ream was united in marriage at Canton, 
December 27, 1891, the lady of his choice be- 
ing Miss Emma Hosier, a native of this county, 
born May 19, 1865, and a daughter of Samuel 
and Nettie Hosier, who are now residents of 

61 



North Industry, Ohio. Mr. ' and Mrs. Ream 
have two children, Annetta Marie and 
Henry H. 



■ JOHN T. SCHROYER.-The ancestral 
members of the Schroyer family were natives 
of Germany, the later generations having re- 
sided at Baden Baden. The great-grandfather 
of the subject, George Schroyer, came with his 
wife to the United States in 1 764, settling some- 
where in the eastern states. His son, the sub- 
ject's grandfather, came to Ohio early in the 
pioneer period and located in Stark county. He 
died while comparatively young, and his widow 
afterward married Jacob Minnick, to which 
union were born six children, three sons and 
three daughters. To her first union but one 
child was born, George W., the father of the 
subject, his birth taking place in Canton in 
1833. His father died while George was a babe 
of but two years, and at the age of eight years 
he left the maternal roof and went to live with 
the family of Jacob Myers. As soon as old 
enough he was set to \vork at farm labor, thus 
early becoming inured to hard and consecutive 
toil. He was subsequently apprenticed to learn 
the trade of a carpenter with George Schlabach, 
which trade he followed, working for various 
concerns until 1891, when he entered the em-r 
ploy of his son, the subject. 

George W. Schroyer was married in Can- 
ton to Miss Sarah Fogle, the daughter of Will- 
iam Fogle, one of the early pioneers of Stark 
county. Her death occurred on the nth of 
July, 1896. They were both faithful and con- 
sistent members of the First Baptist church of 
Canton and were held in high esteem by all whs> 
knew them. They were the parents of the fol- 
lowing children: Charles, of Chicago; Anna, 
at home; Emma, Mrs. Jacob Reigner, of Can- 
ton; John T., the subject; Nettie, Mrs. Elmer 
Ball, of Canton; Carrie, Mrs. Charles E. Rus- 
kin, of Cleveland, Ohio; George, of Canton, 



978 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and Fanny, who died at the age of eight 
years. 

John T. Schroyer is a native of Canton, 
having been born at the old homestead on South 
Cleveland avenue on the 8th of April, i860. 
As soon as old enough he commenced attending 
school, in which he remained until he was nine 
years old. At that early age he took up the 
work of gardening and was also engaged in 
herding cattle for John Spangler. In this way 
he was employed during the summers and at- 
tended school during the winters until he was 
eighteen years of age. Then he attended two 
winter terms in the W. H. Avery Academy at 
Canton. The winters of 1876 and 1877 he 
went to Indiana and was employed as a chore 
boy on the farm belonging to his uncle, attend- 
ing school at the same time. He was ambitious 
to take up the 'legal profession as his life work, 
and with this end in view went to South Bend, 
Indiana, and entered a law school, here he con- 
tinued his studies for two years. However. h&- 
coming convinced that for a young man to suc- 
ceed in establishing himself in a practice it was 
necessary that he should have some backing, 
which he had not he reluctantly gave up the 
iaw and returned to Canton. Here he entered 
the employ of C. Aultman & Company, being 
engaged in the work of settling up old accounts. 
■tie worked along this line about two years and 
was then called into the home office and put in 
charge of the shipping department. His faith- 
fulness and close attention to the interests of 
his employers soon won for him their confidence 
but the close confinement proved detrimental 
to his health and he was forced to seek other 
employment. In 1889, having managed to 
save a part of his earnings, he invested it in the 
laundry business. His success was gratifying 
from the start and he has continued this busi- 
ness ever since. Possessed of sound business 
princi]jles, good judgment and absolute integ- 
rity, he has long commanded the confidence and 
good will of the public, which has accorded to 



him a full share of its patronage. The plant 
is equipped with the latest and most improved 
machinery and is constantly run at its fullest 
capacity. 

Since attaining his majority the subject has 
taken an acti\e part in advancing the interests 
of the Democratic party and has contributed 
\'tvy materially to the success of that party in 
local, state and national campaigns. He was 
nominated by the Democratic party for member 
of the Canton city council in the seventh ward, 
a ward which is nominally Republican by three 
hundred majority. However, such was the 
hold he had upon the public confidence that in 
the following election (1899) he carried the 
ward by a majority of thirty-six, and two years 
later was selected to succeed himself by the re- 
markable majority of two hundred and thirty-, 
five. Upon taking his seat in the council he at 
once assumed a prominent place in its delibera- 
tions and w as accorded a high standing on sev- 
eral of its most important committees. During 
his first term he served as chairman of the ju- 
diciary and the ways and means committees, 
and was retained in these positions the scond 
year. As chairman of the last-named commit- 
tee, it became his pleasure to report the largest 
surplus in the treasury during the entire history 
of the city of Canton. He is also a member of 
the board of Auditorium trustees. He is a 
strong advocate of the best sanitary measures 
and has repeatedly urged the adoption by the 
city of a municipal garbage plant. 

Fraternally Mr. Schroyer is a member of 
the Knights of Pythias, the Royal .\rcanum, 
Patrick Henry Council, Junior Order United 
American Mechanics, the Modern Woodmen 
of America, the Ancient Order of United 
\\'orkmen, and is president of the Fraternal 
Order of Eagles. In matters religious the sub- 
ject is identified with the First Baptist church 
and is a member of the \\^illiam Carey Bible 
class. 

On the 8th of July, 1883, Mr. Schroyer was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



979 



united in marriage with Miss Lillie Jack, of 
Canton. This union has been a most happy 
and congenial one and has resulted in the birth 
of two children, Muriel and Doroth}'. 



HENRY W. FAULK, M. D.— This well- 
known physician and surgeon is numbered 
among" Stark county's native sons and is an 
honored representative of one of its early pio- 
neer families. Both his father and his mother's 
people lived in this locality when it was a fron- 
tier settlement and their names are closely inter- 
woven with the history of the communities in 
which they originally located. Andrew Faulk, 
the Doctor's grandfather, was a native of Ger- 
many. He came to the United States about the 
beginning of the last century, and settled in 
New Jersey, where he worked for some years 
at the blacksmith trade. He was a married man 
when he came to America, and his children were 
all bom in New Jersey. In the year 1815 he 
came with his family to Stark county, Ohio, 
and entered a quarter section of land about two 
and a half miles north of Waynesburg, the 
country at that time being as nature had made 
it. He hastily constructed a rude log cabin, 
which answered the purpose of a dwelling until 
a building more in keeping with the needs of his 
growing family could be erected. His second 
dwelling, a two-story hewed-log cabin, was 
among the first structures of the kind in the 
•township in which he settled. Andrew Faulk 
was a true type of the strong, determined pio- 
neer of his day, and experienced in full measure 
the trials and vicissitudes of life in the back- 
woods. By long and continued toil, he devel- 
oped a good farm and as years went by be- 
came one of the leading agriculturists and 
j^rominent citizens of his part of the county. 
After a long and useful life he died on the place 
where he originally settled, honored and re- 
spected by all who knew him, his death occin^- 
ring in 1850, \\'hen he was eight v vears old. 



Among the children of Andrew Faulk was 
a son, also Andrew by name, whose birth oc- 
curred in New Jersey in 1806. Andrew, Jr., 
was nine years old when his parents moved to 
Ohio, and from that time until his death he 
made his home in the county of Stark. He 
grew up amid the stirring scenes of the pioneer 
period, contributed his share to the clearing and 
cultivating of the home farm and when old 
enough to begin life for himself chose agri- 
culture as a vocation. In 1833 he married Miss 
Susan Welker, who was born in the southeast- 
ern part of Stark county in 181 6, her parents 
moving here several years prior to that date. 
Mrs. Faulk was early left an orphan and grew 
to young womanhood in the wilderness, living 
th.e meanwhile with different parties who 
looked after her interests. Mr. Faulk inherited 
the greater part of his father's estate and, like 
the latter, also became a leading farmer and 
enter;prising citizen, departing this life in 1885 
in his eightieth year. In politics he was orig- 
inally a Whig, but later Ijecame a Republican, 
and as such took an active part in the public 
affairs of his township and county. He was a 
man of profound religious convictions and for 
a number of years was a leading member of the 
local Methodist Episcopal church, his wife be- 
ing also a member of that denominatiijn. Mrs. 
Faulk preceded her husband to the other world, 
dying about the year 1872. 

Andrew and Susan Faulk reared a family 
of ten children, whose names are as follows : 
Matilda married Richard Wilson and died near 
the old homestead in Ma}-, 1901 : Osee Ann 
married Daniel Bronson, deceased ; James, a 
fanner of Canton township, married f<->r his 
first wife Martha Silvers, after whose death 
he chose for a compan.ion Hannah Yohe ; So- 
phia, the third in order of birth, is the wife of 
Luther Baxter and lives in this county; Al- 
bert, who lives in Carroll county, Missouri, 
married Lizzie Neill ; Sarah, wife of William 
Shearer, died some years ago in this county; 



98o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Thomas, a soldier of tlie late Civil war, died 
at Natchez, Mississippi, while in the service of 
his country; Henry W., of this review, is the 
eighth in orden of succession ; Lemmon R. died 
in the year 1872; William, the youngest, who 
runs the home farm, married Miss Malissa 
Rogers, of Stark county. 

Dr. Henry VV. Faulk was born on the old 
homestead in Stark county, May 20, 185 1. 
Under the parental roof he grew to young man- 
hood and as soon as old enough learned by 
practical experience the true meaning of honest 
toil as required in the cultivation of a farm. 
In the winter seasons he attended the district 
schools and in this way prosecuted his studies 
until the age of sixteen, when he entered Mt. 
Union College. After spending some time in 
that institution he turned his attention to teach- 
ing and was thus engaged for about seven 
years, devoting his vacations the meantime to 
his collegiate work at Alt. Union. At the age 
of twenty-three he began the study of medi- 
cine with Dr. A. B. Walker, of Canton, and aft- 
er continuing under that gentleman's instruc- 
tions about three years entered the Eclectic 
Medical Institute of Cincinnati. 

Dr. Faulk was graduated from that insti- 
tution in 1878 and in September of the same 
year was united in wedlock to Miss Isabelle 
A. Shaffer, of Carroll county, Ohio. Being 
well prepared for the active duties of his pro- 
fession, the Doctor immediately after his mar- 
riage opened an office in the town of Osnaburg, 
Stark county, where he soon built up a large 
practice, which continued with success and 
financial profit during the fifteen years follow- 
ing. In June, 1893, he wound up his business 
at Osnaburg and in August following located 
at Canton, where he has since practiced with a 
large measure of professional and financial 
success. Dr. Faulk has always had a laudable 
ambition to stand high in the medical world, 
not so much from a desire for the honor which 
such a station would bring, but rather to be- 



come a true benefactor of mankind in alleviat- 
ing suffering. That he has to an eminent de- 
gree realized this ambition is attested by the 
success that has crowned his efforts and by the 
high esteem in which he is held by the public 
and by his professional associates. Politically 
the Doctor is a Republican, has ever been true to 
his convictions, and while not a partisan, la- 
bors earnestly for the success of his party, as 
every good citizen should. He served one term 
as physician of the county infirmary and as a 
member of the board of control of that institu- 
tion did much to make it answer the purposes 
for which intended. Fraternally he holds mem- 
bership with the Knights of Pythias and re- 
ligiously subscribes to the Methodist Episcopal 
doctrine. For several years he served with the 
late President McKinley and others as trustee 
of the First Methodist Episcopal church of 
Canton, and holds the same position at the 
present. Dr. and Mrs. Faulk have two chil- 
dren, Dora and Hugh, aged twenty-three and 
nineteen years respectively. The Doctor is a 
member of the Stark County Medical Society, 
the Ohio State Medical Society, and of the 
American Medical Association. 



WILLIAM M. BLECKER comes of Ger- 
man ancestry in the agnatic line and of .Swedish 
in the maternal, while he is a native of the 
old Keystone state of the Union, having been 
born in the city of Philadelphia, on the 30th 
of May, 1869, and being a son of Lorenzo and 
Mary (Landes) Blecker, who are now residents 
of Meyerstown, Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, 
where the former is engaged in the contracting 
business. The subject received his early edu- 
cation in the public schools and in his boyhood 
began to contribute to his own support, the 
family being in moderate circumstances. 
Through his own exertions he was enabled to 
complete a college course of a technical order, 
entering the Coleman Institute, at Lebanon,. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



981 



Pennsylvania, where he completed the course in 
mechanical engineering and from which insti- 
tution he was graduated. 

He soon manifested his superior ability in 
the work of his chosen vocation, and his prog- 
ress has been consecutive from the initiation 
of his efforts in the line. He was for a number 
of years engaged in the work pertaining to 
his profession, including pattern-making, and 
thoroughness andj fidelity have characterized 
his entire course during his entire career. He 
became foreman of the Leechburg Foundry & 
Machine Company at I>eechburg, Pennsylvania, 
and eventually became a stockholder in the 
company. Later he became associated with 
Hitzfelds in the purchase of the plant of the 
Avonmore Foundry & Machine Company's 
plant, at Avonmore, Pennsylvania, and then 
effected the organization of the West Pennsyl- 
vania Foundry & Machine Company, of which 
he was made president, the plant being suc- 
cessfully operated during his regime, which 
terminated when he disposed of his inter- 
ests in the concern. He then became 
identified with the Vulcan Foundry & Ma- 
chine Company, at Newcastle, Pennsylvania, 
from which place he came to Canton, where 
he became interested in the construction of 
the plant of the Canton Roll & Machine Com- 
pany, which was completed and put into opera- 
tion, Mr. Blecker being made vice-president of 
the company. He and J. E. Carnahan finally 
purchased the interests of all other stockhold- 
ers, and six months later they sold the plant 
and business to Pittsburg men. In 1898 
Messrs. Carnahan and Blecker began the con- 
struction and equipment of the plant of the 
•Carnahan Tin Plate & Sheet Mill, and the same 
was placed in operation the following year. 
Our subject is secretary and treasurer of the 
company, and the business now takes rank 
among the prosperous and important industries 
of Canton. Mr. Blecker is also first vice-presi- 
dent of the Carnahan Stamping and Enamel- 



ing Company, which is a successful institution 
of Canton, and is treasurer of the United Steel 
Company, whose fine plant is in course of con- 
struction in Canton at the time of this writing. 
He is also treasurer of the Carnahan Land & 
Improvement Company, which has valuable in- 
terests here, and has other financial interests 
in outside concerns. From these statements 
it will be seen that Mr. Blecker is a man of 
marked administrative ability and that he has 
directed his efforts in the promotion of enter- 
prises which work for the general good, offer- 
ing employment to many persons and consti- 
tuting the most practical form of productive 
and legitimate philanthropy. He is loyal to 
the interests of his home city and his public 
spirit leads him to give a ready support to 
all measures advanced for the general welfare 
and for the furthering of the upbuilding and 
material and civic prosperity of the city. In 
politics he allies, himself to no particular party 
or faction, being independent in his views and 
lending his influence and exercising his fran- 
chise in support of men and measures, rather 
than submitting to the partisan lash. He and 
his wife are members of the First Methodist 
Episcopal church of Canton and take an abid- 
ing interest in its work. 

Mr. Blecker was united in marriage in the 
city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to Miss Ida 
Schell, who was born in Parker, Armstrong 
county, that state, being a daughter of George 
Schell, a representative of one of the sterling 
old English families of Pennsylvania. Mr. 
and Mrs. Blecker have two children, Mildred 
and Harold. 



CAPT. MARCUS A. FISHER was born 
in Womelsdorf, Berks county, Pennsylvania, 
on the 26th of May, 1863. There he initiated 
his educational discipline in the public schools, 
which he continued until he had attained the 
age of eleven years, when he accompanied his 



982 



OLD LANDMARKS 



parents on their removal to I\Iiamisburg, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, where he was reared to 
maturity and where he attended tlie pubhc 
pubHc scliools until he had completed the high 
school course, in which he was graduated as 
a member of the class of 1880, having been 
also employed in a local drug store during his 
last year in school and giving his attention to 
the study of pliamiacy. He continued to be thus 
employed in ^liamisburg until the month of Au- 
gust, 1882, when he went to Cincinnati, 
where he secured a clerical position in a drug 
establishment, and at the same time attending 
night school, where he maile a special stud}- 
of chemistry, both organically and in the line 
of practical quantitative analysis. About that 
time the state law providing for the registra- 
tion of pharmacists was enacted, and those were 
granted licenses wdio were al:)le to successfully 
pass tlie recjuired examination before the state 
board of ])harmacy. So well and so faithfully 
had he applied himself to his studies and to the 
practical work in the drug store that he was 
able to duly qualify and was granted his license 
or certificate. Shortly afterward he returned 
to Miamisbiu'g and re-entered the employ of 
M. G. Bohn, under whose du"ection he had se- 
cured his preliminary training in the technical 
work of his profession, and there he remained 
for a period (jf nine }ears. 

On the 1st of April, 1891, Mr. Fisher came 
to C!anion and here established himself in lhe 
drug business on his own responsibility, his 
original location ha\ing been the store now 
occupied by J. L. Mauer & Company. There 
he continued a successful business until Au- 
gust, 1S94, when he sold out to Edward Young 
and effected the purchase of his present place 
of business, which is eligiljly located at the cor- 
ner of Ciierry and East Tuscarawas streets. 
His original quarters here became inadequate 
for the accommodation of his rapidly increas- 
ing business, and in 1899 he secured the rcjoni 
adjoining on the east, so that his establishment 



now figures as an essentially metropolitan one. 
the stock carried being large and select in all 
lines wdiile the store is attractive in all its 
equipments. 

On June 20, 1893, ^Nlr. Fisher became iden- 
tified with the Eighth Regiment of the Ohio 
National Guard, in Canton, in the capacity of 
hospital steward, and as such he served until 
the latter part of the following year, when he 
was elected second lieutenant of Company L, 
of the same regiment, being later advanced to 
the. office of first lieutenant, in which he served 
until 1897, having had command of his com- 
pany during the the greater portion of the 
year 1896. On the 8th of January, 1897, he 
was elected captain of the same company, and 
as such was in command of the same during 
its valiant service in the Spanish-American 
w^ar, the regiment having given prompt e\i- 
dence of its intrinsic lo\'alty and patriotism by 
tendering its services to the government. The 
regiment was assigned to the Fifth Army 
Corps, under General Shafter, and in Ma)-, 
1898, having been duly mustered in, proceeded 
to Cuba, where it took an active part in the San- 
tiago campaign, assisting materially in \\ inning 
the decisive victories for the American arms. 
Captain Fisher pro\cd an able commander, 
having the company under effective discipline 
and sparing no pains or care in providing for 
the necessities and comforts of his men to the 
best of his power. The regiment returned to 
Montauk Point in August, 1898, and its mem- 
bers received their Iwnorable discharge from 
the United States service on the JOth of the 
following November, being given an enthu- 
siastic and gratifying' welcome by the people of 
Canton and vicinitv u|)on their return to their 
home city. Captain Fisher still continues his 
identification with the National Guard and is 
commissary of the Second Brigade with the 
rank of major. 

In politics Mr. Fisher has ever given an un- 
comjiromising allegiance to the Republican 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



983 



party, in whose cause he has lieen an acti\e 
worker, and in April, 1899, he was elected to 
the office of treasurer of Canton township, of 
which he is still in tenure, having gi\-en a most 
able and satisfactory adniinistralion of the fis- 
cal affairs of the township, which is tlie most 
populous and wealthy in the county. His re- 
ligions views are in harmony with the faith 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which 
he was reared, and fraternalh he holds mem- 
bership in the Spanish War Veterans* Asso- 
ciation, the Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the Junior 
Order of United American Mechanics, and the 
Masonic order, in which last he is a member 
of Canton Commandery \o. 38, Ivnights Tem- 
plar, while he has also attained the fourteenth 
degree in the Scottish Rite bodies, being affili- 
ated with the consistory at Canton, Ohio. 

By his first wife, whose maiden name was 
Eizzie Brown, and to whom he was married 
in t886. Captain Eisher has one son, Robert, 
who remains at the paternal home. This lady 
died March 3, 1888, and on the 13th of No- 
vember, 1896, he chose for a companion Miss 
Elizabeth Overton, of Massillon, this countv. 
a daughter of William Overton, who is now 
a resident of Little Ealls, in the state of Wis- 
consin. To Mr. Eisher's second union one 
daughter has been born, Ruth. 



CHARLES B. EREDERICK. V. S.— In 
the veins of the subject of this sketch flows 
the blood of a long line of American and Scotch 
ancestors and he combines in his physical and 
mental make up many sturdy attributes of both 
nationalities. On the paternal side he traces 
his genealogy back to an early period in the 
history of eastern Ohio, his grandfather, John 
Erederick, having been born in Columbiana 
county on June 21, 1800. When a young 
man John Frederick entered eighty acres of 
land, in Washington township. Stark county, 



and shortly after moving to the same increased 
his possessions by an additional tract of the 
same number of acres, nearly all of which he 
reduced to a state of tillage. In the year 1826 
he was married in his native county to Miss 
Charlotte Aultman and the same year moved 
to his original purchase in the county of Stark 
referred to above. After the death of his wife, 
A\'hich occurred in her sixty-sixth year, he dis- 
posed of his real estate to his children and lived 
among them, the remainder of his days, dying 
at Salem Center, Indiana, at the home of his 
son David, at the ripe old age of eigh.ty-seven 
years. He was the father of children as fol- 
lows: John died in Stark county; George is 
a resident of Hudson, Indiana ; Michael also 
resides in the town of Hudson; Joseph G. is 
the father of the subject, and Mary, wife of 
Henry Shaffer, a farmer of Washington town- 
ship. Stark county. 

Joseph G. Erederick was born on the old 
homestead in Washington township, June 11, 
1840, and received his educational advantages 
in the common schools of the county. In his 
young manhood he took a course in veterinary 
medicine and surgery and for a period of forty 
years he practiced his profession, meeting with 
a large measure of success in treating diseases 
peculiar to man's best and noblest friend, the 
horse. He followed his chosen calling- in .Stark 
county until 1896, when he moved to Hudson, 
Indiana, and since then has practiced at that 
place with most encouraging professional and 
and financial results. Mary A. Little, who be- 
came the wife of Joseph G. Erederick, was born 
near the town of Bayard, Columbiana county, 
Ohio, in the year 1843, '''^'' famil}' having been 
among the early settlers of that part of the 
state. John Little, Mrs. Frederick's father, 
was lx)rn near Edinburg, Scotland, and when 
a boy was a companion and schoolmate of the 
poet Burns, bet>\een whom and himself a warm 
personal friendship existed as long as the 
former lived. Immediately after their mar-' 



984 



OLD LANDMARKS- 



riagc, which was solemnized in the early 'thir- 
ties, Mr. Little came to the United States and 
settled first in Washington township, Stark 
county, a few years later removing to a farm 
in the county of Columbiana, where he still 
lives, his wife having died in the fall of 1897. 
John and Mrs. Little reared a family of seven 
children, namely : Mrs. Mary Frederick ; Mag- 
gie, wife of Herman Hart; Mrs. Reuben 
Hawkins ; John, Jamics Robert and George. 
The children born to Joseph G. and Mary 
Frederick are as follows: John, who lives in 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Dr. Charles B., of 
this review; Alice, wife of C. M. Unyer, of 
Cleveland ; Elsworth, a farmer of Washing- 
ton township, this county, and Ollie, who mar- 
ried Joseph Reese, of Canton. 

Dr. Charles B. Frederick was born Decem- 
ber 29, 1 868, on the family homestead in Wash- 
ington township and it is a fact worthy of note 
that both he and his father first saw the light 
of day in the old dwelling, which still stands 
on the place. In the district schools which he 
attended until a youth in his teens he acquired 
his preliminary educational training and later 
pursued higher branches of learning in Mt. 
Union College, adopting the profession of 
veterinary medicine and surgery. Mr. Freder- 
ick, in 1893, entered the Ontario Veterinary 
College at Toronto, from which he was gradu- 
ated in due season, after which he began the 
practice at Louisville, Ohio, where he remained 
until 1897. Determined to leave nothing un- 
done in the way of familiarizing himself with 
his calling, he took a post-graduate course in 
the veterinary department of the Ohio State 
University in 1898 and the same year accepted 
a position as assistant professor in that institu- 
tion, holding the same during the four years 
following. In the fall of 1901 Dr. Frederick 
came to Canton and opened an office at No. 
433 North Cherry street and since that time 
has been actively engaged in professional work 
in this city and surrounding country. 



The Doctor has spared no pains in post- 
ing himself and today stands admittedly at the 
head of his profession in this section of the 
state. A close and critical student, he has be- 
come familiar with every known authority up- 
on diseases of the horse, in addition to which 
he has prosecuted original investigations and 
made discoveries in the matters of treatment 
and remedies hitherto unknown to the profes- 
sional world. 

Dr. Frederick was happily married on the 
2c;th day of June, 1900, to Miss Frances E. 
Houser, a native of Nimishillen township, this 
county, and daughter of Martin and Mary 
(Auer) Houser, both parents deceased. Aside 
from the claims of his calling the Doctor finds 
time to devote to the duties of citizenship, being 
an enterprising man and greatly interested 
in the welfare of the city and county in which 
he lives. He cast his first presidential ballot 
for Benjamin Harrison and from tliat time 
to the present day has been a supporter of the 
Republican party, though not a partisan in the 
sense of aspiring to leadership or seeking offi- 
cial honors. He holds membership with Lodge 
No. 499, Free and Accepted Masons, and en- 
deavors to square his life in harmony with the 
principles of this ancient and honorable fra- 
ternity. Personally he is widely and favorably 
known, his relations with his fellow men being 
of the most agreeable character and he is well 
deserving of specific mention as one of the in- 
telligent and progressive men of the county of 
Stark. 



PHILIP FARBER.— The name borne by 
the subject of this sketch is one which has been 
identified with the annals of Ohio from an early 
epoch, for it is to lie recorded that his father, 
the late and honored James Farber, was borpn in 
Tuscarawas county, Ohio, on the ist of March, 
1808, so that the latter's parents were num- 
bered among the earliest settlers in that sec- 




MR. AND MRS. PHILIP FARBER. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



985 



tion, James himself having been tlie first white 
•child born in Sandy township, that county. 
He was a son of John Farber, who is supposed 
to have been a native of Pennsylvania, whence 
he set forth to establish his home in Ohio short- 
ly after, possibly before, it was admitted to the 
sisterhood of states, here passing the residue of 
his life. 

James Farber was reared to maturity amidst 
the primitive surroundings of a pioneer farm 
of Tuscarawas county, and it is hardly neces- 
sary to state that his early educational privi- 
leges, in a specific sense, must have been exceed- 
ingly limited in scope. His, however, w^as a 
mind too alert to be seriously handicapped by 
the mere accident of time and place, and ex- 
perience proved to him a kindly master, and 
the school was one in which he developed 
strong native talents, making his life one of sig- 
nal usefulness and honor. It was his good 
fortune as a young man to choose as a compan- 
ion and helpmeet on the journey of life a 
woman whose nobility and gentleness of char- 
acter ably complemented the strength and 
vigor of his. He married Miss Caroline A. 
AVeaver, who was born in the state of New 
York, on the 17th of July, 181 5, and who came 
to Ohio with her parents when a mere child. 
Her marriage to James Farber was solemnized 
in Tuscarawas county, whence the)^ soon after- 
ward came to Stark county and took up their 
abode on a farm in Pike township, where they 
again repeated the experiences of pioneer life, 
in the reclaiming of the land and making it 
available for cultivation. They lived to see 
their children grow up to lives of honor and 
risefulness, and passed their declining days in 
the locality in which they took up their resi- 
dence upon coming to the county, while in 
death they were not long di\-ided, the mother 
■of the subject being summoned into eternal 
rest, in Pike township, on the 21st of February, 
1890, while her loved husband passed away 
■on the second of the following June, be- 



ing nearly eighty-three years of age at the 
time of his death, while she was in her 
seventy-sixth year. They became the par- 
ents of seven children, namely : John F., of 
whom individual mention is made on another 
page of this work ; Isabella, who became the 
wife of John Kiefer and who died in Carroll 
county; Emma, who died as a child of about 
two years; Oliver, a resident of Osnaburg 
township; Philip, the immediate subject of this 
sketch; Abigail, who is the wife of Franklin 
Neuhouse, of Pike township ; and Betsey, who 
lives in Sandy township. 

Philip Farber, the immediate subject of this 
sketch, was born on the old homestead in Pike 
township, on the 3d of January, 1841, and here 
he was reared to manhood and has always 
maintained his home, devoting his attention to 
agricultural pursuits from his youth up and 
being now known as one of the successful and 
influential farmers of his native county. He 
received his educational training in the com- 
mon schools, while his mentality, no less than 
his physical vigor, felt the beneficent influence 
of the experience of those who cling to the 
noble art of husbandry. Mr. Farber is the 
owner of three hundred and forty-three acres 
of very fertile land, the major portion of which 
is under cultivation, and upon the place are the 
evidences of thrift and prosperity in the way of 
substantial and attracti\'e buildings, improved 
machinery, good fences, high-grade stock, etc., ■ 
making this one of the model estates of Pike 
township and of the county. In politics he has 
given ? stalwart allegiance to the Repu1)lican 
party, and though he has never sought public 
office he has rendered most efficient service as a 
school director of his district. In May, 1864, 
he showed the loyalty and patriotism of a true 
son of the republic by tendering his services in 
defense of the Union, enlisting as a private in 
Company F, One Hundred and Sixty-second 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he was in 
active service for a period of four months, at 



986 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the expiration of which he received an lionor- 
able discharge. He is a member of Steiner 
Post No. 25, Grand Army of the Republic, at 
Sparta. 

On tiie 19th (if December, 1872, in Tuscara- 
was county, Mr. l'"arber was united in marriage 
to Miss Mary L. .Souders, a daughter of the 
late Blazius Souders, who met his death in the 
battle of Gettysljurg. Mrs. Far1)er Avas born in 
the kingdom of Wurtemburg, Germany, on tlie 
4th of May, 1S51, and was but four years of 
age when she accompanied her parents on their 
emigration to i\merica, tlie family locating in 
Tuscarawas county, this state, where she was 
reared and educated. To our subject and his 
estimaljle wife ha\e been born three children, 
namely: Jay, who married Miss Alice Kemp 
and who is engaged in farming in Pike town- 
ship; May, wli() is the wife of Frank A. Esterly, 
of Pike township; and Elta, who is the wife of 
Charles Crist, of Tuscarawas county. 



CHARLES F. LAIBLIN.— The Laiblin 
family is of stanch German lineage, and the 
following is the jjatenial line of descent : The 
subject's great-great-grandfather, Charles 
Frederick, born in 1690, died in 1742; great- 
grandfather, b'rederick Lewis, city clerk of 
Pullinger. born in 1712, died in 1758; grand- 
father, Charles Frederick, an officer of customs 
at Winnenden, Wurtemburg, born November 
18. 1752, died in 1817; father, Charles Fred- 
erick, Sr. The first representati\'e in Aiuerica 
was the father of the subject, Charles F. Laib- 
lin. who was born in the city of Stuttgart, 
Wurtemburg, Germany, in the year 1797, and 
there he was reared and educated, recei\'ing 
good advantages in the matter of early scholas- 
tic training, as his parents were in good cir- 
cumstances. In his native city he served a 
partial apprenticeship at the brewing business, 
and when he w-as eighteen years of age he was 



drafted for service in the German army, but 
was not desirous of entering military life, and 
determined to escape the service by emigrating 
to America. He accordingly made his way to 
a seaix>rt town, where he embarked on a sailing 
vessel bound for the port of New York city, 
where he arrived after a voyage of fifty-nine 
days' duration, the vessel having sprung a leak 
while en route, so that it became necessary to 
keep the pumps in action day and night to 
keep the boat afloat. He was employed for 
a time in New York and then went to Washing- 
ton county, Pennsylvania, where he secured 
employment on a farm. While thus engaged 
he married Miss Susan Bedillion, who was 
born in that county, her father being .\braham' 
Bedillion, the owner of the farm on which Mr. 
Laiblin was employed. The Bedillion family 
is undoubtedly of French extraction and was 
early founded in America. After his marriage 
the father of the suljject came witli his bride 
to Steubenville, Jefferson county, Ohio, where 
he established a brcwerv and built up .'i suc- 
cessful business, ha\ing shipped his products 
down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to various 
points, including the city of New Orleans. After 
forty years of successful operations as a brewer 
Mr. Laiblin also engaged in the malting busi- 
ness, in which line also he conducted a pros- 
perous and (|uite extensive business. In 1869 
he came to Stark county and purchased a farm 
in Pike township, wliere he continued to re- 
side until his deatli, which occurred in June, 
1871, while bis cherished and dexoted wife 
survived him by only a few years, her death 
occurring at the home of her daughter .\melia, 
Mrs. Armstrong, in Canton, in 1878, at which 
time she was eighty-one years of age. She 
was a dexoted member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, and tcj the support of the same 
her husband contributed liberally, though he 
was never formally identified with the organiza- 
tion. In politics Mr. Laiblin was arrayed in 
the ranks of the Democratic party until the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



987- 



time of tlie iKjmination of .\braham Lincoln, 
to wlioni he gave his support, while his sym- 
pathies were enlisted in favor of the Union 
during the war of the Rebellion, and he gvave 
every possiljle aid he could in supporting the 
cause. 

Of the children 01: Charles F. and Susan 
Laiblin we incorporate the following brief rec- 
ord : Catherine died in childhood ; i\brahani, 
wild married Clementine Miller, died on his 
farm in Pike township, this county, at the 
age of fifty-four years; Elizabeth is the wife 
of John Starr, of Zanesville, Ohio ; Mary Ann, 
who became the wife of Thomas Huscroft, 
died in Steubenville, Jefferson county, in 1856; 
Amelia is the wife of John Armstrong, of Can- 
ton; Martha, who became the wife of John 
Cosset, died in Steubenville; Charles F., Jr., 
the immediate subject of this sketch, was the 
next in order of birth; Lewis, now deceased, 
was a resident of the state of Montana : and 
Thomas died in childhood. 

Charles F. Laiblin was born in Steuben- 
ville. Jefiferson county, Ohio, on the nth of 
NovemJjer, 1833, and his early educational dis- 
cipline was such as he gained through a some- 
what desultory attaidance in the public schools. 
Alert and observing, he was not fond of the 
constraints of the school room, and as his 
father was absent from home much oi the time, 
the subject was not as regular in his school 
attendance as he might otherwise have been, 
and he left school entirely when fifteen years 
of age. At the age of seventeen years he en- 
tered upon an apprenticeship at the trade of 
brick-laving", becoming a skilled workman in 
the line. In 1855 he went to Kansas, and 
there he worked at his trade, in the employ 
of the government, assisting in the erection of 
buildings at Fort Leavenworth, being in that 
section during the crucial epoch when the bor- 
der ruffians were in such distinctive evidence, 
and when Kansas was the controversial ground 
upon which was fought the further encroach- 



(nent of slavery, gaining to the state the famil- 
iar title of "bleeding Kansas." While not en- 
gaged in the work of his trade Mr. Laiblin 
devoted his attention to the freighting of gov- 
ernment supplies into Colorado, New Mexico, 
Wyoming, Nebraska and other sections of the 
frontier west, a portion of the time serving 
in the capacity of wagon master. In this con- 
nection he met with many exciting experiences, 
the wagon trains being frequently menaced and 
attacked by the bands of Indians and border 
outlaws, having made his first freight trip in 
1856. In i860 he transported commissary 
supplies to Fort Union and to Santa Fe, and 
he was in that section of the west during the 
stirring times of the Civil war, and thus his 
reminiscences of the early period in the pioneer 
west are interesting in th.e extreme, for he was 
in various portions of that section at the time 
when civilization had gained only a precarious 
foothold, Avhile he remained in the employ of 
the government during the entire progress of 
the Rebellion. On the 25th of May, 1855, at 
Kickapoo, Kansas, Mr. Laiblin was united in 
marriage to Miss Lydia Wigginton, who was 
born in Steubenville, Ohio, and who accom- 
panied her uncle, David Hottle. to the Sun- 
flower state in the same year in which her 
husband located there. In 1866 Mr. Laiblin 
returned widi his wife to Ohio, and located in 
his native town of Steubenville, where he 
erected a residaice and a store building, and 
there he was successfully engaged in the gro- 
cerv business until 1868, his wife having there 
died in 1867. She is survived by one daughter, 
.\nna, who is now the wife of Jacob Hilcher, 
of Canton, who is engaged in the Canton 
Bridge Works. In 1868 Mr. Laiblin disposed 
of his interests in Steubenville and came to 
Stark county, where he remained for a short 
time with his father oh the homestead farm, 
in Pike township. In 1869 he came to Can- 
ton, where he engaged in the grocery business 
for about a year, and then became engaged in 



988 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the business of buying and shipping- hogs, cat- 
tle and sheep, shipping principally to the cities 
■of Pittsburg, Philadelphia and New York, and 
simultaneously he conducted a meat market, on 
East Tuscarawas street. His business increased 
greatly in scope and importance with the pass- 
ing years, and eventually he extended his opera- 
tions by purchasing live stock in Indiana, Illi- 
nois and Iowa, and bringing the same into 
Stark county, where the stock was placed on 
various farms to be fattened for the market. 
He continued successfully in this line of enter- 
prise for many years, and became one of the 
leading live-stock dealers in this section of the 
state. In 1882 Mr. Laiblin turned his attention 
to the real estate business, and in this im- 
portant field he has continued operations to a 
greater or less extent to the present time, hav- 
ing shown marked discrimination in his opera- 
tions and having handled many valuable prop- 
erties. He, with his sons, has laid out three 
additions to the city of Canton. In 1893 he 
became a stockholder in the Canton Bridge 
Company, and was chosen a member of the 
directorate of this important corporation, and 
in 1808 he was elected to the presidency of 
the same, of which position he has since re- 
mained incumbent, bringing to bear his fine 
executive and adniinistrati\'e abilities in fur- 
thering the interests of the concern, which rep- 
resents one of the important industrial enter- 
prises of the city, and which has controlled 
a business extending into divers parts of the 
Union. He is also a stockholder and director 
in the People's Savings Bank, while for ten 
years he was also a member of the directorate 
of the City National Bank. Mr. Laiblin is a 
man of fine business ability and impregnable 
honor, has gained distincti\e success through 
his own efforts, and is accorded the utmost 
confidence and regard in the city and county 
in which he has so long maintained his home, 
and of which he is recognized as a representa- 
tive citizen. 



Mr. Laiblin has been a stanch advocate 
of the principles of the Republican party from 
the time of its organization, having voted for 
its first presidential candidate, General Fre- 
mont, and his interest in the cause has been an 
active one in a local way, while he has served 
in various offices of public trust and responsi- 
bility. He was a member of the board of 
county commissioners of Stark county for one 
term of three years, served for an equal period 
as a member of the board of education of the 
city of Canton, and for eight years served on 
the poor fund of the Hartford trustees. He 
has been a member of the board of park com- 
missioners of Canton for eight years. He and 
his wife are prominent and valued members 
of the First Christian church, of whose board 
of trustees he was a member for the past four- 
teen years, taking a zealous interest in all de- 
partments of the church work. Mr. Laiblin 
is an appreciative member of the time-honored 
Masonic fraternity, in which he was initiated 
in the autumn of 1855, at Kickapoo, Kansas, 
and he is also identified with the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of 
Pythias. 

In February, 1870, Mr. Laiblin consum- 
mated a second marriage, being- then united to 
Miss Nancy P. Kinney, who was born in Can- 
ton township, this county, being a daughter of 
the late William Kinney, one of the honored 
]Moneers of the county. Of this union have 
been born six children, of whom two are de- 
ceased; those living are William C, who mar- 
ried Miss Edith Archer, and who is now sec- 
retary and treasurer of the Canton Bridge 
Company; Abraham, who is an artist in New 
York; Elizabeth, who is the wife of Rev. Fred- 
erick Kuder, a clergyman of the Presbyterian 
church, and having a pastoral charge in the 
village of Holly, Michigan, at the time of this 
writing; and Garfield, who married Rose Gal- 
lagher, of Columbus, Ohio, and is connected 
with the Canton Bridge Company. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



989. 



SYLVANUS SUMMERS was born in 
Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 2d of No- 
vember, 1852, being a son of John B. and 
Barbara (Snyder) Summers, of whose eight 
children five are yet living, namely : Josiah 
and John, both of whom are likewise success- 
ful farmers of Nimishillen township; Sylvanus, 
the immediate subject of this sketch; Levi, who 
is engaged in farming in Plain township, and 
Barbara, who is the wife of John Gehman, of 
Nimishillen township. John B. Summers, the 
honored father of our subject, was likewise 
born in Columbiana county, the date of his na- 
tivity having been January 5, 1823. He was 
a son of John and Elizabeth (Stuckey) Sum- 
mers, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania, 
the former being a son of John Summers, Sr., 
who was the original representative, of the 
family in America, whither he emigrated from 
Switzerland, taking up his residence in Penn- 
sylvania, from which state he came to Ohio 
with his family in 181 2, taking up his resi- 
dence in Columbiana county, where he passed 
the remainder of his life. He became the 
father of twenty-five children, all of whom 
lived to attain years of maturity, and from this 
honored ancestor Ohio has gained many sterl- 
ing citizens in the succeeding generations. 
From the above statement it will be seen that 
the subject of this review is of the fifth gener- 
ation of the family in the Buckeye state.. John 
B. Summers was reared on the pioneer farm in 
Columbiana county, and his educational privi- 
leges were such as were afforded by the little 
log school-house of the locality and period and 
by personal application. In 1845 ^^as solem- 
nized his marriage to Miss Barbara Snyder, and 
he then purchased a farm of one hundred and 
thirty-five acres, in his native county, where he 
continued to maintain his home until 1865, 
when he came to Stark county and purchased 
the farm of one hundred and eighty acres 
where he died September 6, 1902, in Nimishil- 
len township, being one of the venerable and 



highly esteemed citizens and substantial farm- 
ers of the county. In his earlier life he was a 
Democrat in his political proclivities, but in 
1852 he voted the Whig ticket, and later identi- 
fied himself with the Republican party in whose 
support he has ever since continued to exer- 
cise his franchise. He is a worthy member of 
the (jerman Baptist church, as was also his 
devoted wife,, whose death occurred in the 
year 1893. She was born in Stark county, on 
a farm three miles southeast of the village of 
Louisville, the date of her nativity having been 
in October, 1822. She was a daughter of 
Jacob and Barbara (Shively) Snyder,- who 
came from Pennsylvania and became num- 
bered among the early settlers in Stark county, 
where they passed the remainder of their lives. 

Sylvanus Summers, with whom this article 
has more specifically to do, was about thirteen 
years of age at the time when his parents re- 
moved from Columbiana county to the new 
homestead in Stark county, and he was reared 
to maturity in Nimishillen tov\nship, assist- 
ing in the work of the farm and attending the 
public schools of the county, where he laid the 
foundations for the excellent practical educa- 
tion which he may now consistently claim as 
his own. At the age of twenty years Mr. 
Summers entered upon an apprenticeship at the 
carpenter's trade, at which he served the cus- 
tomary three years, becoming a skilled work-, 
man, and during the subsequent years he has 
continued' to devote more or less attention to 
the work of his trade in connection with his 
farming operations. 

On the nth of December, 1875, Mr. Sum- 
mers was united in marriage to Miss Angeline 
Brumbaugh, who was born in Portage county, 
Ohio, being a daughter of Andrew and Abi- 
gail (Pontious) Brumbaugh, both of whom 
died in Portage county. After his marriage 
Mr. Summers settled on a portion of his fath- 
er's farm, renting the land for four years and 
then, in 1879, purchasing the property, which 



990 



OLD LANDMARKS 



comprises forty acres, and here he has ever 
since maintained his home, having his land un- 
der most effective cultivation, while the place 
is equipped with substantial modern buildings, 
including a commodious and attractive resi- 
dence. Within the year 1902 Mr. Summers 
also acquired three residence properties in the 
attractive Crystal Park addition to the city of 
Canton. In connection with his farm work 
Mr. Summers has also been employed at in- 
tervals in various other lines of enterprise, in- 
cluding brick-laying, plastering and painting, 
while he has given considerable attention for 
the past sixteen years to the raising and butch- 
ering of stock, finding a ready market for his 
products in the city of Canton, since it is recog- 
nized that he supplies nothing but the best, his 
reputation for reliability and absolute Integ- 
rity being unassailable, while he enjoys the con- 
fidence and esteem of all who know him. In 
connection with his butchering business he fur- 
nishes a regular supply of meat to a list of 
representative customers, not being compelled 
to sell to the markets of the city. In politics 
Mr. Summers gives an unqualified allegiance 
to the Republican party and Ix^th he and his 
wife are zealous members of the Brethren 
church, in which he holds the office of deacon. 
To them have been born six children, namely : 
Melvin, who is in the employ of the govern- 
ment signal service department, being weather 
observer at Columbia, Missouri ; Elsie, who is 
the wife of Elmer Mock, of Nimishillen town- 
ship ; Zilpha, who remains at the parental home ; 
Ray, who died in infancy; and Clinton and 
Inez, who are at home. 



REV. J. F. KUEBLER, the beloved pas- 
tor of St. Joseph's Catholic church, Massillon, 
and one of the able and scholarly divines of the 
diocese in which he lators, is a native of Ohio, 
born on the 21st of June, 1849, i" Tifiin, 
Seneca county, being the second of thirteen 



children, whose parents were Anthony and 
Francis (Schabacher) Kuebler. As the names 
indicate, the families of which Father Kuebler 
is a representative were German, the father be- 
ing a native of Bavaria. By occupation An- 
thony Kuebler was a shoemaker. He learned 
his trade in his nati\'e land and remained there 
until 1832, when he came to the United States, 
located at Tiffin, Ohio, where he followed his 
chosen calling for a number of years. The 
following are the names of the children born to 
Anthony and Frances Kuebler: Frances, 
James F., Joseph, Lewis, William, Charles, 
Alphonsus, Herman, Rose, Anna, John, Em- 
ma, and J. F. 

Father Kuebler's preliminary education was 
acquired in the schools of Tiffin, which he at- 
tended from his fifth to his sixteenth year. 
Meanwhile he entered a printing office in that 
city and in due time became an expert type 
setter, whicli trade he followed until begin- 
ning his literary studies in Mt. St. Mary's 
Seminary, Cincinnati, with the object in view 
of taking holy orders. He attended that in- 
stitucion from 1866 to 1871, and in September 
of the latter year became a student of St. 
]^Iary's Seminary at Cleveland, where he pur- 
sued his theological studies until ordained to 
the priesthood on the 4th day of July, 1875. 
Father Kuebler's first pastoral charge was with 
the churches of St. Mary and St. Patrick. 
Rockport, Ohio, which at that time consisted 
of a membership of forty-two and thirty-five 
families respecti\'ely. He labored very ac- 
ceptably with these charges until the 22d day 
of Februai"}', 1891, when he was transferred 
to the Sts. Phillip and James church, at Canal 
Fulton, a congregation consisting of about 
ninety-one families, but which under his z;ea- 
lous and efficient ministration was soon great- 
ly augumented both in memliers and influaice. 
In addition to this charge he also looked after 
four mission churches at Barberton, Orrsville, 
Marshall and Burton City, the numerical 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



991 



strength of these points representing something 
Hke seventy famihes in all. The church at 
Canal Fulton is one of the largest Catholic 
congregations in the county of Stark and to 
look after its varied interests and attend to his 
duties at the missions entailed upon Mr. Kueb- 
ler an amourit of work which none but a most 
energetic and zealous pastor coi^ld success- 
fully accomplish. 

After laboring with great acceptance in the 
above held until 1898, Father Kuebler took 
charge of the St. Joseph Catholic church at 
Massillon, entering upon his duties June 26 
of that year. Since coming to this city his con- 
gregation has made commendable progress in 
both material and spiritual things, among the 
former lieing a general improvement of the 
Ijeautiful temple of worship, including the 
frescoing of its interior and the purchase of 
a large pipe organ, one of the finest and most 
expensive instruments of the kind in this part 
of the state. Under his direction the school 
building connected with the church has been 
entirely remodeled, at a cost of nearly a thous- 
and dollars, and refitted throughout with the 
latest modern educational applicances. 

Father Kuebler has greatly endeared him- 
self to his people, all of whom hold him in the 
highest respect and veneration, and by his 
exemplary Christian character and manly con- 
duct he has also won the esteem of the people 
of Massillon irrespective of church or creed. 
He is a power in the pulpit as a sound, practi- 
cal preacher and able exponent of the faith of 
of the holy church in matters of history, doc- 
trine and dogma. His broad scholarship and 
general culture, together with his powers of 
oratory, enable him to preach so as to be un- 
derstood and appreciated by the most critical 
and. exacting, while his metaphors and illustra- 
tions are so plainly drawn and described that 
the simplest hearer need not err in understand- 
ing their application. Father Kuebler's ser- 
mons appeal to the heart and understanding 



rather than to the fancy, although he is not 
lacking in imagination, as his frequent bursts 
of orator}- abundantly attest. Personally he 
is modest and unassuming, a most courteous 
and polished gentleman. His labors in his dif- 
ferent fields have been abundantly blessed in 
the extension of the heavenl}- Father's king- 
dom, and he looks forward to the accomplish- 
ment of still greater results in years to be. 



CHARLES BROWN is a typical repre- 
sentative of the sturdy Scandinavian element 
in our national life, and exhibits in his physi- 
cal and mental manhood the praisewcrthy ele- 
ments which for ages have distinguished that 
strong and fearless race. He was born Octo- 
ber 7, 1848, near Warburg. Sweden, near 
which place his father, Eric Lawson, owned a 
large estate and farmed upon quite an ex- 
tensive scale. According to national usuage 
which for centuries has been a custom among 
the Scandinavian people, boys from the age of 
eighteen to twenty-five are named through the 
military training schools, our subject being 
given the name of Braon (in English 
Brown), and by such he has since been dis- 
tinguished from the other members of his 
family. 

As already stated, Mr. Lawson, the father, 
was a large land holder, at one time owning 
over a thousand acres on which he carried on 
agriculture and stock raising for a number of 
years and accumulated a handsome fortune. 
The homestead, a large log structure, weather- 
boarded and roofed with tile, and the commo- 
dious l>arn and other outbuildings near by, 
together with the tastefully arranged grounds 
surrounding, betokened the residence of a man 
of successful business ability and high social 
standing. On this estate were some ten or 
twelve tenants, each of which, with his wife and 
such boys as were old enough to be of practi- 
cal ser\'ice, worked for the proprietor a cer- 



992 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tain number of days in the year to pay the 
rental of the houses and grounds which they 
occupied and tilled. The products of the Law- 
son farm were disposed of at Warburg, the 
nearest seaport, while the linen fabrics, chiefly 
table cloths, manufactured during the long 
winter seasons by different members of the 
family found a ready market, not only at home 
but in England, to w liich country many of them 
were sold at high prices. The subject's child- 
hood was spent amid the inspiring natural 
scenery of his native valley and at the early age 
of ten years he was given charge of a team of 
and, taking his place behind the plow, was en- 
abled even while that young to do a man's work 
in the field. His educational training was ac- 
quired under the peculiar system in vogue in 
the rural districts of Sweden in those days, and 
in addition thereto the children were regularly 
instructed in the doctrines of the government 
church (Lutheran), under the supervision of 
the ministers in charge of the parish. Like 
other of his companions and playmates, young 
Brown was obliged to study very hard early 
and late in order to commit to memory the re- 
quired number of verses and chapters of Holy 
Writ, besides becoming familiar with the 
catechism, a knowledge of which was consid- 
ered absolutely essential to good citizenship. 
While he submitted with the best grace possible 
to this form of ecclesiastical education and 
made the required advancement, young Brown 
was early led to question its utility, in that it 
failed almost entirely to lit a young man for 
the practical duties of life. He thought time 
might better be spent upon those branches of 
general knowledge which every successful man 
sooner or later must to some extent know, 
rather than wasted in craming the mind with 
stipirtated statements of faith and doctrines of 
church and creed. Being a dutiful son, how- 
ever, he submitted to the will of his God-fear- 
ing parents and in due time passed successfully 
the required examinations, was admitted to 



holy communion and to all intents and pur- 
poses became a loyal citizen of the Fatherland. 

Mr. Brown remained on the home farm un- 
til the death of his moth'er, after which the 
family was broken up, the three sons and one 
daughter finding homes elsewhere. At that 
time the subject was a young man of eighteen, 
strong and rugged in body, independent of 
mind and well calculated by nature and train- 
ing to grapple with the rugged battles of life. 
The first year after leaving home he worked 
for a neighboring farmer, receiving as a re- 
muneration fifty dollars in money and the use 
of a certain plat of ground in which to raise 
a few potatoes, on which he was not allowed to 
plant more than two bushels of seed. At the 
end of the year he had saved thirty dollars of 
his wages (equivalent to about fourteen dollars 
of American money), which with the price of 
his potatoes and money saved from the sale 
of the honey from his fifty bee hives, amounted 
to the snug sum of five hundred dollars. His 
young brother, L. E. I^ricsson, who left home 
when the family circle ceased to exist, began lifi 
as a grocer's clerk, but a few years later em- 
barked in tlie mercantile business in a modest 
way and soon became a prosperous tradesman. 
As the years went by he gradually enlarged his 
stock, rose to an eminent position in the mer- 
cantile world and at this time his wealth is 
estimated at considerable in excess of one mil- 
lion dollars. He is still a resident of Sweden 
and one of the distinguished business men of 
Slatter, the city m which he lives. 

Thinking to better his condition in the 
United States, whither a number of his friends 
had already gone, Mr. Brown, in 1872, took 
a vessel at Warburg for Gattenburg, thence by 
steamer to Hull, England, from which place 
he went by rail to Liverpool. At the latter 
place he took passage on one of the Anchor 
Line vessels and ten days thereafter landed at 
Castle Garden, New York. From New York 
city he proceeded to Titusville, Pennsylvania^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



995 



where his friends were living, and after spend- 
ing a short time with them, he started out in 
quest of a situation of some kind as his stock 
of money was getting quite low. After trav- 
eling about from place to place during the en- 
suing winter and well nigh exhausting his 
funds, he secured, in the summer of 1873, em- 
ployment on a railroad at Warren, Ohio, at 
two dollars per day. After working for the 
company until there was something like one 
hundred dollars due him, having drawn barely 
sufficient of his wages to meet his living ex- 
penses, the paymaster absconded with the 
funds, leaving all the workmen losers, as the 
company, a small affair, could not make good 
the deficit. Considerably discouraged but by 
no means disheartened by this unfortunate ex- 
perience. Mr. Brown at once looked around for 
other employment, \\hich he soon found with 
the Valle)' railroad, then in process of con- 
struction between Akron and Cleveland. Af- 
ter working about one month he was taken 
down with a severe atack of fever and agtie 
which kept him in bed nearly two months, to 
his great pecuniary embarrassment. When 
sufficiently recovered he went to New Castle, 
Pennsylvania, but not finding employment 
there, returned to Ohio and resumed work on 
the Valley road between Canton and Akron, 
taking his wages in script worth about seventy- 
five cents on the dollar. After laboring for a 
few months under such discouraging circum- 
ctances he gave up his job and w'ent to New 
Berlin, but not finding any way of earning a 
livelihood there he returned to the employ of 
the Valley road at the same depreciated pay as 
he had formerly received. Later he went to 
Greenville to work on another road, but find- 
ing the branch there about finished and no more 
hands needed, he hired to a farmer to chop 
wood at fifty cents a cord. In this way he put 
in the time until the spring of 1874, when, 
with the sum of fixe dollars in his pocket, he 
walked to Canton, determined if possible to 



find something else to do besides digging on a 
railroad at starvation wages or chopping wood 
at fifty cents a cord. 

On reaching this city Mr. Brown secured 
quarters at a hotel, after which he started out 
on his quest for any kind of honest employ- 
ment he could find to do. When all but fifty 
cents of his money was gone and nothing had 
been found, he very honestly explained his 
situation to the landlord, telling that gentlemare 
that he would be obliged to leave his house and 
look elsewhere for something to do. In this 
instance the landlord proved a friend indeed as 
well as a friend in need. After listening to the: 
young fellow's story, being impressed with hi-i.- 
straightforward, manly appearance, he inter- 
ested himself in his behalf by sending him to 
the home of Mr. iVlcKinley, who happened tc^ 
be in need of a good, reliable hand. When Mr, 
Brown presented himself at the latter's home- 
he was met by Mrs. McKinley, who referred 
him to her husband. He immediately pro- 
ceeded to the latter's office and after a few- pre- 
liminaries relative to the matter of wages and 
board had been arranged, he entered upon what 
proved to be a ten-year term of ser\'ice with 
Mr. McKinley, during which time a warm and 
abiding friendship sprang up between the two. 
Mr. Brown proved faithful to every trust re- 
posed in him and spared no pains to advance his 
employer's interests. He was one of the future 
President's household and was consulted upoi> 
matters pertaining to the place and his advice 
always had its weight and influence. During- 
Mr. McKinley's administration in congress the 
homestead was taken in charge by his father-in- 
law. James A. Saxton, and the Barber fam- 
ily, though the subject remained there during 
this period and was treated with the same cour- 
tesy by them as by the McKinleys. He saved his 
wages with the greatest care and at the expira- 
tion of ten years found himself the possessor of 
sufficient means to make what he and his em- 
ployer at the time thought and what has since.- 



994 



OLD LANDMARKS 



l)n)ved a most fortunate investment. This was 
tlie purchase of the corner lot on which his 
home now stands, and tlie erection of a green- 
liuuse, tor which tliere was then a most op- 
portune opening. 

Mr. Brown engaged in business as a florist 
whde in Mr. iMcKinley's service, intrusting the 
management of tlie concern to a friend in 
wliose ability and honor he placed utmost re- 
liance. After two years this friend proved un- 
faithful, as he left the city suddenly, taking 
with him all earnings of the business in his 
possession. b'ollowing this Mr. Brown re- 
signed his ]:)Osition with his employer in order 
to give personal attention to his own affairs, 
which had already begun to assume respectable 
])roportions. Purchasing the balance of the 
s([uare on which his greenliouse stood, he 
.greatly enlarged the capacity of his buildings 
and soon took- rank as the leading florist in the 
city. His business has been very successful 
from the beginning and from an income of Ave 
hundred <lcillars the rtrst year it now returns 
him, clear nf all expenses, over seven thousand 
dollars annually. In addition to this, his real 
estate has advanced greatly in value, and from 
other investments which he has made from time 
to time his earnings are also quite large. In 
connection with his regular business. Mr. 
Brown also deals in real estate. Actuated l)y a 
commendable public spirit, he has done much to 
advance the material interests of Canton and 
beautify the city by erecting on his dift'erent 
lots a number of buildings for business and 
residence purposes. Among the more noted 
nf these edifices is the Brown conservatory 
building-, a large four-story structure of pressed 
brick, tile ground floor of which he uses for 
his business and residence, the whole being sur- 
rounfled by magnificent conservatories, the like 
of wliich is not to be seen in this or any other 
city in the state. He has erected in Canton 
r)ver f)ne hundred tenement houses, all of which 
are kept in fine repair so that the occupants find 



no fault with their landlord, but on the con- 
traiy. are ever ready to praise him for his 
broad humanitarian principles. 

Mr. Brown came to Canton in May, 1874, 
poor, friendless and alone, with barely enough 
money in his possession to pay a week's board 
at the modest hotel. His advancement since 
that time is perhaps without a parallel in the 
career of any other resident of the city or 
county. This phenomenal success has re- 
sulted from his own inherent energy, wise fore- 
sight and superior business methods, e\ery dol- 
lar in his possession coming to him through 
these channels. Mr. Brown stands high in 
other relations of life as he does in the realm of 
business, l)eing" recognized as a large-hearted, 
broad-minded citizen whose aim is to sub^ 
serve the i)ublic good by every legitimate means 
at his command. He is a member of the White 
Cross Scanrlinavian Society, in addition to 
which he belongs to the Masonic order, having 
risen to the degree of Sir Knight ; he is also 
identified with the Knights i>f Pythias and the 
order of Maccabees, and in politics is a stanch 
and uncompromising supporter of the Repub- 
lican party. 

Mr. Brown was married in the city of Can- 
ton. March 1. 1S88. to Miss Florence Gilmore. 
daughter of Nathaniel and Anna (Dougan) 
Gilmore. of Tuscarawas county. Ohio, a no- 
tice of whom will be found in the sketch of 
Dr. Pontius, on another page of this work. 



DAVID H. ROHRER is a native son of 
Stark county, and he was born on a farm in 
Canton township, on the 3d of July, 1852, be- 
ing the only child of Da\id and Elizabeth 
(Hoffman) Rohrer. both of whom came of 
stanch German lineage. His father was born 
in the state of Pennsylvania, and as a young 
man he accompanied his parents, Isaac and 
Mary ( Rohrer ) Rohrer, on their remosal from 
the old Kevstone state to Stark countv, the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



995 



family taking up their alxjcle on a farm in Can- 
ton lownshi]) in tlie early pioneer days. In 
tliat lownshi]) the parents of our suhject were 
married, after wliicli his fatlier engaged in ag- 
ricuhnral ]iursuits on iiis own responsiliihtx'. 
InU he h\ed only a shftrt time after his mar- 
riage, passing a\va\- in the flower of his young 
manhood, since he was hut twenty-four years 
of ag"e at the time of his death, while he left his 
A'oung wife with ;ni infant son only three days 
old at the time. That son was he of whom 
this sketch is written. • His mother suhse- 
<|uently l)ccame the wife of Peter Stauffer. to 
w lioni she Ijore four children, of-whotu three 
<ur\-i\e. namel\- : Priscilla, who is the wife of 
Amos Sollenherger. of Denver, Colorado; 
Henry, who is a resident of Cuyahoga Falls, 
< )hio, and iMivina. who is unmarried and re- 
sides in the city of Chicago, Illinois. The de- 
\-oted mother passed away in i8Cig. at the age 
of forty-six years. 

f);'.\id H. Rohrer remained with his 
mother until he had attained the age of sixteen 
years, having received a common-school ed- 
ucation, and he then started out in life on his 
own responsibility by securing employment on 
a farm, this being in harmony with his earlier 
training. On the i6th of December, 1873, he 
was united iiii marriage to Miss Mary Myers, 
who was at the time a resident of the city of 
Canton. She was born in the state of Penn- 
svh'ania, whence .she accompanied her father, 
John B. Myers, on his removal to Stark coun- 
ty, where he became a pioneer farmer in Can- 
ton township, finally retiring from active busi- 
ness and passing the closing years of his life 
near Canton. One year after his inarriage Mr. 
Rohrer purchased fifty-two acres of land in 
Nimishillen township and i:)egan farming' on 
his cnvn responsibility, meeting with a due 
measure of success, since he was industrious 
and brought to Ijear the full strength of his 
forceful energy and excellent business judg- 
ment. In 1889 he sold this farm to John Viv- 



laiid and purchased his present home farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres, on section 19, in 
the same township, and here he has since made 
man}' improvements and has placed the land 
under most effective cultixation, so that his 
returns are such as to justify the zealous ef- 
forts ])nt forth. In politics he maintains an 
independe'.it attitude and his religious faith is 
that of the EJrethren of Christ, of which organ- 
ization his wife also is a devoted member. 
They are the parents of ele\en children, name- 
ly: Clitford, who is a resident of Canton 
township; Elizabeth, who remains at the pa- 
rental hoiTie; Bertha, who is the w'ife of Harvey 
AX'arstler, who has charge of the operation of 
a ijortion of our subject's farm : .Mbert, Mary 
and baig'ene, who remain at the parental home ; 
John, who resides in Canton township: and 
Harry, Martin, Nettie and F.lleu, who are still 
beneath the home rooftree. 



MAR^ITN BRUBAKER is a native of the 
grand old commonwealth of IVnnsylvania, and 
the son of Daniel and Harriet (Martin) Bru- 
baker, boih parents born in that state, the 
father in Juniata county, the mother in the 
county of Lancaster. In the year 1869 Daniel 
Brubaker moved his farnily to W'avne county, 
Ohio, where he lived until (piite old. when he 
changed his abode to Stark count\-. He 
spent his last days in Tuscarawas township, dy- 
ing here on the ist of April, 1888, aiiid on the 
20tli day of December following his faithful 
wife joined him in the land where lov- 
ing hearts are nevermore .severed by the 
ruthless hand of death. Daniel and Har- 
riet Brubaker reared a family of three 
sons and two daug'hters. \iz : David, Mar- 
tin. Daniel, Nancy and Fannie, all liv- 
ing, well settled in life and highly esteemed 
in their respective communities. Daniel is a 
minister of the German BajDtist church and 
lives in Illinois: David, a leading member of 



99& 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the Ajnish denomination, a religious body re- 
sembling in many respects the Dunkards or 
German Baptists, makes his home in Wayne 
county, Ohio; Nancy is the wife of Christian 
Miller and lives in Oklahoma, and Fannie, who 
maried Jacob Martin, resides in Wayne county. 

Martin Brubaker was born in Juniata coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, on the 20th day of May, 
1843. Hampered by a rather discouraging en- 
vironment during his youth his advantages for 
obtaining an education were of necessity con- 
siderably limited, the greater part of his time, 
as soon as he was old enough, being required 
to develop the home farm and look after its 
cultivation. He remained in his native state 
untill a young man of twenty-three, mean- 
while assisting the father by every means 
within his power and in many \vays demon- 
strating his usefulness as a faithful and loyal 
son who made every other consideration sub- 
ordinate to his parents' interests. 

In 1866 Mr. Brubaker came to Stark 
conniy and for several years thereafter labored 
as a farm hand at monthly wages, in this way 
earning in due time sufficient means to pur- 
chase land of his own in the county of Wayne. 
He went to the latter county about 1866 and 
invested what capital he had in a farm of 
seventy-seven acres, paying at the rate of sev- 
enty dollars per acre. After living there un- 
til about 1883 he disposed of his place at 
eighty-five dollars per acre and with the pro- 
ceeds bought the farm in Tuscarawas township 
on which he has since lived and which he has 
converted into one of the finest farms of its 
size in the county of Stark. The place con- 
sists of one hundred and sixty acres and is ad- 
mirably situated for general agricultm-al pur- 
ix)ses and .stock raising besides containing a 
fine coal bank, which in addition to furnishing 
fuel for home consumption is the source of 
considerable income to the owner. Mr. Bru- 
baker is an enterprising agriculturist and that 
he has made his vocation remunerative is 



abundantly demonstrated by the fine condition 
of his honie and the handsome competence he 
has earned. He is one of the progressive men 
of his community, standing for public improve- 
ments when proi>erly inaugurated and conduct- 
ed and his influence has ever been used to good 
and worthy ends. He has served his township 
as supervisor, aside from which minor office 
he has held no public position nor aspired to 
any kind of public honor. In religion he sub- 
scribes to the doctrines of the Menonite church. 
of which he has teen for a number of years an 
humble and consecrated member. 

Mr. Brubaker became a married man in 
1870, on February 18 of which year he was 
united in the bonds of matrimony with Miss 
Magdalena. daughter of Jonas and Elizabeth 
Horst, of Tuscarawas township, the union re- 
sulting in the birth of six children : Jonas, the 
oldest of the family, married Lizzie White, and 
is the father of three children, Ida. Curtis, de- 
ceased, and one that died in infancy; Daniel, 
the second son. married Nancy Winger and has 
a daughter by the name of Myrl; ^Mary and 
Ezron are still with their parents and bear their 
respective shares of the work required to run 
the farm and manage tlie household ; Henry 
and Enos, the fifth and sixth in order of birth. 
are deceased. 



CHARLES ALLISON SHAW.— The 
father of the subject, Thomas S. Shaw, was 
born in Chatham, Massachusetts, and in that 
state was reared. Upon attaining mature 
years he married and shortly afterwards came 
to Ohio, making the trip on horseback. With 
monev which his wife brought with her the\ 
purchased a farm in Medina county and there 
for some years he engaged in the pursuit of 
agriculture. He also engaged in the hard- 
ware business at Medina, in which he was quite 
successful. He was an ardent Republican in 
|X)litics, stood high in the councils of his party 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



997 



and for man}' years ser\'ed as recorder of j\Ie- 
• lina county. He was a warm personal 
friend of William McKinley and frequently en- 
tertained the eminent statesman at his home. 
In his native state Thomas S. Shaw was united 
in marriage with Miss Polly Hamlin, who came 
of a wealthy and prominent family of the Old 
Bay state and who prior to her marriage was 
engaged in teaching. To their union were 
lx)rn three children, as follows : Ella became 
the wife of J. M. Templeton, of Medina, Ohio; 
Charles A. is the subject, and Flora, who is the 
wife of Dr. J. N. Sipher, of Cleveland. Ohio. 
Charles Allison Shaw was born on the 
parental farmstead in Chatiiam township, Medi- 
na county, Ohio, on the i6th of September, 
1838. He there grew to manhood and re- 
ceived a good education. When the subject 
was about six years old his father was elected 
to the office of county recorder, which neces- 
sitated his removal to the city of Medina. 
The subject entered the schools of that_ place 
and was graduated therefrom at the age of 
sixteen years. He possessed the power of close 
application and invariably stood at the head of 
his classes ; but while he was a close student, 
he did not neglect his physical culture and took 
a hearty interest in all athletic and outdoor 
sports. Entering the Western Reserve Col- 
lege (now called Adelbert College), then 
situated at Hudson. Ohio, he pursued the full 
course of study and was graduated in the class 
of 18S1. taking the highest honors of his class. 
Because of his steady application to his studies 
in college, he was compelled to suspend his 
studies for one year, during which time he 
learned the tinner's trade. Shortly after his 
graduation from college, Mr. Shaw accepted 
the position of electrician with the Brush Elec- 
tric Company, at Cleveland. He was of a 
mechanical turn of mind and devoted much of 
his leisure time to the study of physics and 
chemistry, becoming well versed in these 
■iciences. After coming to Canton he was en- 



gaged in making the electrical apparatus and 
the laboratory supplies for the high school of 
that city, in this way saving to the board of 
education a considerable expense. Accepting 
the position of assistant principal in the high 
school he served for one year to the eminent 
satisfaction of all concerned and when, at the 
close of the first year. Dr. Marchand. the prin- 
cipal, resigned for the purpose of studying 
medicine, Mr. Shaw was at once chosen as his 
successor, a position which he filled up to the 
time of his death. March 31. 1892. a period of 
about eight years. In this exacting" position 
Mr. Shaw soon attained distinction, being rec- 
ognized as one of the most successful educa- 
tors of the county. A well educated, sym- 
metrically developed man, his work as an edu- 
cator brought him prominently to the notice 
of the public, which was prompt in recognizing 
his high standard of professional excellence. 
He was a gentleman of scholarly tastes and 
studious habits, kept abreast of the times in ad- 
vanced educational methods and his general 
knowledge was at once broad and comprehen- 
si\'e. Full of tender sympathy, he kept in close 
touch with his pupils, and. whether at work or 
recreation, they always felt that they had in 
him a true friend and a loyal companion. 

Mr. Shaw's religious principles were in 
harmony with those embodied in the creed of 
the Congregational church and from child- 
hood he was a member of the local congrega- 
tion at Medina, retaining his affiliation there- 
with until his death. Of a deeply religious na- 
ture, he was ever faithful and consistent in 
his efforts to follow in the footsteps of the man 
of Nazareth. He took an active interest in the 
Young Men's Chri.stian Association and did 
much to advance the interests of that beneficent 
organization. In politics he was a firm advo- 
cate of Republican principles, but never aspired 
to the honors or emoluments of public office. 

On the 2d of January. 1883. Mr. Shaw was 
united in marriage with Miss Lola Riker, of 



998 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Painesville, Ohio, a union which was blessed 
l5y the birth of two children, Marjorie R. and 
Donald M., both now attending school. Mrs. 
Shaw was born in Painesville. Lake county. 
Ohio. January 2^. i860. Her paternal grand- 
parents were Henry and Deborah Riker. the 
former of Holland Dutch extraction and the 
latter of an iild and prominent Quaker family 
of Long Island. Henry Riker came with his 
faniilv to Lake count}'. Ohir), in an early day 
and entered land in the neighlx irhocid uf 
Pairiesville. Here he lived the remainder of 
his days, dying there a number of }ears ago of 
old age. his wife haxing jjreceded him to the 
better land some rears. She was noted as an 
exceptionally intelligent wciman. jjossessed of 
large cajjacities for business. One of her 
brothers ac(|uired considerable note as a writer 
and |.)ublisiied several well-known books, pos- 
sessing much literary merit. Mrs. Shaw's 
father, Leander 15. Riker. was born in iH^f), on 
Long Island, Xew \"ork, or on a little island 
close by. called Riker's Islanrl. He was but 
a child when l)rought bv his parents to Ohio, 
and grew up amid the rude surroundings of his 
pioneer home in Lake countv. I'lJon attaining 
to years of maturity he established himself in 
business at Painesville. where he was fairly 
successful. During the war of the Rebellion 
be performed active and eflicient service in the 
conimis.sary de])artment of the United States 
army, retiring with a creditable record. In ■ 
politics he was a tirm and uncomijromising Re- 
publican and in religion was a faithful and con- 
sistent member of the Congregational church. 
His death occurred at Painesville in Augu.st, 
i<S<>5 : bis wife still survives at the age of sixty- 
two years. Their union was blessed b\- the 
birth of the following children: Lola. Mrs. 
Shaw: Henn-, who resides in .\kron. this 
state; Jennie became the wife of E. C Rodman, 
of Binghamton, New ^ork: Eva Louise is the 
wife of J. W. Hamlin, of Seattle, Washington ; 
Walter S., of W'illoughbv, Ohio: Alma E. and 



Ethel M. are still at home. Mrs. Shaw was 
educated m the public schools of Painesville 
and at a seminary at Hudson, Ohio. Upon com- 
pleting her education she began teaching in the 
schools of Columbus, where she was employed 
ft>r nearly three years, after which she taught 
for one year in the .schools of Lincoln. Illinois. 
After the death of her husband she resumed 
teaching in the scho(jls (jf Canton, and has since 
that time been continuously engaged as such. 
She is a memljer of the l-'irst I'resbyterian 
church of Canton and stands high in the es- 
teem of all who know her. 



ISRAEL BIXLER was born in Lake 
township. Stark county. Ohio, on the it)th of 
July, 1828, being a son of Da\i(l and Catherine 
(Reichard) Bixler, of whose thirteen children 
seven are living at the time of this writing, 
namely: Israel, who is the subject: David. 
w'ho is a resident of Indiana: Benjamin, who 
resides at .^])ring-held Lake, Summit county. 
Ohio; Henry, who is su])erintendent of the 
Stark county infirmary; William, who also re- 
sides at Springfield Lake; Louis. \vho is a resi- 
dent of the city of Cleveland, and Rca'. An- 
drew J., who is located in Rice county. Kan- 
sas. The father, David Bixler, was a native of 
the state of Marvland, where be w;is borti on 
the 6th of Ma\', i7<)'>. 1 lis ])arents died when 
he was a mere child, and he was t.nkcn into the 
home of Daniel Mark-lew with whom he came 
to Ohio when he was ten vears of age, in 1806. 
The family located in Lake township. Stark 
county, where David Bixler was reared to ma- 
turity. In i<Sij be was united in marriage to 
Miss Elizabeth .Marklex'. a (laughter of his 
foster-father, and the ri\e children of this 
union are now all deceased, .\fter the death 
of his first wife Mr. Bi:<ler married .Miss Cath- 
erine Reichard. who was liorn in the state of 
Pennsylvania, on the 2d of June. 1806. and 
who was the mother of the subject, .\fter his 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



999 



first marriage Da\"i(l Bixler settled on a farm 
in Marlboro townslii]). this county, where he 
continued to reside for a number of years and 
then sold this farm, comprising eighty acres, 
and purciiased a (|uarter-section in Lake 
township, where he took up his alxide and be- 
gan the work of improving and culti\ating the 
land. He later purchased also an adjoining 
eighty-acre tract, and as the same was equipped 
with better buildings he removed to the same 
and there made his home until his death, in his 
sixty-eighth year, ha\-ing lieen industrious and 
energetic and ha\ ing been duly successful in 
his endeavors, while he liel<l the unlimited con- 
fidence and regard of the community. He was 
a member of the d'erman l>a])tist church and 
took a dee)3 interest in its work. His second 
wife entered into tiie life eternal and the\' rest 
side by side in the cemetery at Hartwell. Lake 
township. 

Israel Bixler was reared under the condi- 
tions and inHuences of the ]>ioneer epoch, early 
becoming inured to the arduous work of the 
farm, while the educational privileges afi^orded 
him were such as were to be had in the pioneer 
log school-house, w ith its puncheon floor, slab 
benches and other ])rimitive eijuiiiments. .\t 
the age of eighteen years Mr. Bixler went to 
Miami county, Indiana, where he was em- 
jiloyed in a nursery for a period of two \ears, 
and with the discovery of gold in California 
lie became seriously attacked with the prevail- 
ing "fever" aufl was one of the argonauts of 
the memorable \ear, rS4(;. having started 
forth in January of that year and made the 
trip by the way of the Isthmus of Panama, 
from wliich locality he made the remainder of 
the voyage to San I' ranci.sco on Ixjard of an old 
sailing vessel, whose every trip was attended 
with adfliti(inal hazard, .so unseaworthy had the 
boat become through years of battling with the 
elements. Mr. Bixler remained In the Golden 
state about four years, working in the placer 
mines fluring a portion of this period, while 



during the balance of his stay he owned and op- 
erateil a pack train of mules, b}- means (if which 
he transported provisions and supplies to the 
different mining camps w hich were inaccessible 
to wagons. Eventuall_\- the Indians killed 
most of his mules and he then purchased a 
saw-mill, which he operated for a short time, 
and in 1S53 he returned to Stark county, on 
this occasion making the trip by the way of the 
Xicaraugua route. I'pon reaching home he 
decided to supplement the somewhat meagre 
educational training- of his more xnuth- 
ful days, and with this eni\ in \iew 
entered tiie high school in the village 
of Marlljoro, where he continued his studies 
with marked zeal and earnestness for twT> 
terms. 

On the Sth of januar_\-. 1S54. shortly after 
leaving school, Mr. Bixler was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Sarah A. Smith, who was born in 
Lake township, being a daughter of George E. 
Smith, who was one of the early settlers in that 
township. After his marriage he located on 
the farm where he now resides, and here he has 
continued t(,i make his home for nearly a half 
century, within which he has metamorphosed 
the i)lace from a heavily timberefl tract, with 
little in the wav of improvements, into one of 
the line farms of the cpunt\- and one e(juipped 
with excellent Ijuildmgs and other evidence^ (^f 
thrifi and ])rosperity. For a time he operated 
'the |)lace on shares, later rented the same in a 
direct way and finalh'. in 1806. purchased the 
])roperty, which comprises one hundrerl and 
sixt)'-one acres of exceptionallv fertile land, the 
integrity of the soil ha\ing been maintained 
during all these years by means of proper 
handling of the .same in the way of rotation of 
crops, proper fertilizing, etc. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Bixler have been l>orn ten children, ccjncerning 
wJKim we offer a brief record, as follows: 
Orlando has charge of the old homestead; Le- 
ona is the wife of Da\i(l ITuft'man, of this 
township: M;irtlia remains at the jiarental 



lOOO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



home; Sarah is the wife of John C. Powell, of 
AVashington township; Byron is a successful 
farmer of Marlboro township ; Cora is the wife 
of David Holben, of Homer, Michigan: Lo- 
retta is the wife of William Lower, of Deer- 
field. Portage county, Ohio; and Elmer and 
Ellsworth are twins, the former residing in the 
city of Buffalo, New York, while the latter 
remains at the parental home. 

In politics Mr. Bixler was arrayed in sup- 
port of the Democratic party prior to i860, 
since which time he has been a zealous suppor- 
ter of the Republican party. He served seven 
years as township trustee and has ever taken a 
<leep interest in all that has concerned the prog-' 
ress and material prosperity of his home town- 
ship and county. He and his wife are member? 
of the Evangelical church. 



ISA.\'C GOSHORN.— Today among tlie 
prominent and successful men of Pike town- 
ship, Stark county. Oliio, stands tiie gentleman 
whose name appears at the beginning of this 
paragraph. The qualities of keen discrimina- 
tion, sound judgment and executive ability 
enter very largely into bis makeup and have 
heen contributing elements to the material suc- 
cess which has come to him. 

Isaac Goshorn is a native son of the Buck- 
eye state, having- first seen the light of day on 
Iiis father's farm in Bethlehem township. Stark 
county, on the 23d of May, 1837. His parents 
were Samuel and Eliza (Reed) Goshorn. the 
former a nali\-e of Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
vania, ;'nd the latter of Ohio. Their marriage 
occurred in Stark couiny. this state, and here 
they spent the remainder of their lives. Their 
deaths occurred in Pike township, he at the age 
of forty-four years and she aged about thirtv- 
seven \-ears. They were the parents of seven 
children, of whom the subject was the first 
bnrn. 

Isaac Goshorn was reared chieflv in Pike 



township and there has passed the greater ])art 
of his life. He is indebted to the common 
schools for his education, though that has in 
subsequent years been supplemented by that 
wide and practical knowledge gained by con- 
tact with the world and a close and discriminat- 
ing observation of men and events. Upon at- 
taining mature years Mr. Goshorn learned the 
trade of a carpenter, which occupation he fol- 
lowed for about eight years, meeting with a 
fa.ir degree of success. ■ Aside from this farm- 
ing' has been his principal occupation through- 
out life and that he thoroughly understands his 
vocation is well attested by the condition of his 
pl'opertA' and the aliundant liarvests which are 
retiu'ned to him for the care and labor he be- 
stows upon his fields. He is well versed in the 
most modern and up-to-date methods of hus- 
bandry and keeps a careful oversight of the de- 
tails of his business. He owns sixty-one acres 
of fine land and 1")y a proper rotation of cro]is 
and the wise use of fertilizers has succeeded in 
bringing the soil up to a high standard of ex- 
cellence. Because of the intelligence and sound 
judgment displayed in his operations, he has 
achieved a substantial success as a farmer and 
has won a splendid reputation among his fel- 
low agriculturists nf the township in which he 
li-\-es. 

^, fr. Goshorn has been twice married. On 
the 13th of November. 1859, in Pike township. 
.Stark coimty. Ohio, he was united in marriage 
to ;\Tiss Rebecca ^^''orley, a daughter of the late 
]\Iichael ^^''orley. She was born and reared in 
Pike township, Stark county, and in the schools 
of that locality receix^ed her education. Her 
death occurred on the iith of December, 1893. 
and on the 2d of February, 1896. he was united 
in wedlock with Miss Mary A. Peters, a daugh- 
ter of the late Daniel and Ann CHanna) Peters. 
She was born in Pike to\A'nsliip and was reared 
in this county. The first union was blessed by 
the birtli of four children, briefly mentioned as 
follows : \\'illiam died at the age of one year; 




ISAAC GOSHORN. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



lOOI 



Mary I. is the wife of James J- Cams; Nancy 

E. died when liut eighteen months old and a 
daughter died in infancy. 

Pohticall}' Mr. Goshorn has all his life been 
an active and enthusiastic Republican and has 
taken an effective part in many campaigns of 
his party. In recognition of his valuable ser- 
vices in the party ranks and of his eminent per- 
sonal ability he was nominated by his party for 
the office of trustee of his township and at the 
ensuing election was chosen by a safe majority. 
So efficient and satisfactory were his services 
in this position that he was chosen to succeed 
himself in the office, retiring at the end of his 
second term with the commendation of all his 
constituents, regardless of party affiliations. 
Religiously he is a member of the United 
Brethren church, having identified himself with 
that society in 1867. In the spring of 1864, 
when the country was still engaged in that 
greatest of internecine conflicts, the war of the 
Rebellion, Mr. Goshorn volunteered his services 
to aid in its suppression, enlisting in Company 

F, One Hundred Sixty-second Regiment Ohio 
Volunteer infantry. Though his term of ser- 
\ice was for but four months, he participated 
with his regiment in mucli archious service and 
returned home with a creditable military 
record. Mr. Goshorn is held in high esteem l)y 
all who know him; he discharges the duties of 
citizenship intelligently, has proven true to 
every confidence reposed in him and has always 
endeavored to live so as to merit the respect of 
his mam- friends and neighbors. 



RE^^ CiEORGE W. BROWN.— The 
Brown family is of stanch German origin, and 
it is a tradition in the family that the original 
progenitor in America came here as a lad of 
seven years, being bound out to pay his passage 
across the Atlantic. Tt is certain that he came 
to America in the early colonial epoch, and 
Irathtion further states that the great-grand- 



father of our subject was a soldier in the Con- 
tinental line during the war of the Revolution. 
The paternal grandfather of the subject was 
Daniel Brown and the maiden name of his wife 
was Houser. I'hey became the parents of 
twenty-one children, and the family was one 
of the first to settle in Nimishillen township. 
Stark county, the grandfather taking up a tract 
of heavily timbered government land, which is 
now known as the Stoner farm, and it is a mat- 
ter of record that two of his children wandered 
away from the little log-cabin home in the early 
days and were lost in the surounding wilder- 
ness, the searching party not being able, to find 
them until the third day after their disappear- 
ance. The Brown family was thus prominently 
identified with the early de\elopment of this 
favored section of the Buckeye state. 

Rev. Georg^e W. Brown is a native of Sen- 
eca county, Ohio, haA'ing been born in the vil- 
lage of Bascom, on the r3th of December, 
1840, and being a son of Jacol> C. and Sarah 
(Price) Brown, both of whom were horn in 
Stark county, where the former was born about 
the year 1814 and the latter about 1817. Ja- 
cob C. Brown passed his early life on the old 
pioneer homestead in this county and here, as 
a youth, he learned the trade of brick and stone 
mason and plasterer. It is probable that he 
moved to .Seneca county shortly after his niar- 
riage, since two of his children who were oUler 
than our subject were likewise born in that 
county. Fin.'dly the health of our subject's 
mother became serioush- impaired and his f;i- 
ther fotmd it difficult to prn\'ide for his family. 
Unfler these conditions George W. and his 
}'Oungest brother, .\lvin M., aged respectively 
seven and four }-ears at the time, then went to 
live with a farmer, Daniel Tombaugh, who re- 
sided near West Tndei)cndence. Hancock coun- 
ty. Ohio, their mother dying shortly afterward. 
This worthy foster-father pro\'ed most kind 
and generous to the two Iions whom he thus 
reared, and his interest in ihem \\as a deep and 



I002 



OLD LANDMARKS 



earnest (Tiie. as lie liad no cliildren of liis own. 
He was desirous that the boys should receive 
tlie Ijest possible e(hicational advantages, and 
it was also his wish that our subject should 
become a clergyman and the younger brother a 
physician. When the subject of this sketch was 
fifteen years (jf age, in 1855, Mr. T(jinbaugh 
disposed of his property in Hancock county 
and came to Stark county ;md ]iurchased a 
farm tnree- fourths of a mile distant from the 
x'illage ot Louisville. an<l during a |)ortion of 
the tinie the subject thereafter ])r()secuted his 
studies in the district schools and the remaitider 
of the time in the schools of the village men- 
tioned, thus receiv'ing an excellent foundation 
uv)on which to rear the su])erslructure of Ijroad 
and exact knowledge which he later acquired 
tbrougii active personal application and studv 
and through intimate association with men and 
allairs. \bout 1S58 he went to Cireenslntrg, 
this state, with a view to entering upon the 
work of i)reparing himself for the ministrv of 
the Evangelical Association, with which he had 
id.entified himself when sixteen vears of age. 
In i<SOo •ind iSoi Mr. Ih'own was engaged in 
teaciiing school, and in iXOi he went to Brvan, 
\Vilbams counlx, ibis stale, to \isit his sister,, 
Mrs. F.li/'a Oreen. .•in(i while be was there the 
tocsin of war sounded, for the President issued 
his first call lor volunteers to aid in sup- 
pressing the rebellion and maint;uning the in- 
tegrity of the Union. Mr. Urown's ardor and 
intrinsic patriotrsm were roused to dellnite 
action and .as soon as o])portuniiy affonled he 
entered the rank> of the brave boys in blue. 
On the ji>lh of .\|)nl. 1S61, he enli.sted as a pri- 
vate in Com])any C, I'ourteentb ( )hio N'olunteer 
Infantry, and was nnistered in at Cleveland, 
where the regiment remained a few weeks. Of 
tlie valiant and boiKinible militar\ recurd of 
.Mr. Ilrown we can not do better than to repro- 
d'lce a ])reviously |)ublished article pert.iining 
thereto : "From Cleveland the regiment weiit 
to West X'irginia, ;md Mr. lirown was first 



under fire at Philli]>pi, under Colonel Stead- 
man, who afterwards became a general. Tlie 
next engagement was at Bealington, under 
General Milroy, and they followed the C«jnfed- 
erates without their usual su])ply of clothing 
and provisions, and for tlieir supper at night 
iiad nothing except a piece of hardtack each. 
Oitr subject succeeded in getting a rubber over- 
coat which partly covered his bofh', for it 
rained all night. 'I'hev started after the Con- 
federates the next morning without breakfast 
and overtook therji at Carrick's l-'ord. where, 
after a hard-fought battle, the enemv was over- 
powered, riiey captured the rebel suiiplies. 
but got nothing to eat until noon the next 
clay, rvetuiming to Bealington, our subject 
suffered more with hunger than he did during- 
any subsequeiU time he w.as in service, Soon 
after the company rettii'iied lionie, at the ex- 
piration of the term of enhstment, tiie subject 
went to Williams countv . where he remained 
foiu' weeks. He then re-enlisted, for three 
years, in Company l\. Sixty-eighth r)hio \'ol- 
nnteer Infantry, and went into camjj at Cam]) 
I.atta, at .\'apoleon. Ohio. Later he was at 
( amj) Chase, in Columbus, Ohio, and thence 
l^roceeded w'th his command to b'ort Dcjuelson, 
where he suffered intensely with cold. Once 
be built a fire, but was ordered to ])ut it out 
and did so. Ibiwever, as soon as the oftlcer 
had passed on, he built enough to keep his feet 
warm. His next engagement was at .Shiloh, 
t and he was in General Lew Wallace's brigade, 
which assisted General C,i-ant's arjny at tli;it 
battle, After this our subject was at Bolivar 
and Matamoras, and at the latter ])Iace saw his 
first shell from the enemv. Like manv others, 
he dodged it, and afterward fi'mnd that it was 
a f|iiarter of a mile awav from bini. He partici- 
])ated in the entire siege of \'icksbui"g. and as- 
sisted in breaking the levee to turn the water 
in.to Louisiana. lie was in the battle of 
riiomp.son's Hill, where they charged the ene- 
mv just at nightfall and drove them out. He 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1003 



was under General Ij)oan at the battle 111 Ray- 
mond, :uu\ nfterward at Jackson. Cliami)itiu 
Hills and Lilack River. .\t Vicksburg Mr. 
Brown re-enlisted as a veteran, went across the 
Mississippi and took part in the battle at Ba- 
ker's creek. Retnrnint^ U> V'icksbiiiTg. he ob- 
tained a \eterau furlough tor thirty days and 
went home, i)assinu his time partly in Stark 
and i)artl\- in Wdliams county. Returning to 
bis command. Mr. lirown was at the front in 
the engagement ;it I'.ig Shanty, and soon after- 
ward be had the oi)i)ortunity of watching a bat- 
tle without being engaged in it, and was so sit- 
uated ibat lu Could watch the a])proach of both 
armies, .\ftertbis he was in man\" skirmishes 
until the arnn reached .\tlanta. where he was 
out a.s ,'1 skirmisher and unconsciousU' saved his 
life by stepping back just as a bullet jjassed 
along his vest. He was chased b_\' the enemy 
Iriit managed to escape b\- hiding. He bad still 
another narro.w escajjc from injury at .\tlanta. 
a ball passing through one of his stockings. 
Mr. Brown was with ( leneral Sherman in bis 
march to the sea. and from Savannah went to 
South Caroiin.a. where he was appointed to 
take charge of a fora.ge detail, having com- 
mand of the same for five months, or until 
the clf)se of the war. lie bad man\- narrow 
esca])es but was e\er readx' for duty. .\.fter 
the cessation of hostilities Mr. Brown took pavt 
in the Grand Rexiew at \\ ashington, and was 
mustered out ^it Louis\'ille. Kentucky, receix'- 
iug bis honorable discharge on the lOtb of 
Julv. 1865. He enlisted as a ])ri\-aie, but just 
before reaching .\tlanta he was ])romoted to tiie 
rank of sergeant." 

Having j^rovec' himself a leal and loyal son 
of the republic and having followed the old 
flag on many a sanguinary battle field, Mr. 
Brown returned to Stark countv and forthwith 
resumed bis work of pre])aring to battle ef- 
fecti\el\- ;is a leader in the ranks of the church 
militant. Through a course^ of jirivate reading 
of tbeolog\- lie ])rci)ared himself for the active 



work of the ministry of the Evangelical Asso- 
ciation, and in January, 1867, he was mar- 
ried, and tile following March entered the con- 
ference and was assigned to a charge at Demp- 
seytown, Venango county, Pennsylvania, where 
he remained two years. Tlieieaftcr be passed 
one year in Oil City and two years in Linesville, 
tliai state, and was then assigned to the Stark 
circuit of Stark county, Ohio, where he la- 
bored effectixely for oiie year, at the ex])iration 
o| which lime be was gixen ;i pastorate at 
Soulhington. 'rrnmbull counl\-. where he re- 
mained two years, and his assignments subse- 
(|uently to this ma_v be briefly noted as follows: 
V.asl Libert) , Summit county, three years, with- 
in which he was sent as a delegate two years 
in succession to the general board of missions; 
then on the A'enango circuit, in t larion cov.n- 
ty, Pennsyb.-ania, two yeai"s, and within tliis 
time he was a delegate to the general confer- 
ence in Ohicago. Pater be accepted a ])astorate 
in the city of Des Moines, low.a. where he i"e- 
mained one year, when his health became seri- 
ously im])aired through rheumatism, and finally 
his friends sent him to i lot .Springs, .\rkansas, 
where bis injpnnement was immediate. L'pon 
returning to his charge his difticult\- soon gi-ew- 
worse again, and he thus returned to his home 
iri Sta.rk county, where be gradualK recuper- 
ated bis health, and he finally went to Shenan- 
go. Mercer county, Pennsylvania, where he 
filled a ))astorate for three years, going thence 
to South ]'"ork. in the .\lleglian\- mountains, 
where be was j^ractically cured of bis rheu- 
matic troubles. While there he was near the 
dam abo\-e Johnstown at the time when it 
broke and resulted in the terrible calamity 
known in the annals of histor_\- ;is the Johns- 
town Hood. Mr. Brown wrote a s])ii"ite(l .and 
interesting descri]jtion of the scene, of which 
he was an eve-witness. His wife and daugh- 
ter had returned from the valley only a few mo- 
ments before the terrible <lisaster, having been 
there to urge some friends to mi>ve to a place 



I004 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of safety. Mr. Brown's only son. Frank D., 
a young man of twenty years, went to work in 
Johnstown immediately after the flood had 
subsided, doing' all possible for the relief of the 
suffering and the disposing of the unfortunate 
victims of the deluge, and he there contracted 
typhoid fever, which resulted in his death, thus 
sacrificing his life on the altar of humanity. 
The subject remained at South Fork for 
two years after this ever memorable catastro- 
phe, and the period was one of devoted labori 
and one of sympathetic work for nian\- who had 
been bereaxed in the community through this 
cataclysm. He was thereafter for one year 
pastor of the Fulton Street Evangelical church, 
in the cit}' of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and 
AX'hile there was appointed delegate to the gen- 
eral conference, held in Philadelphia. In 1890 
he was ap])ointefl a member of a committee of 
three to which was assigned the duty of bring- 
ing suit against the head of the Evangelical 
Puliiishing Company in the city of Cleveland, 
and the first decision was in favor of the com- 
plainants. In the following year he was re- 
appointed a member of the committee on liti- 
gation, by the general conference, and the dif- 
ficulty was finally adjusted by the conference 
purchasing the stock of the publishing com- 
pany, and the paper published has since been 
continued as the official organ of the church. 
Mr. Brown had taken a prominent part in the 
litigation, and has written a number of articles 
pertinent thereto, while he also became a stock- 
holder and director in the Evangelical Publish- 
in.g Company, of Harrisburg, Penn.sylvania. 
As a result of the litigation mentioned a dis- 
sension occurred in the church, resulting in its 
division and the material weakening of its 
work, so that Mr. Brown found it impossible 
to longer properly maintain himself and his 
family through his ministerial labors, and he 
decided to turn his attention to other fields of 
endeavor, and thus located in the village of 
Fairhope, Stark county, where he has since 



maintained his home. His foster-father and 
benefactor, Mr. Tombaugh, died on the 5th of 
August, 1891. making Mr. Brown his sole heir, 
and the estate was sufficient to relieve him of 
further, financial worriments. In 1892 he was 
appointed postmaster of Fairhope, under, the 
administration of President Harrison, and he 
has ever since remained incumbent of this of- 
fice, while in connection with the duties of this 
position he has also conducted a successful 
grocery business since 1897. In 1895 ^^^'• 
Brown established and equipped an excellent 
greenhouse and gave special attention to the 
propagation of a fine order of plants, and he has 
succeeded in building up a large mail-order 
business, shipping his products into the most 
di\-erse sections of the Union. This floriculture 
department of his business is now in the active 
charge of his son-in-law, Mr. Hershey. In 
politics Mr. Brown is a standi advocate of the 
principles of the Republican party, and in 1899 
he was the candidate of his party for represent- 
ative in the state legislature, while in 1901 he 
was the candidate for the state senate on 
the same ticket, but his pronounced o])posi- 
tion ti) the liquor traffic led to such active 
work on the part of those favoring the same 
that he was defeated on each occasion, though 
he carried every precinct where he was known, 
securing the almost unanimous endorsement 
of Nimishillen township and a strong support 
in other sections of the county where his ster- 
ling worth and abilitv were recog'uized. 

On the 27th of January, 1867. Mr. Brown 
was united in marriage to Miss Sophia J- Grant, 
whose paternal grandfather Axas a second 
cousin of the father of the late General U. S. 
Grant. She was born in Stark countv, near the 
city of Alliance, on the 14th of January, i8.|.5, 
being a dan.ghter of Stacy and Mar\' (Schaf- 
fer) Grant. Mr. and Mrs. Brown became the 
parents of two children, namely: Frank D., 
who was born at Dempseytown, Pennsvlvania, 
on the T2th of December, 1868, and M-ho was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1005 



in the very bloom of his noble young manhood 
when his life was cut short b_\- death, on the 
29th of October. 1889. under conditions al- 
ready noted in this context ; and Iva E. is the 
wife of Harley L. Hershe}-, of Fairhope, and 
they ha\e two childr,en, Ethel F. and Herbert 
Bennett. Mr. Brown is identified with the 
Grand Army of the Republic, being a valued 
comrade of McKinley Post No. 25, at Canton. 
The eldest sister of the subject, Mrs. Martha 
Hallis, is a widow and resides in Iowa; his 
sister Eliza is the widow of Jfiities E. Green, 
and resides in Little Rock, Arkansas; William 
H., his next youngest brother, served three 
years during the Civil wan and is now a resi- 
dent of Springvale, Oklahoma, being a bache- 
lor; and the youngest brother, Alvin M., who 
was likewise reared and educated by Daniel 
Tombaugh, enlisted in the One Hundred and 
Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and met 
his death in a charge at Chancellorsville. 



CLARENCE E. EXLINE, M. D.,is proud 
to claim Ohio as the state of his nativity and 
this pride is in no wise diminished but rather 
heightened by the fact of his ha\-ing been born 
and reared in the old historic county of Stark. 
His natal month was August, the year, 1871, 
and the locality where he first saw the light of 
day, the village of Battleburg, in Pike town- 
ship. The Doctor's youthful experience in- 
cluded the usual seasons of work and recreation 
A\'hich, from three to four months during the 
winter seasons, furnished the basis of his in- 
tellectual training. Early in life he w-as thrpwn 
upon his own resources and it was only by hard 
work that he was enabled to prosecute his 
studies further than the public school course 
could take him. When about eighteen years 
old he entered Mt. Union College, paying his 
tuition there Avith money earned by working 
on a brick yard at Waynesburg. After at- 
tending that institution (Mie year .and finding- 



it -impossible to finish the course desired, he 
again secured employment on the brick yard 
with the object in view of carrying out 'a long 
standing desire to prepare himself for the med- 
ical profession. When he had acquired suf- 
ficient means to pay the tuition and meet the 
necessary living expenses, he entered, in 1894, 
the Ohio Medical Uni\'ersity at Columbus, and 
after prosecuting his studies there about thrpe 
years was graduated on the 6th of April, 1897, 
with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. 

The same month that witnessed his gradua- 
tion marked the beginning of Dr. Exline's ca- 
reer as a physician, as he at once opened an 
office in Canton and began the practice of his 
profession under favorable auspices. Anxious 
to solve the mysteries of medical science, he 
has done all in his power to perfect himself in 
his chosen calling and as a result now enjoys 
distinctive prestige among his professional asso- 
ciates, besides having a large and lucrative busi- 
ness in Canton and adjacent country. A stu- 
dent and a thinker, his course has been in 
keeping with the progress of modern medical 
thought and with his past success "as a cri- 
terion his man}- friends predict for him still 
greater progress with the passing years. Dr. 
Exliiie is identified .with the Canton Medical 
Society, the Stark County Academy of Medi- 
cine. Northeastern Ohio Medical Society, and 
the American iMedical Association, keeping in 
close touch with the deliberations of these 
dififerent bodies. 

Dr. Exline is a linn belie\er in revealed re- 
ligion and looks upon the visible churches as 
an influential factor for the promotion of 
Christ's kingdom in the worjd. He is a mem- 
ber of the Simpson Methodist Episcopal 
church of Canton and holds several official po- 
sitions in the same, including the chairman- 
ship of the music committee and the trustee- 
ship. He belongs to the Pythian order, Ben 
Hur fraternity. Foresters, Modern Woodmen 
of the World and the Order of Eagles, all but 



ioo6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tlie first nnmed being based upon the lirinciple 
(if life insui>ince. In poHtics the Doctor is a 
Repubiicjin of the most orthodox stani]) ami 
since his twenty-first year has maintained a hve- 
Iv interest in the success of the part}'. Person- 
al 1\ he is a. "entleman of pleasing presence, 
easily ap])roaclial)le and his ([niet dignity antl 
conrteous demeanor have won him many 
friends in the best social circles of the com- 
munity. Dr. b'-xline's marriage with Miss Le- 
nora Hester Miller, of Columljus, Ohio, was 
solemnized on the /th day of April, 1897, the 
same month and vear in which he entered upon 
his professi(.inal career in the citv of Canton. 



SAMUEL I'. De\'AU.\ was born in the 
village of H.arrisburg, Ninnshillen township. 
Stark county, Ohio, on tiie 1st of August, 1859, 
being one of the fourteen children of Peter and 
Christena (Snyder) De\ aux, and of his fam- 
ily ten sur\i\e. namely, just}' J., who is a 
resident of the cit} of Toledo, this state; Rev. 
Peter F., who is a clergyman of the Evangelical 
church and resides in Baltimore, Ohio: Re\'. 
Martin, who is a clerg^•man of the same church 
and a resident of Mount Pleasant, Pennsyl- 
vania; Samuel I'., who is the inimediate sub- 
ject of this sketch; William, who is a painter 
and contractor in the city of St. Louis, Mis- 
souri, and who was for tw'o years president of 
the Trades & Labor L'nion of America ; Jacob, 
who is assistant ticket agent of the Lake Shore 
iV Michigan Southern Railroad in New York 
city; Ida, who is the wife of Thomas Fred- 
ericks, of that city; Leoda, who is the wife of 
Charles Giblin, who is likewise a resident of 
the national metropolis ; Bessie, who is the wife 
of Thomas O'Brien, of New York city; and 
I'Jla, who is the wife of David H. Overbaugh, 
of Elmira. New York. Peter DeVaux, father 
of the subject, was born in France, in the year 
, 1826, and when he was a boy he accompanied 
bis parents on their emigration to America, the 



faniily taking up their residence in the village 
of l'loberts\'ille, Paris townshi]). Stark county, 
Ohio, where were located man\' citizens of 
I'^'ench extraction. There Peter DeV'aux was 
reared to maturit}-. and there he learned the 
trade of shoemaking. tn wliicli he devoted his 
attention for, man\- years, while he also found 
his services in much requisition as an auction- 
eer. Pie received but little education in a 
technical sense, but could speak with great Hu- 
encv the English. l''rench and (icrman lan- 
guages and was 'i man of very alert nientality 
and marked btisiness acumen. He lived for var}- 
ing intervals, after his marriage, in Roberts- 
\illp. Paris, ITarrisburg, Louis\'ille and hair- 
hope, this county, and was a resident of the last 
named place at tlie tinie of his death, which oc- 
curred in 1876; be was killed l)v a train while 
crossing the railroad track in that \'illage. In 
pf)litics he was a stanch Democrat and his re- 
ligious faith \vas that i>t the Catholic church, 
in which he was reared. riic mother of the 
sv.bject was born in b'ayette county, Penns}l- 
\'ania, about 183J, being of (ierman ancestry, 
and she now lixes in New \'ork cit\' with her 
youngest s<in, Jacob. She is ,'i memlier of the 
Evangelical church .-uid reared her children in 
the Protestant faith. 

Samuel E. DeVaux remained beneath the 
parental roof until he had attained tlie age of 
eighteen years, his educational discipline ha\'- 
ing been received iri the |)ublic schools of his 
native county. .\t the age noted he gave in- 
ception to his indepeiident career by securing 
work on a farm, .ind to this line of occupation 
he devoted his attention for ;diout h\e years, 
wdiile later he was engaged in shoemaking, as 
a workman in brick yards, as an employe in the 
stee! mills at Canton and for a short time at 
carpenter work in the city of Pittsburg. Peini- 
sylvania, while he was for a few months em- 
ployed on tile Pittsburg &- Fort Wayne Rail- 
road. Finally he engaged in the house-paint- 
ing business in the \'il1age of Louisville, this 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1007 



coniit_v, .'ind after his marriage, in 1883, he con- 
tinued in this Inie <if enterprise until 1885, 
w hen he was elected marshal of the \ illage men- 
tioned, serving in this ca]5acity until i88y, when 
he here estalilished himself in the livery busi- 
ness. For a time he was compelled to continue 
bis work as a house painter, as he had three 
competitors in tlie livery business and thus 
had some difficulty in placing his enterjirise 
on a profitable basis. By strict attention to 
business and coiu'teous treatment of his patrons, 
however, he finally gained the absolute control 
of the livery business in tJie town and today 
has one of the model stables of the county and 
is enjoying a large and Representative patron- 
age. Mr. DeVaux is an excellent judge of 
liorses, and in connection with his li\ery enter- 
prise he conducts a profitable business in the 
buying and selling of horses, in which line his 
judgment as to values is uniformly held as 
ultimate. In politics i\Ir. DeVaux is a stanch 
adherent of the Democratic party. He and his 
wife hold membership in the Reformed church. 
On the 2 1st of August, 1883, Mr. De\'aux 
was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Cunin, 
who was l)orn in Marlboro township, this 
county, being a daughter of John B. Cunin, 
an honored pioneer of the county, where his 
death occtu'red a number (jf years ago. Mr. 
and Mrs. DeVaux have one son. Lloyd J., \\\vy 
remains at the ]jarental home. 



J. l\ ARNOLD, as chief pn^moter and gen- 
eral manager of one of Massillon's leading 
manufacturing e.siabli.shments, has won a pp'm- 
inent place among the city's successful Inisi- 
ness men. Mr. Arnold is the son of Lorenz 
and Elizabeth ( Sourwine) Arnold, both natives 
of Finkenbach, (iermany, the mother dving 
there in 1878, aged forty, the father still living 
at the age of sixty-se\-en and at the presait time 
on a visit to his son in the city of Massillon. 
When a young man Lorenz .Arnold was one 



of the twehe hundred of his coinitr}'men from 
whom one thousand men were conscripted for 
service in the German army, but as fortune 
would ha\e it the full (|uota was drawn be- 
fore his name was reached, conse(|uentlv he es- 
caped military duty. He early turned his at- 
tention to mechanical pursuits and after work- 
ing at his chosen trade for a number of years, 
became a manufacturer upon his own responsi- 
bility. He l)uilt u]) a large .and lucrative prac- 
tice in his native country and continued the 
same until acquiring a competence of sufiicient 
magnitude to enable him to spend the remain- 
der of his life in honorable retirement. 

J. F. Arnold was born in the town of Fink- 
enbach, Germany, on the 9th of June, 1868, 
and spent seven years in the public schools of 
that place. Possessing natural mechanical abil- 
ity, he decided to fit himself for high grade 
work in that line: accordingly, with this object 
in \ lew . he entered a polytechnic school where 
he took a full course imder the direction of 
skillful in.strnctors, graduating from the insti- 
tution in i88<). Shortly after completing his 
technical education yoiuig Arnold came to the 
I'nited States, locating hrst at Ganal Dover. 
Ohio, where he secured the position of 
draughtsman and wood carver with the firm 
of Dice, Bissman & Kurtz, manufacturers of 
furniture Here his abilities .soon won him. 
recognition as an expert in his lines of work 
and he remained with the house nineteen 
months, during which time the inimerous arti- 
cles made after his original designs added to 
his well-established reputation. Severing his 
connection with the above firm, he accepted a 
similar position with the WrambleuTever Fur- 
niture Comjjany of Louisxille. Kentucky, but 
after spending five months in that city resigned 
to become superintendent of the wood car\-ing 
aufl cabinet department of the Southern Indiana 
Furnitin-e AVorks at New .\lban\-. He re- 
mained four years with that latter establish- 
ment, meanwhile (le\eloping- a high degree of 



ioo8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



efficiency as a skillful designer and artistic 
carver, his work continually adding to his rep- 
utation as a master of his calling. Mr. Arn- 
old's next position was with the large mantel 
manufacturing house of Widdicomb at Grand 
Rnpids, Michigan, where he served as designer 
and carver for a little over a year, resigning 
in the fall ot 1893 for the purpose of engaging 
in the undertaking business in the same city. 
While conducting the latter enterprise he did 
considerable fine work for the Grand Rapids 
Book-Case Company and his services were also 
in frequent demand by other firms when es- 
pecially artistic designs were required. At 
the end of the second year he disposed of his 
nndei^taking establishment and going to Niles, 
Ohio, took a position with the firm of Arnold 
Brothers, undertakers and embalmers, which 
entire Inisiness he purchased two years later. 
After running the business w'ith fair success for 
eight months, he sold out and in 1899 organized 
the Ohio Table Company at Massillon, with 
which enterprise he has. since been actively 
identified and of Nvhich he now holds the im- 
portant position of general manager. 

The compan}' was organized with a capital 
stock of thirty thousand, which has since been 
increased to fifty thovisand, and from the be- 
ginning the business has steadily augmented 
until it is now one of the leading industrial en- 
terprises of the city. Mr. Arnold brought to 
the management of this concern not only his 
superior artistic skill as a designer and carA-er 
but a mind enriched by many yeai^s of prac- 
tical experience in e\ery department of the 
furniture industry. His executive ability has 
enabled him greatly to extend the volume of 
business and place the company upon a firm 
financial basis, while the high grade of work- 
manship turned out easily distances all com- 
])etition in the special line of articles manufac- 
lured. The works of the company are models 
of their kind, being supplied with the latest and 
most api)r(i\ed mrichiner_\- and nothing but the 



best material is used in the manufactured prod- 
uct. }'rom a somewhat modest beginning the 
business has :i(hanced until the sales now 
amount to about one hundred thousand dollars 
annually, the output being shipped to various 
parts of the United States and Canada, besides 
supplying a large and constantly increasing lo- 
cal demand. The establishment is taxed to its 
utmost capacity to meet these demands and. 
judging by its past success and present prosper- 
it\, it is reasonably safe to predict a consider- 
al)le enlargement of the works in the no dis- 
tant future in order to keep pace with the high 
reputation the goods have achieved in the vari- 
ous markets where they are sold. Reidizing 
that every dollar invested in the Ohio Table 
C'ompany is as safe and much more remunera- 
ti\e than the same amount of money put into a 
bank, Mr. .Arnold has gradually purchased the 
shares of different stockholders, until he now 
owns a one-fourth interest in the concern. He 
has been fortunate in realizing on his invest- 
ment and is now in comfortable circumstances, 
owning, in addition to his interest in the com- 
pany, valuable property in the city, including a 
beautiful and attractive residence which is an 
ornament to the street on which situated. 

Mr. Arnold began life a poor boy but, pos- 
sessing energy- and a latidable ambition to suc- 
ceed, together with strict integrity and hon- 
orable motives, his success was never for a mo- 
ment a matter of doubt. While relying upon 
his own industry, well defined purposes and 
consecutive efforts for advancement, he is free 
to acknowledge his indebtedness to a warm per- 
sonal friend, who at various times gave him 
not only wise counsel but financial backing 
in some of his most important undertakings. 
This friend, colabotier and fellow helper was 
Mr. Hartzell, president of the Ohio Table Com- 
pany, a inan of high business standing and 
commanding social prestige. He took a lively 
interest in young .'\rnold when the latter first 
came to Massillon and was equally interested 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1009 



with him in organizing the company, which 
through their joint efforts has since achieved 
such marked success. Between the two a 
warm iriendship sprang up which has become 
intensified with the passing years. 

While a business man in all the term im- 
plies, Mr,. Arnold manifests an abiding interest 
in the general affairs of the city of his resi- 
dence, and has implicit faith in its future. He 
finds time from the pressing demands of his 
business affairs to devote to the social amenities 
of life and to this end has become identified 
" with various fraternal organizations, prominent 
among which are the Masonic order and the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Per- 
sonally he is a courteous and companionable 
gentleman of quiet demeanor, exceedingly pop- 
idar with a large class of friends and is held in 
high esteem by all with whom he has business 
dealmgs or social relations. Mr. Arnold's tem- 
perament is decidedly optimistic and he has 
ever been accustomed to look upon the bright 
side of life. He possesses artistic tastes, is a 
great admirer of the beautiful and frequently 
gives outward expression to his thoughts in 
skillful workmanship in wood and on paper. 
His home, which is a dwelling place of refine- 
ment as well as hospitality, is presided over by 
a lady of culture to whom he was united in the 
bonds of wedlock in the year 1895. Her maid- 
en name was Eleanor M. Vogt and she is the 
daughter of Peter and Carrie (Beyer) Vogt, 
of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. 
Arnold are well known in the social circles of 
Massillon and as members of the Lutheran 
church of this city, their lives have been in 
harmony with their religious profession. 



MARTIN SENGER.— The Senger fam- 
ily in America appears to have been first rep- 
resented in the old county of Lancaster, Penn- 
sylvania, and the name evidently indicates 
The subject's father was 

63 



Germanic origin 



Cyrus Senger, of Lancaster county, who mar- 
ried Lydia Gehman, a native of the county of 
Berks, where her ancestors probably settled in 
pre-Revolutionary times. Her parents were 
Christian and Barbara (Kurtz) Gehman, both 
born in Berks county, of German lineage, and 
is was in that part of the state that their re- 
spective deaths occurred many years ago. John 
Senger, father of Cyrus, was a native of Lan- 
caster county, as was also his wife, who before 
her marriage bore the name of Sarah Bender. 
Like the Sengers, the Benders were also an 
old family, as the name frequently appears in 
the early official records of Lancaster, which 
leads to the belief that their antecedents were 
among the first permanent settlers. 

Cyrus Senger was reared to manhood in 
his native county and followed carpentry and 
farming as means for obtaining a livelihood. 
He became widely known as a successful con- 
tractor and builder and also enjoyed the rep- 
titation of an honorable man and enterprising, 
public-spirited citizen. He lived to an ad- 
vanced age, dying in 1892, his wife preceding 
him to the other world by ten years. In poli- 
tics he was originally a Whig, later a Repub- 
lican, and in religion a leading member of 
what is known as the Mennonite church. Mrs. 
Sengen was also identified with the same re- 
ligious body and lived a life of faith and good 
works. Eight children were born to this ex- 
cellent couple and, what is somewhat remark- 
able, all are living, although the majority of 
them have long since passed the average age 
of man. 

Martin Senger was born October 18, 1838, 
in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and spent 
the years of his childhood and youth in the 
paternal homestead. His early education was 
obtained in the country schools of the neigh- 
borhood which he attended of winter seasons 
from his fifth to about his nineteenth year. At 
best his advantages were but limited, but by 
making the most of the opportunities at' his 



lOIO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



command he acquired a fair knowledge of the 
fundamental branches of study besides adding 
to his general information by reading such 
books and periodicals as he could procure. 
Young Martin grew up, a strong, active youth 
and to him fell much of the labor required to 
cultivate the farm. While still a lad he became 
quiet adept in the use of his father's tools and 
later turned his mechanical skill to good ac- 
count by working at the carpenter's trade. He 
followed carpentry and agriculture in his na- 
tive state until the spring of 1867, at which 
time he went to Wayne county, Ohio, where he 
continued both vocations until changing his 
abode to the county of Stark, twelve years la- 
ter. Mi^. Senger came to this county in 1880 
and the same year purchased a farm of one 
hundred and seventy-nine acres in Tuscarawas 
township, on which he lived as an enterpris- 
ing, prosperous tiller of the soil until retiring 
from active life at a comparatively recent date. 
Like many of the country's most energetic 
and successful citizens, J\lr. Senger is a self- 
made man and in the course of his long and 
active career he knew no such word as fail 
and in his regular vocations and business trans- 
actions discouragement never interfered with 
his plans nor delayed for any great length of 
time the accomplishment of his purpose. 
Since retiring from further participation in the 
busy world of affairs ISIr. Senger has rented 
his farm and, in addition to the proceeds there- 
from, has a fine coal bank which yields him an 
income more than sufiicient to meet his neces- 
sary expenditures. The mine was developed 
in 1896 and since that time it has been steadily 
operated with liberal financial results. While 
primarily interested in his own offairs and in- 
tent upon increasing rather than diminishing 
the ample fortune in his possession, Mr. Sen- 
ger is a public spirited man and takes no little 
part in matters concerning the welfare of the 
community in which he lives. He is a kind 
and obliging neighbor with a character marked 



by integrity and true benevolence. Like his 
parents before him, he believes firmly and trust- 
fully in the great and sublime truths of revealed 
religion and as an humble but zealous mem- 
ber of the Mennonite church, his life has been 
and still is a power for good in the community. 
The married life of Mr. Senger dates from 
1868, on December 31st of which year he was 
united in the bonds of wedlock to Miss Eliza- 
beth Brenneman, whose birth occurred in 
Wayne county, this state, November 14, 1843. 
Mrs. Senger is the daughter of Christian and 
Fannie (Rudy) Brenneman, both natives of 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and early set- 
tlers of Wayne county, Ohio. Christian Bren- 
neman was a farmer by occupation and he died 
in the county of Wayne in 1892 at an advanced 
age, his wife departing this life many years 
prior to that date, as long ago perhaps as 1847. 
Adam and Xancy (Eyman) Brenneman, the 
father and mother of Christian, were natives 
of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, but in an 
early day moved \\'ith their son to Ohio, set- 
tling in Wayne county, where their respective 
deaths occurred. Mrs. Senger's maternal 
grandparents were Christian and Barbara (My- 
ers) Rudy, also from Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, and were also pioneers of the county 
of Wayne. To IMr. and Mrs. Senger five chil- 
dren have been born, namely : Harvey. Fan- 
nie, Rudy, David L. and Henry M., the oldest 
deceased, the second and third, twins. 



DAVID B. HORST is the son of Jonas 
and Elizabeth (Buckwalter;) Horst and an old- 
er brother of Jonas B. Horst, of Tuscarawas, 
in whose sketch on another page of this work 
is incorporated a brief epitome of the family 
history. On the 8th of December, 1833, in 
the old historic county of Lancaster, Pennsyl- 
vania, the subject was born and four years later 
left the scene of his childhood for Stark coun- 
ty, Ohio, where his parents settled in 1837. Of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



ion 



his youthful experieuce Httle need be said fur- 
ther than tliat they inckided the usual routine 
of labor common to boys reared in the rural 
districts and that he early learned to dignify 
honest toil and appreciate at their true value 
the lessons of virtue and thrift in which he was 
so carefully instructed. He was taught to look 
upon idleness as something akin to vice and 
to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, as 
one of the cardinal virtues forming the very 
groundwork of honorable and fully developed 
manhood. After acquiring a fair education in 
the common schools he addressed himself to the 
vocation of agriculture, first as his father's as- 
sistant on the homestead and later upon his 
own responsibility, beginning the struggle for 
himself when about twenty-five years of age. 
It is not necessary to follow in detail the vari- 
ous steps in the career of Mr. Horst as a tiller 
of the soil, nor write in full how he gradually 
added to his real estate until becoming the pos- 
sessor of over, three hundred acres of valuable 
land in the counties of Stark and Wayne. 
Suffice it to state, however, that the fine prop- 
erties he now owns represent the fruits of his 
own labor, energy and excellent management, 
as he had comparatively little means when he 
commenced life* for himself. He has been a 
first rate farmer and in the management of his 
business aft'airs, good judgment and wise fore- 
thought have ever been prominent. In all his re- 
lations Mr. Horst discharges his duties with en- 
ergy and fidelity and is a man of acknowledged 
worth and irreproachable character. Politi- 
cally he is a Republican, but not a partisan, and 
in religion a zealous and faithful communicant 
of the Mennonite church, his wife also belong- 
ing to the same body of worshipers. 

January 25. 1859, Mr. Horst and Miss 
Annie Pless were united in the bonds of wed- 
lock. Like her husband, Mrs. Horst was born 
in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and is the 
daughter of David and Elizabeth (Martin) 
Hess, both natives of the Keystone state, the 



father dying there a number of years ago. 
.Some tijne after her husband's death, Mrs. 
Hess moved the family to Stark county, Ohio, 
subsequently changing her residence to the 
county of Wayne, where she afterward died. 
The marriage of I^.Ir. and Mrs. Horst has been 
blessed with children, whose names are as fol- 
lows: Joseph, Levi, David, Ezra, Frank, Ja- 
cob and Elizabeth. The last named married 
X'oah Whitmere, of Stark county, and some 
time after his death became the wife of George 
Tyson; she bore her first husband one daugh- 
ter, Annie, and a son by the name of Enos, 
the latter deceased, and died some years ago 
in the state of Indiana. 



MALVERN E. McFARREN.— Daniel 
McFarren, father of the subject, was born in 
Sugar Creek township, Stark county, Ohio, in 

1847. He is of Scotch ancestry and in the 
present generation are manifested those sterling 
qualities of that honest and rugged race. Dan- 
iel McFarren was reared to the life of a farm- 
er, and is indebted to the district schools of his 
neighborhood for his mental discipline. Lqion 
attaining mature years he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Jemima Shettler, a native of 
Bethlehem township. Stark county, Ijorn in 

1848. Her father, Jacob Shettler, was a native 
of Pennsylvania, but in an early day removed 
to the Buckeye state, where he spent the re- 
mainder of his life, he and his wife both pass- 
ing away in Betlilehem township. After, his 
marriage Daniel ^McFarren purchased a farm 
adjoining the old homestead and followed ag- 
ricultural pursuits there for about si-xteen years. 
At the end of that time he removed to the 
Shettler homestead, but after residing there 
for some time he removed to the farm upon 
which he now resides, in Tuscarawas township. 
To him and his wife were born the following 
children ; Malvern E., whose name heads this 
sketch ; Jacob, who married Clara Linwood, 



IOI2 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and resides in this county; Arie, who became 
the wife of Ira Truby, of Maynard, Ohio; Har- 
ry, Kittie and Florence, all at home. Politically 
Daniel McFarxen has been a life-long Repub- 
lican, though never a seeker after the honors 
or emoluments of public ofhces. Religiously 
he and his wife have long been faithful and 
consistent members of the United Brethren 
church. 

Malvern McFarren was born on the 25th 
of October, 1868, and was reared on his father's 
farm in Sugar Cr^eek township, this county. 
From seven years of age until sixteen he faith- 
fully attended the district schools of his neigh- 
borhood and made such rapid progress in his 
studies that at the latter age he was granted a 
license to teach in the common schools. Desir- 
ous of still further increasing his knowledge 
and to better fit him for his chosen profession 
he in the meantime spent two terms at Sniith- 
ville Academy, and two years at Woodsworth 
Normal, in the latter institution being under 
the preceptorship of Prof. J. B. Eberly. Fie 
later entered Mount Union College, where he 
spent one year. Besides his collegiate train- 
ing Mr. McFarren has ever been a close home 
student and has burnt much midnight oil in 
his efforts to acquire knowledge and equip 
himself for the exac^ting calling in which he 
has engaged. 

In the fall of 1898 Mr. McFarren accepted 
the position of principal of the schools of Osna- 
burg, where he remained three years to the 
eminent satisfaction of all concerned. In the 
fall of 1901 he came to Canton, having been 
chosen principal of the Garfield school. He 
has already won for himself a most excellent 
reputation as a successful and popular educa- 
tor. Fie takes a deep interest in all educational 
matters, keeps in close touch with the most 
advanced thought and aims at all times to make 
the highest and best interests of those under 
his charge the object of his efforts. He has 
been honored in his selection as president of the 



teachers' examining board of Stark county and 
is also secretary of the Ohio Teachers' Reading 
Circle for Stark county. 

On the 31st of May, 1892, at Canton, Mal- 
vern E. McFarren was united in marriage with 
Miss Laura Gipve, the daughter of Jacob 
Grove, a well-known citizen of Canton. This 
union has been a m.ost happy and congenial one 
and has been blessed by the birth of three chil- 
dren, Walter, Wilbur and Mildred. Wilbur 
died in 1902 at the age of six years. 

Politically Mr. McFarren casts his ballot 
in favor of the platform and candidates of the 
Republican party, believing the principles of 
that party to be those most conducive to the 
welfare of the. American people. His relig- 
ious adherency is with the United Brethren 
church, belonging to the congregation at Can- 
ton. 

Mr. McFarren in his capacity as educator 
has been aiabled to wield a wide and powerful 
influence in guiding the young into the right 
channels of thought and action. Because of 
his uniform courtesy, genial disposition and 
genuine worth, he has won a warm place in the 
regard of all who know him. 



JONAS B. HORST.— Of the early his- 
tory of the Horst family nothing definite is 
known save that it has been represented in this 
country for many years, the ancestors having 
settled in Pennsylvania at a very early date. 
Christian Horst, the subject's grandfather, was 
born and reared in that state, as was also his 
wife, who before her marriage bore the maiden 
name of Barbara Moyer. As early as 1S37 
Christian Horst moved his family to Stark 
county, Ohio, and settled in Lawrence town- 
ship, where his death occurred in i860, his- 
widow surviving him about twenty-two years. 
Among the children of Christian and Lavina 
Horst was a son by the name of Jonas, who 
also was born and reared in Lancaster county, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1013 



Pennsylvania. He married Miss Elizabeth 
Buckwalter, also a native of the county of Lan- 
caster, and in 1837 came to Stark county, Ohio, 
locating with his fatlier in Lawrence town- 
ship, where in the course of time he acquired 
a large and valuable tract of land. He was a 
successful farmer and became one of the well- 
to-do men of the community in which he lived, 
owning at his death real estate to the amount 
of three hundred acrjCs, much of which he re- 
duced to tillage. He was also quite an influ- 
ential citizen and enjoyed marked prestige not 
OJily by reason of his manly, straightforward 
course as a liberal patron of all enterprises for 
the moral advancement of the neighborhood 
in which he resided. Mi]. Horst died in 1868 
and in 1877 his wife was called to her home in 
the world beyond. Of the ten children that 
formerly gathered around the hearthstone of 
this estimable couple, seven are living, the sub- 
ject of this sketch being the oldest of the 
family. 

Jonas B. Horst was born October 2, 1835, 
in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and when 
a child of two years was brought by his par- 
ents to Stark county, Ohio, where he has since 
lived and with the material prosperity of which 
he has had not a little to do. His education, 
which from the nature of his early surround- 
ings was somewhat limited, was obtained from 
the subscription schools when a boy and in the 
woods and fields he learned by rough usage 
"the more practical lessons of life. Pie helped 
•clear the home farm, labored equally as hard 
in its cultivation and remained his father's able 
and willing assistant until old enough to map 
out a course of action for himself. At the 
age of about twenty-five years Mr. Horst be- 
gan his career as a farmer. He has been the 
architect of his own fortune, as he had but lim- 
ited means at his command when he began life 
as an independent, self-supporting agent. By 
the exercise of the energy with which he is nat- 
urally endowed and the use of other means in 



his power he added to his possessions as the 
years went by until becoming the owner of a 
good far^n in Tuscarawas township, his real 
estate at the present time amounting to two 
hundred and twelve acres, nearly all cultivated 
and well improved. He appreciates the worth 
of good live stock and keeps no others on his 
place. Plis horses are of the best breeds for 
general farming purposes, while his cattle, 
sheep and other domestic animals have been 
carefully selected and judiciously raised. Mr. 
Hor^t has an unfailing source of income in a 
rich deposit of coal on his lands from which 
he mines and sells at good prices every year 
many tons of black diamonds of excellent qual- 
ity. As a neighbor and citizen no man in 
Tuscarawas township enjoys a larger measure 
of public esteem than Mr. Horst and his un- 
flinching integrity and genuine native manhood 
have enabled him to maintain the status coming 
of his genial honest mein. Li politics he is pro- 
nounced in his allegiance to the Republican 
party and in religion he and his family belong 
to that branch of the church known as Men- 
nonites. 

Mr. Horst's domestic history dates from 
i860, in which year he was united in marriage 
to Miss Mary Hursh, who bore him nine chil- 
dren, namely: Henry, Abram, Daniel, Chris- 
tian, Annie, John, Martin, Henry and Jonas; 
In 1888 Mrs. Plorst died and on the loth day 
of September, 1893, the subject entered the 
marriage relation with Mrs. Eliza Martin (nee 
Hess)." 



JOHN F. MOCK was born in Tuscarawas 
township, Stark county, Ohio, on the 29tliof 
November, 1848, being a son of John and 
Mary (Steighler) Mock and the eldest of their 
three surviving children, the other two being 
George, who is a resident of the state of Kan- 
sas, and Ida, who is the wife of Levi Lartzen- 
heiser, of Canton, this county. The father of 



IOI4 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the subject was born in 1821 in Tuscarawas 
township, Stark county, being a son of Samuel 
Mock, who was a native of Pennsylvania, 
whence he came to Stark county, in the early 
pioneer epoch and here passed the residue of his 
life, engaged in agricultural pursuits. John 
Mock was reared on the old pioneer farm 
in this county and received a common school 
education. After his marriage he settled 
on a farm in Adams county, Indiana, 
his father having there purchased for him 
a tract of one hundred and sixty acres. 
The tract at that time was swampy, and he fell 
a victim to the all-pervading malady, ague, 
whose insistent agitation of his physical being 
caused him to become recalcitrant and return 
to Ohio, though he still retained his land and 
gradually brought about its development, pass- 
ing his time between the two counties in Ohio 
and Indiana. He died in 1893, having passed 
the evening of his life in the home of our sub- 
ject, where he was cared for with true filial 
solicitude. In politics he was a stanch Repub- 
lican, and both he and his wife were devoted 
members of the United Brethren church. His 
widow now lives in Canton. 

John F. Mock was reared in the parental 
home, passing a portion of his youthful days in 
Adams county, Indiana, but the greater portion 
of his time was spent in his native county, 
while his education was received in the public 
schools. At the early age of sixteen years he 
gave inception to what has l)een a most success- 
ful business career, becoming at that time a 
dealer in proprietary medicines and traveling 
through the state for the purpose of establish- 
ing agencies. He continued in this line of 
enterprise for a score of years and was success- 
ful in his efforts, thus laying the foundation for 
the solid prosperity which he has won through 
well directed endeavor. In the meantime he 
worked on a farm at varying intervals, while 
he had become owner of a small farm, of ten 



, acres, in Xinishillen township. In 1884 he ap- 
plied this property in partial payment on sev- 
enty-two acres of his present fine farm prop- 
erty, in the same township, and to this estate 
he later added two adjoining tracts, — of 
twenty-three and sixteen and three-fourths 
acres, respectively, — so that the place now com- 
prises one hundred and sixteen and three- 
fourths acres. About 1887 Mr. Mock opened 
the coal vein on his farm, the same having 
been prospected for and discovered nearly forty 
vears ago, though no developments had been 
made. Beneath the coal vein, which is about 
three and one-half feet in depth, lies a vein of 
fine fire clay, both of the deposits being very 
valuable. For about three years Mr. Mock 
utilized the coal for domestic purposes only, 
but in 1890 the works of the Louisville Tile 
and Brick Company were built on his land, he 
having sold the company a sufficient plot for 
the erection of the necessary building while he 
leased the clay and coal deposits. The enter- 
prise is now one of the most extensive of the 
sort in this section of the state, and through 
the royalties received on the clay and coal taken 
out on the farm Mr. Mock has become wealthy. 
In the spring of 1902 Mr. INIock purchased a 
tract of seventy-two acres one-half mile to the 
west of his home farm, and on this land he has 
also discovered a good deposit of coal and a 
seemingly inexhaustible deposit of fire clay of 
the highest grade, and these beds will be devel- 
oped under most favorable conditions. The 
county has no more progressive and public- 
spirited citizen than Mr. Mock. It is worthy of 
note that all the roads facing on his farm have 
lieen macadamized by Mr. Mock, making them 
the finest roads in the township. In politics 
he gives his support to the Republican party so 
far as national issues are involved, but in local 
affairs he maintains an independent position 
and is not dominated by strict partisan spirit.' 
He and his wife are both members of the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1015 



United Brethren church, and he is a memher 01' 
the board of trustees of the church at Louis- 
ville. 

On the 22d of March, 1872, Mr. Mock was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary Sefong, who 
was born in Nimishiilen township, this 
county, being a daughter of the late John Se- 
fong, who was one of the early settlers of Stark 
county, whither he came from Pennsylvania. 
Of the four children of Mr. and Mrs. Mock we 
incorporate the following brief record : Elmer 
has charge of the operating of the homestead 
farm; Minnie is the wife of Levi Stucky, of 
Paris township; Clara is the wife of Melvin 
B. Summers, who is employed in the signal 
service department of the government and re- 
sides at Columbia, Missouri, and Emma re- 
mains at the parental home. 



CHARLES AUSTIN CRANE, M. D., is 
the scion of one of the oldest families that 
sought a home in the new world, his genealogy- 
in America being traceable in unbroken 
succession to one Jasper Crane, and his 
wife Alice, natives of England, who be- 
came members of the New Haven Col- 
ony, Connecticut, as early as the year 
1630. Shortly after landing in New England. 
Jasper Crane located at what was afterwards 
the town of Brantford, and from the most 
reliable information accessible he appears to 
ha\-e been a man of considerable local promi- 
nence and a leader among his fellow colonists. 
It is a matter of family history that he was 
the youngest son of Sir William Crane, who 
owned a valuable estate near the city of Lon- 
don, and who for his honesty and fidelity to 
the government, as well as for valuable per- 
sonal services rendered the King, received the 
order of knighthood. The Crane coat of arms 
consisted of a silver shield with three red 
crosses, surmounted by the figure of a crane, 
the whole constituting an appropriate device. 



the hcmor of which has nex'er been dimmed 
by any unworthy act on the part of the family 
lor which it was designed. The Joseph Crane 
who came to America had formerly been a 
magistrate, and while living in England he 
devoted some years to mercantile pursuits, in 
'./liich he acquired an ample competence. With- 
in a short time after joining the Connecticut 
colony he and Captain Robert Treat, John 
Austin and his oldest son, John Crane, were 
appointed commissioners to explore the shore 
skirting Newark bay, and alter making a fa- 
vorable report to the authorities, they pur- 
chased the land on which the city of Newark, 
New Jersey, was subsequently built, paying 
for the site, which extended from the ocean 
back to Second mountain, one hundred and 
thirty pounds of tobacco, twelve blankets, and 
the same number of guns, with which exchange 
the original Indian owners appeared perfectly 
satisfied. About the year 1666 Jasper Crane 
changed his abode from Brantford, Connecti- 
cut, to Newark, New Jersey, and it appears 
that he took as lively interest in the growth 
and development of the latter colony as he had 
manifested in the former. As a matter of in- 
terest it may here be stated that in 1640 the 
New Haven colony established the oath of 
fidelity, to the crown, the first to subscribe to 
ihe same being Governor Eaton, after which 
he administered it to his constituents, among 
die first of whom was Jasper Crane, who ap- 
pears never to have hesitated in his allegiance 
to constituted authority. 

The family of Jasper consisted of five chil- 
dren, whose names were Deliverance, John, 
Jasper, Azonah and Hannah, who married 
Thomas Huntington. It is pretty certain that 
the two eldest \^ere born in England, and the 
fact is well establislied that Jasper and Azonah 
were born within a few years after the family 
fettled in the colony of Connecticut. After a 
lon.g and useful life, fraught with great good 
to the people of the different New England 



I0i6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



communities in which he hved, and for the 
material prosperity of which he unseltishly de- 
voted so much of his time and energy. Jasper 
Crane, Sr., died at Newark in the year 1678 
His youngest *son, Azonah, married I\Iary 
Treat, daugliter of Governor Robert Treat, 
and became the fatlier of Moses Crane, a tailor 
by trade, and one of the first settlers of War- 
ren, Ohio. The latter had a son of the name 
of Stephen, who moved in an early day from 
Ohio to Orange county. New Jersey, where 
he married and reared sons and daughters, 
among whom was Caleb, who entered the mar- 
riage relation with Tamar Harrison. Bethwie, 
son of Caleb S. and Tamar Crane, was the 
father of Aaron Crane, who achieved consid- 
erable prominence as a fine mechanic, among 
his inventions being a clock which ran one 
year without winding, and varied but a few 
minutes during that time. Deacon Oliver 
Crane, son of Aaron, and a man of prominence 
in his community, met with an accidental death 
by being thrown from a horse. His grandson, 
Rev. Oliver Crane, was one of the first Ameri- 
can missionaries to India, and spent a num- 
ber of years disseminating the doctrines of 
Christianity among the people of that comitry ; 
subsequently he returned to Morristown, New 
Jersey, Avhere his death occurred. One of his 
sons, Ezekiel by name, was taken prisoner at 
Oswego, New York, by the French and In- 
dians in 1758, and afterwards died in Canada. 
Reverting to the lineal descent of Dr. Charles 
Austin Crane, the following is given as tlie 
correct succession : His father, George Ben- 
jamin Crane, was the son of Amza A. Crane, 
whose father's name was Benjamin: the lat- 
ter's fatb.er also bore the name of Benjamin, 
and he was the son of Stephen Crane. Azonah 
Crane, father of Stephen, was the youngest son 
of the immigrant Jasper Crane, from whom 
originated the Crane family in the United 
States. Owing to absence of correct data it 
is impossible to give an authentic outline of 



the lives of several of these ancestors. Be- 
ginning, however, with the Doctor's great- 
great-grandfather, Benjamin Crane, it is 
learned that he was bom at Eagle Rock, Essex 
county, New Jersey, and that in his youth he 
accompanied his father to ^Morris county, that 
state, where he grew to manhood and received 
his education. He studied law, became a suc- 
cessful practitioner in the courts of Morris 
county and elsewhere, and for a number of 
years occupied the bencli in that part of the 
state. As a jurist he achieved high distinction 
and as a lawyer ranked with the leading mem- 
bers of the New Jersey bar. He instituted the 
first family reunion in 1850, the celebration 
of which was afterwards changed so as to date 
from August 21st, in honor of his birthday, 
Benjamin Crane, the subject's great-grand- 
father, was born in New Jersey, spent all of 
his life in his native state, and his body rests 
near the place where so many of his years were 
spent. Amza A. Crane, son of Benjamin, was 
born in Morris county, New Jersey, in 171 7, 
was married there to Nancy Cosby, and later 
moved to Seneca county. New York, where he 
lived as a prosperous tiller of the soil until his 
death, in 1880. his wife preceding him to the 
grave by some years. 

George Benjamin Crane, the Doctor's 
father, was born in the town of Junius, Seneca 
county, New York, in 18,35, ^""^ spent his early 
life on his father's farm. After attending the 
co.mmon schools about the usual length of time 
he became a student in an academy at \Vaterloo, 
New York, where he attained much more than 
usual efficiency in general scholarship. When a 
youth of sixteen he severed home ties and went 
to New York city to accept a clerkship with the 
dry goods firm of Sherwood & Chapman, in 
which capacity he received his first practical 
knowledge of business life. He developed fine 
qualifications as a salesman, and was never in 
need of a remuneiative position. He remained 
in the employ of the above house about six 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1017 



years, and then went to Cincinnati, where he 
was similarly engaged during the three years 
following. At the expiration of that time he 
accepted a position with a dry goods firm in 
St. Louis, but did not remain very long in that 
city, resigning his place within a couple of 
months for the purpose of engaging in business 
for himself. In partnership with his father-in- 
law, A. O. French, he opened a general store 
at Whitehall, Illinois, but after three years at 
that place the firm transferred their stock to 
the town of Ed wards ville, in the same state, 
where the business was conducted under the 
name of French & Crane until 1881. In that 
year Mr. Crane purchased his partner's interest 
and continued as sole proprietor until closing 
out and retiring from active life in 1891. He 
was married, in 1863, to Miss Isabella French, 
whose birth occurred in New York city, No- 
vember 10, 1844. Her father, A. O. French, 
to whom reference has already been made, re- 
moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1846, thence 
to Whitehall, Illinois, with the mercantile in- 
terests of which place he was identified for a 
number of years. Mrs. Crane bore her hus- 
band three sons, and departed this life at Ed- 
wardsville, Illinois, in December, 1901. Of 
the three children constituting the family of 
George B. and Isabella Crane, the subject of 
this sketch is the youngest and the only one 
living; the others, Edward O. and George B., 
were born m the order named. 

Charles Austin Crane is a native of Ed- 
Avardsville, Illinois, and dates his birth from the 
15th day of August, 1875. His early life was 
without event worthy of note, as he spent the 
time pretty much as do the majority of lads 
reared and educated in country towns. When 
old enough he entered the schools of Edwards- 
ville, and after attending the same until about 
the age of fifteen became a student of St. Vin- 
cent College, Los Angeles, California, in which 
city his father lived for a short time. The 
training received in this institution was after- 



wards supplemented by a course in a military 
school under the auspices of the United States 
government in southern Missouri, where he 
received a rigid but most excellent discipline, 
the effect of which was to lay a substantial 
foundation for his subsequent professional 
career. 

In the year 1894 Dr. Crane entered Jeffer- 
son Medical College, Philadelphia, from which 
institution he was graduated three years later 
and shortly thereafter he took a special course 
in diseases of the eye and ear in the Philadel- 
phia Polyclinic and College for Medical Grad- 
uates. There, under some of the most distin- 
guished specialists of the United States, he 
prosecuted his researches and experimental 
studies until completing the full course, receiv- 
ing his degree in 1898. He next entered the 
Will's Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, where in 
addition to clinical study of all diseases peculiar 
to that organ, he was made assistant, and as 
such continued until finishing the prescribed 
course. Dr. Crane, on the ist day of May, 
1898, located at Canton, Ohio, from which 
time to the present he has been actively en- 
gaged in the practice with a large and steadily 
increasing business. His recognized skill as a 
specialist has won for him a wide reputation, 
and his success has placed him in the ranks 
of the leading specialists of Canton and Ohio. 
At this time he is the local medical examiner 
for the Equitable Life Insurance Company of 
Iowa, also medical adviser for the Maryland 
Casualty Company in this city. Among the 
various societies with which he is identified 
are the American Medical Association, Medical 
Societ)^ of Canton, Stark County Academy of 
Medicine, and the Ohio State Medical So- 
ciety. He takes a lively interest in the de- 
liberations of these bodies, and keeps pace with 
modern advancement in all lines of professional 
activity. 

Dr. Crane has a beautiful and attractive 
home, presided over with becoming grace by 



ioi8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



a wife to whom he was united in the bonds of 
wedlock on the 6th of June, 1899, the cere- 
mony being solemnized in the city of Canton. 
Mrs. Crane, who was formerly Miss Ida Nor- 
ris. is a native of Canton, and the daughter of 
Bazil and Elizabeth (Miller) iVorris, of Stark 
county. 



PROF. CICERO L. HINER is descended 
from a very old family that had its origin in 
Germany, from which country in a remote 
day certain representatives went to France, 
others to the northern part of Ireland, thence 
to Scotland. Owing to the absence of any 
connected genealogical record, it is not known 
from which of these countries the American 
branch of the family originally came. From 
the most reliable information at hand it appears 
that certain of the Hiners emigrated to Ameri- 
ca prior to the Revolutionary period, and set- 
tled in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, 
where the Professor's great-grandfather, Sam- 
uel Hiner, was born as long ago as the year 
1760. The fact of his being of Irish descent 
leads to the conclusion that the first Hiners. in 
America came from the Emerald Isle. John 
Hiner. son of the above Samuel, was born in 
1786 in Washington county, Pennsylvania, 
and there married, about the year 1807, Eliza- 
beth Mercer, a cousin of Gen. Hugh ]\Iercer, 
a distingiiished leader in the war for inde- 
pendence, whose name fills a high place in 
American history. Her father, Th. Mercer, 
a native of Germany, came to this country in 
the time of the colonies, and settled in Pennsyl- 
vania, subsequently removing to Ohio, where 
his death occurred. As early as 1812 John 
Hiner moved his family to Columbiana county, 
Ohio, and took up a section of land in what is 
now West township. He built a rude log cabin 
in the wilderness, and for many vears experi- 
enced all the hardships incident to pioneer life, 
finally developing a good farm, which he culti- 



vated until his removal, a number of years later, ' 
to the county of Stark. On coming to this 
county Mr. Hiner settled in the village of 
Paris, and it was there that his first wife died. 
Subsequently he remarried and continued to 
make his home in the above town until his 
death, in 1875, ^^ the age of eighty-five years. 

Henry Fliner, son of John Hiner, was born 
in Columbiana county, and grew to mature 
years on his father's frontier farm, bearing his 
full share of the labor required to can-e a home 
out of the dense forest, by which the country 
was at that time covered. He attended school 
a couple of months each year in a little log 
cabin, and grew up a strong, stalwart young 
man, as independent and self-reliant as he was 
physically vigorous. He became an expert in 
handling the rifle, and while still a mere boy 
found his greatest amusement in hunting the 
bear, wolves and other w-ild game with which 
the woods during the early days were infested. 
It is said that the wolves were so numerous 
as to be positively dangerous to the early set- 
tlers, and many a night young Hiner and other 
members of the family were obliged to keep 
large fires burning near the house and stable 
to prevent these ferocious aninaals from de- 
stroying the live stock. 

When a young man Hiner took up the trade 
of carpentry, which, in connection with agri- 
cultural pursuits, he followed to the end of his 
life, meeting with success in both vocations. 
In the year 1 85 1 he was united in marriage, in 
the county of Columbiana, to Miss Emily Irey, 
whose birth occurred near the town of Guil- 
ford in 1823, she being the daughter of Daw- 
son and Elizabeth fMoreland") Irey, of West- 
moreland county, Pennsylvania. From 1851 
to 1865 Mr. Hiner lived on a farm about three 
miles south of Salem, Columbiana county, 
Ohio, but in late years disposed of his interest 
there and changed his abode to the town of 
Baird, Columbiana couiity, where his Avife's 
death took i)lace in 1872. About six years later 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1019 



he married ALrs. Mary Hone, and in 1883 
moved to a farm in Canton township, where he 
hved until 18S6, when he retired to Canton. 
He spent the remainder of his days in this 
city, dying in the year 1895. Henry Hiner 
was a man of exceUent repute, and stood high 
in the confidence and esteem of his fellow citi- 
zens. In politics he was a lifelong Democrat, 
and always manifested a lively interest in the 
public affairs of the communities in which he 
lived. He was the youngest of a family of 
twelve children, whose names are as follows : 
Samuel, Catherine, John, Sarah, Mary Ann, 
wife of Jacob Livelsberger, Jacob, Peter, James, 
David, Andrew and Robert, all but Mrs. Livels- 
berger deceased. By his first wife Henry Hiner 
was the father of five children, namely : Ervin 
C. for a number of years a practicing attorney 
of Canton, and later a resident of Kansas, where 
his death occurred ; Elizabeth, wife of William 
Hirst, of Cleveland; Cicero L., the subject of 
this sketch; Eden, of ]\Iuncie, Indiana, and 
Harry, also a resident of that city. The second 
wife, who survived him, bore him three chil- 
dren, the two older, Ada and Ida, being twins; 
the former married Joseph Tomlinson, of Mal- 
vern, this state, and Ida became the wife of 
Charles Bixler, of Canton ; Joseph, the young- 
est of the family, is a resident of Canton. 

Prof. Cicero L. Hiner was born near Salem, 
Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 9th day of 
July, 1856. He early jnanifested an inclina- 
tion for books and study, and at the proper age 
entered the district school of his neighborhood, 
where he made rapid progress in the elementarv 
branches. Subsequently he attended schools of 
a higher grade, and b_\- diligent application was 
enabled before his twentieth year to pass suc- 
cessfully the required examination and secure 
a teacher's license. Mr. Hiner began teaching 
in 1876 in a select school at East Rochester, 
of which his brother, Ar\-ine, had charge. On 
account of sickness the brother was called 



home, and, to the satisfaction of all concerned, 
the subject took his place and finished the term 
in a manner which at once established his repu- 
tation as an able and judicious instructor. Dur- 
ing the following summer he taught the Bay- 
ard school, which he had attended in early boy- 
hood, and had for his pupils a large number 
of his former companions and playmates, to 
govern whom required no little diplomatic skill. 
His school numbered eighty-six pupils, ranging 
from the primary grade up, and to do justice 
to all required thirty-five recitations per day. 
Among his pupils were a number of young 
ladies and gentlemen especially efficient in 
the higher mathematics, and in order to keep 
ahead so as to teach them required much 
hard study upon his part after the daily 
sessions closed. Determined not to permit 
any of the students to surpass him, he worked 
early and late, mastered every principle 
of the subject taught, and thus became one 
of the finest mathematicians in the public 
schools of the county. He soon achieved 
much more than local reputation as an educator 
and his success and popularity may be inferred 
from the number of times he was retained in 
the same district. He had charge of the Pleas- 
ant Valley school five successive years, taught 
four terms in Paris township, nine terms at 
Paris, and in 1885 was elected principal of the 
South McKinley Avenue school. Canton. Prof. 
Hiner came to this city the above year for the 
purpose of reading law, and after studying for 
some month? under the direction of his brother 
was admitted to the bar, but did not begin the 
practice. It was while pursuing his legal stud- 
ies that he was elected to the principalship re- 
ferred to above, and as head of the McKinley 
Avenue school he finished his seventeenth suc- 
cessive year of educational work in the city of 
Canton. On the 23rd of June, 1902, Prof. 
Hiner was made principal of the South ]\Tarket 
Street schools, one of the most important posi- 



i020 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tions in the local educational system, and here 
as elsewhere his services have been duly recog- 
nized and appreciated by the public. 

As a teacher Prof. Hiner easily ranks with 
the most successful educators in eastern Ohio, 
being equally efficient as an instructor and dis- 
ciplinarian. He is a m.an of great force of char- 
acter, possesses executive ability of a high or- 
der, and under his able supervision the schools 
of which he has been principal have been 
brought to a stale of efficiency unexcelled by 
any others in the city. He has long been promi- 
nent in the educational circles of this part of 
the state, and few teachers in the county of 
Stark are as widely and favorably known. Me 
is thoroughly up to date in all matters per- 
taining to his profession, and has been hon- 
ored with several responsible official positions, 
in all of which he has discharged his duties in 
a manner creditable to himself and satisfac- 
tory to the public. From 1886 to 189S, in- 
clusive, he served as a member of the city 
board of examiners, and for several years has 
held a similar position with the county examin- 
ing board, besides being an active worker in 
the Stark County and Bi-County Teachers' 
Associations. Fraternally he is a Mason of 
high standing, having served the order in differ- 
ent honorable stations, at this time being past 
councilor of Patrick Henry Council No. 84, 
Junior Order United American Mechanics. He 
is a member of the grand lodge of Ohio, and 
for a period of three years held the offi.ce of 
inspector of the same. He is also a past coun- 
cillor of Molly Pitcher Council No. 10, Daugh- 
ters of America, which organization is largely 
indebted to him for its present flourishing con- 
dition. Religiously Prof. Hmer is a Metho- 
dist, belonging with his family to Simpson 
Methodist Episcopal church of Canton, and 
politically he wields a potent influence for the 
Democratic party. 

Prof. Hiner was married in Paris township, 
July 22, 1879, to Miss Rachael T. Shively, 



who was born in Stark county, Ohio, on the 
14th day of July, 1859, the daughter of Martin 
and Barbara (Weimer) Shively. Four chil- 
dren have blessed this union, to-wit: Dora E., 
bom March 5, 1881; Guy C, in June, 1882; 
George H., Attgust 2y, 1S84, and Helen, whose 
birth occurred on February 8, 1893. 



DAVID A. LEVERS comes of Pennsyl- 
vania stock, and traces his genealogy back to 
an early period in the history of that grand 
old com.monwealth. His father, also David by 
name, was born in Pennsylvania and there mar- 
ried Elizabeth Kaylor, who became the mother 
of twelve children, nine of whom are living 
at the present time. About 1835 David Lever, 
Sr., moved his family to Stark county, and 
during the thirty-five years following rented a 
farm in Tuscarawas township, purchasing the 
place in 1870. He came here in comparatively 
limited circumstances, but by industry, thrift 
and wise foresight added to his means from 
time to time until he was finally enabled to make 
the above purchase, when he came into pos- 
session of one hundred and thirty-five acres of 
fine land, situated in one of the best agricul- 
tural districts of this part of the state. He 
served his township in the capacity of trustee 
and proved an able and judicious public ser- 
vant, while as a neighbor none stood higher in 
the community, and no one was more loyal 
and abiding in his friendships. Mr. Levers 
lived a good life, and in his death the people 
of Tuscarawas township suffered the loss of 
one of their most estimable men and worthy 
citizens. 

David A. Levers, the fourth of the twelve 
children, was born on the paternal homestead 
in Tuscarawas township June 12, 1848. He 
was confronted in boyhood by only fair pros- 
pects for future success in life. Born to toil, 
with only ordinary facilities for acquiring an 
education, he began a long way in the rear of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



I02I- 



the more favored sons of fortune, but it may be 
said that such circumstances served to develop 
his true character and prove the sterhng metal 
which entered into his composition. Reared 
on the farm and early becoming familiar with 
its varied duties, he grew up with well-laid 
plans for his future. The meanwhile he re- 
ceived a fair educational training in the dis- 
trict schools, which he attended at stated in- 
tervals until a youth in his teens. After re- 
maining at home until about twenty-seven years 
old, he engaged in genral merchandising at 
Brookfield, which line of business he continued 
at that place during the twenty years following, 
building up a lucrative trade and judiciously 
investing his surplus capital. In 1900 Mr. 
Levers disposed of his mercantile interests and 
turned his attention to coal pursuits, promi- 
nent among which was that of coal drilling. 
To this he devoted his time and energy for 
the greater part of twenty-eight years, a por- 
tion of which time he engaged in selling goods, 
but he realized his greatest success as a de- 
veloper of mineral property when unhampered 
by other interests. Mr. Levers became an ex- 
pert in all things pertaining to mining, and 
while thus engaged his services were in great 
demand, not only in Stark county but in other 
parts of Ohio, and not infrequently were his 
abilities utilized by operators in territory be- 
yond the limits of this state. During the years 
he carried on the store and while employed in 
the coal business, his desire for agriculture 
never abated, and as soon as his afifairs could 
be properly arranged he made every other con- 
sideration subordinate to liusbanury. His pres- 
ent place, which includes an area of eighty- 
eight acres, is a model of neatness, bearing 
every evidence of successful tillage, the many 
beautiful and attractive features proving it the 
home of a gentleman of industrious habits, busi- 
ness energy- and remarkably good taste. In 
addition to his farm, he owns two acres of 
valuable real estate in the town of Brookfield, 



also a fine business building erected in 1892, 
being in much more than comfortable circum- 
stances; indeed, he has ranked for a number 
of years with the financially strong and reliable 
men of his part of the county. In politics a 
Republican, he has never indulged any desire 
for official preferment, wisely avoiding paths 
that led to military or civic distinction, and con- 
tenting himself with the far more enviable 
record of a private citizen. He takes pleasure- 
in the fact of having voted for the late William 
McKinley every time that distinguished Ameri- 
can asked for the suffrage of the people, and 
among the President's admirers in this part of 
the county no one exceeded the subject in in- 
tenseness of ardor or in loyalty of support. Not- 
withstanding Mr. Levers' indifference to pub- 
lic position, he has filled the office of constable 
for several years, and at the present time he is 
serving as trustee of the township, and as a 
member of the local board of education. His 
fraternal relations are with the Order of Anieri- 
can Mechanics, aside from which he is not 
identified with any benevolent organization. 

The name of the lady to whom Mr. Levers 
was married on the 36th day of May, 1876, 
was Lavina Tamie; she was born in Pennsyl- 
vania, and departed this life August 5, 1895, 
leaving besides her husband two children to 
mourn her loss, namely ; Elwood B. and Elsie 
Oral. Subsequently Mr. Levers, on December 
2y, -1896, married his present wife, Mary Hop- 
per, who has borne him a son, Elmer L., and a 
daughter by the name of Gladys. 



DAVID HEMPERLY, of Tuscarawas 
township, a man of thrift and sterling worth, 
possessing in a marked degree the elements 
and characteristics of the clear brained, suc- 
cessful husbandman of the present day, is a 
son of David and Mary Hemperly, of whom 
specific notice will be found elsewhere, and was 
bom November 6, 1845, in Lebanon county,. 



I022 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Pennsylvania. He came with his parents to 
Stark county when a mere lad, and grew to 
maturity on the homestead in Tuscarawas 
township, eatrly becoming inured to all kinds 
of farm labor and in youth laying a broad aiid 
deep foundation for his subsequent career of 
honor and usefulness. In the public schools 
of the township he secured his educational dis- 
cipline and learned the importance of self-re- 
liance and self-restraint. He bore his share 
of the work required to carry on a farm, and 
remained at home until about sixteen years old, 
when he turned his attention to blacksmithing, 
at which, in due time, he became quite an effi- 
cient workman. After learning the trade he 
opened a shop in West Brookfield, wdiere he 
did a remunerative business the sixteen years 
following, at the expiration of which time he 
abandoned mechanical work and moved to the 
farm where he has since lived. Mr. Hemperly 
has achieved marked prestige as an agricul- 
turist, and is today numbered among the most 
successful and enterprising tillers of the soil 
in his part of the county, besides being widely 
recognized as a raiser of fine live stock, espe- 
cially horses, in the breeding of which he has 
few equals and no superiors. He pays particu- 
lar attention to roadsters, the superior quali- 
ties of which have created a demand he finds 
difficult to supply, and wherever his animals 
have been exhibited they have invariably sus- 
tained his high reputation, not only as a breeder 
but also as a superior judge of the qualities 
of horse flesh. 

Mr. Plemperly is essentially an honorable 
man, as his neighbors will gladly testify, and 
his influence has always been on the side of 
right and morality, both in private affairs and 
matters .of a public nature. During the dark 
days of the rebellion, when treason threatened 
to disrupt the Union, he demonstrated his loy- 
alty to the government by upholding its honor 
in some of the most noted campaigns, and in 
many of the bloodiest battles, for which that 



stirring period was distinguished. Enlisting 
on the 2d of August, 1862, in Company E, 
One Hundred and Fourth Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantry, he at once proceeded to the front and 
served with signal bravery until the close of the 
war, experiencing his share of the vicissitudes 
and dangers which military duty implies, and 
participating in all the engagements in which 
his command took part. 

Mr. Hemperly is a Republican in politics, 
but has little taste for partisan strife and no 
inclination to enter the arena of officeseeker. 
Fraternally he is a member of the Grand z\rmy 
of the Republic, belonging to Hart Post at 
IVIassillon, of which organization he is one of 
the chief supporters. 

The marriage of ]\Ir. Hemperly was sol- 
emnized on the 31st of March, 1867, with Miss 
Sarah Rudy, whose birth occurred in Stark 
county, Ohio, March ID, 1846. Mrs. Hemp- 
erly is the daughter of Martin and Mary 
(Bear) Rudy^ the father born in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, and the mother a na- 
tive of Maryland. Their parents came to Stark 
county in 1834, where Martin's death ti3ok 
place about the year 1864; he was the son of 
William Rudy, of Pennsylvania, the ancestors 
of the family locating in Lancaster county at 
a very early period of the history in that part 
of the state. Mrs. Hemperly's grandparents 
were Christopher and Elizabeth Bear, natives 
of Maryland, and early settlers of Stark county. 
Mr. Bear purchased land in this county, and 
died a short time after taking possession of 
the same, his widow living to a good old age. 
Mr. Hemperly's mother died in 1877, when 
seventy-three years old. The marriage f)f Mr. 
and Mrs. Hemperly has been blessed with seven 
children, the oldest of whom is a son by the 
name of William, who lives in this county ; he 
married Rebecca Schammo, and is the father of 
two children, Clara and Estella. Delia, the 
second, married David We3'gant, who bore him 
one child, Alda May, and departed this life 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1023 



July 4, 1891. Clarence E., the next in order 
of birtli, served in the late Spanish-American 
war in the Eighty-fourth Ohio Regiment, 
known as "McKinley's Own," and made a good 
record as a soldier. Walter D. married Ehza- 
beth Eberliart, and has one son by the name 
of Earl. Sadie M., wife of John Miller, is 
the sixth of the family; she has four ofifspring. 
namely, William H., Ester B., Myrtle M. and 
Agnes A. Myrtle D., the youngest of the sub- 
ject's children, married Samuel King, and is 
the mother of one son, Paul. 



LAUREN E. FLICKJNGER, M. D., is 
descended paternally from German ancestors, 
the first representatives of the family in Ameri- 
ca settling many years ago in Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania. Li that part of the state was 
born one John Flickinger, who married Sarah 
Lower, also a native of Lancaster county, this 
couple being the grandparents of the subject of 
this review. By occupation John Flickinger 
was a tiller of the soil, and he appears to have 
been a man of considerable local prominence, 
having served for many years as justice of the 
peace, besides filling other positions of honor 
and trust. About 1837 he moved to Mahoning 
county, Ohio, and purchased a farm in the 
township of Bea\er, on which he lived until 
within a few years of his death, when he retired 
from active life. In many respects he was a 
moulder of opinion among his neighbors and 
fellow citizens, and appears to have been con- 
sulted by them in matters requiring a knowl- 
edge of law. and not infrec[uently were his 
services required in the settlement of difficul- 
ties and the adjustment of business affairs. For 
many years he was a prominent member of the 
German Reform church, and as such did much 
to disseminate the truths of the Christian re- 
ligion among his fellow men. His wife was 
also identified with the same religious bodv, and 
lived a noble Christian life until called from the 



chiuxh militant to the church triumphant in 
1868. John Flickinger survived his wife about 
twenty-one years, dying in Beaver township, 
Mahoning county, in 1889. 

Among the children of John and Sarah 
Flickinger was a son by the name of Henry, 
whose birth occurred in the county of Mahon- 
ing in 1837, a short time after the family lo- 
cated in that state. He was the oldest of his 
parents' children, and was reared to agricul- 
tural pursuits, receiving the best educational 
advantages the common schools of his early 
day afforded. He left the parental roof before 
the years of manhood, and engaged in business ■ 
for himself as a buyer and shipper of live 
stock, in which he was pecuniarily quite suc- 
cessful. He followed this line of business with 
encouraging results before and after the late 
Civil war, but later purchased a mill, and for 
some time thereafter devoted his attention to the 
manufacture of ffour. Like his father before 
him, he took an active interest in public affairs, 
served as justice of the peace for his town- 
ship, and subsequently was elected treasurer 
of Mahoning county. On assuming the duties 
of this office he removed to Canfield, at that 
time the county seat, and continued to reside 
there until the seat of justice was transferred 
to the city of Youngstown, when he changed 
his abode to the latter place. At the expira- 
tion of his official term Henry Flickinger en- 
gaged in the real estate business at Youngs- 
town. which he carried on about six years, 
when he returned to his farm in Beaver town- 
ship, and resumed agriculture and stock rais- 
ing, giving special attention to the latter. In 
every relation of life he proved himself an hon- 
orable, upright citizen, and in the different offi- 
cial stations to which he was called his efficiency 
and devotion to duty were demonstrated to the 
satisfaction of all. Some j'ears ago he aban- 
doned farming and moved to Salem, where he 
is now assistant superintendent of the city wa- 
ter works. 



I024 



OLD LANDMARKS 



The maiden name of Mrs. Henry Flickin- 
ger was Sophia Beard, and the ceremony by 
which the two were made husband and wife 
was solemnized in Beaver township, Mahoning 
county, in which part of the state she was born 
and reared. Six children resulted from this 
union, namely : Attai, wife of Dr. Schiller, of 
Salem; Alice, wife of J. H. Metzer, now living 
in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Clement A. died 
at the age of eighteen ; Lauren E., subject of this 
review; Blanch G. and Edna C, the last two 
unmarried. 

Dr. Lauren E. Flickinger was born on the 
home farm in Mahoning county, Ohio, Octo- 
ber 31, 1869, and when a lad of six years was 
taken by his parents to the town of Canfield, 
and later to Youngstown. The public schools 
afforded him the means of acquiring an ele- 
mentary education, after which he entered the 
Northeastern Ohio Normal at Canfield, where 
he completed the prescribed course at the early 
age of seventeen. After teaching for two 
years, he became a student of the Western Re- 
serve Medical College, at Cleveland, where he 
prosecuted his professional studies until March, 
1892, on the 2d day of which month he was 
graduated with a record for efificiency excelled 
by no other member of his class. On re- 
ceiving his degree Dr. Flickinger opened an 
office at North Industry, Stark county, where 
he practiced two and a half years, and then 
moved to a wider field in Salem, where he 
remained with gratifying professional and 
financial success until 1898. In October of the 
later year he changed his location to the city 
of Canton, where he has since resided, mean- 
time building up a practice which in magnitude 
and successful results enables him to rank with 
the ablest physicians and surgeons in this part 
of the state. The continued advancements 
which have characterized the Doctor's career 
since he began the practice and the ease with 
which he has mounted to his present distin- 
guished position in the medical world mark him 



the possessor of a high order of talent. He 
is a member of the Stark County Medical So- 
ciety, Canton INIedical Society, the Ohio State 
JMedical Society, and the Medical Association 
of Northeastern Ohio, in all of which organiza- 
tions he takes a lively interest. Not only as a 
physician does Dr. Flickinger take high rank 
in the community, but as an enterprising and 
progressive citizen, fully in touch with the times 
in all that tends to benefit the city of his resi- 
dence along material, social, intellectual and 
moral lines. In politics he is a supporter of 
the Democratic party, but in the sense of as- 
piring to official preferment or taking a very 
active part in political afiiairs he cannot be 
termed a partisan. Personally the Doctor is a 
genial and companionable gentleman, courteous 
in his intercourse with his friends and acquaint- 
ances and popular in the social circles of the 
city in which he lives. 

On the 5th of September, 1893, at North 
Industry, Dr. Flickinger was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Jennie A. Serva, also of North 
Industry, a union blessed with one child, whose 
name is Clement A. 



CHRISTOPHER C. SICKAFOOSE is a 
native-born son of the Buckeye state, having 
been born in Wyandot county on the 27th of 
May, 1 85 1. His parents were John and Nancy 
(Kinimel) Sickafoose, wdio both passed away 
in Sandy township, this county, at the age of 
seventy-seven years. When he was but two 
years old the parents of the subject removed 
from Wyandot county and made their home in 
Sandy township. Stark county, and the lad was 
reared to manhood. His early years wer,e 
passed as are the youthful days of most farm- 
ers' sons and he early became acquainted with 
hard toil and was initiated into the mysteries 
of agriculture. As opportunity afforded he 
attended the common schools and, because of 
his earnest and faithful application to his stud- 




MR. AND MRS. C. C. SICKAFOOSE. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1025 



ies, became the possessor of a fair education. 
Upon attaining sufficient age he learned the 
trade of carpentering, at which he worked for 
fourteen years. He was a conscientious work- 
man and soon acquired a reputation for honesty 
and also for proficiency in his chosen occupa- 
tion and, did a large amount of carpentering in 
his locaHty. Aside from this he has all his 
hfe followed the pursuit of agriculture, at 
which he has been a pronounced success. He 
possesses ninety acres of good, cultivable land 
and the farm is a model of neatness and suc- 
cessful tillage and from it he receives more 
liberal returns than are realized by many from 
much larger places. He thoroughly under- 
stands every minutae of agriculture and em- 
ploys modern methods in the pursuit of his call- 
ing. He ha? erected substantial buildings and 
has surrounded himself with many of the com- 
forts and conveniences of life, his place being 
among the most highly improved in the town- 
ship, the well-tilled fields and well-kept appear- 
,ance of everything about the premises indicat- 
ing his careful and progressive spirit. 

On the 19th of December, 1879, Mr. Sicka- 
foose was united in the holy bonds of matri- 
mony with Miss Emma Brothers, a daughter 
of the late Eli Brothers. She is a native of 
Sandy township, this county, and there born 
and reared. Their union has been a most happy 
and congenial one and has been blessed by two 
children, a son who died in infancy and Ed- 
ward, an intelligent and promising young man, 
the pride of his parents. 

Politically the subject has all his life been a 
firm and uncompromising Republican, ever tak- 
ing an earnest interest in all movements or 
questions affecting the public welfare. In the 
spring of 1898 his party nominated him for the 
office of trustee of his township and at the en- 
suing election he was duly chosen to fill the 
office. So efficient and satisfactory were his 
services in this important office in 1901 the 
voters elected him to succeed himself and he is 

64 



still worthily discharging the duties of the 
office. Educational matters have also taken a 
deep hold upon his attention and for some time 
he served as a member of the board of school 
directors, doing much to advance educational 
interests in his locality. Religiously Mr. and 
Mrs. Sickafoose are members of the Lutheran 
church and live in accordance with their pro- 
fession, doing much effective work to advance 
the interests of the Master's kingdom. Fra- 
ternally Mr. Sickafoose belongs to the Junior 
Order of United American Mechanics and to 
the Knights of the Maccabees, exemplifying in 
his actions the beneficent principles of these 
noble orders. Honorable in business, loyal in 
citizenship, faithful in friendship, generous in 
sympathy and kind and loving in his home, he 
holds a warm place in the hearts of all who 
know him. 



ELI HERSHBERGER.— The Hershber- 
ger family is of sterling German origin, but has 
been established on American soil since the 
colonial epoch in our national history, the orig- 
inal American progenitors having located in 
Pennsylvania, the old Keystone state of the 
Union, with whose annals the name has thus 
been identified for several generations. Eli 
Hershberger was born on the parental home- 
stead in Osnaburg township, Stark county, 
Ohio, on the 5th of December, 1853, being one 
of the seven children of Jesse and Elizabeth 
(Dewalt) Hershberger, while all but one of the 
children are still living, Charles having passed 
away in infancy. The six surviving are here 
named in order of birth : Simon, who is en- 
gaged in the sawmilling business in Nimishil- 
len township ; Henry, who is a resident of the 
same township, and a carpenter by vocation; 
Laura, who is the wife of Jacob Sell, of Osna- 
burg township; Mary, who is the wife of John 
Zuber, also a resident of that township ; 
Sarah, who is the wife of Isaiah Fock- 



I026 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ler, of Canton; and Eli, the immediate sub- 
ject of this sketch. Jesse Hershberger, father 
of these children, is likewise a native of Stark 
county, having been born in Osnaburg town- 
ship about the year 1832, and being a son of 
and Elizabeth Hershberger, who were na- 
tives of Pennsylvania, emigrating to Stark 
county in the early pioneer epoch. Grandfather 
Hershberger took up a tract of government 
land in Osnaburg townshi]), where he estab- 
lished his home in a primitix-e log cabin and 
forthwith initiated the task of clearing his land 
from the native timber and rendering it eligible 
for cultivation, and there both he and his wife 
remained until their deaths. Jesse Hershber- 
ger was reared to manhood on the homestead 
farm and amidst the labors and scenes of the 
pioneer days. After his marriage he removed 
to Plain township, where he continued agricul- 
tural pursuits for about a score of years, after 
which he purchased his present farm of sixty 
acres, in Nimishillen township, where he has 
since made his home, being one of the honored 
pioneer citizens of the county. He is a Repub- 
lican in politics, and he and his wife are con- 
sistent members of the Progressive Brethren 
church. Mrs. Hershl)erger is likewise a native 
of Osnaburg townshi]^, A\'here she was born in 
the year 1832, being a daughter of Charles and 
Elizabeth Dewalt, who came hither from Penn- 
sylvania, and became numbered among the first 
settlers in the township mentioned. ^Ir. De- 
walt was an excellent shot, and he was able 
to provide his table with an adequate supply 
of meat through the use of his trusty rifle, as 
deer, bear and other wild game still remained 
in abundance at the time of his coming to this 
section. 

Eli Hershberger was reared under the 
beneficent influences of a good home, though it 
was humble in character, and he waxed strong 
in mind and body while assisting in the work 
of the homestead farm, his educational ad- 
vantages being such as were aft'orded in the 



common schools of the locality and period. He 
early manifested marked ambition and self- 
reliance, and gave evidence of marked business 
acumen. At the age of eighteen years he ac- 
quired an interest in a saw-mill, and from that 
time forward to the present he has continued 
to be interested in this line of enterprise, while 
he has found further scope for his energies in 
the successful conducting of a fine farm and 
in the operation of a threshing outfit, in which 
last branch of his business he has kept his 
equipment constantly up to date, replacing in- 
ferior machines with the more modern types 
as improvements were made in the line. In 
1877 he effected the purchase of his present 
homestead farm, which is located on section 31, 
Nimishillen township, and wdiich comjjrises fif- 
ty-one acres, the place being maintained under 
a high state of cultivation, and having ex- 
cellent improvements of a permanent nature, 
including a commodious and substantial resi- 
dence. The farm is not a large one, but it may 
be consistently pointed out as a model farm, 
and it is one of the valuable places of the town- 
ship. For the past ten years Mr. Hershberger 
has had in operation during the season two 
fine and thoroughly modern threshing ma- 
chines, with all requisite accessories, and he 
finds a ready demand for his services with both 
outfits. He is progressive and public-spirited, 
and while he has never desired official prefer- 
ment he is known as a stalwart supporter of 
the principles and policies of the Re- 
publican party, with which he has been 
identified from the time of attaining his 
majority. He is one of the influential 
and zealous members of the United 
Evangelical church at Fair Hope, and has been 
a member of its board of trustees for the past 
five years, giving a liberal support to the church 
work and to its collateral benevolences. Mrs. 
Hershberger is likewise a dex'otd member of 
the church. 

In October, 1878, Mr. Hershberger was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1027 



united in marriage to JNIiss Caroline Lesh, who 
was born in Nimishillen township, this county, 
being a daughter of the late Jacob Lesh, who 
was a prominent and honored farmer of this 
township. To the subject and his estimable 
wife ha\-e been born four children, namely: 
Tyrona, who is the wife of Frank Seibert, of 
Crystal Park, the popular summer resort near 
Canton; Fremont N., who is associated with 
his father in his business operations; Ida Ger- 
trude, who died at the age of six years; and 
Mabel Grace, who remains at the parental 
home. In 1902 Mr. Hershberger bought eight 
acres of land at Fair Hope, where he expects 
to make his residence. 



WILLIAM P. WERTZ, who is one of 
"the successful and influential farmers of Nimi- 
shillen township, is a native of this township, 
where he was born on the 15th of September, 
1853, being a son of John and Catherine (Pick- 
ens) W^ertz, who became the parents of six chil- 
dren, of whom five are living, namely : William 
P., subject of this sketch; John, who is a resi- 
dent of Trenton, Nebraska; Mary, who is the 
widow of Lincoln Eckerd, and a resident of 
Trenton, Nebraska ; Margaret, who is the wife 
of Ira Stuckey, of York, Nebraska ; and Henry, 
who resides in Findlay, Ohio. John Wertz 
was born in York county, Pennsylvania, in 
1828. and was there reared to maturity, and 
as a young man he came to Stark county, and 
located in Belford, Nimishillen township, 
where he engaged in the sawmilling business, in 
\\hich he continued until his death, which oc- 
curred on the 26th of January, 1864. He was 
a man of sterling character and marl<ed busi- 
ness ability, and was one of the honored pio- 
neers of the county, while in politics he w^as 
stanchly arrayed in support of the principles 
and policies of the Democratic party. His 
father, Adam Wertz, was of German lineage, 
and it is probable that he was born in Germany. 



He was engaged in farming in York county, 
Pennsylvania, where he died in his eighty-first 
year. Catherine (Pickens) Wertz, mother of 
our subject, is a native of Nimishillen township, 
where she was born on the loth of March, 1832, 
being a daughter of William and iMargaret 
(Over) Pickens, both of whom were born in 
Pennsylvania, whence they came to Stark- 
county, being" numbered among the pioneer set- 
tlers of Nimishillen township, where they 
passed the remainder of their lives. The mother 
of the subject is still living, and resides with her 
children in Trenton, Nebraska. 

For five years after the death of his father 
William P. \\'ertz made his home with Edward 
Moul, a farmer of Osnaburg township, and his 
educational privileges were such as were af- 
forded in the district schools of that township 
and the one in which he was born. At the age 
of seventeen }'ears he began his career as a farm 
hand, and when twenty years of age, realizing 
the necessity of a more thorough scholastic 
training in preparing for the practical duties of 
life, he entered Mount Union College, at Al- 
liance, this state, where he completed a course 
of study in the commercial department. In 
1874 he accepted a clerical position in the hard- 
ware establishment of C. C. Snyder, at Can- 
ton, where he remained about seven years. Af- 
ter his marriage, which occurred in the year 
1 88 1, he removed to his present home fann. 
In 1889 'i^ 'sf*^ the farm and returned to Can- 
ton, where he again entered the employ of Mr. 
Snyder, but shortly afterward he there engaged 
in the liardware business on his own responsi- 
bility, continuing the enterprise for a period of 
five years, at the expiration of which he sold 
the business, in 1900, and has since lived re- 
tired, li\ing for a short time on the home farm, 
and then retiring to Canton. His place com- 
prises one hundred and twenty-three acres, and 
is one of the \'aluable farms of the county, be- 
ing under a high state of cultivation, and 
ecjuipped with excellent buildings and other per- 



I028 



OLD LANDMARKS 



manent improvements of the best order. In 
politics Mr. Wertz is a stanch supporter of the 
Republican party, and lie takes a pubhc-spirited 
interest in all that concerns the well being of 
the community. Fraternally he is identified 
with the Junior Order of United American Me- 
chanics, affiliating with McKinley Council No. 
218, in Canton. 

On the 1st of February, 188 1, Mr. Wertz 
was united in marriage to Miss Amanda Her- 
shey, who was born in Nimishillen township, 
being a daughter of the late Jacob Hershey, 
who was born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
vania, and who settled in Stark county, Ohio, 
in the early pioneer epoch, becoming one of the 
influential farmers of Nimishillen township. 
Mr. and Mrs. Wertz have one daughter, Es- 
tella. 



CHARLES C. BOW was born on a farm 
in the immediate vicinity of the village of 
Atwater, Portage county, Oliio, on the 12th 
of January, 1858, being a son of Abraham and 
Mary (Burns) Bow. Abraham Bow was a 
native of the old Bay state, having come to 
Ohio from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and having 
been numbered among the early settlers in At- 
water township, Portage county, where he en- 
gaged in the carpentering and contracting busi- 
ness. He was a son of Abraham Bow, who was 
born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where his 
parents took up their abode upon their emigra- 
tion from England, prior to the war of the 
Revolution, there passing the remainder of their 
lives. Abraham Bow removed with his family 
to Alliance, Ohio, when the subject of this re- 
view was a lad of ten years, and there he en- 
gaged in his trade as carpenter, continuing to 
make his home in that city until his death, 
which occurred in 1893, his devoted wife pass- 
ing away in 1901. They became the parents 
of six children, of whom the subject of this 
sketch was the sixth in order of birth, and of 



the number four are living at the present time. 
Tn the public schools of Alliance Charles C. 
Bow continued his educational discipline until 
he had completed a course in the high school, 
and in the meanwhile he had formulated defi- 
nite plans for his future life work, in harmony 
with which he began reading law in the oflice 
of one of the leading members of the bar of 
i^lliance, showing a marked predilection for 
the work, in being thorough, apprecia- 
tive and conscientious in his study, in 
which he had the encouragement of an 
able preceptor. In 1881 Mr. Bow came to 
Canton to assume the position of deputy clerk 
of courts, in which capacity he rendered most 
efficient service for a period of four years, the 
discipline being one of marked value to him 
in furthering his knowledge of the science of 
jurisprudence and of the practical methods of 
the profession, while he continued his studies 
of the law with marked perseverance and fidel- 
ity, and was duly admitted to the bar of the 
state in 1883, upon examination before the su- 
preme court. He continued incumbent of the 
office of deputy clerk until 1885, when he es- 
tablished himself in his present offices, in the 
McKinley Block, and turned his attention to 
the active work of his profession, having 
formed a partnership association with Judson 
A. Wann, who continued his professional co- 
adjutor until 1901, when the partnership was 
dissolved, owing to the removal of Mr. Wann 
to Pueblo, Colorado. The professional novi- 
tiate of our subject was of comparatively brief 
duration, for he had established a large ac- 
quaintanceship in the city and county while in 
tenure of office, and had become known as a 
careful, discriminating and conservative law- 
yer, of broad and exact technical knowledge, 
even before he had entered upon active prac- 
tice. Thus he soon gained a representative 
clientele, and his precedarce has been cumula- 
tive in character, resulting in the control of 
a large and gratifying legal business, while he 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1029 



is recognized as one of llie able trial law3'ers 
of the county and as a safe counsel. He has 
been concerned in much important litigation 
in both state and federal courts and his suc- 
cess has been largely due to his invariably care- 
ful preparation before presenting a cause, his 
cogenc}- and conciseness of argument and his 
clear presentation of his case being the means 
through which he has won distinctive victories. 
In politics Mr; Bow has ever given an un- 
equivocal allegiance to the Republican party, 
in whose cause he has done active and effective 
work, though he has never sought office aside 
from that directly pertinent to the line of his 
profession. In 1890 he was elected prosecut- 
ing attorney of Stark county and was in- 
cumbent of this position until 1896, giving a 
most able administration and proving one of the 
most popular and successful prosecutors the 
•county has had. He is a member of the Knights 
of Pythias, Knights of the Maccabees and the 
Order of Elks, being a past exalted ruler in 
the latter order. Mr. Bow was married in 
the fall of 1 88 1, to Ella J. Townsend, of Al- 
liance, Ohio, who departed this life in 1893. 
He was married in 1896 to Anna E. Withrow, 
of Omaha, Nebraska. Three children have 
been born of the second marriage, two boys 
and one girl. 



HENRY FOLK.— Born in Nimishillen 
"township. Stark county, on the farm owned 
and occupied by his brother John D., the date 
of Henry Folk's nativity was May 2, 1849, be- 
ing the son of John and Elizabeth (Dice) 
Folk. The original representatives of the 
•family in Stark county were Peter Folk, the 
grandfather of our subject, and his two broth- 
ers, Jacob and Abraham. The three entered 
claim to an entire section of government land 
in this county, and the deed is signed by James 
Madison, who was then President of the 
United States. They divided the property 



ecjually and were numbered among the earliest 
settlers in the county, contributing materially 
to the development and reclamation of the land, 
which was heavily timbered at the time when 
they came into possession of the same. The 
father of the subject was born in York county, 
Pennsylvania, about the year 181 3, and was a 
lad of eight years at the time when his parents 
took up their permanent abode in Stark county, 
in 1820 or 1 82 1. Peter Folk erected a log 
cabin of the primitive type, in the midst of the 
forest, and there installed his family, his land 
being in Nimishillen township, where his son 
John was reared to maturity under the condi- 
tions and influences of pioneer life. After his 
marriage John settled on a portion of the 
homestead farm, which his father had divided 
between him and his brother Peter, his share 
comprising a tract of one hundred and six 
acres. Flere he continued to be actively en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, 
which occurred in 1879. He espoused the cause 
of the Republican party at the time of its or- 
ganization and thereafter gave it his unquali- 
fied support, while both he and his wife were 
consistent members of the Lutheran church and 
ever active in good works, being folk of sterl- 
ing character and comanding the high esteem 
of all who knew them. The devoted wife and 
mother survived her husband by about a decade, 
her death occurring on the 30th of March, 1886, 
at the age of seventy-five years. They be- 
came the parents of eight children, of whom 
four are living, namely : Elizabeth, who is 
still a resident of Nimishillen township, being 
a maiden lady; Rebecca, who is the wife of 
Samuel Snyder, of this township; Henry, the 
immediate subject of this sketch, and John D., 
of whom individual mention is made on other 
pages of this work. 

Henry Folk, whose name initiates this re- 
view, grew up under the sturdy discipline of 
the homestead farm, to whose work he early 
began to contribute his quota, while his edu- 



I030 



OLD LANDMARKS 



cational advantages were such as were afforded 
in the district schools. Shortly before the 
death of his father he became associated 
with his brother, John D., in the purchase of 
the homestead farm, and thereafter they con- 
tinued to be associated in carrying on the farm 
until 1894, when our subject rented his portion 
of the same to his brother and removed to the 
Joseph Folk farm, which he leases, and here he 
has since continued to be actively engaged in 
agricultural operations, so directing his efforts 
as to secure the maximum returns from his 
labors. The farm which he occupies comprises 
one hundred acres and is well improved, while 
under his direction much has been done to in- 
crease its productive value for he is enterpris- 
ing and progressive and endowed with superior 
business ability. In politics he is a stanch ad- 
herent of the Republican party but has never 
sought official preferment, though he main- 
tains a deep interest in all that concerns the 
welfare of his native county. He is a valued 
member of the Reformed church, doing all in 
his power to further its spiritual and temporal 
wellbeing. 

On the 25th of June. 1874, ]Mr. Folk was 
united in marriage to Miss Isabelle Shilling, 
who was born in Nimishillen township, being 
a daughter of John and Catherine (Klopfen- 
stein) Shilling, the former of whom was born 
in Germany and the latter in France, both hav- 
ing been brought to Stark county in infancy, 
their respective parents having been numbered 
among the very early settlers in the county. 
Mr. Shilling is still living and resides on the 
farm, in Nimishillen township, upon which his 
parents located when they first came to the 
county. His wife died a number of years ago. 
]\Ir. and Mrs. Folk became the parents of three 
children, of whom two are living, Harvey C, 
who assists in the management of the home 
faitn. and Amelia, who is the wife of Homer 
Sheft'er, a carpenter in this township. The 
third child was Ada J., who died in infancv. 



CHARLES D. OBERLIN, farmer and 
coal driller, third son of William E. and Susan 
(Dague) Oberlin, and younger brother of Otto 
E. Oberlin, of whom specific notice will be 
found elsewhere, is a native of Stark county, 
Ohio, born November 20, 1859, in the town- 
ship of Tuscarawas. He grew up to- the full 
stature of well de\'eloped manhood amid the 
quiet scenes of rural life, and inheriting from 
his parents strong mental powers, early turned 
them to good account by laboring for the 
acquisition of useful knowledge. His nature 
l)eing studious he made the most of the op- 
portunities as the public schools supplied and 
after completing the branches constituting the 
common course, devoted considerable attention 
to the more advanced grades of study. At 
a very early age he manifested a decided taste 
for music, and his abilities in this direction 
were fostered and encouraged by his parents,- 
who provided him with e^'cry means within 
their power for the cultivation of his talents. 
He pursued the musical studies with the in- 
terest of an enthusiast, and in due time became 
not only an accomplished vocalist, but ere long 
was sufficiently qualified to instruct others. To 
him music appeals with rare power and force, 
his whole being responding with peculiar su- 
ceptibility to harmony. He has never ceased 
being a student and availing himself of every 
opportunity to add his theoretical knowledge 
of the divine art, he has been equally persistent 
in reducing it to practice. It may easily be in- 
ferred from his knowledge and skill in music 
that JMr. Oberlin is a gentleman of much more 
than ordinary taste and mental acquirements. 
His study of music has been the direct means 
of developing other qualities and having al- 
ways been of a studious and inquiring turn 
of mind, much given to reading and intelligent 
observation it is not at all strange that in 
the course of time he should have become a 
well infonned and thoroughly accomplished 
gentleman. In the main he has pursued music 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1031 



more for his own gratification than as the 
source of income, consequently he derives his 
liveHhood from other and entirely dissimilar 
vocations. As already stated he was reared a 
farmer and ever since beginning life for him- 
self his chief occupation has been that of tilling 
the soil. He is now the fortunate possesser of 
a small but exceedingly fertile and well culti- 
vated place of fifty-five acres in Tuscarawas 
township, on which may be seen some of the 
best improvements in this part of the county, 
having been free in expending his surplus earn- 
ings for the beautifying and making attractive 
the home which he has provided for himself 
and family. In addition to husbandry, Mr. 
Oberlin of recent years has added very ma- 
terially to his income as a coal driller, his labors 
in the direction having been quite successful 
from a pecuniary point of view. He has de- 
veloped quite a number of rich producing 
mineral properties in various parts of Stark 
county and elsewhere, being an adept at the 
business and thoroughly reliable in all he 
undertakes. His services are in frequent de- 
mand by coal operators, and when not looking 
after his farm, he experiences no difficulty in 
securing all the remunerative employment to 
which he can possibly devote his attention. 
Like all intelligent men and enterprising citi- 
zens. Mr. Oberlin is a politician — not in the 
narrow partisan sense which the term usually 
conveys to the casual, unthinking mind, but 
in the broader sense which includes the individ- 
ual's relation to the community, the state and 
nation as a personal factor in the body politic. 
Though born and reared a Democrat, he is not 
a supporter of that party by reason of birth- 
right, but rather from convictions, believing 
its principles when properly understood to be 
for the best interests of the people. The only 
position he ever held was as a member of the 
local school board, in which capacity he lalxjred 
very diligently for some years to advance the 



cause of education in the township of Tuscara- 
was. 

Mr. Oberlin w^as married on the 28th day 
of December, 1882, to Miss Lucy E. Harold, 
who was born in Sugar Creek township. Stark 
county, Ohio, in the year 1862. She is the 
daughter of Wesley and Margaret (Mottin- 
ger) Harrold, natives of Pennsylvania, who 
came to this county in an early day and settled 
in the above township, where their respective 
deaths subsequently occurred. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Oberlin six children have been born, 
namely: Verdie B., Elma G., Lura M., Mary 
S., Nina J. and Harrold B. 



JOHN HEMPERLY was born near the 
central part of the Keystone state, in the old 
historic county of Lebanon, July 31, 1831, the 
son of David and Mary Hemperly, the latter 
prior to marriage a Houck. Both parents sprang 
from old and supposedly German families, 
the names evidently indicating Teutonic origin. 
By occupation David Hemperly was a farmer. 
He followed his chosen, calling in his native 
county, and it was there that his seven chil- 
dren were born, his death, in 1845, following 
not many years the birth of the youngest mem- 
ber of the family. Two years after her hus- 
band's demise Mrs. Hemperly, with her seven 
■fatherless children, came to Stark county, 
Ohio, settling near the present site of what is 
known as school house No. 16. Here she 
spent the remainder of a long and useful life, 
during which she looked carefully after the 
welfare of her children, all of whonn grew 
to be honorable men and women, five of the 
number living at the present time. Mrs. Hemp- 
erly lived to a ripe old ago, departing- this 
life in the year 1889. 

John Hemperly was a sturdy lad of six- 
teen years when his mother changed her abode 
to Stark county, and with little exception his 



I032 



OLD LANDMARKS 



life since 18^7 has been spent within the present 
hmits of Tuscarawas township. His mother 
provided as best she could for his intellectual 
training, sending him a few months of each 
year to sucn schools as the rural districts af- 
forded, the rest of his time being required to 
assist in providing for the comfort and sup- 
port of the family. In his youth he took up 
the cooper's trade and after becoming an ef- 
ficient workmen found remunerati\-e emplo}'- 
ment at various places, spending three years 
in East Greenville, this state, where he really 
began life upon his own responsibility. When 
a mere boy he and his brother Daniel walked 
from their old Pennsylvania home to Stark 
county, and during the long journey met with 
many interesting experiences and lively ad- 
ventures which he still recalls with pleasure. 

After following his trade for some years 
with fair profits, Mr. Hemperly turned his at- 
tention to agriculture, which he pursued until 
about 1885, spending forty-three years as an 
industrious and successful tiller of the soil. 
He owns a farm of about seventy-four acres, 
lying in one of the most fertile sections of the 
county, and by systematic and scientific tillage 
the land has been fully developed and its pro- 
ductiveness greatly enhanced. Mr. Hemperly 
is a Republican in politics, but has never been 
a very aggressive worker in the party, having 
no taste for the wrangling and contentions of 
partisan strife. In religion he advocates the 
beautiful and sublime teachings of Christian 
Science, being one of the leading members of 
that faith in his part of the county. As a 
neighbor and citizen his standing has always 
been above reproach and wherever known his 
reputation is that of an intelligent, honorable 
man of sound veracity and unimpeachable in- 
tegrity. 

On the 26th day of February, 1855, ^^'■■ 
Hemperly was married to Miss Barbara Kit- 
tinger. whose birth occurred in Pennsylvania, 
August 30, 1836. Mrs. Hemperly is the 



daughter of Jacob and Mary (Shelingbercer) 
Kittinger, the father a native of Pennsylvania, 
the mother of Germany. These parents came 
to Stark county in 1843 '^-"'^ settled on the farm 
which the subject now owns and occupies, it 
being the older Kittinger homestead. Mr. Kit- 
tinger died some years ago, but his widow still 
survives, having reached the remarkable age 
of ninety-four. Of her ten children seven are 
living, the majority residents of Stark county. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hemperly have had two children, 
both dying when quite young. 



SAMUEL H. WELCH was born on the 
parental homestead, in Bethlehem township. 
Stark county, Ohio, on the 13th of October, 
1830, being the eldest son and third in order of 
birth in a family of eight children, of whom 
six are living at the present time, four of the 
sons and two of the daughters. His father> 
\\''illiam Welch, now venerable in years and 
revered as one of the patriarch pioneers of the 
county, is residing in Indiana, while his loved 
and devoted wife, whose maiden name was 
Mary Jane Smith, died in Pike township, at 
the age of sixty years. William Welcli was 
born in Rose township, Carroll county, Oliio, 
where his parents settled in the early pioneer 
epoch and where he was reared and educated. 
His wife was a daughter of the late Milton 
Smith, who was one of the early settlers in 
Sandy township, Tuscarawas county, this state, 
where he held the office of justice of the peace 
for many years, being a man of influence in 
the community. When the subject was about 
one year of age his parents removed to Pike 
township, and here he has passed practically his 
entire life, which has lieen prolific in good 
works in various fields of endeavor. As a youth 
he contributed his quota to the work of the 
home farm, while his early educational disci- 
pline was received in the district schools. En- 
dowed by nature with a peculiarly alert and 




MR. AND MRS. S. H. WELQH. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1033 



receptive mentality, he soon became interested 
in his studies and his ambition was quickened 
to the point of action, and he could not remain 
satisfied with such advantages as were offered 
in the common schools. Accordingly, at the 
age of twenty-two, we find him duly matricu- 
lated in the Northwestern Ohio Normal Uni- 
versity, at Ada, where in due course of time he 
completed the scientific course, being graduated 
at a member of the class of 1884. Long be- 
fore this, however, he had become eligible for 
pedagogic honors, having initiated his work 
in this line as a teacher in the district schools 
of Pike township when he was but seventeen 
years of age, while from that time forward he 
continued in the active work of the pedagogic 
profession in his native county until 1901, with 
the exception of two years. His success was 
of pronounced type and his popularity in the 
educational field of the most unmistakable 
order. He now resides on a fine farm in Pike 
township, having here given his attention to 
agricultural pursuits since the year 1895, 
though other demands placed upon his time 
suffer no neglect. In 1899, as candidate on the 
Republican ticket, Mr. Welch was elected to the 
office of justice of the peace, for a term of three 
years, and in the spring of 1902 he was chosen 
as his own successor in this ofihCe, in which his 
services had proved so acceptable as to win him 
the commendation of all classes. For two 
terms I\lr. W^elch was incumbent of the office of 
township clerk, and since 1901 he has been a 
valued member of the board of education, his 
zeal in the cause never having wavered. He is 
a man of broad and comprehensive reading" and 
■fine intellectuality, having the courage of his 
convictions and demanding the approval of 
conscience of every action of his life, so that 
he stands a distinct individual and one worthy 
of the objective confidence and esteem so uni- 
formly accorded him. He has been a stanch 
advocate of the principles and policies of the 
Republican party from the time of attaining 



his legal majority, and his first presidential 
vote was cast for the lamented General Garfield. 
From the foregoing context it will be seen that 
the subject has made his influence potently felt 
along avenues of definite and helpful utility, 
but his labors have not ended here, for he has 
been particularly active in church work, in 
which his zeal and devotion have been unflag- 
ging. In the winter of 1878-9 he became a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
but in i8q8 he withdrew from fellowship in 
this communion and identified himself with the 
United Brethren church, in whose temporal 
and spiritual work he has ever since taken an 
active part. At the age of twenty years he be- 
came superintendent of the Sunday school, and 
as such he has ever since continued to serve, 
while he has also been called to various ofificial 
positions in this very important department of 
church work. For the past four years he has 
been superintendent of the Sunday school of 
the church at Otterbein. Since February, 1899, 
he has been a member of the county executive 
committee on Sunday school work in Stark 
county, and he served for four years as presi- 
dent of the Pike Township Sunday School 
Association, an inter-denominational organiza- 
tion whose functions have been exercised in a 
most beneficent v/ay. Fraternally he is identi- 
fied with Thomas Jefferson Council No. 100, 
Junior Order of United American Mechanics, 
at North Industry. 

In the city of Canton, on the 23d of March, 
1884, Mr. Welch was united in marriage to 
Miss Harriet Hines, a daughter of the late 
Washington Hines, who died in Pike township, 
in 1883, at the age of seventy- two years, one 
of the honored pioneer citizens of the county. 
Flis widow, whose maiden name was Christina 
J. Hockensmith, died in the same township in 
1894, in her eightieth year. Mrs. Welch was 
born in this township, on the 8th of January, 
1857, and is a woman of gracious and gentle 
refinement, being, like her husband, an active 



I034 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and devoted member of the United Brethren 
church. They have three children, Earl H., 
Howard and Edna. 



OTTO E. ©BERLIN was born in the 
above township September 25, 1853, as was 
also his father. \\''illiam E. Oberlin, who first 
saw the light of day on the paternal homestead 
Alarch 9, 1S22. For a number of years Will- 
iam C. Oberlin was one of the most successful 
and popular teachers of Stark county and as 
an intelligent, broad-minded, progressi\e man. 
he made his influence felt in the community, 
having filled various official capacities and on 
account of his mature judgment and superior 
business qualifications was frequently employed 
to settle estates and adjust affairs requiring 
much more than a superficial knowledge of the 
law. He served his township thirty years as 
justice of the peace and much important liti- 
gation was brought to his court, his rulings and 
decisions being noted for their fairness and im- 
partiality. He had a sound legal mind, lent 
dignity to the position and it is a matter of rec- 
ord that few appeals were taken from him to 
higher courts. He was also assessor a number 
of terms, filled the office of township clerk 
twelve years in succession, was long a notary 
public and is said to have written more deeds 
and drawn up more legal papers than any man 
in the county outside the cities of Canton and 
Massillon. He was one of the useful men of 
his day and generation, a member of the Re- 
formed church and a Democrat in politics. In 
his death, which occurred on the i8th of April, 
1895, the people of the township felt a personal 
and grievous loss. Susan Dague. who became 
the wife of William C. Oberlin and the mother 
of his children, was borji in 1832, in Pennsyl- 
vania, and when about five years old was 
brought by her parents. Jacob and Margaret 
(Oberly) Olierlin. to Wayne countv, Ohio, 
where she grew to maturity. She pro\'ed a de- 



voted companion and fit helpmeet, nobly ful- 
filled the duties of wifehood and motherhood 
and preceded her husband to the tomb, dying 
in Februar}'. 1891. The following are the 
names of the children constituting the family of 
this estimable couple: Otto E., whose name 
furnishes the caption of this sketch; Albert B. ; 
Charles D. ; Sanford J. and Jennie ]\I., all but 
Sanford J. living. 

Otto E. Oberlin was early accustomed to 
labor and worked with his father on the farm 
until a young man in his teens, attending the 
common schools during the winter months, sub- 
sequently taking a course in the Smithville 
Normal for the purpose of preparing himself 
for teaching. He received his first teacher's 
license in 1876, and during the seven years fol- 
lowing was engaged in educational work in 
Stark count}', winning while thus employed an 
honorable record as an instructor. His brother 
Albert is also an educator and for twenty-six 
years has taught in the Stark county schools, 
being at this time principal of one of the leading 
schools of iNIassillon. In 1881 these two broth- 
ers became associated in the stove and hardware 
business at Bellevue, this state, and the firm 
thus constituted lasted about six years, at the 
expiration of which time the subject disposed 
of his interest in the house and turned his at- 
tention to the pursuit of agriculture. After re- 
maining on his farm two years, he established 
himself in the g'eneral mercantile business at 
Stanwood and when a postofiice was established 
at the village in 1895 he took charge of the 
same, his commission as postmaster dating from 
May 1 2th of that year. He now commands a 
large share of patronage in the lines of goods 
with which his establishment is plentifully- 
stocked and in addition to his business interests 
and official duties also looks after his farm, a 
fine and admirably situated place not far from, 
the town limits. 

Mr. Olierlin is public spirited and a natural 
leader in the aft'airs of his town and township. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1035 



He has served as assessor and while a resident 
of Bellevue was a member of the school board 
for several years, besides taking an active part 
in promoting- the business and general growth 
of that place in other than official capacities. 
Since old enough to wield the elective franchise 
he has been an ardent supporter of the Demo- 
cratic party and at the present time is one of its 
leaders in his township 

Mr. Oberlin married Miss Mary F. Welty 
on the 23d day of December, 1880, who died 
May 4, 1895, after bearing the following chil- 
dren : May, Edward W., Jessie F. and Helen, 
all living. On the 25th day of November, 1895, 
the subject married his present companion, 
Jane F. Poyser, of Canton, a union without is- 
sue. Mr. and Mrs. Oberlin are highly respected 
members of the Reformed church of Stanwood 
and their home is well known to the best society 
people of the town and surrounding country. 
Both maintain an abiding interest in all move- 
ments for the good of the community taking 
an active part in ministering to comfort of the 
poor and unfortunate and contributing with 
generous hands to further all charitable and 
benevolent work. 



SAMUEL R. MILLER was born Novem- 
ber 29, 1825, in Stark county, Ohio, the son of 
Jonathan and Sarah Miller, mentioned else- 
where in these pages. Of his early life and 
youthful experiences little need be said save 
he remained with his parents on a farm in 
Stark county until passing his minority, the 
meanwhile, like all country boys, being reared 
to habits of industry" and instructed in the les- 
sons of integrity and rectitude that make for 
sterling manhood and honorable citizenship. 
For some years he attended the common schools 
in the neighborhood in which he was raised 
and also received instruction in a private insti- 
tution of learning, later supplementing this dis- 
cipline by the wide reading and intelligent ob- 



servations which ha\e made him one of the well 
informed men of his community. Mr. Miller 
elected to become a farmer and he has never 
had any reason to regret the choice of the 
above vocation to which his life and energies 
have been devoted. Mr. Miller continued to 
prosecute his labors until, by reason of infirmi- 
ties incident to advancing age, he retired from 
active life, having by industry and the suc- 
cessful management of his business afifairs ac- 
quired a sufficiency of temporal wealth to 
make him independent for the remainder of his 
days. From his youth he has been character- 
ized by industry and energy, ever maintaining 
an abiding interest in the material prosperity 
of his township and taking a leading part in all 
matters relating to the advancement of agri- 
culture. For many years he was a supporter 
of the Republican party, but of late has been 
a stanch Prohibitionist, the principles of which 
he upholds with a tenacity of purpose which 
convinces all with whom he comes in contact 
of the strength and deep sincerity of his con- 
victions. His views of religious truth are like- 
wise clear and decided, believing with his whole 
heart and soul the doctrines and tenets of the 
Methodist Episcopal church as laid down in 
the standards of that body. 

Mr. Miller was married May 10, 1853, 
to Sarah Ann Slusser, who was born in Tus- 
carawas township in the )'ear 1827, the daugh- 
ter of ]Michael and Catherine Slusser, who were 
among the early pioneers of Stark county. 
Two children have been born to this union, the 
older of whom, Charles S., resides in Brook- 
field, this state, where he is engaged in the coal 
business. His wife, who was formerly Miss 
Lena Houriet, has presented him with the fol- 
lowing children : Harry L., Nina, Grace and 
Russell. The subject's second child is a daugh- 
ter by the name of Bell, now the widow of 
Absalom Miller, who died September 16, 1901. 
She is the mother of nine children, of whom the 
following are living, Nora, William, Ida, Edith, 



f036 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Hester A., Rhoda and Hazel. Nora married 
John Bremer, of this county, and has one daugh- 
ter, Gladys. Ida is the wife of David Edwards 
and the mother of one child by the name of 
Venice. Edith entered the marriage relation 
with Joseph Davis, a union blessed with a 
daughter who goes by .the name of Grace. 

Sarah Newsletter, who married Jonathan 
Miller and became the mother of the subject 
of this sketch, was the daughter of Conradt 
and Mary Newsletter, the father a native of 
Switzerland, When a youth he was sold by 
his guardians to Napoleon Bonaparte and com- 
pelled to become a soldier in the army com- 
manded by the great emperor. Not relishing 
such enforced service, he waited for a favor- 
able opportunity to desert, after which he suc- 
ceeded in making his escape to the United States, 
and spent the rest of his life in Tuscarawas 
township, Stark county, Ohio. In closing this 
brief review, it is proper to state that ]\Ir. 
Miller has always been an active participant in 
the public affairs of the township, having 
served the public very satisfactorily as trustee, 
besides filling other minor official positions. 
Like the majority of mankind, he has been 
compelled to pass through the deep waters of 
bereavement, his loving and faithful compan- 
ion having been taken from him on the 5th 
day of June, 1900. 



REV. MERIT McCLELLAN RADER 
traces his genealogy to Germany, from which 
country certain of his paternal ancestors came 
to America in an early day and were among the 
pioneer settlers of Ohio. His grandfather, 
Christian Rader, was a native of Fairfield 
county, this .state, and for a number of years 
worked at the carpenter's trade in the town 
of Baltimore. He married a Mrs. Spitler, who 
was also born in the county of Fairfield, and 
reared sons and daughters, among the former 
being John Rader, whose birth occurred in the 



village of Baltimore about the year 1829. He 
also learned carpentry, but later turned his 
attention to cabinet-making, in which he became 
a very efficient workman. In his young man- 
hood he married Miss Mary Magdaline Miller, 
daughter of Peter Miller, whose wife belonged 
to one of the earliest pioneer families of Fair- 
field county. Peter Miller was born in the above 
county, where his father, a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, settled when the country was little less 
than a wilderness. The Millers were prom- 
inent members of the United Brethren church 
and it was in their little log cabin that the 
earliest religious services of that denomina- 
tion in the county of Fairfield were held. The 
wife of Peter Miller, a noble woman, whose 
name is still held in veneration among the peo- 
ple of the community in which she formerly 
resided, lived to a green old age, dying in her 
ninety-first year; her husband preceded her to 
the other world, departing this life when about 
forty-five years old. Mrs. Mary M. Rader was 
born about 1837 in Fairfield county, grew to 
mature years there and is a lady of many sterl- 
ing qualities of head and heart, well fitted to 
adorn the station of life to which she has been 
called. After his marriage John Rader moved 
to a small farm adjoining the village of Balti- 
more, but not finding agriculture to his taste 
he .abandoned the pursuit after a few years of 
unsuccessful trial and resumed the trade of 
cabinet-making and carpentry in the above 
town. Subsequently he changed his abode to 
the little village of Carroll, in the county of 
Fairfield, where he now resides. Mr. Rader 
was reared according to the doctrines and 
rather strict usages of the Presbyterian faith, 
but later became a member of the Reformed 
church, of which body he is still an earnest and 
faithful communicant. Politically he has been 
a life-long Democrat, supporting his opinions 
with the same zeal as he maintains the sound- 
ness of his moral and religious principles. The 
following are the names of the children born 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1037 



to John and Mary Magdaline Rader : Wilbur 
died in infancy; Anna C. is now the wife of 
W. J. Miller, of Steubenville, Ohio; Julius L. 
is a resident of Chicago, Illinois ; Esther E. 
is the widow of the late Enoch Langel, of Fair- 
field county ; Merit McClellan, whose name in- 
troduces this article; Milo, also a resident of 
the county of Fairfield, where he married Annie 
Morrow, and Earl, who died when quite young. 
Rev. Merit Rader was born May 6, 1862, 
in the little village of Basil, Fairfield county, 
Ohio, and grew to maturity in the neighbor- 
hood where he first saw the light of day. 
Blessed with excellent parentage, there were 
early implanted in his mind and heart those 
principles of moral rectitude and correct 
conduct which had a decided influence in 
shaping his future course of life, and hand in 
hand with his instruction went the best educa- 
tional discipline the district schools afforded. 
When old enough, he found plenty to do on the 
farm and between labor of this kind in the 
summer time and attending school of winter 
seasons, he spent the iirst eighteen years of his 
Hfe. His parents being in comparatively 
Hmited circumstances, he began when a mere 
youth to depend upon his own exertions for 
a livelihood, securing, as already stated, employ- 
ment as a farm laborer and devoting his at- 
tention to that line of occupation until there 
came to him the idea that greater opportuni- 
ties for advancement were to be found in some 
other vocation. Accordingly he learned teleg- 
raphy and after becoming an efficient operator 
he secured a position with the Baltimore & 
Ohio Railroad Com.pany, being placed in 
charge of an office in Chicago, Illinois, where 
he remained for a period of two years. After 
discharging the duties of his position about 
fourteen months he returned to his native coun- 
ty where, on the 27th of September, 1887, he 
was united in the bonds of wedlock to Miss 
Mary C. Swartz, whose birth occurred in the 
same county February 18, 1858. Resuming his 



post at Chicago station, he continued there 
about ten months, at the expiration of which 
time he resigiied with the object in view of 
engaging in the mercantile business in his 
home town. 

After a short visit with his parents Mr. 
Rader effected a copartnership with J. J. Hans- 
berger, and during the six years following the 
farm thus constituted conducted a general store 
in Baltimore, meeting with encouraging suc- 
cess in the enterprise. It was while thus en-- 
gaged that Mr. Rader's plans were radically 
changed by a circumstance which directed his 
future into a channel entirely different from 
that of commerce or any other kind of secular 
pursuit. This was the meeting at Baltimore 
of the conference of the United Evangelical 
church, in the deliberation of which the subject 
took an active part. Having embraced religion 
a number of years before and demonstrated not 
only piety but a remarkable ability in the art 
of public discourse, he was persuaded by the 
bishop and many of his friends to accept a 
preachers license and devote the remainder of 
his life to the ministry of the word. Feeling 
the weight of these importunities and realiz- 
ing that his duty lay in the direction of public 
service for the Master, he finally consented to 
accept the license, with the promise that he be 
permitted time in which to prepare himself by 
taking a theological course. This being 
granted, he closed out his business and entered 
the Biblical Seminary at Dayton, where he at 
once addressed himself assiduously to his 
studies, completing the prescribed English 
course and graduating in May, 1S96. Actuated 
by a laudable desire to prosecute his researches 
still further in order that he might be more 
proficient in his holy office, Mr. Rader subse- 
quently became a student of the Moody Insti- 
tute at Chicago, but hardly had he begun his 
labors in that institution when he was requested 
by one of the bishops to take the important 
charge at Greensburg, Summit county, Ohio, 



I038 



OLD LANDMARKS 



one of the largest and most influential United 
Evangelical churches in the eastern part of the 
state. Rev. Rader's appointment to this 
church was a recognition of his ability as well 
as a compliment to his high personal standing 
and genuine worth. He entered upon the dis- 
charge of his duties no wtithout some trepida- 
tion, but from the first his labors were highly 
satisfactory and successful, as is attested by the 
substantial growth of the church materially 
and spiritually during the four years of his 
pastorate. Severing his connection with the 
church at Greensburg at the expiration of that 
time, he assumed pastoral control of the Trinity 
United Evangelical church at Canton, with 
which he has since labored with great accept- 
ance, his efforts resulting in many accessions 
to the congregation and a more devoted con- 
secration on the part of the entire member- 
ship. 

Rev. Rader is a man of strong mentality 
and he brought to his work a mind well forti- 
fied with intellectual culture and tlieological 
training. A natural orator, he is fluent in the 
use of language, arranges lais discourses with 
much study and care, presents the precepts to 
divine truth with logic and force and seldom 
fails to interest and deeply impress the most 
careless and indifferent and satisfy the critical 
auditor. A profound student of the Sacred 
Scriptures, a knowledge of which is the suc- 
cessful minister's greatest tower of strength, 
also a close reader of the best current re- 
ligious literature, but first of all a devoted dis- 
ciple of the Nazarene, he avails himself of 
every opportunity to increase his effectiveness 
in his sacred office. 

Mr. and Mrs. Rader have a pleasant and 
happy home, but, like the majority of human 
kind, they have been made to feel the hand of 
bereavement laid heavily upon them. Two of 
their three children, Edith and Milo Richard, 
budded on earth to bloom in Paradise, both 
dying in infancy. The first born, RajTnond by 



name, a bright lad in whom many fond hopes 
are centered, is a ' student in the schools of 
Canton. 



JOHN D. FOLK is of the third generation 
of the family in Stark county, his grandfather, 
Peter Folk, having come hither from Penn- 
sylvania about 1820 and entered claim to an 
entire section of land, the deed to which was 
signed by James Madison, who was then Presi- 
dent of the United States. The brothers made 
an equal division of the property, and Peter 
became the owner eventually of three hundred 
and twenty acres, in Nimishillen township, the 
present homestead of our subject being an 
integral portion of the ancestral estate. The 
land was entirely unreclaimed when the grand- 
father here took up his abode in the little log 
cabin which he had erected in the midst of 
the forest wilds, making a small clearing for 
this purpose. Here there fell to his lot the 
usual experiences of the pioneer, and his name 
merits a place of honor as one of the founders 
of the county and as a man of industry, in- 
tegrity and sterling worth. On this old home- 
stead farm, which is now his home, John D. 
Folk was born, the date of his nativity having 
been May 2, 1847, ^vhile he was the fourth in 
order of birth of a family of six children, of 
whom four survive, namely : Elizabeth, who 
has never married and who has passed her en- 
tire life in Nimishillen township; Rebecca, who 
is the wife of Samuel Snyder, of this township ; 
Henry, concerning whom individual mention 
is made elsewhere in this volume ; and John D., 
subject of this sketch. The parents of these 
children were John and Elizabeth (Dice) 
Folk, the former of whom was born in York 
county, Pennsylvania, about 1S13. while the 
latter was bom in Pennsylvania in 181 1. John 
Folk was about eight years of age at the time 
when his parents removed from Pennsylvania 
to Stark countv, and here he was reared on the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1039 



pioneer farm, his educational advantages be- 
ing meager, owing to the exigencies of the time 
and place, the schools being few and of the 
most primitive character. After his marriage 
he settled on a portion of the home farm, which 
had been divided among the three sons, his 
portion comprising one hundred and sixty 
acres. Here he continued to reside until his 
death, having made excellent improvements on 
his homestead and having brought the same 
under effective cultivation, a large portion of 
the land having been cleared by him. He died 
on the 3d of October, 1879, at the age of sixty- 
six years, his wife surviving him by about a 
decade, being summoned into eternal rest on 
the 30th of March, 1886, at the age of seventy- 
five years. In politics the father of the subject 
originally gave his support to the Whig party, 
but after the Republican party was organized 
he transferred his allegiance to the same, and 
ever afterward was a stalwart advocate of its 
principles. He and his wife are both devoted 
members of the Lutheran church, exemplify- 
ing their faith in their daily walk and con- 
versation. 

John D. Folk was reared to maturity on 
the old homestead farm, and he early became 
inured to the arduous labors involved in im- 
proving and cultivating the ancestral acres, his 
services being in such constant requisition that 
his educational advantages as a boy were very 
limited, while the facilities afforded in the line 
were only such as were to be had in the little 
country school house, some distance from his 
home, but in the latter years of earnest toil 
and endeavor, through personal application 
and association with his fellow men, he has 
been able to effectively round out his store 
of knowledge and is a man of broad infor- 
mation and strong mentality. Upon attain- 
ing his legal majority he was associated with 
his elder brother in conducting the farm on 
shares, and after the death of their father, in 
1879. they purchased the property and still 



own the same in partnership, though our sub- 
ject now has practically the entire charge, since 
in 1894 his brother removed to another farm 
in the township. Mr. Folk is thoroughly pro- 
gressive in his methods, and is ever ready to 
take advantage of improvements in systems 
or in mechanical devices which will facilitate 
the work of the farm. He was reared in the 
faith of the Republican party, and has never 
vacillated in his political allegiance, though he 
has never been an aspirant for office. He is 
not a member of any religious organization, 
but has ever stood ready to aid in church 
work and in the furthering of collateral be- 
nevolences. 

On the 27th of December, 1878, Mr. Folk 
was united in marriage to Miss Emma Miller, 
who was born in Louisville, this county, being 
a daughter of the late Peter Miller, who was 
there engaged in the undertaking business for 
many years, being one of the honored pioneers 
of the county. Mr. Miller came to Stark coun- 
ty in 1834, and his death occurred August 17, 

1900, his widow passing away February 17, 

1901. Mr. and Mrs. Folk have one child, 
Gertrude, who still remains at the parental 
home. 



OLIVJiR BRUMBAUGH was born on a 
farm in Lake township, this county, on the 
7th of September, 1862, being the only child 
of Daniel and Anna (Yoder) Brumbaugh. 
Daniel Brumbaugh was likewise a native of 
Stark county, having been born in Marlboro 
township m 1837, a son of George and Eliza- 
beth (Hoover) Brumbaugh, who were num- 
bered among the honored pioneers of the 
county, where both died when well advanced 
in years. The father of the subject was reared 
on the old homestead farm, having such edu- 
cational advantages as were afforded by the 
district schools of the locality and period, and 
after his marriage he located in Lake township. 



1040 



OLD LANDMARKS 



where he purchased a farm of eighty acres, 
upon which he continued to reside for nine 
years, at the expiration of which he disposed 
of the property and purchased the home farm 
of his father-in-law, Christian Yoder, in Nimi- 
shillen township, where he died two years later, 
at the early age of thirty-three years, being 
thus cut off in the very prime of his young 
manhood, though he had fully demonstrated 
his powers as an able and faithful man of 
business and shown himself to be dominated 
and guided by a spirit of the most absolute 
integrity and honor. He was a Democrat in 
his political proclivities, and his religious views 
were in harmony with the tenets of the Dunk- 
ard church. His wife, who was bom in Nimi- 
shillen township, ever remained faithful to the 
memory of the husband of her youth and died 
at her home in the village of Louisville, Octo- 
ber 14, 1902. 

Oliver Brumbaugh was but eight years of 
age at the time of his father's death, but his 
mother remained on the homestead farm, and 
there he was reared to maturity, while he re- 
ceived his early educational discipline in the 
public schools. Realizing the exigencies of the 
case and the weight of the burden resting on 
the shoulders of his devoted mother, he put 
his shoulder against the wheel when but thir- 
teen years of age and practically assumed the 
management of the home farm, sparing him- 
self no effort that would insure the best re- 
sults in the way of returns from the products 
of field and meadow, while the experience 
which he gained thus early has proved of in- 
estimable value to him in the later years of 
his active and successful business career. 

On the 15th of March, 1889, Mr. Brum- 
baugh was united in marriage to Miss Tamzon 
Houston, who was born in Washington town- 
ship, this county, being a daughter of John and 
Catherine (Smith) Houston, her father being 
numbered among the representative pioneer 
farmers of that township. After his marriage 



the subject continued to devote his attention to 
the operation of the home farm, while his 
mother took up her residence in the village 
which is now her home. In 1894 Mr. Brum- 
baugh purchased an interest in the Louisville 
Brick and Tile Company, and two years later 
be was made superintendent of the works, the 
plant being one of the most extensive of the 
sort in the county and controlling a large busi- 
ness. The homestead farm is now rented and 
he devotes practically his entire time to his 
official duties in the connection noted, having 
proved himself a business man of rare exec- 
utive ability and holding the confidence of all 
with whom he comes in contact. He manifests 
a commendable concern in all that touches the 
welfare of his home community and his native 
county, his political support being given to the 
Republican party. Since assuming the super- 
intendency of the brick and tile works he has 
maintained his residence in Louisville, where 
he has a pleasant home and one in which the 
refined amenities of life are ever in evidence. 
He and his wife have two children, Mary and 
John. 



REV. WILLIAM E. TURNER, the pop- 
ular and efficient pastor of the Church of God 
in Canton and a man widely and favorably 
known in the ecclesiastical circles of that de- 
nomination throughout Ohio, is descended pa- 
ternally from English ancestry and there also 
flows in his veins the blood of a long line of 
Danish antecedents who many years ago were 
closely related to the royal family of their 
native country. The subject's grandfather was 
James Turner, whose birth occurred in Yar- 
mouth, England, about the year 1799. He 
was reared in that country and followed hedg- 
ing for a livelihood, his work including the 
planting and caring for hedges, a vocation at 
one time very profitable in various parts of 
England and other European countries. He 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 04 1 



married in his nati\e land Miss Mary Clark, 
from whose ancestors the subject inherits the 
Danish strain referred to above. A number of 
years ag^o James Turner and family left tlieir 
English home and came to America, remain- 
ing two years in the city of New York and at 
the expiration of that time migrating to Will- 
iams county, Ohio, when that part of the state 
was little more than a primitive wilderness. 
Mr. Turner was one of the early pioneers of 
the county, living for some time in a diminutive 
log cabin and experiencing all the hardships 
and vicissitudes incident to life in a new and 
heavily wooded country. He bore his full 
share in clearing away the dense forests, and 
lived to witness the many remarkable changes 
which transformed his county into one of the 
most enterprising and progressive sections of 
western Ohio. His wife, who was born in the 
year iSoo. died in 1879, his death taking place 
in 1883. James and Mary Turner were the 
parents of a very large family, sixteen children, 
of whom William, the subject's father, was 
the youngest. Some of these sons and daugh- 
ters emigrated to Australia, but the majority 
came to America, settling in several states and 
becoming well situated in life. One of the 
sons, John TiuMier, served for twenty-three 
years in the English army, rose to the rank of 
captain and distinguished himself by brave and 
gallant conduct in llie East Indian or Sepoy 
rebellion. Severing his connection with the 
army, lie emigrated to Canada, where he now 
resides, .\nother son. James, and a married 
daughter, Mrs. Reader, came to the United 
States in 1842 and located in AVilliams coun- 
ty, this state, where they soon became well 
known among the pioneer settlers. William 
Turner, father of the subject, was born in 
Yarmouth, England. February 5, 1844. and 
was a youth of fourteen when his parents 
came to Ohio. Owing to the scarcity of schools 
and the inferior grade of such as were acces- 
sible, his educational discipline was exceeding- 

65 



ly limited, but having a natural craving for 
knowledge, he subsequently made up in a large 
degree for this deficiency by much reading. He 
acquired a wide and varied knowledge and 
wheii a youth sought the society of older and 
wiser people than his playmates and com- 
panions for the purpose of profiting by their 
conversation. Growing to manhood amid the 
stirring scenes and hard work of the pioneer 
times, he early developed fine physicial powers. 
In his young manhood Mr. Turner was mar- 
ried in Hillsdale, Michigan, to Miss Sarah 
Elliott, a native of Stark county, Ohio, born in 
the town of Marlborough, November 16, 1848. 
\'''hen Mrs. Turner was two years old her par- 
ents, William and Maria (Hagerman) Elliott, 
natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania, respectively,. 
mo^■ed to Hillsdale county, Michigan, lieing 
among the earliest pioneers of that part of the 
state. Mr. Elliott took an active part in the 
growth and development of the country in 
which he settled and is still living in the county 
of Hillsdale, having reached the ripe old age 
of seventy-seven years. His wife, after sharing 
with him many hardships and difficulties, the 
necessary accompaniments of life in a frontier 
country, was called to her eternal rest, dvinsr 
some years ago in the county of Hillsdale. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Tur- 
ner settled in Crawford county, Ohio, but three 
years later purchased a farm in the southern 
part of Hillsdale county, Michigan, where they 
still reside. He has followed agricultural pur- 
suits with a fair measure of success and stands 
high as a neighbor and citizen. He was reared 
in the Episcopal faith, his wife coming from 
an old Quaker family long noted for piety, 
religious zeal and good works, both in and out 
of the church. Their children, five in number, 
are named as follows: William E., of this re- 
view; Maria, now Mrs. Loa Sheldon, is also 
a resident of that county; Mary, wife of Cal- 
vin [.ambright. of Williams county, Ohio; 
Lizzie, who married Roscoe Brown, of Ohio, 



1 042 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and Henry E., who lives in Camden, Michi- 
gan. 

Rev. WilHam E. Turner was born August 
20, 1869, in the town of New Washington, 
Crawford county, Ohio, where his parents 
spent the first three years of their married 
life. Thence he was taken to Hihsdale county, 
Michigan, where he spent his childhood and 
youthful days, growing to vigorous young 
manhood on the farm, with the rugged duties 
of which he early became acquainted. In the 
public schools he received an educational train- 
ing and by close and diligent application he 
made substantial progress in the more advanced 
branches of learning. On leaving school 
young Turner entered the employ of the Lake 
Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad as a 
brakeman, and continued in that capacity for 
three years, when he resigned his position, 
entering the employ of the Holland Detective 
Agency at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was in the 
employ of this agency for one year and de- 
veloped marked ability as a detective, but in 
1892 severed his connection with his employ- 
ers and came back to his boyhood home, where 
in the spring election he was elected constable 
and afterwards was appointed township 
school inspector, in which office he faithfully 
served the public three years. 

Mr. Turner experienced conversion in 
1895, and possessing strong mental abilities, to- 
gether with the qualities essential to success in 
the public ministry, he felt it his duty to enter 
upon that work and labor for the advancement 
of Christ's kingdom among men. He united 
with the Church of God immediately after his 
conversion and in the fall of 1895 was licensed 
to preach by the Ohio eldership. The better 
to prepare himself for effective service in his 
sacred office he took a theological course un- 
der the direction of Findlay College, Findlay, 
Ohio, and while prosecuting his studies was 
placed in charge of the Ottawa Lake circuit, 
which he served four vears. makino- his home 



the meantime at Ottawa Lake, southern Michi- 
gan. Mr. Turner completed the course of 
study in 1898 and the year following was 
transferred to the charge at Canton, where 
he has labored zealously and with much ac- 
ceptance ever since, greatly building up the 
church along all lines of activity and strength- 
ening its influence as a potent factor for sub- 
stantial good in the community. Under his 
administration and the power and force of his 
ministry the membership has largely increased. 
A higher degree of spirituality has also been 
awakened, a conclusive evidence of the rever- 
ence and trust his people repose in him person- 
ally and in his effectiveness as a teacher of 
divine truth. Mr. Turner is a pleasing and 
forceful speaker and his strong and stirring 
appeals for people to abandon their sins and 
seek salvation not infrequently rise to the 
heights of true eloquence. His life has been 
fraught with good works and his kind words 
of admonition not only in the sacred desk but 
in personal contact with his fellow men in 
their homes and elsewhere have been instru- 
mental in changing the course of many lives 
but that for his influence would have continued 
the downward way. He has served on several 
important committees in the church, and in 
1902 was elected clerk of the eldership. 

Rev. Turner was married in Wiliams coun- 
ty, Ohio, to Miss Maud Summer, the ceremony 
being solemnized on the 8th of August, 1897. 
Mrs. Turner was born in Williams county, 
October 28, 1873, and is the daughter of 
Alonzo and Jennie (Preston) Summer, both 
parents natives of Ohio. Alonzo Summer's 
parents were William and Elizabeth (Pool) 
Summer, the former the son of Uriah Sum- 
mer, a native of New York and one of the 
first permanent settlers of Williams county, 
Ohio. Tracing the genealogy further back, it 
is learned that the Summers were among the 
old substantial families of Massachusetts and 
some of the name figured prominently in 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1043 



several localities of that commonwealth. Rev. 
and Mrs. Turner's marriage has been blessed 
with two offspring, both sons, namely: Ralph 
Sumner and Ross Dale. 



JOSIAH HARTZELL is a native of the 
state of Ohio, having been born in the town of 
Deerfield, Portage county, on the 7th of Sep- 
tember, 1833, and being a son of Frederick and 
Mary (Ickes) Hartzell, both of Avhom were 
born and reared in I'ennsylvania, being repre- 
sentatives of the stanch German stock which has 
played so important a part in the history of the 
Keystone commonwealth. Frederick Hartzell 
removed to Ohio in 1810, and he was identified 
with the great fundamental art of agriculture 
until his death, which occurred in Mahoning 
county, on the 13th of November, 1868, his 
wife passing away on the 20th of August, 1888. 
They became the parents of ten children, of 
whom six are living at the present time. In 
both the agnatic and maternal lines the descent 
of the subject of this sketch is traced from Ger- 
man families who, in consequence of religious 
persecution in their native land, accepted cerr 
tain landed and homestead propositions made 
them by William Penn and came to America as 
the pioneer settlers of Pennsylvania. The orig- 
inal American progenitor of the Hartzell fam- 
ily was Heinrich Hartzell, who came to Penn- 
sylvania in the year 1687. 

Josiah Hartzell passed his youthful days in 
Portage county, Ohio, and received his. pre- 
liminai^y education in the common schools. In 
1850 he was matriculated in Amherst College, 
in Massachusetts, where he completed the col- 
lege course and was graduated as a member of 
the class of 1854, receiving the degree of Bach- 
elor of Arts, while later his alma mater con- 
ferred upon him in turn the degrees of Master 
of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy. After his 
collegiate course Mr. Hartzell took up the studv 
of law in Toledo, Ohio, and was admitted to the 



bar of the state in 1856. He located in Daven- 
port, Iowa, where he practiced law two years 
and then came to Canton in 1858. His predi- 
lections led him to view with favor the over- 
tures made him to devote his attention to editor- 
ial work and he assumed the editorial chair of 
the office of the Canton Republican in 1858 and 
subsequently became editor of the Canton Re- 
pository, the oldest paper in Stark county, the 
same having been established in the year 181 5, 
under the title of the Ohio Repository, while it 
has been consecutively published during the 
long intervening years. He continued as editor 
in chief of the Repository for nearly a score of 
years, retiring about 1876, though he has since 
continued to make occasional and timely con- 
tribution to this and other representative papers, 
being known as a forceful and trenchant writer 
and ever utilizing the chaste diction indicative 
of high scholarship and appreciative literary 
taste. Since his retirement from newspaper 
work Mq. Hartzell has devoted the major por- 
tion of his attention to the various and import- 
ant manufacturing interests with which he is 
identified. He has twice made tours of the 
European continent, and Avas representative of 
important manufacturing interests during the 
term of the Paris exposition of 1878, as well as 
that held in that city in 1900, and also at the 
Vv''orld's Columbian Exposition, held in the city 
of C'hicago in 1893. 

It was but natural that a man of so alert 
mentality and one so intimately identified with 
the discussion of matters of public import 
through the columns of the press, should be- 
come a factor in the directing of opinion and in 
the conduct of local affairs. Mr. Hartzell has 
ever gi\en his allegiance to the Republican party 
and has been an efifective advocate of its cause, 
and while he has never been animated by specific 
political ambition, he has been called upon tcv 
serve in various positions of local trust. He was 
postmaster of Canton for four years, during 
the administnation of Presidents Lincoln and 



1044 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Johnson, while he also served as a member of 
the board of park commissioners of Canton and 
as sewer commissioner, his policy in local af- 
fairs being at all times a progressive and broad- 
minded one. In 1803 he was made a member 
of the Ohio state board of health, in which ca- 
pacity his term will not expire until 1907, and 
he has filled the various offices in this body, 
manifesting an unflagging interest in its work. 
He is also a member of the American Public 
Health Association, and at its convention, in 
the city of Philadelphia, in 1898 he was ap- 
pointed a inember of a committee which re- 
ceived instrucl ions to memorialize the Presidait 
and congress of the United States to take cer- 
tain measures for the suppression of yellow 
fever in Cuba, from which source have eminated 
the recurred epidemics of the scourge in the 
southern states of the Union. In the following 
year he was reappointed on another committee 
whose object was the same, the two committees 
holding their sessions in the city of Washing- 
ton. Through this means was initiated' the 
work which led to the establishing by our gov- 
ernment, in the city of Havana, of that com- 
mission ot bacteriological experts whose experi- 
mental studies and careful researches have made 
possible the suppression of yellow fever in 
American cities for all time to come. Mr. 
Hartzell has been a member of the board of 
trustees of the Ohio Historical and Archaeo- 
logical Society, and in each of the connections 
noted his zeal has been insistent and has vital- 
ized the work undertaken and carried forward. 
On the 2 1 St of February, 1856, Mr. Hart- 
zell was united in marriage to Miss Mary K. 
Johnson, who was born in Stark county, Ohio, 
being a daughter of Simon Johnson, an hon- 
ored pioneer of Stark county. Of this union 
were born eight children, one of whom, Mary 
K., died in infancy, while of the others we in- 
corporate the following brief data : Wilbur J., 
who was born November 22, 1856, is now a 
resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is en- 



gaged in the wheat commission business ; Dora 
v., who was born on the 8th of January, 1859,. 
resides in St. Paul, that state, being tlie wife of 
Captain H. L. Kuhns, who is engaged in the 
hotel business; Frederic S., who was borii on 
the 22d of August, i860, resides in Canton 
and is acting secretary of the McKinley Monu- 
ment Association; Charles, born on the 15th of 
July, 1862, is a resident of the city of San Juan, . 
Porto Rico, and is secretary of the island; Jo- 
siah, Jr.. born on the 6th of May, 1868, is a 
dentist and makes his home in Minneapolis; 
Grace, born JNIay 28, 1871, resides in her native 
city of Canton ; and Ralph W., who was born 
on the 2 1 St of October, 1874, is a lawyer and 
resides in Den\-er. Colorado. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hartzell ha\e ten grandchildren, and the family 
relationships and associations throughout have 
been of ideal character. 



JACOB FREDERICK MARCHAND,. 
M. D., is a native of Westmoreland county, 
Pennsylvania, born in the town of Jacksonville 
on the 17th day of February, 1858. In the pub- 
lic schools of his nati\e pkice. which he attended 
until the age of fifteen, he acquired a good ele- 
mentary education and during' the ensuing' four 
years taught in the county of Westmoreland, 
earning the reputation of an able and popular 
instructor. The training in the public schools 
and his ex])erience as a teacher were afterwards 
supplemented by a full covu'se in Washington 
and Jefferson College, which institution he en- 
tered at the age of nineteen and from which he 
was graduated with a creditable record in the 
year 1882. Soon after completion of his col- 
lege course Mr. Marchand w-as elected prin- 
cipal of the high school of Canton, Ohio, ■ in 
which capacity he continued two years, resign- 
ing at the expiration of that time, although re- 
elected for another term. He was led to aban- 
don educational work in order to take up the 
study of medicine, for which profession he had 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1045 



long manifested a decided preference as tlie call- 
ing best suited for a life work. In September, 
1884, he entered the medical department of the 
University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia and 
after prosecuting his studies the greater part of 
three years was graduated with the class of 
1887. On receiving his degree he opened an 
-office in Canton, where his thorough profes- 
sional training soon won him a lucrative prac- 
tice which has continued to increase from that 
time to the present. As a physician and sur- 
geon he is easily the peer of the leading medical 
men of the city and county of his residence and 
it may also be stated that in the treatment of 
many diseases requiring a high degree of effi- 
ciency and skill he has a reputation much more 
than local. 

The Doctor has left untried no reasonable 
efforts to rise in his profession, not from ambi- 
tious motives but from an intense and laudable 
desire to become a true healer so as to confer 
the great boon of health upon suffering human- 
ity. He is identified with a number of medical 
societies, in the deliberations of which he always 
manifests an active interest and not infrequent- 
ly has he read before these various bodies care- 
fully prepared papers evincing profound erudi- 
tion and critical research, which have elicited 
from medical circles both local and throughout 
the state, profuse praise and high encomiums. 
He is a member of the Mississippi Valley and 
Northeastern Ohio Medical Societies, the Stark 
County Medical Society, Canton Medical Club, 
the American Medical Association and is also a 
fellow of the Aiuerican Academy of Medicine, 
maintaining intimate relations with all of these 
organizations. He has been city physician nf 
Canton and at this time he holds the position of 
local health officer, being also surgeon to the 
Aultman Hospital and a member of the staff. 

Fraternally Dr. ]\larchand belongs to the 
"Masonic order and the Benevolent and Protec- 
"tive Order of Elks. He has been a life-long 
Democrat and, while earnest in maintaining 



the correctness of his principles and untiring 
in keeping himself well informed upon the 
great public questions and issues of the day, he 
has no political ambitions, the pressing claims 
of his profession preventing him from taking 
a very active interest in party affairs. As a 
citizen he has been acti\e in encouraging every 
utility for the city's material welfare. 

On the 30th day of April, 1891, was solem- 
nized, in Canton, the ceremony which united 
in the bonds of marriage Dr. Marchand and 
Miss Laura A. Martin, daughter of Hon. 
Henry S. Martin, the father formerly superin- 
tendent of the public schools of the city and for 
a period of fourteen years connected with the 
L^nited States treasury department in Wash- 
ington, D. C. Dr. and Mrs. Marchand have 
one son, Charles Martin, a bright lad in whom 
are centered many fond hopes for the future. 



REV. JOHN ANDREW PI ALL, D. D.— 
The Hall family of which the Doctor is a mem- 
ber originated in Switzerland, fnom which 
country his grandfather came to America a 
number of years ago and settled near Reading, 
Pennsylvania. John Hall, the Doctor's father, 
was born in that state about the year 1816 and 
when A^oung was thrown upon his own re- 
sources for a livelihood. In his youth he 
learned the tinner's trade and worked at the 
same until young manhood when he decided to 
devote the remainder of his life to the ministry. 
He was appointed to the Wooster circuit, Ohio, 
and for se\'eral years ministered to the churches 
in that part of the state, visiting his several ap- 
pointments on horseback and experiencing 
many hardships and vicissitudes in the dis- 
charge of his duties. He was married at Woos- 
ter to Miss Sarah Reiner, whose father, George 
Reiner, was one of the earliest pioneers of 
W^ayne county. The union of ^Ir. and Mrs. 
Hall resulted in the following children : Rev. 
Henry H., D. D., an eminent Lutheran clergy- 



1046 



OLD LANDMARKS 



man, formerly chaplain of the Western Penn- 
sylvania penitentiary hut at the present time 
pastor of the church at Litchfield, Illinois; Mrs. 
Elizabeth Faust, of Woodberry, Ohio; Mrs. 
Mary Sowers, who lives at the same place, and 
John A., whose name initiates this article. 
After serving many years as an intinerant. Rev. 
John Hall was given a charge at Sandusky, 
after which he served as pastor at different 
cities, his last regular work being with the 
church in Dayton. Owing to failing health he 
was obliged to give up the active lalxirs of the 
ministry and retire to his estate in Morrow 
county, where he spent the remainder of his 
life, dying at a good old age in the year 1900. 
His widow stil survives, having reached her 
seventy-eighth year. 

Rev. John A. Hall was born on tlie i/tli 
dav of August, 1852, in Morrow county, Ohio, 
and spent the years of his childhood and youth 
on his father's farm. There he learned the true 
dignity of honest toil and grew up impressed 
with the idea that God had prepared no place 
in the world for drones or idlers. At the age of 
six he entered the district schools and between 
attending these in the winter time and work- 
ing on the farm during the summer seasons 
he spent the eight years following. During the 
next year he pursued his studies in the schools 
of Woodberry, after which he spent about two 
and a half years in a private institution at Lex- 
ington, Ohio, where he prepared himself for 
college. 

At the age of eighteen Dr. Hall entered 
Wittenberg College, from which he was grad- 
uated in 1875 and immediately thereafter began 
his theological studies in the seminary at Wit- 
tenberg, completing the prescribed course three 
yeari-s later. Well qualified by intellectual cul- 
ture and theological training for the noble work 
of the ministry, Mr. Hall accepted for his first 
charge the Mt. Zion church in Richland coun- 
ty, where he labored with zeal and great accept- 
ance for a period of seven years. During that 



time he developed fine powers as a preacher, and 
superior executive ability in managing the ma- 
terial interests of his congregation. All lines 
of work prospered and the young pastor won 
the highest regard, not only of his own parish- 
ioners, but of the entire citizenship. Severing 
his connection with Mt. Zion, Dr. Hall ac- 
cepted the pastorate of the Plymouth Lutheran 
church, where he labored for the spiritual in- 
terest of the people four years, meeting with 
most encouraging results the meantime. His 
next charge was the church at Walnut Hill^ 
Cincinnati, a wealthy and influential congre- 
gation in one of the most beautiful parts of the 
city. There his labors were also greatly ap- 
preciated and during a pastorate of nine years 
the congregation constantly increased in nu- 
merical strength and influence, while a deeper 
spirit of devotion and consecration was aroused 
among the membership. "Dr. Hall did much 
personal work in Cincinnati, became widely 
known throughout the city and stood high in 
the esteem of his brother ministers of other 
denominations. 

In October,, 1S96, Dr. Hall entered upon his 
labors as pastor of Trinity Lutheran church. 
Canton, and since that time has been earnest 
and untiring in behalf of the Master's interests 
in this city. The continual enlargement of the 
congregation's sphere of influence and its steady 
but sure advancement along material and spirit- 
ual lines is the best evidence of the pastor's 
ability as a preacher and of his leadership in 
]ilanning and carrying to successful issue great 
things for the upbuilding of the Master's king- 
dom. Dr. Hall's sermons are clear, concise, 
practical and logical and his eloquence of that 
fervid kind that not only pleases but carries con- 
viction to his hearers. In politics he is pro- 
nounced in his allegiance to the Republican 
party and hesitates not to labor for its success 
during campaigns, believing as he does that 
every good citizen should be in the best sense of 
the term a politician. Da Hall is a married 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1047 



man and the father of two children, namely : 
Ralph, a student of Wittenberg College, and 
Arthur, who is still a member of the home 
circle. Mrs. Hall was formerly Miss Minerva 
Huntsman, of Belleville, Ohio, in which place 
her name was changed to the one she now bears. 



JONATHAN D. MILLER.— The Miller 
and Newsletter families, of which the subject of 
this review is a representative, have been identi- 
fied with the growth and development of Stark 
county since a very early period of the history 
if this part of the state. His parental grand- 
parents, Daniel and Maria C. Miller, were na- 
tives of Center county, Pennsylvania, and 
among their children was a son by the name of 
Jonathan, whose birth occurred on the 20th day 
of April, 1797. When a young man, this Jona- 
than married Miss Sarah Newsletter, whose fa- 
ther, Conradt Newsletter, came to America as 
a deserter from the army of the great Na- 
poleon, having in his youth been forced to a life 
of militar}'- service from which he only escaped 
by resorting to what was known as "French 
leave." Mr. Newsletter settled in Cumberland 
county, Pennsylvania, where he married and it 
was there that his daughter, Mrs. Miller, was 
born. As early as 1816 he migrated to Stark 
county, Ohio, purchasing land in what is now 
Tuscarawas township, where he cleared a farm, 
reared his family and spent the latter part of 
his life. The Millers came to Stark county 
about the year 181 6, and also settled with- 
in the present limits of the township of 
Tuscarawas. In early manhood Jonathan 
Miller learned the carpenter trade, but after 
locating in Stark county he devoted his at- 
tention principally to agriculture, clearing 
with his own hands an eighty-acre farm 
in Tuscarav.-as township. During the old 
Whig regime, he was an ardent supporter of 
that party, but after it had fulfilled its mission 



and ceased to e.xist he became a Republican and 
so continued to the end of his life. Jonathan 
and Sarah Miller reared a family of six chil- 
dren, whose names are as follows: Joseph A., 
member of Company C, One Hundred and 
Thirty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the 
late Civil war, died -in Andersonville prison in 
the year 1864; Samuel R. ; Margaret, wife of 
John Walter; Jonathan D., of this review; 
David F., deceased, and Martin L. The father 
died in 1S58. the mother about the year 1876. 
Mrs. Miller's father departed this life March 
6. 1858, at the age of sixty, the mother dying 
on the 5th day of January, 1876, when seventy- 
one years old. Jonathan D. Miller) was born 
on the paternal homestead in Tuscarawas town- 
ship. Stark county, Ohio, September 19, 1833, 
and from that date to the present day he has 
spent his life within a short distance of the 
place of his birth. His early training on the 
farm fostered habits of industry and self-reli- 
ance and he grew to vigorous yoimg manhood 
with a proper conception of life and its respon- 
sibilities. In his younger days he attended 
during the winter months the country schools, 
and after spending his minority with his par- 
ents, he learned carpentry, which trade he fol- 
lowed for a munber of years in connection with 
agricultural pursuits. Mr. Miller continued 
to devote his attention to carpentry and farm- 
ing until the year 1893, when he moved to the 
town of Brookfield. He owns one of the finest 
residences in the above town and is one of the 
leading citizens of the community, being active 
in promoting his own affairs and pulilic spirited 
in all the term implies. Politically Mr. Miller 
is a Republican and an influential party worker. 
He cast a ballot for the first Republican nomi- 
nee for President, John C. Fremont, and voted 
for every one of the party's distinguished can- 
didates for that high office to the present ad- 
ministration, having missed no national election 
since 1858. He held the office of township 
clerk for two years, and in 1900 was elected 



.1048 



OLD LANDMARKS 



trustee, tlie duties of wliicli he is now discharg- 
ing. 

Susan R. Ralston, who hecame the wife of 
Jonathan D. Miller in the year of i860, is the 
daughter of William and Anna ( Rough) Ral- 
ston, and was horn September 18. 1836. in 
Stark county. William Ralston was born 
March 26, ]788. in Pennsylvania, and his wife 
in the same state on the nth of December. 
1 791. These parents were married July 17. 
1817, and had children as follows: Joseph, 
Harriet. Maria, George. Henry. William. Jane. 
Susan. Rebecca and James. William Ralston 
and wife came to Stark county in 1834. settHng 
in Tuscarawas township, where they lived the 
remainder of their li\es. the former dving in 
August. 1S58. and the latter. May 30. 1868. 
By occupation Mr. Ralston was a plasterer, in 
addition to which he also followed farming. 
In politics he was a Democrat and in religion 
he was a Presbyterian, to which church his 
wife and several of his children likewise be- 
longed. Mrs. Miller's paternal grandparents 
were David and Many Ralston, natives of Eng- 
land and early settlers of Pennsylvania, in 
which state their deaths occurred many years 
ago. Her mother. Jane Rough, was the daugh- 
ter of John and Elizabeth ( Farney) Rough, 
both born and reared in Lebanon county. Penn- 
sylvania, the former dying there at the age of 
eighty-four, the latter departing this life in 
Stark county in 1837. while on a visit to her 
relatives, being sixty-three at the time of her 
demise. The Ralstons have long been noted 
for their patriotism and love of country, several 
of Mrs. Miller's brothers having distinguished 
themselves in the late Rebellion as soldiers. 
Henry went from Michigan and served until 
the close of the struggle, taking part in some of 
the bloodiest battles of the war. George served 
in an Ohio regiment and made an honorable 
record for bravery in a number of campaigns. 
Of William it is proper to speak at more 
length, as his experience on the march and on 



the field of conflict has seldom been equalled. 
Enlisting August 7. 1862. in Company E. One 
Plundred and Fourth Ohio Infantry, he at once 
proceeded to the front and during an active ser- 
vice of three years duration took part in many 
battles, of which the following are perhaps the 
most noted: Covington, Danville, Knoxville, 
Resaca. Cedarville. Dallas. Kenesaw Mountain, 
I'ine Run. Atlanta. Pumpkinvine Creek, Co- 
lumbia, Tennessee. Franklin, Nashville, Ft. 
Anderson, Xorth Car/)lina, Farm Creek and 
others of equal .importance whose names cannot 
be recalled. Reverting to the domestic history 
of the subject and his wife, it is learned that 
their marriage resulted in the birth of four chil- 
dren : Paris, a machinist, working at his trade 
in Massillon' Curtis C a jeweler and optician 
of A'lassillon ; Burton J., a physician and sur- 
geon of the same city, and Daisy, deceased. 



MOSES CLAY.— The subject of this re- 
view is one of Stark county's oldest native sons 
and he is also numbered among its leading 
farmers and representative men of affairs. His 
father was Isaac Clay, a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, and his mother, who bore the maiden 
name of Mary Pennock, was born in the state 
of Connecticut. The subject's paternal an- 
cestors were among the early settlers of Penn- 
syh'ania. while his mother's genealogy is trace- 
able to an early period in the history of New 
England. David Clay, the grandfather, was 
born and reared in the Keystone state, but 
many years ago migrated to Columbiana coun- 
ty, Ohio, where he purchased land, improved a 
farm and s])ent the remainder of his life. Will- 
iam Peimock. the subject's maternal grandfa- 
ther, was one of Stark county's earliest pio- 
neers, locating in Plain township as long ago 
as the year 1810. Subsequently he changed 
his alxide to what is now the township of Marl- 
borough, where he became a successful tiller 
of the soil, which vocation he followed as long 



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MOSES CLAY. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1049 



as lie lived, dying there at a good old age. His 
wife also lived to be very old, being ninety-six 
years of age at the time of her death. Isaac 
C'ay, father of Moses, was reared a farmer and 
came to Ohio with his parents when a young 
man. As early as 1812 he became a resident 
of Stark county, purchasing that year the place 
in Plain township which the subject now owns 
and making it his home until his death in 1832. 
He was one of the sturdy pioneers of this part 
of the state and a man of sterling worth, whom 
to know was to respect and honor. He was a 
stanch AAHiig in politics, took an active interest 
in the affairs of his community, and is remem- 
bered as a kind neighbor ami a most excellent 
■citizen. His wife, who also died in 1832, bore 
him seven children, all of whom lived to be over 
seventy years of age, the subject being the sole 
survivor of the family. 

Returning to the life of Moses Clay, it is 
learned that he has been a resident of Jackson 
township all his life, having been born on the 
farm where he now lives, November 27, 1823. 
A continuous residence of eighty years in one 
locality, such as his has been, is perhaps without 
parallel in the history of Stark county. He 
"has seen the country developed from a thinly 
settled community to one of the finest agricul- 
tural regions in the state, nor has he been a 
mere passi\e spectator of the many remarkable 
changes affected since his boyhood, but with 
strong arm and determined purpose he has con- 
tributed largely to the advancement of his 
township in all that constitutes a high order of 
civilization. Mr. Clay's early life on the farm 
taught him the true dignity of honest toil and 
laudable endeavor, and while still a mere yi;>uth 
he was ready to assume all the duties and the 
responsibilities of manhood. He was reared to 
liabits of industry, and, on attaining his major- 
ity, began farming for himself, a vocation 
which he followed with a large measure of 
success until advancing years obliged him to 
forego further manual labor, and spent the 



evening of his life in retirement. Meanwhile, 
by diligence and thrift, he acquired a comfort- 
able fortune, owning at one time three hun- 
dred and fifty-six acres of fine land, on which 
he hiade man}- substantial improvements, be- 
sides accumulating a large amount of personal 
property. For many years Mr. Clay was an 
extensive breeder of fine Jersey cattle, from the 
sale of which he has derived a large income. 
As a farmer, he always occupied a place in the 
front rank and earned an honorable reputa- 
tion as a scientific agriculturist, having pros- 
ecuted his labors with the greatest care and 
with the object in view of obtaining the largest 
possible results. Some years ago he disposed 
of one hundred acres of real estate, but the 
amount he still owns is much more than suffi- 
cient to supply his wants, his home place being 
among one of the largest as well as one of the 
best farms in the township of Jackson. 

Mr. Clay has been an ardent Republican 
ever since the organization of the party, but has 
ne\er taken a very active part in public affairs 
further than to vote his ticket and defend the 
soundness of his opinions. His duties as a citi- 
zen have always been honorably discharged, 
but at no time has he had political aspirations, 
preferring the quiet life of a farmer to any office 
within the power of the people to bestow. He 
has li\"ed well, provided liberally for his fam- 
ily, and grown old gracefully, and now, from 
the topmost round in the ladder of success, can 
look back o\'er a life well spent with little cause 
for regret. 

Catherine Madison, who became the wife 
of Moses Clay in 1850, was born in Baltimore, 
Maryland, in the year 1832, the daughter of 
Otis Madison, a native of Maryland and an 
early settler of Detroit, Michigan, in which 
city he is said to have worked at the tailor 
trade, many years ago. It is stated that he 
made the first pattern for cutting men's cloth- 
ing, a device that was subsequently adopted 
by the leading tailoring establishments 



1050 



OLD LANDMARKS 



throughout the United States. He died a num- 
ber of years since. To Mr. and Mrs. Clay have 
been born eight cliildren, namely : Elvira, 
Harvey, Otis, Frank, Edward, Mary and 
Emma. 



JOSEPH B. SUMMER was born near 
East Rochester, Columbiana county, Ohio, on 
the 24th of March, 1861, being the son of 
Noah and Susan (Aspey) Summer, the re- 
spective families having been residents of the 
United States for ten generations. Noah 
Summer was born near Poland, Mahoning 
county, Ohio, in the year 181 8, and his death 
occurred in 1898, while his wife, who was born 
in North Georgetown, Columbiana county, 
Ohio, in 1823, died in 1903. The father of 
the subject became one of the successful farm- 
ers of Columbiana county, and there occurred 
the death of both himself and his wife. The 
original progenitors of both the Summer and 
Aspey families in .America immigrated hither 
from Switzerland about three hundred years 
ago, settling in Maryland and Virginia, whence 
representatives later removed to Pennsylvania, 
while finally members of the respective 
families came into Ohio in the pioneer epoch 
and descendants are now to be found in the 
most diverse sections of the Union. 

I'he subject of this sketch attended the 
common schools of his native county until he 
had attained the age of sixteen years, when he 
was matriculated in Mount Union College, in 
Alliance, Stark county, where he continued his 
studies for a period of three years. He be- 
gan teaching in the public schools at the age 
of seventeen and continued to follow this vo- 
cation about ten years, in Columbiana, Carroll 
and Stark counties, and being successful in his 
pedagogic work. In 1889 he entered the em- 
ploy of a wholesale house in Canton, in the 
capacity of traveling salesman, and he followed 
this line of work until the spring of 1896, in 



the meantime having taken up his residence in 
North Industry, this county, in 1883. He 
there continued to make his home until 1897, 
when he removed to Canton and assumed the 
duties of the office of which he is now in- 
cumbent. In the autumn of 1896 Mr. Summer 
was elected county commissioner, for a term 
of three years, and so acceptable was his ad- 
ministration of the affairs of the office that he 
was chosen as his own successor in the elec- 
tion of of 1899, his second term expiring on 
the 2ist of September, 1903, while it is certain 
that the best interests of the county will be 
conserved if he is continued in the service 
by re-election at the close of his present term. 
In politics he gives an unqualified allegiance 
to the Republican party, taking a lively in- 
terest in the cause and doing all in his power 
to promote the same. He is a man of alert 
and vigorous mentality, a capable business 
man and a citizen who commands unqualified 
esteem. 

On the 29th of March, 1883, in Canton, 
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Summer 
to Miss Agnes Serva, whose father was of 
French lineage and mother of German. Her 
paternal grandfather, Paul Serva, was a mem- 
ber of the cavalry of Napoleon Bonaparte for 
twelve years. To this union were born three 
children, Fay. Roscoe and Harold. Mrs. Sum- 
mers died March 13, 1898, and on January 17, 
1903, Mr. Summer was married to Ada Hill, 
who was born within a few hundred feet of 
where the subject of this sketch first saw the 
light of day, and is the daug^hter of Hiram and 
Emma Hill. 



JOHN METZGER is a native son' of 
Stark county, having been bom on the parental 
homestead in Nimishillcn township, on the 
24th of May. 1839. He was the fifth in order 
of birth of the nine children of John and 
Catherine (Goodman) Metzger, and of the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1051 



number seven are living at the present time, 
namely : Mary, who is the widow of Frank 
Guilnrd and who resides in Louisville, this 
county; Julia, who is the wife of Peter Dubail, 
of South Bend, Indiana; Catherine, who is the 
widow of Samuel Lane, resides in Mishawaka, 
Indiana; John, who is the immediate subject of 
this sketch ; JVTaria, who is the wife of Nicholas 
Murley, of Canton ; Susan, who is the wife of 
Frank Pierson, of Louisville, this county; and 
Adam, who is engaged in the hardware busi- 
ness in Louisville. The father of the subject 
was born in the province of Alsace, France, now 
a portion of the German empire, being of pure 
German extraction in the agnatic line. The 
year of his nativity was 181 1 and he was a son 
of John and Susan (Kena) Metzger, who 
came with their family to America in the year 
1S28. making their way, by the primitive meth- 
ods of transportation then in vogue, across the 
continent to the state of Ohio, which was then 
held to be on the very frontier of civilization. 
They came to Stark county and were numbered 
among the first settlers in Nimishillen town- 
ship, where the grandfather purchased three 
hundred and twenty acres of government land, 
in the midst of the virgin forest, and here he 
erected his little log house in the midst of the 
forest, and set himself valiantly to the task of 
subduing the wilderness and placing his land 
under cultivation, the work, as a matter of 
course, progressing by slow degrees. With 
the aid of his sons he continued his labors along 
this line until he was called upon to answer the 
inexorable summons of death, at the age of 
eighty-six years, his wife also dying on the old 
homestead. It will be noted that the full pat- 
ronymic of John Metzger has been borne by the 
three generations of the family in the county, 
the subject being of the third generation. His 
father, John Metzger (2d), grew to manhood 
in this county, and after his marriage located 
on a tract of eight}' acres of heavily timbered 
land which had been deeded to him by his hon- 



ored father, who made similar provision for 
each of his other two sons, Sebastian and An- 
drew. Fie continued his experience as a pioneer 
farmer and succeeded in reclaiming the major 
portion of his land, becoming one of the pros- 
perous and highly honored farmers of the 
township. He continued to reside on his home- 
stead until the year 1870, when he retired from 
active business and took up his abode in the 
village of Louisville, where he passed the resi- 
due of his days, passing away in 1880, at the 
age of sixty-nine yeariS. He was a stanch 
Democrat in his political proclivities, and his 
religious faith was that of the Catholic church, 
in which he was reared. His wife was likewise 
a native of the province of Alsace, France, and 
she was born in 181 1, the same year in which 
he was ushered into the world. She came with 
her parents to Ohio in the same year as did the 
Metzgers, being a daughter of Joseph and 
Maria (Dietrich) Goodman. They settled in 
Canton township, near the site of the present 
county infirmary, later moving to Washington 
township and later to Nimishillen, where they 
died. Mrs. Metzger was summoned into eter- 
nal rest in 1885, when eighty- four years of age, 
she likewise having been a faithful member and 
communicant of the Catholic church. 

From the foregoing statements it will be 
seen that the subject of this review is a repre- 
sentative of sterling pioneer families of Stark 
county, being of the third generation in both 
the paternal and maternal lines. He was reared 
on the homestead farm on which he was born, 
early beginning to contribute to the work of the 
same, and even as a boy finding his services in 
requisition in the arduous work of clearing off 
the timber and making the land ready for cul- 
tivation. Scholastic facilities were of measrer 
sort at best in the locality, and he attended the 
little district school during the winten months 
up to the time of attaining the age of twelve 
years, while his subsequent discipline has been 
that afiforded in the practical and valuable 



II052 



OLD LANDMARKS 



school of experience. 1 he work of the farm 
largely devolved upon him from the time of his 
fourteenth year, his father's health being im- 
paired, so that he was not longer aljle to take 
the initiative. The subject continued to devote 
his attention to the management of the paternal 
homestead until three years after his marriage, 
his father having in the meanwhile removed to 
the village of Louisville, and then he purchased 
a tract of twenty-two acres just to the south of 
that town and there made his horiie for the en- 
suing three years, while for the succeeding pe- 
iod of three years he rented a neighboring farm 
•of one hundred and seventy-three acres. He 
then passed a year on his little farm, and then 
turned the property over in partial payment on 
an adjoining farm of eighty-nine acres, realiz- 
ing that he needed a wider field for his agricul- 
tural operations. On that place he continued 
his work with energy and discrimination for 
the next decade, when he rented the place and 
took up his residence in Louisville, where he has 
since made his home. ha\inga comfortable and 
attractive residence and enjoying the fruits of 
his former years of earnest toil and endeavor. 
His farm is under a high state of cultivation, is 
equipped with good buildings and is one of the 
attractive places of the township, while from the 
same he receives an income whicli insures him 
all the comforts and many of tlie luxuries of 
life. In politics he is stanchly arrayed in sup- 
port of the principles and policies of the Demo- 
cratic party, l)ut has never been ambitious for 
official preferment, though he was called by the 
local contingent of his party to become a candi- 
date for township trustee in 1879, consented to 
accept the nomination and was elected by a 
gratifying majority, while the best evidence 
of the popular appreciation of his services is 
that afforded in tlie fact that he was continued 
as incumbent of this office for the long period 
•of nine years. He and his wife are both com- 
municants of the Catholic church. 

On the 22d of February, 1867. Mr. Metz- 



ger was united in marriage to Miss Frances 
Pierson, who was born in Nimishillen town- 
ship, this county, lieing a daughter of Louis 
and Frances Pierson, who were pioneers of 
this section. Four children have been born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Metzger, namely : John F. 
and Catherine, who remain at the parental 
home: Dr. Edward L., who is engaged in the 
practice of his profession as a veterinary sur- 
geon, in Louisville; and Louis A,, who died 
in infancv. 



JONAS M. KELVI, son of Moses and 
Lydia Keini, was born in Holmes county, Ohio, 
on the 2 1 St of April, 1843. It was his privilege 
to be reared on a farm, the source from which 
have sprung the majority of the nation's great- 
est men, and he early became acquainted with 
the manifold duties which such a mode of life 
implies. At the proper age he entered the 
public schools and attended the same until 
about eighteen years old, meanwhile assisting 
his father of summer seasons with the work of 
the farm. On the 15th day of August, 1862, 
he enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and 
Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which 
he served three years, during which time he 
took part in many noted campaigns and bloody 
battles, including the various engagements in 
which General Thomas' command participated. 
The day on which the regiment was mustered 
out he was sent to a hospital where he remained 
about one month and at the expiration of that 
time he received his discharge and returned 
home. 

On leaving the army ]Mr. Keim resumed 
the pursuit of agriculture on the home farm 
and in the fall of 1865 was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Catherine Trump, daughter of 
George Trump, of Nimishillen township. Stark 
county. He continued tilling the soil in his 
native county until 1869, at which time he 
changed his residence to the county of Stark, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1053. 



where he engaged in the 



locating at Louisville 
grain business, in connection with which he 
also handled provisions and dealt quite ex- 
tensively in wool. Subsequently he disposed of 
this business and purchased an interest in the 
hardware house founded by his fatlier and dur- 
ing the next twenty-five years was a member 
of the firm of Keim & Sons, which became 
one of the largest and most successful 
establishments of the kind in the county. His 
connection for so long a time with this line of 
trade resulted in the accumulation of a fortune 
which enabled him, in 1897, to lay aside busi- 
ness cares, since which time he has been living 
a life of honorable retirement in the thriving 
little town of Louisville. 

Mr. Keim possesses marked business ability 
and superior judgment. He looked after the 
management of the house with commendable 
fidelity, built up a large and lucrative trade and 
by fair and honorable dealing won the con- 
fidence of all with whom he had relations of 
any kind whatever. Aside from his connection 
with the commercial interests of Louisville, 
Mr. Keim has long been a factor of consider- 
able consequence in the general affairs of the 
town, every enterprise calculated to advance 
the community materially, socially, or morally, 
receiving his support and hearty co-operation. 
As a citizen he is deservedly popular, charity 
and benevolence being among his chief charac- 
teristics, and to the poor and needy he is ever 
ready to extend a helping hand. His political 
support is given to the Republican party, but 
the wiles and chicanery of modern partisanship 
have always received his strongest disapproval. 
Religiously he is an influential member of the 
Progressive Branch of the German Baptist 
church, belonging with his wife to the Louis- 
ville congregation, of which he is one of the 
pillars and chief supporters. He has high 
ideals of Christian character and endeavors to 
realize the same in his daily life and conduct. 
Mr. Keim's first marriage was blessed with 



the birth of one son, Charles B. Keim, who 
is now engaged in the boot and shoe business 
in Louisville. Mrs. Keim dying in 1873, the 
subject afterwards wedded Miss Mary Keim, 
of Nimishillcn township, daughter of Adam 
Keim, a union terminated by the death of the 
wife in 1887. ^I^"- Keim's present companion,, 
to whom he was united in the bonds of wed- 
lock in tlie year 1896, was Mrs. Ella Werner,, 
formerlv Miss Slote. 



FRANK W. G.-WIN. M. D., is of Scotch 
descent, the advent of his family into America 
dating from 1850. Li that year his grand- 
fatlier, Robert Ga\ in, with a wife and nine chil- 
dren, came to the United States and settled' 
in Cleveland, Ohio, being at the time well ad- 
vanced in life. In his native land Robert 
Gavin had been a manufacturer of woolen 
goods, but he did not follow the business very 
long after coming to this country, retiring in 
a few years to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he 
died in 1874, at the age of seventy-eiglit. His 
wife, who bore the maiden name of Isabella 
Craig, preceded him to the grave, departing 
this life in the year 1851. 

James A. Gavin, son of Robert and Isabella 
Gavin and father of tlie subject of this sketch, 
was born September 10, 1848, in Scotland and 
was about t\\'0 years old when the family came 
to America. He spait his early life in the 
cities of Cleveland and Fort Wayne, received 
a common school education, but by dilligent 
course of private study he made such progress 
that in due time he fitted himself for the profes- 
sion of teaching. His advancement in that field 
of endeavor was rapid and it was not long until 
he became one of the most accomplished 
teachers in Fort Wayne, with the public schools 
of which city he was identified for a period of 
over twenty-one years. By a series of continued 
advancements he rose from the position of 
grade teacher to a principalship, thence to 



I054 



OLD LANDMARKS 



superintendency, in which capacity he became 
widely known among the leading educators of 
northern Indiana. Professor Gavin was mar- 
ried in Fort Wayne, April 30, 1871, to Miss 
Sedonia R. Davis, whose birth occurred in 
Newark, Ohio, on the 29th of April, 1850. 
He continued in educational work until 1899, 
when he resigned his position and his death 
took place on December 24th of the year fol- 
lowing, his wife dying in 1879. Prof. Gavin 
was reared in the Presbyterian faith, but later 
in life united with the Baptist church, being at 
the time of his death an ordained deacon of 
the congregation worshiping in Fort Wayne. 
Politically he was a stanch supporter of the 
Republican party and took an active interest 
in politics and public affairs, always keeping 
himself well informed relative to the leading 
questions and issues of the day. For a number 
of years he was an enthusiastic member of the 
Masonic fraternity, in which he rose to promi- 
nent positions, including that of Sir Knight 
and the thirty-second or Scottish rite degree. 

Dr. Frank W. Gavin is the only child of 
Prof, and Isabella Gavin. He was born April 
9, 1872, in B'ort Wayne, Indiana, and received 
his literary education in the public schools of 
that city, graduating from the higli school 
of that city as valedictorian of his class at 
the early age of seventeen. While still a mere 
youth he formulated his plans for the future 
and selecting the medical profession as best 
fitted to his tastes and inclinations, began a 
preliminary course of study as soon as he quit 
school, under the direction of Dr. George 
Greenawalt, one of Fort Wayne's leading 
physicians. Subsequently he entered Bellevue 
Hospital Medical College, New York city, 
where he prosecuted his studies and researches 
under .some of the most eminent medical minds 
of the age, receiving his degree from that noted 
institution in 1893, when but a little past his 
twenty-first year. 

After his graduation Dr. Gavin served a 



term in Bellevue hospital, where he acquired 
valuable practical knowledge and later was 
similarly engaged in Mercy hospital in the 
city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His experi- 
ence in the above institutions was of especial 
value in fitting him for the active duties of his 
profession and while there he availed himself 
of every opportunity at hand to enlarge the 
area of his knowledge so as to become not 
only well grounded in the great truths of medi- 
cal science but to reduce his knowledge to prac- 
tice in the treatment of diseases. 

Severnig his connection with Mercy hos- 
pital, the Doctor entered upon the practice of 
his profesion in Pittsburg and Fort Wayne, 
and remained there until taking a post-grad- 
uate course in New York, in 1898-99, after 
which he chose as a field of labor the city of 
Canton, Ohio, locating here in April of the 
latter year. Although of comparatively brief 
duration, Dr Gavin's professional career has 
been singularly successful, the reputation being 
awarded him as one of the most skillful and 
thorough practitioners in a city where a high 
standard of m.edical talent has long obtained. 
He has built up a large and lucrative practice 
in the city and adjacent country and among 
his professional brethren is held in high esteem, 
as he is by those who rely upon his services 
in time of suffering. In the various medical 
organizations to which he belongs he comes 
in contact with the leading physicians and 
surgeons of eastern Ohio and other parts of 
the counti'v, participating witli them in the de- 
liberations and discussions whereby the pro- 
fession is gradually being elevated to a higher 
plane and the un\vorthy weeded from the ranks. 
At this time he holds membership with the 
Stark County Medical Society, being secretary, 
the Medical Society of Canton, the Ohio State 
Medical Society, the State Medical Society of 
Indiana, Union Medical Society, the Medical 
Society of Allen county, Indiana, Northeastern 
Ohio Medical Society, the Mississippi Valley 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1055 



Medical Society, the Maumee Valley Medical 
Society and the American Medical Association, 
besides being a member of the medical board 
of the Aultman Hospital at Canton. 

As a citizen the Doctor is deeply interested 
in whate\er concerns the general welfare of his 
adopted county and city, and as a man his 
friendship is warm and his loyalty to those 
worthy of his confidence and respect true and 
unfaltering. Politically he is an ardent Re- 
publican and takes an active interest in the 
success of his party in local, state and national 
affairs. Dr. Gavin's professional success is 
mutually shared with a companion and help- 
meet, to whom he was united in marriage at 
Massillon, Ohio, on the 24th of May, 1899. 
Mrs. Gavin was formerly Miss Ella M. Smith, 
daughter of James Benton Smith, of the above 
city. They reside at 425 South Cleveland 
avenue, the former rectory of the Episcopal 
church. 



JOHN THEOBALD WEYBRECHT was 
born in the little village of Anspach la Haut, 
department du Haut Rhine, Alsace, France, 
now a portion of Germany, the date of his na- 
tivity having Ijeen Januaiy 2^, 1829, being the 
eldest son of a family of three sons and five 
daughters. His parents. Theobald and Anna 
M. (Prickard) Weybrecht, were likewise na- 
tives of the province of Alsace, where they 
passed their entire lives, the father having l:>een 
a contractor and builder by vocation, while he 
was a representative of one of the old and hon- 
ored families of that section. John T. was 
reared in his native place, where he received 
good educational advantages in his youth, re- 
ceiving instruction in Isoth the French and Ger- 
man languages, and thereafter learning the 
trade of carpenter under the direction of his 
father and becoming a skilled workman. In 
1853, as a young man of about twenty-five 
years, he severed the home ties and valiantlv 



set forth to seek his fortunes in the United 
States, believing that here were to be found 
superior opportunities for one dependent upon 
his own resources for the attaining of a posi- 
tion of independence. He was animated by 
that self-reliance and self-respect which were 
his dominating characteristics through life, and 
by a courage and determination which augured 
well for his success in his new field of endeavor. 
He landed in the city of New York on the loth 
of December of the year mentioned, and thence 
proceeded to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 
where he worked at his trade atout four 
months, at the expiration of which, in April, 
1864, he again started westward, having in 
mind the city of Chicago as his destination. 
The Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad, now known 
as the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Rail- 
road, had then been in operation but a short 
time, and the train service was as yet somewhat 
irregular and uncertain. It thus chanced that 
the train on which he was traveling was de- 
tained for a number of hours in Alliance, and 
this incident caused a diametrical change in his 
plans, and no doubt in his entire career. He 
here met some of his countrymen and through 
them ascertained that conditions for obtaining 
employment at his trade here were very favor- 
able, and he accordingly decided to locate in 
Alliance. For three months he was employed 
at his trade as a journeyman, and at the e.xpira- 
tion of this interval he began operations on his 
own responsibility, as a contractor and builder, 
while for a time he also worked as foreman of a 
corps of carpenters employed in connection 
with the construction of the Fort Wayne Rail- 
road. From the initiation of his independent 
career as a contractor his success was note- 
worthy, fon he proved his ability and his in- 
flexible honesty and fidelity, and thus secured 
many desirable contracts, eventually having to 
do with the erection of many of the most im- 
portant public, business and private buildings 
in this section of the countv. In fact it mav be 



1056 



OLD LANDMARKS 



said that during the years that he was actively 
engaged in contracting fuHy three-fourths of 
the dwelhngs in Alhance and practically all the 
public buildings erected in the city of Alliance 
within that period, including the school build- 
ings, the Alliance College buildings, churches, 
etc., were built by him, and he was ever found 
true to the every detail and specification of 
every contract into which he entered, the nat- 
ural sequence being that he gained the unquali- 
fied confidence and esteem of the people of Alli- 
ance and vicinity. In 1865, in conjunction with 
his contracting business, Mr. Weybrecht 
erected a small planing mill and also began 
dealing in lumber, his original plant being lo- 
cated on Columbia street, near Linden ave- 
nue. With the rapid growth of the city it was 
not long ere the plant was found to be in the 
very heart of the city, while the business 
handled had kept pace with the development 
of the town, so that it became expedient for 
him to enlarge his facilities and to seek a lo- 
cation more eligible for such an industry, and 
accordingly, in 1878, he removed to the loca- 
tion of the present plant, on Broadway, where 
he erected extensive planing mills, which have 
been kept up to the highest standard to the 
present time, all kinds of lumber and mill work 
for builders" use being turned out. while the 
establishment is the uKJSt extensive of the sort 
in eastern Ohio, controlling a business of wide 
scope and importance. With great sagacity 
and energy Mr. Weybrecht gave his attention 
to tiie upbuilding of his business, l^ecoming one 
of the successful and representative business 
men of the city, while he manifests at all times 
the deepest interest in the welfare of Alliance, 
his public spirit being such that he was always 
found in the forefront in the promotions of 
projects and enterprises for the upbuilding and 
progress of the city. Of this honored citizen 
a previous publication has given the following 
appreciative estimate: "Perhaps no man did 



more for the early growth of Alliance than did 
the late John T. Weybrecht ; certainly no man 
better demonstrated by his daily conduct what 
thrift, good habits and business integrity will 
accomplish for the young man. He came to 
Alliance from Alsace about half a century ago, 
poor in purse but rich in practical knowledge 
and honest endeavor. He soon became the 
leading contractor in the town, and he lived to 
establish one of the finest planing-mill plants 
in the state, to which his sons have succeeded. 
He left his family large property interests and 
also that heritage which is greatest of all, a 
good name." 

Mr. Weybrecht was a stanch Democrat in 
his political proclivities, and was a past grand 
of Alliance Lodge No. 266, Independent Or- 
der of Odd Fellows. Mr. Weybrecht was sum- 
moned into eternal rest on the 31st of January, 
1895, and his death was deeply mourned by all 
classes in .Vlliance, while the business commu- 
nity realized the loss of one of its most valuable 
and honored members. In 1892 Mr. Wey- 
brecht admitted to partnership his two elder 
sons, Benjamin F. and Charles C, and there- 
after the business was conducted under the 
firm name of J. T. Weybrecht & Sons until 
his death, shortly after which the present title 
was adopted. J. T. A\'eybrecht"s Sons. 

On the nth of January, 1855, Mr. Wey- 
brecht was united in marriage to Miss Marga- 
ret Honacker, who was bom near Alliance, on 
the 27th of June, 1833. and who survives him, 
residing in the beautiful family home in Alli- 
ance and holding the aiifectionate regard of all 
who know her. She is a daughter of Christo- 
pher and Maria (Wolf) Honacker, who were 
natives of Wurtemburg, Germany, whence 
they emigrated to America in 1832,- be- 
coming pioneers of Stark county, where they 
passed the remainder of their lives. Mr. and 
Mrs. Weybrecht became the parents of eight 
children, of whom two, Antoinette and Lu- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1057 



cinda, died in infancy. Mary is the wife of 
Leroy I^amborn, of Alliance; Annie is the wife 
of Fremont P. Livingstone, of Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania; Jennie is the wife of John M. Vitz- 
thiim, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Benjamin 
1'". and Charles C, who succeeded their father 
in business, are individually mentioned in ap- 
pending paragraphs ; and Andrew T. is in 
Alliance, Ohio. 

Hon. Benjamin F. Weybrecht was born 
in yVlliance, on the 17th of March, 1861, and 
his educational discipline in his youth was re- 
ceived in the public schools of his native city, 
in which he completed a course in the high 
school. He completed his studies in 1878 and 
forthwith became actively identified with his 
father's business, becoming familiar with all 
details and soon gaining prestige as an able and 
discriminating young business man. He is 
now senior member of the firm of J. T. Wey- 
brecht's Sons, and is numbered among the 
progressive and influential business men of 
his home city. He is a stanch adherent of the 
Democratic party and has been an active and 
efficient worker in its cause, while he served 
one term in the state legislature, having been 
elected in 1888. At this point we quote brief- 
ly from an article which appeared in a recent 
publication of local order : "Hon. B. F. Wey- 
brecht grew up with the town and his fellow 
citizens are proud of his achievements and also 
of his marked ability. Since serving the people 
as a member of the legislature, he has firmly 
declined to become a candidate for public office. 
He is rarely gifted as a platform orator, richly 
endowed in natural ability and intellectual ca- 
pacity, and would grace any office within the 
gift of the people. He takes an active interest 
in the growth, prosperity and general attrac- 
tiveness of his home city and occupies a warm 
place in the hearts of its citizens." He is now 
senior member of the firm of J. T. Wey- 
brecht's Sons, and the continuous expansion 
of the enterprise has been due in large measure 



to his administrative ability and progressive 
methods. On the 25th of December, 1884, 
Mr. Weybrecht was united in marriage to Miss 
Lizzie Peterson, of Alliance, and they are the 
parents of four children, John W., Edgard 
Charles, Millicent M. and Mary K. 

Col. Charles C. Weybrecht, junior mem- 
ber of the firm of J. T. Weybrecht's Sons, was 
born in Alliance, on the 6th of December, 1868, 
and he attended the city schools until 1885, 
when he was matriculated in the Ohio State 
University, at Columbus, where he remained 
three years. Thereafter/ he was in the railway 
mail service until 1892, when he became asso- 
ciated with his father and brother in the busi- 
ness described in the foregoing paragraphs, and! 
to the promotion of its interests he has since 
given his attention. Li 1892 he organized 
Company K, Eighth Infantry, Ohio National 
Guard, in Alliance, and he served as captain- 
of the same until 1897, when he was elected to 
the ofTfice of major in the same regiment, in 
which capacity he served, in the Eighth Ohio- 
Volunteer Infantry, during the Spanish-Amer- 
ican war, including participation in the San- 
tiago campaign. His command, thq Third 
Battalion of the Eighth Ohio, was detailed as 
headquarters guard to Major General Shaffer, 
and was present at the formal surrender of Gen- 
eral Toral to General Shafter. In November, 
1899, Major Weybrecht was elected lieutenant 
colonel of the Eighth Ohio National Guard, of 
which position he has since continued incum- 
bent. He was one of the most popular officers 
in the army at Santiago, and his men were 
knowTi as "Weybrecht's Bulldogs." He is 
vice-president of the Industrial Building and 
Loan Association of this city. In the 7th of 
May, 1894, Colonel Weybrecht was united in 
marriage to Miss Emilie Brosius, daughter of 
Enos H. Brosius, of Alliance. He is a Demo- 
crat in politics, and is ever loyal to his native 
city, being one of the popular young business 
men of the place. 



66 



1058 



OLD LANDMARKS 



CHRISTIAN E. GRABER, one of the 
most respected farmers of Stark county, Ohio, 
was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, March 
25, 1846, and is the son of Uh-ich and Magda- 
hne (Camp) Graber, who came from Switzer- 
land when young and were married in Tusca- 
rawas county, where the father, who was a 
fanner by calhng, died in 1849, li'^ widow 
survii'ing until Augtist, 1900. To Ulrich and 
Magdaline Graber were born three children, 
two of whom still survive. After the death of 
Ulrich Graber, Mrs. Graber was married to 
Michael F. Lillich, also of Tuscarawas county, 
Ohio, but a native of Germany. Christian E. 
Graber was educated in the district schools of 
Tuscarawas county and was thoroughly trained 
to farming. He owns one hundred and four 
acres, and is, as was his father, a Democrat in 
politics. He purchased his present farm in 
1873 and settled on it in 1874, and was the 
land appraiser of the township in 1900. 

Mr. Graber married, in 1874, Miss Helen 
L. Hoerger, who was born in Holmes county, 
Ohio, and is a daughter of Godfrey and Helen 
T. Hoerger, who now occupy the old Graber 
homestead in Tuscarawas county. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Christian E. Graber have been born 
three children, namely: Harry A., July 14, 
1875, now a farmer; Charles G.. who was born 
April 30, 1877, and Alice \".. who was born 
April 3, 1879. and is now the wife of Cyrus 
Stansburger, a farmer, and has one child. 

The paternal grandfather of Christian E. 
Graber was also named Ulrich Graber, and 
his wife bore the maiden name of Mary Jontz, 
and both came from Switzerland in an early 
day and established their home in Tuscarawas 
county, where the grandfather rose to promi- 
nence as an agriculturist and as a citizen, and 
in that county he and his wife passed the re- 
mainder of their days, respected by all who 
knew them. Ulrich Graber. father of Chris- 
tian E., was reared in Tuscarawas county and 
during his short life was very successful as a 



farmer, but death, which "loves a shining 
mark," called him away all too soon, but his 
widow was very fortunate in her second mar- 
riage, and young Christian E. was well cared 
for until able to take care of himself, which 
he has admirably done, as his present posses- 
sions clearly indicate. As a farmer he has been 
very successful, as he raises all the crop in- 
digenous to the soil and climate, together with 
the usual live stock bred by the all-around 
farmer. This live stock, for which Ohio is 
somewhat famous, is comprised of thorough- 
bred horses, mules, milch cows, sheep and 
swine. Its agricultural products comprise 
wheat, corn, oats and buckwheat, hay, pota- 
toes, flaxseed, etc., and in its horticultural prod- 
ucts are to be found apples, plums, pears and 
cherries, as the more important of the fruits 
with which Mr. Graber has to do. Mr. and 
Mrs. (jraber hold a very high position socially, 
being among the most respected residents of 
Perry township. 



JOHN W. WALSER.— The W'alser fam- 
ily is of pure Swiss extraction, and the subject 
is of the first generation lx)rn in America. He 
is a son of Robert Walser, who was born in 
Switzerland in 1809, the family being one of 
distinction in that fair land. Robert Walser 
was a son of Ussi Walser, who was a physician 
and surgeon of ability and who was engaged in 
the practice of his profession in Switzerland un- 
til 1809. when, accompanied liy his family, he 
bade adieu to home and native land and set 
forth for America, where he believed better 
opportunities were afforded for individual ac- 
complishment and being animated primarily 
by a desire to give to his children the ultiniate 
benefit of these advantages. He located in But- 
ler county, Pennsylvania, where he was en- 
gaged in the practice of his profession for a 
number of years and then came to Ohio as one 
of its pioneers, settling in Columbiana county 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1059 



in 1820 and there taking up a tract of land in 
the virgin forest, being one of the first settlers. 
There he gave willing and devoted attention to 
such calls as came to him in a professional way 
and also instituted the reclaiming of his land. 
Subsequently he started on horseback for a visit 
to his former home in Pennsylvania and all 
trace of him was lost from that time, and it is 
supposed that he either fell a victim to Indian 
enmity or other outlawry, or else met with an 
accidental death. His devoted wife, brave in 
her bereavement and in the face of the uncer- 
tainty of her husband's fate, made the best 
possible provision for her children and gave 
them her solicitous care until she too was called 
upon to answer the inexorable summons of 
death. She continued her residence in Colum- 
biana comity, her death occurring near the lit- 
tle pioneer village of Dungannon, about the 
year 1S34. To her were born two sons, Jacob, 
who was a child at the time of the famil}^ emi- 
gration to America and wdio was engaged in 
farming near Dungannon, Ohio, until his 
death, and Robert, father of the subject of 
this review. 

Robert Walser w-as born on the lith of 
August, 1809, and within a week after his 
birth his parents set forth on the voyage from 
Switzerland to America. He grew to ma- 
turit}' in Columbiana county, Ohio_, his boy- 
hood da\'s being passed on a farm, and by rea- 
son of the loss of his father he was denied many 
advantages which would otherwise have been 
his portion. His scholastic training was such 
as was to be had in the primitive schools of the 
pioneer days, and his attendance in the same 
was of a desultory nature, since he was com- 
pelled to early assume the practical responsi- 
bilities of life. As a young man he acquired a 
knowledge of the carpenter trade, and to this 
he devoted his attention more or less for a num- 
ber of yeans, in connection with farming. In 
about 1825 he was united in marriage to Miss 
Theresa Wiss, who was born in France, on the 



30th of April, 1808, and who died in Colum- 
biana county, Ohio, in 1835, her parents hav- 
ing emigrated to America about the year 1809, 
first settling in Butler county, Pennsylvania, 
whence they later removed to Columbiana 
county, Ohio, being numbered among the early 
pioneers of that section of the state. A few 
years after his marriage Robert Walser re- 
moved from Columbiana county to Carroll 
county, where he secured a tract of land and 
developed a good farm. After the death of 
his first wife he married her sister. Miss Cath- 
erine Wiss, who was his cherished companion 
and helpmeet for many years, her death oc- 
curring on the 23d of December, 1876. There- 
after the father passed his time in the homes of 
his children, where he was accorded the utmost 
filial solicitude, and he died at the home of 
his daughter, Mrs. Simon Deiringer, of New- 
cassel, Wisconsin, on the 15th of February, 
1887, at the age of nearly seventy-eight years. 
His first wife bore him three children, name- 
ly: John W., the immediate subject of this 
sketch: Barbara, who was born November 7, 
183 1, is the wife of Frank Strobel, of New- 
cassel, Wisconsin ; and Eli, who was born April 
26, 1833. married and resides in the city of 
Buffalo, New York: he was a lake and ocean 
sailor during the greater portion of his active 
life, and during the war of the Rebellion served 
in the Tenth New York Cavalry. Robert and 
Catherine (Wiss) Walser became the parents 
of four children, namely: Mary, who was 
bom August 18, 1835, married Joseph Rich- 
ardt and died in Canton, March 21, 1890; 
Catherine, born August 11, 1843, was first 
married tn John Aliller and after his death to 
Joseph Hearn, who •\\-as a soldier in the regular 
army for twenty-one years, within which time 
he ?er\-ed in the Civil war, being dis'chai-ged 
with the rank of colonel, and residing for a 
number of years thereafter in the city of Cleve- 
land, where his widow still maintains her home; 
Henry, born February 3, 1849, married ]\Iiss 



io6o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Rosa Soltner, and they reside in Cleveland; 
and Martin, born July i6, 1S54, is likewise a 
resident of that city. 

John W. Walser, whose name initiates this 
sketch, was born on the parental homestead, 
in Hanover township, Columbiana county, 
Ohio, on the 15th of April, 1829, and he was 
a child at the time of his father's removal to 
Carroll county, where he was reared on a farm 
up to the age of thirteen, the homestead being 
located in Rose township and the land having 
been entered from the government by his fa- 
ther in 1823. The family abode for a num- 
ber of years was a log cabin of the type com- 
mon to the pioneer epoch, and, owing to the 
exigiences of time and place, his educational 
advantages were most meagre, and in his youth 
his entire schooling was comprised in the short 
period of fifteen months, covering three months 
during the winters of successive years. He was 
taken from school when thirteen years of age 
and was placed to work as a clerk and general 
utility boy in the general store of Harkness 
& Greer, pioneen merchants of Magnolia, 
Stark county, remaining with this firm for sev- 
eral years and gaining valuable business experi- 
ence, while his alert and receptive mind enabled 
him in the meanwhile to practically supplement 
the limited educational training which had been 
his in a direct way. During his first year of 
service he received nothing in the way of 
recompense save the experience gained, and 
his emolument for the second year was fifty 
dollars, which was increased to seventy-five for 
the third year, while he paid seventy-five cents 
per week for his board. He recalls that at that 
time eggs brought three cents per dozen, while 
butter was sold for five cents per pound, so 
that a parity was maintained in the matter of 
expenses. On one occasion it became his duty 
to dump hundreds of dozens of eggs into the 
canal, there being no demand for the same. 
While in the employ of this firm Mr. Walser 
on one occasion indulged in a little individual 



speculation, buying a quantity of pork, which 
he salted and cured for the spring market, but 
he received no offer for the product, since the 
worms and rats had in the meantime taken up 
claims and practically destroyed jthe provender. 
After leaving this firm he was employed for 
nine months as a clerk in the store of Thomas 
Stanton, at Hanover, and thereafter he as- 
sisted in the work of the home farm for about 
two years. At the expiration of this interval 
he secured a position as clerk in the store of 
Isaac Teller, at Magnolia, receiving three hun- 
dred dollars a year, which was considered a 
large salary. Later he again engaged with 
Mr. Harkness (Mr. Greer having died), with' 
whom he remained for about one and a half 
years, when Mr. Harkness died. He had saved 
the sum of three hundred and thirty-three dol- 
lars and now opened a modest grocery in Mag- 
nolia and thus gave inception to his independ- 
ent business career. Success attended his ef- 
forts, and he continued the enterprise until 
1854, when he sold out and removed to 
Waynesburg, this county, where he conducted 
a general store for the ensuing decade. In 
1864 he came to Canton, where he forthwith 
established himself in the provision business, 
associating himself with Peter M. Myers and 
opening an establishment on North Market 
street, where John Santry now has his store, 
and there they continued in business for a pe- 
riod of fifteen years, when Mr. Meyers died 
and the subject acquired the entire business, 
which he there individually continued until 
1876, when he removed his quarters to the 
location of the present store of Isadore Lef- 
kovits. There he had a well equipped estab- 
lishment and conducted a large and representa- 
tive business until 1884, when he sold out to 
Julius Kline and retired from active business,, 
having acquired a competency through his en- 
ergy, industry and well-directed effort and be- 
ing known as one of the reliable and distinctly 
representative business men of the city and as- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 06 1 



a citizen of sterling worth. His success was 
achieved through the proper utihzation of the 
opportunities presented and through the bend- 
ing of his intrinsic powers along a definite hne, 
while his conservative policy and business sa- 
gacity enabled him to avoid mistakes and to 
make his success cumulative. He is a stock- 
holder in each the City National Bank' the 
Farmers' Bank and the George D. Harter 
Bank, the leading financial institutions of Can- 
ton. In 1S89 he became a stockholder in the 
Royal Brick Company, of which he was presi- 
dent at the time it was merged into the Metro- 
politan Brick Company, and he still retains his 
interests in the concern. He has made judi- 
cious investments in local realty and his posi- 
tion is that of one of the solid men of the com- 
munity and one whose career has been un- 
shadowed by wrong, so that he commands un- 
-equivocal confidence and good will. In poli- 
tics Mr. Walser gives his allegiance to the 
Democratic party, and though he has been a 
stanch supporter of its cause he has never had 
any personal ambition in a political way. He 
serived for a number of years as a member of 
the board of trustees of the Hartford poor 
fund, and he and his wife are communicants of 
the German Catholic church, in whose faith 
they were reared. 

At Magnolia, Stark county, on the 26th 
■of September, 1852, Mr. Walser was united in 
marriage to Miss Magdalena Markling, who 
was born in Germany, in 1834, and who ac- 
companied her parents on their emigration to 
America when she was twelve years of age. 
She is a daughter of Clendennis and Magdalena 
(Christ) Markling, who settled in Ross town- 
ship, Carroll county, upon coming to America, 
and both of whom died in Canton. Mr. and 
Mrs. Walser became the parents of five chil- 
dren, concerning whom we incorporate brief 
record, as follows : W'illiam Henry, who was 
born in Magnolia, this county, August 23, 
1853, was married, on the 15th of June, 1880, 



to Miss Mary Kress, and he died in Canton on 
the 23d of August, 1882; Henrietta, who was 
born in Waynesburg, October 21, 1854, is the 
wife of Henry L. Miller, of Canton; Laura, 
who w^ns born in Waynesbung, March 8, 1858, 
is the wife of John J. Schwalen, of Canton; 
Clorinda, born in Waynesburg, March 22, 
1864, remains at the parental home; and Ce- 
lestia C, born in Canton, P'ebruary 21, 1868, 
is the wife of Charles A. Culp, of this city. 



REV. JOSIAH KP:IM was born in 
Holmes county, Ohio, December 8, 1834, and 
is a son of Moses and Lydia (Domes) Keim, 
of whom appropriate mention will be found in 
the biography of John Keim on another page 
of this volume. The childhood and youth of 
the subject were spent on the home farm and 
his early educational training included a knowl- 
edge of the branches constituting the common 
school course. After completing these he pur- 
sued his studies for some time in the Canton 
high school, subsequently entering Mt. Union 
College, which institution he attended for sev- 
eral years, meantime devoting his vacations to 
teaching, in which profession he soon achieved 
an honorable reputation. Mr. Keim began his 
carer as an educator at the age of eighteen and 
for some time thereafter divided his time be- 
tween teaching and attending school, making 
a fine record in both lines of work. He fol- 
lowed teaching continuously for a period of 
eighteen years and became widely and favor- 
ably known as an efficient and poular instruc- 
tor. 

In October, 1867, Mr. Keim was called to 
the ministry of the German Baptist church and 
during the ensuing- seventeen years devoted his 
time and talents to the duties of his sacred of- 
fice, preaching with great acceptance for a num- 
ber of congregations and proving an able ex- 
ponent of the doctrines peculiar to his denomi- 
nation. An impressive and eloquent advocate 



io62 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in the German Baptist church, he took his posi- 
tion with what has since been known as the 
Progressive element and for five yeans there- 
after filled the pulpit at Louisville, the congre- 
gation increasing greatly under his pastorate. 

From 1894 to 1896 Rev. Keim had charge 
of the dining hall at Ashland University, but in 
the fall of the latter year resigned the place to 
resume the ministerial labors, accepting a call 
to the church at Winchester, to which he 
ministered with much acceptance for a period 
of four years. After much importunity on the 
part of the management of the Ashland Uni- 
versity Rev. Keim, in the year 1900, was again 
induced to take charge of the dining hall and 
he continued in that capacity to the great sat- 
isfaction of the faculty and students until the 
spring of 1902, Avhen he gave up the place per- 
manently and retmned to Louisville, where he 
is now living a retired life. 

In addition to his regular work of the min- 
istry and the running of the dining hall, Rev. 
Keim for about se\'en years held a clerical posi- 
tion in the Louisville Deposit Bank and while 
connected with that institution demonstrated 
business ability of a high order. Had he seen 
fit to devote his life entirely to secular pur- 
suits he no doubt \\'Ould have achieved a dis- 
tinguished career, possessing as he does those 
sterling mental characteristics which eminently 
qualify one for leadership and success in large 
enterprises. As an educator he won more than 
local repute, but it is by his labors as an able, 
earnest and faithful minister of the gospel that 
his usefulness to mankind is chiefly to be 
judged. As a preacher he is clear and concise 
in statement, logical in deduction, earnest in 
presenting the claims of the gospel and fearless 
in denouncing sin in whatever garb arrayed. 
He has been exceedingly provident but by no 
means parsimonious of his means, being free in 
contributing to all worthy objects and a liberal 
donor to charitable, benevolent and religious 
enterprises. As a neighbor and citizen, his 



standing has always been above reproach and 
his integrity has ever been of that kind which 
wins for the possessor the unbounded confi- 
dence and esteem of the people with whom he 
comes m contact. 

In politics Rev. Keim is a Republican in all 
the word implies and has been an earnest sup- 
porter of the principles of his party, but never 
an aspirant for the honors or emohunents of 
office. He is well versed on the leading public 
ciuestions of the day and his wide range of read- 
ing on general subjects has made him one of the 
best informed men of the community in which 
he resides. 

Mr. Keim has been twice married, the first 
time, in 1858, to Miss Mary A. Bosler, who 
died in 1872, leaving no children. On the lOth 
day of August, 1873, he w-as united in the 
bonds of wedlock with Sarah Hill, of Plain 
township, this county, daughter of Thomas 
Hill. 



JACOB MARKLING, vice-president of 
the National Wringer and Manufacturing 
Company of Canton, is a native of Carroll 
county, Ohio, and the son of John Adam and 
Margaret Markling, both born and reared in 
Germany. These parents, with three children, 
left their native country in 1845 '^^''^ came to 
the United States, settling on a farm in Carroll 
county, Ohio, where the father followed agri- 
cultural pursuits until his death, in the year 
1872. Mrs. Markling departed this life in the 
same year in which her husband was called 
away, dying within less than a month after his 
departure. John A. and Margaret Markling- 
were industrious, estimable and highly re- 
garded in the community where they lived and 
their memory is still cherished by the people 
with whom they are mingled. They reared a 
family of ten children, five of whom have been 
reunited with them in the land beyond, the 
others li\-ing in various parts of the country 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1063 



and faitli fully filling their respective stations in 
the workl. The year following the arrival of 
his parents in the United States witnessed the 
birth of Jacob Markling, the event occurring on 
the home! farm in Brown township, CaiToll 
county, Ohio, September 27, 1846. Reared 
in the country, his childhood and youth were 
spent working in the fields in the summer time 
and attending school during the winter months 
and he was thus engaged until taking up the 
shoemaker's trade, which he l^egan before 
reaching the years of manhood. After becom- 
ing an efficient workman, he followed the trade 
in his native county fori a period of four years, 
at the expiration of which time he came to 
Canton and entered the establishment of A. 
Schwertner, his arrival in this city dating from 
1873. After remaining one year in the employ 
of Mr. Schwertner, Mr. Markling accepted a 
position in the Wilson Rake Factory, since 
known as the Koliler Company, but later re- 
signed his place there and engaged with James 
Dick, manufacturer of agricultural machinery, 
in whose works he continued in various ca- 
pacities until 1892. In that year the National 
Wringer Manufacturing Company was estab- 
lislied, Mr. Markling taking an interest in the 
concern and assisting in its organization. He 
was one of the prime movers in building up the 
company and establishing it on a solid finan- 
cial basis and to his efforts is the enterprise 
largely due for the continued prosperity which 
has characterized its subsequent history. From 
a subordinate position he gradually rose to a 
prominent place in the conduct of the com- 
pany's affairs and about the year 1897 he was 
elected vice-president, which office he has since 
filled with credit to himself and to the satis- 
faction of everybody' connected with the enter- 
prise. In tlie discharge of his official func- 
tions Mr. Markling displays not only marked 
alaility and a familiarity with every detail of 
the business, but his relations with the trade and 
with the public at large have been such as to 



win patronage for the company and add much 
to its high rating among the leading business 
agencies throughout the country. Mr. Mark- 
ling is a wide awake, energetic business man 
and as such has done- much to promote the in- 
dustrial growth of Canton, not only by estab- 
lishing an important enterprise but by making 
it meet the high expectations of its projectors 
and by giving employment to a large force of 
workmen, all of whom spend their salaries in 
the city. 

In the year 1878, in Malvern, Ohio, was 
solemnized the ceremony by which Mr. Mark- 
ling and Miss Elizabeth Ebur, of that town, 
were united in the holy bonds of wedlock, the 
marriage resulting in the birth of children as 
follows : Margaret, Mayme. William E., 
Henry H., Stella and James A. 

In his political faith Mr. Markling is a 
zealous Democrat and since old enough to cast 
a ballot has been unwavering in his allegiance 
to his partv. He takes an active interest in 
the leading questions and issues of the day, on 
all of which he is well informed, and supports 
the cause of Democracy from principle and not 
from the fact of inherited political tendencies. 
In religion he is a Catholic, and with his fam- 
ily belongs to St. Peter's church, to the material 
support of which he is a free and liberal con- 
tributor. A member of the Catholic Mutual 
Benefit Association, he makes his presence felt 
as an influential force in that excellent organ- 
ization, in addition to which he is also zealous 
in all lines of religious and philanthropic work 
under the supervision of the church and equally 
acti\e in the support of charitable and benevo- 
lent institutions of a secular and public char- 
acter. 



JACOB P. FAWCETT was born at 
Boyce Station, Allegheny county, Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 2d of January, 1851. being a son 
of Andrew and Elizabeth ( Pennypacker) Faw- 



1064 



OLD LANDMARKS 



cett, both of whom were Hkewise natives of 
the old Keystone state and representatives of 
stanch old Pennsylvania families. The father 
of the subject devoted his life to agricultural 
pursuits in Pennsylvania, and there died, his 
death occiu-ring in January, 1866, at which time 
he was sixty years of age. His wife passed 
away in 1901, at the age of eighty-one years. 
They became the parents of nine children, of 
whom four are living at the present time. 
Both were members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church, and Mr. Fawcett was a stanch Re- 
publican in his political proclivities, having 
identified himself with the party at the time of 
its organization. On December 9, 1866, the 
widowed mother came to Stark county, Ohio, 
settling at Mt. Union, now the sixth ward of 
Alliance, and there died. 

Jacob P. Fawcett received his early 'edu- 
cational discipline in the common schools of 
Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, and at the 
age of sixteen years was matriculated in Mount 
Union College, near Alliance, this county, 
where he completed the scientific course and 
was graduated in July, 1871, receiving the de- 
gree of Bachelor of Science. He put his schol- 
astic acquirements to practical use, engaging in 
teaching school for two years, while he also 
took up the study of the law in the office and 
under the direction of W^illiam C. Pippitt, a 
well known and able member of the bar of 
Alliance, and he was admitted to practice on 
the qth of April, 1874, being well fortified for 
the ac!i\-e work of his chosen profession. He 
was engaged in practice in Alliance for two 
years, at the expiration of which, in August, 
1877, he came to Canton, where he has since 
resided, and where he has built up a large and 
important business in his profession. For a 
numlier of years Mr. Fawcett has taken a prom- 
inent part in public affairs and is one of the 
leaders in the local ranks of the Republican 
party. In 1S76, while a resident of Mount 
Union, he served as its mayor, and from 1882 



to 1886 he was a member of the city council of 
Canton, representing the seventh ward, while 
in the latter year he was president of the body. 
In 1 886 he was appointed by Governor Foraker 
to the office of probate judge of Stark county, 
receiving this appointment in November, and 
at the regular election, in November of the fol- 
lowing year, he was chosen as his own succes- 
sor and was re-elected in 1890, thus serving 
consecutively on the probate bench for a period 
of seven years and three months. In 1894 he 
was appointed, by the court of common pleas, 
a member of the tax commission for the city 
of Canton, in which capacity he served six 
years. In 1901 he was appointed a director of 
the Stark county work house, and at the first 
meeting of that body thereafter was chosen its 
president, of which position he has ever since 
remained incumbent. For six years Mr. Faw- 
cett was attorney of the Ohio dairy and food 
department for the eighteenth congressional 
district of the state, and his services in both 
the above mentioned capacities have proved of 
marked value and acceptability. He was for 
two years a member of the Republican state 
central committee, for three years chairman of 
the Republican central committee of Stark 
county, while for the long period of fifteen years 
he was a member of the executive committee 
of the party in the county and four years a 
member of the Republican congressional com- 
mittee, holding both at present. In 1903 Mayor 
Smith appointed him a member of the board of 
public safety for the city of Canton, for a term 
of four 3'ears. From the above statements it 
will be seen that Mr. Fawcett's abilities have 
been called into requisition in a significant way, 
and his course has ever been such as to com- 
mand to him the unqualified confidence and es- 
teem of all, while as a member of the bar he has 
won a prestige which stands to his credit and 
which indicates his thorough understanding of 
the science of jurisprudence and his power to 
make proper application of such knowledge. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1065 



His efforts while on the probate bencli were 
such as to conserve equity and justice and every 
trust reposed in him has been held inviolable. 
Fraternally he is identified with the Knights 
of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows and the Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks. 

On the 6th of February, 1877, was sol- 
emnized the marriage of Mr. Fawcett to ]\Iiss 
Jennie M. Mitchell, daughter of John H. 
Mitchell, United States senator from Oregon, 
and of this union have been born four children : 
Mattie E., Howard B., Ralph M. and John A. 



ISAIAH OBERLIN.— In the subject of 
this sketch is presented an example of a well 
spent life, in that it was largely consecrated to 
the good of his kind and so emplo^'ed as to in- 
sure him an abundant entrance into those man- 
sions of which the Savior spake when he said, 
"I go to prepare a place for you, that where I 
am there ye may be also." Although dead, and 
by the world at large forgotten, Isaiah Ober- 
lin still lives in the memories of those with 
whom he once mingled — those friends and 
neighbors who trod with him the same rugged 
path 6f experience and from him received so 
many manifestations of kindness and regard. 
He was born in Stark county, Ohio, February 
9, 1833, the son of Peter and Susannah Ob- 
erlin, of whom specific notice wmII be found on 
another page of this volume. He was the 
youngest of a family of ten children, and spent 
"his early years on the homestead, dividing his 
time during his minority between attending the 
public schools and assisting with the labors of 
the farm. Later he pursued his studies for 
some years in the Belleville high school, and 
when a youth of about seventeen joined the 
tide of emigration to the far west in quest of 
fortune in the California gold fields. Mr. Ob- 
€rlin's experiences in that far away country 
•were thrilling in the extreme and his adventures 



among the mountains and mining camps, and 
with the rough element, which in the early day 
constituted the major part of the western pop- 
ulace, would, if written in detail, make a goodly 
sized volume of interesting" reading. Whether 
he was successful in securing that which al- 
lured him so far from home, the writer cannot 
with certainty speak, but it is evident that his 
life amid so many strange vicissitudes and 
rough experiences inured him to life in its 
^•arious phases and developed not only strong 
and vigorous bodily powers but a spirit of self 
assertion that subsequently enabled him to 
take advantage of opportunities and mould cir- 
cumstances to suit his purposes. At the ex- 
piration of his adventurous career he returned 
to Stark county and became a contented and in 
due time a prosperous farmer, and as such con- 
tinued to the end of his days, meanwhile by well 
directed industry acquiring sufficient means to 
live comfortably until called from the scene 
of his earthly struggles. Mr. Oberlin was 
married, in 1863, to Miss Fianna Fox, who 
was boni in 1841, in Pennsylvania, and six 
years later with her parents, William and 
Catherine (Eby) Fox, came to Stark county, 
Ohio, the family settling in Tuscarawas town- 
ship. To Mr. and Mrs. Oberlin were born 
six children, the oldest of whom is Edson A., 
who for over twenty years was one of Stark 
county's successful and popular teachers. He 
was married to Miss Nellie Malone, of this 
county, and is the father of one son by the 
name of PJdson, and at the present time lives 
in Cleveland, where he is engaged in the lum- 
ber business. William, the second son, mar- 
ried Lizzie Stoner, who has borne him two 
children. Glenn and Russell ; he is in the min- 
ing business and resides in Tuscarawas. A. 
M. was born and reared in Tuscarawas town- 
sliip, received his educational training in the 
public schools and Mt. Union College and is 
now engaged in agricultural pursuits, owning 
a fine farm of his own, beside an interest in 



io66 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the old homestead. On the latter place is a 
rich coal bank which he has developed and 
from which he derives no little part of his in- 
come. Mrs. E. S. Miller, the fourth of the 
family, is the mother of one child, Munford. 
Franklin, the next in order of birth, died when 
an infant, and Thurman, the youngest, lives 
with his widowed mother on the home place. 
Mr. Oberlin was a Democrat in politics 
and all of his sons are adherents of the same 
party. In religion he was a member of the 
Reformed church and his life was. ever a com- 
mendable example of Christianity practicilly 
applied. Mrs. Oberlin does not subscribe to 
the same faith her husband professed, being a 
communicant of the Lutheran church. Mr. 
Oberlin's career was that of a good man and 
obliging neighbor and a worthy, law abiding 
citizen, and his death, which occurred on the 
7th day of April, 1900. was greatly deplored 
in the community where he had so long lived 
and prospered. 



JACOB HILDEXBIDDLE has long en- 
joyed marked prestige as one of the leading 
farmers and representative men of the town- 
ship in which he lives and of which he is a na- 
tive son. His ancestors in this country were 
among the early settlers of Pennsylvania, his 
father. John Hildenbiddle, having been born in 
Lancaster county, that state, about the year 
1790. In early life John Hildenbiddle leanied 
the blacksmith trade and worked at the same 
in his native state until about 1838, when he 
came to Stark county, Ohio, and settled on 
one hundred and sixty acres of land about a 
half mile southwest of Louisville. His father, 
Jacob Hildenbiddle, a wagonmaker by trade, 
preceded him to this county by about one year 
and located at the above place. John Hilden- 
biddle cleared and improved a fine farm, but 
six years later sold the place and removed to 
Canton where, in partnership with a friend, he 



engaged in the manufacture of gun barrels. 
After follo\ving the business about three years 
he changed his residence to Freeburg, where 
with, the exception of two years he spent the 
remainder of his life, devoting his attention the 
meantime to agricultural pursuits and the man- 
ufacture of lumber. During the years 1850 
and 1 85 1 he ran a hotel in Louisville, being in- 
duced to engage in that business on account of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad, then in process of 
construction through that part of the state. 
Mr. Hildenbiddle was a man of excellent repute 
and for many years figured Cjuite prominently 
in the public afl:'airs of the various localities in 
which be lived. In early life he was an active 
supporter of the Democratic party, but at the 
breaking out of the great Civil war he changed 
his political views and from that time to his 
death was an unswerving Republican. He 
was a devout member of the Reformed church 
and lived a faithful Christian life until called 
to the church triumphant at the ripe old age of 
eighty-two. dying in the year 1881. Before 
her marriage the wife of John Hildenbiddle 
was Miss Mary Binkley. She bore him nine 
children, six of whom survive, namely : Re- 
becca, wife of Daniel Smith, of Marshall coun- 
ty, Indiana : Leah, wife of Adam Gibb, of Can- 
ton : Amanda, widow of the late Jefferson 
Rank, of Canton : ]\Iary, who married Andrew 
Reese, of Freeburg; Jacob, the subject of this 
sketch : and Henry, who also makes Freeburg 
his home. 

Jacob Hildenbiddle was boni on the pa- 
ternal homestead in Ximishillen township. 
Stark county. March 6, 1843. His early ex- 
periences included the usual routine of farm 
work of summer seasons \-aried by a few 
months attendance each winter at a school 
taught in an old log cabin, which had been used 
for educational purposes since the early settle- 
ment of the counti^'. Young Jacob made the 
most of his opportunities, but at best his in- 
tellectual training was limited as his time was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1067 



needed on the farm. He remained at home un- 
til twenty years of age, at which time he be- 
gan- earning money of his own by running a 
saw-miU, a venture which proved reasonably 
remunerative. In 1871 he abandoned the lum- 
ber business and engaged in agrculture, pur- 
chasing an eighty-acre farm in Washington 
township, to which he took a companion and 
helpmate one year later, October 17, 1872, in 
the person of Miss Jane Packer, a i:ative of Co- 
lumbiana county, and daughter of Michael 
Packer, who moved to the county of Stark in 
1866. Michael and Catherine (Pentz) Pack- 
er were natives of Pennsylvania, and Mrs. 
Hildenbiddle's grandfather, John Packer, cami? 
from the Keystone state to Ohio in an early 
day, locating southeast of Alliance, and dying 
on the farm where he settled. T^Iichael Packer 
lived on the old homestead until 1866, when 
he moved to Washington township. Stark 
county, where he died. June 17, 1872. his wid- 
ow surviving until July 4, 1886. They had 
one son, Addison, who died ]May 17, 1877. 

During the ten years following his mar- 
riage Mr. Hildenbiddle cultivated his farm with 
encouraging results, but in 1881 disposed of 
the place at a good figure and two years later 
purchased his present farm of one hundred and 
ten acres, situated a short distance north of 
Louisville. As an enterprising and progres- 
sive agriculturist Mr. Hildenbiddle has long 
enjoyed distinctive precedence and that he made 
a success of his chosen calling is attested by the 
comfortable fortune which enabled him to re- 
tire from the farm in 1894 and take up his resi- 
dence in Louisville. Since moving to the vil- 
lage he has devoted his attention principally 
to buying and selling wool, handling live stock, 
not as a means of accumulating wealth, but 
rather to afford him something to do. having 
always been accustomed to an active and busy 
life. However, he has made his present busi- 
ness quite successful and from it and the pro- 
ceeds of the farm he recei\'es an income which 



adds -^-ery materially to the handsome compe- 
tence now in his possession. 

Politically Mn. Hildenbiddle is a Republi- 
can, with a tendency towards prohibition, hav- 
ing long been an uncompromising foe of the 
liquor traffic, which he looks upon as the great- 
est curse of the land and the crying evil of the 
da}^ He is a member of the Reform church 
and for eight years has held the office of dea- 
con in the congregation worshipping at Louis- 
ville. Unostentatious in character, his cour,'- 
teous manner, genial disposition and genuine 
wortli, have endeared him to all with whom he 
mangles, and he is justly recognized as one of 
the estimable and resourceful men of the com- 
munity in which he resides. 

Mr. Hildenbiddle owns one of the hand- 
somest pri\'ate residences in Louisville and he 
has not been sparing in furnishing his home 
with the comforts and conveniences which make 
life so pleasant and agreeable. Mr. and Mrys. 
Hildenbiddle have had two children, one of 
whom is living, namely : Homer, a draftsman 
in the employ of the Morgan Engineering 
Works. 



STEPHEN SCHELL.— Joseph Schell, 
the subject's father, was born about the year 
1 82 1 in Columbiana county, Ohio, and lived 
there imtil 1853, when he came to Stark coun- 
ty, where the remainder of his life was spent. 
In his younger days he worked at the shoe- 
maker's trade, but after coming to this part of 
the '^tate he purchased a farm of two hundred 
acres in Washington township and from that 
time until his death devoted his attention to the 
pursuit of agriculture, in connection with which 
he also did considerable in the way of con- 
tracting throughout the county, and also ran 
a saw-mill, adding very materially to his in- 
come from this source. He early took an act- 
ive interest in public and political afifairs and 
became considerable of a politician, having been 



io68 



OLD LANDMARKS 



one of the Republican leaders in Stark for a 
number of years. He was elected in i860 to rep- 
resent the county in the lower house of the 
general assembly and made an honorable rec- 
ord as a legislator, having been chosen his own 
successor in 1862. He served with distinction 
in the fifty-fourth and fifty-fifth general as- 
semblies and made a reputation in which his 
constituents felt great pride. He was justice 
■of the peace for a number of years and in addi- 
tion thereto held several minor local positions, 
in all of which he discharged his duties with 
credit to himself and to the satisfaction of the 
public. The maiden name of Mrs. Joseph 
Schell was Anna M. Fryfogle; she was born 
in Maryland in 1822 and when quite young 
was taken by her parents to Columbiana county, 
Ohio, where she grew to womanhood and mar- 
ried. She bore her husband nine children, and 
departed this life in 1897, at the age of seventy- 
five; Mr. Schell died on the 15th day of June, 
1866. Of the nine children boni to this excel- 
lent couple the following are now living : Ste- 
phen, of this review; Elizabeth, wife of Henry 
Shaffer, of this county; Abigail, wife of Caleb 
■Oyster; Perry, and Ella, who married D. M. 
Calement, the last three living in the city of 
AJliance. 

Stephen Schell was born in Knox township, 
Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 3d of April, 
1846. He remained on the home farm as his 
father's assistant until seventeen years old, 
when, with tnue patriotic fervor, he entered the 
service of his country, enlisting June 14, 1863, 
in Company A, First Ohio Heavy Artillery. 
Shortly after that date he went to the front, 
but two months later, with one hundred and 
five others of his command, was sent to John- 
son's Island in charge of a light battery. He 
remained at that place until the close of the 
■war and saw no active duty further than the 
usual gun practice and daily drill. Mr. Schell 
received his discharge on the 5th of August, 
1865, at Camp Dennison, and immediately 



thereafter returned home and resumed the pur- 
suit of agriculture on the home place. After 
his father's death he took charge of the farm 
and managed it two years, at the expiration of 
which time he entered the employ of the Cleve- 
land & Pittsburg Railroad as brakeman, a posi- 
tion he held for a period of thirteen months. 
Severing his connection with the road, he made 
an extensive tour through Indiana, Illinois, 
Iowa and other states, at the conclusion of 
which he returned to Columbiana county 
where, on the 15th of June, 1871, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Sallie Knoll, a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania, and daughter of Jacob 
Knoll. 

During the three years following his mar- 
riage Mr. Schell farmed on rented land, but in 
1875 he purchased a small place of forty acres 
in Knox township, Columbiana county, which 
he cultivated with fair success until changing 
his residence, in 1888, to the town of Home- 
worth, in the same county. Mr. Schell lived in 
that village about two years, when he disposed 
of his interests there and in 1890 moved to his 
present home in Louisville, Stark county, where 
he has since been doing a prosperous business, 
handling buggies, all kinds of vehicles, farm- 
ing implements, etc., in addition to which he 
also has considerable lumber interests. Since 
locating in Louisville Mr. Schell has built up 
a large and lucrative trade, both in the lines of 
goods handled and in lumber and is now one 
of the most enterprising and successful busi- 
ness men of the town. He has been a con- 
spicuous figure in the public affairs of the com- 
munity, taking an active interest in whatever 
concerns the well being of the town. Mr. Schell 
is a pronounced Republican in his political be- 
lief, but he has never permitted his name to be 
used in connection with public office, having 
no aspirations in that direction. He is a firm 
believer in Christianity and for a number of 
years has been a faithful and devoted member 
of the Reformed church, in which he now holds 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1069 



the office of deacon. Fraternally he belongs to 
the Grdnci Army of the Republic, being a char- 
ter member of George D. Harter Post No. 
555, at Canton. Mr. and Mrs. Schell had, one 
child, a daughter by the name of Sylvia, who 
died some years ago. 



T. CLARKE MILLER, M. D., is the son 
of James and Margaret (Miller) Miller, the 
father a native of North Ireland, the mother 
born and reared in Pennsylvania. By occupa- 
tion James Miller was a tiller of the soil. He 
came to the United States many years ago, and 
spent the greater part of his life in Pennsyl- 
vania, dying in Ohio about 1882 at the age of 
eighty-six. James Miller's father was Samuel 
Miller and his wife was the daughter of Rich- 
ard Miller, who was a soldier during the 
war of the Revolution. Samuel and Richard 
Miller were natives of Ireland or Scotland. 
The original ancestors of both were Scotch, 
and the characteristics of that race have been 
very pronounced in their descendants to the 
present day. 

Dr. T. Clarke Miller was born in Butler 
county, Pennsylvania, on the 17th day of July, 
1842, and spent the first fifteen years of his 
life in his native state. About 1857 he ac- 
companied his parents to Iowa, but three years 
later returned to Pennsylvania, locating at 
Pittsburg, where in 1861 he enlisted in Com- 
pany F, Ninth Pennsylvania Infantry, which 
formed part of the Reserve Corps organized 
by special act of the general assembly, the state 
having already furnished more than its full 
quota of troops. Dr. Miller gave three years 
to the service of his country and took part in a 
number of the most noted battles of the Vir- 
ginia campaigns, in one of which, Fredericks- 
burg, he received a slight wound, otherwise he 
escaped injury or capture. At the close of the 
war he returned home and at once began pre- 



paring himself for the profession which he 
had previously decided to make his life work. 
His literary education, aside from the common 
school course, was obtained principally in the 
town of Dayton, Pennsylvania, and he began 
reading medicine with Dr. M. L. Miller, of 
Blairsville, Pennsylvania, subsequntly studying 
for some time under the direction of Dr. W. J. 
Scott. After spending about the usual time 
with private instructors, he entered the College 
of Physicians and Surgeons at Cleveland, from 
which institution he was graduated in 1867, 
being one of the three highest in a class of thir- 
ty. On receiving his degree Dr. Miller opened 
an office at Newberg, Ohio, then a suburb of 
Cleveland but now included in the city limits- 
as the eighteenth ward, and there practiced for 
a period of two years. At the expiration of 
that time he removed to the city proper. Dr. 
Miller conducted a general practice in Cleveland 
during a residence there of fave or six years, 
and removed at the end of that time to Mas- 
sillon. While in Cleveland he served four 
years as coroner of Cuyahoga county and was 
also a member of the board of pension ex- 
aminers in that city from 1878 to 1884 in- 
clusive. Since the year 1887 he has been 
health officer of Massillon, aside from which' 
he has held no public positions. He is identified 
with the various medical societies of the city, 
county and state. 

Dr. Miller was married, in 1868, to Miss 
Mary A. Culbertson, daughter of Isaac and 
Mary (McChesney) Culbertson, a union 
blessed with five children, of whom three sons 
are living, namely: Charles Rush, Thomas 
C. and Clarke C. Charles R. was educated in 
the School of Applied Sciences in Cleveland 
and at the present time is engaged as a mining 
engineer in West Virginia; Thomas, who also 
attended the above institution, is a member of 
the corps of civil engineers in the city of Cleve- 
land, and Clarke is likewise doing engineering- 
work in the state of Indiana. 



1 070 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ELI WALKER, retired farmer and one of 
the oldest native-born citizens of Nimishillen 
township, is the son of Matthias and Ehzabeth 
(Baughnian) Walker, the father a native of 
Pennsylvania, the mother born in Ohio. Ja- 
cob Walker, father of Matthias, was also a 
Pennsylvanian and spent the greater part of his 
life in Somerset county. Later he joined his sons 
in Stark county, Ohio, and passed the remain- 
der of his days on a farm in Paris township, 
dying here many years ago at a ripe old age. 
When a young man of eighteen Matthias Walk- 
er, accompanied by his brother Jonas, left their 
home in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and 
journeyed to Stark cijunty, Ohio, for the pur- 
pose of improving a quarter section of land in 
the township of Paris which the father had 
purchased from the government a short time 
before. The country was new at the time and 
until their arrival not a stick of timber had been 
cut from the tract on which the brothers settled. 
After hastily constructing a rude log cabin they 
addressed themselves to the more formidable 
task of clearing and otherwise fitting for culti- 
vation an area of sufficient magnitude to pro- 
vide them with the necessities of life, prepara- 
tory to their further labor in the forest. In 
due time a small field was cleared and sown in 
wheat, which, harvested the following year, 
furnished breadstuff for the entire family, the 
father and the rest of the children having the 
meantime joined the two brothers in their wil- 
derness home. Jonas Walker subsequently re- 
turned to Pennsylvania, but Matthias, having 
married, moved from the original purchase to 
an eighty-acre tract in Nimishillen township 
which his wife had received in a dowry from 
her father. To this place he afterwards added 
until his farm contained one hundred and forty- 
eight acres, the greater part of which was 
cleared and brought to a high state of cultiva- 
tion. Matthias Walker was a true type of the 
strong, rugged pioneer of the olden time, and 
experienced all the hardships and vicissitudes 



of the period in which he lived. Like the ma- 
jority of early settlers, he was possessed of 
strong convictions politically and religiously 
and never hesitated to express his opinions fear- 
lessly upon these two important subjects. He 
was a Jacksonian Democrat of the old school 
and as such took an active and prominent part 
in the early campaigns of the county, having 
been to some extent a leader of political thought 
in his immediate neighborhood. The Lutheran 
church represented his religious creed and he 
lived a faithful and conscientious Christian life 
to the end of his days. To Matthias and Eliza- 
beth Walker were boj'n five children, of whom 
the following are living at this time; Eli, the 
subject of this sketch, Albert, a well-known 
citizen of this county, and Matthias, whose 
home is in the village of Osnaburg. 

Eli Walker was born in Nimishillen town- 
ship on the 24th day of March, 1833, and has 
made Stark county his home ever since. Reared 
on a farm when the country was comparatively 
new. his youthful years were spent amid a 
round of toil in woods and fields and he early 
learned to appreciate honest endeavor at its 
true value. He grew up a strong and sturdy 
young man, assisting his father during the 
spring, summer and part of the fall seasons, and 
in winter time attended school a few months in 
the old-fashioned log school house. Young 
Walker remained under the parental roof un- 
til attaining his majority and it was not un- 
til his twenty-second year that he began 
life for himself as a farmer on the pa- 
ternal homestead. In 1856 he took to himself 
a wife and helpmate in the person of Miss 
Catherine Julliard, who was brought to the 
L'nited States when three years old by her par- 
ents, John and Annetta Julliard, who were 
among the well-known residents of Paris town- 
ship. Mr. Walker continued agricultural pur- 
suits on the home farm until 1864, when he and 
his brother-in-law, George Julliard, purchased 
in partnership the Julliard homestead in Paris 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 07 1 



township, consisting of one hundred and fifty 
acres. One year later the subject moved to 
this place, but after residing about one year 
thereon sold his interest in the farm, also eighty 
acres in Osnaburg which he had previously pur- 
chased, and invested the proceeds in a fine farm 
of one hundred and twenty-two acres in the 
township of \Vashington. Moving to the last 
named place, he at once inaugurated a system 
of improvements which soon made it one of the 
best cultivated farms in the county, also one of 
the most valuable of its area. He took high 
rank as an energetic, progressive agriculturist, 
obtained the largest possible results from the 
time and labor expended and by adopting mod- 
ern methods kept ]jace with the times in e\-ery- 
thing relating to agricultural science. 

Mr. Walker lived in Washington township 
for a period of twenty-three years, during which 
time, by successful management and well di- 
rected thrift, he succeeded in accumulating a 
sufficiency of worldl}' wealth to enable him to 
turn his farm over to other hands and seek that 
rest and quietude to which he was so much en- 
titled; accordingly, in i88g, he rented his place 
and removed to Louisville, where, in a beautiful 
home supplied with all the comforts and con- 
\eniences calculated to make life desirable, he 
has since been living in honorable retirement. 

Mr. Walker is a close observer and keeps 
himself fully informed on the great public 
questions and political issues of the day. He 
is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party, 
and as such was elected the trustee of Washing- 
ton township, in which capacity he served one 
term of two years. Since taking up his abode 
in Louisville he has been three times elected 
trustee of Nimishillen township, his long con- 
tinuance in the office attesting the confidence of 
the people in his integrity and business abilitv. 
Religiously he subscribes to the Lutheran 
cliurch and since uniting with the church his 
daily life has been in harmony with the faith 
which he professes. Personally Mr. Walker is 



one of the highly esteemed citizens of this com- 
munity, his name being synonymous with all 
that is upright and honorable in manhood. Mrs. 
Walker has been her husband's adviser and ear- 
nest co-laborer m all of his endeavor and not a 
little of his financial success is due to her judi- 
cious counsel and active assistance. She also 
belongs to the Lutheran church and is a humble 
and zealous Christian, deeply interested in re- 
ligious and benevolent work, and proves by her 
actions the genuineness and great value of ap- 
plied Christianity. Mr. and Mrs. Walker have 
five children : Olena, wife of Frank Auer, of 
Louisville; Elenora, widow of the late Curtis 
Wilson, of Canton; Ida, who married Elmer 
Lilly, of Alliance; Mary Augusta, wife of J. D. 
Lovett, proprietor of the Union Pacific Hotel, 
Cheyenne Wells, Colorado, and Wilda, who 
is still a member of the home circle. 



W1LLLA.M MYERS is descended pater- 
nally from an old Pennsylvania family, and 
maternally from equally and respected ancestors 
whose genealogy is traceable to an early period 
in the history of Maryland. John Myers, 
father of the subject, was born in Pennsylvania, 
in 18 1 6. and when a child of four years was ta- 
ken by his grandfather to Stark county, Ohio, 
from whence he subsequently moved to the 
county of Summit, where he is now living at the 
advanced age of eighty-six. His wife, Mary 
Middlekauff, was born in Maryland in 1821, 
and, as the name indicates, her family was of 
German origin. .She bore him ten children, of 
whom five are living, and departed this life 
in the year 1887. John Myers was reared a 
farmer, and followed that calling in Wayne 
county until acquiring a competence, since 
which time he has lived a life of retirement. 
A man of great firmness and strength of will, 
he has long been an influential citizen, and his 
character and integrity have been such as to 
command the approbation of the people among 



I072 



OLD LANDMARKS 



whom he hves. In poHtics a straightout Demo- 
crat, with the courage of his convictions, and in 
every relation a man of sterhng worth, he may 
be taken as a conspicuous type of a class only 
too rare in this day and generation. William 
Myers, whose name introduces this review, is 
the fifth of the ten children constituting his 
father's family, and he dates his birth from 
the 31st of March, 1851. He first saw the 
light of day in Wayne county, and his early 
experiences on his father's farm was helpful 
in laying the foundation of a vigorous physi- 
cal growth, and the development of a well 
rounded character. Reared to habits of toil 
and thrift and trained in the school of practical 
experience, he was early taught to rely upon 
himself, a lesson very thoroughly learned, as 
his subsequent career abundantly demonstrated. 
In his younger days Mr. Myers received about 
the usual amount of intellectual discipline in 
the common schools, and at the age of twenty- 
frve years began farming for himself in his 
native county, where he continued to reside un- 
til 1876, when he moved to the county of Stark. 
He now owns a beautiful place of eighty-three 
acres in Tuscarawas township, which by well- 
directed industry has been greatly improved in 
fertility and productiveness, comparing favor- 
ably with any farm of a like area in that part 
of the county. Mr. Myers is a typical agricul- 
turist, and pursues his vocation with an interest 
and zeal which never fails of liberal financial 
results. He is an ardent supporter of the Demo- 
cratic party, but has never aspired to public 
honors nor disturbed his quiet by partisan strife 
having no ambition for the former, nor any 
taste for the latter. Mr. Myers' married life 
began November 30, 1875, when he was joined 
in wedlock to Miss Mary E. Bender, of Wayne 
county, daughter of Daniel and Mary (Mc- 
Davit) Bender, both parents natives of Penn- 
sylvania. The family circle at this time, ex- 
clusive of Mr. Myers and wife, consists of 
three sons, John C, Daniel W. and Adrian G., 



each of whom combines in his physical and 
mental make-up many of the excellent char- 
acteristics for which the parents are distin- 
guished. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN FETROW 
was born in York county, Pennsylvania, on the 
22d of July, 1 814, being a son of Andrew and 
Phoebe (Speakman) Fetrow, the former of 
whom was born in York county and the latter 
in I-ancaster county, that state, where both fam- 
ilies were founded in the early colonial epoch. 
In the year which marked the birth of the sub- 
ject of this sketch they left their native state 
and came to Stark county, Ohio, which was at 
that time a sylvan wilderness, the white settlers 
being few and usually far distant one from an- 
other. In this county Andrew Fetrow pur- 
chased four hundred and eighty acres of land 
and instituted the work of reclamation, while 
here he passed a number of years under the 
primitive pioneer conditions, though he event- 
ually returned to his native state of Pennsyl- 
vania and passed the closing years of his life 
in Cumberland county, where he died. In 
1 83 1 his widow, in company with her children, 
came again to Ohio, locating in Wayne coun- 
ty, where she continued to reside until she was 
sum.moned into eternal rest, in 1838, at the 
age of fifty-seven years. In 1849 her son Ben- 
jamin F., the immediate subject of this re- 
view, who had been reared and educated partly 
in Pennsylvania and partly in Ohio, came to 
Sugar Creek township, this county, where he 
effected the purchase of three hundred and six- 
teen acres of land, the greater portion of which 
was reclaimed under his supervision, while by 
his earnest and indefatigable efforts he accum- 
ulated a competency, becoming the owner of 
one of the best landed estates in this section of 
the county. He has presented to each of his 
children a farm and one thousand dollars in 
cash, and this fact signifies not only his finan- 




MR. AND MRS. B. F. FETROW. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1073 



cial status, but also his deep paternal atl'ection, 
indulgence antl solicitude. When he arrived 
in Wayne county, this state, his capitalistic re- 
sources were summed up in the amount of 
twenty-five cents, and this he expended for 
food for his mother. He has been the archi- 
tect of his own fortunes and is particularly de- 
serving of that proud American title, a self- 
made man. For twenty-two years he followed 
the blacksmith trade to a greater or less ex- 
tent, later conducted a profitable business as a 
drover, while his acti\-e identification with the 
agricultural industry extended over a longf pe- 
riod of years. He was formerly associated 
with Austin A. Hay in the general merchandise 
business in Beach City, his former partner 
likewise being one of the honored pioneers of 
this section and one of whom specific mention 
is made on another page of this volume, and 
for about four years he was also engaged in the 
buying and shipping of grain. From these 
simple statements it is apparent that Mr. Fet- 
row has been distinctively a man of afifairs, 
while as a citizen he has ever been true to duty, 
aiding in all good works for the benefit of the 
community and retaining the unqualified es- 
teem of all with whom he has come in contact. 
In politics he was originally arrayed in sup- 
port of the Whig party, and as such had the 
privilege of voting for W^illiam Henry Harri- 
son for President, while he identified himself 
with the -Republican party shortly after its 
organization and as a stalwart adherent of the 
same cast his ballot in support of Benjamin 
Harrison for the presidency, thus endorsing 
both the grandfather and grandson, both of 
whom won honorable places in the history of 
the nation as chief executives of its govern- 
ment. He was for a number of years incum- 
bent of the office of township supervisor, and 
was shown other marks of popular confidence 
and esteem. IMr. Fetrow has ever ordered and 
guided his life according to the teachings of the 
lowly Nazarene, having been a member of the 

67 



church since he was fifteen years of age. While 
a resident of Wayne county he was affiliated 
with the Methodist Episcopal church, but upon 
coming to Stark county he identified himself 
with the United Brethren church, of which he 
has ever since been a zealous and devoted mem- 
ber, while he has ever been liberal in his sup-, 
port of religious work, in which connection it 
may be appropriately stated that he has con- 
trilnited more than two thousand dollars to- 
ward the erection of diiYerent churches. All 
of his children are likewise members of the 
United Brethren church, and thus have not de- 
parted from the faith in which they were so 
carefully and conscientiously reared, while 
their mother was likewise a signally earnest 
member of the church, as is also the present 
wife of our subject. Mr. Fetrow has eighteen 
grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchil- 
dren and all are members of the same church 
with which he has so long been itlentified, the 
United Brethren. During the entije period of 
his residence in Stark county, covering more 
than half a century, the subject has been a con- 
stant subscriber to the Canton Repository, one 
of the oldest papers in the county. He is at 
the present time the owner of three hundred 
and sixteen acres of valuable land in Stark 
county, while he also owns a quarter section of 
land in Floyd county, Texas. He is revered 
as one of the patriarchs of the community, and 
in the golden evening of his days is solaced by 
the esteem of a host of friends. 

C)n the 26th of September, 1837, Mr. Fet- 
row was united in marriage to Miss Emaline 
Harris, who was born in Wayne county, this 
state, a daughter of Warren Harris, one of the 
sterling pioneers of that county, and of this 
union five children were born, of whom three 
are yet living, namely: Jane, who is the wife 
of Henry Read, a successful farmer of Sugar 
Creek township. Stark county; Ellen, who is 
the wife of George Howard, who is engaged in 
farming in Stark county; and William D., who 



1074 



OLD LANDMARKS 



is a representative farmer of Sugar Creek 
townsliip. The devoted wife and mother was 
summoned into eternal rest on the iitli of 
December, 1887, at the age of seventy-two 
years, and on the 26th of December, 1888, Mr. 
Fetrow married Mrs. Mary (Freeman) Low- 
rey, who was born in Wayne county, this state, 
and whose tirst husband, Henry H. Lowrey, 
was killed in the war of the Rebellion. 



JACOB DUPONT is a native of Stark 
county, Ohio, born in Marlborough township 
on the 15th of December, 1845, being one of 
three children whose parents were John and 
Margaret (Giant) Dupont. John Dupont and 
wife Avere born in Belford, France, and there 
grew to maturity and married. Shortly after 
their marriage they came to the United States 
and settled in Stark county, Ohio, purchasing 
a small farm of forty acres in Mulljerry town- 
.ship, on which they lived until the father's 
death, in 1847. He was accidentally killed by 
falling from a barn which he was building, 
being in the very prime of life when the ac- 
cident occurred. Of his three children two 
are living, the subject of this review and Rose 
A., who married Andrew Schoffin, of Canton. 
Some time after the death of John Dupont his 
widow married a second husband by the name 
of John B. Cunion, by whom she had five 
children, namely : August, a resident of Louis- 
ville ; Peter, who manages the home farm ; 
Jane, a sister in a convent at New Bedford, 
Pennsylvania; Louise, wife of Fred Blockler, 
of Middlebranch, Ohio, and Amelia, wife of 
Samuel De Vaux, a liveryman of Louisville. 

Jacob Dupont spent the first twelve years 
of his life at home and then, owing to circum- 
stances over which he had no control, was 
obliged to begin the struggle with the world 
upon his own responsibility. He earned his 
first wages as a farm hand, and in this way 
worked until his seventeenth year, meantime 



as opportunities aii'orded attending the district 
schools of his neighborhood. Abandoning 
farm labor, he secured employment in a brick 
yard in Canton, and during the ensuing four 
years devoted the summer seasons to this kind 
of work, spending the winter months as a coal 
miner. In 1867 he came to Louisville and for 
about nine years thereafter was in the employ 
of Nicholas Merley, who operated a large brick 
yard, the subject during the interim becom- 
ing familiar with every detail of brick making 
as well as obtaining a practical knowledge of 
business affairs. 

With a laudable ambition to rise above 
the common level of a mere wage earner, Mr. 
Dupont, in 1876, with liis brother August 
and a Mr. Landon, formed a partnership for 
the manufacture of brick, which, under the 
name of the Centennial Brick Company, soon 
proved a most fortunate and well paying vent- 
ure. As originally organized the firm did a 
thriving business for about three years, at the 
expiration of which time Mr. Merley, the sub- 
ject's former employer, purchased Mr. Lan- 
don's interest and as thus constituted the com- 
pany continued six years, meanwhile extend- 
ing the scope of its operations until becoming 
one of the leading concerns of the kind in the 
county. The name adopted at the time of Mr. 
Merley's admission was that of Merely, Du- 
pont & Company, and by such it continued to 
be designated until the clay supply became ex- 
hausted, when Mr. Dupont disposed of his 
share in the plant and purchased a fourth in- 
terest in the Stoneware and Tile Company of 
Louisville, the transaction being consummated 
in 1885. I\Tr. Dupont was identified with the 
latter enterprise about four years, at the end 
of which time the company sold out their 
interest in Louisville and established a plant at 
Brazil, Indiana, under the name of the Brazil 
Brick & Pipe Company, the object of which 
\vas the manufacturer of all kinds of fire bricks, 
tiling, glazed under-ground brick, conduits, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1075 



and various other articles of a similar charac- 
ter. Mr. Dupont looked after the management 
of the Brazil enterprise and in due time suc- 
ceeded in establishing quite a large business, 
which he conducted with success and financial 
profit for a period of seven years, at the ex- 
piration of which time he sold out to his 
partners and in 1897 returned to Louisville, 
where he has since lived a retired life. During 
the many years in which he was connected 
with the brick and tile industry he served in 
the capacity of superintendent or foreman and 
the burden of the business management in- 
variably rested upon his shoulders. In no 
instance did be fail to meet the high expec- 
tations of his associates, all of whom acknowl- 
edged their indebtedness to him for the 
measure of success which crowned their joint 
efforts as manufacturers and business men. At 
this point it would be almost tautological to 
enter into a series of statements to the intent 
of showing Mr. Dupont a man of broad in- 
telligence, progressive ideas and public spirit, 
as these have been shadowed forth between 
the lines of this review. A man of marked 
individuality and great force of character, to 
which may be added soundness of judgment, 
executive ability of a high order and a shrewd 
knowledge of men, as well as of the principles 
governing business transactions, he has been 
able to manage successfully large interests and 
realize therefrom the greatest possible results. 
In politics he is a Democrat, believing 
thoroughly in the principles of the party as 
a party of the people, and being ever ready to 
labor in its behalf or make sacrifices for its 
success. He served two terms in the town 
council and as a member of that body dis- 
charged his duty with a view of the munici- 
pality in every respect. Religiously Mr. Du- 
pont was born and reared a Catholic and he 
has always lived within the pale of the Holy 
Church, being loyal in his allegiance to its 
doctrines and traditions and faithful to its 



divinely appointed precepts. As an obliging 
neighbor and faithful friend, few men in Ninii- 
sliillen township are held in as high personal 
esteem as Mr. Dupont. 

Mr. Dupont has a comfortable home in 
Louisville, where he is now living, free from 
the cares which so long attended him during 
his active business career. His domestic ties 
have been of the most pleasant and agreeable 
nature and he looks forward to many peaceful 
years in which to enjoy the fruits of liis in- 
dustry and thrift. He was married on the 
4th day of May, 1871, to Miss Sophia Jordan, 
of Stark county, a most estimable lady who 
has proven a faithful wife and true helpmate 
in all the terms imply; she has borne him two 
children, John, superintendent of the Brazil 
Clay Works, Brazil, Indiana, and Clara, now 
the wife of Frank Liscke, of Louisville. 



ROBERT D. BRADLEY, son of Edward 

and Mary (DeRome) Bradley, was born May 
13, 1848, in the old historic city of Preston, 
Lancashire, England, and there spent the first 
sixteen years of his life, the meanwhile receiv- 
ing a fair educational training in the public 
schools. While a mere youth he entered the 
cotton mills of his native place, where he was 
employed several years, and by close economy 
he succeeded in saving while thus engaged suffi- 
cient money to pay his way to the United 
States, for which country he sailed when a lad 
of only sixteen. Taking passage at Liverpool, 
lie arrived in due time at New York, and from 
that city went to Portage, Wisconsin, where 
for several years he was employed in a sash, 
door and blind factory as stationary engineer. 
While at Portage he was married, in 1871, to 
Miss Carrie Davis, a sister of his present busi- 
ness associate, and two years later resigned his 
position there and went to Allegheny, Penn- 
svlvania, where he accepted a similar post in 
the Crawford Malleable Iron Works. After 



10/6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



running the engine in the latter estabhshment 
for a period of eight years and saving a snug 
sum of money, he went to Kansas and invested 
his means in cattle and hogs, which venture 
at the expiration of three years proved finan- 
cially disastrous. Disposing of what interests 
remained in his possession, Mr. Bradley, in 
1882, came to Canton, Ohio, and during the 
ensuing four years held a subordinate posi- 
tion with the Whitman & Barnes Manufactur- 
ing Company. His valuable services were in 
due time recognized by his employers, and by 
successive promotions he ultimately reached the 
position of assistant superintendent, in which 
capacity he continued at Canton for a period of 
seven years. \Vhen the company finally moved 
their works to Akron, he was made the superin- 
tendent at that place, and as such discliarged his 
duties three years, the meanwhile developing 
rare efficiency and skill in the line of his work 
and continually adding to his reputation as an 
able, far-sighted business man and manager of 
important intersts. 

Severing his connection with his employers 
at Akron, in 1894, Mr. Bradley returned to 
Canton, and four years later, in partnership 
with Edwin Davis, began in the manufacture 
of seamless rubber goods, a line of industry 
with which he has since been identified. Messrs. 
Bradley and Davis began their enterprise on a 
small scale, establishing the business in a part 
of the subject's home on East Williams street, 
on the site now occupied by the large brick 
building in which the firm carries on its ex- 
tensive and steadily increasing operations. The 
growth of the business from its modest begin- 
ning more than met the highest expectations 
of the founders and within a short time it was 
found necessary to remove it from the original 
quarters into a building of enlarged propor- 
tions; accordingly, in 1899, the brick edifice 
as noted above was erected, but the demands 
of the trade continuing to increase, an addi- 
tion of the same size was built the following 



year, making the plant as it now stands one 
hundred and ten by fifty feet in area and three 
stories high. The building is furnished with 
the latest and most approved machinery and 
appliances for the manufacture of the differ- 
ent lines of goods with which the firm supplies 
the market, a large force of skilled artisans is 
given employment, and the enterprise has rap- 
idly come to the front as the leading industry 
of its kind in Canton, and as one of the most 
important of the city's many industrial es- 
tablishments. 

Mr. Bradley has traveled extensively in- 
the interest of the business^ visiting all the 
leading commercial centers in the United States 
and Canada, establishing wherever he has gone 
a lucrative trade, and his efforts on the road 
have done much to establish and strengthen 
the high prestige the firm now enjoys. The 
firm of which Mr. Bradley is the head manu- 
factures a number of articles never heretofore 
put upon the market, several of which are the 
result of his own inventi\ e genius and mechani- 
cal skill. Among these devices is an improved 
rubber bottle, for which he has received letters 
patent, and he was also among the first to make 
a seamless rubber tissue finger-cot, and prob- 
ably the first to introduce the justly noted 
seamless rubber glove, for which there is such 
a large and constantly growing demand. Re- 
cently Mr. Bradley made an extensive tour 
through England, Ireland, Scotland, and other 
countries of Europe, during which he com- 
bined business with pleasure, as he established 
agencies for the sale of his goods in many of 
the leading cities, in addition to re-visiting tha 
scenes of his childhood and renewing acquaint- 
ances with his friends and companions of for- 
mer years. Although leading a very busy and in 
many respects an exacting life and experienc- 
ing his full share of the difficulties which arise 
in the career of nearly every successful man, 
it must not be inferred that Mr. Bradley has 
been so immersed in his own affairs as to lose 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1077 



sight of his obHgations to the community as 
a citizen. Interested in all that is calculated 
to benefit his fellow men, materially, educa- 
tionally and morally, his influence has always 
been exerted in the right tlirection and from 
what he has accomplished in the various ave- 
nvies in which his talents have been employed 
it is easy to see that his duties to the public 
liave not been neglected. 

In politics Mr. Bradley is a Republican, but 
lie has been too busy to mingle much in party 
affairs, or to distract his attention with any 
official aspiration. He is a Mason of high stand- 
ing, belonging to chapter, commandery and 
Lodge of Perfection, in all of which he mani- 
fests an abiding interest, and the principles of 
which enter very largely into his life and to a 
great extent govern his deahngs with his fel- 
low citizens. His personal relations are of 
the most pleasant and agreeable character, and 
■socially, with his estimable wife, he enjoys the 
•esteem and high regard of a large circle of 
friends in the city of his residence and in other 
places where known. 



WILLIAM MAXHEIMER, retired far- 
mer, and one of the old and venerated citizens 
of Tuscarawas township, was born August 26, 
181 8, in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, being 
the son of Christian and Nancy Maxheimer. of 
the same county and state. As the name indi- 
cates, the Maxheimer family is of German ori- 
gin, and its first representati\'e in America was 
■the subject's grandfather. William Maxheimer. 
who came to the United States in a ver\- early 
day, and spent the remainder of his life in 
Franklin county, Pennsylvania. Christian 
Maxheimer was reared to manhood in that 
county, and there married Xancy Crider, whose 
ancestors were also among the early settlers in 
the western part of the state. About the year 
1820 Christian Maxheimer moved his family to 
Stark county, Ohio, setthng in Tuscarawas 



township, where he purchased land, cleared and 
developed a good farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres, and in due time became one of 
the leading agriculturists and substantial citi- 
zens of the community. For many years he 
was quite an active politician of the old Whig 
school, later became a pronounced adherent of 
the Republican party, and by reason of his 
sound sense and excellent judgment was chosen 
trustee of his" township, which office he held as 
long as he permitted himself to be re-elected. 
In early life he became an expert cabinetmaker, 
and he used his mechanical skill after coming 
to Stark county by making various articles of 
household furniture for the early settlers, al- 
though his principal occupation was that of a 
tiller of the soil. Religiously he was a member 
of the United Brethren church, to which com- 
munion his wife also belonged, and as earnest 
and devoted Christians both used their best en- 
deavor to bring up their children in the way 
they should go by early implanting in their 
minds and hearts the correct principles by which 
their own lives were directed and controlled. 
Mr. Maxheimer died in 1885, at the age of 
eighty-eight, his wife preceding him to the 
silent land in 1870, when seventy-two years 
old. Of their eight children only one is living 
at the present time, \^'illiam. the subject of this 
review. Mrs. William Alaxheimer was the 
daughter of George Crider, who, as stated else- 
where, was among the early residents of .Stark 
county, moving his family to what is now Tus- 
carawas township, as long ago as 18 19. His 
descendants are still living in the community 
where he originally located, and are numbered 
among the most enterprising, intelligent and 
upright people of this section of the state. 

Reverting to the ],>ersonal history of W'il!- 
iam Maxheimer, it is learned that he was a child 
of about two years when his parents changed 
their abode to the county of Stark, and since 
1820 he has lived in Tuscarawas township, 
meanwhile prospering in temporal things and 



I078 



OLD LANDMARKS 



establishing a reputation for industry, honor 
and integrity which has made him widely and 
favorably known as a man and citizen. The 
early life of Mr. Maxheinier on his father's 
farm tended to develop a strong and rugged 
physique and in the rough school of experience 
he learned the lesson of practical industry and 
honorable endeavor, which later inured so 
greatly to his advantage in the accumulation 
of material wealth and in the forming of a 
sturdy, manly character. With willing hands 
and decided purpose he assisted his father until 
such a time as it became necessary for him to 
engage in the struggle of life for himself, and 
it was then that he decided, after mature de- 
liberation, to devote his time and energies to 
the ancient and honorable calling of agricul- 
ture. When twenty-two years old he began 
tilling the soil upon his own responsibility, and 
continued the same with a large measure of suc- 
cess until the accumulation of an ample com- 
petence, and the infirmities incident to advanc- 
ing age, induced him to forego further activity 
and seek in a life of retirement the rest, recrea- 
tion and quietude which his long and arduous 
struggles so well entitled him. He has always 
been greatly interested in organized means for 
promoting the farmer's vocations, and to him 
as much as any other man is due the credit of 
establishing upon a firm and permanent ba'si? 
the Agricultural Society of Stark county, in 
the organization of which he was an influential 
factor. The initial meeting of the society was 
held on the Samuel Crider farm in Tuscarawas 
township, and among tliose present was iVIr. 
Maxheimer, who presided over the delibera- 
tions. From that occasion to the present time 
he has been untiring in his efforts to promote 
the interests of the org;mization, and that it 
has been a success and fully met the purposes 
for which intended is as much due his labors 
in its behalf as those of any other individual. 
In matters politic Mr. Maxhenner was a Whig, 
and as such wielded an influence for the party 



in his community until it went out of existence, 
after which he became an uncompromising sup- 
porter of its successor, tjhe Republican party. 
It was his privilege to cast a vote for Gen. Will- 
iam Henry Harrison, or "Old Tippecanoe," as 
he was then called, for President, and later 
supported for the same high oflice the hero's 
grandson, Benjamm Harrison, of Indiana, be- 
ing a great admirer of the two distinguished 
men. He has never entertained any political 
aspirations, contenting himself with voting his 
principles, and working in the interest of the 
ticket. He has long been a friend of educa- 
tion, and as a member of the school board he 
has done much to foster and keep alive an 
interest in intellectual training in the township 
of Tuscarav.'as. Owing to circumstances over 
which he had no control, his early education 
was considerably limited. Realizing the value- 
of education in a free country, where the sov- 
ereign power is vested in the masses, he has 
done all within his power to diffuse knowledge 
among the people of his own community to- 
the end that they might become intelligent,^ 
broad-minded citizens with a proper apprecia- 
tion of the responsibilities resting upon them 
as members of the body politic. 

The married life of Mr. Maxheimer dates- 
from April ii, 1844, when was solemnized the 
ceremony which united him in the bonds of 
wedlock with Miss Elizabeth Cole, a native of 
Jefferson county, this state. Five children have 
been born to this union, the oldest of whom, 
Cecelia, is the wife of Nathan Moftitt, whose 
sketch will be found elsewhere in this volume. 
Clarinda, the second, married L. P. Slusser,. 
and is the mother of two children, Rollin and 
William. Franklin, the third child and oldest 
son of the family, married Miss Miller, of 
Wooster, Ohio, and has offspring as follows: 
William, Stella, Florence, Benjamin, Glenn, 
Ray and Perry. Clara, tiie fourth in order of 
birth, is not living. After her comes Sheridan, 
the youngest of the family, who took a wife in 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



to79 



the person of Miss Laura Oberlin, whose old- 
est child, Mary E., died in the year 1902. Mr. 
and Mrs. Maxheimer lived a happy married 
life of fifty-seven years' duration, when the 
union was terminated by the death of the lat- 
ter, who entered unto rest August 3, 1901, at 
the age of seventy-five. She was a devoted 
companion and faithful help-mate, a loving and 
indulgent mother, and lier long residence in the 
community endeared her to all with whom she 
associated. Mr. Maxheimer occupies a high 
position in the estimation of his acquaintances 
and fellow citizens, and stands among: the sub- 
stantial men of his part of the county. 



CLATON F. BREMER, farmer and auc- 
tioneer, one of the best known citizens of Tus- 
carawas township, is a native of Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, where his birth occurred 
on the 19th of September, 1864. The Bremers 
have figured in the annals of Lancaster county 
from a very remote period, the subject's grand- 
father, Jacob Bremer, having been born there 
in the year 1793. Susan Eshbaugh, who be- 
came the wife of Jacob, was also a native of the 
county of Lancaster, born on the 27th dav of 
August, 1796. Just when the ancestors of this 
couple settled in • Pennsylvania is not known, 
but it is supposed to have been early in the 
eighteenth century, as both names are familiar 
in various parts of Lancaster county and con- 
sidered as belonging to the early familieg of 
that part of the state. Jacob Bremer reared a 
family of twelve children, and departed this 
life in 1862. Of this large family there are but 
two living representatives, David and Mattie. 
David Bremer was born in Lancaster count\-. 
Pennsylvania, January 29, 1837, and when a 
young man married Miss Hattie Furgeson, 
whose birth occurred in the same county No- 
vember 27, 1 841. Mrs. Bremer is the daugh- 
ter of Abram Furgeson, who was born in the 
county of Lancaster in 1829, and who is still 



living at the ripe old age of ninety-two years. 
His wife, who bore the maiden name of Susan 
Green, first saw the light of day in 1818, and 
died in her native state of Pennsylvania in the 
year 1884. To this old couple were born nine 
children, and it is a rather remarkable fact that, 
with the single exception of the mother, death 
has not invaded the family circle. David Bre- 
mer has devoted his life to agricultural pur- 
suits, and at the present time has a small but 
beautifully situated and exceedingly fertile 
farm, about four miles west of Massillon, in the 
township of Tuscarawas. He is now serving 
his third term as county trustee, and during the 
last thirty-tiiree or thirty-four years his name 
has become quite widely known as a pubhc auc- 
tioneer, a capacity in which he has achieved 
distinctive success. David Bremer and wife 
are the parents of quite a large family, thir- 
teen in all, whose names are as follows : Susan, 
the oldest, married C. S. Hartman, of Stark 
county, and is the mother of two children, 
Sadie and Fannie, the former deceased ; Emma, 
the second in order of birth, is the wife of H. 
B. Sweigart, of this county; Martin was born 
in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, received his 
education in the public schools in Massillon, 
and for some years has been in the employ of 
Sonhalta Brothers, leading merchants of Mas- 
sillon. Fie married, June 22, 1892, Miss Ida 
Wiclit, v\-ho has borne him two sons, Ralph F. 
and Harold M. ; Claton h'., the subject of this 
review, is the fourth of the family, and after 
him comes Simon F., who married Miss Ma- 
linda Wericli, a union resulting in three sons, 
Edward, Earl and Willard; following Simon 
is Lillie, wife of Samuel Wenger, of Wayne 
county, this state, who has borne her husband 
children as follows: Emma B., deceased, 
Harry, Murrell, and Floyd. Abram, the sev- 
enth in succession, married Pearl Werich, and 
is the father of twin sons, Roy and Ray ; David, 
the eighth of the family, married Miss Ada 
Baer, the union being blessed with a son by 



io8o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the name of Raymond ; John is also a married 
man, and is tlie father of one child, Gladys, 
whoFe mother was formerly Miss Nora Miller ; 
Ferres, the tenth of the children, married Miss 
Bertha Brinkcr, a union without issue : the 
three young-est, Edward, Ester and Lottie ]\'I., 
are still with the parents. The early life of 
Claton F. Breiner was spent on the home farm, 
and at the ]iroper age he entered the district 
school of his township; not ending the same 
until in his teens. Unlike the majority of 
country youths, he l)egan life for himself at 
quite an early age, entering when but fifteen 
years old upon his career as a public salesman, 
which, in connection with agricultural pursuits, 
he has since followed with most encouraging 
success. As a farmer he is careful and methodi- 
cal, as the one hundred and fifty-five acres 
which he culti\'ates abundantly attest, and that 
he has been fortunate in his business afTairs gen- 
erally is demonstrated by the many evidences 
of material comfort which he has provided for 
himself and those dependent upon him. As 
an auctioneer ]\Ir. 13remer has few equals and 
no superiors in this part of the state. With a 
natural fluency of language, which enables him 
to set forth the favorable qualities of articles 
ofYered for sale, is coml^ined a thorough knowl- 
edge of value and soundness of judgment in 
matters of business, both facts being greatly to 
his own advantage as well as to the interest of 
the parties whose property he disposes of at 
public venue. Politically he is one of the lead- 
ing Republicans in his township, and in public 
affairs he has always been deeply interested, 
taking an active part in all measures for the 
material advancement of his township and 
county, and giving a generous support to every 
enterprise for the niorrd and social good of 
the community. 

Mr. Bremer was married August 8, 1891, to 
Miss Emma Hollinger, of Canal Fulton, a 
union blessed with one child, Howard C, wliose 
birth occurred on the 13th day of June, 1901. 



Above all other considerations Air. Bremer is a 
man of marked domestic tastes, being devotedly 
attached to his wife, his child and his home. 
In the family circle he finds his chief happiness 
and all his interests ajjpear to cluster around the 
fireside. Mrs. Bremer is a lady possessed of 
qualities which ha\-e retained not only the love 
and affection of her immediate household, but 
als(.i the grateful appreciation of all aa ho know 
her. 



JOSEPH .STIBBS PIARFER was born in 
Canton in 1839. Canton was then only a fair- 
sized village. l)ut the fact that it was the capi- 
tal town of a rich and populous county enabled 
it to put on an air of some importance. Jo- 
seph's father, Isaac Harter, was one of the 
early settlers. He first kept a country store, 
and then established a ver}' successful bank. 
His father came from Germany. Joseph's 
mother was of Irish-English stock. 

The earlier schools of Canton were of a 
liigh order. In these Joseph, who was the old- 
est child, received an excellent elemental edu- 
cation. Although of a Protestant family, he 
received his elementary education in St. Peter's 
(Catholic) school. In practical matters he 
profited largely in his father's store. Many of 
its patrons were Germans — he learned Ger- 
man. A considerable number were French — 
he learned French. He became a ready extem- 
poraneous speaker, being just as fluent in cor- 
rect German as in English. Tliese things show 
the tireless aggressiveness of his mental nature. 
Physically he was a little above the average 
height, and he was in every respect a very strik- 
ing personality, ha\"ing been noted for his manly 
beauty. After leaving the Canton schools he 
spent two years in the Aliami University. Fol- 
lowing upon that he entered the junior class 
at Kenyon College, at Gambler, and college 
records, in both institutions, put him in the 
front rank. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1081 



When the war of the Rebellion broke out 
the subject was at Kenyon. He dropped his 
books and enlisted in the Nineteenth Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, one of the first Ohio regi- 
ments, being made up largely of Canton men. 
He v/as first lieutenant of Company A. through 
the three-mondis campaign in West Virginia. 
At tlie end of its first term, the Nineteenth, re- 
sponding to President Lincoln's proclamation. 
prepared to reorganize for a three years' cam- 
paign. Conscious of his ability to do so, young 
Harter resolved to enlist a company and go to 
the front with the rank of captain. But in this 
project he was confronted by a mot her" s veto — 
a veto having behind it, as supporting factors. 
Iris youth, his unfinished college term ; also a 
another's solicitude — perhaps a presentiment. 
Mrs. Harter was one of the kind of mothers 
one reads about in the biographies of men of 
mark ; a mother whose counsels were heeded. 
She realized the country's danger and its need, 
but probabl}' she hoped for the early peace that 
Secretary Seward had predicted. She pro- 
jiosed a compromise. If Joseph would finish his 
college course, which would be in the follow- 
ing June, he should be free to do as he wished. 
And so young Harter went back to "serve out 
his time." Some of his classmates lived to be- 
come men of note. One was Edward Stanton, 
son of Lincoln's famous war secretary. An- 
other was James S. Kilbourne, of Columbus, 
a man who has won very honorable distiriCtion. 
Speaking of Joseph Harter at college he re- 
marked : "His was the quickest and strongest 
mind in our class, and he gave promise of 
greater distinction in future life than any mem- 
ber of the class." And his old regiment, the 
Nineteenth, had also gone back to the front, 
and had passed through tiie fiery flames of 
Pittsburg Landing and Corin.th, on the west. 
And the North had made the awful useless 
sacrifice of its thousands and tens of thousands 
at Malvern Hill and Manassas in the east. And 



then, just in the nick of time, only a few days 
after Joseph's graduation, came President Lin- 
coln's third proclamation. The first was for 
seventy-fi^■e thousand three-months men; 
young Harter had been one of these. The sec- 
ond, May 3, 1 86 1, was for five hundred thou- 
sand men for three years, to which call over 
seven luindred thousand responded. Tbe third, 
Julv 2, 1862, was for three hundred thousand 
men ; more than four hundred and fifty thou- 
sand entered the ranks. One of the new Ohio 
regiments recruited under this call was the One 
Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantry, Tlie muster-roll of the One Hundred 
and Fifteenth, announced on September 19, 
1862, gave the first official information of the 
new step Mr. Harter had taken, as follows : 
"Company E, ninety-eight men ; captain, Jo- 
seph S. Harter; first lieutenant, J. J. Mohler; 
second lieutenant, George Ilershey." One of 
the names printed on this muster-roll was that 
of Corpora! George D. Harter, a younger 
brother of Joseph. He rose to the rank of 
captain, and lived to be mustered out in July, 
1865, at the end of the war, after a most honor- 
able term of miiitar}- service. Prior to his 
death, which occurred in 1890, he had come 
to be recognized as one of the most useful and 
prominent citizens of Canton. When the com- 
panies destined for the One Hundred and Fif- 
teenth had been nearly filled they went into a 
camp that had been established at Massillon in 
the early nart of August, 1862. The One Him- 
dred and Fourth Regiment, which had reached 
its limit a little earlier, was already in camp 
there. Both regiments were largely from Stark 
county. Captain Harter had aimed to enter 
his company in the One Hundred and Fourth, 
but he had been somewhat handicapped. Be- 
fore his college term had ended other companies 
had been getting together in anticipation of 
the new proclamation, and these often com- 
prised men who would liave been quick to en- 



1082 



OLD LANDMARKS 



list with him. By the time his complement 
had been renched the One Hundred and Fourth 
was full. 

The year succeeding the episode at Camp 
Massillon was far the most eventful in the en- 
tire history of the American republic. During 
that year the names of Murfreesboro, Vicks- 
burg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga and Chatta- 
nooga had been deeply graven on the tablets 
of the nation. Little wonder that an enemy 
whose sturdy valor and power was equal to a 
survival fro)n such mighty conflicts should fill 
the land with very grave apprehension. That 
such an enemy should have many sympathizers, 
and e-\'en well-wishers, in the North, was by no 
means surprising. Even in Stark county cer- 
tain districts were peopled by considerable num- 
bers who entertained such unpatriotic views. 
During the occupation of Camp Massillon a 
government draft was also in progress for the 
purpose of equalizing the burdens of war, by 
compellmg recalcitrant townships to furnish 
their quota of soldiers for the national defense. 
The malcontents were not without a form, of 
organization, and their cause was zealously and 
openly championed by a Canton newspaper. 
Emboldened by the departure of the regiments 
from Camp Massillon, the Southern element 
called a meeting of anti-draft sympathizers at 
the county seat. The speakers at that meeting 
were arrested and imprisoned and the refract- 
ory townships had to bring in their quotas, 
which ended the movement for the time being. 

An event of unusual local interest was a re- 
view of the One Hundred and Fourth and One 
Hundred and Fifteenth Regiments by Gov- 
ernor David Tod. Governor Tod, who had 
been a conspicuous defendei- of southern poli- 
cies before the war, had espoused the Union 
cause with great ardor. The Governor and 
Captain Harter were ver}- close friends, and it 
was. hoped that the fervid appeal sure to be 
made by a chief executive with such antece- 
dents would be of avail in giving a new im- 



pulse to the support of the national cause in 
this part of Ohio. The attendance was enor- 
mous, and the effect of the demonstration was 
mostly salutary. 

It may be said, incidentally, that, a few 
months later, Clement L. Vallandigham, being 
candidate for the office of governor, became a 
champion of the southern cause of national re- 
pute. An order was issued for his arrest and 
deportation beyond the military lines and into 
the companionship of his rebel friends. On his- 
way south, and while he was in Cincinnati, 
Captain Harter had the custody of his person. 

Three days before the One Hundred and 
Fifteenth left Camp Massillon it received a visit 
from Mr. Isaac Harter. fatlier of the Captain. 
He was the treasurer of the Canton city bounty 
fund, and, in that capacity, he handed to each 
soldier from Canton the sum of fifty dollars. 
The boys had pledged their time, with the risks 
of war, for three years at thirteen dollars per 
month, and this send-off by their home friends, 
at the hand of Mr. Harter, was a graceful act 
and was gratefully appreciated. 

The One Hundred and Fifteenth was trans- 
ferred from Camp Chase to Cincinnati early in 
October. In those days Cincinnati and Louis- 
ville were really border cities. Rebel advances 
c.nd guerrilla tactics necessitated a large pro- 
tecting force, of which the new regiment con- 
stituted part. Later on the regiment was 
divided into two battalions ; the first, under 
Colonel Lucy, was stationed at Maysville, Ken- 
tucky, the second, comprising Captain Har- 
ter's company, was commanded by Lieutenant- 
Colonel Boone and remained in Cincinnati. Be- 
tween the gieat armies south of the Ohio river 
and the sources of supplies north of the river 
the collecting, guarding and forwarding of men 
and supplies constituted a vast work and one 
that could be entrusted only to men of the high- 
est order of ability and trustworthiness. The 
battalion of the One Hundred and Fifteenth at 
Cincinnati was thus engaged during more than 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1083 



it5; first year of service. Ten months of this 
service had ah-eady elapsed when a telegram 
lo his family announced that Captain Harter 
had been seriously wounded. The dispatch was 
dated August 24, 1863. He died two days af- 
terward. In regard to tlie immediate circum- 
stances of his death, and what followed, it will 
be more satisfactory to quote from an article 
printed at the time, in the Canton Republican 
of September 3, 1863, as follows: 

The obsequies of Captain Joseph S. Harter, of 
Company E, One Hundred and Fifteenth Regiment, Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, were held in this city on Saturday, 
August 29, 1863- His remains were interred in the new 
cemetery. The military escort was the most imposing 
ceremony of the kind ever beheld here. Captain Ball's 
company, in uniform, formed the main escort. A squad 
of thirteen of Captain Harter's men also followed the 
hearse. The pall-bearers were commissioned officers. 
Colonel Manderson, of the Nineteenth Ohio, conducted 
the military exercises. A very long procession of rela- 
tives and friends also followed the remains to their 
last resting place. 

The wound of which Captain Harter died can not 
be attributed to carelessness. On the evening of Mon- 
day, the 24th ult., a number of officers were assembled 
at the headquarters of Colonel T. C. Boone. The latter 
ordered his acting adjutant to get him his revolvers. As 
they were being taken down from where they hung one 
of the revolvers dropped from the holster and fell on 
the floor, striking on the cock and discharging the 
pistol. The ball pierced Captain Harter through the 
body, inflicting a wound of which he died on the morning 
of Wednesdaj-, August 26, 1S63. Deceased was twenty- 
four years of age, and was a young man of most unusual 
promise. The peculiarly distressing circumstances of 
his untimely death have enlisted the most earnest sym- 
pathy for his grief-stricken parents and relatives. 

He was among the first to volunteer in this county. 
He served in the old Nineteenth Ohio Volunteer Infan- 
try, a three-months regiment, in West Virginia, first 
as orderly, then as lieutenant in Company A- Last sum- 
mer he raised the company he has since commanded. By 
the unanimous testimony of the officers and men of the 
One Hundred and Fifteenth he has always acquitted 
himself nobly and he has commanded their unbounded 
respect and confidence. Especially and most deeply do 
the members of his own company regret their heavy 
loss. They begged the privilege of escorting home his 
remains, and at their own expense — a request that the 
officers in command deemed it impossible to grant. 

The commissioned officers of the regiment passed 
the following "Testimonial of Respect:" 



Headquarters Battalion iisth O. V. I., 

Cincinnati, O., August 26, 1863. 

At a meeting of the commissioned officers of the 
battalion of the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio Vol- 
unteer Infantry, stationed in this city, of which Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel T. C. Boone was chairman and Captain 
H. R. Hill secretary, the following resolutions, proposed 
by a committee consisting of Major H. B. Johnson, 
Captain A J. Ware and Lieutenant T. W. Saxton, were 
unanimously adopted : 

First. Resolved, That we, the officers of the One 
Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, have 
just learned, v/ith the deepest emotions of sorrow, of 
the deatli of our highly respected fellow officer. Captain 
Joseph S. Harter, of Company E of this regiment. 

Second. Resolved, That Captain Harter, by his 
indefatigable attention to duty, his patriotic ardor, his 
genial manners and his manly character, had endeared 
himself to all. 

Rssolved, That we warmly sympathize with the 
family of the deceased, who, by this dire dispensation of 
divine providence, lose a beloved son and brother, this 
regiment a faithful and efficient officer, and the govern- 
ment one of its most willing and ardent supporters. 

The esteem in which the deceased captain 
had been held was evidenced by the official ac- 
tion of all the civic, social and military bodies 
with which he had been connected, and in terms 
indicative of a keen appreciation of the loss 
that had befallen his friends and his country. 

Had Joseph S. Harter lived until now 
(1903) this w^ould be his sixty-fourth year. In- 
to the mind of the friend of his youth who has 
thus endeavored to present to contemporary 
readers the outlines of a most precious life that 
was ruthlessly exacted by an incident of the war 
in defense of his country, there comes this query ; 
What might have been his career had he been 
spared ? That career seemed to be just at the 
turning point. He was known to have been 
impatient of the service in which he had been 
occupied and to have expected an advancement. 
In fact, on the very day of his death a letter 
from the secretary of war, summoning him to 
Washington, came to his address. What hon- 
ors might so gifted a man have aspired to, 
what high places reached in military, and sub- 
sequently in civil life. 

"Vain queries," "vain thoughts," you say. 
Not so vain as you may think. Can the lesson 
of such an example to the men of the republic 
e\er be lost — the example of a youth who. 



1084 



OLD LANDMARKS 



though favored I)y e\'ery fortune, heard the 
very first cry of liis country's distress, and who 
shouted back: "Here am I; send me!" If he 
culled no laurels from the battle field, he, none 
the less, gave the great sacrifice upon the altar 
of his country. He did his best, gave his all, 
gave his life, to perpetuate liberty, and to show 
future generations how to live and die for free- 
dom and native land. 



JOHN L. WARSTLER.— The family of 
which Mr. W'arstler is an honorable repre- 
sentative came to Stark county in an early day 
and figured conspicuously in the pioneer his- 
tory of Plain township. His grandfather. 
Christian Warstler, a native of Pennsylvania, 
moved his family to that part of the county 
in 1804, when the settlers were few and far 
between and entered a section and a half of 
land, which subsequently became one of the 
highly improved and valuable tracts of real 
estate in the township. Christian Warstler 
was a man of gi-eat energy and marked force 
•of character and well endowed mentally and 
physically for the rugged duties of the pioneer 
period. He cleared and de\ eloped a fine farm, 
took a leading part in the general improve- 
ment of the country and left the impress of 
"his strong personality deeply impressed upon 
the community which he assisted to establish. 
He became one of tlie large land owners and 
representative agriculturists of the county and 
lived to a good old age, departing this life 
December 26, 1858, in his eighty-eighth year. 
His family consisted of a wife, one son, Dan- 
iel, and a daughter, Margaret, both of whom 
were born before the parents moved to the new 
home in the wilds of Stark county. 

Daniel Warstler was born September 24, 
1804, in Pennsylvania, and was about three 
years old when the family removed to Ohio, 
lie grew to maturity amid the stirring scenes 



of pioneer times and began life for himself 
as a tiller of the soil, inheriting at his father's 
death the large tract of real estate which the 
latter originally purchased from the govern- 
ment. Like his father, he too became an in- 
iluential factor in the material development of 
the country and for many years was recognized 
as one of the most intelligent, progressive and 
public-spirited men of the township in which 
he lived. As a farmer he took high rank and 
as a business man his judgment and sound, 
practical sense caused his advice to be eagerly 
sought by his fellow citizens in matters of 
business and in the adjustment of differences, 
tluis saving them much unnecessary and ex- 
]>ensive litigation. When a young man he 
married Miss Catherine Lind, who was born in 
Maryland on the 21st day of September, 18 10. 
She bore him eleven chddren, six of whom sur- 
vive, and died at her home in Plain township 
December 7, 1S83, at the age of seventy-three 
years. Daniel Warstler also lived to a good 
old age, departing this life later in the "eight- 
ies," honored and respected by the people 
among whom he had so long been a leader in 
temporal affairs. The following are the names 
of the children of Daniel and Catherine Warst- 
ler, now living: John L., whose name intro- 
duces this article: Christian^ a farmer and 
prominent citizen of Plain township; Aaron, 
who lives in the town of New Berlin; David 
and Daniel, also residents of Plain; and Levi, 
who makes his home in Louisville. 

John L. Warstler was bom in Plain town- 
ship. Stark county, Ohio, December 30, 1835, 
and grew to young manhood in close touch 
with nature on the paternal homestead. He 
was reared to habits of industry and his mind 
early received those correct impressions \\hich 
had such a decided influence in shaping his 
character and directing his life into proper 
channels. At intervals he attended such 
schools as the county afforded, but in the main 
his education consists of a large fund of valu- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1085. 



ble practical knowledge, acquired by coming in 
contact with the world in the various business 
capacities that have occupied his attention from 
time to time. 

In the year 1858 Mr. Warstler was united 
in marriage with ^Miss Harriet Essex, of Stark 
county, and immediately thereafter located at 
New Baltimore, where he engaged in the manu- 
facture of lumber upon quite an extensive scale. 
After operating a large saw-mill at that place 
for about four years he purchased a farm of 
one hundred and twenty acres in the same 
township, and during the eight years following 
devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits 
with most encouraging financial results. At, 
the expiration of that time he disposed of his 
place, and for a short time thereafter lived in 
Plain township, subsequently entering the em- 
ploy of D. Lind & Company, of Canton, manu- 
facturers of flour and lumber. After spending 
about one year with that firm he purchased a 
small farm in the township of Nimishillen, 
where he made his home until 1897, when he 
retired from agriculture and took up his resi- 
dence in Louisville. Meantime, 1880, Mr. 
Warstler erected an establishment, a mile east 
of Louisville, for the manufacture of tile and 
rock-faced brick, the first enterprise of the kind 
in this part of the state, and was instrumental 
in bringing the industry up to the large pro- 
portions which it has since assumed. The rock- 
faced brick made at the factory continued to 
grow in favor as a building material until the 
dem^and exceeded the supply, consequently the 
capacity of the establishment was enlarged and 
a greater force of workmen employed. It is 
now one of the leading industries of the county 
and bids fair to grow to still larger pro- 
portions in the future. 

In the spring of 1902 Mr. \Varstler sold the 
old home farm which he had long owned and 
purchased what is known as the Henry Krall 
farm, a fine place of one hundred and sixty-five 
acres admirably situated about four miles north 



west of Louisville. This farm is cultivated 
by a tenant and from it the proprietor receives 
no small share of his income. Mr. Warstler 
conducted his manufacturing interests for a 
number of years, and his name became widely 
and favorably known in industrial circles 
throughout the state. Plentifully endowed 
with that most admirable of all qualities, good 
common sense, supplemented by sound judg- 
ment, keen discrimination, superior business 
training and a thorough knowletlge of the un- 
derlying principles governing business trans- 
actions, he has carried to successful issue every 
enterprise, and has been fairly and honorably 
successful. For a number of years he served 
as school director, and as such was untiring in 
his efforts to advance the cause of education 
and proniote a higher standard of intellectual 
and professional fitness on the part of the teach- 
ing force. Politically Mr. Warstler is a Re- 
publican; while active in supporting his party 
and upholding its principles he has had little 
time to devote to purely partisan affairs, mak- 
ing politics and every other consideration sub- 
ordinate to his business interests. During the 
dark days of the great rebellion Mr. Warstler 
enlisted, May 20, 1864, in Company H, One 
Hundred and Sixty-second Ohio ^''olunteer In- 
fantry, serving until September 4, 1864, when 
he received an honorable discharge. He had 
prior to his enlistment been a member of the 
Home Guards. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Warstler 
has been blessed with three children, namely: 
Glancy, a business man of Middletown, Ohio ; 
Ida R., wife of Henry Preston, of Terre Haute, 
Indiana ; and Leora, who married John R. 
Kagey, of Louisville. Adam Essex, the father 
of Mrs. Warstler, came to Stark county when 
a boy, his father, Simon Essex, having been 
one of the pioneers of Plain township. The 
name has long been familiar, and those bearing 
it have been among the county's most reputable 
and enterprising citizens. 



io86 



OLD LANDMARKS 



JOSEPH COLEMAN is a native of Eng- 
land, born on the 4th day of July, 1823, at a 
place called Laken Heath. His father, William 
Coleman, was born and reared in the same 
town, as was also his mother, who bore the 
maiden name of Bailey. The subject's pa- 
ternal grandfather was William Coleman, a na- 
tive of England. Joseph Coleman spent his 
childhood and early youth at or near the place 
of his birth, and when ten and a half years old 
was brought by his parents to the United States, 
making the journey to this country in 1834. 
The family landed at New York, and from that 
city proceeded to Dundas, Canada, thence about 
one year later to the city of Hamilton, in the 
same province, where they lived for only a lim- 
ited period. From the latter place William 
Coleman changed his residence to Detroit, 
Michigan, where he lived about one and a half 
years, supporting his family during that time 
as a brick mason, which trade the subject's 
older brothers also learned. In the year 1837 
Mr. Coleman moved to Massillon, Ohio, in 
which city he spent the remainder of his life, 
dying here in 1868, at the advanced age of 
eighty-six, his wife having preceded him to the 
other life in 1842 when sixty-two years old. 
Joseph Coleman accompanied his parents to the 
different places in which they lived, the mean- 
time, as opportunity afforded, attending the 
public schools. The greater part of his edu- 
cational training was obtained in Massillon, 
and it was also in this city that he began life 
for himself, engaging in business about the year 
1845 with some financial assistance from his 
brother, every cent of which he repaid before 
the latter's death. Before that time, however, 
he entered the jewelry store conducted by Mar- 
tin A. Withington to learn the jeweler's trade, 
and after becoming a proficient workman and 
obtaining a practical knowledge of business, 
purchased in the above year a stock of goods 
and opened an establishment of his own. Mr. 
Coleman soon secured a liberal share of patron- 



age in his line, and, being a skillful jeweler, it 
was not long until he had more work than he* 
could do. Accordingly he employed assistants 
from time to time and in the course of a few 
years commanded the largest and most lucra- 
tive jewelry trade in the city. He achieved an 
enviable reputation as a sound, practical busi- 
ness man, and by strict attention and well di- 
rected energy succeeded in laying the founda- 
tion of the large fortune which he accumulated 
as the years went by. His establishment was 
not only the largest and most extensively pat- 
ronized of the kind in the city, but its reputa- 
tion became wide spread so that he drew a 
goodly portion of his patronage from other 
places, meanwhile by judicious investments re- 
alizing liberal returns from his surplus capital. 

Mr. Coleman was actively identified with the 
jewelry trade for a period of fifty-six years, 
and his is one of the most successful business 
careers in the history of Massillon. Having ac- 
quired a handsome fortune and becoming weary 
of the pressing cares of business, the latter 
largely superinduced by the natural infirmities 
incident to increasing age, he turned over his 
establishment in 1901 to his son, Albert H., 
and since that time has been enjoying the rest 
of which he had so long stood in need. 

While devoting attention primarily to his 
private affairs, Mr. Coleman has not been un- 
mindful of other enterprises of a business and 
financial nature, having to the extent of his 
ability given encouragement to various interests 
calculated to promote the material welfare of 
the city of his residence. He was one of the 
prime jnovers in the organization of the Union 
National Bank, of Massillon, and, as stated in 
the initial paragraph, served thirteen years as 
president of the same, and is still a stockholder 
in the institution. As president he demonstrated 
executive abilities of a high order, while his 
tlrorough knowledge in all their bearings won 
him honorable distinction in the world of 
finance. A man of ripe judgment as well as 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1087 



profound knowledge, his influence and active 
co-operation did much to make the Union Na- 
tional Bank one of the most reliable and popu- 
lar banks in this part of the state, and the con- 
tinued prosperity which has marked its history 
from ihe beginning to the present time is 
largely due to his sale counsel, wise foresight 
and correct business methods. 

For considerably over a half century Mr. 
Coleman has been an inRuential factor in the 
business and industrial affairs of Massillon, few 
men having been so long identified with the 
city's interests, and none in a more emphatic 
way having impressed his individuality upon the 
community. In every relation of life he has 
commanded the universal esteem of his fellow 
men, having always borne the reputation of an 
intelligent, broad minded, public-spirited man of 
affairs, and an honorable, upright citizen, wJiose 
aim has ever been to promote the general good 
as well as to advance his individual concerns. 

Mr. Coleman's marriage was solemnized in 
the year 1852 with Miss Mary Bender, daugh- 
ter of John Bender, of Pennsylvania, the union 
resulting in the birth of three children, viz. : 
Herbert Bailey, who died in 1893; Anna, wife 
of Edward F. Bahney, and Albert Henry. Mrs. 
Coleman died March 31, 1892. 



LOUIS A. KOONS is the son of Jacob 
and Catherine Koons, the father a native of 
Germany, the mother born and reared in Co- 
lumbiana county, Ohio. When a youth of eight- 
een Jacob Koons left the land of his birth 
and came to the United States, locating at Mas- 
sillon, Ohio, where for a number of years he 
worked in the old machine shop operated bv 
Hart «& Brown. He was an expert mechanic, 
and possessed many excellent traits of charac- 
ter, which won him the admiration and esteem 
of all with whom he came in contact. He de- 
parted this life in 1868, at the age of forty- 
eight years, leaving to his descendants a name 



untainted by the slightest suspicion of dishonor. 
Mrs. Jacob Koons was the daughter of Rev. 
Michael Ruckenbroad, a native of Wurtemburg, 
Germany, and an early settler of Columbiana 
county, Ohio. He came to America when a 
young man, locating hrst in Pennsylvania, 
thence a little later changed his residence to the 
above county, when eastern Ohio was .little 
better than an unbroken wilderness. Fie en- 
tered land and improved a farm, and in connec- 
tion with agricultural pursuits worked at the 
shoemaker's trade, which he had learned in Ger- 
many, and previously followed in Pennsylva- 
nia. In an early day he raised a great deal of 
flax, which he and his good wife manufactured 
into various kinds of fabrics for themselves, be- 
sides supplying wiith wearing material certain 
families of their neighborhood. Mr. Rucken- 
broad was a preacher of the German Baptist 
(or Dunkard) church, and was instrumental 
in organizing the first congregation of that 
faith in the county of Columbiana. His society 
met in a little log cabin which stood on his 
farm, and he ministered to its spiritual neces- 
sities for a number of years, also preaching 'at 
various other places in Columbiana and adjoin- 
ing counties. He lived to a ripe old age, de- 
parting this life in Massillon in his eighty-fifth 
year. Mrs. Catherine Koons died in 1895. Of 
the eight children born to Jacob and Mrs. 
Koons, four sons and four daughters, six grew 
to maturity, and of this number all but one sur- 
vive. One of the sons has in his possession 
an interesting and valuable family relic in the 
shape of an old German Bible, printed in the 
year 1629. The book is in a remarkable state 
of preservation, and contains the family record 
on the maternal side for many generations past. 
Louis A. Koons is a native of Stark county, 
Ohio, and dates his birth from the 27th day 
of March, 1858. He attended the graded schools 
of Massillon until the death of the father, which 
event not only seriously interfered with his 
education but compelled him at the early age 



1088 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of eight years to seek the means for obtaining 
his own hvehhood. Thrown upon liis own re- 
sources when he most needed a fatlier's coun- 
sel and guidance, it is no wonder that his future 
looked anything but promising, and that he 
took such advantage of circumstances which 
then presented themselves shows him to have 
possessed much more than ordinary mental en- 
dowment and determined energy. From eight 
until twelve he assisted his mother by working 
at various kinds of labor, but in the latter year 
he entered the employ of Kelly & Pepper, man- 
ufacturers of brick, with whom he remained 
two seasons, attending school a part of the in- 
tervening winter months. Although the labor 
in the brickyard was exceedingly hard for one 
of his years, he sliowed unusual pluck and per- 
severance, his remuneration of fifty cents per 
day being a great incentixe to continue the 
work until something better presented itsel^. 
When a youth of fourteen, Mr. Koons severed 
his connection with the above firm and accepted 
a clerksliip in a grocery store, m which capacity 
he obtained his first practical knowledge of 
business. Being apt and quick to learn, he soon 
mastered the details of trade, and during the 
two years following became a very thorough 
and efficient salesman. Realizing that a clerk- 
ship had little to offer in the w ay of remunera- 
tion, and desiring- to settle upon something more 
to his liking for a life work, he resigned his 
position in the store at the end of the second 
year, and apprenticed himself to the Russell 
Manufacturing Company to learn the machin- 
ist trade. After spending two years with this 
concern, and becoming cjuite a proficient work- 
man, he gave up his place to accept a much 
more remunerative position in the grocery ana 
queensware house of H. A. Kitzmiller, where 
he continued for a period of three vears, mean- 
time bending all of his energies to learn the 
business, with the object in view of engaging 
in mercantile pursuits upon his own responsi- 
bility. Leaving Mr. Kitzmiller he spent the en- 



suing six years with the firm of Powell & James 
and at the expiration of that time, in the spring 
of 1882, began deahhg in stoves, hardware, 
house furnisiiing goods, building material, etc. 
Mr. Koons embarked in business for himself 
with a limited capital and although at first his 
efforts were modest, it was not long until he 
obtained a liberal share of patronage, and found 
himself on the high road to success. Before 
the end of the second year he had by far the 
largest trade in his line in the city, and from 
that time onward his career was a series of 
continued advancements, which soon gained for 
him a commanding place among the leading 
tradesmen of Massillon and Stark county. The 
better to meet the constantly increasing de- 
mands for the materials handled he effected a 
co-partnership with a Mr. Heiniger, purchased 
a small ten-cent store, which under their com- 
bined efforts soon became one of the largest 
and most successful retail establishments in the 
city. They conducted the business until 1885 
in a room seventeen by fifty feet in area, but in 
the latter year greatly enlarged the capacity 
of the store, besides establishing a branch house 
in Canal Dover, Mr. Keiniger subsequently tak- 
ing charge of the business in that town. Mr. 
Koons gradually increased the stock in Massil- 
lon until the trade assumed \ast proportions, 
and instead of a single room, he was soon 
obliged to provide additional quarters, by fitting 
up three extra departmaits, each of the four 
flours representing thirty-one hundred and 
twenty-five square feet of space, of seventeen 
feet in width by one hundred and twenty-five 
in length. The '"Bazaar," the name Mr. Koons 
gave his store, Vv'as devoted to the retail and 
wholesale trade, the two upper floors containing 
the latter department, the first and second the 
former. Under his successful management the 
house became not only the largest and most 
extensively patronized establishment of the kind 
in Stark county, but one of the largest in the 
state, as the amount of business abundantly 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1089 



demonstrated. In addition to this mammoth 
enterprise, Mr. Koons has been identified with 
various other business ventures, prominent 
among which was the Union Cigar Company, 
organized and incorporated by him in the year 
1 89 1, and of which he was made superintendent 
and general manager. This company started 
out under most favorable auspices, and the 
amount of business transacted may be inferred 
from the fact that in addition to supplying the 
bulk of the local trade, two traveling men were 
kept on the road every working day of the 
year to meet the general demand for the Union 
cigars. Not only in commercial lines has Mr. 
Koons commanded pubhc attention, but in other 
capacities his name has become widely and 
favorably known. He was the leading spirit 
in organizing the Massillon Building & Loan 
Association in 1888, and for several years 
thereafter he served as its secretary, but later 
was obliged to resign the position on account 
of the pressing demands of his business affairs. 
He is still a director in the concern, and much 
of its success is directly attributable to the in- 
terest which he has taken in its behalf. 

In 1898 Mr. Koons sold the "Bazaar," and 
the same year purchased the large wall paper 
and paint store formerly owned by the late J. 
M. Walker. Since taking possession of this 
business he has more then doubled the capacity 
of the house, and made it the largest establish- 
ment of the kind in the eastern part of the 
state. He still owns and manages this large 
enterprise, and as its proprietor occupies a posi- 
tion in the business world second to that of none 
of his contemporaries in Massillon or the coun- 
ty of Stark. 

Mr. Koons' rare judgment and sound busi- 
ness methods have been duly recognized and 
appreciated by his fellow citizens, but a few of 
whom have availed themselves of his services 
in the settlement of estates and the adjustment 
of differences growing out of misunderstand- 
ings concerning property and other causes. He 

68 



has administered on several large properties, 
and having been a notary public for over twelve 
years, his advice on matters of law has been 
especially sought to avoid litigation. From his 
eighteenth year to the present time he has been 
a pronounced Republican and an active worker 
in the party, taking an active interest in local 
and general affairs, and doing much to promote 
the interests of the cause which be has so much 
at heart. He has served as delegate to the 
various city, township, county, congressional 
and state conventions, besides demonstrating 
superior ability as a party leader by his advice 
and generalship while in the county central 
committee, of which he has at different times 
been chairman. 

On the 5th of June, 1900, Mr. Koons was 
appointed postmaster of Massillon, a deserved 
compliment to his fitness for the office as well 
as a graceful recognition of valuable party serv- 
ices. The Massillon office includes, in addition 
to the usual clerical force and free city delivery, 
three rural routes, the services of twenty men 
being required to carry on successfully the busi- 
ness of the different departments. Mr. Koons 
has introduced a number of reforms besides 
making many improvements tending to lessen 
the labor and expedite the business of the force. 
Mr. Koons has never given his influence 
to any movement, public or private, savoring 
in the least of disrepute, his career from the 
beginning having been upright and entirely 
free from the faintest suspicion of wrong doing. 
He has served in various minor official capaci- 
ties, not from a love of office, but to the end 
that he might render his fellow citizens effective 
service in transacting certain important busi- 
ness matters. Among these positions was that 
of township clerk, which he by no means de- 
sired, but which he accepted solely from a sense 
of duty. In 1891 he was elected city clerk, but 
resigned the office within a short time on ac- 
count of the pressing claims of his business af- 
fairs. Upon divers occasions he has been put 



logo 



OLD LANDMARKS 



forward by liis party as a candidate for mayor, 
but as often has withdrawn in favor of his 
friends, having no tlesire to add the duties of 
that office to his already heavy burden of busi- 
ness cares. As ah'eady stated, he has been 
honored with places on the I^epublican city and 
county committees, and at one time served as 
president of the Mclvinley Club, a political or- 
ganization which under his leadership proved a 
potent factor in the last two presidential elec- 
tions. 

Mr. Koons is a Mason, being a member of 
the blue lodge and chapter, in addition to which 
he is also prominently identified with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, having repre- 
sented both fraternities in their annual state 
gatherings. 'J"he I'ythian lodge of Massillon 
has long numbered him among its most zealous 
workers, and he also belongs to the Order oi 
Chosen Friends, of which he is counsellor, .the 
Protective Honte Circle, and the Junior Order 
of United American Mechanics, being a charter 
member of the last named organization. Last 
but by no means least, he is an earnest and 
faithful communicant of the b'irst Christian 
church of Massillon, ;ind as such has led a sin- 
gularly i)ure lil'e. thus i)ro\-ing a tower of 
strength in inducing others to choose the bet- 
ter way. 

The marricil lil'c of Mr. Koons dates from 
1880, in Dcceml)er of which year, in the town 
of Canal Inilton, Miss Caroline Morgan, a na- 
tive of Wales, became his faithful wife and 
loyal, self-denying helpmeet. Mrs. Ivoons is 
the daughter of Thomas Morgan, who came 
to the United States a number of years ago, 
and for a consideral)le length of time ran a 
hotel at the above place. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Koons have been born two children, the older 
of whom, Touis .\., now a young man of 
twenty-one, holds an important position in the 
Merchants' National I'.ank of ^Massillon. 
'Jdiomas Abel, the second son, is a student in 



the city high school, and posessses fine intel- 
lectual abilities, which in due time will doubt- 
les lead him to a career of usefulness. 



JACOB BASH, deceased, late an honored 
citizen and prosperous farmer of Tuscarawas 
township, was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 
the county of Westmoreland in the year 1821. 
His father was Michael Bash, a descendant of 
one of the old families of that county, and his 
mother, who was also born and reared in that 
same part of the state, bore the maiden name of 
Sarah Rugh. These parents were married in 
Westmoreland, there reared their family, and 
their earthly courses being finished, they now 
sleep side by side in the old burial ground, 
where rest the bodies of so many of their an- 
cestors and friends. Jacob Bash spent his early- 
life in the county of Westmoreland, and v>as 
reared to agricultural pursuits, which vocation 
he afterwards followed. He remained in Penn- 
sylvania until 1861, at which time he sold his 
interests there and came to Stark county, Ohio, 
purchasing one hundred acres of land in Tus- 
carawas township, where he spent the remain- 
ing years of his life. He married, in his native 
state. Miss Lavina Huffman, daughter of 
George Huffman, a well-known citizen of West. 
morelantl county, and became the father of five 
children, namely: Martha J., wife of Henry 
Snyder; John 1^. died in childhood; Syblia L., 
who married Prof. Charles M. Smith, a teacher 
in the ])ul)lic schools of Massillon; Jacob L. and 
Reulien H., prosperous farmers in the town- 
ship of Tuscarawas. On coming to this county 
Mr. Bash not only became a successful tiller 
of the soil, but also identified himself with 
every movement that seemed likely to contrib- 
ute to the advantages of the community and 
encouraged all worthy enterprises. Of him it 
luay be truthfully said that the world is lietter 
because of his presence therein. As a neig'hbor, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 09 1 



kind and obliging, as a friend, loyal and trne, 
as a citizen, ever ready to omlnhnte his intlu- 
ence to advance the public welfare, as a hus- 
band and father the embodiment of love and 
affectionate solicitude, he lived well his day, 
and at its close left to his descendanis the 
heritage of a good name and spotless character, 
which they value more than any bequest in the 
way of worldly wealth, lie died at his home 
in Tuscarawas township in the year 18S8, aged 
sixty-seven years, and eleven years later his 
faithful wife and devoted companion was re- 
united to him in the land where loving ties are 
never severed. 

Jacob L. Eash, fourth child of Jacob and 
Lavina Bash, was born June 15, 1865, on the 
paternal homestead in Tuscarawas township, 
and spent the years of his childhood and youth 
amid the peaceful pursuits of farm life. The 
common schools, which he attended at intervals 
during minority, afforded him the means of ac- 
quiring a fair education, and later he began 
making his own way in the world as a tiller 
of the soil, which honorable calling" he has con- 
tinued to the present day, owning at this time 
one-half of the home farm. About ten years 
ago Mr. Bash engaged in prospecting for coal, 
which, in connection with agricultural pursuits, 
he has since followed, meeting with encourag- 
ing pecuniary success in both lines of work. In 
partnership with his younger brother, Reuben 
TI.. he is also interested in coal mining, the two 
having opened and develo])ed a fine mineral 
property on their land in 1900, since which time 
they have realized a large income from this 
source. In June, 1899, Mr. Bash, tendered his 
ser\-ices to the government as a soldier in the 
Spanish-American war, enlisting in the Seven- 
teenth United States Regulars, which in due 
time he accompanied to the Philippine Islands, 
where he experienced all the realities of mili- 
tary duty under conditions by no means pleas- 
ant or agreeable. After three years of faithful 
service he received an honorable discharcfe, and 



then returned home, where he once more took 
ui) the peaceful pursuits of civil life, meeting- 
its responsibilities with the same fortitude that 
characterized his military life and discharged 
its duties as becomes a worthy man and true 
citizen. He has made a decided success of 
agriculture and is equally fortunate in other en- 
terprises, both of which have redounded ma- 
terially to his financial advantage. 

Mr. Bash is a married man and at the head 
of an interesting family of three living children, 
whose names are : Leroy, Clyde and Gleen, the 
oldest, a daughter by the name of Myrtle, hav- 
ing died in infancy. Before her marriage, Mrs. 
Snyder was Miss Anna Rogers, and the cere- 
mony by which it was changed to the one which 
she now bears took place on the 2d of April, 
1888. 



ARTHUR J. HILL, M. D., is a native son 
of the Buckeye state, having been born in Co- 
lumbiana county, Ohio, on the 12th of Octo- 
ber, 1 87 1, and being a son of Hiram F. and 
Adeline (Stackhouse) Hill, all of whose five 
children are yet li\-ing, their names, in order 
of birth, being as follows. Arthur J., who is 
the immediate subject of this review; Ada L., 
wife of J. B. Summer, of Canton; John E., 
who is a baggageman in the employ of the 
Cleveland & Pittsburg Railroad; Jennie, who 
is the wife of Clarence Myers, of Alliance, this 
count)- ; and Laura, who remains at the parental 
home. Hiram F. Hill was likewise born in 
Columbiana county, about the year 1850, being 
a son of Atkinson Hill, who was born in Wash- 
ington county, Pennsyh-ania. being a son of 
Joseph Hill, who was born in Ireland, whence 
he emigrated to America when a young man, 
Ijy reason of the attempt made by his parents 
to compel hini to marry a relative in order that 
a fortune might not pass out of the family 
possession. By reason of his disobedience he 
was disinherited, but he was a man of energy 



1092 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and strong intellectual ability, and after com- 
ing to the United States he accumulated a 
competence and became one of the prominent 
and infiuential citizens of Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, where he passed the remainder 
of his life, and where for a number of years 
he held an important county office. Atkinson 
Hill was reared and educated in Washington 
county, Pennsylvania, and as a young man came 
thence to Columbiana county, Ohio, where he 
was engaged in farming for a number of years, 
after which he established himself in the mer- 
cantile business in New Alexander, that county, 
becoming one of the prominent citizens of that 
section of the state, where he died in 1889, 
when well advanced in years. Hiram F. Hill 
was reared to maturity in Columbiana county, 
and received his early education in the public 
schools. After his marriage he engaged in 
agricultural pursuits, in wliich he has ever 
since continued, having a fine estate of about 
two hundred acres, and being one of the influen- 
tial and honored citizens of his district. For 
nearly a quarter of a century he has given 
much of his attention to the buying and shipping 
of live stock, in which line he now conducts 
an extensive business, being one of the largest 
shippers of cattle in his section. In politics he 
gives his allegiance to the Democratic party. 
The mother of the Doctor was born in Colum- 
biana county, about 1850, being a daughter of 
Benjamin Stackhouse, who is of Welsh descent, 
and is a prominent merchant of East Roches- 
ter, that county, and also the owner of a valua- 
ble coal mine in that locality. Though he is 
seventy-five years of age, he still gives his 
active attention to his business interests, and 
no day is too cold or inclement to prevent him 
from driving out to his mine and give his per- 
sonal supervision to its operation, while he en- 
joys the unequivocal confidence and esteem of 
the community in which so many years of his 
life have been passed. 

Dr. Hill was reared on the homestead farm 



in Columbiana county, and his educational 
privileges in his adolescent days were such as 
were afforded in the district schools and the 
select schools at East Rochester. In 1S90 he 
began reading medicine, and in the fall of that 
year was matriculated in the Western Reserve 
Medical College, in the city of Cleveland, his 
preceptor being Dr. John E. Darby, of that 
place. He was assiduous and energetic in the 
prosecution of his studies, and was duly grad- 
uated in medicine and surgery in the spring of 
1893, receiving his degree of Doctor of Medi- 
cine. Shortly afterward he entered upon the 
active practice of his chosen profession, in East 
Rochester, Columbiana county, where he re- 
mained about four years, within which time 
he had passed the novitiate stage of his pro- 
fession, and clearly established a reputation as 
an able and discriminating physician and sur- 
geon. In the spring of 1897 Dr. Hill came 
to Minerva, where he has succeeded in building 
up a remunerative and representative practice 
and one which shows a constantly augmentive 
tendency. He keeps in constant touch with the 
advances made in the sciences of medicine and 
surgery, recently having added an X-Ray outfit 
to his already extensive equipment. The Doc- 
tor is a member of the American Medical Asso- 
ciation, and among his confreres is recognized 
as an able young practitioner, and is well de- 
serving the success which has attended his ef- 
forts. Fraternally he is identified with Tubal 
Lodge No. 551, Free and Accepted Masons, 
at Minerva, and of Canton Commandery No. 
38, Knights Templar, at Canton. In politics 
he gives his support to the principles and poli- 
cies advanced by the Democratic party. In 
J S98 Dr. Hill completed a post-graduate course 
in the Chicago Polyclinic and the year follow- 
ing took a special course in connection with 
the treatment of the diseases of the eye, in the 
Philadelphia Polyclinic, while he is a constant 
student of the best standard and periodical lit- 
erature pertaining to his profession, and thus 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1093 



keeps fully abreast of the progressive element 
in his profession. 

On the 22d of March, 1893, Dr. Hill was 
united in marriage to Miss Nettie R. Taylor, 
of East Rochester, Columbiana county, where 
she was born, being a daughter of Morris Tay- 
lor, who is there engaged in the hardware busi- 
ness, and who is also general manager of the 
Eastern Ohio Telephone Company, of which he 
was one of the promoters. Dr. and Mrs. Hill 
have one son, Don B., who was born on the 
31st of July, 1894, and one daughter, Helen 
1^., born October 25, 1902. 



DAVID H. BAUGHMAN.— The name 
Baughman is undoubtedly of German origin, 
but of the remote history of the family the 
subject is not thoroughly informed. It is 
known, however, that his paternal ancestors 
came to this country at a very early period and 
settled in Virginia, and it was in that common- 
wealth that his parents, John and Margaret 
Baughman, were born and reared. The maiden 
name of Mrs. Baughman was Margaret Um- 
benower, the pronunciation of which is also 
indicative of Teutonic origin. These parents 
were married in their native state, and some 
years later moved to Cumberland county, Penn- 
sylvania, where they lived until changing their 
abode to Stark county, Ohio, in the spring of 
1834. John Baughman purchased a farm in 
the township of Tuscarawas the year of his ar- 
rival, and continued to make it his home until 
his death, on the 28th day of August, 1849. 
in the eighty-first or eighty-second year of his 
age. His wife survived him until T869, on No- 
vember 18th of which year she was called away, 
after reaching the ripe old age of eighty-three. 

Father Baughman was a man of excellent 
repute, and by diligence and thrift became the 
possessor of a handsome estate, owning at the 
time of his death a good farm of one hundred 
and twelve acres, nearly all of which he cleared 



from the woods and reduced to a successful 
state of tillage. In politics he was a steadfast 
supporter of the Democratic party, and de- 
fended his opinions very tenaciously and la- 
bored earnestly for the success of the principles 
which he held so dear. He began life poor 
in this world's goods, and the property which 
he accumulated was the result of his own labor 
and economy. Of the twelve children born to 
John and Margaret Baughman only three are 
now living, Ellen, Adam and the subject of 
this review. By a previous marriage the father 
had a family of seven children, of whom there 
is no living representative. 

David H. Baughman was born February 17, 
1827, in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and 
was a lad of eight years when his parents moved 
to their new home in the township of Tuscara- 
was, Stark county. Since coming to the place 
where he now lives sixty-nine years have dis- 
solved in the mists of the past, during which 
long period his life and the history of the com- 
munity have been very closely interwoven. Ow- 
ing to circumstances which he could not control 
his early educational advantages were very 
limited, and it is a fact worthy of note that the 
sum total of his schooling did not exceed three 
months. Notwithstanding such a disadvantage, 
he largely made up the deficiency in after years 
by reading and private study, but in the main 
his knowledge consists of the practical kind 
which men of native intelligence and good 
judgment obtain by close observation and con- 
tact with the world in the daily affairs of life. 
To him work early became a paramount rule 
of life and he grew up with a full appreciation 
that true success and individual advancement 
must result from honest effort. Like the true 
son that he was, he gave the best years of youth 
and early manhood to his father's interests, 
working early and late to provide for the sup- 
port of the family, and upon the death of his 
father David took charge of the homestead and 
later came into full possession of the same. The 



I094 



OLD LANDMARKS 



farm is endeared to him by many tender recol- 
lections and hallowed associations, and while 
he lives he will never relinquish its ownership. 
Mr. Baughman followed agriculture with suc- 
cess and pecuniary profit until 1888, when he 
rented the farm, and since that year he has been 
living more of a retired life, though still quite 
a busy man with large interests to look after. 
In bygone years Mr. Baughman was a Demo- 
crat, but becoming dissatisfied with the policy 
of the partv and with what he considered the 
unwise course of its leaders, he finally aban- 
doiTed its principles and became a Rqjublican, 
having decided views on the leading questions 
of the day and being firm and outspoken in the 
defense of his opinions. He has been for some 
years an active worker in the organization 
known as the Patrons of Husbandry, which 
has for its object the promotion of agriculture 
and the bettering of the farmer's social condi- 
tion, being one of the leading members of the 
local Grange, to wdiich he belongs. To say that 
Mr. Baughman is an humble, devout and zeal- 
ous Christian is to state what everybody who 
knows him will most cheerfully testify. He 
has long been a member of the Reformed 
church, and as such labors by word and deed 
to spread the truth of the Gospel among men 
and induce transgressors to abandon the wicked 
ways and seek a higher and better way of liv- 
ing. For over thirty years he has held the office 
of deacon, and about the same length of time 
has served as elder of his local congregation, 
known as the Myers church, in Tuscarawas 
township. 

Elizabeth Bretz, who became the wife of 
David H. Baughman on the 15th day of May, 
1848, was born in Tuscarawas township, Octo- 
ber 13, 1S30. She was the daughter of John 
and Mary (Krider) Bretz, of Pennsylvania, the 
former having come to Stark countv as early 
as 1812, the mother some years after that date. 
The Bretz family were among the first perma- 
nent settlers in what is now the township of 



Tuscarawas, and the Kriders have also been 
represented in this part of the state for a long 
period of time, probably over three-quarters 
of a century. After a happy married life of 
over forty-two years Mr. Krider, on the nth 
day of May, 1891, was compelled to part with 
his !o\'ing and devoted wife, who at that ime 
bid farewell to earth and entered the region of 
the blessed. She, too, was a sincere Christian, 
and it was with a lively hope in the merits of 
her Redeemer that she fearlessly entered the 
valley of shadows, assured of a jeweled crown 
of rejoicing on the other side. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Baughman 
was blessed with twelve children, the oldest of 
whom is Mary E., who married Godfrey Bride, 
by wdiom she has had one child, that died in 
infancy. Sarah, the second in order of birth, 
is the wife of John Walter and the mother of 
seven childrai, Harvey, William. Benjamin, 
Howard, Mary E., John and Abbie, the last two 
twins. Julia A. is also married, being the wife 
of Z. Baughman, to whom she has borne chil- 
dren as follows : Ida, Nora, Mettle, Charles, 
Eva, Albert and Harvey. Benjamin, the fourth 
of the family, married Miss Alice C. Shilling 
and has three children, Carrie, Benjamin E. and 
Blanch. Elizabeth, the next in succession, en- 
tered the marriage relation with Thomas Pat- 
terson and is the mother of one son by the name 
of Thomas. Susan A., wdio married Henry 
Keller, died in Indiana in the year 1890, leaving- 
a husband and four ofifspring, namely : Lottie 
M., Benjamin, Rebecca and Henry H. David, 
the seventh in regular order, chose a wife in 
the person of Miss Orpha Basler and is now the 
head of a family of seven children, Albert, Nel- 
lie, Warren, Care, Benjamin, Ralph and 
Paul. After Da\ id comes Ada, who is the wife 
of Michael Uth and the mother of one son, 
Warren. Annett I. married Charles Stansbury, 
a union which has resulted in the birth of three 
(laughters. Florence, Bessie and Amanda. 
William H., the tenth in order of birth, took 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1095 



to wife Miss Ollie Lonas, daughter of Samuel 
Lonas, whose sketch will be fouud elsewhere 
in these pages. Additional to the above, there 
were two of the subject's children that died 
in childhood, John C. and Eliza. 



HENRY S TONER.— Few families of 
Stark county can claim a longer period of con- 
tinuous residence than the Stoners. As early 
as the year 181 8 there came to this state from 
York county, Pennsylvania, one Andrew 
Stoner, who, with his wife Elizabeth and sev- 
eral children, settled on a tract of one hundred 
and sixty acres in what is now known as the 
township of Tuscarawas, receiving a patent for 
the land from the government. At that time 
there were few white people in the county and 
for a number of years the pioneer family lived 
remote from neighbors, experiencing all the 
vicissitudes, hardships and dangers peculiar to 
the early times. The maiden name of Mrs. 
Andrew Stoner was Elizabeth Mitman ; she 
was the daughter of a Revolutionary soldier, 
who entered the American army at the begin- 
ning of the war and served gallantly until in- 
dependence was achieved. Andrew and Eliza- 
beth reared eleven children, all of whorn have 
long gone to their reward. Among these chil- 
dren was a son by the name of Jacob, who was 
born about the year 1801 in York county, Penn- 
sylvania. Whai a lad of ten years he began 
working for himself and by the time he was 
eighteen he had saved sufficient monev to pur- 
chase a piece of wild land in Stark county, 
Ohio, taking p'jssession of it about the same 
time his father moved to this part of the state. 
He became a successful farmer and, as the vears 
went by, owned a large amount of valuable 
real estate, the greater part of which he cleared 
and otherwise improved. A few years after 
coming to this county he married Miss Mary 
Rodocker, whose father. Frederick Rodocker, 
was one of the earliest pioneers of Stark, hav- 



ing entered a quarter section of land within 
the present limits of Tuscarawas township 
about the year in which the Stoners made their 
settlement. Jacob and Mary Stoner were the 
parents of nine children, namely : Henry, 
Josiah, John, Jacob, Samuel and Lavina, twins, 

Levi, Jerry and L , twins, of whom, John, 

Samuel and Lavina are deceased. The father 
of these children died in 1887, the mother ten 
years previous to that date. 

Henry Stoner, the subject of this sketch, 
was the first born of his father's family. His 
birth occurred April 2, 1829, on the homestead 
in Tuscarawas township and his early experi- 
ence included the usual routine of farm labor, 
varied in the winter time by attendance to such 
schools as were common to this part of the state 
sixty and seventy years ago. His advantages in 
the way of discipline were by no means as favor- 
able as those of today, but he made the most 
of his limited opportunities and in due time 
became quite well informed. Being the oldest 
son, much of the work fell to him, and as long 
as he remained at home he discharged his duty 
faithfully, looking after his father's interests 
with true filial regard. Li the choice of a voca- 
tion AL". Stoner experienced no hesitation 
whatever, as he early decided to become a 
farmer, which resolution he carried out by be- 
ginning work for himself when about thirty 
years of age. VV'ith a tenacity of purpose know- 
ing no interference, he has followed his chosen 
calling to the present day, the meanwhile suc- 
ceeding well as an agriculturist, acquiring by 
industry, forethought and successful manage- 
ment a sufficiency of material wealth to make 
the remainder of his life comfortable and free 
from care. His farm, consisting of ninety-five 
acres of fertile land, is well adapted for general 
agricultural purposes, and b_\- adopting modern 
methods he has ne\'er failed to reap abundant 
.harvests. 

Mr. Stoner's domestic life began in 1853, 
on December id of which year he was united 



1096 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in marriage to Miss Charlotte Culler, a native 
of Stark county, born in 1833 in the township 
of Tuscarawas. Mrs. Stoner is the daughter 
of Jacob and Leah (Poorman) Culler, who, 
like the Stoners, were early in this part of the 
state, both branches of the family coming about 
the same time. Nine children have blessed the 
union of Mr. and Mrs. Stoner, viz ; Adaline, 
deceased ; Marian E. and Loran, twins, the 
former not living; Franklin, deceased; Ida, 
Valentine, Ada and Sheridan. Loran F., the 
fourth in order of birth, married Sarah Mc- 
Tosh, of this county, and is the father of five 
children, Belva, Alma, Beulah, Annie and Ivan. 
Ida is the wife of Frederick Weisgarver, to 
whom she has borne the following sons and 
daughters: Lottie, Hattie, Ola. Ora, Forest, 
Lloyd, Perry, Warren and John. Valentine 
married Miss Jennie Shank; Ada married Jacob 
Weisgarver and has this offspring: Grace, 
Stella and Lola B., the oldest deceased, Sheri- 
dan, the youngest of the family, is also married 
and the father of one child, Glenn H. ; his wife 
was formerly Miss Delilah Suavely, of Stark 
county. Politically Mr. Stoner is a Democrat, 
but he takes no very active part in political 
affairs further than voting his sentiments and 
maintaining the correctness of his opinions, 
when the latter becomes necessary. In matters 
religious he has profound convictions, being a 
zealous member of the Lutheran church, as is 
also his wife. Honorable in business, loyal in 
citizenship, faithful as a friend and neighbor, 
generous in sympathy, and kind and tolerant 
in his home, he holds a warm place in the hearts 
of all who know him. 



MICILAEL D. HARTER was born in 
Canton, Ohio, April 6, 1846. His father was 
Isaac Harter. \\ho was prominently identified 
with the business interests of Canton for many 
years, first as a merchant and afterwards as a 
banker. Young Harter's education was ob- 



tained in the city schools, he never having 
attended any other school or college. After 
leaving the high school he supplemented his 
school training by diligent application to the 
methods and problems arising in his father's 
bank, this lesson of practical, commercial life 
being well learned. 

Mr. Harter was married to Mary L. Brown 
in the year iSog, and to this couple five children 
were born, three sons and two daughters. He 
died in Fostoria, Ohio, February 22, i8g6, and 
was survived by his wife and all his children 
except one daughter. 

Mr. Harter's personality was attractive in 
the broadest and best sense of that term. 
Physically he was a perfect type of manhood; 
his ways were courteous and winning; hi-5 
manner of life, both in social and business 
circles, inspired such a respect for his character 
and such a measure of confidence in his judg- 
ment as few men enjoy. That there is in such a 
character, and inherent to it, another attribute, 
namely the power to largely influence his fellow 
men, is amply demonstrated in Mr. Flarter's 
career. His activities were directed, first to 
business, and subsequently to politics, and to 
these we now direct the reader's attention. 

Impelled by a restless, aggressive energy, 
which was also one of his characteristics, he 
established a bank in Canton in 1866; it is now 
known as the George D. Harter Bank. He was 
only twenty years of age at that time. The bank 
was a success from the start and its prestige 
has never sufTered any impairment. The fol- 
lowing year, 1867, the late Cornelius Aultman, 
of Canton, and Flenry H. Taylor, of Chicago, 
established a large manufactory at Mansfield, 
Ohio, for the construction of threshing ma- 
chinery. Mr. Aultman offered the financial 
management of the institution to Mr. Harter. 
It is rare indeed that such a tribute to ability 
and confidence falls to the lot of so young a 
man, — he was barely twenty-one. From the be- 
ginning of the Aultman-Taylor industry, and 




iSr^.^/y 



o-^^^t^^v^ o^^.^:^^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1097 



during Mr. Harter's life, the two were indis- 
solubly linked. Mr. Aultman lived in Canton; 
Mr. Taylor in Chicago ; Mr. Harter was always 
the present and controlling spirit. His methods 
were exceedingly aggressive in the factory, and 
ji'.st as conservative in the office. Not for a 
single year did the operations of the house show 
a loss. While most contemporaneous industries 
have either met positive disaster, or had a 
chequered career, the safety and soundness of 
the Aultman-Taylor house have been unmarred 
from the beginning. Justice to Mr. Harter de- 
mands that no less than this should be said of 
the institution which, in a business sense, was 
his life work. 

Mr. Harter was a principal factor in the 
-establishment of the Isaac Harter Milling 
Company, at Fostoria, one of the largest, if not 
the largest producer of flour in Ohio. He was 
also interested in a number of financial institu- 
tions, and his co-operation was sought for by 
many more. His equipment was eminently 
that of a financier, and it fitted him well for 
the honorable and distinguished part he was to 
take in political affairs during the later years 
of his life. 

I\Ir. Harter was an entertaining conversa- 
tionalist and, from the ranks of business men, 
he had few equals on the public platform. 
Being very outspoken in his views, it was 
natural that his party, the Democratic, should 
tender to him its nomination for congress. He 
was elected in 1S90. He hoped to be instru- 
mental in modifying the McKinley tariff law. 
He supported the Wilson act, which became a 
law in general harmony with his efforts, and 
with tiic wishes of his party. His greatest 
work in congress, however, was undertaken in 
opposition to the majority of his party. This 
was the establishment of the gold standard. 
He did not live to see the final fixture of the 
gold standard into our national policy, an 
achievement due largely to his efforts, and in 
the accomplishment of which he took a more 



prominent part than any man of any party in 
the nation. 

Prior to the election in 1890 Mr. Harter, 
then a candidate for congress, issued a printed 
circular giving forcible expression to his views 
on live questions. He always carried his chal- 
lenge on his sleeve. 

In this limited space the salient features of 
his subsequent campaign against free silver and 
the Bland bill, within the Democratic party, 
will best appear from a list of the titles of docu- 
ments issued by Mr. Harter while in congress. 
He ^vas the soul and champion of that cam- 
paign — the only one. These documents are not 
all available, but the following will suffice : 

June, 1891. — "Unlimited Silver Coinage 
for the Benefit of the Silver Bullion Producers 
and at the Expense of the Whole People. Shall 
the Democratic Party be true to Itself?" A 
printed circular. 

October, 1891. — "The Currency Question."* 
An article in the Forum. 

January 16, 1892. — -"Shall the Democratic 
Party stand for the Rights of the Whole People 
or become the Servant of the Silver Ring?" 
Address before the Reform Club dinner in 
Xew York city. 

January 22, 1892. — "A Plan to Re-establish 
the Rights of State Banks and to Improve and 
Perpetuate the National Banking System." 
Address i^efore the Commonwealth Club dinner 
in New York cit3^ In this address the argu- 
ments in favor of an elastic currency coincide 
substantially with those recently expressed by 
President Roosevelt and Secretary Shaw. 

February 19, 1892. — "Shall the Democratic 
Party desert the Cause of the People to become 
the Attorney of the Silver Ring and the Tool 
of the Lobby? Shall what costs the Silver Pro- 
ducers Forty-one Cents be made a legal tender 
for One Hundred Cents worth of the People's 
Sweat?" Speech in the house of representa- 
tives. 

January 30, 1893. — "Why the Monthly 



I09i5 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Purcliase of Silver Bullion by the Government 
should be Stopped." Address to the railway 
interests of the United States. 

February i, 1893. — "The Democratic Party 
believes in the Free Coinage of both Gold and 
Silver, but it is 0])i)osed to '^'ree coinage' of 
either a Gold or Silver Dollar worth less than 
One Hundred Cents' in the Markets of the 
World." Address to the Democratic voters of 
Ohio. 

June 5, 1894. — "A Cure for the Greenback 
Delusion. A Remedy for the Free Silver Mad- 
ness. Not More Money, but Better Money. 
Repeal of the Ten Per Cent Tax on State 
Banks." Speech in the house of representa- 
tives;.. 

A printed pddress, without date, which was 
the subject of national comment, was one ad- 
dressed to the Grand Army posts of the country. 
The subject was "Free Silver and its relation 
to Pensions." 

By means of a bureau established by him- 
self, and maintained at his own expense, Mr. 
Harter mailed his pension address to every 
(irand Army post; also distributed his con- 
gressional speeches and other anti-free coinage 
documents broadcast. In the business in hand 
he adopted the methods of reaching the public 
that he had found to be so successful in his 
factory. F.veryone knows the result. The 
congress that was expected to repeal the de- 
monetization act of 1873 did not repeal it; nor. 
did it pass the Bland free silver bill. Senator 
Sherman's compromise bill, providing for a 
limited coinage, was passed, and was in effect 
until the spring of 1893, when a financial panic 
overwhelmed the country. President Cleve- 
land, whose views of statesmansliip coincided 
with Mr. Flarter's, called a special session of 
congress to repeal the Sherman law, and the 
threatened ills of a degraded currency were, it 
is to be hoped, wiped from our statute books 
for all time to come. 

Mr. 'Harter took a leading part in the con- 



gressional dcbaces which led to the repeal of the 
Sherman law, and was almost the only man in 
American life to make a national reputation the 
first term he served in congress. He was a pio- 
neer in the cause of the gold standard and a 
sound and elastic currency. Any history of this 
interesting and critical period in American 
finance which fails to give to Michael D. Harter 
a conspicuous place in the movement which led 
to placing the money of the United States upon 
a sound and stable basis, will neither be true 
to the facts nor just to him. Endowed with a 
brilliant and logical mind, he was a great and 
forcible thinker, a wise and constructive states- 
man and a patriotic citizen. In addition to his 
splendid intellectual qualities, Mr. Harter had 
a warm and generous nature, which secured 
him the respect and friendship of all who knew 
him, and when he died, he died beloved by his 
friends and neighbors as few men have been. 



JOHN L. STEELE.— Paternally Mr. 
Steele inherits the blood of Scotch-Irish ances- 
try, being a lineal descendant of one Robert 
Steele, who on account of political or religious 
persecution was obliged to flee from Scotland 
early in the seventeenth century and take ref- 
uge in the Emerald Isle. Among the nearer 
descendants of this stanch patriot was Archi- 
bald Steele, who was born in Ireland and about 
the year 1790 came to the United States, set- 
tling in Pennsylvania, where he became a tiller 
of the soil. Subsequently. 1812, he was in- 
duced to move to the new and sparsely settled 
country of eastern Ohio and it was that year 
that he entered land in Stark county, receiving 
for the same a patent bearing the signature of 
James Madison, President of the United 
States. Mr. Steele selected a site for his fu- 
ture home in what is now Tuscarawas town- 
sliip. being one of the first permanent settlers 
in this part of the county. He cleared a good 
farm, took an active interest in the material 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1099 



development of the country and was a fine type 
of the rugged, fearless pioneer of the time and 
place in which he lived and labored. He and 
his good wife died many years ago. James 
Steele, sou of Archibald and father of the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was born in Pennsylvania 
in the year 1798 and is supposed to have fol- 
lowed his parents to Stark county in 1815, 
when a youth of seventeen. He was reared 
a farmer and in early manhood married Miss 
Margaret Latimer, who was born in Pennsyl- 
vania, and whose father, Robert Latimer, was 
one of the first settlers in the present townsliii) 
of Osnaburg, Stark county. James Steele be- 
came a man of considerable local prominence 
and for many years was justice of the peace of 
his township, also an active worker in the old 
\\'liig party. Like many of the early pioneers, 
he had profound religious convictions and, be- 
longing to the Presbyterian church, reared his 
family according to the strict and rather aus- 
tere Calvinistic creed. He lived an honorable 
life and at its close, about the year 1839, 
quietly and fearlessly passed into the rest pre- 
pared for those who have nobly fulfilled their 
earthly stewardship. M rs. Steele bore her hus- 
band three children and entered into rest some 
time in the year 1830. 

John L. Steele, the only child of James and 
Margaret Steele, was born on the 21st of 
March, 1826, in Tuscarawas township. Stark 
county, and spent his early years on his fath- 
er's farm, with the rugged duties of which he 
became familiar as soon as old enough to han- 
dle to advantage the various implements of 
husbandry. During his boyhood he enjoyed 
the advantages of the common schools of the 
day, attending them a few months of the win- 
ter seasons, the course of study being mainly 
confined to the four fundamentals — spelling, 
reading, writing and arithmetic — although 
some pupils would frequently carry along with 
them such studies as geography and English 
grammar. From the beginning until his death 



the life of Mr. Steele was an active and busy 
one and, in the main, financially successful. He 
assisted his parents, was a dutiful son during 
the years of his minority and on the farm 
learned the lessons of industry and thrift that 
inured so greatly to his advantage when he be- 
gan thf: pursuit of agriculture upon his own 
responsibility. His inclinations naturally led 
him to become a tiller of the soil and he fol- 
lowed this vocation all his life with satisfac- 
tory results, and at his death was the possessor 
of an ample competency for his declining years, 
l)esidcs providing comfortably for his family 
and giving his children substantial assi-stance 
as they one by one withdrew from the home 
circle. As already stated, the farm which Mr. 
Steele owned and on which he lived is one of 
the oldest settled places in the township of Tus- 
carawas, as it is also one of the test improved 
and most successfully cultivated. He was not 
sparing in surrounding himself with comforts 
and conveniences, believing, as he did, that the 
good things of this world are only held in 
trust for a time and should be well and wisely 
used. 

On January 9, 1852, Mr. Steele was united 
in the bonds of wedlock with Miss Margaret 
Christman, of Pennsylvania, the marriage re- 
sulting in the birth of three children, the oldest 
of whom is Rev. James H. Steele, an able and 
well known clergyman of the Reformed church, 
who is now preaching in Tiflin, Ohio. He mar- 
ried Miss Alice Chapenan, who has borne him 
two sons and one daughter, namely : James, 
John and Mary. William, the second of the 
family, is a well educated physician, practic- 
ing his profession at Navarre, this state. He 
is also a man of family, having married some 
years ago Miss Mary McEwen, a union blessed 
with two ofifspring, Edith and Lura. Ida S., 
the youngest of the subject's children, was born 
in 1863 and after receiving a good literary edu- 
cation, took up a systematic course in music, 
in which she early displayed unusual talent. 



1 lOO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



graduating from the conservatory at Massil- 
lon. On the 4th of March, 1882, she became 
the wife of John S. Erb, a worthy citizen of 
Stark county, an outhne of whose Hfe appears 
in subsequent paragraphs. 

Mr. Steele lived a life protracted beyond 
that of the majority of men and, as indicated in 
a preceding paragraph, enjoyed the fruits of 
his many years of strenuous toil. He pos- 
sessed strong traits of character, with a liberal 
endowment of good common sense and as a 
man and citizen his honor and integrity were 
prominent and above adverse criticism. His 
political affiliations were with the Republican 
party, but he never entered actively the arena of 
public affairs, preferring the quiet and satis- 
factory life of a farmer to any office or honor 
within the power of his fellow citizens to con- 
fer. Notwithstanding his indifference to pub- 
lic preferment, he was induced at one time to 
accept the position of township treasurer, and 
he discharged the duties of the office very satis- 
factorily for several years, retiring witliout the 
semblance of a stain upon his record as custo- 
dian of the public funds. He was a devout be- 
liever in revealed religion and for many years 
was a member of the Reformed church, his 
wife also belonging to the same communion. 
His death occurred March 27, 1903. 

John S. Erb, who married the daughter of 
John L. and Margaret Steele, is a native of 
Stark county, Ohio, and the son of David and 
Mary (Yost) Erb, the father born in Lancas- 
ter county, Pennsylvania, and the mother in 
Germany. These parents were married in 
Pennsylvania in 1852 and the following year 
moved to Stark county, Ohio, settling in Tus- 
carawas township, where Mr. Erb followed ag- 
ricultural pursuits until his death, which oc- 
cwrred on the loth day of March, 1902, his 
wife dying April 9 of the previous year. Mrs. 
Erb came to the United States when five years 
old and always recalled the voyage with pecul- 



iar sadness in that she lost a sister en route, 
who was buried at sea. 

John S. Erb was born in Tuscarawas 
township March 27, 1859, receiving his edu- 
cation in the public schools, and began life for 
himself as a carpenter, which trade he learned 
when a young man. He worked at his chosen 
calling for a number of years, but since 1893 
has been engaged in farming, in which voca- 
tion he has met with encouraging success. He 
is a Republican in politics and quite an active 
worker in his party, generally representing his 
township in the various nominating conven- 
tions and laboring diligently for the ticket in 
campaign times. Religiously he belongs to the 
Reformed church and during her life his wife 
was also a faithful and consistent member of 
the same body of worshippers. The marriage 
of Mr. Erb and wife resulted in the following 
issue: John, Warren, Mary A. and Ida Mar- 
tha. The son, who is an accomplished musi- 
cian, lives at Mansfield, where he has a large 
number of pupils. 



CHARLES A. KRIDER is a native of 
Stark and was born on the farm in Tuscarawas 
township, where he now lives, August 2, 1847, 
being the son of Samuel and Ann (Augustine) 
Krider. The father was born about the year 
181 1 in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and the 
m.other in Stark county, Ohio, in 1818. George 
Krider, the subject's grandfather, was a native 
of Pennsylvania and an early settler of Stark 
county, moving here as long ago as 1819, and 
departing this life in the township of Tusca- 
rawas in 1873. His wife, who bore the maiden 
name of Frances Hoover, was also of Penn- 
sylvania birth, and her death occurred on the 
home place in the year 1868. Samuel Krider 
was quite young when his parents moved to 
Tuscarawas township and he grew up amid the 
rugged experiences of pioneer times, bearing 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



I lOl 



his share of the hard hibor required to clear 
and develop the farm. He was self-educated 
and by much study and a wide range of read- 
ing became well informed — indeed, there were 
few men of his time who possessed a more 
general knowledge obtained without the aid of 
instructors. In his youth he learned the tail- 
or's trade, and later worked at the same in the 
country, frequently employing as many as nine 
assistants at one time in order to meet the de- 
mand for garments, which he cut and made or 
had made. He was one of the prime movers 
in the construction of the old Ohio canal, and 
the records show that he twice represented 
Stark county in the general assembly, besides 
serving for over twenty-nine years as a justice 
of the peace. Politically he was a Democrat, 
and religiously belonged to the Reformed 
church, as did also his wife, who is remembered 
as a faithful and zealous Christian, whose life 
was largely devoted to works of faith and la- 
bors of love. Samuel Krider lived to a good 
old age, dying on the 6th of June, 1892; his 
wife survived him nearly nine years, departing 
this life on the 9th day of January, 190 1. Mrs. 
Krider was the daughter of Andrew Augus- 
tine, one of the earliest pioneers of Stark coun- 
ty, her oldest sister, Rebecca, having been the 
first white child born in what is now the town- 
ship of Tuscarawas. Of the eight children con- 
stituting the family of Andrew Augustine Mrs. 
Krider was the last to be called to the other 
world. To Samuel and Ann Krider were born 
three children, two of whom are living at the 
present time — Charles A., of this review, and 
B. F., who lives in Noble county, Indiana. 

Reared amid the peaceful pursuits and 
scenes of rural life, the subject early formed 
a liking for the work of the farm, and when 
the time came to make choice of a vocation he 
wisely concluded to devote his energies to the 
satisfactory labors of husbandry. This he has 
since pursued and prospered, meanwhile add- 
ing to his material possessions until he is now 



the owner of a valuable and beautiful property. 
While successful in raising all the grains and 
vegetables indigenous to this latitude, he has 
made a specialty of fruit growing, a branch of 
husbandry that has been very satisfactory from 
a financial point of view. He has selected his 
varieties of fruits with the greatest care and 
discrimination, looks after his orchards with 
the interest of an enthusiast, and finds in horti- 
culture a fascination nothing else ofifers. Mr. 
Krider has been a steadfast supporter of the 
Democratic party since his twenty-first year, 
and, in recognition of his valuable services, he 
has been honored at different times with offi- 
cial positions, among which were those of con- 
stable, assessor and deputy sherifif. In 1889 he 
was elected sheriff of Stark county, which of- 
fice he held for four years, discharging his du- 
ties in an able and praiseworthy manner, gain- 
ing the confidence and good will of the people 
regardless of party ties. He has been identi- 
fied with a number of enterprises of a public 
nature, including among others the Stark 
County Mutual Insurance Company, which has 
become one of the leading organizations of its 
kind in eastern Ohio, of which he served as 
president. He has also been quite active in or- 
ganized efforts for the promotion of hus- 
bandry, being a member of the county agri- 
cultural board, and it was in his father's shop 
that the first agricultural society of the country 
was organized a number of years ago. In mat- 
ters educational he has taken an active part, 
both in private and official capacities, having 
been a member of the local school board for a 
number of years, and for some time its presi- 
dent. Fraternally he is a Knight of Pythias, 
his name appearing on the charter of Lodge 
No. 87, of Massillon. 

Mr. Krider was married December 24, 
1889, to Mrs. Sarah Mobley, widow of the late 
Charles A. Mobley, of Canal Fulton, and a 
native of Crawford county, this state. By her 
previous marriage she had two sons, Frank L. 



I I02 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Mobley, who holds a clerical position with the 
Hancock Insurance Company, of Columbus, 
Ohio, and John M., a representative of a man- 
ufacturing firm of Cantoni. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Krjder has been born one daughter, Ruth, an 
intelligent young lady with a bright and prom- 
ising future. Mrs. Krider is a member of the 
Metliodist church and a lady of exemplary 
Christian character, popular in religious and 
social circles and highly esteemed by all. 



MARIA GILMORE PONTIUS. M. D., 
is a native of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and 
the daughter of Nathaniel and Anna Gilmore, 
the former born in that county in the year 1814, 
and the mother in County Down, Ireland, in 
1827. The maiden name of Mrs. Gilmore was 
Anna Dugan and she was the daughter of 
James and Eliza (Karns) Dugan, both natives 
of County Down, and accompanied her parents 
to the United States in 1835, the family locat- 
ing in Cadiz, Ohio. Before coming to this 
country James Dugan followed mercantile pur- 
suits for a number of years and accumulated 
a competency of this world's goods. He died 
at Cadiz in 1867 at the age of sixty-one. His 
wife died about 1870, aged seventy-two years. 
James Dugan and wife had five children, whose 
names are as follows: William. Elizabeth, 
John, Mrs. Maria J. Asher and Anna, the Doc- 
tor's mother. To Nathaniel and Anna Gil- 
more were born seven children, namely: Wil- 
liam, Albert, Eliza, Josephine, wife of Thomas 
Wilson; Maria, of this review: Florence, who 
married Charles Brown, and George M., all 
but William living. The paternal ancestors of 
Dr. Pontius were also natives of Ireland, her 
grandfather, Nathaniel Gilmore, having been 
born and reared in that country. His home 
was in County Down and he there married 
Elizabeth Carey, who, with two children, born 
in the old country, accompanied him to Amer- 
ica in 1812. There also came with him to the 



United States his two brothers, John and Gor- 
don Gilmore, antl the three subsequently en- 
gaged in the banking business in Cincinnati 
when that city was little more than a frontier 
hamlet of half a dozen houses. When it be- 
came necessary to exchange specie for paper 
Nathaniel Gilmore would carry the gold and 
silver on horseback to Pittsburg, taking an ex- 
tra man with him as a body guard, the road 
between the two places leading through a wild 
and in many places uninhabiteil country, known 
to be infested with robbers and lawless char- 
acters of the worst description. As far as 
known he was never molested nor did the bank 
sustain the loss of a single dollar by any of 
these business trips. After a number of years 
of successful business he disposed of his in- 
terest in the bank and moved his family to Tus- 
carawas county, Ohio, where he purchased 
large tracts of valuable land, much of which is 
still in possession of his descendants. He was 
a very successful man, prospered in every un- 
dertaking- to which he addressed himself and is 
remembered as one of the prominent and pro- 
gressive citizens of the county of Tuscarawas. 
He died there in 1857, his wife following him 
to the grave five years later. Nathaniel Gil- 
more, Sr., was the father of the following sons 
and daughters: William. Francis, Gordon, Eliz- 
abeth, Jane. Nathaniel, Rosie, Mary and two 
others, all of whom grew to mature years and 
reared large families, and all of whom are now 
dead. It is a fact worthy of note that the elder 
Nathaniel was a cousin of P. S. Gilmore. the 
celebrated band master, and one of the world's 
most renowned musicians. 

Reverting to the history of Dr. Maria Gil- 
more Pontius, it is learned that she was born 
near Gilmoretown, in the county of Tuscara- 
was, May 28, 1857. She spent her childhood 
and youth on the home farm, was early in- 
structed in the duties of domestic economy and 
received her elementary education in the dis- 
trict schools, which she attended at intervals 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 103 



until her nineteenth year. Animated by an ear- 
nest desire for greater intellectual training than 
the common schools could impart, she entered, 
in 1876, Scio College, which institution she at- 
tended the greater part of three years, mean- 
while maturing plans for entering' the medical 
profession. 

Miss Gilmore began the study of medicine 
in 1879 under the direction of Dr. J. J. Good- 
ing, of Gilmoretown, and after a very thorough 
course of private reading became a student of 
Starling Medical College at Columbus, from 
which institution she was graduated in 1883. 
In canvassing the tield for a suitable location 
sh.e decided to open an office in Canton, at the 
same time realizing the unreasonable prejudice 
she would have to encounter on the part of the 
public and the opposition that would be thrown 
in her way by the members of the profession 
in the city. Nothing daunted, however, she 
fearlessly swung her shingle to the breeze and 
announced herself a solicitor for a share of 
patronage. In due time her abilities began to 
be recognized and in the course of a few' years 
her practice became quite liberal, so much so, 
indeed, that all opposition tO' female physicians 
gradually disappeared and she stood vindicated 
for hjer temerity in entering the profession, bv 
a series of successes such as few achieve. So 
unreasonable was the prejudice against her at 
first that even the children on the streets would 
frequently call to her with unpleasant remarks, 
and the sneers and innuendoes of older people 
were often too palpable to be concealed. Actu- 
ated by a laudable ambition to come to the 
front and become a true healer, these unworthv 
and altogether unmanly attempts to retard her 
progress were treated with the silent contempt 
they desen'ed, and by a steady I)ut sure ad- 
vancement she finally won a high place in pub- 
lic favor, and had the satisfaction of numbering 
among her patients not a few who had formerly 
been loudest in their criticism of her course. 

The Doctor's practice in the main is con- 



fined to the treatment of diseases peculiar to 
women and children, although general ailments 
receive her attention, in all of which her success 
has been truly phenomenal. For some years 
she practiced with her husband, but since the 
failure of the latter's health she has been alone. 
She is a lady of superior intellectuality and 
high professional attainments and occupying a 
field of practice for which she is especially 
adapted by reason of her sex, her future finan- 
cial prosperity as well as her professional fame 
is a matter of easy prophecy. She was the first 
of her sex to matriculate at Starling Medical 
College, and the first lady to graduate from that 
or any other medical school in the city of Co- 
lumbus. This, with her subsequent successful 
career, has given her a widespread reputation 
and by reason of lx>th she occupies quite a con- 
spicuous position in medical circles. She has 
been a member of the American Medical Asso- 
ciation of Canton and the Stark County Medi- 
cal Society. 

Miss Gilmore on the 26th of October, 1883, 
was united in marriage to Dr. Lorin Worth 
Pontius, a native of Stark county, Ohio, born 
in Plain township on the 24th day of Novem- 
ber, 1853, the son of Andrew and Sarah Pon- 
tius, who were among the early pioneers of 
this part of the state. He was reared to young 
manhood at or near the place of his birth and 
after completing the common school course en- 
tered Mt. Union College, where he made a very 
creditable record as a student. Later he took 
up the study of medicine and in 1881 was grad- 
uated from Rush Medical College, Chicago, 
after which he engaged in the practice at Can- 
ton. Dr. Lorin W. Pontius is a gentleman of 
high intellectual and professional attainments 
and had not ill health obliged him to retire 
from the practice in 1889 he would no doubt 
have achieved distinguished honors in his 
chosen calling. As already stated, his wife and 
he practiced jointly until his physical break- 
down and the firm thus constituted attained en- 



II04 



OLD LANDMARKS 



viable distinction, both as physicians and sur- 
geons. The Doctor's retirement left a vacancy 
in the medical ranks of Canton difficult to fill, 
and it is the hope of his many friends and the 
public generally that his bodily powers may 
soon be restored so that he can resume his 
share of the lucrative business which he as- 
sisted to build up, and which his faithful com- 
panion now commands. 

The grandparents of Dr. L. W. Pontius 
were natives of Pennsylvania and came to 
Stark county in about 1805, before Canton was 
founded, and they figured actively in its pio- 
neer history. The parents of Dr. "L. W. Pon- 
tius lived in Stark county, and to them were 
born seven children, all of whom are now liv- 
ing, as follows: Lorin W. ; Jackson W., of 
Canton ; G. C. resides near Myer's Lake ; Lucy 
married Maurice E. Aungst, probate judge of 
Stark county ; William J. is a farmer in 
Plain township; Charles A. is a farmer of 
Stark county ; Rebecca married Edward Miller, 
of Canton. The parents of these children are 
still living, not a death having occurred in the 
family. 

Dr. M. G. Pontius is erecting a modern flat 
house at No. 613 West Tuscarawas street, 
which is to be three stories in height, of pressed 
brick and contains fortv-three rooms en suite. 



HOMEOPATHY IN STARK COUNTY. 

The system of homeopathy may be said to 
represent both modification and amplification 
in the treatment of disease, and of how great 
value has this system been, how far-reaching 
and insistent its value is not measurably appre- 
ciated by the laity. That great benefactor of 
the race. Hahnemann, wrought better than he 
knew when he carried through his careful in- 
vestigations and experiments and arrived at 
the deductions indicated in the slogan of his 
school, "Similia similibus curantur." How 



greatly the influence of his teachings and that 
of his able followers has permeated the field 
of endeavor in the great profession which has 
to do with the issues of life itself is shown in 
no unmistakable way in the radical changes 
which the so-called "regular" school has been 
compelled, perhaps reluctantly, to adopt in its 
methods. The heroic dosage of even a quar- 
ter of a century ago would, if utilized by a 
practitioner to-day, bring him into disrepute 
for his abuse of the over-wrought human sys- 
tem. That homeopathy has been the leaven 
which has affected the entire lump is certain 
beyond perad venture. The great school of 
medicine, standing as an ally of nature in her 
workings and not as a disrupter, was at one 
time the object of suspicion and prejudice and 
its devotees had to summon all of fortitude in 
demonstrating the efficiency of the so-called 
innovation. A new era of thought had been 
introduced, and the cry of iconoclasm 
and even of charlatanism was given in 
no uncertain tone by those who were 
"joined to their idols" and refused to recog- 
nize the fundamental consistency and value of 
the new school of practice. None can doubt 
the efficiency and consistency of a plan of med- 
ication which provides the employment of 
remedial agents in such a way as to avoid physi- 
ological reaction and to assist nature to resume 
its normal functions, rather than imposing an 
additional burden. This system of high po- 
tencies as applied to the practice of homeo- 
pathy has stood the most strenuous test, and 
skepticism can no longer wield the weapons of 
upstart prejudice, for the wall of proof has 
proved impregnable and truth has once more 
proved triumphant, and that in a cause which 
has been most potent and beneficent, in allevi- 
ating human suffering. Close analysis, the 
most scrupulously exact and careful experi- 
mentation in determining the various indica- 
tions of the vast array of remedial agents, a 
broad-minded policy — these have been the aims 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 105 



of the devotees of homeopathy, and the gain 
to humanity has been notable, while gratitude 
and appreciation have not been denied. 

Homeopathy is well established in Stark 
county and the prestige of the school is upheld 
by many able practitioners. In the connection 
it is gratifying to state that the dean of the 
school in the county. Dr. Marcus M. Catlin, of 
Canton, is made the subject of specific mention 
in its pulilication, and such have been his 
services and such is his distinguished ability m 
his profession that this record becomes a con- 
sistent portion of this historical compilation. 
The Doctor has been animated by that faith 
which makes faithful, and his labors have not 
only justified his choice of a profession, but 
\ t have been such as to add luster to the fame of 
the school of medicine of which he is an emi- 
nent representative. When cognizance is had 
of the fact that he has been engaged in the prac- 
tice of his profession in Stark county for a 
third of a century it will be seen that he is well 
entitled to the designation of dean of homeo- 
pathy in this section, and through his efforts 
much was done in the earlier days to further 
the precedence of this school at a time when it 
was made the victim of unjust criticism and 
even ridicule. Notwithstanding our vaunted 
progress in all lines of thought, action and ma- 
terial accomplishment, human nature remains 
the same, and men are reluctant to accept new 
and radical ideas, so that the reformer, the one 
of prescience, must have the courage of his con- 
victions and also an unflagging perseverance 
and patience if he would attempt to success- 
fully stand as advocate of a new idea. As 
such a sponsor Dr. Catlin stood in the interests 
of homeopathy, and it can not but be a matter 
of satisfaction to him at the present time to 
realize how high has become the status of his 
chosen school and how great its influence in 
bringing about more humane and scientific 
methods of practice in the work of the profes- 
sion at large, without regard to school. He 

69 



has been tolerant in all things, but has not sac- 
rificed his beliefs, nor lacked the courage to de- 
fend his position. He has stood as an exemp- 
lar of the utmost professional courtesy and has 
gained the confidence and high esteem of his 
confreres, while his ministrations have been 
such as to place him among the benefactors of 
the race, pity and compassion with him having 
ever transcended the mere emotion to become 
a definite motive. Of the details of the career 
of this honored physician and pioneer of 
homeopathy in Stark county a resume is given 
in the personal sketch appearing in this work, 
and it can not but be gratifying to the profes- 
sion to find this recognition given to him, since 
the record of his life and labors is eminently 
deserving of such historical perpetuation. 

It is not necessary to offer further consid- 
eration of the rise of the great and popular 
school of medicine which he represents, such 
facts being left to publications of a technical 
order, but in the days to come the brief record 
here given, together with the personal sketch, 
will designate to those who follow how much 
was accomplished by this veteran physician, 
who has given himself to the noble work of his 
profession with signal self-abnegation and de- 
votion and who is known as an eminent repre- 
sentative to the school of practice to which he 
has so long given allegiance. 



JOHN W. SCHUSTER is a native of 
Germany, born on the 9th of March, 1852, in 
the city of Kallstadt, kingdom of Bavaria. He 
spent his childhood and youth at that place, and 
after graduating from the public schools in 
1865 began planning for his future career, de- 
ciding about that time to seek his fortune in 
the United States. Five years later he was 
enabled to carry out this desire of long stand- 
ing, as he took passage in 1870, and in due time 
landed in the city of New York, where during 
the ensuing two years he worked in a bakery 



iio6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and a trunk factor)^ At the expiration of the 
second year he went to Newark, New Jersey, 
where he was similarly engaged until 1874, at 
which time he engaged in the wine business at 
Cleveland, Ohio. 

Mr. Schuster remained in the latter city for 
a period of twenty-four years and prospered in 
his business affairs, accumulating during that 
time a handsome capital, which he judiciously 
invested in 1S98 in a brewery at Millport, near 
Massillon, with his office in the latter place. 
This enterprise proved successful from the be- 
ginnmg and it was not long until he was en- 
abled to enlarge the scope of his business by 
organizing in 1900 the Schuster Brewing Com- 
pany of Massillon, of which he was made pres- 
ident and general manager. Purchasing the 
Anton Kopp i^rewery, he soon more than 
doubled its capacity and later erected the large 
and handsome building which is now kept run- 
ning with a full force of operatives almost 
night and day to supply the constantly increas- 
ing demand for the company's far-famed man- 
ufactured product. The brands of beer made 
at this brewer)^ are noted far and wide for their 
high standard of excellence, and the reputation 
which Mr. Schuster has achieved as a master 
in his line of business has won for him honor- 
able mention in commercial and industrial cir- 
cles throughout the state. 

Mr. Schuster came to this country as a poor 
stranger in a strange land and to him Dame 
Fortune held out no glittering favors. En- 
dowed with a plentiful supply of good common 
sense, blessed with sound physical health and 
not afraid of hard work, he bent all of his en- 
ergies in the way of success and in due time by 
steadfastness of purpose and commendable 
thrift, reached the goal of his ambition in the 
ample competence which he now commands. 
Mr. Schuster is thoroughly American in all his 
tendencies and has nothing but praise for the 
free institutions under which his most pro- 
nounced success has been achieved. He is a 



true and loyal citizen of his adopted country 
and takes as much interest in its welfare and in 
the welfare of the state, county and city in 
which he resides as any person to the manner 
born. 

Mr. Schuster was married in 1881 to Miss 
Mary Schreiber, a native of Bavaria, and 
daughter of Henry Martin Schreiber, who came 
from that country in 1875 and settled on St. 
Clair street, Cleveland. He had previously 
visited the United States in 1864 on a pleasure 
trip. Seven cliildren have resulted from this 
union, namely : Frank, who holds the position 
of secretary in the Schuster Brewing Com- 
pany; William, who is serving his time in 
Cleveland, learning the brewery trade; Matil- 
da, a student in the Massillon high school ; Her- 
bert, who is pursuing his studies in the high 
school at Cleveland ; Carl and Amanda, who 
are still members of the home circle and pupils 
in the city schools. Mrs. Schuster and the 
children are members of the German Reformed 
church of iMassillon. While not identified with 
any church organization himself, Mr. Schuster 
belie\es in religion and contributes liberally to 
the support of the congregation to which his 
family belongs. Fraternally he is a Mason, be- 
ing a member of Concordia Lodge No. 345, 
and Cleveland Lodge No. 61, Knights of Py- 
thias, and a member of the Improved Order of 
Red ^len. He is also connected with the Ger- 
man Turnerverein Society and being a man of 
decided musical talent, belongs to a couple of 
organizations for the cultivation of that art. 
He is the soul of honest, hearty good fellow- 
ship, as all will attest who have formed his 
acquaintance or in a business or social way 
come ^^•ithin the range of his personal influence. 



J. MELVILLE SCHUCKERS, cashier of 
the First National Bank of Massillon, is a na- 
tive of Wooster. Ohio, and is the son of Jacob 
W. and Elizabeth (Kirkpatrick) Schuckers. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1 107 



Jacob W. Schuckers was a native of Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, and removed from that 
county to Wooster, Ohio, when a single man. 
He was a pioneer merchant of Wooster, where 
he died July 27, 1849. His wife was born 
near Penrith, England, and was the daughter 
of Thomas Kirkpatrick, who was of Scotch 
descent, was a practical miner and was inter- 
ested in lead and coal mines in his native land. 
In 1832 he came with his family to America. 
He arrived in Massillon by way of the Ohio 
canal, and purchased a farm three miles north 
of the then village in Jackson township and en- 
gaged in farming. Later he discovered valua- 
ble coal deposits upon his land and in 1833 he 
opened the first coal mine in Stark county. He 
died in 1846. His wife was Frances Lee, who 
was born in Penrith, England, and died in Mas- 
sillon in 1866. 

J. Melville Schuckers is the second in order 
of three children bom to his parents. Upon 
the death of his father he came to Massillon 
with his mother, he then being three years of 
age. He secured his education in the high 
school of Massillon. After leaving school in 
1864 he served as deputy postmaster of Mas- 
sillon for a time, and then became clerk and 
bookkeeper at the mines of the Massillon Coal 
Company, where he continued until 1869. He 
then spent a year with the above company in 
Cleveland, following which he became paymas- 
ter and bookkeeper for the Fulton Mining Com- 
pany of Massillon. He also filled the same po- 
sition for the Rhoades Coal Company and of 
the Willow Bank Coal Company, and then took 
charge of the mines as superintendent and man- 
ager of the Rhoades and Willow Bank Com- 
pany until the mines were exhausted. About 
that time he helped to organize the Millport 
Coal Company, of which he became secretary 
and treasurer. In 1890 he became assistant 
cashier of the First National Bank of Massil- 
lon and in 1892 he was elected cashier of that 
institution. 



The subject ' was married September 14, 
1893, to Miss Frances S. Stokley, daughter of 
Mrs. Christina Stokley. Mrs. Schuckers was 
born in Massillon. Mr. Schuckers is an Epis- 
copalian, while Mrs. Schuckers is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. 



CHARLES H. KNIGHT was born in the 
village of Farmer, Defiance county, Ohio, on 
the 1 8th of May, 1870, and after attending the 
public schools of his native county until he had 
attained the age of about fifteen years he then 
entered the Northern Indiana Normal School 
and Business College at Valparaiso, Indiana, 
where he completed a course in the commercial 
department, later being matriculated in Angola 
College, at Angola, Indiana, where he contin- 
ued his scholastic work until about 1888, when 
he came to Canton and took the position of 
bookkeeper for the Canton Saw Company, of 
which his father was a stockholder at the time. 
When the latter established the business of the 
Knight Manufacturing Company in July, 1892, 
the subject assumed the position of general 
manager of the concern, and of this responsible 
office he has since remained incumbent, while 
through his discerning and well directed efiforts 
much has been done to further the excellent 
and gratifying success which has attended the 
enterprise from the time of its practical inchoa- 
tion, the products from the well equipped plant 
being of so superior excellency in design and 
workmanship as to command the highest favor 
wherever introduced, and it may be said that 
the business of the company now permeates 
into the most diverse sections of the Union. 
In addition to his executive duties in connec- 
tion with the office afifairs and general manage- 
ment of the business the subject also does ef- 
fective service as its outside representative 
when such interposition on his part seems ex- 
pedient. In politics he maintains an independ- 



iio8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ant attitude, and fraternally he is identified with 
the Travelers' Protective Association. 

In the city of Canton, on the nth of Febru- 
ary, 1 891, Mr. Knight was united in marriage 
to Miss Eva Black, who was born and reared 
in this city, being a daughter of Jarvis Black, 
who was long one of the leading contractors 
and builders of this section, having erected the 
old court house in Canton, besides many 
churches, school houses, business structures and 
private residences in this locality. He is now 
living retired in Canton. Mr. and Mrs. Knight 
have two children, Earl and Paul. 



HENRY C. MILLIGAN has been identi- 
fied with the Carnahan Stamping and Enamel- 
ing Company from the time of its inception, the 
success of the same being in a large measure 
due to his efforts and to his intimate knowledge 
of the details of the manufacturing of the vari- 
ous products. He is the inventor and patentee 
of various processes utilized in the manufac- 
ture of enameled ware, and these are utilized 
and controlled by the company with which he 
is identified, while in addition to his executive 
ofiice he is also manager and has general super- 
vision of the works. 

Mr. Milligan was born in the city of New 
York on the 22d of October, 1851,- being a son 
of Gilbert M. and Lucy (Cleveland) Milligan, 
both of whom were also natives of that city, 
where they were married and resided until 
1854, when they moved to Elizabeth, New Jer- 
sey, ^vhere his death occurred in February, 
i860. The mother afterwards moved to South 
Orange, New Jersey, where her death occurred 
in December, 1890. They were the parents of 
eight children, of whom five are living at the 
present time, viz: John C, of South Orange, 
New Jersey; Thomas P., of Elizabeth, New. 
Jersey; Elizabeth M., who married W. E. 
Groves, of Beverly, New Jersey; Lucy C, now 
Mrs. Charles P. Fitch, of Beverly, New Jer- 



sey, and Henry C, the subject of this review, 
the youngest member of the family. Gilbert 
!\l. Milligan was secretary and treasurer of the 
Central Railroad of New Jersey for a great 
many years and served in that capacity up until 
the time of his death. He was a man of more 
than ordinary ability, was a leading factor in 
his vicinity and was highly esteemed by all who 
knew him. 

The subject was reared to manhood in the 
national metropolis, and there he secured his 
early education in the public schools, after 
which he took a collegiate preparatory course 
at Auburn, New York. In 1868 he became 
entry clerk in the establishment of Lalance & 
Grogan Manufacturing Company of New York 
city, this being the first concern to engage in 
the manufacture of enameled metal ware in 
the United States, and from that time to the 
present Mr. Milligan has been consecutively 
identified with the same line of industrial enter- 
prise in various capacities. Finally he became- 
traveling salesman for the company men- 
tioned, and was thus employed for a number of 
years, visiting all the large cities in this country 
and also South America and Europe. In 1875 
he began to devote special study to the process 
of enameling metal and carried his investiga- 
tions and experiments to the ultimate, while in 
1 884 he secured his - first patent on enameled 
ware, and since that time has taken out other 
patents representing distinctive improvements 
along the same line. In 1886 his old employers 
paid him forty thousand dollars to keep his in- 
ventions out of the market, and he remained 
out of the business for seven years under the 
stipulations then entered into. At the expira- 
tion of this period he became connected with 
the Haderman Manufacturing Company, of 
New York city, as a stockholder, his processes 
being used and inventions manufactured by the 
concern, with which he continued to be identi- 
fied until a number of different manufacturers 
of the sort entered into a combination, and he^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 109 



thereafter remained in tlie employ of this syn- 
dicate or trust until 1899, when he resigned his 
position and came to Cleveland, Ohio, where 
he effected the organization of the Crescent 
Enamel Company, of which he was president 
until the organization of the Carnahan Stamp- 
ing and Enameling Company, in 1901, when he 
sold his Cleveland plant and business to 'this 
new company, of which he became vice-presi- 
dent at the time of the organization. He came 
to Canton in October, 1901, to supervise the 
establishing of the enameling plant of the com- 
pany, and within twelve months the entire 
plant was in full operation. The products of 
the manufactory include what is known as 
granite ware, as well as blue and white 
ware, Servian ware and other lines of 
analogous character. When the works were 
put in operation the capacity was for the output 
of five thousand pieces a day, and since that 
time the business has so increased in extent 
that the daily output reaches twenty thousand 
pieces, while the trade of the concern extends 
into all sections of the Union. Mr. Milligan 
has given his special attention to the enameling 
department, of which he has had the superin- 
tendence from the start. He is a man of 
marked executive ability and the enterprise 
with which he is connected is a valuable acqui- 
sition to the industrial interests of Canton. In 
politics Mr. Milligan gives his support to the 
Republican party, and his religious faith is that 
■of the First Presbyterian church of Canton. 



JOHN W. .^LBAUGH.— The original 
progenitor of the Albaugh family in America 
came hither in 1735, in company with his 
three sons, having emigrated from the German 
fatherland. They located near the historic old 
town of Frederick. Maryland, whence two of 
the sons eventually came to the West.- one lo- 
•cating in Carroll county, Ohio, while the other 
■followed the star of empire still farther on its 



course westward. William Albaugh, grand- 
father of the Judge, was born and reared in 
]\[aryland and he became one of the early set- 
tlers in Ohio, having located in Carroll county 
about the year 1802. There he became num- 
bered among the pioneer farmers of the state, 
and a citizen of prominence and influence. He 
served in the war of 1812 and thereafter con- 
tinued identified with agricultural pursuits in 
the county mentioned until his death, about the 
year 1842, at the age of sixty-five years. In 
Carroll county was solemnized his marriage, 
the maiden name of his wife having been 
Weaver, and she likewise died in that county. 
Ezra Albaugh, father of the subject of this re- 
\'iew, was l^orn on the old homestead farm near 
Kilgore, Carroll county, on the 13th of Febru- 
ary, 1807, and was there reared to manhood, 
receiving- a fair education for the day. About 
1836 was solemnized his marriage to Miss 
Elizabeth Walters, and they shortly afterward 
removed to a farm in Warren township, Tus- 
carawas county, where Ezra Albaugh passed 
the remainder of his long and useful life, be- 
coming one of the successful and influential 
citizens of that section, and having served for 
twenty-one years as justice of the peace. He 
died on the old homestead farm April 5, 1885, 
and his devoted wife was summoned into eter- 
nal rest in 1892. They were originally mem- 
bers of the Lutheran church, but later became 
communicants of the Methodist Episcopal' 
church. The mother of Judge Albaugh was 
born in the year 181 9 in \Vest Virginia, being 
a daughter of Jacob Walters, who was born in 
Germany, whence he came to the United 
States when a young man, here marrying a 
Miss Curry and settling in West Virginia, 
whence he later came to Ohio, becoming a pio- 
neer of Tuscarawas county, where both he and 
his wife died. Ezra Albaugh was originally an 
old-line Whig in his political proclivities, later 
transferring his allegiance to the Democratic 
party, in favor of whose cause he thereafter 



I I lO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ever exercised his franchise. He and his wife 
became the parents of thirteen children, of 
wiiom three are Hving at the present time. 

Judge John W. Aliaaugh was born on the 
homestead farm, in Warren township, Tusca- 
rawas county, on the 4th of July, 1844, and he 
continued to reside there until about fifteen 
years of age, while he secured his early educa- 
tional discipline in the district schools. At the 
age of sixteen years he began teaching in such 
schools during the winter terms, while he con- 
tinued his individual studies in select schools 
during the summer vacations. He followed this 
plan until he had attained the age of twenty- 
three years, when he began reading law under 
the effective preceptorship of Judge James Pat- 
rick, of New Philadelphia, being admitted to 
the bar of the state in 1S69. He forthwith be- 
gan the practice of his profession in New Phil- 
adelpiiia, the county-seat of his native county, 
there entering into partnership with Judge J. 
H. Barnhill, with whom he was thus associated 
for the ensuing three years, within which time 
he effectually won his professional spurs. He 
was then elected prosecuting attorney of Tus- 
carawas county, in 1873, and served in this 
ofifice for two terms with marked acceptability, 
and within this period he formed a law part- 
nership with his brother-in-law, John S. Gra- 
ham, with whom he continued to be thus asso- 
ciated for seven years. In 1882 he came to 
Canton and here entered intO' a similar profes- 
sional alliance with John C. Welty, one of the 
leading members of the bar of the county, and 
three years later the subject was elected to the 
bench of the circuit court for a term of two 
years, at the expiration of which he was chosen 
as his own successor for the long term of six 
years, after Avhich he and his wife passed the 
summer of 1893 in the state of California. 
Upon his return to Canton Judge Albaugh 
again entered into partnership with his former 
confrere, Mr. Welty, and they have since con- 
tinued to be associated in the handling of a 



large and important practice, their clientage be- 
ing of representative order, while they have 
been prominent in much important litigation 
and stand as counsel for a number of leading 
corporations. In politics the Judge has ever 
been a stahvart advocate of the principles of the 
Democratic party, and he has done effective 
work in the party cause, though he has never 
sought official preferment aside from that di- 
rectly in line with the specific work of his pro- 
fession. Mrs. Albaugh is a zealous member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church and is also an 
active worker in the Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance Union, being now (1903) a delegate 
from Ohio to the world's convention at Geneva, 
Switzerland. 

On the 6th of August, 1866, in New Cum- 
berland, Ohio, was solemnized the marriage of 
Judge Albaugh to Miss Estella Seran, who^ was 
born in that county, being a daughter of Mica- 
jah and Sarah (Carnes) Seran. The Judge 
and Mrs. Albaugh have two sons — Thurlow 
K., who married Miss Gertrude Moushey, is 
now, in company with the Judge, owner and 
manager of the Grand Opera House in Akron, 
Ohio. Walter Alonzo is engaged in the furni- 
ture business in Canton. He married Miss Ber- 
nice King and they have two children — Walter 
Gayle and Bernice Helen. 



DANIEL CAMP.— The subject of this re- 
view claims Switzerland as his fatherland, in 
which romantic little mountain republic he was 
born on the 7th day of Augtist, 1831, being the 
son of Ulrich and Magdaline (Beeler) Camp, 
both natives of the country. By occupation 
Ulrich Camp was a farmer, in addition to 
which he worked for a number of years in 
France, cutting and selling cord wood. His 
home place in Switzerland consisted of nine 
acres of tillable land, quite a large farm for 
that country, and he was considered as belong- 
ing to the better class of agriculturists. About 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1 1 1 1 



the year 1834 lie disposed of his interests in liis 
native land and came to the United States, set- 
thng in Wayne county, Ohio, then.ce, after 
three years, moving to the county of Tuscara- 
was, where he spent the remainder of his hfe 
as a moderately successful tiller of the soil, dy- 
ing in 1869, his wife entering into rest five 
years previous to that date. Of the eight chil- 
dren born to this couple but two are living — 
Jacob, of Indiana, and Daniel, whose name in- 
troduces this sketch. 

Daniel Camp was about three years old 
wlien brought to this country, consequently he 
has no recollections of the land of his birth. He 
was reared on a farm, attended the public 
schools during the winter seasons of his minor- 
ity and grew to manhood in Ohio, early choos- 
ing agriculture as the calling best suited to !:is 
tastes and inclinations. In 1852, when about 
twenty-eight years of age, he went to Iowa, 
which at that time was a new and sparsely set- 
tled country, but not being pleased with the 
prospect there, he soon left and took up his 
residence in Missouri, where he remained until 
1862. In that year he returned to Ohio and re- 
sumed the pursuit of agriculture, and nine 
years later purchased the fine little farm in 
Perry township, on which he has since lived 
and prospered. 

Mr. Camp was married November 28, 
1854, to Miss Mary Wallick, who was born in 
Coshocton county, this state, on the 7th dav 
of November, 1S28, the daughter of Philip 
and Elizabeth (Showalter) Wallick, both par- 
ents natives of Pennsylvania, the father's birth 
occurring in Bedford county, the mother's in 
the county of Berks. Mr. and Mrs. Wallick 
were among the earliest white settlers of 
Coshocton county, moving there when that part 
of Ohio was considered the western verge of 
civilization. They lived on a farm which Mr. 
Wallick cleared from the woods and were 
highly esteemed 1)}- the people of their neigh- 
borhood. They reared a family of seven chil- 



dren, four of whom survive, and died where 
they originally settled, the father in 1840 and 
the mother in 1862. 

Mr. and Mrs. Camp have si.x children, the 
oldest living being a son by the name of Austin 
B., a farmer of Stark county, and also engaged 
in the United States mail service; he married 
Miss Catherine Hensel and is the father of two 
sons, Raymond and Charles A. Clara E., the 
second of the subject's family, is the wife of 
E])hraim Faltz, to whom she has borne children 
as follows:- Clifford I., Efbe C, Ralph W. 
and Camp W. Sarah, tlie third in order of 
birth, married George Welty, of Stark cuunlv, 
and has two children, a daughter by the name 
of Beulah and a son who answers to the name 
of Isaac F. Mary M., the next in succession, 
is the wife of .-Xrnold U.-u-per, of Canal Dover, 
their family consisting of two children — Mary 
L. and Luther E. Ada F. is unmarried, and 
after her comes Clifford E., whose wife was 
formerly Miss Mary E. Barley; this couple 
have been blessed with two offspring, whose 
names are Clifford B. and Howard Daniel. Mr. 
Camp furnished his children with the best ed- 
ucational advantages obtainable and three of 
them, Austin, Clifford and Maiy, taught for a 
number of years in the public schools of Stark 
county. 

Of the subject's career as a farmer and citi- 
zen it is not necessary to speak except in gen- 
eral terms, as his life is an open book, known 
and read by the people of the community of 
which he had long been an honorable and 
praiseworthy resident. .\s already stated, his 
farm is not large, but what ii lacks in area is 
more than made uj) in the high grade of its im- 
provements and the success ^vith which the soil 
is cultivated. .\ man of i)rogressi\-e ideas, he 
has pursued agriculture according to the most 
rational methods, and his means have been lib- 
erally expended in supplying his family with 
coiuforts and coin-eniences and m making- the 
home beautiful, pleasant and attractive. 



I I 12 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Politically Mr. Camp is somewhat inde- 
pendent, but in the main gives his support to 
the Democratic party, especially in state and 
national affairs, reserving the right to cast his 
ballot for the best qualified or most deserving 
candidate in local matters. He is a most pro- 
nounced temperance man and for years past 
has been an uncompromising antagonist of the 
liquor traffic, doing all in his power by exam- 
ple, precept and action to arrest the curse to 
which he attributes the great majority of the 
evils with which society and the nation are af- 
flicted. He has the courage of his convictions 
on all questions and stands firm for what he 
beilieves right, having little respect for the 
weak policy which fears to run counter to pub- 
lic sentiment when it happens to be popular. 



NATHAN E. MOFFITT.— The families 
of which the subject of this review is a worthy 
representative were among the early pioneers of 
Stark county and have maintained a contin- 
uous residence here to the present time. The 
name Moffitt is not only an old one in the an- 
nals of this part of the state, but also an honor- 
able one and so far as known none bearing it 
h.ave ever brought discredit to the high reputa- 
tion it has always sustained. The Moffitts are 
of Irish origin. Many years ago the subject's 
great-grandparents left the Emerald Isle and 
sought a home in America, settling in Wash- 
ington county, Pennsylvania, where they botli 
spent the remainder of their days. One of their 
sons, Peter Moffitt, was about seven years old 
when the family came to the New World. 
He was reared in Pennsylvania and there mar- 
ried Mary Snee, who bore him seven children, 
all of whom have long since passed on to that 
bourne from which no traveler returns. In an 
early day Peter Moffitt moved to Mt. Eaton, 
Ohio, where he engaged in the furniture busi- 
ness, subsequently changing his abode to the 
town of Dalton, where he spent the remaining 



years of his life. Among the children of Peter 
and Mary Moffitt was a son by the name of 
William, who was born in Washington coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania. He accompanied his parents 
to Ohio, and when a youth learned the shoe- 
maker's trade, which he followed until his mar- 
riage, in 'Stark county, to Miss Lucinda El- 
ridge, whose people were among the early pio- 
neers of this part of the state. About the year 
1843 William Moffitt gave up his trade and 
turned his attention to agriculture and from 
that time until his death, in 1898, at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-one, he was recognized 
as one of the leading farmers and representa- 
tives of the township in which he lived. In 
politics he was a Whig- and later a Republican, 
and for a number of years held the office of 
trustee, though never an aspirant for public po- 
sition. When a lad of fourteen he united with 
the Methodist church and entered upon tlie 
consecrated Christian life which characterized 
his career until the Master called him from the 
church militant to the church triumphant. He 
held every official position within the gift of 
the church except that of the public ministry 
and for over a half century served as class 
leader, in which capacity he was instrumental 
in strengthening the faith of his fellow com- 
nnmicants and inspiring them to renewed zeal 
and activity in the Master's vineyard. His life 
was in strict harmony with his profound faith 
and all who came within the range of his influ- 
ence felt that they were in the presence of one 
who walke<l very closely with God. Mrs. Will- 
iam Moffitt was the daughter of Nathan and 
Elizabeth (Thacker) Elridge, both natives of 
Essex county. New York, the former a son 
of William and Sarah Elridge, who came to 
Stark county as early as 181 1 and entered a 
section of land within the present limits of Tus- 
carawas township. Elizabeth Elridge was the 
daughter of Stephen and Mary Thacker, who 
were also among the early comers to this part 
of the state, having taken up their residence 




N. E. MOFFITT. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



II 13 



here the same year in wliich the Ehiclge family 
arrived, and were, Hke tlie latter, natives of 
Fssex county. New York. Stephen Thacker 
was one of the first pioneers of Tuscarawas 
township and lived to see this part of the coun- 
ty developed from its original wilderness state 
into one of the most highly improved and pros- 
perous sections of eastern Ohio, dying at the 
remarktihle age of ninety-four years. Nathan 
Elridge became a prosperous farmer and a 
leading politician of the old Whig party, after 
the dissolution of which he gave his alle- 
giance to the Republican party, and con- 
tinued to support the latter as long as he 
lived. His daugliter, Mrs. Lucinda Moffitt, 
widow of William Moffitt, is still living, hav- 
ing reached the ripe old age of eighty-five, re- 
taining in a marked degree her mental and 
physical faculties for one so old. She bore her 
husband three children, two of whom are liv- 
ing, Mrs. E. J. Fletcher, of Stark county, and 
Nathan E., the subject of this sketch, the third 
of the family, Mary, dying in 1865. 

Nathan E. Moffitt was born October 14, 
1843, on the farm in Tuscarawas township 
which he now owns and cultivates. His early 
experience was that of toiling- in the woods 
and fields with the desire ever uppermost in 
his mind of living- a correct life and becoming 
of some use in the world. He received his 
education in the public schools and the high 
school of Massillon, adding to this training the 
self-culture of reading and study and the bene- 
fits to be derived from the best associations 
which his neighborhood afforded. Young 
Moffitt improved the intervals of rest by por- 
ing over good books and reading the best peri- 
odicals of the day and in this way became well 
informed on a wide range of subjects, besides 
keeping in close touch with the trend of cur- 
rent events. 

Mr. Moffitt remained with his parents until 
twenty-two years old and then severed home 
ties for the purpose of taking his place in the 



busy world of atTairs as an independent, self- 
supporting agent. After living five years in 
Dalton, engaged in handling general merchan- 
dise, he turned his attention to agriculture, 
which useful vocation he has since followed 
with success and financial gain, owning at this 
time in Tuscarawas township a fine, productive 
and well-improved farm of one hundred and 
seventy acres, besides a valuable coal mine 
which has proved the source of a very hand- 
some income. As a tiller of the soil, he is pro- 
gressive and up-to-date, as his home and its 
many attractive features abundantly attest, 
while his standing as a citizen, deeply inter- 
ested in every agency calculated to develop the 
country's resources and foster industrial devel- 
opment, has made him an influential factor in 
what the world is pleased to term modern prog- 
ress. He early cast his lot with the Lord's 
elect, and for over thirty-six years has been an 
humble disciple of the Nazarene, exemplifying 
by a life of continued service the exceeding 
beauty and priceless value of applied Christian- 
ity. In his church relationship, he is a Metho- 
dist and for the last eighteen years he has been 
an acceptable minister of the word, preaching 
wherever his services are required, and that 
too without any pecuniary emolument. He has 
broken the bread of life in every church within 
a radius of from five to ten miles of Massillon, 
frequently officiates at funerals, besides being 
constantly active in religious work in a less 
public capacity. He has been especially efi:'ec- 
tive as a leader in the Sunday school, for which 
work he is well fitted by nature and education, 
and for a period of thirty years he has super- 
intended the school under the auspices of the 
local church to which he belongs. 

Mr. Mofiitt is one of the leading members 
of the Stark County Agricultural Society and 
served one year as its chief executive. For 
four years he was honored with a place on the 
board of the organization and in addition to his 
activity in all work connected therewith he has 



1 1 14 



OLD LANDMARKS 



also been one of the moving spirits in the Hor- 
ticultural Society of this county. Fraternally 
he holds membership with the Order of Amer- 
ican Mechanics, and in politics supports the 
Republican party. 

Mr. Moffitt's domestic life dates from the 
3d day of August, 1865, at which time was sol- 
emnized his marriage with Miss Cecelia O. 
Maxheimer, daughter of William and E. Max- 
heimer, the father one of the prominent men 
of Stark county, now living at the age of 
eighty-five years. Mr. Alnnitt's home is a 
pleasant one and the spirit of hospitality reign- 
ing therein makes hearty welcome to all who 
cross the threshold. 



ELI D. DOLL was born in Osnaburg 
township, May 4, 1842, and is a son of John 
Doll, a record of whose life will be found else- 
where in this volume. The subject was reared 
to farming on the paternal homestead and was 
educated in the common schools of Perry 
township, with the exception of five years 
passed in California, farming and mining. Mr. 
Doll since 1854 has lived on the farm he now 
owns and occupies in Perry township, which 
farm comprises ninety acres and is under cul- 
tivation in mixed crops. 

Mr. Doll was united in marriage in 1866 
with Miss Sarah Walcutt, who was born in 
Osnaburg township in 1849 and was a daugh- 
ter of Elias Walcutt, who was an early settler 
of Stark county, and who died in Canton. To 
Eli D. and Sarah (Walcutt) Doll were born 
seven children, namely: Emma, wife of Wil- 
h'am Krisher, of Massillon; Rutherford H., of 
Perry town.ship, a thresher and a member of 
Lake Union; Frank L., a farmer, married to 
Emma Klein, is a Republican in politics and a 
central committeeman of Massillon precinct; 
Ida. wife of Eli Levinger, of Massillon ; Car- 
rie, married to William Lantzer, a carpenter; 
Hattie, wife of James Grant, a glassblower and 



a resident of the Doll homestead, and Cynthia, 
twnn of Hattie, and wife of Joseph Holtz, a 
painter residing in Perry township. Mrs. 
Sarah (Walcutt) Doll, the honored mother of 
the above named children, was most untimely 
called from earth April 10, 1899, at the age of 
fifty years, to the great sorrow of her bereaved 
family, who loved her with an affection ncv 
words can express or convey an idea of 'to any 
person not a member of the family. 

Mr. Doll has never aspired to public ofiice, 
although he has invariably voted the Repub- 
lican ticket. Fraternally he is a member of 
Clinton Lodge No. 47, Free and Accepted 
Masons, and he and family attend the Evan- 
gelical church. 

With the exception of the kgacy left him 
by his father, Mr. Doll has earned all he owns, 
and no small credit is due him for the good 
iudg-ment he has displayed in the management 
of his affairs. 



A. W. SMITH. — Conspicuous among the 
successful men of Stark county is A. W. Smith, 
of Pen^y township, who, as an artisan, business 
man and agriculturist has achieved repute and 
fortune such as only fall to the lot of the fa- 
vored few. Mr. Smith is an honest representa- 
tive of the sturdy German element in American 
industrial life, and exemplifies in a marked de- 
gree the sterling qualities of head and heart by 
which his nationality has been enabled to take 
a leading place among the civilized peoples of 
the world. He was born in Germany Septem- 
ber 18, 1845, 3.nd in April, 1847, was brought 
to the United States by his parents, George and 
Catherine Smith, who settled in Stark county, 
Ohio. The father was a farmer and in addi- 
tion to tilling the soil worked for some years in 
the coal mines in the county, by industry and 
economy acquiring a comfortable competence 
for his family. He was a man of sterling value 
to the communitv in which he lived, earned the- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1115 



respect of his fellow citizens and died in the 
year 1863, deeply lamented by all who were 
fa^'ored with his acquaintance. His wife, who 
bore him six children, survived him about fif- 
teen i/ears, being called to her eternal rest in 
1878. Of the six children constituting the 
family of George and Catherine Smith two 
have joined their parents in the other world, 
the four living being residents of the county of 
Stark. The early life of A. W. Smith was 
spent in Lawrence township and he received 
his education in the public schools. When a 
youth he became quite proficient in the use of 
tools and later turned his mechanical skill to 
good use by learning the carpenter's trade, 
which he followed for some years at daily 
wages, subsequently becoming a contractor and 
builder upon his own responsibility. He began 
his career as a mechanic in Massillon, and in 
1872 branched out for himself, from which 
time until abandoning the trade, in 1899, he 
erected many of the most pretentious public 
bm'ldings in the city, besides building a number 
of private residences and other structures 
there and elsewhere. 

In 1899 ^''- Smith gave up his trade and 
turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, 
purchasing in August of that year the beautiful 
and highly improved little farm in Perry town- 
ship, •\\'here he has since made his home. He 
has been as successful in tilling the soil as he 
was as a contractor and builder, and his stand- 
ing to-day among the leading agriculturists of 
his community is freely conceded by his fellow 
citizens similarly engaged. 

Mr. Smith was married January 24, 1867, 
to Miss Margaret Cramer, who bore him four 
children, but one of whom, A. H., is now liv- 
ing. I'his son, an intelligent and most excel- 
lent young man, well and favorably known in 
Massillon and throughout the adjacent coun- 
try, was educated in the city schools and later 
took up the study of telegraphy, in which in 
due time he acquired a rare degree of profi- 



ciency. He has held several important posi- 
tions, and is now located at Cleveland in the 
employ of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad. 
He married some years ago Miss Mame Bless- 
ing, who died in December, 1901, leaving one 
daughter, Gertrude. 

Mrs. Smith, wife of the subject, departed 
this life in 1887, and later Mr. Smith entered 
the marriage relation with Miss Mary Harmon, 
of Massillon, a union resulting in the birth of 
three children — Stella, Harold and Florence. 
For a number of years Mr. Smith has been an 
influenitial factor in public affairs, being one 
of the Democratic leaders of his township and 
an active worker as well as a judicious counsel- 
lor in all matters pertaining to the welfare of 
his party. In 1885 he was elected township 
trustee and by successive elections held the of- 
fice for a period of ten years, during which 
time he discharged his functions as an able and 
faithful custodian of the people's interests, win- 
ning tlie confidence and praise of the public ir- 
respective of political creed. Fie was one of 
the leading spirits in the organization of the 
People's Building and Loan Association of 
Massillon, and has served as a member of its 
board of appraisers to the present time. He 
also assisted in organizing the Massillon Sav- 
ings Bank, the success of which enterprise has 
been largely due to his correct business meth- 
ods and judicious oversight. In the different 
relations Mr. Smith has sustained to the public 
his course has ever been straightforward and 
businesslike and entirely free from the slight- 
est suspicion of anything savoring of disre- 
pute. 



JOHN P. BLANK, one of the repre- 
sentative business men of Canal Fulton and son 
of John and Elizabeth Blank, to whom refer- 
ence is made in a biography of William Blank, 
was born in West Virginia on the 13th of No- 
vember, 1858. When a child he was brought 



1 1 16 



OLD LANDMARKS 



by his parents to Stark county, Ohio, and from 
that time to the present his life has I)cen mainly 
spent in Canal l'"uIton, with the business inter- 
ests of which town he is now very actively 
identified. He enjoyed such educational ad- 
vantages as the graded schools afforded and 
when a mere youth began earning money for 
himself by working in the coal mines, carefully 
husbanding his earnings, while thus employed, 
with the ()l)ject in view of ultimately engaging 
in some kind of business upon his own respon- 
sibility. After following mining and various 
other pursuiits until iS88 he and his brother 
William opened a grocery house in Canal Ful- 
ton, which in due time became a flourishing es- 
tablishment, the firm of Blank Brothers soon 
taking high rank among the successful business 
enterprises of the town. The house enjoyed a 
series of uninterrupted successes for a period 
of eleven years, at the expiration of which 
time, in 1899, the partnership was dissolved. 
William engaged in the general mercantile 
trade and the subject establishing the prosper- 
ous confectionary business wdiich he still car- 
ries on. 

In addition to his specific line of trade Mr. 
Blank is also connected with the French Cereal 
Manufacturing Company, of Canal Fulton, be- 
ing a large stockholder in the same and person- 
ally interested in its management. In a busi- 
ness sense Mr. Blank is thoroughgoing and 
progressi\'c, and the \arious enterprises which 
have inured so greatly to the adxancement of 
the flourishing town of his residence have al- 
ways found in liim an earnest friend and ]il)eral 
patron. In his l)usiness transactions he has 
shown himself a man of uncommon sagacity 
and discreetness of judgment, of scrupulous in- 
tegrity and gentlemanly demeanor. In all 
movements having for the object the moral 
good of the community his name and individ- 
ual efforts have ever been foremost and in the 
attributes of honorable manhood, honesty of 
purpose and uprightness of character he stands 



pre-eminent, enjoying in full measure the 
friendship and good will of the people, among 
whom the greater part of his life has been 
spent. Mr. Blank is one of the leading Demo- 
crats of Canal Fulton, but it can not be said 
that he is a partisan in the sense of seeking 
otScial preferment, having no ambition in that 
direction. He is a prominent member of the 
Catholic Mutual Benefit Association of Canal 
Fulton, and his religious views are in harmony 
with the Catholic creed, a church to which he 
was born and reared and to which he has ever 
remained loyal. 

Referring to the domestic life of Mr. Blank, 
the record states that he was married in the 
year 1880 to Miss Mary Hammer, daughter of 
Simon Hammer, of Stark county, Ohio, the 
union resulting in the birth of ten children, 
whose names are as follows : Edward, de- 
ceased ; Frederick ; George, deceased ; Lewis ; 
Raymond, deceased; Carl, Edith, Lucile, Mar- 
garet and Walter. Mr. Blank has taken great 
interest in providing for the welfare of his 
children, affording them the best educational 
advantages obtainable, besides looking care- 
fully after their material well being. 



DAVID DANNER, one of the leading 
farmers of Lawrence township, is a native ot 
Stark county, Ohio, and the son of David and 
Mary (Young) Danner, the father born about 
the year 1808 in Center county, Pennsylvania, 
and the mother in Alsace, France (now a prov- 
ince of the German empire), in 1S14. The 
subject's paternal grandfather, Philip Danner, 
was also a native of Pennsylvania and his name 
appears with the pioneer history of Stark 
county, as he came to this part of Ohio as 
early as 1817 and settled in what is now the 
township of Lawrence, where he purchased 
land and improved a good farm. David Dan- 
ner, Sr., was reared on this place and some 
time after the death of his parents jnirchased 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 1 17 



the homestead. He owned the same until 
about 1 86 1, when he disposed of it and bought 
what is kno'wn as the Jacob Kirk farm, whicli 
is now in the possession of his descendants. He 
acquired a handsome estate and died in Law- 
rence township in tlie year 1877, honored and 
respected by the people with whom he liad so 
much in common. He was a prominent local 
politician, and for many years the leader of the 
Democracy in his part of the county, though 
never an office holder or a seeker after public 
preference. In matters religious he was a 
devout member of the Lutheran church, as was 
also his wife, who departed this life on the 
23d of August. 1899. r)^vid and Mary Ban- 
ner reared a family of six children, four of 
whom are living, namely: Margaret, Philip, 
Sarah and David ; Caroline and George, the 
fourth and sixth in order of their birth, being 
deceased. 

David Danner, Jr.. the fifth of the above 
children, was born in Lawrence township, 
Stark county, Ohio, on the 23d of April, 1844. 
Reared on his father's farm, he was early in- 
structed in lessons of industry and frugality, 
his mind took the proper bent and he grew to 
manhood with mental and bodily powers sym- 
metrically developed. During his minority he 
attended the public schools during tlie winter 
seasons and spent the rest of the year as his 
father's able assistant, having become quite fa- 
miliar with the duties of farm life at an early 
age. When it became necessary for him to 
choose a vocation of his own, he decided to be- 
come an agriculturist, and as such he has since 
continued, owning at this time a fine farm 
about one mile from Canal Fulton, besides an 
interest in the paternal homestead. His beauti- 
ful and attractive rural home contains all the 
comforts and conveniences calculated to make 
country life desirable, and he has spared no 
reas(5nable sacrifice in improving his place and 
bringing it to the successful state of cultivation 
for which he has long been noted. 



Mr. Danner takes an active interest in polit- 
ical mattei's. iiaving from his twenty-first year 
been an unswerving supporter of the Repub- 
lican party. I-Ie has never been actuated by am- 
bition for public office, but supports his party 
piu'ely from ])rinciplc. Religiously he is a 
I-'resl)yterian. belonging with his wife to the 
church at Canal Fulton, being one of the con- 
gregation's active members as well as one of 
the most liberal su])pnrters. Mr. Danner was 
married on the 25th of March, 1880, to Miss 
Nancy Lentz, who was born in Stark county 
October 4, 1849, the daughter of Joshua and 
Catherine (Folk) Lentz, natives of Germany 
and Pennsyh'ania, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. 
Lentz came to Stark county in an early day 
and spent the remainder of their lives here, 
the former dying in 1868 and the latter in. 
1887. 



JOHN M. CRAWFORD, M. D., is a na- 
tive son of the Buckeye state and a representa- 
tive of one of its sterling pioneer families. He 
was Ixirn in Jefferson county, Ohio, on the 3d 
of February, 1844. being a son of James B. 
and Sarah (McClelland) Crawford, of whose 
five children we enter the following brief data : 
Cynthia, who is the widow of William Mont- 
gomery, resides in Mount LTnion. Ohio; John 
M., subject of this sketch, was the next in order 
of birth; Elizabeth, who remains a spinster, is 
a resident of Richmond. Jefferson county; 
Nancy is the wife of John M. Jamison and like- 
wise resides in that place, and Emma, who was 
the wife of William Wood, of Smithfield, this 
state, is deceased. The father of the Doctor 
was born in Carroll county, Ohio, about the 
year 1820, which fact indicates how early was 
the period in which the family became identi- 
fied with the history of the state. He was there 
reared and educated and in his youth learned 
the trade of blacksmith, to which he devoted 
his attention for a number of years. Finally 



iii8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



his eyesight became much impaired and he was 
compelled to abandon this vocation, having pre- 
viously conducted an excellent business in the 
town of Richmond, Jefferson county, where he 
had a blacksmith and wagon shop. After his 
retirement from this line of enterprise he en- 
gaged in the insurance and real estate business 
in the same town and continued to devote his 
attention to this enterprise until his death, 
which occurred in the year 1894. In politics 
he gave his support to the Republican party 
from the time of its organization, while his 
religious faith was that of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, of which he was a consistent and 
zealous member, as was also his wife. He was 
identified with the Masonic fraternity and also 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His 
father, Benedict Crawford, was of German an- 
cestry and was bom in Pennsylvania, whence 
he emigrated to Ohio and became one of the 
early settlers in Carroll county, where he was 
engaged in agricultural pursuits until his 
death. The mother of the subject was born in 
Jefferson county, Ohio, and her death occunx: 
in the village of Richmond, that county. 

Dr. Crawford was reared in the village of 
Richmond, where he received his preliminary 
educational discipline in the public schools. 
When the rebel guns thundered against the 
ramparts of old Fort Sumter his intrinsic loy- 
alty and patriotism were roused to responsive 
protest, and though he was but sixteen years 
of age at the time, he tendered his services in 
defense of the Union, enlisting on the 5th of 
September, 1861, as a private in Company K, 
Seventy-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which 
was assigned to the western army, and he re- 
mained in active service until the close of the 
war, while the history of the regiment is the 
histoi-y of his military service, for he was ever 
found at the post of duty and took part in all 
of the engagements in which his regiment par- 
ticipated. He was wounded in the battle of 
Nashville, and in 1862 he was captured in Ten- 



nessee, being held a prisoner during one night 
and being then paroled, after which he re- 
joined his regiment and resumed active duty as 
soon as his exchange was effected. He re- 
ceived his honorable discharge on the 6th of 
January, 1865, his regiment having been sent 
to Texas in that year, and was sergeant of his 
company during the major portion of his term 
of service. 

The Doctor reached his home on the loth 
of January, 1866, and shortly afterward he was 
matriculated as a student in Harlem College at 
Harlem, Ohio, where he continued his studies 
for one year, and for a period of three years 
he was a successful teacher in the public 
schools. He then went to Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he was employed for two years 
as clerk in a grocery, and from that city he 
returned to Ohio and located at Ironville, 
wliere he was employed in a mercantile estab- 
lishment, one of his fellow clerks being ex- 
Governor R. G. Richards. He remained in 
that place about eighteen months and then re- 
turned to his home in Richmond, where he 
began reading medicine under the preceptor- 
ship of Dr. Samuel Rothecker, thus continuing 
his studies until the autumn of 1875, when he 
entered the Ohio Medical College, in Cincin- 
nati, where he continued his technical studies 
about one year, after which he was matricu- 
lated in the Columbus Medical College, in the 
capital city of the state, where he was gradu- 
ated in the spring of 1877, receiving his degree 
of Doctor of Medicine and coming forth spe- 
cially well equipped for the work of his chosen 
profession. Shortly after his graduation he 
established himself in the active practice of his 
profession in East Rochester, Columbiana 
county, this state, where he remained until 
March, 1882, having built up a large and rep- 
resentative practice. In the year mentioned 
the Doctor came to Stark county and located 
in the village of Minerva, where he has since 
been engaged in the practice of his profession, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 1 19 



controlling at the present time the most exten- 
sive business of all medical practitioners in this 
section of the county, while he enjoys the un- 
limited confidence and esteem of the community 
and stands high in the regard of his profes- 
sional confreres in the county. He is one of 
the honored and valued members of the Stark 
County Medical Society. In politics the Doc- 
tor is a stanch adherent of the Republican 
party, and he has been an active worker in be- 
half of the party cause, having served as a 
member of the county central committee and 
having been mcumbent of various local offices 
of trust and responsibility. He was health of- 
ficer of Minerva for several years and was also 
an efficient member of the school board for a 
number of years. He is one of the leading 
stockholders in the Minerva Banking Company, 
of which he is vice-president. Fraternally the 
Doctor IS identified with the Grand Army of 
the Republic, holding membership in Minerva 
Post No. 106, at Minerva, and he is also iden- 
tified with the Masonic fraternity and the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. 

On the 24th of March. 1880, Dr. Craw- 
ford was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca 
Calerdine, of East Rochester, this state. She 
was born in England, being a daughter of 
Thomas Calerdine, who was engaged in the 
manufacture of lace in that country up to the 
time of his emigration to the United States, 
since which time he has devoted his attention 
to agricultural pursuits, being now one of the 
influential citizens of Minerva, Ohio. Dr. and 
Mrs. Crawford have one son, Charles C, who 
is a graduate in pharmacy and who is now a 
student in Cleveland Medical College. The 
suttject and his wife are members of the Meth- 
odist church. 



JOHN W. MYERS was born in Wayne 
county, Ohio, March i, 1846, and is the son of 
W. G. and Sarah Myers, a notice of whom will 



be found elsewhere in these pages. He accom- 
panied his parents to Stark county about the 
year 1870 and was reared a farmer boy, early 
becoming inured to the strict discipline and 
rugged usages which such a life necessarily in- 
cludes. In the common schools he acquired a 
knowledge of the fundamental branches of 
learning which, supplemented by his subse- 
quent observation, reading and practical experi- 
ences, has made him one of the well informed 
and broad-minded men of the community in 
which he lives. 

When the Rebellion broke out young 
Myefs did not long hesitate between his love 
of home and sense of duty to his country, but 
yielded to the latter, enlisting in Company I, 
Fifth Ohio Cavalry, with which he shared the 
fortunes and vicissitudes of war until the ces- 
sation of hostilities. In the discharge of his 
onerous duties in the camp, on the march and 
in the midst of the smoke and carnage of battle 
he knew no fear, shirked no responsibility, hes- 
itated in the face of no danger and at the ex- 
piration of his term of service received an hon- 
orable discharge, after which he once more re- 
sumed the pursuits of civil life. For several 
years Mr. Myers was engaged in teaching and 
earned a creditable record in that capacity. 
Having a natural taste for agriculture, he sub- 
sequently gave all his attention to the latter 
calling and he has followed it with sviccess and 
financial profit to the present day, owning at 
this time a fine farm of one hundred and eighty 
acres in Lawrence township, where he is well 
and comfortably situated to enjoy the many 
favors with which he has been so bountifully 
blessed. 

Mr. Myers has been liberal in expending his 
surplus earnings in the improvement of his 
place and now has one of the beautiful and well 
appointed country homes of the township, the 
conditions of the buildings and fields, in fact, 
everything on the farm, attesting the taste and 
interest displayed by the proprietor, as well as 



II20 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the other members of the family. As a farmer 
he is fully up to date and prosecutes his labor 
according to the most advanced principles of 
modern agriculture. He keeps nothing but the 
best breeds of live stock, a matter in Avhich he 
takes great pride, and all his implements and 
appliances are of the latest and most approved 
patern. In addition to his agricultural inter- 
ests Mr. Myers is widely known as a public 
auctioneer, in which capacity his services have 
been utilized in the sale of property in nearly 
every part of Stark county, having followed the 
business veiy successfully for over thirty years. 
He is an excellent judge of the values and pos- 
sesses the ability and tact to represent articles 
so as to dispose of them at the highest possible 
figxire. 

In business relations Mr. Myers has always 
demonstrated a proper conception of doing the 
right thing at the right time and success has 
invariably crowned his efforts. As a citizen he 
has always stood firm for the right and in the 
matter of public morals, social reform, of ma- 
terial enterprise his voice has been heard with 
no uncertain sound in the advocacy of what- 
e\-er tended to the greatest good to the greatest 
number. Politically he is a Republican, but 
has little time or inclination to enter the arena 
of purely party affairs, preferring the quiet life 
of a farmer to any honor or emolument which 
office or public position can confer. 

Mr. Myers was married, in 1869, to -Miss 
Lelitia J. Young, a daughter of Cyrus and 
Margaret (Sheafer) Young, both parents na- 
tives of Stark county and a representative of 
two of its earliest pioneer families. Mrs. 
Myers departed this life November 21, 1901, 
after bearing her husband seven children, 
namely: Cyrus, William. John C. (deceased), 
Oscar (deceased), Sadie, Maggie and James. 
The mother of these children was fifty-three 
years old at the time of her death, and she 
left to her family the sweet memory of spot- 



less character and a devotion to their welfare 
which will be a comforting benediction through 
all the vears to come. 



JOHN A. ESSIG, one of the leading farm- 
ers of Jackson township, is a son of Jacob and 
Madeline (Lind) Essig, both natives of Stark 
county. By occupation Jacob Essig was a tiller 
of the soil and as such met with encouraging 
success, owning at one time two hundred and 
eighty acres of land, the greater part of which 
is now in possession of his descendants. He 
was a good man and praiseworthy citizen and 
spent all of his life in the county of Stark, dy- 
ing about four miles north of Canton in the 
year 1891. ]\lrs. Es.sig became the mother of 
ten children and departed this life in the month 
of May, 1901. Of his large family, six are 
living at the present time, the majority being 
residents of the county of Stark, well settled in 
life and useful in their various fields of en- 
deavor. 

The liirth of John A. Essig occurred in 
Plain township, Stark county, January 21, 
1849, ^nf' li^ spent his early years on the home 
farm, assisting as soon as old enough with the 
various duties of the same. Nothing of an 
eventful nature took place to interfere with 
the even tenor of his life and he grew to ma- 
turity with a full appreciation of the responsi- 
bilities resting upon him as a citizen of a coun- 
try where all are given equal opportunities for 
the exercise of the talents in their possession. 
PTis educational training was such as the com- 
mon schools could impart and he pursued his 
studies during the years of his minority until 
obtaining a practical knowledge of the funda- 
mental branches of learning. The father's es- 
tate was by no means large enough to aft'ord 
each of the children a substantial start in life, 
accordingly the subject on leaving home was 
obliged to rely upon his own resources for a 




MR. AND MRS. JOHN A ESSIQ. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



I 121 



livelihood. Determined from the outstart not 
to be contented with a passive existence, he at 
once formed his plans for the fnture, and spar- 
ing no effort within his power to carry them to 
conclusion, he soon found himself in a condi- 
tion to realize his hopes of success in a business 
way. A strong heart and willing hands im- 
pelled him to undertake large things in the 
matter of agriculture and from a modest be- 
ginning he steadily forged his way to the front 
until in due time he came to be looked upon as 
one of the rising farmers and substantial citi- 
zens of the community in which he lived. Pur- 
chasing a good farm, he succeeded by industry 
and good management in adding to its area at 
intervals until finally he became the owner of 
three hundred and fifty-three acres of as fertile 
and well improved land as can be found within 
the geographical limits of the township. 

Mr. Essig has given much careful study to 
agricultural science and perhaps is as well ac- 
quainted with the nature of soils and their 
adaptability to the grain and vegetable crops of 
the latitude as any other man in Stark county. 
He is a modern farmer, using modern methods 
and modern appliances and the splendid condi- 
tion of his place as well as the bountiful har- 
vests with which he is every year blessed dem- 
onstrate the practical value of his theoretical 
knowledge of husbandry. 

Realizing that no true man lives for selfish 
ends, Mr. Essig devotes considerable time to 
public enterprises and as a good citizen takes 
an active interest in politics, supporting the 
principles of the Democratic party. He has 
never asked nor desired official distinction, but 
deems no reasonable sacrifice too great when 
working for his friends or laboring to promote 
the success of the party as a whole. Notwith- 
standing his indifference to public position, he 
was elected in 1893 trustee of Jackson town- 
ship and filled the office three years, retiring 
not only with an honorable record but also 
with the universal good will of the people, re- 

70 



gardJess of party affiliation. In matters relig- 
ious Mr. Essig has profound convictions and 
to say that he is an earnest and sincere Chris- 
tian, whose works and faith go hand in hand, 
is to state which every body within the range 
of his acquaintance is only too willing to tes- 
tify. As a communicant of the Lutheran 
church, he has been untiring in upholding the 
cause of Christianity in his neighborhood and 
the local congregation to which he belongs has 
benefited greatly not only from his liberal 
financial support but as much if not more from 
his wholesome personal influence in inducing 
others to seek the better life. 

Mr. Essig is a married man and the proud 
father of eight children, who are growing up to 
honorable ifianhood and womanhood and giv- 
ing promise to lives of usefulness in whatever 
stations they may be called to fill. His wife 
was formerly Miss Julia Oberlin and the cere- 
mony by which it was changed to the one she 
now bears was solemnized in the year 1874. 
The following are the names of the sons and 
daughters that have come to brighten the home 
and make glad the lives of these fond parents, 
to-wit : Henry, Bertha, Etta, John, Lena, 
Walter, Nancv and William S. 



FRANK i^. ZIMMER, secretary and treas- 
urer of the Harvard Company, Canton, and one 
of the accomplished young business men of the 
city, is a native of Stark county, Ohio, and the 
son of Charles B. and Rosa Zimmer, the father 
born m Medard, Germany, December 27, 1844, 
the mother in the United States. Charles B. 
Zimmer was reared in the land of his birth and 
when a young man turned his attention to me- 
chanical pursuits, in due time becoming a skill- 
ful machinist, which trade he followed until a 
comparatively recent date. In 1867 he left the 
fatherland and came to the United States, land- 
ing at New York, from which city he made his 
way direct to Navarre, Ohio, thence after a 



I 122 



OLD LANDMARKS 



short time remox'ed to Canton, where lie worked 
at his trade for a numben of years. He was 
employed by different industrial enterprises in 
this city, achieved an envial)le reputation as an 
efficient meclianic and foHowed liis chosen vo- 
cation until a few years ago. when he engaged 
with the furniture and undertaking establish- 
ment at Barberton, of which his son, the sub- 
ject of this review, is a proprietor, holding a 
position with the same at the present time. 
Mr. Zimmer has been twice married, the tirst 
time in Canton to Miss Rosa Walters, who died 
in 1777, and subsequently to Emma Becherer, 
of Canton, who departed this life in August, 
1902. By his first wife he had five children, 
namely : Frank A., whose name introduces 
this sketch; Lottie, now Mrs. George Zink, of 
Canton ; Clara, who married Conrad VVeigand, 
of Barberton, and two who died in childhood. 
Two children were born to Mr. Zimmer's 
second marriage, a claug'hter by the naiue of 
Marie, who is single and still a member of his 
home circle, and Loe, deceased. The Zim- 
mers were born in the Catholic church and 
the different memliers of the family ha\e been 
faithful in their allegiance tO' its teachings, 
those living in Canton belonging to St. Joseph's 
■ congregation, in the good work of which they 
are active and zealous. Charles B. Zimmer 
stands well with his German-American fellow 
citizens as a man of upright character and 
sterling worth who attends strictly to his own 
affairs and who has ])roven true to everv trust 
reposed in him. 

I* rank A. Zimmer was born September 7, 
1872, in Canton. (3hio, and until his thirteenth 
year attended the parochial schools of the city, 
in which he laid the foundation of what has 
since been a thorough practical training, 
princi]ially along business lines, llis first ex- 
perience in the way of earning money for him- 
self was as a clerk in a dry goods house, and 
after spending some years in that capacity and 
obtaining an insight into the business, he ac- 



cepted a position with B. Dannemiller & Sons, 
leading wholesale grocers of Canton, in whose 
employ he continued until 1890. In the latter 
year he severed his connection with the abo\e 
firm to become bookkeeper for the Harvard 
Company, which position he held five years, 
when he was promoted to the more responsible 
post of secretary and treasurer of the concern, 
the two-fold duties of which he has discharg-ed 
in an able and satisfactory manner to the 
present time. 

In addition to his official connection with 
the Harvard Company, Mr. Zimmer owns a 
half interest in the furniture and undertaking 
establishment at Barberton, which his father 
now manages, and the proceeds from the latter 
business, with his liberal salary as secretary 
and treasurer, yields him an income sufficiently 
liberal to make him financially independent. 

]\Ir. Zimmer's l)usiness record is without a 
blemish, while his sterling worth as a neighbor 
and citizen has won him a host of friends and 
earned for him a conspicuous place among the 
enterprising, public-spirited men of his native 
city. All of his life has been spent in Canton 
and his personal history contains no pages 
marred or blotted by unworthy actions. 

Mr. Zimmer, in the year 1902, entered the 
marriage relation with Miss Frances Kagle, 
tlaughter of Michael and Josephine Kagle. of 
Canton, and he has a beautiful and comfortable 
home in which the graces of refined woman- 
hood reign and a spirit of hospitality is ever 
manifest. A Catholic by birth and training, re- 
ligion enters largely into his every-day con- 
cerns and, directing his life according to its 
precepts, he makes his presence felt for good 
among those with whom he has business deal- 
ings or social relations. He; and his estimable 
wife belong to the St. Joseph's church and fur 
some time past he has l>een organist and leader 
of the choir in the same, being an accomplished 
musician with a wide reputation as a vocalist 
and as a skillful performer upon several kinds 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1123 



of instruments. In the dil'ferent lines of re- 
ligious work under the supervision of the 
church he is also quite active, being a mem- 
ber of the Knights of Columbus and a leading 
.spirit in the Catholic Mutual Benefit Associ- 
ation, the success of which organizations is 
due to him ]jer!ia])s as much as to any other in- 
dividual identified therewith. 

Mr. Zimmer acts with the Democratic 
party, politically Wieving thoroughly in its 
principles and has an abiding faith in its mis- 
sion as a party of the people. lie has never 
been attracted by the allurements of office, but 
contents himself with voting his principles and 
supporting' the party's candidates, leaving the 
responsibility of leadership and the hcjnors of 
public position to those whose minds run in 
such directions. 



T. J. REED, M. D., is proud to claim Ohio 
as his native state, a state which has probably 
produced as many distinguished men in all lines 
of human action as any other commonwealth 
in the American union. He was born July 31, 
1838, in the county of Coshocton, and re- 
mained there until a youth of seventeen years, 
meantime acquiring a knowledge of the ele- 
mentary branches of learning in the ])ublic 
schools. The training thus received was after- 
wards supplemented by a course in Keen 
Academy, and at the age of eighteen he selected 
medicine as the profession best suited to his 
tastes and inclinations, entering, in 1856, Rolfe 
Medical College in the city of Toronto, 
Canada. .After spending two years in that in- 
stitution, he became a student of Jefferson 
Medical College, Philadelphia, where he pur- 
sued his studies until i860, when he was 
graduated. Shortly after receiving his degree 
Dr. Reed was appointed acting assistant 
surgeon in the United States navy, l>eing as- 
signed duty on the ship "DeSoto," and later 
transferred to the United States ship "Stars 



and Stripes." After discharging the duties of 
this position with credit to himself and satis- 
faction to the department until 1864, he was 
appointed to a similar i)ost in the United States 
army, entering upon his official functions at 
Washington City, D. C, where he remained 
until the year following, when he .severed his 
connection with the service for the purpose of 
further perfecting himself in his profession. 
Tn 1865 he took a post-graduate course in 
obstetrics at Jefiferson College, and the follow- 
ing year located at Massillon, where he has 
since devoted him,self very closely to the general 
practice, building up a very extensive business 
and earning honorable distinction in a field 
long noted for its high order of medical talent. 
Dr. Reed is a man of brnad and liberal 
learning in his professicjii, skillful as a 
practitioner, and possesses what is .so desirable 
in a true healer, cheerfulness, cotutesy, a high 
sense of honor and an inspiring ])resence which 
never fails to c<jmmand the confidence of 
patients and the respect of their friends. He 
has been untiring in his researches and in- 
vestigations in the realm n\ medical science, 
and by close and critical study has kept ])ace 
with the age relative to the latest discoveries 
in medicine and the art of practice. Few 
physicians have been more successful in the 
treatment of certain diseases, notably among 
which are smallpox, typhoid fever and various 
kinds of fevers, in all of which his colleagues 
cheerfully acknowledge his eminence. In 
the general practice his efforts have likewise 
been rewarded with the most gratifying results. 
Dr. Reed has little time to devote to the social 
amenities of life, the never ceasing claims of 
his profession requiring nearly all of his at- 
tention, and he makes every other consideration 
subordinate to his patients' interests. In view 
of this fact, he has never taken a very active 
part in public matters or political questions, 
although he keeps himself well informed upon 
Ixjlli, and has decided opinions relative to the 



1 124 



OLD LANDMARKS 



leading issues of the day. As a citizen he oc- 
cupies a high station in the community, being 
widely and favorably known for his many 
excellent qualities of head and heart, com- 
manding the esteem of the people of his city 
and county, and ever ready and willing to show 
them any favor within his power to bestow. 
Dr. Reed was married, in 1869, to Miss 
Belle Dickey, who has borne him two children, 
a son, T. F., and a daughter, Lulu F., now 
the wife of F. F. Tigert, of Massillon. The 
former was educated in the public schools O'f 
Massillon, Adelbert College and a preparatory 
school at Hudson, Ohio. He was graduated 
from the Western Reserve Medical College, 
Cleveland, in 1893, and has been a successful 
practitioner from that time to the present, 
meanwhile taking a special course in the Eye 
and Ear Flospital, New York city. He is now 
making a specialty of the treatment of diseases 
peculiar to the eye, nose, ear and throat, and 
has already met with gratifying success in 
these lines of his profession. 



WILLIAM DeFORD.— In the history of 
eastern Ohio few names are as prominent as 
that of DeFord. Those who bore it in early 
days were men of character, position, positive 
convictions and great personal force and it is 
needless to state that these with other admira- 
ble qualities have been displayed by their de- 
scendants from the pioneer period to the pres- 
ent time. As the name implies, the DeFord 
family is of French origin. Of the ancestral 
history little is known beyond certain facts con- 
nected with the life of one Jean DeFord, who 
with his wife, Marie (nee Marchand), was a 
native of France and a devout Huguenot in a 
time when to avow Protestantism was equiva- 
lent to confiscation of property if not death. On 
the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 1686, 
Jean DeFord and wife, together with members 
of their respective families and others of like 



faith, fled from the city of Toulouse and, after 
various experiences, finally sailed for the new 
world, which they reached in due time, settling 
in Kent county, Maryland, where freedom of 
conscience was then allowed. Mr. and jMrs. 
DeFord had been married but a short time 
before their escape and were both young and 
without children when they reached their desti- 
nation on the shores of Maryland. After com- 
ing to this country, they reared a large family 
of thirteen sons and one daughter, the latter in 
young womanhood marrying a prominent busi- 
ness man in the city of Philadelphia by the 
name of Merchant. From the sons all the De- 
Fords in the United States are descended, the 
father, Jean (or John, as the name has since 
been anglicised), being the great-grandfather 
of William DeFord. The old family Bible 
containing the names of the early DeFords 
was brought to America by Jean DeFord and 
is in possession of a relative living in the city 
of Baltimore. It is a well-preserved volume, 
bound in canvas-covered boards, with large 
bronze hinges and clasps, very clear, legible 
print and by reason of its early date and long 
continuance in the family has a value far 
greater than mere dollars and cents. 

When the war of the Revolution broke out 
John DeFord, son of the above Jean and grand- 
father of the subject, entered the American 
army and did heroic service for the country 
in many campaigns and noted battles, besides 
losing the bulk of his fortune during the strug- 
gle. Having confidence in the integrity of the 
colonial government, he converted much of his 
property into continental script, which finally 
became so much worthless paper, entailing 
upon him a loss from which it took him a 
long time to recover. At the close of the war 
he migrated from Marjdand to what is now 
Fayette county, Pennsylvania, at that time 
Westmoreland county, where two of his sons, 
John and Marchard, were then living, select- 
ins: for his future home a tract of land near- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 125 



Redstone creek. He cleared and developed a 
farm and in due lime became widely and favor- 
ably known as a man of affairs, taking an active 
interest in the material development of the 
country and by his correct conduct adding 
much to the social and moral status of the com- 
munity in which he resided. The death of this 
worthy citizen was the result of an accident 
under the following circumstances : Having 
•occasion to carry a grist of grain to a mill on 
the Redstone, he threw the sack across the i^ack 
of his horse and mounting behind made the 
trip in safety and, as was the custom, waited 
until the grain was converted into flour. On 
his way home he led the horse until reaching 
the ford, when he again mounted and to make 
sure of crossing the creek took the sack of 
flour m front of him, letting it rest upon his 
knees and against his body. Being a very 
portly man, of great weight, he was obliged 
to lift the sack of flour as high as his chest 
and in so doing ruptured an internal blood ves- 
sel, from the effects of which he died before 
reaching home. 

John DeFord, son of the above John and 
father of the subject, was born in Kent county, 
Maryland, and was about eighteen years old 
when his parents changed their abode to Penn- 
sylvania. He worked in Fayette county several 
years for a farmer by the name of Stevens and 
in 1799 was united in marriage with Miss 
Nancy Hopwood, whose birth occurred in 
Maryland in 1785. Mrs. DeFord was the 
■daughter of Rev. John Hopwood, a well 
'known Baptist divine, who preached in various 
parts of Fayette county in an early day and 
"helped to found several churches of his faith 
there and elsewhere in Pennsylvania. The 
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. DeFord resulted in 
the birth of six children, whose names were 
as follows : Hannah, John, William, Harriet, 
Elizabeth and Daniel. The mother, a most 
worthy woman and for many years a sincere 
and faithful member of the Methodist Episco- 



pal church, departed this life in 1815. A few 
years later Mr. DeFord married Miss Lydia 
Brownfield, of Pennsylvania, who died in 1838, 
leaving one son, now living near Kansas City, 
Missouri. 

In 1811 John DeFord went to Carroll 
county, Ohio, and entered one hundred and 
sixty acres of land in what is now Augusta 
township, after which he returned to his home 
in Pennsylvania. He was an industrious, hard 
working man, and by careful economy earned 
considerable money, which from time to time 
was judiciously invested in western lands, his 
last transaction of this kind in Ohio being about 
the year 1826, when his realty in this state 
amounted to something like nine hundred acres. 
As the country grew and population increased 
this land became quite valuable and in time rep- 
resented a fortune of considerable magnitude. 
For over forty years Mr. DeFord kept a hotel 
at the foot of Laurel Hill, Fayette county, 
Pennsylvania, during which period his house 
became favorably known to the traveling pub- 
lic and earned the reputation of a first-class 
hostelry. The village in which it was situated 
was called Hopwood in honor of his father-in- 
law, but later the name was changed to Mon- 
roe, by which it has since been known. Mean- 
while his Ohio lands continued to increase in 
value and in 1842 Mr. DeFord disposed of his 
interests in Pennsylvania and moved to his 
possessions in Carroll county, settling on the 
farm in Washington township which his 
grandson Benton now owns and cultivates. On 
coming to this state he turned his attention al- 
most wholly to agriculture and was quite suc- 
cessful in the pursuit, developing a very fine 
farm and earning the reputation of a praise- 
worthy and public-spirited citizen. For many 
years he was a consistent member of the Meth- 
odist Protestant church and in pohtics sup- 
ported the Democratic party, having been one 
of its leaders in the township of his residence. 
He spent his declining years on his farm in 



1 126 



OLD LANDMARKS 



quiet and content and lived to a remai'i<able age, 
departing this life in 1873 in his one hundred 
and second year, being the oldest man in Ohio 
at the time of his death. In his j-ounger days 
John DeFord became personally acquainted 
with quite a number of the nation's leading 
men and distinctly remembered many of the 
stirring events of the early days. He was at 
Laurel Hill when Washington occupied tlie 
fort at Baltimore, and he not only saw the fa- 
ther of his country frequently Ijut was quite 
well acquainted with him. In many respects 
Mr. Del'ord was much more than an ordinary 
man. being intelligent, public-spirited and in 
no small degree a leader of opinion among his 
neighbors and fellow citizens. He stamped his 
individuality upon the community, took an act- 
ive interest in promoting all legitimate enter- 
prises and always stood boldly for the right, 
maintaining the course of his convictions under 
all circumstances. 

William DeFord was born April 28, 1807, 
in Fayette county, Peiuisylvania, and there 
spent the years of his childhood and youthi, at- 
tending while young the public schools of his 
nati\'e place. Actuated by a desire for a more 
thorough intellectual training, he subsequently 
entered Madison College, of Uniontown, of 
which the Rev. Heni7 B. Boscomb was then 
president, where he made commendable prog- 
ress in the higher branches of learning. In 1822 
he made his first visit to Ohio, for the purpose 
of seeing some friends living at Wooster, but 
after a brief sojourn, returned to his native 
state where he remained during the fifteen years 
following. At the expiration of that period he 
decided to make Ohio his future place of resi- 
dence, accordingly, in 1835, l'^ settled on a 
fami in Washington township. Carroll county, 
where he lived for many years, an industrious, 
energetic and successful tiller of the soil. In 
the month of April. 1838. Mr. DeFord and 
Miss Mary \\''illiams. daughter of George and 
Elizabeth (Acres) Williams, became husband 



and wife, the latter born in 1801 in the state of 
Xew Jersey. She bore him two sons, Nathan 
and John, and finished her earthly course on 
the loth day of September, 1875, at the age of 
seventy-four. Until the breaking out of the 
Great Rebellion Mr. DeFord was a pronounced 
Democrat, but becoming dissatisfied with the 
party's attitude relative to slavery, state rights 
and kindred questions growing out of the dis- 
turlaed conditions of the times, withdrew his 
allegiance and tiecame strongly and aggressive- 
ly Republican. Being an active participant in 
public affairs as a warm and patriotic friend 
of the union, he was elected in 1873 to repre- 
sent Carroll county in the general assembly, in 
which relation he served until 1867, having 
been re-elected his own successor the mean- 
time. His legislative experience was eminently 
satisfactory to his constituents and covering, as 
it did, one of the most trying periods in the his- 
tory of the state, was replete with duty bra\-e- 
ly and fearlessly performed. While the Civil 
war was in progress he was untiring in his 
efforts in behalf of the union, visited all parts- 
of his county, inducing young men to enlist 
and otherwise appealing to ihe loyal sentiment 
of the people. For many years he held the 
office of justice of the peace, in which capacity 
he earned considerable repute as an able, im- 
partial and judicious public servant. When a 
young' man he united with the Methodist Prot- 
estant church and entered upon that earnest, 
steadfast, religious life which has character- 
ized his career to the present day. In his busi- 
ness relations William DeFord has been uni- 
formly successful and now in his old age he is 
enjoying the fruit of his lalx^rs in a life of hon- 
orable retirement. His experience as a farmer 
in Carroll county covers a period of over fifty- 
seven years, during which time he has been an 
influential agent in promoting the material in- 
terests of the country, while his activity in be- 
lialf of \\hate\er tends to the moral and intel- 
lectual good of the community has been none the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 127 



less active and fruitful. When a young man Mr. 
DeFord helped construct the old national road, 
taking a contract to build a certain section over 
Laurel Hill, one of the most difficult sections 
in the entire route. He remembers having seen 
General LaFayette on the occasion of the noble 
Frenchman's revisit to the United States and 
had the further honor of shakiTig- his hand and 
engaging him in quite a lengthy conversation. 
Nathan B. DePord, the eldest of the two 
sons of William and Elizabeth DeFord, was 
born in Augusta towmship, Carroll county, 
Ohio, April 11, 1839. He was reared on his 
father's farm and after completing the public 
school course pursued his studies for some time 
in Springfield Academy, later becoming a stu- 
dent of the Western Reserve University. Fin- 
ishing his education, Mr. DeFord decided to 
become a farmer and on attaining his majority 
began his career as such in the county of Car- 
roll, taking possession of one of his father's 
places for the purpose. ]^ater he purchased a 
farm of seventy acres in Augusta township on 
which, he lived and prospered until 1879, when 
he disposed of his real estate in Carroll county 
and bought his present valuable farm of two 
hundred and eight acres in the countv of Co- 
lumbiana. This is universally conceded to be 
one of the finest and best cultivated places in 
West township and as an agriculturist Mr. De- 
Ford enjoys precedence such as few attain. 
During the Civil war he was active in uphold- 
ing the Union cause and it was largelv to his 
efiforts that Augusta and Washington town- 
ships were three times saved from the draft to- 
wards the latter part of the struggle. To se- 
cure sufficient men to fill the required quota, 
he went to Cincinnati, where he spared no pains 
in recruiting; paying five hundred and sixty 
dollars per man. This experience was attended 
with much hard work, many trials and disap- 
pointments, but he persevered untiringlv until 
completing the task, thus earning the highest 
praise of his fellow citizens. 



In the year 1861 Mr. DeFord was united in 
marriage to Miss Martha Duncan, of Trumbull 
county, Ohio, daughter of Thomas and Susan 
(Leach) Duncan, the father at one tune a 
prominent farmer and representative citizen of 
that part of the state. Mr. Duncan figiu^ed act- 
i\ely in the affairs of Trumbull for many years 
as an influential Democrat and as a justice of 
the peace of far more than local repute. Mr. 
and Mrs. DeFord have one child, a son, by the 
name of Edwin S. 

In 1897 Mr. DeFord, in partnership with 
his son and H. B. Couch, established a private 
banking establishment at Minerva, under the 
firm name of the DeFord & Couch Banking 
Company, with which he has since been ofti- 
cially identified. One year later the name was 
changed to the Farmers and Merchants Bank- 
ing Company and in 1900 it became the First 
National Bank of Minerva, by which name the 
establishment is still known, the subject hold- 
ing the responsible position of president and his 
son that of cashier. This is one of the strong 
and popular monetary institutions of Stark 
county and its prestige in financial circles 
throughout the state has won for the proprie- 
tors honorable reputations as safe, practical and 
eminently successful business men. Mr. De- 
Ford has capably discharged the duties of the 
presidency and the continued growth of the 
bank in public favor is largely due to his prac- 
tical knowledge of finance. In addition to his 
farming and banking interests he maintains a 
lively concern in all enterprises for the public 
welfare and has done much in various ways to 
promote the material good of his township and 
county. In politics he is a Democrat and as 
such wields a potent influence for his party 
withr>ut entering the arena as an office seeker. 
As a business man Mr. DeFord is clear, far- 
sighted, shrewd, eminently honorable and his 
success may be inferred from the commanding 
position he occupies in the financial world and 
the large fortune in his possession. 



II28 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Edwin S. DeFord, distinguished as a busi- 
ness man and financier and holding marked 
prestige in the domain of citizenship, has made 
his presence felt in the world of affairs, and 
stand distinctively in the front ranks of the 
county's successful self-made men. His an- 
cestral history as outlined in the preceding 
paragraphs throws light upon the sterling char- 
acter of his antecedents, but it is a careful study 
of the man himself that will account for his 
gradual rise from a comparatively unknown 
station to the commanding position which he 
now occupies. Edwin S. DeFord is a native of 
Carroll county, Ohio, born on the family home- 
stead in Augusta township, February 19. 1862. 
His home life \vas all that could have been 
desired and it is not at all strange that he early 
formulated plans and purposes as to his future 
course of action. At the proper age he entered 
the public schools of his native county and the 
training thus received formed the basis of more 
thorough study in the high school at Warren. 
Later he became a student of the Ohio Normal 
University at Ada, from which he was grad- 
uated in 1882, and subsequently he took a 
course in Mt. Union College, an institution at- 
tended by many of Ohio's noted public and suc- 
cessful business men. In 1886, soon after fin- 
ishing his education, Mr. DeFord engaged in 
the milling business at East Rochester, New 
York, and spent ten successful years in that in- 
dustry, at the expiration of which time, in part- 
nership with his father and a Mr. Couch, he 
assisted in establishing what was formerly the 
DeFord & Couch Banking Company, now the 
First National Bank of Minerva. As originally 
organized the bank lasted until 1898, when the 
name was changed to that of the Farmers' and 
Merchants' Banking Company; in 1900 the 
name by which it is at present known was 
adopted, the subject being elected cashier, a 
position he still holds. 

Mr. DeFord's long connection with one of 



the leading monetary institutions of Stark coun- 
ty affords the best proof of his ability and 
judgment as a sound practical financier and he 
has discharged his functions in a manner well 
calculated to inspire public confidence in the 
stability and integrity of the bank, his official 
record being without a flaw and his private 
character far above the suspicion of any but the 
most worthy and honorable motives. 

Mr. DeFord is one of Stark county's lead- 
ing Democrats and his interest in behalf of the 
party has done much to strengthen its cause in 
this part of the state. In 1901, he was nomi- 
nated for county treasurer, but, owing to the 
ovenvhelming Republican majority, suffered 
defeat, though running ahead of the majority 
of candidates on his ticket. He has been quite 
active in municipal affairs, having served sev- 
eral terms in the common council of Minerva 
and at this time is filling the office of township 
treasurer. Fraternally he is a member of Tubal 
Lodge No. 551, Free and Accepted Masons, 
and of the Minerva Lodge, Knights of Pythias, 
in addition to which organizations he is also 
identified with Tent No. 122, Knights of the 
Maccabees. He has risen high in the Masonic 
brotherhood, being a thirty-second-degree Ma- 
son, belonging to the chapter at Alliance and 
Commandery No. 38. Knights Templar, at Can- 
ton, the Mystic Shrine and Lake Erie Consist- 
ory at Cleveland, Ohio, in all of which he has 
been honored with important official positions. 
His religious belief is embodied in the creed of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, being an act- 
ive and consistent member of the congregation 
which meets for worship in the town of Mi- 
nerva. 

The domestic chapter in the life of Mr. De- 
Ford bears the date of 1884. on the 17th of 
January of which year he was happily married 
to Miss Mapy^ A. Cunningham, of Paris town- 
ship, daughter of Richard Cunningham, one 
of the county's prominent and influential agri- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1129 



culturists. Two children brightened the home 
of Mr. and Mrs. DeFord, namely : Mark Dun- 
can and Gertrude Marie. 



FRANK E. CASE, president of the Har- 
vard Manufacturing- Company, is of Irish de- 
scent, but his family has been represented in 
this country ever since the colonial period, the 
name first appearing in connection with the 
early settlement of New York and Connecticut. 
With one of the early tides of immigration to 
the New England coast came two gentlemen 
from Ireland by the name of John and Aaron 
Case, both seafaring men, tlie former locating 
at Bloomfield, Connecticut, the latter settling 
in the colony of New York, both becoming 
heads of families. It is from the New England 
branch that the subject of this review is de- 
scended, liis genealogy being traceable in an un- 
broken line to the original John Case, who, 
from the most reliable information at hand, 
appears to have been a man of considerable 
influence in the affairs of the town and county 
in which he lived. Among the descendants of 
this sturdy pioneer was one Aaron Case, a 
farmer by occupation, who was born in Bloom- 
-field, Connecticut, and there lived until the year 
1835 when he moved to northeastern Ohio, set- 
tling in the town of Windsor, Ashtabula coun- 
ty. After following his chosen calling for a 
number of years in that part of the state he mi- 
grated to Michigan, where he spent the remain- 
der of his life, dying in 1884 at an advanced age. 
Hiram Case, son of the above Aaron and father 
of the subject of this review, was born at 
Bloomfield, Connecticut, in 1822, and when a 
lad of twelve years, in company with his three 
brothers, came on foot to Ohio to rejoin his 
father, who had preceded him by a short time 
to this state, his mother having died some time 
before at the old home in Connecticut. He 
grew up on a farm, received his education in 
such schools as he could attend and, being of 



a studious nature and an omnivorous reader, 
in due time became a remarkably well informed 
man upon many subjects and to a large extent 
a leader of thought among the people with 
whom he mingled. He married, in Ashtabula . 
county, Miss Mary Amidon, a descendant of a 
Revolutionary hero by the name of John Smith, 
who held a captain's commission in the Ameri- 
can army and distinguished himself by gallant 
service in the battle of Bunker Hill, having 
been one of the last to retire before the British 
from the bloody field. George Amidon, father 
of Mrs. Case, married Miss Smith and died 
when quite a young man; his family was well 
known in the county of Ashtabula and the name 
has been familiar there since the early settle- 
ment of the country. 

After his marriage Hiram Case engaged in 
agricultural pursuits and followed the same for 
a livelihood to the end of his days. He lived 
to the age of seventy-nine, and departed this 
life in 1901. his wife dying the same year. Of 
the family of Hiram and Mary Case there are 
two living representatives, Frank E., whose 
name furnishes the caption of this article, and 
Dr. F. D. Case, a physician and surgeon prac- 
ticing his profession in the city of Ashtabula. 

Frank E. Case was born on the home farm 
in the county of Ashtabula and until his seven- 
teenth year remained under the parental roof, 
devoting the winter months to study in the pub- 
lic .schools. After finishing the common 
branches he entered the Orwell Academy, 
where he fitted himself for teaching, which pro- 
fession he followed for several years, first in 
the country, and subsequently as teacher of the 
Orwell schools, in which capacity he earned 
an honorable reputation as an educator. Re- 
signing his position in the above schools, he 
accepted the principalship of the Jefferson high 
school and while serving in that capacity began 
to study law with Hon. S. A. Northway, under 
whose able instruction he made substantial 
progress until admitted to the bar in 1871. 



1 1 30 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Mr. Case opened an office in Canal Fulton 
the same year of his admission to the bar and 
during the ensuing two years built up a lucra- 
tive business in that town and established the 
reputation of an able lawyer and successful 
practitioner. At the expiration of that time he 
removed to Canton, where he soon took high 
rank among the successful members of the bar, 
and lie continued to practice with a large and 
lucrative patronage until 1890, when he retired 
from tlie profession for the purpose of engag- 
ing in his present important industrial enter- 
prise. 

In the above year Mr. Case became inter- 
ested in the manufacture of dental and surgical 
chairs, a line of work which up to that time had 
been neglected in this country, but for which 
there had been a constantly growing demand. 
Taking advantage of the situation he soon had 
the enterprise upon solid footing. In 1887 the 
manufacture of surgical chairs was begun in a 
very small way in the l)asement of Mr. Case's 
house, and from this small beginning he has, 
without the aid of outside capital, built up a 
phenomenallv prosperous and substantial busi- 
ness. The present ])lant is one of the finest 
and most modern in the state, being built of 
stone and brick. Employment is given by the 
company to about one hundred and twenty peo-' 
pie all told. The company has agencies in Lon- 
don, England, and Mellx)urne, Australia, and 
manufactures the leading high-grade chair 
made outside the trust, the total output 
amounting to two hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars annually. Mr. Case is the patentee of 
many valuable improvements and designs in 
dental and surgical chairs, all of Avhich he con- 
trols exclusively. In addition to being presi- 
dent and practical owner of the Harvard Com- 
pany. Mr. Case is president of the Canton 
Public I iljrary Association, president of the 
Dime Savings Bank and a director of the First 
National Bank. 

Mr. Case was married, in Trumbull county. 



Ohio, July 7, 1879, to Miss Theano Wattles, 
daughter of John and Esther Wattles, a lady of 
beautiful character and varied culture who has 
had much to do in shaping his sulisequent life 
and establishing his success. Politically Mr. 
Case is a pronounced Republican, but being es- 
.sentially a business man with the interest of 
th.e enterprise with which he is connected rest- 
ing upon him, he has little time to devote ta 
public affairs or matters outside his line of duty. 
He stands high in industrial and business cir- 
cles and is equally esteemed as a citizen, being 
interested in the progress of his adopted city 
and ready to lend his influence to all agencies 
with that oln'ect in view. 



EDWARD M. SHREINER traces his 
lineage back to sturdy German stock, the 
original representatives of the name having 
early settled in the old Keystone state, of which 
he is himself a native son, having been born 
in ?.laytown, Lancaster county. Pennsylvania, 
on the 8th of July, 1864, and being a son of 
Henry M. and Susie (Myers) Shreiner, both 
of whom were likewise natives of Lancaster 
county, where they were reared and where their 
marriage occurred, the father of our subject 
having been a shoemaker by trade. When Ed- 
ward vvas but three years of age his parents 
came to Ohio, locating in Greentowm, Stark 
c>_>untv, where the father's death occurred in 
1869, after which the subject was reared on a 
farm just south of Akron, Summit county, 
passing his youthful days in attending the pub- 
lic schools during the winter months and de- 
voting his attention to work on the farm during 
die summer seasons, and the while working for 
liis board while attending school. His mother 
is still living, having her home with her chil- 
dren, while she has attained the age of sixty- 
four years (1903). She is a devoted member 
of the Evangelical church, as was also her hus- 
band. They became the parents of four chil- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1131 



dren, of whom all are living at the present time. 
George Shreiner, grandfather of him whose 
name initiates this sketch, was likewise born in 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he 
passed his entire life, having been a jeweler by 
trade and vocation. 

After leaving school, at the age of eighteen 
years, Edward M. Shreiner put his scholastic 
attainments to practical test by engaging in 
teaching a district school, and while he was suc- 
cessful in his first term of work he was not suffi- 
ciently pleased with the pedagogic profession 
to further continue his efforts in the line. Af- 
ter giving up his school work he accordingly 
came to Canton, in 1885, and here he secured 
a clerical position in the shoe store of John D. 
Frank, with whom he remained three years, 
while for the ensuing four years he was em- 
ploved in the Deuber watch works, in this city. 
He then resumed clerking, securing a position 
in the grocery establishment of Louis Dumont, 
with whom he remained nearly fi\ e years. On 
the 4th of March, 1896, he engaged in busi- 
ness on his own responsibility, opening his 
store in the present location and initiating oper- 
ations on a modern scale, in harmony with his 
capitalistic resources available at the time. 
Through correct methods and unfailing care 
to meeting the demands of his customers his 
trade has shown a cumulative tendency from 
the start, and he now has a large and well 
stocked store and caters to a rqjresentative pat- 
ronage. In 1889 his business had so increased 
in extent as to render it necessary to increase 
the capacity and accommodations of his store, 
to which he then built an addition, while in the 
autumn of 1902 another addition was made to 
the building, so that he now utilizes an aggre- 
gate floor space of about two thousand square 
feet, while he has the confidence and respect 
of all whom he has dealings, enjoying that per- 
sonal popularity which is justly liis due. 

In politics Mr. Shreiner gives his support to 
the Republican party in state and national af- 



fairs, and he is strongly in favor of prohibi- 
tion, doing all in his power to promote the 
cause of temperance, but believing that reforms 
of a legal order can best be accomplished 
through one of the dominant political parties 
until more concerted and expansive action can 
be effected through an organization having this 
one issue as paramount. He and his wife are 
prominent and valued members of Trinity 
Lutheran church, in which he has held nearly 
all the important official positions. Fraternally 
he is identified with Canton Lodge No. 60, 
Free and Accepted Masons. 

In Canton, on the loth of July, 1890, Mr. 
Shreiner was united in marriage to Miss Bar- 
bara Leininger, who was born in Pike township, 
this county, being a daughter of John and Hen- 
rietta Leininger, the former of whom is now 
deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Shreiner have two 
children, Nettie and John Frederick. 



JONAS ESCHLIMAN. — For sixty-six 
years this gentleman has been an honored resi- 
dent of Stark county and his name is very close- 
ly interwo\en with the agricultural interests 
and material development of Lawrence town- 
ship. On his father's side Mr. Eschliman is of 
German descent, although his ancestors for 
many generations lived in the little mountain 
republic of Switzerland. His great-grandfather,, 
a nati\-e of that country, came to the United 
in a very early day and settled in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, and from him the Amer- 
ican branch of the family is descended. The 
subject's grandfather lived and died in Lan- 
caster county, and it was there that Abraham 
Eschliman, the father, was also born and raised. 
Abraham Eschliman was reared a farmer and 
followed agricultural pursuits in his native 
state until 1837, at which time lie disposed of 
his interests there and moved his family to- 
Stark county, Ohio, settling on the place in 
Lawrence township which his son, the subject 



II32 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of this review, now owns. He married, in Penn- 
sylvania, Miss Elizabeth Horst, a member of 
one of the Lancaster county's oldest families, 
and by her had eight c/iildren, five sons and 
three daughters, of whom four are living, Jonas 
being the youngest of the family. Two of the 
daughters live in Elkhart county, Indiana, and 
one brother has made his home for a number 
of years in the state of Nebraska. Abraham 
Eschliman was one of the leading farmers of 
his day in the township of Lawrence, and 
earned the reputation of an honorable citizen 
and upright Christian gentleman. Originally 
a Whig in politics, he afterward became a loyal 
supporter of the Republican party and in re- 
ligion he was of the Mennonite denomination 
in the county of Stark. He lived a singularly 
pure and upright life and died in 1870, his 
good wife and faithful companion being called 
to her eternal rest the same year. 

Jonas Eschliman was born November 2, 
1834, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and 
in April, 1837, was brought by his parents 
to Stark county, where he grew to maturity 
and has since lived. When a youth he knew 
what it was to work early and late in the woods 
and fields, and continued to give his father the 
benefit of his services until at the age to begin 
the struggle of life for himself. The com- 
mon schools, which he attended at intervals 
during his minority, afforded him a fair edu- 
cation, and on reaching the years of manhood 
he turned his attention to the vocation which 
he followed with such signal success until he 
acquired a sufficiency of the world's goods 
to enable him to spend the evening in retirement. 
He managed his business affairs very success- 
fully, rarely failed to realize handsomely on 
the time and labor expended in cultivating his 
lands and by well directed thrift added to his 
possessions from time to time until he now 
owns real estate in Lawrence township to the 
amount of two hundred acres, all well im- 
proved and very valuable. His farm is beau- 



tifully situated in one of the most highly fa- 
vored agricultural sections of Stark county, and 
his buildings and other improvements, all first 
class, bespeak the labor and attention he has 
expended in making a home which all con- 
cede to be one of the most attractive places of 
residence in the township of Lawrence. 

Mr. Eschliman has attained precedence in 
his community as an enterprising, public-spirit- 
ed citizen, deeply interested in whatever con- 
cerns the material, intellectual and moral well- 
being of his fellow m.en. He served as trus- 
tee of his township to the satisfaction of the 
people, and as chairman of the local school 
board did much to advance the standard of edu- 
cation in this part of the county. His judg- 
ment on business matters is seldom if ever at 
fault, in consequence of which his services have 
frequently been retained in the settlement of 
estates and in the adjustment of differences 
which but for his wise counsel would doubtless 
have been litigated in the courts. As already 
stated, Mr. Eschliman is no longer engaged in 
manual pursuits, having recently turned over 
the cultivation of his farm to other hands, for 
the purpose of spending the remainder of his 
days in the peaceful and honorable retirement 
which he has so well and faithfully earned. 

Mr. Eschliman's first marriage was solem- 
nized in 1855. with Miss Fannie Martin, who 
died six years later, leaving four children, name- 
ly: Elizabeth, Jacob, Nancy and Jonas, all 
but Nancy living. Miss Nancy Eschliman mar- 
ried a gentleman by the name of Eberly, and 
bore him one child, Edith, whom Mr. Eschli- 
man took to raise after the death of both par- 
ents. The subject's recent wife was Miss Mar- 
tha Martin, a sister of his former companion ; 
she became the mother of eight children, and 
departed this life in 1891. leaving her husband 
trulv bereft. The following are the names of 
the sons and daughters of the second union : 
John H., Mar\' I., A. W., Amos (deceased), 
Ezra, Daniel R., William H. and Martha. Both 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1133 



of 'Sir. Eschliman's wives were devout members 
of the Mennonite church, with which rehgious 
body he is also identified. 



WILLIAM FINDLEY.— The gentleman 
whose name introduces this review hails from 
the romantic domain of Scotland, a land long 
celebrated in story and song for heroes' brave 
and daring deeds. He was born on the 25th 
of May, 1853, the son of David and Elizabeth 
(Dougal) Findley, both natives of Scotland, as 
were their ancestors beyond the memory of 
man. By occupation the father was a coal 
miner. After following that vocation in Scot- 
land for a number of years, he concluded to 
better his condition by coming to the United 
States. Accordingly, in 1856, he set sail and 
in due time reached his destination in Stark 
county, Ohio. The following year his wife and 
son, the subject of this sketch, started to join 
him, but on the voyage the former died and 
was buried at sea. So it was with feelings sad 
and forlorn that young William, then a child of 
about four years, arrived at Massillon, on the 
4th day of July, 1857. On coming to this coun- 
try David Findley resumed coal mining and 
followed the same in Stark county for a number 
of years, making his home the meantime at 
Massillon, where his death occurred in 1878. 
Young William was reared in the above town 
and at intervals during his youth enjoyed the 
advantages of the common school. Owing to 
his father's poor health, he was soon obliged to 
abandon his studies and do what he could to 
make his own living, and at the early age of 
eight years he earned his first money by work- 
ing in the coal mines near Massillon. During 
the fifteen years following he labored incessant- 
ly as a miner, husbanding his earnings very 
carefully the meanwhile with the object in view 
of engaging in some other business as soon as 
he could command sufficient capital to do so. 
At length he was enabled to carry out this de- 



sire of long standing, having by industry and 
close economy saved enough money to start in 
the grocery business in 1876, taking as a part- 
ner Thomas Masters, the firm thus constituted 
soon obtaining a liberal share of the trade. 

Messrs. Findley and Masters remained to- 
gether about twenty-two years, at the expira- 
tion of which time Mr. Masters died and since 
then the subject has conducted the business 
upon his own responsibility. He has a fine 
store in the village of Neuman, carries a full 
line of carefully selected goods, and, by cater- 
ing to the demands of the trade, has built up a 
large and lucrative business which gives prom- 
ise of continued increase with each succeeding 
year. In addition to his mercantile interests, 
Mr. Finley discharges the duties of postmaster 
at Neuman, having been appointed to the posi- 
tion in 1886, when the oftice was first estab- 
lished. He is also trustee of Lawrence town- 
ship, which office he fills with great acceptance, 
being a most judicious custodian of the peo- 
ple's interests in a position requiring sound 
judgment, shrewd business tact and good exec- 
utive ability. Mr. Findley has proven himself 
worthy of the confidence reposed in him by his 
fellow citizens and every duty coming within 
his province has been discharged to the satis- 
faction of all concerned. He is greatly es- 
teemed by the public and so ably and faithfully 
has he managed his present positions that his 
friends predict for him still higher official hon- 
ors in the future. 

On the 6th day of July, 1876, Mr. Findley 
was happily married to Miss Annie Rowland, 
a native of South Wales, who came to the 
United States when a girl with her parents, 
Edward and Margaret (Hughes) Rowland, 
the family settling in Stark county. This union 
has- been blessed with one child, a daughter by 
the name of Margaret, who was graduated 
from the Massillon Business College and who 
is now her father's efficient deputy in the post- 
office at Neuman. 



II34 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Financially Mr. Findley has been quite suc- 
cessful, having amassed a handsome compe- 
tence, owiiing, besides his home and business 
property in Neuman, some valuable real es- 
tate in the city of Massillon. He is one of the 
stanch Republicans of this part of the county 
and takes an active part in public and political 
affairs, being one of the leaders of his party in 
Lawrence township, and ever ready to make 
any reasonable sacrifice to insure its success. 
His fraternal relations are represented by the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging 
to Lodge No. 48 at Massillon. 

Mrs. Findley and daughter are members of 
the Baptist church and earnest workers in all 
lines of religious and charitable activity. While 
not identified with any religious organization 
himself, Mr. Findley is a believer in Christi- 
anity and gives liberally of his means for the 
dissemination of its great truths among men, 
both at home and abroad. During the last 
fourteen years he has been a member of the 
local board, in which capacity he has been un- 
tiring in his efforts to build up the educational 
system and elevate its standard of efficiency. 
In brief, it can truly be said of Mr. Findley that 
he is one of the broad-minded and useful men 
of his day, and as a neighbor and citizen none 
stand higher in public esteem, nor have any 
been more faithful in laudable endeavors to 
make the world wiser and better. 



JOHN J. LUTZ.— The name Lutz is an 
old one in Stark county and is also a familiar 
sound in various parts of Pennsylvania, where 
the ancestors of the American branch of the 
family settled in colonial times, coming to this 
country from Germany. Samuel Lutz, the 
subject's grandfather, a Pennsylvanian by 
birth, married in his native state Elizabeth Ar- 
nold, and when a young man moved his fam- 
ily to Stark county, Ohio, where he and his 
wife spent the remainder of their days. Among 



th.e children born in this county was a son by 
the name of Jacob, who grew to maturity in 
Jackson township and learned the shoemaker's 
trade. He also carried on farming in connec- 
tion with his regular vocation and became a 
man of considerable consequence in his com- 
munity, having been a substantial citizen and 
reasonably successful in the accumulation of 
worldly wealth, owning at tlie time of his 
death a well improved farm of one hundred 
and twelve acres in the township of Jackson. 
Jacob married Miss Catherine Whitmire, a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania, who bore him eight chil- 
dren, four of whom are living. 

John J. Lutz was born December 11, 1837, 
on the paternal homestead and spent the years 
of his youth and young manhood amid the 
stirring scenes of farm life. His early life de- 
veloped not only strong bodily powers, but fos- 
tered habits of industry and thrift, and he grew 
up with the well defined purpose of living an 
honorable life and of becoming of some use 
to the world. While at home he spent the sum- 
mer seasons assisting his father with the farm 
work and in the winter time attended the com- 
mon schools, in which he acquired a fair 
knowledge of the branches which then consti- 
tuted the course of study. When it became 
necessary for liim to sever home ties and begin 
life's struggle upon his own responsibility, he 
chose farming for a vocation, and has followed 
the same with success and profit from that time 
until the present day. ]\Ir. Lutz owns a small 
but finely situated and well improved place in 
Jackson township, and, by thrift and good 
management, has surrounded himself with a 
sufficiency of comforts and conveniences to 
make his condition practically independent. He 
has not been sparing of his means in improying 
and beautifying his home, having a good, sub- 
stantial .residence and a fine bam, the latter 
structure erected in 1890 at a considerable out- 
lay of capital. 

In the year 1867 Mr. Lutz was united in 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1135 



marriage to Miss Anna M. Shook, who was 
born in Berlin, Stark county, in 1838. Her 
parents, George and Hannah (Harter) Shook, 
were also natives of Stark, the former being a 
son of David and Sarah (Marsh) Shook, of 
Pennsylvania, and early pioneers of this part 
of Ohio. David was a hero of the war of 
1812 and participated in a number of battles, 
beside seeing much other active service during 
the progress of the struggle. The marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Lutz has not been blessed with 
offspring, notwithstanding they have furnished 
a home to three orphan children, after whose 
welfare they have looked with all the care and 
interest that natural parents could possibly 
manifest. The names of the children are: 
Franklin E. McPike, John H. Bender and 
Ethel D. Lutz. Mr. and Mrs. Lutz are de- 
voted Christians, having been zealous members 
of the Refonned Lutheran church for a num- 
ber of years. 

In his political adherency Mr. Lutz is a pro- 
nounced Democrat, and as such was elected in 
1895 treasurer of the township of Jackson, 
which position he has held for eight consecu- 
tive years. He has discharged the duties of 
the office in a straightforward, businesslike 
manner, and handled the public funds most ju- 
diciously, rendering a strict account of every 
dollar in his possession, and proving himself 
worthy of the implicit confidence reposed in 
him by his fellow citizens. Mr. Lutz is a man 
of strong common sense, excellent judgment 
and in all of his dealings and business relations 
his integrity has been above the slightest sus- 
picion of dishonor. 



LIENRY HEISA.— As the name implies, 
Mr. Heisa is of German descent. His grand- 
father, George Heisa, was a native of the king- 
dom of Hanover, in which country the pater- 
nal ancestors of the family have lived for years 
bevond the memorv of anv of the survivinof 



descendants. The maiden name of Mrs. George 
Heisa was Mary Rutterbusch. She also was 
born and reared in Llanover and after the 
death of her first husband, which occurred in 
his native country, came to the United States 
and spent the remainder of her life in York 
county, Pennsylvania. Frederick William 
Heisa, son of George and Mary Heisa, and 
father of the subject, was born in Hanover, 
Germany, in 1809, and came to America about 
the year 1834, locating in York county, Penn- 
sylvania, where, in 1837, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Rebecca Adams. Mrs. Heisa 
was born November 30, 1814, in the county 
of York, the daughter of Peter Adams, a na- 
tive of England, and an early business man of 
Hagerstown, Maryland. Mr. Adams served 
as a fifer in the war of 1812 and after the cessa- 
tion of hostilities engaged in the manufacture 
of woolen goods in the town of Hagerstown. 
Here he operated a large mill for a number of 
years, realizing from the business an ample 
fortune. His wife was Sarah Hibner, a daugh- 
ter of Augustine Hibner, who came to Amer- 
ica from Leipsic, Germany, and served under 
the Marquis De LaFayette in the war of the 
Revolution. During the thirteen years follow- 
ing his marriage Frederick William Heisa fol- 
lowed agricultural pursuits in York county, 
Pennsylvania, but in 1850 disposed of his in- 
terests there and moved to Holmes county, 
Ohio, where he lived about one year, changing 
residence at the expiration of that time to Sum- 
mit county. Later he moved to Lake township. 
Stark county, and after residing there about six 
years, purchased a farm two and one-half 
miles southeast of Union, where he made his 
home for a period of seven years. At the end 
of that time he bought of Benjamin Conradt a 
farm in Jackson township. Stark county, which 
his son, the subject of the review, now owns 
and occupies. And it was on this place that 
his death occurred January 15, 1877. Mrs. 
Heisa survived her husband until 1891, dying 



1136 



OLD LANDMARKS 



on May 31st of that year. Frederick W. 
Heisa was a remarkably successful man in all 
of his business affairs, and at one time owned 
thirty acres of valuable real estate in York 
county, Pennsylvania. He also accumulated a 
large property in Ohio, his realty at the time 
of his death amounting to three hundred and 
thirty-four acres, in addition to which he had 
other possessions, which made his private for- 
tune something in excess of thirty-two thou- 
sand dollars. He was an influential factor in 
public as well as business matters ; an ardent 
Democrat in politics and to no small degree a 
molder of opinion in his community. To him 
and his wife were born six children, whose 
names are as follows : Sarah J., deceased ; 
Mary S., deceased; George F. ; Henry; Charles 
C. and Ida R. 

Henry Heisa, whose name introduces this 
review, was born in Spring Garden township, 
York county, Pennsylvania,' on the 22d day 
of November, 1847. He was quite young 
when his parents moved to Holmes county, 
Ohio, and until his eleventh year lived in Union 
and Lake townships, meanwhile obtaining a 
knowledge of the elementary branches of learn- 
ing in the public schools. The greater part of 
Mr. Heisa's life has been spent in Stark county 
and his training on the farm eminently fitted 
him for the career which he has since followed 
with such a large measure of financial success. 
Although his early education was somewhat 
limited, he has read and thought much, and 
possessing a strong, discriminating mind, has 
never been at a loss to keep himself in close 
touch with the tread of events and in forming 
sound opinions relative to the great questions 
and issues of the times. His place, which con- 
sists of one hundred and sixty-one acres of val- 
uable land in Jackson township, is one of the 
most desirable rural homes in this part of the 
county and no pains nor expense have been 
avoided in adding to its beauty and attractive- 
ness. In addition to general agriculture, Mr. 



Heisa devotes much attention to the breeding 
and raising of fine live stock, in which branch 
of farming his success has been commensurate 
with the energy displayed in all of his under- 
takings. 

In his political views Mr. Heisa subscribes 
to the principles of the Democratic party, and 
ever since attaining his majority has mani- 
fested a lively interest in their success. He has 
been especially active in all organized efforts 
for the promotion of agriculture, being a lead- 
ing member of the Patrons of Husbandry, and 
for several years served as treasurer of the 
Farmers' Alliance of Stark county. 

Mr. Heisa was married on the 14th of No- 
vember, 1872, to Miss Crecilla Tritt, of Sum- 
mit county, Ohio, a union blessed with four 
children, namely : Hattie May, Curtis William 
Frederick, Elva Vernona and Ida Rebecca. 
Mrs. Heisa and her two daughters are mem- 
bers of the Reformed church. Mr. Heisa is 
not identified with any religious organization, 
although he is a believer in and a liberal sup- 
porter of the church. 



CHARLES MARTIN, who was for many 
years one of the progressive and representative 
farmers of Plain township, was a native of the 
old Keystone state of the Union, having been 
born in the city of Lancaster. Lancaster coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of July, 1825, 
and having been a son of George and Catherine 
(Croft) Martin, both of whom were likewise 
natives of that county, where the death of the 
former occurred, while the latter came to Stark 
county and here passed her declining days in 
the city of Canton, where she died at the age of 
sixty years. Eight children were born of this 
union, namely: John, Catherine, George, 
Magdalene, Rebecca, Henry, Emanuel and 
Charles, and of the number only two, Emanuel 
and Henn,\ are living at the present time. 

Charles Martin was the youngest of the- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1137 



children and was a young man of about seven 
years when he came with his widowed mother 
from l-ancaster county, Pennsylvania, to Can- 
ton, his educational training having been re- 
ceived in the common schools of Stark county, 
Ohio. In his youth he learned the trade of rope 
making, but the greater portion of his active 
business career was devoted to agricultural 
pursuits, in which he so directed his efforts as 
to attain independence and definite prosperity. 
On the 4th of December, 1845, ™ Plain town- 
ship, this county, he was united in marriage to 
Miss Delilah Smith, who was born in that 
township, on the 13th of January, 1827, being 
a daughter of John Smith, who was born in 
Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and who was 
numbered among the earliest settlers in Plain 
township. Stark county, where he passed the 
remainder of his life as a farmer, while his 
wife, who also died here, bore the maiden name 
of Mary Ilollinger and was likewise a native 
of Pennsylvania. They came to Stark county 
about the year 1808, and settled in Plain town- 
ship, where Mr. Smith reclaimed a good farm 
in the midst of the forest wilds, living to the 
age of sixty-eight years. His wife passed 
away on the nth of March, 1840, at the age 
of fifty-two years. They became the parents 
of seven children, namely : Daniel, Elizabeth, 
Margaret, Jacob, Mary, Delilah and John, and 
of these children two, Margaret and Delilah, 
are living at the time of this writing. After 
his marriage Charles Martin settled near Can- 
ton, where he engaged in farming in connec- 
tion with his trade, his place of operation being 
now within the city limits, and there he re- 
mained until March, 1871, when he removed 
to the present homestead farm, on section 27, 
IMain township, and there passed the rest of his 
life, his death occurring on the 27th of Febru- 
ary, 1899. He was a man of mature judgment 
and unremitting industry and thus became one 
of the prosperous farmers of this section, be- 
ing the owner of a valuable farm of seventy- 

71 



eight acres at the time of his death, and this 
property being still the residence of his widow. 
Mr. Martin was a Democrat in politics and his 
religious faith was that of the Church of God, 
of which he was a zealous and consistent mem- 
ber, his wife attending the German Reformed 
church of Canton. His probity and honor in 
all the relations of life were beyond question 
and in his death the community lost a good cit- 
izen and an honored pioneer. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Martin were born five children, namely : 
Mary C, who is the wife of Jefferson A. 
Houser, of Canton; George R., who died in 
Ca"nton township, when about twenty-three 
years of age; Edward, who died in Plain town- 
ship, when nearly twenty-two years of age; 
William H., who has charge of the homestead 
farm and is a resident of section 26, Plain 
township, and who is the subject of an indi- 
vidual sketch appearing on another page of this 
work ; and an infant, deceased. 



AARON J. STONER is a native of 
Ohio, born in Plain township, Stark county, 
and dates his birth from the 21st day of Sep- 
tember, 1856, being the son of John L. and 
Salome (Essig) Stoner, the father born in 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, the mother in 
the county of Stark. Jacob Stoner, the sub- 
ject's grandfather, was also a native of Penn- 
sylvania, but came to Stark county as early as 
1834, settling m Plain township. When the 
late Rebellion broke out he tendered his sei-v- 
ices to the government and, although over sixty 
years old at the time, was accepted and proved 
a brave and fearless soldier. At the close of 
the war he returned to Stark county, but sub- 
sequently moved to Wardles, Ohio, where his 
death occurred some years ago at an advanced 
age. 

John L. Stoner learned the tanner's trade 
when a young man and followed the same a 
number of years. Later he operated a thresh- 



II38 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ing machine and a stationary engine, in addi- 
tion to which he also carried on the pursuit of 
agricuUure, owning a farm of sixty acres in 
Plain township and two hundred and forty 
acres of fine land in the township of Jackson. 
He was a man of considerable local prominence, 
a Prolnbitionist in politics and was actively in- 
terested in every movement for the material, 
social and moral advancement of the com- 
munity in which he lived. His wife Salome 
was the daughter of Adam Essig, a prosperous 
citizen of St.irl-: county, and she became the 
mother of three children, two of whom are 
living — Aaron J., of this review, and Lenie, 
who resides in Plain township. 

Reared to agricultural pursuits, the early 
life of Aaron J. Stoner was devoted to farm 
labor and of winter seasons during his minority 
he attended the district schools of his native 
township, but did not receive as complete an 
education as he desired, his services being 
needed in carrying on the farm, much of the 
management of which fell to him when he be- 
came old enough to assume the responsibility. 
By taste and inclination he is a natural farmer 
and when the time came to make choice of a 
vocation he decided to follow tlicse tendencies 
and devote his life to the wholesome work of 
tilling the soil. In due time he became the 
owner of his own land and by well directed in- 
dustry, frugality and thrift succeeded in adding 
to his possessions at intervals until he now 
owns three hundred and forty-nine acres of 
valuable real estate in Stark county, nearly all 
improved and in a high state of cultivation. 
His home place in Jackson township, on which 
he has lived since 1875, is a model of neatness 
and successful tillage and from it alone he re- 
ceives an income sufficient to ])lnce him in inde- 
pendent circumstances. A considerable portion 
of Mr. Stoner's land is farmed by tenants and 
he hns been remarkably fortunate in their se- 
lection, receiving from his share of the proceeds 



a liberal return on the capital which such realty 
represents. 

Mr. Stoner has been a supporter of the Re- 
publican party ever since old enough to exer- 
cise the rights of citizenship, and at one time 
was nominated for the office of county treas- 
urer, but in the Democratic landslide of that 
year failed of election. He served a number of 
years on the local school board and for a period 
of nine years was a director of the Mutual In- 
surance Com])any of Stark County, which or- 
ganization profited greatly by his safe, conserv- 
ative course and wise business methods. 

On the 3d day of January, 1878, Mr. 
Stoner was united in marriage with Miss Susan 
Click, who was born in Jackson township, 
Stark county, December 2, 1855. Mrs. Stoner's 
parents were Samuel and Julia (Koontz) 
Click, natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania, 
respectively, the former a son of Samuel 
Click, who moved to Stark county in an early 
day from Pennsylvania and entered one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land in the present 
township of Jackson. Mrs. Julia Click was 
the daughter of Henry Koontz, one of the early 
pioneers of Stark county, the family moving 
to this part of the state when the settlements 
were few and far Ijetween. ■ Mr. and Mrs. 
Stoner have three children — Emma, John and 
Cornin Robert. 



MARTIN J. HOGAN has the distinction 
of being superintendent of the great threshing 
machine and implement works of the C. Ault- 
man Company, one of the most extensive and 
important industrial concerns in the county and 
state. Mr. Hogan became a resident of Canton 
in the year 1875, coming here as a mechanic in 
the works of which he is now superintendent. 
He advanced through the various grades and 
departments of the concern until there came to 
him the appreciative recognition represented in 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1139 



his present executive office, and his practical 
training and good judgment eminently qualify 
him for the duties devolving upon him, his se- 
lection for the office of superintendent having 
been made in December, 1894. 

Martin J. Hogan is a native of the old 
Empire state of the Union, having been born 
in Waterloo, Seneca county. New York, on the 
22d of December, 1854, and having been there 
reared to years of maturity. His educational 
advantages were very limited, as the circum- 
stances of the family were such that he found 
it incumbent upon him to become a wage- 
earner when but thirteen years of age, when he 
entered upon an apprenticeship at the trade of 
machinist in a local shop. He became a good 
workman and continued to follow his trade at 
various points in the state of New York until 
1875, when he came to Canton, as has already 
been noted. 

In New Brighton, Pennsylvania, on the 7th 
of August, 1879, Mr. Hogan was united in 
marriage to Miss Letitia VVhiteleather, of Os- 
naburg, this county, where she was born, being 
a daughter of Dr. Benjamin A. and Margaret 
(Criswell) VVhiteleather. Mr. and Mrs. Ho- 
gan are the parents of eight children, namely : 
Thaddeus (employed in the engineering de- 
partment of the Aultman shops), Ludwell, 
Russell Max, Paul, Martin, Robert and Luke. 

Patrick Hogan, father of the subject, was 
born in Ireland, whence he came to the United 
States as a young man, and lie died in Seneca 
county, New York, when Martin was but six 
months of age, his wife, whose maiden name 
was Mary Maloney, passing away a number of 
years later, leaving two sons — John and Mar- 
tin J. Mr. Hogan is not formally identified 
witli any religious body, but his family attend 
Trinity Lutheran church. In politics he is a 
stalwart supporter of the Democratic party, 
and fraternally is identified witli the Royal Ar- 
. canum and the Knights of Pythias. He has 
achieved success through his own efforts and 



his life has been one of consecutive endeavor, 
while at all times he has commanded the confi- 
dence and regard of those with whom he has 
come in contact. 



EDWIN CALERUINE is a native of the 
"right little, tight little isle" of England, hav- 
ing been born in Derbyshire, on the 6th of Sep- 
tember, 1847, •'^"tl lieing a son of Thomas and 
Sarah (Weston) Calerdine, of who.se .seven 
children four are living at the present time, 
namely : Thomas H., who is a resident of Cin- 
cinnati, this state; Edwin, who is the immediate 
subject of this sketch; Agnes, who is the wife 
of William Lyda, of Carroll county, Ohio ; and 
Rebecca, who is the wife of Dr. John M. Craw- 
ford, of Minerva, concerning whom individual 
mention is made on another page of this work. 
The father of our subject was born in Derby- 
shire, England, in the town of Pleanor, on the 
2 1 St of August, 1807, and was there reared 
and educated and as a youth he there learned 
the trade of lacemaker, which he followed as a 
vocation until 1868, when he emigrated with 
his family to the United States, coming to Car- 
roll county, where he loaited on a farm, in 
company with his son John, who iiad pre- 
viously coine to this country and who is now 
deceased. There he continued to be actively 
engaged in agricultural pursuits for a number 
of years, after which he resided for a short in- 
terval in the village of East Rochester, that 
county, and since that time he has made his 
home witl: his daughter, Mrs. Crawford, in 
Minerva. He has attained the advanced age 
of ninety-five years and has been active to a re- 
markable degree, having given his attention to 
work in his garden, in which he has taken much 
pride, until the last summer, when he found the 
work too onerous, though he is still hale and 
vigorous for one of his patriarchal age. In 
politics he has ever given his support to the Re- 
publican party from the time when he became 



II40 



OLD LANDMARKS 



a naturalized citizen and thus acquired the right 
of franchise, while he has been a devoted mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church for a 
long term of years. His devoted and cherished 
wife entered into eternal rest a number of years 
ago. 

Edwin Calerdine, to whom this sketch is 
dedicated, was reared to maturity in his native 
land, wdiere he completed his early education in 
a boarding school in the town of Mackworth, 
Derbyshire. As a }-oung man he began a prac- 
tical apprenticeship at the dry goods business, 
becoming a clerk in the establishment of Thom- 
as Bunting, in the town of Heanor, England, 
A\'here he was employed about four and one- 
half years, remaining in England about two 
years after his parents had come to the United 
States, whither he followed them in 1869, and 
he forthwith came to Minerva, this county, 
where he became associated with his brother, 
Thomas H., in the wholesale lace business, to 
which they continued to devote their attention 
until the autumn of 1872, when the enterprise 
bad become one of such magnitude that it was 
found expedient to remove the headquarters to 
the city of Cincinnati, and there the business 
was conducted under the firm name of Caler- 
dine Brothers & Company until 1895, when our 
subject disposed of his interest in the same to 
his brother, who has since continued the enter- 
prise. Mr. Calerdine's object in thus selling 
his interest was that he might retire from so 
exacting and active business life, and he then 
returned to Minerva, where he effected the pur- 
chase of the dry goods business of T. F. Lentz 
& Son, together with the building in which the 
store is located. Two years later he admitted 
his son, Arthur E., to partnership, whereupon 
the present firm name was adopted, and they 
have since been associated in the conduct of the 
business, which is one of wide scope, trade be- 
ing derived from a wide radius of country nor- 
mally tributary to the town, while the stock of 
goods is exceptionally large and select for a 



village of the size. Fair and honorable busi- 
ness methods have been brought to bear in the ■ 
enterprise, and thus the firm commands the un- 
equivocal confidence and esteem of the com- 
munity and secures a representative patronage. 
In politics Mr. Calerdine gives a stanch alle- 
giance to the Republican party, and while he 
was engaged in' business in Cincinnati he was 
a member of the village council of Hartwell, 
the suburban town in which he maintained his 
home. Fraternally he is identified with Tubal 
Lodge No. 551, Free and Accepted Masons, of 
Minerva ; Alliance Chapter No. 83, Royal Arch 
Masons, and has advanced to high degree in 
tliis time-honored fraternity, having taken the 
thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite. He 
is a member of Canton Commandery No. 38, 
Knights Templar; Emuth Grand Eodgeof Per- 
fection, in the same city; and Lake Erie Con- 
sistory of the Sublime Princes of the Royal Se- 
cret, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in the 
city of Cleveland, w-here he also holds member- 
ship in Al Koran Temple of the Ancient Arabic 
Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. 

On the 2 1st of August, 1873, ^^- Caler- 
dine was united in marriage to Miss Laura 
Messemore, of Minerva, and they are the par- 
ents of two children — Arthur F., who is asso- 
ciated with his father in business, as already 
noted, and who married Miss Olive Conkle, of 
Minerva; and Ethel, who remains at the par- 
ental home. 



CLARENCE FRANK SCHILTZ, M. D., 
is of German descent. The first of the family 
to come to the United States was John ■ 
Schiltz, the Doctor's grandfather, who landed 
at New York city in the year 1834. Thence 
he proceeded to Ohio, where he worked for 
some time on the Ohio canal, later engaging in 
shoemaking at the town of New Berlin. He 
married in Canton Miss Apolonia Hufifman, a 
native of Germany, who came to America ■with ^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 141 



her parents in 1S36 and settled in Stark county, 
Ohio. John Schiltz spent the remainder of his 
Hfe at New Berhn, dying there about the year 
1869. 

Frank Schihz, son of John and Apolonia 
Schihz, was born in the aboA'C town January 
31, 1 841, and is still an honored resident of the 
place. After obtaining the rudiments of an 
education in the village schools he took up the 
shoemaker's trade, in connection with which he 
also worked at intervals on the farm. At the 
breaking out of the Civil war he enlisted in 
Company A, Nineteenth Ohio Infantry, his 
captain bemg the late United States Senator 
Manderson, of Nebraska, and the colonel of the 
regiment Samuel Beatty, both of whom after- 
ward became distinguished for gallant service 
in defense of the national union. Air. Schiltz 
served in the Army of the Cumberland under 
General Thomas and took part in some of the 
most noted campaigns of the war, participat- 
ing in many of the bloodiest battles, in one of 
which he was wounded in the right lung by a 
minie ball, which still remains in his body. 
After lying in a hospital one month he re- 
joined his command at Nashville, thence pro- 
ceeded to Louisville and later to Camp Denison, 
from which place he was sent to a hospital at 
Cleveland for further treatment. After re- 
maining under the physician's care about four 
months he was again permitted to join his regi- 
ment and from that time until his discharge at 
Columbus, Ohio, in 1865, he saw much active 
service, including the battles at Chattanooga 
and other places, besides much hard marching, 
which tested the endurance of a soldier not en- 
tirely recovered from a gunshot wound that 
would have resulted in the death of the great 
majority of men. In the latter part of the war 
he was detailed as a sharpshooter and as such 
did effective service, being exceedingly skillful 
in using the rifle. Leaving the army, he re- 
turned to his home and shortly thereafter was 
iinited in marriage with Miss Mary Amanda 



Bitzer. of New Berlin. For several years he 
ran a meat market in that town, but later en- 
gaged in the live stock business, which he car- 
ried on for some time with successful results. 
He still lives in New Berlin, and is widely and 
favorably known throughout the county as a 
man of good business ability and sterling 
worth. 

Dr. Clarence F. Schiltz, son of Frank and 
Mary A. Schiltz, was born in New Berlin, 
Stark county, Ohio, on the 17th of February, 
1877. After completing the common school 
course he engaged in teaching, which line of 
work he followed two years, and then began 
the study of medicine, a profession for which 
he had long manifested a decided preference. 
Entering the Ohio Medical University at Co- 
lumbus, he prosecuted his studies with great 
assiduity until his graduation in 1900 and for 
eighteen months thereafter he did hospital work 
in that city, thus becoming familiar with the 
practice as well as the theory of his chosen 
calling. Severing his connection with the hos- 
pital, Dr. Schiltz formed a partnership with 
Dr. Halleck, of Bowling Green, Ohio, the firm 
thus constituted lasting about six months, when 
it was dissolved by the subject withdrawing 
and locating at Canton. The Doctor opened an 
office here in December, 1901, and in due time 
established a remunerative practice, which has 
constantly increased until he is now in com- 
mand of as large a business as any of the 
younger physicians of the city. Dr. Schiltz 
has a strong analytical mind and his knowledge 
of the profession has been acquired by close, 
critical .study and painstaking investigation un- 
der the direction of some of the best medical 
talent of the day. Few physicians in the same 
length of time have accomplished as much as 
he and none of similar experience are better 
grounded in the science of medicine or have a 
more promising future. He holds membership 
with the Stark County Academy of Medicine, 
the Canton Medical Society, the Ohio State 



I 14: 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Medical Society; also the Wood County 
Medical Society, and as a man belongs to that 
entei-jM-ising class of citizens who, having the 
public interest always in view, exerts a marked 
influence on the commuiiity. In his fraternal 
relations he is a Mason, belonging to McKinley 
Lodge No. 431, and in matters religious is a 
member of the Trinity Reformed church of 
Canton. Believing that every true citizen 
should, to a certain extent, be a politician, he 
has ever manifested an active interest in politi- 
cal affairs, being a Republican in all the word 
implies, and always ready to maintain the 
soundness of the principles he upholds. In No- 
vember, 1902, he was elected coroner of Stark 
county on the Republican ticket for the term of 
two years. As a member of society the Doctor 
has the confidence and esteem of the community 
and possesses the rare faculty of winning and 
retaining warm personal friendship among 
those with whom he mingles. 

Dr. Schiltz is a married man, and has an 
attractive home. His wife was formerly Miss 
Isabeile VVilhams, of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, and it 
was in that city their nuptials were celebrated 
on the 1st day of June, 1901. They have one 
child, Dorothy, born December 2, 1902. 



HENRY E. SHERLOCK is a native of 
the Dominion of Canada, having been born in 
the beautiful city of Kingston, province of On- 
tario, on the iTth of November. 1864, and be- 
ing of stanch Irish extraction in the agnatic 
line and of Scotch in the maternal line. His 
father. John M. Sherlock, was born in the 
state of Massachusetts, where he was reared 
to maturity, there learning the trade of tailor, 
while for the major portion of his active career 
he was a prosperous merchant tailor, though 
for a time he was identified with maritime in- 
terests, sailing on the Great Lakes and the St. 
Lawrence river. He died in Kingston. On- 
tario, in 1901, at the age of seventy-three 



years, having long maintained his home in that 
city, whither he removed from Massachusetts 
some years after his marriage. He was a son 
of Philip Sherlock, whose birth occurred in 
County Antrim, Ireland, whence he emigrated 
to America as a young man, taking up his 
abode in the city of Boston and passing the 
residue of his life in tiie Old Bay state. Eliza- 
beth A. (Robson) Sherlock, the mother of the 
subject, was born in Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence 
county. New York, and she died in Kingston, 
Ontario, in 1891, at the age of sixty-three 
years. In the family were five sons and two 
daughters, of whom three of the former are 
living at the present time. 

Henry E. Sherlock was reared to the age of 
twelve years in his native city, where he se- 
cured his preliminary educational discipline in 
the pulilic schools. At the age noted he went 
to New York city, where he made his home 
with his brother Philip until 1878, in the mean- 
while continuing his school work. He then 
returned to his home in Canada, and thereafter 
continued to reside in Kingston until 1881, 
when he joined his elder brother, William E., 
in Canton, where he likewise entered the em- 
ploy of C. M. Miller, who was then operating 
what was known as the Pioneer foundry, and 
here the subject learned the various details and 
processes of the foundry business. Later he 
was in the employ of the firm of Nobles & Sher- 
lock, successors to Mr. Miller, the junior mem- 
ber of the firm lacing our subject's brother, and 
upon the organization of the stock company 
and its incorporation under the title of the Nov- 
elty Iron Works, Henry E. Slierlock liccame 
identified with the same, having been chosen 
secretary and treasurer of the company in 1893, 
and having since been incumbent of this posi- 
tion, in which he has been indefatigable in pro- 
moting the upbuilding of the extensive enter- 
prise controlled. In his political adherency Mr. 
Sherlock is a stanch supporter of the princi- 
ples of the Republican party, and while ever 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1143 



loyal to the duties of citizenship, he has never 
sought or desired official preferment of a pub- 
he nature. His religious views are in practical 
harmony with the teachings of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, in whose faith he was reared. 
Fraternally he holds affiliation with the Free- 
masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows and the Knights of Pythias, and he is well 
knovra and highly esteemed in both business 
and social circles in the city of his home. 

On the 1 2th of November, 1889, Mr. Sher- 
lock was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude 
A. Arment, who was born and reared in Stark- 
county, being a daughter of II. VV. Arment, a 
representative citizen of Canton, and a former 
official of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Sherlock 
have three children, namely: Helen G., Grace 
E. and Herbert A. 



JOSEPH MARCHAND, postmaster of 
the town named in honor of his family, and 
one 6f the leading citizens of Jackson township, 
is a native of Summit county, Ohio, and the 
son of Joseph and Catherine (Pierson) March- 
and, the father born in France, the mother in 
Stark county, Ohio. Frances Marchand, the 
subject's paternal grandfather, was born and 
reared in France, but in 1828 came to the 
United States and settled in Summit county, 
Ohio, where he lived until his removal to the 
county of Stark about the year 1835. His wife, 
whom he married in the old country, was Mary 
Friar. On coming to this county Mr. March- 
and purchased eighty acres of land in Jackson 
township, which was subsequently increased by 
a like area, and on this place was afterwards 
located the village of Marchand, so named in 
compliment to the family. Joseph Marchand, 
the subject's father, erected the first house on 
the town site arid shortly thereafter engaged in 
the grain business, also opened a sample room. 
In due time a postoffice was established and 
being in the midst of a fine agricultural dis- 



trict, the vdlage grew apace, finally becoming 
the chief trading point for a large area of ter- 
ritory. Mr. Marchand was the moving spirit 
of the place and did much to advertise its ad- 
vantages to the world. He was an enterprising 
business man, bought and shipped large quanti- 
ties of grain and gained much more than local 
repute in business circles throughout the 
county and in certain parts of the state. He 
died at a good old age, in 1889, being survived 
by his wife, who is now a remarkably well pVe- 
served woman of seventy-one years. Joseph 
and Catherine Marchand had a family of twelve 
children, one dying in infancy and one when 
three years old, while ten are still living. 

Joseph Marchand, Jr., whose name fur- 
nishes the caption of this article, was born 
October 31, 1850, in the county of Summit, and 
at the age of three years was brought by his 
parents to his present place of abode in Stark 
county. He received a good education in the 
public schools, but obtained his practical train- 
ing as his father's assistant in the grain busi- 
ness, subsequently, when a young man, engag- 
ing in the mercantile trade at Marchand upon 
his own responsibility. Mr. Marchand contin- 
ued the business for eleven consecutive years 
and was reasonably successful in a financial 
way, having gained a large and lucrative pat- 
ronage, which he held by honorable methods 
and fair dealing. In 1892 he was appointed by 
President Cleveland postmaster of Marchand 
and held the position four years, proving a 
most efficient and obliging public servant. He 
was reappointed in 1898, and is the present in- 
cumbent. Politically Mr. Marchand is a Dem- 
ocrat, and for a number of years past has been 
an influential factor in local aiYairs, as well as 
an active worker in state and national cam- 
paigns. He served the people of his town very 
acceptably as health officer and in other ca- 
pacities has proven himself a valuable adjunct 
to the community in promoting its material 
prosperity. 



1 144 



OLD LANDMARKS 



In Mardi, 1873, Mr. Marchand and Miss 
Catherine Kintzmann were united in the bonds 
of wedlock, the ceremony being solemnized ac- 
cording to the impressive ritual service of the 
Roman Catholic church, of which both are 
communicants. Mrs. Marchand is a native of 
New York and the daughter of Conrad and 
Adeline CUaker) Kintzmann, the father born 
in Clcrmany and the mother in the state of New 
York. These parents became residents of 
Stark county in 1858 and it w'as here that Mr. 
Kintzmann's death occurred in 1883. Mrs. 
Kintzmann is still living, having reached the 
age of seventy years, and of her eight children 
but one is deceased. 'I'lic marriage of Mr. and 
Mrs. Marcliand has l^een blessed with six chil- 
dren, whose names are as follows : Clementine 
C, Joseph J., Clara S., Oliver J., Arthur J. and 
I.eo C. As already stated, the subject and his 
good wife were l)orn and reared in the Catholic 
churcli and have ever remained loyal to its sub- 
lime precepts anrl time-honored traditions. 
They are respected Ijy a large circle of warm 
friends in the community and are deservedly 
popular wherever known. 



TIENRY H. SXVIM-:R comes of an old 
Pennsylvania family and traces his genealogy 
to an early pcrind in (Ik- (ild historic countv <')f 
Lancaster, where his ancestors settled many 
yeru's ago. Jacob .Snyder, his paternal grand- 
father, was born and reared in that countv and 
there nnn-jed Miss Margaret Swanger, whose 
antc'-cdciits were also amf)ng the early settlers 
of the Keystone state. ;\bout the year 1829 
this coui)le disposed of their interests in Penn- 
sylvania and came to Stark county, Ohio, set- 
tling on the farm in Tuscarawus townshi]) 
which the subject now owns. Mr. Snyder was 
a farmer and as such met with reasonable suc- 
cess in the accumulation of material wealth, 
besides earning for himself an honoraljle name 
as a neighbor and enterprising public spirited 



man of affairs. In politics he was a Democrat 
of the most orthodo.x stamp and appears to 
have entertained strong and positive convic- 
tions, rot only on political matters but upon 
every subject to which he gave consideration. 
Me reared a family of eight chiklren, all now 
deceasefl, and, with his good wife, died a num- 
ber of years ago on the place lie settled when 
this part of the state was a new and compara- 
tively undeveloped country. 

Among the children of Jacob and Margaret 
Snyrler was an only son by the name of Sam- 
uel, whose birth occurred in Lancaster county, 
Penn.sylvania, October 12, 181 2. He spent the 
first seventeen years of his life in his native 
state and then accompanied his parents to Stark 
county, Ohio, where he was reared to manhood 
as a tiller of the soil, which vocation he ever 
afterwards follmved. When a young man he 
entered the marriage relation with Miss Mar;* 
I'retz, who was also born in tiie county of 
]^ancaster, and by her became the father of sev- 
en children, of whom John, Elias and Henry 
1 f. grew to maturity, the others dying in early 
childhood. Samuel Snyder was for many years 
a successful agricultin-isl and well-known cit- 
izen cjf 'f'uscarawas township and took an act- 
ive interest in the growth and develo]Mnent of 
the community in which he lived. Reared a 
Democral, he always remained loyal Xn his 
party, but aside from such minor jjositions as 
school director he ne\'er held nor sought public 
office, being content to s])end his life as an hon- 
est, industrious husbandman and to be known 
merely as a ])rivate citizen. He was a man of 
substantial worth, possessed the confidence of 
the people with whom he mingled and his 
death, which occurred about the year 1883, was 
dee])ly deplored not only by his friends and 
neiglibors but by tlic ]ico])le f)f Tuscarawas 
townslii]) in general. 

Henry TI. Snyder was born ni Tuscarawas 
township, Stark county, Ohio, October 22, 
1 85 1. Blessed with sound bod.v and strong 




HENRY H. SNYDER. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



II4S 



mental powers, he grew up on the farm a fine 
specimen of well developed American boyhood 
and from his excellent parents early received 
the bent of mind which shaped for good his 
subsequent course of life. In the winter months 
he pursued his studies in the district schools 
and the rest of the year assisted his father with 
the labors of the farm, becoming while still 
a youth quite an adept in the use of all kinds 
of agricultural implements. Reared to this 
kind of labor, he very naturally turned his at- 
tention when a young man to farming and 
from that time to the present he has followed 
his chosen calling in the township of his birth, 
being now the owner of the old homestead, on 
which both his father and grandfather lived in 
days gone by. This place, consisting of eighty 
acres, is highly cultivated and with its sub- 
stantial Iniildings and other evidences of pros- 
perity attests the well-directed efforts and ex- 
cellent management with which its enterpris- 
ing owner has ever prosecuted the labor of his 
bands. He follows general farming, raises 
considerable live stock, and everything to 
which he devotes his attention appears to re- 
sult greatly to his pecuniar}- profit. 

In his political affiliations Mr. Snyder is de- 
cidedly a Democrat and since his twenty-first 
year has been an earnest worker for the party 
and an influential factor in local affairs. Not- 
Avithstanding the fact that Tuscarawas town- 
ship has long been reliably Republican by a 
large majority, he has been several times 
elected to the office of trustee, which position 
he now holds and in the discharge of the duties 
of which he has demonstrated ability and devo- 
tion to the public welfare that have won him the 
unliounded confidence of the people whom he 
served. His last election was by one of the 
largest votes ever given a candidate in this 
part of the county and the safe, conservative 
and straightforward business manner with 
which he has looked after the people's interest 
shows him a man of much more than ordinarv 



wisdom and judgment whose highest aim has 
ever been to do his duty well and faithfully 
and pro\e himself worthy of the esteem in 
which he is held by his fellow citizens. 

On the 31st day of October, 1878, Mr. 
.Snyder was happily married to Miss Martha 
J. Besh, daughter of Jacob and Lavina Besh, 
of Stark county, the union resulting in the birth 
of two children, Ida May and Grace E. Mr. 
Snyder and family belong to the Reformed 
church and for many years past he has held 
various ofircial positions in the local congrega- 
tion with which he is identified, being one of 
the elders at the present time, a station second 
in importance to that of the ministry. 



SAMUEL M. ANDERSON is a native of 
the old Keystone state, having been born in 
Butler county, Pennsylvania, on the 8th of Sep- 
tember, 1865, and he was reared to manhood 
in Leechburg, Armstrong county, that state, 
while his educational training was received in 
the public schools, his studies being prosecuted 
during the winter terms from the time he was 
about fourteen years of age, while he worked 
during the summer seasons. In Leechburg he 
learned the trade of steel treating, and there he 
contiiuied to reside until 1893, when he came 
to Canton, v.-here he secured employment in 
the Canton rolling mill, in which he followed 
his trade until July, 1901, while in February of 
the following year he was chosen to his present 
position, since which time he has devoted his 
attention entirely to the duties devolving upon 
him as secretary of the Ohio Mica Company. 
In politics he exercises his franchise in support 
of the principles and policies of the Republican 
party and his religious faith is that of the 
L^'riited Presbyterian church, while fraternally 
he is a member of Canton Lodge No. 60, Free 
and Accepted ]\Iasons. 

Samuel B. Anderson, father of the sub- 
ject, was a native of Pennsjdvania, where he 



1 146 



OLD LANDMARKS 



passed his entire life, having been engaged in 
farming until his removal to Leechburg, after 
which he was engaged in general work until 
his death, which occurred in the year 1881. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah 
Hoover, was born near historic old Valley 
Forge, whence her parents removed to western 
Pennsylvania when she was a child. She died 
in Canton October i, 1901, being survived by 
seven children. Thomas Anderson, grand- 
father of the subject, was born in Scotland, and 
his wife was a native of Ireland. Upon coming 
to the United States they located in Pennsyl- 
vania, both having died in Clyde, Indiana 
county, that state. 

In the city of Canton, on the 3d of Febru- 
ary, 1896, Mr. Anderson was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Bertha Glenn, who was born 
here, being a daughter of James and Ann 
Glenn. The subject and his wife have two 
daughters and one son — Ruth, May and 
Thomas. 



J. J. ZUMBER, the present efficient trustee 
of Jackson township, and one of the popular 
men of the thriving little town in which he re- 
sides, is a native of Stark county, Ohio, born 
on the 5th day of February, 1858. The Zum- 
ber family had its origin in Germany, but of 
its early history but little is known save that 
the name has always been a worthy one, and 
those bearing it have done nothing to impair 
its luster or bring it into discredit. Andrew 
and Tracy Zumber, the subject's parents, were 
born and reared in Germany, but about the 
year 1850 bade farewell to the fatherland and 
came to the United States, settling in Stark 
county, Ohio, where the father's death occurred 
in 1 866 and the mother's four years later. For 
some years after locating in this county An- 
drew Zumber was engaged in the manufacture 
of lime and it was while attending to one of his 
kilns that he accidentally lost his life in the 



year referred to above. To Andrew and Tracy 
Zumber seven children were born, of whom 
four are living, the subject of this review being 
the oldest of the family. 

J. J. Zumber was reared to manhood in the 
county of his birth and until twenty-two years 
of age worked on a farm, meanwhile during 
his minority attending the public schools and 
acquiring a good practical education. Becom- 
ing dissatisfied with agriculture or rather the 
way he was obliged to pursue it, he gave up 
farming and for three years thereafter was em- 
ployed in a steel mill at Canton, during which 
time he became not only a capable but a very 
skillful workman. Severing his connection 
with this establishment, he returned to Jackson 
township and began the manufacture of lumber, 
which line of business he carried on for some 
time, also devoted his attention at the proper 
seasons to cider making, from which he realized 
considerable profit. In the year 1898 Mr. Zum- 
ber opened a sample room in the village of 
Marchand and to this he has since given his 
attention, his place being an orderly and favor- 
ite resort, entirely free from the objectionable 
features which often bring the friendly social 
glass into disrepute. 

Mr. Zumber, on the 8th day of November, 
18S3, was united in marriage with Miss Louise 
Marchand, daughter of Joseph Marchand, the 
founder of the town, and for a number of years 
its most prominent business man. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Zumber have been born three children, 
one of whom, Charlotte, is not living; the other 
two are Flora and Olive, both bright and inter- 
esting young ladies, in whom their parents have 
centered many fond hopes for the future. In 
his political afifiliations the subject is an ardent 
Democrat and as such has contributed not a 
little to his party's success in this county, being 
a safe and reliable adviser, as well as an active 
Avorker in the ranks and a trusted leader in 
local affairs. In recognition of valuable serv- 
ices rendered the party, as well as by reason of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 147 



of his eminent fitness for the position, he was 
elected m 1898 trustee of Jackson township, 
which ofiice he has filled in an able and satis- 
factory manner to the present time, being now 
on his fifth year of service. 



GEORGE E. McDonald.— In the ag- 
natic line Mr. McDonald comes of stanch o-ld 
Scottish lineage, while on the maternal side the 
ancestry is of Scotch-Irish extraction, and in 
him abound those sterling attributes of charac- 
ter which such genealogy implies. He is a na- 
tive son of the Buckeye state, having been 
born in the village of Wellsville, Columbiana 
county, Ohio, on the 2d of November, 1849, 
and having been reared to the sturdy and invig- 
orating discipline of the farm. To his parents, 
John C. and Nancy P. (Douglas) McDonald, 
five children were born. He is the eldest of 
the surviving children, and the other three are 
as follows : Patterson, who is a resident of the 
city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania ; Elizabeth, 
who is the wife of Morris Taylor, of East 
Rochester, Columbiana county ; and John, who 
is likewise a resident of that place. The father 
of our subject was born in Scotland in the 
year 1820, and as a lad of ten years he came 
to America with his parents, who located in 
Canada, where he was reared to maturity and 
where he learned tlie trade of ship carpenter, 
to which he there devoted his attention until 
1840, when he came to the United States and 
located in Wellsville, this state, where he be- 
came superintendent of a boat-building com- 
pany and also had charge of an extensive saw- 
milling business, in which connection he fur- 
nished much of the sawed lumber utilized in 
the building of the Cleveland & Pittsburg Rail- 
road. About 1857 he purchased a farm near 
Wellsville and there he continued to reside un- 
til 1861, when he removed to a farm near East 
Rochester, where he continued to be actively 
engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1894, 



when he retired from active life and took up 
his residence in the village mentioned, where 
he has since made his home. About fifteen 
years ago he lost the sight of one of his eyes 
and in December, 1901, the sight of the other 
eye failed and he is now totally blind, but is 
resigned to the affliction which so shadows his 
declining years. He is a stanch Republican 
in his political proclivities and his religious 
faith is that of the Presbyterian church, in 
which he has served as elder for nearly two 
score years, being a man of the most inflexible 
integrity and one who has ever held the high 
regard of his fellow men. His devoted and 
cherished wife was born in Madison township, 
Columbiana county, Ohio, of Scotch-Irish par- 
entage, and she is still livmg in her seventy- 
seventh year, being likewise a devoted member 
of the Presbyterian church, in whose work she 
took an active part for many years. 

George E. McDonald, the immediate sub- 
ject of this review, was reared on the home 
farm, and, being the eldest child, he early began 
to devote the major portion of his time to as- 
sisting in the work of the homestead, so that 
his educational opportunities were somewhat 
curtailed, though in the district schools he laid 
the foundation for that broad and practical 
fund of knowledge which he has since gained 
in the valuable school of experience and by 
personal application. He continued to remain 
on the home farm until he had attained the age 
of twenty-four years, when he purchased eighty 
acres of land from his father and began his 
independent business career. He continued to 
follow agricultural pursuits on this farm about 
eight years, and then, after the death of his 
wife, sold the farm and came to Minerva, 
Stark county, where he established himself in 
the shoe business, in which he was successfully 
engaged for a period of fourteen years. He 
disposed of the business in 1896. In 1898 Mr. 
McDonald was appointed postmaster of Mi- 
nerva and since that time has continued incum- 



<I48 



OLD LANDMARKS 



bent of this posiliuii, having dune much to im- 
prove tlxe service and facilities of the office and 
having gained the un(j\i;dil"icd endorsement and 
commendation of tiie pcoijle of the community. 
In pohtics Mr. McDonald lias ever given a 
stanch and uncompromising support to the 
principles and policies of the Republican party 
and has taken an active interest in its cause. 
Fraternally he is identified wilh the Independ- 
ent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of 
Pythias and the Knights of the Maccabees. 

In T872 Mr. McDonald was un-ited in mar- 
riage to Miss Permelia Hostetter, who was 
born in Stark county, being a daughter of Sam- 
iiel Hostetter, a member of one of the honored 
pioneer families of this section of the state. Of 
this union two children were born, namely : 
F.arl, who is engaged in llic jjractice of den- 
tistry in the city of Coshocton, Ohio; and Nan- 
nie, who is the wife of Professor E. L. Wood- 
ward, who is part owner of the Reno School in 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and an able instructor 
in the institution. Mrs. McDonald was sinn- 
moned into eternal rest in November, 1881, 
and on the 20th of June, 1883, the subject con- 
summated a second marriage, being then united 
to Miss Ella Zcmlxnvcr, of Minerva, a daugh- 
ter of the late John Zombower, who was a well 
known and highly honored carpeiner and build- 
-er of this place. Of this union one child has 
"been liorn, Frank- 'P., who remains at the par- 
ental home. 



CHARLIES EDWIN J.XRVIS is a native 
of New York and the son of Edwin and Lydia 
(Gross) Jarvis, both parents born and reared 
in the Empire stale. The family is an old and 
eminently respectable one and since 1849 the 
name has been quite familiar in Stark county, 
especially in Massillon and the territory adja- 
cent thereto. J3y occupation Edwin Jarvis was 
a tinner, which trade he learned in his native 
state when a young man and which he con- 



tinued to follow in Ma.ssilloii, Ohio, from 
1849 until his death, a number of years later. 
I le was a man of considerable local prominence, 
a leader of the Republican party in Massillon 
and for some time served as city clerk, also 
filled the office of township clerk, besides hold- 
ing other positions of minor importance, in all 
of which he demonstrated gixjd business ability 
and mruiifested an ardent desire to prove him- 
self worthy the confidence reposed in him by 
his fellow citizens. To Edwin and Lydia Jar- 
vis were bom five children, three of whom sur- 
vive, the subject of this review being the fifth of 
the family. 

Charles Edwin Jarvis was born on the 23d 
day of October, 1843, ^'""^ ^'^ years later was 
brought by his parents to Stark county, Ohio, 
since which time he has made his home near 
Massillon. The common schools afl'orded him 
the means of a fair luiglish education, but, like 
many other loyal sons of the North, he was 
not permitted to finish his studies by reason of 
his services being required to assist in crushing 
the great rebellion. In April, 1864, he en- 
listed in Company A, One Hundred and Sixty- 
second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and shortly 
after entering the service proceeded to the 
front, where he bore his part as a brave and 
fearless defender of the Uiiiim until the ex- 
piration of his period of enlistment, retiring 
from the army with a record bright with duty 
faithfully performed. An older brother of the 
subject, Dwight Jarvis, was one of the first 
men of Stark county to respond to the Presi- 
dent's call for volunteers, enlisting in 1861 in 
the Thirteenth Ohio Infantry, of which he aft- 
erwards became colonel, and as such continued 
to the end of the war, winning flisliiiguished 
honors on some of the bloodiest battlefields of 
the Southland. Colonel Jarvis is now United 
States appraiser of customs at Tampa, Florida, 
having been appointed to the post by President 
McKinley, lietween whom and himself a warm 
personal friendship had long existed. 



CANTON AND STARK. COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 149. 



After the war Charles E. Jarvis returned to 
Stark county and about 1866 engaged in the 
dairy business near Massiilon, which he carried 
on with gratifying success during the succeed- 
ing sixteen years. He ran the first milk wagon 
in the city and was extensively patronizefl, real- 
izing from his dairy large profits, which from 
time to time were judiciously invested in real 
estate, which increased greatly in value as the 
years went by. In addition to dairying he de- 
voted considerable attention to real estate busi- 
ness in Massiilon, buying and selling farm 
lands and city property quite extensively, be- 
sides effecting a number of sales and trades 
for other parties, in all of which he received 
liljeral commissions. Realizing the value of 
land ;us an investment, Mr. Jarvis in 1884 pur- 
chased a beautiful farm of one hundred and ten 
acres in Perry township and a few years later 
increased his home place by an addition of 
seventy-five acres, nearly all of which has been 
reduced to a high state of cultivation, besides 
being greatly improved by a commodious mod- 
ern residence, substantial barns and good out- 
buildings. From time to time he has laid out 
and sold at lijjeral prices a number of lots, one 
of his last deals in this direction being in 1893, 
when he disposed of an addition of thirty-one 
lots to S. Burd, one of the leading real estate 
dealers in the city of Massiilon. 

For a number of years past Mr. Jarvis has 
devoted his attention largely to general agri- 
culture and as a farmer ranks with the most 
enterprising and successful in the county of 
Stark. In conjunction with tilling the soil he 
carries on stock raising, in which branch of 
husbandry he has also been highly successful, 
in fact, all of his business ventures have re- 
turned him handsome profits, so much so, in- 
deed, that he is today regarded as one of the 
financially strong men of the township in 
which he resides. From 1866 to the present 
time he has steadily added to his possessions, 
purchasing tract after tract from his savings 



and accumulations until he is now not only one 
of the large land owners of Perry township, 
but also commands a fortune independent o£ 
his real estate. 

On October 7, 1880, Mr. Jarvis was united 
in marriage with Miss Caroline Johnson, of 
Tuscarawas county, Ohio, a union blessed with 
four children, whose names are Helen Fay, 
Annie S., Sarah and Mary F. Politically Mr. 
Jarvis is an ardent Republican and for many 
years his influence has contributed materially 
to his party's success in municipal, township 
and county affairs. He served* four years as 
a member of the Massiilon city council, during 
two of which he was president of the bwly, and 
he is now on his seconrl term as township trus- 
tee, having first entererl the office by appoint- 
ment to fill the vacancy caused by the fleath 
of William Castleman, succeeding himself in 
two elections following by the votes of the 
people. Mr. Jarvis is a gentleman of substan- 
tial worth and sterling integrity, enterprising 
in all he undertakes and as a citizen has so de- 
ported himself as to gain the esteem and good 
will of the public. In private life his character 
has always been unassailable, and in matters of 
business he is recognized as possessing that ma- 
turity of judgment, clearness of perception and 
wise forethought which seldom fail of winning 
the largest measure of success. 



BEX" JAM IN DOLL.— The subject of this 
sketch is a native of Stark county and a de- 
scendant of two of the earliest pioneer families 
of this part of the state. His father, John Doll, 
was Ixjrn in York City, Pennsylvania, and in 
1814 came with his parents to Stark county, 
locating in what is now Osnaburg township 
when the present flourishing city of Canton 
was a mere backwoods hamlet. The subject's 
paternal grandfather, who also went by the 
name of John Doll, came from Switzerland and 
settled in York City, Pennsylvania, in colonial 



1 150 



OLD LANDMARKS 



times and tliere married a Miss Kitt, whose 
ancestors were among the earliest white people 
in that part of the state. By occupation John 
Doll, Sr., was a farmer. He and his son John 
stood the draft in the war of 181 2, as did two 
of his brothers, all but one of the number es- 
caping military service. At that time there 
was nothing at Canton except a block house, 
in which a few scattered settlers took refuge 
when dangers from Indian warfare threatened. 
Among the pioneers who thus sought protec- 
tion was one David Risher, a native of Ger- 
many, who moved his family to Stark county 
as early as 1809, having formerly lived in the 
state of Maryland, where he married a Miss 
Springer. Among the children of Mr. Risher 
was a daughter by the name of Elizabeth, who 
was about nine years old when her parents 
made a home in the wilderness of what has 
since been known as the township of Canton. 
She grew to maturity amid the stirring scenes 
of pioneer times and when a young woman be- 
came the wife of John Doll, Jr., to whom she 
bore fifteen children, the subject of this sketch 
being the fifth in order of birth. Of this large 
family that formerly gathered around the 
hearthstone but three are now living, viz : 
Isaac, Eli and Benjamin, all well known and 
highly respected citizens of Stark county. One 
of the brothers, George Doll, and his son Frank 
lost their lives in the great flood and tidal wave 
that destroyed the city of Galveston some years 
ago and another brother by the name of Frank 
was shot and killed at Alma, Arizona, having 
been postmaster of that town at the time of his 
death. All of the Doll brothers figured in the 
early history of California and other territories 
and were active participants in the many thrill- 
ing experiences and dangerous episodes which 
characterized the pioneer period of the far 
West. Josiah and Joseph died in California 
and after spending three and a half years on 
the Pacific coast the subject returned to Ohio, 
fully satisfied with his experience in that far- 



away and at that time not very inviting coun- 
try. 

John Doll, Jr., became quite a successful 
agriculturist and owned a farm of one hundred 
and sixty acres in Stark county, on which his 
death occurred in 1867, his wife dying three 
years after that date. He was a good man and 
a substantial citizen and bore no inconsider- 
able part in the growth and development of 
the township in which he settled. He was a 
fine type of the strong, vigorous, resourceful 
pioneer of the early day and his memory will 
long be cherished as one of the forerunners of 
civilization in what has since become one of 
the most advanced and prosperous sections of 
eastern Ohio. 

Benjamin Doll, whose name introduces 
this review, was born in Osnaburg township, 
Stark county, July 27, 1827, and from that 
date to the present time has spent the greater 
part of his life at no great distance from the 
scene of his birth. The country was by no 
means fully developed when he was a youth and 
his earliest practical experiences consisted of 
hard work in the woods and fields, assisting to 
clear the home farm, cultivate the soil and har- 
vest the crops. Meantime, as opportunities af- 
forded, he attended the old-fashioned subscrip- 
tion schools of the time and later, when a 
young man, he thought to acquire a fortune in 
the far West, whither so many people during 
1849-50 had gone in quest of gold. As al- 
ready stated, he spent three and a half years 
beyond the Rockies, at the expiration of which 
time he returned to Ohio, not much better ofif 
in the matter of worldly wealth, but far richer 
in the rugged experiences which had a decided 
influence in developing the sturdy elements of 
his nature and teaching him the important les- 
sons of self-reliance. On returning to Stark 
county Mr. Doll engaged in farming, which 
vocation he has since pursued with marked suc- 
cess, owning at this time a finely situated place 
of one hundred and fortv-nine acres in Perrv 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



iiSl 



townsliip, besides titlier valuable property, 
every dollar's worth of which is the result of 
his own lalK)r and management. Mr. Doll's 
home lies about two miles south of the business 
center of Massillon and the farm is admirably 
adapted to all the crops raised in this section of 
the state. He has ndt been sparing of his 
means in making his home beautiful and at- 
tractive, as his buildings and other improve- 
ments attest, and as an agriculturist he has 
long ranged with the most enterprising and 
progressive men of his township in which he 
lives. 

Years ago Mr. Doll was a Whig in politics 
and while in California he became what was 
known as a "Know Nothing." Upon the or- 
ganization of the Republican party he ac- 
cepted its principles and from that time to the 
present has been one of its most ardent sup- 
porters, although not a partisan nor an as- 
pirant for oflicial honors. He has been quite 
active in promoting organized efforts for the 
advancement of agriculture, being a leading 
member of the Grange, or Patrons of Hus- 
bandry. 

Mr. Doll's first marriage was solemnized on 
the 1 8th day of September, 1856, with Miss 
Catherine Fisher, of Stark county, daughter 
of Captain Jacob Fisher, of Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania, one of the early settlers of Stark. 
Mrs. Doll bore her husband eight children and 
departed this life in 1875, deeply lamented by 
her immediate family and highly respected by 
the people of the community. Following are 
the names of the sons and daughters born o^f 
this union : Josiah, Flora, Dennison, Losfan, 
Melville, Cora, Albert and Kent. Two years 
after the death of his first wife Mr. Doll mar- 
ried his present companion, who bore the maid- 
en name of Mary Ann Jeft'erson. Mrs. Doll 
was born in Michigan, but since her seventh 
year has lived in Stark county, being well 
known and much esteemed by all with whom 
she is acquainted. Mr. Doll and wife are mem- 



bers of the Baptist church and the sincerity of 
their profession has always been ak)\e criti- 
cism. They are excellent neighlx^rs, loyal in 
their friendships, and by correct living have 
won a warm place in the esteem and love of 
the people with whom they associate. 



WILLIAM O. WERNTZ.— As the name 
implies, Mr. Werntz comes of stanch German 
lineage in the agnatic branch, and he was born 
in the village of Osnaburg, Stark county, on 
the 24th of May, i860, being a son of William 
and Sarah Ann (Plum) Werntz, the former 
of whom was born in Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, in the year 1814. He was there 
reared to the age of nineteen years and then, in 
1833, he came as a pioneer to Stark county, 
settling in the village of Osnaburg, where he 
engaged in the buying of live stock, which, in 
the early days, he drove through to the market 
in Philadelphia. In Osnaburg was solemnized 
his marriage to Miss Plum, who was born in 
Lebanon, Warren county, Ohio, whence she 
came with her parents to Stark comity when 
twelve years of age. Her father, Philip Plum, 
was born in Pennsylvania, and became one of 
the honored pioneers of Stark county, where 
he passed the remainder of his life. Mrs. 
Werntz, who was a devoted member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, was summoned 
into eternal rest on the 226 of October, 1877, 
her hus!,>an.l survi\ing her by more than a score 
of years and passing away on the 5th of Febru- 
ary, 1889. He was originally a Whig in poli- 
tics, but later espoused the cause of the Repub- 
lican party, at the time of its inception, and 
thereafter he continued an ardent advocate of 
its principles, while he was a man of inflexible 
integrity and ever loyal and sincere in all the 
relations of life. 

William O. Werntz, the immediate subject 
of this review, received his educational disci- 
pline in the public schools and at an early age 



1 152 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



became a teacher in the schools of this county, 
devoting his attention to this profession for a 
period of nine years, while he was later super- 
intendent of the Osnaburg schools, being in- 
cumbent of this position until 1891, when he 
came to Canton and began reading law in the 
office of the firm of Clark & Ambler, later being 
matriculated in the Cincinnati Law School, in 
which he was graduated as a member of the 
class of 3893 and coming forth well equipped 
for the active work of his chosen profession, as 
he had been a close and appreciative stude:it 
and become thoroughly informed in the mi- 
nutiffi of the law, while his active career at the 
bar has demonstrated his facility in the appli- 
cation of his knowledge, and he has gained a 
high reputation as an able advocate and coun- 
selor. Mr. Werntz was admitted to the bar of 
Stark county on the ist of June, 1893, ^"^ 
forthwith established himself in practice in the 
city of Canton, where his novitiate was of brief 
duration, recognition of his ability and devotion 
to his profession soon being shown, so that he 
lias gained an excellent clientage of representa- 
tive character, his practice being of a general 
character. In politics, while never an aspirant 
for office, Mr. Werntz has given a stanch alle- 
giance to the Republican party and has been an 
active worker in its cause in a local way, and he 
holds membership in the Koontz Memorial 
church in Canton. Fraternally he is identified 
with tlie Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

In his native town of Osnaburg in 1886, 
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Werntz 
to Miss Sally H. Sausser, a well known resi- 
dent, who died in 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Werntz 
have one daughter, Georgia Lucille. 



J. R. LAWRENCE.— The fatherland is 
worthily represented Ijy the gentleman whose 
name appears at the head of this biographical 
review. Although of foreign birth he is thor- 
oughly American in all his tastes anad tenden- 



cies and retains but a faint remembrance of his 
native heath, having been brought to the Uni- 
ted States when about three years of age. J. 
R. Lawrence was born in Berlin, Germany, in 
the year 1841 and is one of two children whose 
parents were Philip and Catherine (Hartz) 
Lawrence. Philip Lawrence and family left 
their native land about the year 1844 a^nd com- 
ing to the United States settled in Stark coun- 
ty, Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his 
life as an industrious and fairly successful tiller 
of the soil. 

Of the Lawrence family the subject of this 
review is the only living representative. He 
was reared on the home farm in Stark county, 
received his education in the common schools 
and when old enough to chose a vocation of his 
own selected agriculture as the one best suited 
to his tastes and inclinations. Mr. Lawrence 
was a young man of aljout twenty when the 
great Civil war broke out and feeling it his 
duty to aid the government in its extremity, 
he enlisted in 1862 in Company A, One Hun- 
dred and Fourth Ohio Infantry, with which he 
served with an honorable record for a period 
of three years. He bore his full share of the 
hardships and dangers through which his com- 
mand passed, took part in a number of hard- 
fought battles, including the various engage- 
ments of the Atlanta campaign, and had the 
honor of accompanying General Sherman on 
the celebrated march to the sea, serving a part 
of the time as a member of the One Hundred 
and Fourth United States Band. Returning 
home after the cessation of hostilities, Mr. 
Lawrence resumed the pursuit of agriculture, 
which he has since carried on with a large 
measure of success, achieving honorable repute 
as an intelligent and progressive farmer and 
acquiring a fortune of sufficient magnitude to 
place him in independent circumstances. 

Mr. Lawrence's place, which consists of one 
hundred and seventy acres of fertile land, is 
admirably situated for agriculture and live 




MR. AND MRS. J. R. LAWRENCBI 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1153 



stock purposes and he has spared no pains nor 
expense in bringing it to the advanced state of 
cultivation for Avhicli it has long been noted. 
He is a scientific farmer, making a careful 
study of the nature of soils and their adapta- 
bility to the different crops raised, and he has 
always reaped abundantly from the time and 
labor expended upon his fields. By fertiliza- 
tion and judicious rotation of crops he has not 
only retained the original fertility of his land 
but greatly enhanced its productiveness and 
through the instrumentality of modern meth- 
ods his income has steadily increased with each 
recurring year. It is not assuming too much 
to claim for Mr. Lawrence distinctive prec- 
edence as a breeder and raiser of fine live 
stock, a business to wliich he has devoted 
especial attention for over thirty years. He is 
among the leading stock men of Stark county 
and perhaps is without a superior in the state 
as a judge of the merits of high-grade animals 
Such as he raises. In cattle his special breed 
is the shorthorns, of which he now has quite a 
large herd of very valuable animals, among 
the numljer being a fine heifer recently im- 
ported from Scotland, for which he paid the 
sum of five hundred dollars. Mr. Lawrence 
has been the means of introducing a superior 
breed of live stock among the farmers of his 
section and is entitled to great credit for his 
activity in this important branch of industry. 
Not only has he tal-:en an active interest in 
raising cattle, but as a breeder of fine Percheron 
horses he has long enjoyed much more than 
local reputation. He has made a careful study 
of this particular breed and wherever his ani- 
mals have been exhibited they have invariably 
taken high honors. Their superiority over oth- 
er breeds has been so apparent as to create a 
great demand for them, in consequence of 
which Mr. Lawrence has never experienced any 
difficulty in disposing of his horses at fancy 
prices. Indeed the greater part of his income 
is derived from the sale of live stock, his cattle 

72 



and horses alone having been the means of ac- 
cumulating a fortune of such proportions as 
to wm him a place among the wealthy and en- 
terprising farmers of Stark county. 

Mr. Lawrence has long maintained a lively 
interest in advanced agricultural methods and 
to this end has taken an active part in agri- 
cultural societies, doing all within his power to 
promote their efficiency ag a means of improv- 
ing the farmer's condition, materially, socially 
and morally. Believing farming to be one of 
the noblest as well as one of the most useful of 
vocations, he has by his influence and co-oper- 
ation done as much as any other man in the 
community to foster high ideals among the 
tillers of the soil and inspire them with a proper 
conception of the dignity of their calling. He 
has always stood for progress and, being a 
man of broad ideas and enterprising spirit, it 
is but natural that he should become the leader 
that he is in all that relates to modern improve- 
ments and advanced thought in agriculture. 
For a number of years he has been a member 
of the county agricultural board and by reason 
of his peculiar fitness for the position, he is 
invariably put in charge of the live stock de- 
partment when the society holds its meetings. 
■ In his political affiliations Mr. Lawrence 
was originally a decided Republican and for 
years was an active worker in his party. He 
defended his opinions intelligently and earnest- 
ly and during the progress of campaigns ren- 
dered valuable service to the ticket, both as a, 
judicious counsellor and an active worker. Re- 
cently, however, he has refused to be bound by 
party ties, and is now what may be termed an 
independent. He is also a strong, uncompro- 
mising advocate of temperance reform aiid 
does all within his power to check the liquor 
traff.c, which he justly considers the crying evil 
of the day. 

In matters religious Mr. Lawrence claims 
the right of private judgment and is liberal in 
all the term implies. While not denying the 



1154 



OLD LANDMARKS 



wholesome moral influence of the church as a 
factor in civilization, he has never seen fit to 
accept its doctrines and dogmas and he reads 
and criticizes the Scriptures as he would any 
other literary production. His moral code in- 
cludes the axiom "Do all the good you can in 
this world and live so as to merit the approval 
of your conscience and the commendation of 
your fellow man," a most excellent and time- 
honored rule of life. As a citizen Mr. Law- 
rence keeps fully abreast the times and dis- 
charges his duties as becomes a true lover of 
his country and his kind. 

Mr. Lawrence was married, in the year 
1866, to Miss Elizabeth Eschleman, of Stark 
county, who has borne him eleven children, 
namely : Lamamora; Abraham L. ; Elsie, wife 
of Harley Foust: Eva; Ohio; Cora, wife of 
Ed McFadin ; Chauncey, Jessie, Nettie, Portia 
and Columbus L 



JAY M. COCiAN was born on the old 
homestead farm, in Bethlehem township, this 
county, on the 7th of February, 1865, being a 
son of Loomis and Leah (Young) Cogan, the 
former of whom was born in Pike township, 
this county, in 1837, while the latter was born 
in Bethlehem township in 1840. The father 
of the subject was reared under the scenes and 
influences of the pioneer epoch and has con- 
secutively devoted his attention to agricultural 
pursuits from his youth up. He and his wife 
now reside on their fine farm in Bethlehem 
township and are numbered among the honored 
pioneer citizens of the county. Joseph and 
Sarah Cogan, the paternal grandparents of the 
subject, came from Pennsylvania to Stark 
county in the pioneer days, locating in Pike 
township, where they continued to reside until 
called upon to answer the inexorable summons 
of death. William Young, the maternal grand- 
father, came to this county at the time when 
this section was practically represented by a 



sylvan wilderness, and here he continued to be 
identified with the great basic art of agriculture 
until his demise. Several of his sons sdrved 
with distinction in the war of the Rebellion, and 
the name is an honored one in this section of 
the state. 

Jay M. Cogan was reared on the home farm 
and after availing himself of such advantages 
as were afforded in the district schools he be- 
came a student in the normal school, where he 
so thoroughly applied himself as to become eli- 
gible for pedagogic honors, having been a suc- 
cessful teacher in the public schools of the 
county for a period of five years, three of which 
were given to such work in the village of Na- 
varre. In 1885 Mr. Cogan came to Canton and 
entered the law office of John C. Welty, under 
whose able direction he continued his technical 
reading and study until 1888, when, upon ex- 
amination, he was duly admitted to the bar of 
the state. Thereafter he was associated in the 
active practice of his profession with his pre- 
ceptor for a period of two years, at the expira- 
tion of which, in 1890, a distinctive recognition 
of his professional ability and acumen was 
given in his appointment to a position in the 
legal department of the C. Aultman Company, 
manufacturers of agricultural machinery, and 
in this department he made his services of such 
value to the company that he was made head 
of said department in 1897, retaining this in- 
cumbency until 1901, when he was advanced 
to his present office of secretary of the com- 
pany, having, as a matter of course, the most 
important administrative and executive duties 
in his charge, while he has proved in his course 
the wisdom of the choice which gave him this 
important preferment. Ever true to the duties 
of citizenship, and taking a deep interest in all 
that conserves the welfare of his native county 
and home city, Mr. Cogan has never sought 
official preferment, and while he gives his sup- 
port to the Democratic party in state and na- 
tional affairs, he is liberal in local matters and 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY; OHIO. 



1155 



is not constrained by strict partisan lines. He 
has been specially prominent and active in the 
work of the Fn-st United Brethren church, of 
which he is a trustee at the present time, as was 
he also when the organization was but a small 
mission, with its place of worship in an unpre- 
tentious building on Charles street. He was 
largely instrumental in securing the erection of 
the present fine church edifice at the corner of 
Tenth street and South Cleveland avenue, and 
has never abated his zeal in the work of the 
church. Mrs. Cogan is likewise a devoted mem- 
ber of this church and in full sympathy and 
accord with her husband. 

In 1887 Mr. Cogan was united in marriage 
to Miss Loretta M. Williams, daughter of Wil- 
liam B. Williams, of Canton, in which city she 
was reared and educated, and of this union have 
been born two children — Ruth and Ralph War- 
ren. 



GEORGE C. WOODS, D. D. S., is a na- 
tive of Carroll county, Ohio, where he was 
born on the 5th of December, 1872, being a 
son of Isaac B. and Sarah J. (Masters) Woods, 
of whose ten children the eight surviving are 
as follows : Mary C, who is the wife of H. E. 
Tressler, of Canton, Sark county; Ada F., who 
is the wife of D. G. Orin, ex-superintendent of 
the public schools of Akron, Ohio, where they 
still reside; George C, the immediate subject 
of this sketch, and Elva L., Emma J., L. Pearl, 
James B. and Verne M., who still remain at 
the parental home. The father of the Doctor 
is likewise a native of Carroll county, where he 
was borri in the year 1840, being a son of 
George and Catherine (Bardoll) Woods, who 
were numbered among the honored pioneers 
of the county. Isaac B. Woods was reared on 
the old homestead farm and after attending 
the district schools became a student in the nor- 
mal school at Malvern, Carroll county, while 
later he continued his educational discipline in 



Harlem Springs College, in the town of the 
same name, also in Carroll county. After his 
marriage he purchased eighty acres of land in 
Harrison township, that county, buying the 
property of his wife's uncle, Cornelius Baxter, 
in. whose home she had been reared, her father 
having died when she was a child. On this 
farm they have ever since maintained their 
home, the area of the homestead having later 
been augmented by the purchase of an adjoin- 
ing tract of about sixty acres, while the place 
is one of the model farms of the county, having 
the best of improvements and being maintained 
under a high state of cultivation. Mr. Woods 
also purchased the old Woods homestead from 
the other heirs, and of this property he retained 
possession until the spring of 1902, when he 
sold the property. He has been a leader in the 
local ranks of the Republican party, in whose 
cause he has ever taken an active and intelli- 
gent interest. He has served as a member of 
the county central committee of his party and 
has been otherwise prominent in its work, while 
he has been called upon to serve in various local 
offices of trust and responsibility, including that 
of county commissioner, of which he was in- 
cumbent for seven }"ears. In his younger days 
he was for several years a successful teacher in 
the public schools. 

Isaac B. Woods also has the distinction of 
being an honored veteran of the war of the Re- 
bellion. He was among the early volunteers 
from Carroll county, having enlisted in 1861 
as a private in Company A, Eightieth Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, with which he was in 
active service for three years, within which 
period he was a participant in a number of the 
most important and sanguinary battles inci- 
dental to that great internecine conflict, includ- 
ing the following engagements : Shiloh, Cor- 
inth, Pittsburg Landing, Lookout Mountain, 
Missionary Ridge and the entire Atlanta cam- 
paign, culminating in the famous battle at that 
point, being discharged just prior to the time 



II56 



OLD LANDMARKS 



when Sherman started forth on his ever mem- 
orable march "from Atlanta to the sea." Fra- 
ternally he is identified with the Masonic order, 
in which he has attained the Knight Templar 
degree, being a member of the commandery at 
Canton. 

Dr. George C. Woods, the immediate sub- 
ject of this review, was reared on the home- 
stead farm and secured his early educational 
discipline in the public schools, while it is evi- 
dent that he made effective use of the oppor- 
tunities thus afforded, since for four years he 
was a successful and popular teacher in the dis- 
trict schools of this section. In 1897 he was 
matriculated in the dental department of the 
Ohio Medical University at Columbus, where 
he completed the prescribed course and was 
duly graduated in the spring of 1900, receiving 
the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery, and 
being well equipped for the work of his chosen 
profession, while he had further fortified him- 
self in the line by working in the office of Dr. 
Stonebrook, a prominent dentist of Waynes- 
burg, Stark county, during his college vaca- 
tions. In the spring of 1901 Dr. Woods lo- 
cated in Magnolia, where he opened a well 
equipped and attractive office, and within the 
comparatively brief period of his residence 
here he has built up a remunerative practice, 
his clientage being of distinctively representa- 
tive order. The Doctor is stanchly arrayed as 
a supporter of the Republican party and fra- 
ternally is identified with the Knights of the 
Maccabees, holding membership in Waynes- 
burg Tent No. 29, at Waynesburg. He is a 
young man of ambition and progressive ideas, 
a close student of his profession and one whose 
further precedence is assured. 



WILLIAM E. SHERLOCK belongs to 
that loyal class of American citizens who, while 
gaining individual success, also promote the 
public prosperity, and he has conferred honor 



and dignity on the city of his home not less by 
his well ordered business enterprises than by 
his upright personal career. The Novelty Iron 
Works, of which Mr. Sherlock is president, 
were originally owned by P. P. Bush, who was 
succeeded by the firm of Nobles & Sherlock, of 
which the junior member was he whose name 
appears above, while they had initiated their 
operations in a small foundry in Eighth street, 
where they conducted business until 1885, when 
they purchased the plant of the Novelty Iron 
Works from Mr. Bush and continued to be 
associated in the operation of the same until 
the death of Mr. Nobles in 1889. Mr. Sher- 
lock then purchased the interest of his honored 
and deceased partner and later Charles Elmer 
and H. E. Sherlock were admitted to partner- 
ship, and the enterprise was thereafter con- 
ducted under the firm name of Sherlock, Elmer 
& Sherlock until the death of Mr. Elmer, which 
occurred in 1895. In the meanwhile the tract 
occupied previously by the lumber yards of 
James WeaA'er & Company had been purchased 
by the firm, whose plant was extended to cover 
the entire tract, thus utilizing about two acres 
of ground, located on Tuscarawas, Seventh and 
Eighth streets. Still later the site occupied by 
the Campbell Lumber Company was also se- 
cured and the fine plant still farther enlarged, 
so that its buildings and grounds now occupy 
about four and a half acres, while the structures 
are of substantial order and well designed for 
the uses to which they are applied, each depart-, 
ment of the works being equipped with the 
best mechanical devices and accessories, while 
its operations are assigned to competent arti- 
sans in the various lines. In 1892, owing to the 
expansion of the business and the imperative 
demand for broader executive and capitalistic 
reinforcement, it was found expedient to or- 
ganize a stock company, and this was effected 
by the incorporation of the Novelty Iron Com- 
pany under the laws of the state of West Vir- 
ginia, while later articles of incorporation were 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



"57 



also secured under the laws of Ohio. The pres- 
ent executive corps of the company is as fol- 
lows : William E. Sherlock, president; D. R. 
McCallum, vice-president ; and Henry E. Sher- 
lock, secretary and treasurer. The plant of the 
company was destroyed by fire in March, 1902, 
but was immediately rebuilt, with better build- 
ings and the finest modern equipments through- 
out. The company manufactures under the 
trade-mark name of "Our Own," the finest type 
of boilers for hot water heating and for steam 
motive purposes, and the annual output is a 
large one aqd is constantly increasing, while 
the products of the concern are sold in the most 
diverse sections of the Union. The company 
maintains branch establishments in New York 
city, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, Mil- 
waukee, St. Louis and San Francisco, which 
fact indicates to how thorough an extent the 
national trade territory is covered. The presi- 
dent of the company came to Canton in 1879 
and entered the employ of C. M. Miller, pro- 
prietor of the Pioneer foundry, and he re- 
mained with this concern until he started in 
business on his own responsibility, while it may 
properly be said that he is the architect of his 
own fortune, his advancement having been the 
result of technical and business ability and the 
consecutive application of his energies to a defi- 
nite purpose. 

William E. Sherlock was born in a suburb 
-of the city of Boston, Massachusetts, on the 
31st of October, 1851, being a son of John M. 
and Elizabeth A. (Robson) Sherlock, the for- 
mer of whom was born in the Old Bay state, 
while the latter was a na'tive of Ogdensburg, 
St. Lawrence county. New York. The father 
of our subject was a merchant tailor by voca- 
tion, and for a time was identified with naviga- 
tion interests on the Great Lakes. He died in 
Kingston, Ontario, Canada, in 1901, having at- 
tained the age of seventy-three years, his wife 
having been summoned into eternal rest in the 
^ame city in 1891, at which time she was sixty- 



three years of age. They became the parents 
of seven children, of whom three are living at 
the present time. Philip Sherlock, the grand- 
father of the subject, was born in County An- 
trim, Ireland, whence he came to the United 
States in his early manhood, locating in the 
city of Boston, Massachusetts, and passing the 
residue of his life in that state. 

When William E. Sherlock was a child his 
parents removed from Massachusetts to Kings- 
ton, Ontario, where he was reared to maturity, 
having the advantages afforded by the excel- 
lent public schools of that attractive Canadian 
city, where also he learned in his youth the 
trade of molder. Later he was employed as a 
journeyman in various portions of the United 
States. At the time of attaining his legal ma- 
jority he was residing in Shortsville, Ontario 
county. New York. On the 29th of January, 
1884, in Kingston, Canada, was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr. Sherlock to Miss Mabel C. 
Barrie, daughter of Robert and Fannie Barrie, 
of that city, the family being of Scottish line- 
age, and they became the parents of six chil- 
dren, all of whom are living except Elizabeth 
A., who died at the age of one week. The 
others are as follows : William E., Jr. ; Jes- 
sie E., Fannie M., Robert E. and Phyllis L. 
In politics Mr. Sherlock gives his allegiance 
to the Republican party, and fraternally he is 
identified with the Masonic order and the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. 



ELLIOTT M. JEROME is a native son 
of the Buckeye slate, having been born in Car- 
roll county, Ohio, on the 9th of November, 
1S50, and being a son of James and Isabelle 
(Elliott) Jerome, of whose six children he is 
one of the two survivors, his brother John 
being a representative member of the bar of 
Stark county, and retaining his residence in 
the town of Minerva. The father of the sub- 
ject was born in Bethany, West Virginia, in 



II58 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the year i8ig, his father, who was of Frencl^. 
lineage, having removed to that place from the 
eastern part of the state of Maryland, where 
the original American progenitor took up his 
abode in the colonial epoch of our national his- 
tory, having emigrated hither from France and 
having undoubtedly been one of the Huguenots 
who fled their native land to escape the perse- 
cutions incidental to the revocation of the edict 
of Nantes. James Jerome was reared to ma- 
turity in West Virginia, where he learned the 
carpenter's trade, and as a young man he went 
to Washington county, Pennsylvania, where he 
was married, and where he remained until about 
1845, when he came to Carroll county, Ohio, 
where he purchased a i'arm of one hundred and 
sixty acres, al)out six miles east of the village 
of Minerva, Stark county, and there he contin- 
ued to be actively engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits until .'865, when he sold his farm and 
took up his residence in Minerva. In 1872 he 
was appointed postmaster of the village, of 
which office he continued incumbent for the 
long period of twelve years, under the adminis- 
trations of Presidents Grant, Hayes and Gar- 
field. During a portion of this time he also 
acted as mayor of the town, and later was 
again elected to this cliief administrative office, 
in which he served for a total of sixteen years, 
a circumstance whose significance is at once 
evident, as showing the high esteem in which 
he was held in the comnuinity, and also indi- 
cating his di.stinctive executive ability, since his 
administrations were models of wise policy and 
proper economy. lie was a stanch Republican 
in his political proclivities, and locally took an 
active part in furthering its cause. While re- 
siding on his farm in Carroll county he served 
for many years as justice of the peace. He 
was a worthy member of the Presbyterian 
church, in which he was a zealous worker, hav- 
ing held various official positions in the same. 
For a full lialf century prior to his death he. 
•was an apprei ••^'■'ve and honored member of 



the Masonic fraternity. He died in February, 
1902, in the fullness of years and well earned 
honors. His wife preceded him into eternal 
rest, her death having occurred in December, 
1898. Siie was born in Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, in 1823, being a daughter of 
George Elliott, who was of Scotch-Irish ex- 
traction, and who emigrated to the United 
States from the north of Ireland. 

Elliott M. Jerome was reared on the old 
homestead farm in Carroll county, and was 
educated in the public schools of the county,, 
and at the college at Harlem Springs, Ohio. 
In 1867 he entered the employ of the Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad Company, in whose service he 
continued, in the capacity of station agent, and 
for a portion of the time as telegraph operator, 
for the long period of sixteen years, during the 
greater portion of wdiich he was station agent 
here in Minerva. In 1883 Mr. Jerome ac- 
cepted a position with the Union Express Com- 
pany, becoming its agent in the city of Akron, 
this state, where he remained two years. In 
1886 he returned to Minerva, and here again, 
served as station agent for the Pennsylvania 
Railroad until 1893, when he resigned his posi- 
tion to accept that of cashier of the Bank of 
Minerva Company, which incumbency he has. 
ever since retained, wdiile through his able and 
discriminatng methods as an executive and 
financier the success of the bank has been ma- 
terially advanced, and it is known as one of 
the solid financial institutions of this section 
of the state, the deposits having^ increased in 
the past four years from one hundred and nine 
thousand dollars to three hundred and twenty- 
five thousand. Mr. Jerome has ever been 
stanchly arrayed in support of the Republican 
party, and he has been called upon to serve in 
offices of local trust and responsibility. For 
ten years he was a member of the town coun- 
cil of Minerva, while for four years he was- 
incumbent of the office of township treasurer 
of Paris township, a fact that indicates his per- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1159 



sonal popularity and the coufulence reposed in 
him by the people of the community, since the 
pohtical complexion of the township is strongly 
Democratic. He and his wife are members of 
the Presbyterian church, and he is a member 
of its board of trustees. Fraternally he is 
identified with Tubal Lodge No. 551, Free and 
Accepted Masons, of Minerva ; Alliance Chap- 
ter No. 83, Royal Arch Masons, of .Alliance; 
Canton Commandery No. 38, Knights Tem- 
plar; Grand Lodge of Perfection No. 14, An- 
cient Accepted Scottish Rite, of Canton; and 
Al Koran Temple of the Nobles of the Mystic 
Shrine, in the city of Cleveland. He takes a 
deep interest in the noble and time-honored fra- 
ternity, and has held various offices in the dif- 
ferent bodies with which he is affiliated. He is 
also a member of Minerva Lodge No. 122, 
Knights of Pythias. 

On the 2ist of March, 1873, Mr. Jerome 
was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Clem- 
ans, who was born in Paris township. Stark 
county, being a daughter of the late Abram 
Clemans, who was one of the influential far- 
mers of this section, and who passed his de- 
clining years in Minerva. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Jerome have been born five children, of whom 
four survive, namely : Percy, who is employed 
in the office of the secretary of the Young 
Men's Christian .Association in New York city, 
was graduated, in the s])ring of 189S, in the 
Springfield Training School, at Springfield, 
Massachusetts, and soon afterward accepted 
his present position ; James, who is a civil en- 
gineer by profession ; Bessie, who remains at 
the parental home, was graduated in the New 
England Conservatory of Music, in the city 
of Boston, and is an accomplished musician ; 
and Helen, who received instruction in vocal 
music under an eminent private tutor in New 
York city, has Ijeen for a number of years, with 
her sister Bessie, engaged in the Presbyterian 
church in Minerva, having a voice of particu- 
larly fine timbre and fine cultivation. 



THOMAS J. TAYLOR.— The name of 
the Diebold Safe & Lock Company is a familiar 
one throughout the length and breadth of the 
Union, and its products are to be found not 
only in the most diverse sections of this coun- 
try but also in the majority of foreign lands, 
and through the magnificent enterprise of this 
concern the name of Canton has also been 
given still further celebrity, for here are lo- 
cated the great manufacturing works of this 
company. It is our privilege at this time to 
take briefly under review the career of the su- 
perintendent of this corporation's works, wliile 
he has been advanced to this office within but 
little more than a decade's association with the 
concern, which fact ofters the best evidence of 
h's ability and of the appreciative estimate 
placed upon the same and upon his services. 
Mr. Taylor arrived in Canton on the 4th of July, 
1890, and it is needless to say that the attrac- 
tions and diversions of the anniversary of our 
national independence were adequate to occupy 
his attention for that day, but within the same 
month he entered the employ of the company 
noted, in the capacity of draughtsman, being 
thus engaged for a period of three years, at 
the expiration of which he was promoted to 
the office of chief engineer, retaining this in- 
cumbency seven years, and then being shown 
a farther mark of appreciation, since at the 
annual meeting of the board of directors in 
January, 1901, he was chosen for his present 
responsible and exacting office of general su- 
perintendent, in whicli he has made a record 
creditable to himself and one that has inured 
to the benefit of the conipany in every way. 

Mr. Taylor is a native of merrie old Eng- 
land, having been born in the town of T\ladeley, 
Shropshire, on the 6th of July, 186.?, and there 
he was reared to man's estate, receiving his 
educational training in private institutions. 
Upon leaving scliool he secured a clerical posi- 
tion in the office of the freight and passenger 
department of the Great Western Railway, 



ii6o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



while later he took up the work of draughting, 
in which mechanic art he became an expert, 
devoting his attention to the same as a voca- 
tion consecutively until he was advanced from 
that department of w(;rk by the company with 
which he is at present employed. Mr. Taylor 
came to the United States in 1889, arriving in 
the city of New York in April of that year, 
and thereafter he visited various sections of 
the Union in search of a satisfactory location, 
and one in which he could put his abilties to 
the best use, and he finally en tour came to 
Canton as noted, while his subsequent career 
has been duly outlined in the preceding para- 
graph. In politics his views since coming to 
America are in harmony with the principles 
and policies advanced by the Republican party, 
while his religious faith is that of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal church, he holding membership 
in the First church in Canton. 

In this city on the 24tli of December, 1890, 
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Taylor to 
Miss Anna J. Williams, who was born at Made- 
ley, Shropshire, England, where she was reared, 
being a daughter of .Alfred Williams, who is 
now hving retired in this city, coming to Ameri- 
ca in 1888, and located in the city of Canton, he 
having been a cabinetmaker by vocation during 
the major portion of his active career. Mr. and 
Mrs. Taylor have five children, namely: Cyril. 
Dorothy Jerrine, Harold W., Ivatharine, and 
Raymond James. 

In conclusion we incorporate a brief record 
concerning the genealogy of the subject. His 
father, Charles Taylor, was a skilled metal 
worker in Shropshire, England, and he was of 
the fifth generation of the family to have been 
born in the town of Madeley, and there his 
death occurred in 1889, at tlie age of fifty-eight 
years. His father, wlio likewise bore the name 
of Charles, was an active participant during the 
entire Crimean war, as were also four of his 
brothers, one of whom later emigrated to the 
United States, where he passed the remainder 



of his life. The maiden name of the subject's 
mother was Ann Cooper, and she is still living, 
maintaining her home at Kidd's Grove, in 
south Staffordshire, England. Charles and Ann 
(Cooper) Taylor became the parents of ten 
children, of whom six are yet living, and of 
the number ihe subject and his younger brother, 
.Albert A., who is an artist by profession, re- 
siding in East Liverpool, Ohio, are the only 
representatives of the family in America. 
Charles, Martha, Eliza and Mary still remain 
in Eno-land. 



MRS. MARY A. COOK.— A business 
woman of marked ability, a resident of Can- 
ton from tlie time of her birth to the present 
time, and a representative of one of the hon- 
ored pioneer families of Stark county, it is but 
consistent that Mrs. Cook, widow of the late 
Augustus Cook, be accorded specific recogni- 
tion in this publication. 

Mrs. Mary A. (Robin) Cook was born in 
the family home, which was at the time the 
last house on North Cherry street in Canton, 
and was here reared to womanhood, having re- 
ceived her educational discipline in the paro- 
chial and public schools. Her father conducted 
a grocery on the site of the present City Na- 
tional Bank, and as a girl, when not attending 
school, she assisted him in the store, so that 
she has had exceptional training in the line of 
practical business, while her knowledge has 
been put to effective use, as will appear in this 
context. On the 4th of October, 1880, she 
was united in marriage to Augustus Cook, who 
was born in New York city, in 1844, and who 
became a resident of Canton about 1870, and 
here passed the remainder of his life, having 
been for eighteen years in the employ of J. O. 
Palmer, in the carpet business. After their 
marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cook took up their res- 
idence on North Market street, where they re- 
mained until 1898, when they removed to the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1161 



present home of Mrs. Cook, at 2105 North 
Cleveland avenue, where he died on the 29th 
of April, 1899. Ii^ politics he' was an uncom- 
promising Democrat, and his religious faith 
was that of the Catholic church. He was a 
communicant and worthy member of St. John's 
church, and was identified with the Catholic 
Mutual Benefit Association. Mr. Cook was a 
man of inflexible integrity and held the respect 
of all who knew him. Of the children of this 
union the following record is entered : Henry 
died in childhood; Dorothy J. is the wife of 
George M- Walters, of Canton, and Eva died 
in infancy. 

After her marriage Mrs. Cook engaged in 
"the hair-dressing business in Canton, at 419 
North Market street, and seven years later she 
expanded the scope of her successful enterprise 
by the addition of a stock of millinery, and the 
two departments have since been continued, 
while she has built up a most gratifying busi- 
ness, catering to a large and representative pat- 
ronage. She has been consecutively in busi- 
ness here for seventeen years, and was the first 
to engage in the hair-dressing business in the 
city, having acquired her knowledge of the art 
through the instruction of a traveling repre- 
sentative of the same. At the inception of her 
business Mrs. Cook showed her wisdom by ef- 
fectively advertising hen enterprise, and the re- 
sult was that within the first three weeks she 
had netted a very satisfactory profit. Later on 
she took a more complete course in the art of 
hair-dressing, and she is now thoroughly com- 
petent in the line, her establishment being one 
which would be a credit to a metropolitan 
community. After the death of her mother, 
in 18S0, Mrs. Cook purchased the old home 
farm, of forty-three acres, on North Cleveland 
avenue, and a portion of this she has since sold 
for building lots, still retaining twenty-six 
acres, on which is located her own attractive 
home. She has been a devoted communicant 



of St, John's Catholic church from her 
youth up. 

George Robin, father of Mrs, Cook, was 
born in the town of Hombour, in the province 
of Loraine, France, on the 23d of April, 1804, 
and there he was reared and educated, learning 
the trade of stone-cutting in his youth. There 
also was solemnized his marriage to Miss Anna 
Fultz, and there were born to them two sons, 
John and Jacob, John, who was a clerk in 
mercantile establishments in Canton and Mas- 
si lion in the early days, was a man of fine educa- 
tion, having completed his scholastic discipline 
in Europe, whither he returned for the pur- 
pose after the emigration of the family to 
America, and he was thoroughly conversant 
with seven different languages. When he 
started on his return to the United States he 
was accompanied by his paternal grandmother, 
but she died on the voyage and was buried at 
sea, being seventy-six years of age at the time. 
He was also in a critical condition while en 
route, having an abscess on his hip, but he 
finally reached his home, where his health con- 
firmed delicate for some time. He finally ac- 
cepted a position as bookkeeper in the store of 
Graham & Weaver in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania, and was incumbent of this position at 
the time of his death, in 1859. Jacob, the 
younger brother, who likewise was born in 
France, died in Canton, in 1864, having here 
been united in marriage to Louisa Furnace. 

About 1839 George Robin, in company 
with his wife and the two sons mentioned, em- 
igrated from France to the United States and 
took up their abode in Stark county, the voyage 
being of more than fifty days' duration. They 
sailed from Havre, France, and landed in New 
\'ork city, thence proceeding by rail to Buffalo, 
by steamboat on Lake Erie to Cleveland, thence 
by canal to Massillon and overland to Canton. 
Mr, Robin established his home on Plum street, 
between Third and Fourth streets, in a small 



Il62 



OLD LANDMARKS 



brick house. He afterward secured a house on 
North Cherry street, paying for the same by 
contract work for the original owner, and there 
the family resided until 1852. In 1850, in 
company with a party of Canton men, Mr. 
Robin started for California, where the gold 
excitement was then at its height. He left his 
wife with three small children, and she pro- 
tested greatly against his departure, and after 
reaching Wellsville, Ohio, he turned back and 
rejoined his family. Later in the same year, 
however, he accompanied another party on the 
long and weary overland trip to the Pacific 
coast. While en route across the plains they 
were attacked by the Indians, and the greater 
number of the party were killed. Mr. Robin 
escaped and pushed forward, finally reaching 
his destination, having endured manifold hard- 
ships and dangers. He remained in California 
two years, and was ill during the greater por- 
tion of the time, though for several months he 
was able to actively search for gold, being mod- 
erately successful in his efforts. He started for 
home by way of the isthmus route, and while 
on shipboard was attacked with scurvy, from 
which he partially recovered before reaching 
his home. The products of his labors in the 
gold fields he invested in the property where 
the City National Bank now stands, and there 
he engnged in the grocery business. Later he 
sold this property to Christian Oberly and re- 
tired from business, removing to a home at 
what are now Nos. 417-419 Market street. He 
then bought the forty-three-acre farm, on 
North Cleveland avenue, which his daughter, 
Mrs. Cook, subsequently purchased, as has al- 
ready been noted, and he also became the owner 
of twelve acres on the west side of the city, 
a portion of which he platted into city lots, of 
which he disposed for building purposes. He 
died at his home, 417 North Market street, on 
the 2 1 St of January, 1870, at the age of sixty- 
six years, and his loved and devoted wife 
passed away January 22, 1880, at the age of 



seventy-three years, both having been devoted 
members of St. John's Catholic church, while 
the father was a Democrat in politics. They 
became the parents of four children, mention 
having already been made of the two sons, and 
the others were Mrs. Cook, subject of this re- 
view, and Margaret, who is the wife of Con- 
rad Appel, of Colorado. Mrs. Cook has a wide 
circle of friends in her native city, and is 
known as a woman of gracious presence and 
marked refinement. 



ALPHEUS BALTZLY was born on the 
parental homestead farm in Tuscarawas 
county, Ohio, on the 25th day of August, 
1850, being a son of John and Lydia (Mil- 
ler) Baltzly, both of whom were likewise 
born in Tuscarawas county. John Baltzly is 
a son of John and Elizabeth (Baker) Baltzly, 
who were born in Pennsylvania, whence they 
emigrated to Ohio in an early day and became 
numbered among the pioneers of Tuscarawas 
county, their home farm being in the immediate 
vicinity of the present village of New Phila- 
delphia, where they passed the remainder of 
their lives, having had a family of two sons 
and seven daughters, of whom one of the sons 
and one of the daughters are still living. The 
maternal grandparents of the subject of this 
sketch were Zachariah and Gertrude (Hostet- 
ter) Miller, both of whom were natives of the 
old Keystone state of Pennsylvania, whence 
they came to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in com- 
pany with their respective parents. The former 
was a son of Henry and Barbara (Seese) Mil- 
ler, natives of Pennsylvania, who passed the 
closing years of their lives in Tuscarawas coun- 
ty. Gertrude (Hostetter) Miller was a daugh- 
ter of Joseph and Susan (Seaver) Hostetter, 
both of whom died in Tuscarawas county, 
whither they came from Pennsylvania, as has 
already been noted. 

In 1856 John Baltzly, the father of the sub- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1163 



ject, removed from Tuscarawas county to 
Stark county, and located on the farm now 
owned by the former, and here he continued to 
be engaged in agricultural pursuits until, with 
advancing years, he finally retired from active 
labor, passing the evening of his life in Beach 
City, where he died on the 5th of May, 1889, 
at the age of sixty-eight years, his widow still 
maintaining her home there and being .now 
seventy-one years of age. Of their nine chil- 
dren only three are now living. The father was 
a stanch Republican in his political proclivities, 
and was called upon to serve in the office of 
township trustee, while he also was an efficient 
member of the school board for many years. 
He became the owner of two hundred and fifty- 
six acres of land in this township', and was one 
of the influential and honored citizens of the 
community. He held membership in the Lutli- 
eran church, as does also his widow. 

Alpheus Baltzly, whose name introduces 
this sketch, was reared on the homestead farm, 
and secured a common-school education, and 
he eventually became the owner of two hundred 
and twenty-one acres of the old homestead 
farm, where he has ever, since continued to 
be actively engaged in diversified agricultural 
pursuits and in the raising of a fine grade of 
live stock, having one of the best improved 
and most prolific rural estates in this section, 
and being known as an energetic and far- 
sighted business man, and as one whose word is 
as good as any bond ever issued. He is a stanch 
advocate of the principles and policies of the 
Republican party, but has never sought political 
preferment. He has, however, given most ef- 
fective service as a member of the school board, 
and has also been trustee of his district, whicli 
was specially organized. Mr. Baltzly has been 
twice married. In 1871 he was united to Miss 
Annie Casebeer, who was born in Tuscarawas 
county, being a daughter of James Casebeer, 
and of this marriage two children were born, 
Florence and .A.nnie. Mrs. Baltzlv was sum- 



moned into eternal rest in 1879 and on the 
25th of November, 1880, the subject wedded 
Miss Maggie Suter, who was bom in West- 
moreland county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of 
Henry and Catherine Suter, and this union has 
been blessed by six children, namely : Harry, 
John, Walter, Milton, Helen and Esther, the 
last named being deceased. Mr. and Mrs. 
Baltzly are consistent and valued members of 
the United Brethren church. 



WILLIAM E. YOUNG is of Scotch ex- 
traction in the agnatic line, his grandfather, 
John Young, having been a native of the land 
of hills and heather, whence he emigrated to 
the United States when a young man, locating 
in Pennsylvania, where he passed the remainder 
of his life. In Allegheny county, that state, 
was born William Hall Young, father of him 
whose name initiates this paragraph, and there 
he was reared and educated, devoting his active 
life to the machinist business, and being a man 
of sterling character. He died in his native 
coTinty in 1892, at the age of seventy-six years. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Jane Ann 
Peters, was of French and German ancestry, 
and she likewise died in Allegheny county, in 
1886, at the age of seventy-one years. They 
became the parents of five children, of whom 
four are living at the present time, the subject 
having been the fifth in order of birth. He is 
a cousin of Major General Samuel B. M. 
Young, of the United States army, the latter's 
father, John, having been a brother of William 
H., father of the subject. 

William E. Young v.as born in Allegheny 
City, Pennsylvania, on the 12th of January, 
1S54, the old homestead in which he first saw 
the light of day having long been in the pos- 
session of the family. His early educational 
discipline was received in the old-time town- 
ship school, and he states that he v.-as there 
"graduated" at the age of sixteen years, and' 



1 164 



OLD LANDMARKS 



that the term quoted was one unknown in such 
institutions at that time. Upon leaving school 
he enterec! upon an apprenticeship at the black- 
smith trade in the city of Pittsburg, serving 
four and one-half years, and becoming a skilled 
artisan in the line. Thereafter he was for three 
years an apprentice marine engineer on the 
Mississippi river, rising to the position of chief 
engineer on packet boats, and he continued 
to follow this vocation about eight years, at 
the expiration of which he was placed in charge 
of the forging department of the steel works 
of Hussey, Wells & Company, of Pittsburg, 
retaining this incumbency for five years, and 
then continuing with the concern for an addi- 
tional six years as master mechanic of the en- 
tire plant, which is an extensive one. In 1889 
he came to Canton as master mechanic with the ' 
Canton Steel Company, and three years later 
he Avas promoted to the office of assistant su- 
perintendent, while in 1900 there came still \ 
farther recognition of his ability and effective j 
service in his being chosen to his present office 
oi superintendent. He has a thorough knowl- ! 
edge of all details of the manufacturing and 
keeps a constant supervison of the same, and 
while he maintains a strict discipline his man- 
agement is such as to retain to him the confi- 
dence and good will of the minor employes as 
well as of the officials of the company. In ' 
politics Mr. Yotmg is a stanch advocate of 
the principles and policies of the Democratic 
party, and he has taken an active and com- 
mendable interest in public affairs of a local 
nature, while he has been called upon to serve 
in various offices of trust. He represented 
the fourth ward in the city council for four 
years, was for an equal period a member of 
the board of education, and three vears served 1 
as a member of the board of health, being well 
known and distinctively popular in his home ; 
city, and being here recognized as a straight- 
forward and capable business man. He and 
his family attend the First Baptist church. ! 



In Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, on the 21st of 
May, 1878, Mr. Young was united in marriage 
to Miss Catherine M. E. Young, the two fam- 
ilies being not related though of the same name. 
She was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsyl- 
vania, being a daughter of Lieutenant Samuel 
Breck Young, who was born in the state of 
Vermont, where the family was established, 
prior to the war of the Revolution, representa- 
tives of the same having served with distinction 
as soldiers of the Continental line. Lieutenant 
Young was an officer in the war of the Re- 
bellion, and his wife, whose maiden name was 
Emeline Swope, was a niece of Bucher Swope, 
a distinguished citizen of Pennsylvania, and 
prosecuting attorney for the eastern district of 
that state. Mr. and Mrs. Young have six chil- 
dren, namely : Paul, who is engaged as a 
steel roller in the Canton Steel Company's 
plant, in Canton, married Miss Ida Rose; and 
Emily J., Donald B., John B., Ruth A. and 
James H. remain at the parental home. 



HOMER F. COOPER was born on the pa- 
rental homestead, in the immediate vicinity of 
the town of Knoxville, Jefferson county, Ohio, 
on the 25th day of July, 1863, being a son of 
Henry F. and Sophia (Ekey) Cooper, to whom 
were born four children, all of whom are living 
except Ophilon V.,who died at the age of thirty- 
one years. The tliree surviving are as follows : 
J. Howard, who owns the old homestead farm 
in Jefferson county ; Elizabeth, who is the wife 
of John Moore, of Bergholz, that county ; and 
Homer F., the immediate sul^ject of this sketch. 
Henry F. Cooper was likewise a native of Jef- 
ferson county, this state, having been born in 
the village of Knoxville, m the year 1829, and 
being a son of John Cooper, who was of Scotch 
lineage, and who was numbered among the 
early settlers of jeft'erson county. The father 
of our subject was reared on the homestead 
farm, received such educational advantages as 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 165. 



were afforded in the district schools of the lo- 
cality and period, and after his marriage he 
purchased the old homestead, which comprised 
one hundred and eighty-five acres, where the 
subject of this sketch was born. There he 
continued to reside until the hour of his death. 
In politics he was a stanch supporter of the 
Republican party from the time of its organiza- 
tion, and for a number of years he efficiently 
filled the office of justice of the peace, being 
one of the influential citizens of the community. 
He was a signally devoted and consistent mem- 
ber of the Methodist Plpiscopal church, in which 
he held the office of class leader for many years. 
Sophia (Ekey) Cooper, the mother of the sub- 
ject, was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, near 
the town of Richmond, in the year 1830, being 
a daughter of Ezekiel Ekey, who was of Irish 
descent. After the death of her husband the 
mother bravely assumed the responsibility of 
rearing her children and assuming the manage- 
ment of the home farm until such time as her 
sons were able to lift this burden from her 
shoulders. She was summoned into eternal 
rest in 1888, loved by all who knew her and se- 
cure in that deep Christian faith which bright- 
ened and glorified her beautiful life: she was a 
devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

Homer F. Cooper, the immediate subject of 
this review, was reared to maturity on the 
homestead farm and received a good common 
school education, while he and his brother 
early assumed much of the responsibihty of 
managing and carrying on the work of the 
home farm. After the marriage of their two 
sisters the brothers purchased the former's in- 
terests in the farm, and later, when his brother 
wished to remove to the west, the subject pur- 
chased also his interest in the estate and thus 
assumed full control of the farm. After his 
mother's death ]\Ir. Cooper, being unmarried 
and somewhat in debt, sold the home to his 
brother, who had in the meanwhile returned 



from the west, and he then took up his residence 
in the village of Kensington, Columbiana coun- 
ty, where he engaged in the general merchan- 
dise business, in which he there continued until 
1893, when he sold the business to his brother- 
in-law, John Moore, and then removed to the 
city of Canton, Stark county, where he en- 
gaged in the wholesale retail coal business, of 
which he disposed in the spring of 1900, and 
then engaged in the tea and coffee business in 
the same city, gradually merging the enterprise 
into a general grocery business, which he suc- 
cessfully conducted until the 1st of October, 
1 90 1, when he closed out the same and took 
up his residence on his present fine farm, a 
portion of which was inherited by his wife, 
while he purchased the remainder from Mrs. 
Painter, his mother-in-law, then recently wid- 
owed. The farm constitutes one of the finest 
landed estates in the county, being under most 
effective cultivation and having the best of 
buildings, including a commodious and attract- 
ive brick residence, while the area of his hold- 
ings is over six hundred acres, the same being 
eligibly located in Sandy township. In poli- 
tics Mr. Cooper has ever given a stanch alle- 
giance to the Republican party, in whose cause 
he has taken an active interest. During the 
last campaign of the lamented President Mc- 
Kinley the subject was a member of the famous 
Canton Troop, whose duty was to meet the 
various delegations and escort them to the resi- 
dence of the President in Canton. Since 1889 
Mr. Cooper has been a njember of the Presby- 
terian church, and while residing in Canton 
he ser\'ed as trustee and treasurer of the church. 
Fraternally he is identified with Sandy Valley 
Lodge No. 725, Knights of Pythias. He is 
progressive and energetic in his farming opera- 
tions, as has he been in all fines of enterprise 
with which he has been identified, and he holds 
the unequivocal confidence and esteem of the 
people of the community. 

On the 25th of July, 1889, Mr. Cooper was. 



ii66 



OLD LANDMARKS 



united in marriage to Miss Violet E. Painter, 
the only child of the late Jacob W. Painter, 
who was one of the most honored and influen- 
tial citizens of Sandy township, and of whom 
individual mention is made in following para- 
graphs. Mrs. Cooper is likewise a devoted 
member of the Presb\'terian church and is a 
lady of gracious presence and distinctive re- 
finement. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper have no chil- 
dren. 

Jacob W. Painter, the father of Mrs. Coop- 
er, was born in Pike township. Stark county, 
Ohio, on the loth of Islovember, 1829, being of 
stanch German lineage, his great-grandfather 
having emigrated from the fatherland to Penn- 
sylvania in an early day, being accompanied 
by two of his brothers, one of whom located in 
New England and the other in Pennsylvania, 
while the name now has representatives in the 
most diverse sections of the Union. Jacob 
Painter, grandfather of Jacob W., was a man 
of influence in Pennsylvania, where he was en- 
gaged in farming, and where he also operated 
a gristmill, while he also served as jvidge of 
the court of common pleas and was several 
times a representative in the state legislature. 
He was a Whig in politics and was a member 
of the Lutheran church. Jacob W. Painter 
was a son of Joseph and Sarah A. (Wynn) 
Painter, both of whom were born in Pennsyl- 
vania, whence they came to Stark county, the 
father having located in Sandy township as 
a pioneer of the year 1829, and here Jacob W. 
was reared under the conditions naturally im- 
plied, while he made such use of the educational 
advantages afiforded him that he became eligi- 
ble for pedagogic work, being a successful 
teacher in the district schools of this and Car- 
roll county, while later he taught in Illinois. 
After his marriage he purchased a portion of 
the present homestead farm, and in addition to 
becoming one of the most successful farmers 
of this section he also operated the coal mines 
on his farm, from which enterprise he secured 



large returns, becoming one of the wealthy and 
influential men of the county. He was a promi- 
nent member of the Christian church, and in 
politics he supported the Republican party, of 
whose principles and policies he was a stanch 
advocate, though he never sought oflicial pre- 
ferment, the only position of the sort of which 
he was ever incumbent having been that of land 
appraiser, to which office he was elected in 
1870. He was an appreciative and valued 
member of the Masonic fraternity, and in all 
the relations of life was true to the highest 
principles. He met his death as the result of 
a pitiable accident, being killed by a train at 
the Waynesburg crossing of the Pennsylvania 
Railroad, on the 22d of August, 1901, while 
the entire community felt the loss as a personal 
one, and to those nearest and dearest to him. 
the blow came with crushing force, for to them 
had been shown the tenderest side of his strong 
and ideal nature. 

On the 24th of December, 1861, Mr. Paint- 
er was united in marriage to Miss Nancy A. 
Miller, who was born in Tuscarawas county, 
Ohio, and who became the mother of two chil- 
dren, Joseph, who died April 10, 1865, and 
Violet, who is the wife of the subject of this 
review. Mrs. Painter died on the loth of De- 
cember, 1865, and in 1867 Mr. Painter mar- 
ried Miss Susan Leyda, who died October i, 
1898. 



JOHN R. ELSON was born in the village 
of Magnolia, which lies on either side of the 
line between Stark and Carroll counties, the 
date of his nativity having been April 3, 1865. 
He has been practically identified with the mill- 
ing business from his boyhood days until the 
present, since at an early age he began to assist 
in various lines of Avork about his father's 
mills during the summer months, while during 
the wiinter seasons he prosecuted his studies in 
die public schools of his native place, eventually 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 167 



equipping himself more fully for the active re- 
sponsibilities of life by completing a course of 
study in the commercial department of that 
well known institution, Oberlin College, at 
Oberlin, Ohio. He left college at the age of 
eighteen years, and since that time his entire 
attention has been given to the work of the 
fine milling plant in which he is now interested 
as a stockholder in the operating company. 
About the year 1890 he and his elder brother, 
Richard R., began to receive a percentage of the 
profits of the business, having proved them- 
selves worthy of this kindly consideration on 
the part of their father, and in 1900 the enter- 
prise was duly incorporated as a stock com- 
pany, under tlie title mentioned above, the 
stock being held entirely in the hands of the 
family, and our subject being chosen as head 
miller under the provisons of the re-organiza- 
tion. Of this position he lias since remained 
incumbent, and his thorougli knowledge of the 
practical details and all mechanical accessories 
utilized make him especially well fitted for the 
important charge, and it may be said that no 
portion of the Avork of operation escapes his 
careful supervision and scrutiny, so that the 
high reputation of the mills is not permitted to 
suffer in the least, but their prestige is being 
advanced through the co-operation and har- 
monious management of the interested princi- 
pals of the company. Mr. Elson, like his father 
and brothers, is a stanch advocate of the cause 
of the Republican party, and his interest in 
public affairs of a local nature has been insistent 
and helpful. He has served several terms as a 
member of the village council of Magnolia, and 
for nine years has been incumbent of the office 
of treasurer of the school board of the town. 
He is one of the prominent and capable young 
business men of the county, and is well deserv- 
ing of tlie success which is his, for it has not 
been acquired without forceful effort, each of 
his father's sons having early learned to honor 
honest toil, in whatever sphere of action. Our 



subject and his wife are members of the English 
Lutheran church and are liberal in its support, 
both through influence and tangible aid. 

On the 24th of April, 1S89, Mr. Elson was 
united in marriage to Miss Margaret E. Skeels. 
who was born in Carroll county, being the 
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Lotz) Skeels, 
residents of Canton, Stark county, where Mr. 
Skeels is a prominent contractor. Mrs. Skeels 
died in 1S87, and Mr. Skeels afterward mar- 
ried Mrs. Lena Getchell. Mr. and Mrs. Elson 
have had three interesting children, Alwilda R., 
died in January, 1896; A. Catherine and Fred- 
rika E., who lend brightness and cheer to the 
family circle, the home of the subject being one 
of the finest and most attractive modern resi- 
dences in Magnolia, and having been erected by 
him in 1898. 



HENRY BOWMAN was born on - his 
present farm, in Sandy township, on the 5th 
of February, 1840, being a son of John and 
Lydia (Whitmer) Bowman, the former of 
whom was a native of Pennsylvania, where he 
was born in the year 1802, and when he was 
seven years of age his parents removed thence 
to Stark county, Ohio, being numbered among 
the earliest settlers of Pike township, where he 
was reared to maturity under the pioneer condi- 
tions and environments, the family home be- 
ing a primitive log cabin, while educational ad- 
vantages were notable for their absence rather 
than anything else, but he was endowed with 
an alert mentality and made the best use of 
the opportunities afforded in the little log 
.school house, which he attended at varied inter- 
vals. As a youth he was for a time engaged 
as fireman on an Ohio river steamboat, and 
after his marriage he purchased the farm now 
owned by the subject of this review, in sec- 
tion 20, Sandy township, erecting a log cabin 
and forthAvith instituting the work of reclaim- 
ing the heavily timbered land to the uses of 



Ii63 



OLD LANDMARKS 



cultivation. He was a man of marked 
energy and industry, and endowed with 
excellent business acumen, so that he 
was not denied a due measure of suc- 
cess as the result of his efforts, and he lived to 
see the development of the county from almost 
a veritable wilderness to a populous and pros- 
perous division of a great state, while his own 
farm was so improved under his direction as 
to become one of the best in the county. He 
resided on this homestead until his death, in 
1886, being cared for with true filial solicitude 
during his declining days by his son, Henry, 
subject of this review, who had become the 
owner of the home place. He and his wife 
were both devoted members of the I-utheran 
church. The latter was born in Bethlehem 
township, Stark county, and her death occurred 
in 1879, at which time she was seventy-seven 
years of age. She was a daughter of Ben- 
jamin Whitmer, who was numbered among the 
first settlers in Bethlehem township, where he 
reclaimed a good farm and became one of the 
influential men of the community, and where 
he died at an advanced age. John and Lydia 
(Whitmer) Bowman became the parents of 
eight children, namely : Mary, John and Sam- 
uel, who are now deceased; Henry, the sub- 
ject of this review ; Hannah, who is the wife 
of Riley Newhouse; Eli, who is a representa- 
tive farmer of Sandy township ; and Lydia, 
who died young. Sarah was the wife of VVm. 
Bonbrak, who died in Indiana; John died in 
California; and Samuel, who was a soldier in 
the Fifty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry during 
the Civil war, was taken prisoner at the bat- 
tle of Chickamauga and died in Andersonville 
prison. 

Henry Bowman, to whom this sketch is 
dedicated, was reared on the farm which is 
now his home, and he early began to lend 
effective aid in its reclamation and cultivation, 
his services in this line being in such demand 
that his educational training as a boy was cut 



down to the minimum, the longest period dur- 
ing wliich he attended school in any one year 
being thirty -three days, while the early "insti- 
tution of learning" which was accessible to 
him was the log school house with its primitive 
equipment of puncheon floor, slab benches, etc. 
He continued to assist in the work of the farm 
until there came the clarion call to arms, when 
the Union was attacked by the southern Con- 
federacy, whose guns thundered against the 
walls of old Fort Sumter. Mr. Bowman mani- 
fested the loyalty and patriotism of a true son 
of the republic, and on the 12th of October, 
1861, at the age of twenty-one years, he enlisted 
as a private in Company K, Fifty-first Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, being mustered in at Camp 
Meigs. This regiment was commanded by Col- 
onel Stanley Matthews, who later became the 
distinguished chief justice of the supreme 
court of the United States, while Charles Mul- 
ler was captain of Company K. The regiment 
was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland, 
and participated in many of the most memorable 
engagements of the great conflict. From Camp 
]\Ieigs the command proceeded into Kentucky, 
where they did much skirmishing, thence going 
to Nashville, and later into the Cumberland 
mountains, whence they followed General 
Bragg through Tennessee and Kentucky to 
Louisville, where several skirmishes occurred. 
They continued in pursuit of Bragg and fought 
at Cedar Plains and Perryville, Kentucky, and 
later returned to Nashville, where they re- 
mained until December, 1862, when they were 
sent to Stone River, taking part in the spirited 
engagement at that point, Mr. Bowman being 
there injured by the explosion of a shell, but 
was not long incapacitated for duty, as is evi- 
dent when we re-\'ert to the tact that he was 
in action in the important battles of Chicka- 
mauga, Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and 
Missionary Ridge. The regiment went into 
winter quarters at Shell Mound, and in the 
spring of 1864 again went forth to do valiant 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 1 69 



service in some oi the most hotly contested 
battles which marked the further progress of 
the war. The hst of the more important bat- 
tles in which Mr. Bowman thus participated 
included the following : Tunnel Hill, Ringgold, 
Resaca, Rocky Face Ridge, Buzzards' Roost, 
Kenesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, Pine-top 
Mountain, Atlanta and Jonesboro, having been 
in front of Atlanta when General McPherson 
was killed. Later, while en route to Athens, 
Alabama, their train was wrecked and Mr. 
Bowman was thrown violently to the ground, 
and was seriously injured in the back, being 
incapacitated for active duty of any sort for 
some months. He was never wounded in n 
technical sense during all his long and arduous 
term of service, though he was badly lacerated 
by the explosion of the shell at Stone River, 
as before noted. Mr. Bowman received his 
honorable discharge at Pulaski, Tennessee, on 
the 17th of November, 1864, and his military 
record is one which will ever redound to his 
honor as a patriot and a bra^■e and loyal soldier. 
Soon after his discharge the subject re- 
turned home, and as his parents were well ad- 
vanced in years he assumed charge of the 
home farm, to whose improvement and culti- 
vation he has ever since devoted his attention. 
In 1880 he purchased the property from his 
father, and the following summer he erected 
his present commodious and substantial barn, 
while his large and attractive residence was 
erected in 1886. The other permanent im- 
provements are of the best order, and his place 
may well be considered one of the model farms 
of the county, the same comprising one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of fertile and productive 
land, in connection with whose effective culti- 
vation Mr. Bowman devoted no little attention 
to the raising of high grade live stock, includ- 
ing horses, of which he had at all times fine 
specimens, taking pride in keeping everything 
about the farm in the best possible order. On 

the 1st of April, 1903, the subject retired from 
73 



the active conduct of the farm and moved to 
Magnolia. He is a stockholder in the Mag- 
nolia Mercantile Company, m the village of that 
name, and is a member of its directorate. In 
politics he gives an unwavering allegiance to 
the Republican party, and he and his wife are 
zealous members of the United Brethren church. 
Fraternally he is one of the popular and hon- 
ored comrades of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, holding membership in Sandy Valley 
Post No. 433, of which he is past commander. 
On the 24th of December, 1869, Mr. Bow- 
man was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth. 
Farber, who was born just across the line in 
Rose township, Carroll county, being a daugh- 
ter of the late Peter Farber, who was one of 
the honored pioneers of that township. Mr. 
and Mrs. Bowman are the parents of five chil- 
dren, namely : John F., who is engaged in the 
general merchandise business in Magnolia, as 
a member of the Magnolia Mercantile Com- 
pany; Ann, who is the wife of Dr. Benjamin 
F. Richard, of Richards, Pike township; Frank 
P., who is associated with his father in operat- 
ing the homestead farm ; Margaret M., who re- 
sides in the village of Magnolia; and Mary A.,, 
who remains at the parental home. 



HENRY H. CHAMBERLAIN, M. D., 
is descended from New England ancestry on 
the paternal side, but in what state the family 
originally settled is now a matter of doubt. 
The Chamberlains are of Quaker origin, and 
for many years the name was prominent in the 
history of that religious body. George Cham- 
berlain, the grandfather, was born in one of 
the eastern states, but in an early day moved 
to Columbiana county, Ohio, where he lived 
the life of an honest, industrious tiller of the 
soil until called to the other world. His son, 
John Chamberlain, was born in Liverpool town- 
ship, Columbiana county, in September, 1835, 
and w-as also a farmer by occupation. He mar- 



II70 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ried, in his native county. Miss Mary Etta 
Dixon, whose father, Joseph Dixon, was a 
prominent member of the Society of Friends, 
as were his ancestors for several generations 
before him. Mr. Dixon was one of the leading 
citizens of his community, whom to know was 
to honor and respect. The pathetic incident is 
related of him, that when an old man of eighty 
he was stricken with paralysis, which resulted 
in the absolute impairment of his power of 
speech. Having a presentiment of his approach- 
ing death, and knowing of no other way to 
impart the knowledge to his family, he worked 
the chair in which he was sitting close to the 
grate, and taking the fire shovel, formed the 
ashes on the hearth into the shape of a grave. 
His departure followed soon after this silent 
prophecy, and he was attended to the grave 
by a large concourse of relatives and friends, 
to whom he left as a heritage a name which is 
still held in deep veneration. His wife was a 
Miss Lydia Richardson, daughter of Joseph 
Richardson, to whom a reference is made in 
the sketch of Dr. Orter on another page of this 
work. 

After his marriage John Chamberlain en- 
gaged in the pursuit of agriculture in the county 
of Columbiana, and continued to live and pros- 
per there until his death, in the year 1890. He 
was a man of sterling integrity and genuine 
worth, and had a kind word for everybody with 
whom he came in contact. An earnest Chris- 
tian, he exemplified his faith by a life void of 
offense to God and man, and as a Republican 
upheld the principles of his party with the same 
earnestness of purpose as he conducted his 
religious and secular interests. Mrs. Cham- 
berlain is still living, and so well preserved are 
her bodily powers that she is frequently taken 
for a much younger woman than slie really is. 
To tliis excellent couple seven children were 
born, namely: Henry H., whose name heads 
this article; Elmer Elsworth, of Pittsburg. 
Pennsylvania; Willis W., residing in East 



Liverpool, Ohio; Clara died at the age of six 
years; Leroy died in infancy; Lydia is now 
Mrs. John Betz; and Ira, who lives with his 
mother at the old home in tlie county of Co- 
lumbiana. 

Dr. Henry A. Chamberlain was born Aug- 
ust 22, i860, in East Liverpool, Ohio, and 
spent the years of his childiiood and youth on 
the old homestead. His was a studious na- 
ture, and from the tinie of entering the district 
schools until the age of sixteen he made rapid 
progress in his studies, meanwhile supplement- 
ing the knowledge thus acquired by reading 
all books and papers that came to his hands. 
In his sixteenth year he was sufficiently ad- 
vanced to secure a teacher's license, and from 
that time until twenty-two he devoted the win- 
ter seasons to educational work in his native 
county. Deciding to devote his life to the call- 
ing in which so many of the world's great men 
have attained distinction, the medical profes- 
sion, he at once formulated plans for preparing 
himself for his life work. Entering the Eclectic 
INIedical Institute at Cincinnati, Ohio, he ap- 
plied himself diligently to study and research 
until his graduation in 1884, after which he 
began the practice at Paris, Ohio, where his 
abilities soon won him recognition as a capable 
physician and surgeon. In due time he suc- 
ceeded in building up a large and substantial 
business, which continued unabated during the 
eight years he remained at the above place. 

Leaving Paris, Dr. Chamberlain went to 
Venango county, Pennsylvania, but not being 
especially pleased with the outlook there, with- 
drew at the end of one year and moved to 
the larger and much more promising field of 
eastern Ohio, selecting Canton as the place of 
his future course of action. Since locating 
in this city he has rapidly come to the front as 
a representative of his particular school, and 
now has a large practice, which is as success- 
ful financially as it is professionally. He main- 
tains an abiding interest in and familiarity with 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 171 



the advances made in the sciences of medicine 
and surgery, and his professional attainments, 
of a high order from the beginning, are con- 
stantly being enlarged by close study and pains- 
taking original research. He is a member of 
the Eclectic Medical Institute of Ohio, and 
avails himself of every opportunity this organi- 
zation affords in the way of widening his scope 
of usefulness as a healer of diseases. 

In his political adherency the Doctor is a 
stalwart Republican, casting his first vote for 
William AIcKinley for congress, and Jater sup- 
porting that distinguished statesman for gov- 
ernor, and twice for the presidency. His relig- 
ious views are in harmony with the Calvinistic 
creed, and for some years he has been an active 
member of the Presbyterian church, at the 
present time affiliating with the First church 
of that denomination in the city of Canton. 

Dr. Chamberlain was married at East Liv- 
erpool, Ohio, in the year 1885 to Miss Laura 
W. Smith, daughter of W. S. Smith, of Co- 
lumbiana county, a union blessed with one son, 
Wilson S., a fine youth of fifteen years. The 
Doctor and his estimable wife are devoted 
church workers, to which interest they contrib- 
ute liberally both in a tangible way and in the 
matter of vigorous inlluence. They are also 
popular in the best society circles of the city, 
and enjoy the esteem of all with whom they 
mingle, socially and otherwise. 



ALBERT A. OLDHAM.— He to whom 
this brief sketch is dedicated occupies the re- 
sponsible executive position of secretary and 
treasurer of the Bonnot Manufacturing Com- 
pany, a representative industrial concern of the 
city of Canton, being also a stockholder of the 
corporation and a member of its directorate, 
and he is recognized as one of the able young 
business men of the city, having t!ie jirogressive 
spirit so characteristic of the age. Since a de- 
tailed description of the enterprise with which 



he is thus prominently identilied is given in the 
review of the life of the president of the com- 
pany on other pages of this volume, it will not 
be required that the resume be repeated at this 
point, so we may proceed at once to a considera- 
tion of the more salient points in the career of 
Mr. Oldham. 

Albert A. Oldham is a native son of the 
Buckeye state, having been born in the village 
of Parma, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, on the 24th 
of July, 1869, and being a son of Albert PL 
and Josephine (Hodgman) Oldham, the for- 
mer of whom was born near the city of Mon- 
treal, Canada, being of English ancestry, while 
the year of his nativity was 1843. I^^ ^''^s 
followed the vocation of locomotive engineer 
during his active career, and it at the present 
time thus employed on a railroad, maintaining 
his home in Canton. His wife, whose ances- 
tors and parents were of the Younker sect in 
their religious faith, was born in the old PTodg- 
nian homestead af Parma, this state. Of this 
union were born five children, of whom all are 
living at the present time. It may be said that 
the first representative of the Oldham family 
in America was the great-grandfather of our 
subject, who emigrated from England to the 
dominion of Canada in an early day, and there 
passed the residue of his life. 

Albert A. (Oldham was reared to the age of 
six years in his native village, and his parents 
then removed to Akron, this state, where he 
attended the public schools until 1881, when the 
family came to Canton, and here he completed 
a course in the high school, being graduated 
as a member of the class of 1S86. After leav- 
in sch.ool he entered tine em]iloy of the Peerless 
Reaper Company, in the capacity of bookkeeper, 
remaining with this concern until its business 
was suspended, in 1891. Pie then entered the 
employ of the Bonnot Manufacturing Com- 
pany, and about the year 1899 he was promoted 
from the position of bookkeeper to that of as- 
sistant secretary and treasurer, while in the fol- 



1 172 



OLD LANDMARKS 



lowing years he was made the chief incumbent 
of this office, in which capacity he has since 
continued to render most effective service. In 
pohtics Mr. Oldham is a stanch supporter of 
the Repubhcan party, and its principles, and 
both he and his wife are zealous and valued 
members of the United Bretlirai church, and 
he is at the present time superintendent of the 
primary department of its Sunday school. 

On the 6th of April, 1892, Mr. Oldham was 
united in marriage to Miss Ella G. Singer, 
daughter of Christian and Elizabeth (Kinsch) 
Singer, of Canton, w'hexe she was reared and 
educated, and they have one son, La:urence E. 



WILLIAM R. KURIZ is one of the lead- 
ing and prominent citizens of Minen'a, Stark 
coimty, Ohio, not only from the fact of his 
long residence there, but also from the exer- 
cise of those qualities which inevitably gain for 
any man the respect and esteem of his asso- 
ciates. He is a native son of the Buckeye 
state, having been born in Columbiana county 
on the 9th of November, 1866, the son of Will- 
iam and Sarah (Elliott) Kurtz. WiUiam 
Kurtz was also a resident of Columbiana coun- 
ty, Avhere he was reared and obtained his edu- 
cation. He was early initiated into the mys- 
teries of agriculture and followed that calling 
until 1893, when he left the farm and removed 
to Minerva, where he has since lived in retire- 
ment, enjoying the ease and comfort which he 
has so richly earned by his previous years of 
toil. A man of decided religious convictions, 
he is a faithful and consistent member of the 
IMethodist Episcopal church, and while a stanch 
Republican in politics, he has never been an 
officeseeker, preferring to devote his time and 
energy to the honorable pursuit of agriculture 
rather than to the duties and emoluments of 
public office. Mrs. Kurtz passed into the silent 
world in 1890. To these parents were bom 
the following named children, six of whom still 



survive: John E., a jeweler residing in Mi- 
nerva; Frank D., at home; Jesse N., who is 
associated in business with tlie subject ; Rose E. 
and Laura L., at home; William R., the sub- 
ject, and Charles W., deceased. 

W'illiam R. Kurtz was reared under the 
parental roof, and acquired his education in the 
common schools of the neighborhood, supple- 
menting this by attendance at the high school 
of Minerva. At the age of twenty years he 
formed a partnership with VV. J. Yengling in 
the dry-goods business at Minen'a. After con- 
tinuing in this line for two years he disposed 
of his interests and went to Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he accepted a position with Jos- 
eph Home & Company in the retail dry goods • 
business. Mr. Kurtz spent ten years in a cleri- 
cal capacity with Joseph Home & Company 
and with Boggs & Buhl, of Allegheny, Penn- 
sylvania, with the exception of two years in the 
employ of J. S. Patterson & Sons at Findlay, 
Ohio. In 1898 Mr. Kurtz returned to Mi- 
nerva and organized the firm of Kurtz Brothers, 
associating himself with his brother, Jesse N. 
They at once met with encouraging success in 
their business enterprise, and in the intervening 
four years have built up a large and satisfac- 
tory business. In September, 1901, they opened 
a branch store at Salineville, this state, in which 
they have also met with a satisfactory patron- 
age. Courteous and afifable, and evincing a de- 
sire to please their customers, they have won 
for themselves the confidence of the business 
world and a commensurate share of the public 
patronage. 

On the 5th of March, 1900, William R. 
Kurtz was united in marriage with Miss Helen 
Burk, of Detroit, Michigan, an intelligent and 
highly cultured lady, who has proved to her 
husband a helpmate in the truest sense of the 
word. Religiously Mr. Kurtz is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he 
holds the position of treasurer. Politically he 
is a stanch Republican, but takes no very active.- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1173 



part in matters political. The qualities which 
•have made him one of the prominent and suc- 
cessful business men of Minerva have also 
brought him the esteem and good will of 
his fellow citizens, for his career from the be- 
ginning has been one of well directed energy, 
strong determination and honorable methods. 
Endowed by nature with strong powers of 
mind, and possessing the energy to direct his 
faculties in the proper channels, he early became 
a man of resourceful capacity, as the able man- 
agement of his business affairs abundantly tes- 
tifies. 



■ RICHARD R. ELSON was born in the 
village of Magnolia, Carroll county, Ohio, on 
the 8th of March, i860, being a son of Augus- 
tus R. Elson. His boyhood days were passed 
amid the surroundings of the parental home, 
and his early educational advantages were such 
as were afforded in the public schools of the lo- 
-cality, while this discipline was later supple- 
mented by a course of study in Duff's Business 
■College, in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
-As a lad he began to lend such assistance as 
"was within his power to the work in his father's 
flouring mills, the rise of which important in- 
■dustry has been duly described in the foregoing 
paragraphs, and he continued to he identified 
■with the enterprise under the direction of his 
father until he had become familar with all 
the practical details of the business, having 
"grown up in the business," as the colloquial 
expression will indicate the progress made. In 
1890 he and his brother John were admitted 
to a partnership interest in the milling business, 
which was continued imder the firm name of 
A. R. Elson & Sons until the year 1900, when a 
-stock company was formed and the business in- 
corporated under the laws of the state, as the 
A. R. Elson Company, the interested principals 
heing all members of the family, while at the 
time of organization the subject of this sketch 



was chosen secretary of the company, in which 
capacity he has since continued to serve wiith 
signal discrimination and ability, doing much 
to further the progress of the enterprise, which 
is one of the most important and most popularly 
appreciated industries in this section of the 
state. In politics Mr. Elson has ever been a 
stanch advocate of the principles of the Re- 
publican party, and he is known as one of the 
energetic and broad-minded busmess men and 
public-spirited citizens of the conmiunity, while 
he was called upon to serve three terms a.s 
treasurer of Magnolia, Stark county, giving a 
most capable administration of the fiscal affairs 
assigned to his charge. 

On the 25th of August, 1892, Mr. Elson 
was united in marriage to Miss Iva Moffett, 
who was born in Rose township, Carroll coun- 
ty, being a daughter of Samuel Si. Moffett, 
who was likewise born in that county,, of ster- 
ling Irish lineage, and who is a prominent and 
influential farmer and stock grower of this lo- 
cality. Mr. and Mrs. Elson have two children, 
Loren and Mack A. 



JOSIAH B. EBERLY was born on the 
homestead farm, in Bethlehem township, this 
county, on the nth of September, 1856, being 
a son of Joseph and Catherine (Bretz) Eberly, 
the former of whom was born in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, while the latter was born 
in Tuscarawas township, Stark county, being a 
daughter of John Bretz, who was one of the 
prominent and influential pioneer citizens of 
that township, and who served for a number of 
years as a member of the board of county com- 
missioners. The father of the subject devoted 
his entire life to agricultural pursuits, becoming 
the owner of a fine farm in Bethlehem township, 
having located upon the same in 1843, ^"^^ 
there his death occurred in 1887, at which time 
he was eighty-one years of age. In politics he 
was originally a Democrat, later espoused the 



II74 



OLD LANDMARKS 



cause of the Whig party, and after the organi- 
zation of the Repubhcan party transferred his 
allegiance to the same, and ever afterward con- 
tinued a stanch advocate of its principles. He 
Avas a birth-right member of the Society of 
Friends, and his religous views ever continued 
to be in harmony with the teachings of this 
noble body of Christians. He was three times 
married, and of the hrst union, to the mother 
of the subject, three sons were born, Josiah B. 
being the only survivor, his two brothers hav- 
ing sacrificed their lives on the altar of their 
country's righteous cause, in the war of the 
Rebellion, one having been a member of the 
Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, while an- 
other was a member of the Thirteenth Indiana 
Regiment of Volunteer Infantry. By the last 
marriage three children were born, and all are 
now deceased. The mother of the subject died 
in 1858 at the age of forty years, having been 
a member of the German Reformed church. 

Josiah B. Eberly was reared on the old 
home farm, and after securing his rudimentary 
educational training in the district schools he 
continued his studies in the high school at 
Smithville, and later was matriculated in Mount 
Union College, near the city of Alliance, where 
he made the best possible use of the excellent 
advantages afforded him, and soon put his 
scholastic knowledge to practical use by engag- 
ing in pedagogic work, having been for twelve 
years one of the eminently popular and success- 
ful teachers in the public schools of his native 
county. In 1881 Mr. Eberly located on his 
])resent farm, which comprises one hundred and 
thirty acres of most fertile and productive land, 
while the place has the best of permanent im- 
provements, and is one of the valuable and at- 
tractive farm homes of this locality. Mr. Eberly 
is one of the progressive farmers of the county, 
directing his efforts according to scientific prin- 
ciples, and with marked discrimination, while 
he is known as one of the public-.spirited citi- 
zens of the community and as a man of fine in- 



tellectual endowments. He exercises his fran- 
chise in support of the principles and policies 
of the Republican party, but has never sought 
the honors or emoluments of public office. Fra- 
ternally he is identified with the lodge of the 
Knights of Pythias in Beach City, and formerly 
he was identified with the Junior Order of 
United American Mechanics, while he has been 
a prominent factor in the ranks of the Patrons- 
of Husbandry, and has the distinction of being, 
at the present time master of the Stark County 
Grange of that order. 

On the 23rd of September, 1880, Mr. Eberly 
was united in marriage to Miss Minerva Knep- 
per, who was born on the home farm in Stark 
county, being a daughter of the late Godfrey 
Knepper, an honored pioneer of Stark county. 
Of this imion have been born five children,, 
namely: Benjamin G., who rendered valiant 
service as a soldier in the Philippines during 
the late war, being corporal of his company,, 
and who is now a fireman in the emplo)^ of the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company; Grace 
M., E. May and Charles D. still remain at the 
parental home, and Elmer died at the age of 
six months. 



WALLEN M. BEATTY was born on the 
farmer he now owns, in Rose township, Car- 
roll county, on the 19th of September, 1846, 
being a son of William F. and Rachel (Miller) 
Beatty, to whom were born three children, the 
two survivors being the subject and his sister 
Mary, who is the wife of Sands B. KimmeU 
of Mineral Point, Tuscarawas county. 

William F. Beatty, father of the subject, 
was a native of the Old Dominion state of 
Virginia, where he was born in the year 1814, 
being a son of Wyburnce Beatty, who was born 
on the Emerald Isle, where he was reared to- 
maturity. Shortly after his marriage he emi- 
grated from Ireland to America, settling in Vir- 
ginia, where he remained luitil 1820, when he 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1175 



came to Carroll county, Ohio, and cast in his 
lot among the early settlers of Rose township, 
entering claim to a quarter section of govern- 
ment land, which was heavily timbered and en- 
tirely unimproved, the deed to the property be- 
ing signed by James Monroe, who was then 
President of the United States, and this inter- 
esting document is now in the possession of 
the subject of this review, who is the owner of 
the land thus entered by his grandfather, the 
property having never passed out of the pos- 
session of the family. On this old homestead, 
where the subject still resides, his father passed 
the residue of his life, passing to his reward 
June 3, 1890. at the venerable age of seventy-six 
years. He brought about tlie effective develop- 
ment of the farm, and became one of the highly 
honored and influential men of this section, en- 
joying the esteem of all who knew him. 

Rachel (Miller) Eeatty, mother of the sub- 
ject, was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, be- 
ing a daughter of Wallen Miller, who was one 
of the first settlers in that county, where he 
passed the residue of his life, as did also his 
wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Jack- 
son, a relative of Stonewall Jackson. The 
mother of Mrs. Beatty died in the year 1849, 
and the father, about nine years later, consum- 
mated a second marriage, being then united to 
Miss Isabelle Carson, no children having been 
born of this union. The father was summoned 
into eternal rest in June, 1890, having lived a 
life of signal usefulness and honor and having 
been one of the representative men of this sec- 
tion of the state. He inherited the homestead 
farm, and to its cultivation and improvement 
devoted his attention throughout his active busi- 
ness career. 

Wallen M. Beatty, whose name initiates 
this sketch, was reared on the ancestral farm- 
stead, which is now his home, and early began 
to assist in its cultivation, while his educational 
discipline during this time was such as was 
afforded by tlie public schools of the locality. 



His youthful patriotism was roused to the 
point of definite action at the time when the 
integrity of the nation was menaced by armed 
rebellion, and in September, 1863, having been 
unable to gain his father's consent to tender 
his services in defense of the Union, he took 
matters into his own hands and ran away from 
home, and at Alliance, Ohio, he enlisted as a 
private in Company D. Twenty-fifth Ohio Vol- 
unteer Infantry, with which he proceeded to 
the front, having been with Sherman on the 
ever memorable march to the sea, and having 
participated in all the engagements incidental 
thereto. He received his honorable discharge 
in Charlestown, South Carolina, in August, 
1865, as corporal of his company, having 
shown true soldierly qualities and having ren- 
dered faithful and valiant service in the great- 
est internecine war known in the annals of 
history. 

After the close of the war Mr. Beatty re- 
turned home and resumed his work on the farm. 
His father insisted that he become a student in 
Mount Union College, but he was disinclined 
to follow this course, preferring to take up the 
active duties of life, and his lather finally per- 
mitted him to have his way, and he purchased 
a team of horses and soon practically assumed 
the entire management of the homestead, his 
father's health being impaired, so that he was 
not able to do much active labor. After the 
death of his honored sire, in 1890, Mr. Beatty 
purchased the interest of the other heirs, and 
thus came into sole possession of the farm, 
which has ever since been his home, as, indeed, 
it has been during the entire course of his life. 
In 1895 he purchased a contiguous tract of 
eighty-seven acres, so that the aggregate area 
of his finely improved landed estate is now 
two hundred and fifty-two acres. On this farm, 
adding in marked degree to its value, are found 
practically inexhaustible deposits of the finest 
of clay for manufacturing purposes and as 
early as 1869 clay was shipped from tine farm 



1 1 76 



OLD LANDMARKS 



to Canal Dover, where it was utilized in the 
manufacture of fire-brick. At the present time 
the clay beds are being developed under the 
most favorable conditions. In 1892 Mr. 
Beatty organized the Beatty Fire Clay Com- 
pany and a fine plant w'as equipped for the 
manufacturing of hollow building blocks and 
fire brick. In 1900 the Whitacre Company be- 
came the operators of the plant and Mr. Beatty 
still continued his interest in the enterprise, and 
in the following year it was sold to the syndi- 
cate known as the American Fire Proofing 
Company for a consideration of two hundred 
and twenty-one thousand dollars in cash. In 
the spring of 1902 Air. Beatty associated him- 
self with Clarence S. Greer in the organization ! 
of the Greer-Beatty Clay Company, and they 
will have completed and have in operation by 
the time this publication is issued one of the 
model plants of this section of Ohio, utilizing 
the clay from Mr. Beatty's farm. Mr. Beatty 
is essentially public-spirited in his attitude and 
takes a deep interest in all that tends to con- 
serve the advancement and material prosperity 
of the community. In his political proclivities 
lie is an uncompromising advocate of the prin- 
ciples and policies of the Republican party and 
has been an active and efficient worker in its 
cause, having served as delegate to state and 
county conventions of the party. Fraternally 
he perpetuates the more kindly memories of his 
army life through his membership in Sandy 
Valley Post No. 728, Grand Army of the Re- 
public, at Magnolia, and he is at the present 
writing adjutant of the post. He is also identi- 
fied with the Knights of Pythias, holding mem- 
bership in Sandy Valley Lodge No. 725. He 
has never sought political office, but in 1890 
he acted as census enumerator for Rose town- 
ship. 

In 1868 Mr. Beatty was united in marriage 
io Miss Maggie Whitacre, daughter of Dr. 
Thomas and Catherine (Elson) Whitacre, the 
latter of whom was a daughter of Richard 



Elson, one of the most honored and prominent 
pioneers of this section and one to whom 
specific reference is made in the sketch of his 
son, Anthony R. F!lson, appearing on another 
page of this work. Mrs. Beatty passed away 
in 1872, and is survived by her two children, 
Rachel, who is the v.ife oi a Mr. Barnes, of 
Texas county. Missouri, and Belle, who 
is the wife of Belden Brothers, of 
Pike township, Stark county, Ohio. On the 
3d of July, 1873, j\Ir. Beatty was united in 
marriage to Miss Elizabeth Holmes, who was 
born in Carroll county, Ohio, being a daughter 
of William Holmes, who was an influential 
farmer of said county, where his death oc- 
curred in 1902. Mr. and Mrs. Beatty have five 
children, all of whom remain at the parental 
home except the second son, John, who is a 
g;radnate of the Cleveland Medical College, 
lieing a member of the class of 1903, and is now 
located in the city hospital at Grayston. 
The names of the children, in order of birth, are 
as follows : William, John, Milo, Blanche 
and Verne. 



GEORGE COOK, late of Canton, was 
born in Summit county, Ohio, on the 2d day 
of February, 1827. In his youth he enjoyed 
only such limited educational advantages as 
were afforded by the common schools of his na- 
tive place, but, possessing a studious nature, he 
made the best of his opportunities and in due 
time mastered the branches which in those 
days constituted the curriculum. Thrown 
upon his own resources at an early age. 
he turned his attention to mechanical pur- 
suits and, entering a wagonmaking shop, soon 
became an efficient workman at that trade. 
While working at Greentown he early devel- 
oped mechanical skill of a high order, which, 
coupled with executive ability rare in one of 
his age, led him in due time to outgrow the 
limited environments of the shop and embark 







^J'|^=. 



a^ 



^^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1177 



in a mncli hirj^'er and mure inii)ortaiit undertak- 
ing. About the year 1849, '" partnership with 
Cornelius /Uiltman, Jacob Miller, Ephraim 
Ball and others, he established at Canton a 
small concern for the manufacture of reapers 
and mowers, which, under the firm name of E. 
Ball & Company, soon became one of the lead- 
ing industries of the city. These gentlemen lie- 
gan operations with a limited capital, but the 
demand for their output increased to such an 
extent that within a couple of years the capac- 
ity of the plant was greatly enlarged, necessi- 
tating the employment of a strong force of 
skilled artisans. In 1865 the establishment was 
reorganized as a stock company under the 
name of C. Aultman & Company with a capi- 
tal which was gradually increased with the 
growth of trade until it finally amounted to 
one million five hundred dollars. From the 
above years dates the most rapid and substan- 
tial advancement of this mammoth enterprise 
and since that time it has continually increased 
in magnitude and importance until becoming 
not only one of the largest industries of the 
kind in the state, but in the United States, be- 
sides earning an international reputation. It 
is not the province of an article of this kind to 
give in detail eitlicr the history or present 
status of the great and farreaching enterprise 
with which Mr. Cook" was so long and so 
actively identified. Suffice it to state, however, 
that the various agriculture machinery manu- 
factured by this company, such as the Buckeye 
mower and reaper, the improved Sweepstakes 
thresher and the Monitor threshing engine, 
have achieved, as already stated, wide repute 
in every civilized country of the globe, while 
the standing of the establishment in the United 
States is second to that of no other similar in- 
dustry. As may be inferred from this brief 
reference to the plant and its extensive opera- 
tions, the gentlemen who estal)]ished the con- 
cern and brought it to its high position were 
men of remarkable ability and superior judg- 



ment whose enterprising spirits no difficulties 
could discourage. Among these men, George 
Cook occupied no secondary place. With a 
tenacity of purpose rare as it was admirable, 
he seems to have possessed the peculiar fac- 
ulty of moulding circumstances to suit his ends 
and to his sagacity and wise executive ability 
is the establishment indebted for a large meas- 
ure of the success which has marked its history 
from its inception to the time of his decease. 
He was one of the heaviest stockholders of the 
company, as well as a member of the board of 
directors, and as assistant superintendent he 
took an active part in the practical manage- 
ment, earning while serving in that capacity 
the iinljounded confidence of his associates as 
well as the universal good will of the employes. 
The history of the Aultman Company is but a 
page in the life of this enterprising and far- 
sighted business man. Beginning with no cap- 
ital save the sterling qualities of an honorable 
and industrious manhood, he gradually forged 
to the front, rising step by step until reaching 
the goal of success to which but few attain. 
He possessed strong mentality, was rarely mis- 
taken in his judgment of men and things and 
foresaw with remarkable clearness future pos- 
sibilities relative to his business interests, de- 
termining with a high degree of accuracy their 
probable bearing. In all of his transactions he 
manifested the most scrupulous integrity and 
gentlemanly demeanor and Ijy reason of large 
success, unblemished character and a just and 
liljcral life, he earned the universal esteem of 
his fellow citizens. In addition to his connec- 
tion with the establishment at Canton, Mr. 
Cook served as director of the Aultman Miller 
& Compan\'s works and iron company at Ak- 
ron, and for a number of years was a director 
of the First National Bank in the former city. 
He was also ofiicially identified with the Val- 
ley Railroad Company and it may be said that 
to liim more than to any other man is the city 
of Canton indebted for the remarkable Indus- 



11/8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



trial growth which marked its history during 
the period of his residence. He was actively 
interested in nearly every industrial enterprise 
and gave to those with which he was not di- 
rectly connected his sanction and, when neces- 
sary, liberal financial encouragement. 

Without invidious distinction, Mr. Cook 
was pre-eminently one of Ohio's most enter- 
prising and public spirited men of affairs. In 
every walk of life his aim was to do his Avhole 
duty and the people of Canton and .Stark coun- 
ty felt justly proud of him as a high minded 
citizen and useful member of society. While 
giving personal attention to his large and 
varied business interests and discharging con- 
scientiously all the duties of citizenship, he 
found time amid all these claims to devote to 
the higher duties growing out of man's rela- 
tion to his fellow man and to his Creator. He 
prospered greatly in worldly things and gave 
largely of his wealth for the founding of and 
fostering of worthy institutions, secular and re- 
ligious, besides expending in private charities 
sums which t-o the majority of people would be 
independent fortunes. His benevolent spirit 
was practically unbounded in the extent of his 
benefactions and the vast amount of good 
which he accomplished through the medium of 
his wealth will only be fully known in that 
day when the books are open and every man 
rewarded according to his deeds. Among his 
many liberal donations the following are cited 
as specific instances, to-wit : Thirty thousand 
dollars for the erection of the beautiful Baptist 
church building in Canton, which for years to 
come will stand as a monument to his generos- 
ity and Christian manhood ; the sum of twelve 
thousand dollars to Dennison University at 
Granville, of which he was for some years a 
trustee, besides liberal endowments to other 
public institutions, while his private benefac- 
tions to different benevolent and charitable en- 
terprises as well as to individuals are said to 



have exceeded the sum of one hundred thou- 
sand dollars. 

Religiously, Mr. Cook subscribed to the 
Baptist church faith and two years and a half 
prior to his death united with the church in 
the city, donating, as already stated, a large 
sum towards the erection of its beautiful tem- 
ple of worship. His was that broad catholic 
spirit which saw good in all religious move- 
ments and he supported churches, irrespective 
of creed, with the liberality which characterized 
his other efforts in behalf of humanity. Be- 
lieving that the gospel should be preached to all 
men throughout the world, he was a liberal 
patron of missionary societies, especially those 
under the auspices of his own church, to which 
he gave large sums from time to time. Mr. 
Cook had a heart overflowing with love and 
good will for his kind and he used his ample 
fortune as a means to elevate humanity and 
develop a higher standard of citizenship. His 
greatest delight consisted in making others 
happy, in carrying sunshine into homes dark- 
ened by misfortune and bereavement, in bind- 
ing up wounds received in unequal battles with 
adversity, in scattering blessings- around him, 
thus imitating the adage that "It is more 
blessed to give than to receive." Notwith- 
standing all of his large wealth and the com- 
manding position he occupied in the business 
and social world, Mr. Cook was one of the 
most modest men, easily accessible to the hum- 
blest of his fellows and ever ready to lend a 
listening ear to the cry of need. Politically he 
was a Republican, but the pressing claims of 
his business and the nature of his benevolent 
work prevented him from taking a very active 
interest in party affairs. Believing that a good 
name was more to be desired than riches or 
public distinction, and with no ambition for 
official station, he was governed from his youth 
bv those fixed principles of honor and rectitude 
which through life stamped him as an honest 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1179 



man. an exemplary citizen, a sincere Christian 
and a l<ind and loving husband and father. 

Mr. Cook was married, December 5, 1857, 
to Miss Mary Weary, of Stark county, the 
union resulting in the following children : 
Charles C, of Alliance, Ohio; George E., of 
New York city, who married Miss Carrie Pe- 
ters, but is now a widower; Helen R. married 
Conrad Schweitzer, of Canton, and is the 
mother of eight offspring, Conrad, Helen N., 
Mary M., Margaret, George C, Frederick, 
Robert and Herman. Grace E., the fifth of the 
subject's children, died in infancy; Mary A., 
the next in order of birth, is the wife of Will- 
ifim Kuhns, of Raltimore, Maryland, and has 
had three children, George W. (deceased), 
Margaret and Elizabeth; Ralph Weary, the 
youngest member of the family, married Miss 
Catherine Maloney and lives in New York 
city. 

George Cook finished his earthly life in the 
city of Canton, dying on the 3d day of May, 
1879. ^ leader in industrial circles and pre- 
eminently a man of noble aims and high ideals, 
he lived up to his high standard of excellence, 
and departing left behind him a name which 
for years to come will be enshrined as a price- 
less treasure in the hearts of the people among 
whom he so nobly acted his part in the world's 
affairs. 

Mr. Cook's father moved to Huron coun- 
ty, this state, a number of years ago, as a con- 
tractor and builder, and made his home near 
the city of Clinton. He worked at his trade at 
different places throughout that county and 
elsewhere and was accidentally killed while put- 
ting up a new building. Additional to the sub- 
ject of this review, he had the following chil- 
dren : Rachel, who married a Mr. Miller and 
departed this life in Summit county; Mrs. Eliz- 
abeth Swinehart, who died some years ago near 
Uniontown, this state; Lena married and re- 
moved to Indiana, where her death subsequent- 



ly occurred, and Michael, who also died in the 
latter state. 

Mrs. Mary Cook, wife of the subject of this 
sketch, is the daughter of Samuel Weary and 
was born in Marlborough township, Stark 
county, Ohio, June 7, 1833. She received her 
educational training in the district schools and 
after her mother's second marriage lived with 
a sister until becoming the head of a household 
of her own. Mrs. Cook is a lady of many 
marked traits of character and as long as her 
husband lived she heartily co-operated with 
him in his charitable and benevolent work, 
proving a blessing to hundreds of poor and un- 
fortunate people in the city of her residence and 
elsewhere. A sincere and devout Christian, 
she exemplifies her religious convictions in a 
life of practical service, and in many ways has 
been an influential factor in the church circles 
of Canton. Her life has been fraught with 
great good and in the social as well as the re- 
ligious world her presence has been the means 
of moulding the characters and directing into 
proper avenues the lives of those with whom 
she has been associated. Her father was born 
about 1790 near Bloomfield, Perry county, 
Pennsylvania, and there married Miss Maiy 
M. Smith, whose birth occurred in the same 
county on the ist day of September, 1794. 
Some time after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
Weary moved to Trumbull county, Ohio, but 
after a brief residence in that part of the state 
changed their abode to the county of Stark, 
purchasing a farm in Marlborough township, 
on which the former's death occurred at the 
age of forty-two. Mrs. Weary was one of six- 
teen children constituting the family of Adam 
Smith, an early settler and prominent citizen 
of Perry county, Pennsylvania. She bore her 
husband eleven children, the oldest of whom 
was Margaret, wife of Peter Rue, who died 
near St. Paul, Minnesota; John, the second, 
was accidentally killed by felling a tree; Simon, 



'ii8o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the third in order of birth, resides in the city 
of Akron at the present time; Catherine, now 
Mrs. Amos Johnson, hved at Uniontown, this 
state; Daniel married Sarah Taylor and de- 
parted this life in Chicago, Illinois; Sarah 
married J. P. Smith and lived in Stark county ; 
Jacob died in Akron ; Henry, of Oil City, Penn- 
sylvania, married Rosella Inman ; Elizabeth is 
deceased and after her comes Mrs. Cook, the 
tenth in succession; Benjamin, the youngest of 
the number, was a soldier in the late rebellion, 
responding to the first call in 1861, and serv- 
ing until the surrender of General Lee at Ap- 
pomattox; he was the last Union man killed 
after the surrender, meeting his death at the 
hands of the bushwhackers the day following 
that event. 



WILLIAM H. GREER, who bears the 
full patronymic of his father and who is in- 
cumbent of the position of ticket and freight 
agent of the Cleveland & Pittsburg division of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad in the village of 
Magnolia, was born in said village, in the old 
homestead, in the Carroll county portion of the 
town, on the 26th of May, i860, and as a 
boy he began to render assistance in the mer- 
■cantile establishment of his father, in the mean- 
while pursuing his studies in the public schools 
of the town. At the age of nineteen years he 
was matriculated in Hiram College, where he 
<rompleted his more peculiarly literary edu- 
cation and amply fortified himself for the 
labors and duties of an active business career. 
In 1 88 1, when but twenty-one years of age, he 
■was appointed ticket and freight agent of the 
Cleveland & Pittsburg branch of the Pennsyl- 
vania system in his native town, and he has 
teen consecutively in tenure of this position 
ever since, — a period of more than two score 
years. Within this interval there has been a 
marked growth in tlie population and business 
of the town and tributary territory, so that the 



duties devolving upon him at the present time 
bear slight resemblance to what they were at 
the time when he initiated his efforts here. 

Mr. Greer has exercised his right of fran- 
chise from the time of attaining his majority, 
in the support of the principles of the Republi- 
can party, and he has taken a lively and intel- 
ligent interest in the questions of the day, 
but has never sought the honors or emoluments 
of public office, though such has been his 
loyalty to his native town that he has not re- 
fused to serve as a member of the town 
council and the board of education, while he 
has also given most effective service as village 
clerk and treasurer. Fraternally he is a promi- 
nent member of the Knights of Pythias, be- 
ing identified with Sandy Valley Lodge No. 
725, of which he is the past chancellor. He 
and his wife hold membership in the Lutheran 
church. 

On the 29th of July, 1886, Mr. Greer was 
united in marriage to Miss Addie Ross, who 
was born in Waynesburg, Stark county, being 
a daughter of I. N. Ross, a well known and 
honored pioneer of the county, and of this 
union have been born three children, namely: 
Helen H., William R. and Margaret A. Mr. 
Greer has an attractive home in his native 
village, and the family take a part in the best 
social life of the community. 



AUGUSTUS R. ELSON was born on a 
farm in Sandy township, Stark county, Ohio, 
on the I St of August, 1829, the old homestead 
being located one mile north of tlie present 
thriving little city of Waynesburg. He was the 
fourth in order of birth of the three children of 
Richard and Frederika (Beogle) Elson, and is 
now the only surviving member of the im- 
mediate family. Richard Elson was born in 
Brooke county, ^'^irginia (now West Virginia), 
on the 1 2th of July. 1797, being a son of John 
H. and Margaret (Wiggins) Elson. As a boy 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 1 8 !■, 



he was independent and .-imbitious, and, having 
had a slight dispute with his father, he left 
home and crossed the Ohio river, to Steuben- 
ville, Ohio, not far distant from his home, 
where he began an apprenticeship at the shoe- 
maker's trade, but within two or three weeks 
his better judgment prevailed and he returned 
to his home. Owing to the conditions and 
exigencies of the time and locality he was de- 
nied more than the most limited educational 
advantages in his youth, but he became a man 
of broad information and gained success in the 
face of the handicap of circumstances. His 
sturdy self-reliance and progressive spirit was 
early manifested, for at the age of nineteen 
years he constructed a flat-boat and engaged in 
trading on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, 
loading his rude craft with pork, flour, whiskey 
and other products and floating the same down 
to New Orleans, where he would dispose of his 
cargo, after which he would walk back to Steu- 
benville, a distance of about fifteen hundred 
miles. He thus made the trip alone on five 
different occasions and had to traverse a coun- 
try which to a large extent was an untram- 
meled wilderness, inhabited only by Indians 
and the beasts of the forest. He continued in 
this line of enterprise about seven years, within 
which on one occasion he found on his arrival 
in New Orleans that the scourge -of yellow 
fever was raging and that all business was at a 
standstill, so that he could find no market for 
his cargo. He showed himself a master of ex- 
pedients, as did he many times in later life, for 
he placed his products on board the brig "Na- 
tive" and thus transported the same to Savan- 
nah, Georgia, where he sold his goods at a 
profit and then proceeded on another vessel 
to New York city, where he passed a few days 
and then returned to liis home by the primitive 
means of conveyance in vogue at that time. 
While he was devoting his attention to this 
migratory trading his parents and the other 
members of the family had left their home in 



West Virginia, coming across the river into. 
Ohio and taking up tlieir abode in Stark coun- 
ty, the change having been made at his advice 
and solicitation. He abandoned his trading 
business in 1823 and joined the family in this 
county. - He purchased forty acres of land in 
Sandy township, later selling this and pur- 
chasing a greater section in the same town- 
ship, which is owned by Charles Long, 
and this he also sold and then took the 
quarter section now owned by his son by 
a second marriage, Corwin C, in Sandy 
township. This tract was government land 
and was entirely unreclaimed, so that there fell 
to him the task of instituting the work of fell- 
ing the forest and instituting the work of culti- 
vation. He later purchased an adjoining forty 
acres of school land, so that the homestead 
comprised two hundred and forty acres. 

About the year 1833 Richard Elson asso- 
ciated himself with John W. Smith in purchas- 
ing from Benjamin Tappan the southeast quar- 
ter of section 30 and the southwest quarter of 
section '29, in Sandy township, Stark county, 
on the line of Carroll and Stark counties, the 
consideration being twelve hundred dollars. In 
1834 they here platted and laid out the town 
of Magnolia. There were some forty names 
selected from which to finally decide upon the 
title which should be given the embryonic vil- 
lage, and the name of Magnolia was finally 
adopted, Mr. Elson having been impressed with 
the name from having seen the magnolia tree 
in full bloom in the south. In 1847 ^'^^ town, 
and also the town of Zoar, were incorporated 
through a special act of the legislature, and 
this was the first postoflice of the name in the 
United States, while by reference to the official 
postoffice guide the writer finds there are now 
twenty-three postoffices in the Union to which 
the name Magnolia is applied. Having thus 
been instrumental in founding a new town, Mr. 
Elson spared no pains to promote its progress. 
In 1S34 he erected the original Magnolia Mills, 



II82 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the site of which at the time of selection was 

heavily covered with underbrush, so that he 

had to crawl through on his hands and knees 

in order to make a survey of the situation to 

his satisfaction. He placed the grist mill in 

operation and otherwise did much to improve 

and foster the development of the town. He 

was one of the influential men of the county and 

was one of the best known sheep growers in 

this section of the state. His method was to 

loan out a number of sheep to the neighboring 

farmers, asking in return one-half the wool 

and one-half the increase, and through this 

means he largely laid the foundation for the 

fortune which he acquired. In 1877 the family 

received notification from Washington to the 

effect that there was a sum of money due them 

from the government, the same being accrued 

and unpaid interest on government bonds which 

had been called in, while the interest had not 

been collected. The subject of this sketch 

thereupon wrote a letter to the late lamented 

President McKinley, who was at that time a 

member of congress from this district, giving 

him power of attorney to collect the interest, 

amounting to somewhat more than five hundred 

dollars. Mr. McKinley refused to accept any 

remuneration for his services, saying that the 

Elson family had done enough for him in the 

days past to make it a pleasure for him to make 

this slight recom])ense. 

In politics Richard Elson was originally an 
old-line Whig, but upon the organization of the 
Republican party he ardently espoused its 
cause, holding it as the avowed enemy of the 
institution of slavery, of which he had seen 
sufficient during his trading trips to the south 
to cause him to protest against it with all the 
ardor of his noble and loyal nature. He re- 
mained a radical Republican until his death, 
which occurred on the 28th of August, 1879, 
at which time, among other words of high ap- 
preciation, the Canton Repository spoke as fol- 
lows "Richard Elson, who died at his home 



in Magnolia, on the 28th ultimo, at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-two years, was a remark- 
able man, whose life is worthy of emulation, 
and his name should be revered and honored 
as one of the pioneers of this county, who dur- 
ing his younger days contributed largely toward 
transforming this section, then a howling wil- 
derness, into a garden of civilization and beauty. 
Commencing life poor, by his sagacity, indus- 
try, frugality and energy, he acquired a com- 
petency, and he died as he had lived, honored 
and respected by all who knew him. May he 
rest in peace." 

About the year 1827 Richard Elson was 
united in marriage to Miss Frederika Beogle, 
of Waynesburg, this county, and she died about 
three years later, leaving three children, of 
whom the immediate subject of this sketch is 
the only survivor. A few years later he mar- 
ried Miss Sarah Ann Brandon, of Holliday's 
Cove, Virginia (now West Virginia), and of 
this union three children were born, there being 
three sons and three daughters in his family. 
Of the children of the last niarriage those living 
are Corwin, a resident of Sandy township, 
Stark county ; Richard, of Magnolia ; and Mary, 
of Oskaloosa, Iowa. Mrs. Sarah Elson died 
about 1847. John Harris Elson, the paternal 
grandfather of the subject, was born in that 
section of Virginia which is now comprised in 
West Virginia, the original American ances- 
tors having come hither from Wales and located 
in Maryland, in the colonial qpoch. John H. 
was a captain in the war of 18 12, and he died 
when a young man, his remains being now 
laid to rest at Mapleton. this county. 

Augustus R. Elson, to whom this sketch 
is dedicated, grew to maturity under the pa- 
rental roof, and is indebted to the primitive 
district schools of the pioneer epoch for the 
early educational privileges which came to his 
portion. He continued to work on the farm 
for his father until he had attained his legal 
majority, and in 185 1 he began work in the mill 



CANTON AND STARK COUNT V, OHIO. 



1183 



owned by his father in Magnolia, being asso- 
ciated in the operation of the same as a partner 
for one year. By this time the niili was badly 
run down through long and constant use, the 
machinery being in poor condition, and our 
subject thus took the mill into his own charge, 
entering into a contract with his father with 
a view to ultimately acquiring the property, 
and he forthwith instituted the work of im- 
provement, gradually putting in new machinery 
and making every effort to turn out a product 
of superior grade. Thus he was enabled to 
build up a good business and was clearing an 
average of five thousand dollars a year when, 
in 1867, he tore out all the old machinery and 
installed new throughout, while he ever kept 
abreast of improvements in mechanical equip- 
ment and methods of operation, and thus, in 
1881, found it expedient to again practically 
equip his mill anew once more. At this time 
he put in a complete roller-process outfit, and 
today the plant is one of the most modern in 
Stark county, turning out a flour of unexcelled 
quality and having a productive capacity of 
one hundred barrels a day. From the time 
when Mr. Elson took charge of the mili it 
was his ambition to make it second to none in 
the quality of its products, and it is certain he 
has realized this desideratum. The superior 
excellence of the flour has gained to the mill an 
extensive patron in the person of a wholesale 
baker at Trenton, New Jersey, whose baking 
secured gold medals at Centennial exposition, 
in Philadelphia, in 1876, and later at the Paris 
exposition of 1900, the exhibit being made of 
artilces in which the flour from the Elson mills 
was utilized. This one customer demands a 
shipment of from four to five car loads of 
flour from this source each month, and his pat- 
ronage has covered a long term of years. In 
1898 the business was incorporated under the 
title of the A. R. Elson Company, with the sub- 
ject of this sketch as president, and his son 
Richard R. as secretary, while the two younger 



sons, John R. and Frank, are also members of 
the company. 

To Mr. Elson is due much of the credit for 
the present prosperity and the material upbuild- 
ing of Magnolia. It was through his instru- 
mentality that the depot of the Chicago & Pitts- 
burg Railroad was built here, and he personally 
bought the right of way and presented the same 
to the railway company for the branch of the 
Valley Railroad, which was thus built to this 
thriving little town, which is also indebted to 
him for many of its earlier improvements. Mr. 
Elson owns a farm of one hundred and fifty 
acres, under excellent cultivation and highly im- 
proved, the same adjoining the town of Mag- 
nolia, while he has other important capitalistic 
interests, being a stockholder in the First Na- 
tional Bank of Canton, a stockholder and 
member of the directorate of the First National 
Bank of Canal Dover, of which he was one 
of the organizers, and a member of the di- 
rectorate of the Miller Pasteurizing Company, 
of Canton, of which he is a large stockholder. 
In politics he has ever been stanchly arrayed 
in support of the principles and policies of the 
Republican party, and he was for two years 
trustee of Sandy township, and for many years 
a member of the board of school directors. He 
was president of the school board and also of 
the building committee at the lime of the erec- 
tion of the present attractive and substantial 
Union school building in Magnolia. Through 
not formally identified \^■ith any religious or- 
ganization, he is a liberal contributor to all 
church work, without regard to denomination. 

On the 20th of December, 1S55, Mr. Elson 
was united in marriage to Miss Margaret E. 
Rose, who was born in Waynesburg, Sandy 
township, Stark county, being a daughter of the 
late John and Sarah Rose, and to them have 
been born seven children, namely: Austin; 
Richard R., who is individually mentioned else- 
where; Emma, who remains at the parental 
home; John R., who is the subject of a sketch 



1 1 84 



OLD LANDMARKS 



elsewhere; Margaret, who is the wife of Dr. 
Clement R. Jones, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania ; 
Frank, who is also associated in the ownership 
and operation of the mills; and Harry, who re- 
sides in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, being a chem- 
ist by profession. 



RICHARD E. GREER was born in the 
family homestead in Magnolia, on the 3d of 
April, 1865, and he is indebted to the excel- 
lent public schools of this place for his early 
educational advantages, of which he duly 
availed himself, while his initial business ex- 
perience, like that of his brothers, was received 
in connection with the pioneer mercantile 
establishment here conducted by their father. 
At the age of eighteen years Mr. Greer be- 
came acting agent of the Cleveland & Pitts- 
burg division of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 
Magnolia, taking the place of his brother Will- 
iam H., and the subject remained incumbent 
of the position during the two years and four 
months his brother was in the west. At the 
expiration of this period he resumed his school 
work, attending during the winter term follow- 
ing, and on the ist of September, 1887, he 
was tendered and accepted the position of bill 
clerk in the freight office of the same railroad 
company at East Liverpool, Columbiana coun- 
ty, later being promoted to the position of 
chief clerk and finally being transferred to the 
thriving town of Waynesburg, Stark county, 
as ticket and freight agent, an incumbency 
which he retained until April i, 1890, his ser- 
vices having been faithful and able, as is evi- 
dent from his retention in the important 
capacity. He then resigned the agency and 
went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, to accept the po- 
sition of bill clerk in the offices of the Chicago, 
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad at that point. 
On the 1st of January, 1891, he resigned his 
position, by reason of the fact that a ten per 
cent, reduction was made in the salary of every 



employe of the system and he did not feel 
it necessary to submit to the same. After a 
short visit with relatives in Iowa and Nebraska 
he returned to his home in Magnolia, and about 
two months later he entered upon a position 
to do extra work in the employ of the Cleve- 
land & Pittsburg Railroad, and thus continued 
until April i, 1892, when he was appointed 
freight agent of this road at Bedford, Cuya- 
hoga county, filling this position until January 
I, 1894, when he was appointed extra agent, 
his duties being to serve as temporary agent at 
various points, in case of removals, illness or 
other contingencies. In this important and 
exacting capacity he continued to efficiently 
serve until the ist of December, 1898, when 
he came to the paternal home, in response to 
the earnest request of his venerable father, who 
was living alone with his only daughter at the 
time, and who, as the result of a small burglary 
which had been perpetrated in the home, felt 
the need of having his son with him ; the sub- 
ject resigned his position and resumed his place 
in the old homestead. After about four months 
the alarm felt by his father lost its insistency 
and our subject then resumed his association 
with railroading, in which his long and varied 
experience had made him a valued officer. At 
this time he became chief clerk in the executive 
office, in Wellsville, of the superintendent of 
the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railroad, being 
called to fill the temporary vacancy caused by 
the illness of the regular incumbent. Three 
months later Mr. Greer resumed his former 
position as special agent with the same road 
and continued in such until the 15th of Oc- 
tober, 1899, when he resigned the office, and on 
the 19th of the same month was solemnized 
his marriage to Miss Winona Pickering, of 
Wellsville, Columbiana county, where she was 
born, being a daughter of Milton and Theresa 
Pickering, an influential family of that place. 
After a wedding tour extending to leading 
eastern cities Mr. Greer returned with his bride 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1185 



to Magnolia, and on the 23d of November, 
1899, the present banking firm of WilHam H. 
Greer's Sons was organized and the Bank of 
MagnoHa was estabhshed, and our subject be- 
came an executive officer in the same, assuming 
the position of cashier. The bank is further 
mentioned in the sketch of Clarence S. Greer. 
Of the Greer-Beatty Clay Company, organized 
in April, 1902, William Beatty was made presi- 
dent and superintendent; Richard E. Greer, 
vice-president ; and Clarence S. Greer, secretary 
and treasurer, and this enterprise, with its fine 
facilities, is certain to become one of the most 
prominent industrial concerns in this section. 
In politics Mr. Greer is a stanch Republican 
and fraternally he is a member of Sandy Valley 
Lodge No. 725, Knights of Pythias, while he 
is popular is railroad, business and social cir- 
cles, having a wide acquaintanceship through- 
out the state by reason of his long identification 
with railroading interests. 



JOHN C. CORNELL.— In connection 
with the review of the career of George 
F. Knight, the founder and present head 
of the Knight Manufacturing Company, as 
incorporated on other pages of this volume, 
is given adequate description of the important 
industrial enterprise, and without recapitula- 
tion of the data we may here proceed to a con- 
sideration of the life history of the able and val- 
ued superintendent of the concern, John C. Cor- 
nell, through whose efforts much has been done 
to forward the rise of the enterprise to its pres- 
ent important standmg among the leading 
manufacturing industries of the city of Canton, 
the output of the plant being sawmill, well 
drilling and prospecting machinery. 

Mr. Cornell has been a resident of Canton 
since the spring of 1877. and during the first 
decade after here taking up his abode he was 

employed principally in the works of the C. 

74 



Aultman Company, while in 1897 he accepted 
his present position, of which he has since been 
incumbent, coming to the same well equipped 
with technical ability and with excellent execu- 
tive capacity, as his services have amply demon- 
strated. 

John C. Cornell is a native of the old Em- 
pire state of the Union, having been born in 
town of Honeyoye, Ontario county. New York, 
on the i8th of September, 1856, and being a 
son of Stephen S. and Sarah (Bigelow) Cor- 
nell, both of whom were born in the state of 
New York, while the former was a distant rela- 
tive of Ezra Cornell, the distinguished founder 
of the university which bears his name. I'hc 
Bigelow family was early founded in America, 
the original progenitors having located in Mas- 
sachusetts, with whose annals the name has 
long been identified, and his family, as well 
as the Cornell, is of stanch English ex- 
traction. When the subject was but four 
years of age his parents removed from New 
York to Ohio, locating in Huron county, 
where his father was engaged in mercantile 
business until 1868, when they removed to 
Iowa City, Iowa, our subject being at the time 
a lad of twelve years. Stephen S. Cornell died 
in Canton, in the year 1895, and his wife passed 
away, in Canton, in 1888. They became the 
parents of four children, of whom two are liv- 
ing at the present time, he to whom this sketch 
is dedicated having been the second in order of 
birth. The subject received his rudimentary 
educational training in his native town, and 
thereafter continued his studies in the schools 
of Huron count}', Ohio, and Iowa City, and he 
learned the trade of machinist in Iowa City 
and thereafter worked as a journej^man until 
1877, when he came to Canton, and since that 
time his career has been already outlined in 
preceding paragraphs. In politics he accords 
a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, 
having cast his first presidential vote in support 
of James A. Garfield, and fraternally he is iden- 



ii86 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tificd with tlie Knights of Pythias, i^eing aflili- 
ated with Buckeye Lodge No. 1 1 . 

On the 14th of June, 1888, Mr. Cornell was 
united in marriage to Miss Minnie Black, who 
was born and reared in Canton, being a daugh- 
ter of J. L. Black, who is now a resident of 
Canton. The subject ajid his wife have one 
son, Clifford, who was born on the 8th of Au- 
gust, 1872, and who is now eleven years old. 



JACOB MUSKOPF.— He of whom we 
now write is a worthy scion of sterling pioneer 
stock in Stark county, and has himself con- 
triljuted a due quota to the work of progi'ess 
through his well directed efforts in connection 
with the great basic art of agriculture, being 
now one of the representative farmers of Sugar 
Creek township, and it is certainly consonant 
that he be given a place in this volume. 

Jacob Muskopf comes of a stanch lineage 
on both the paternal and maternal sides. He 
is a native son of Stark county, having been 
"born on a farm in Bethlehem township, on the 
17th of March, 1852, and being a son of John 
and Mary (Zintsmeister) Muskopf, both of 
whom were born in the kmgdom of Bavaria. 
Germany, the date of the former's nativity hav- 
ing been 181 7. They were married in Stark 
countv, having cast in their lot with the early 
settlers of Bethlehem township, where the fa- 
ther of the subject has developed one of the 
valuable farms of this section of the state, hav- 
ing a landed estate of three hundred and seven - 
tv-two acres and having attained his success 
entirely through his own efforts, while he has 
lived a life of industry and utmost honor, 
commanding the uniform confidence and esteem 
of the community in which he has so long 
maintained his home and lieing now one of the 
venerable pioneer citizens of the county. He 
is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party, 
and for a number of years has been a valued 
memlier of the school board of his district. He 



and his devoted wife have long been worthy 
and zealous members of the Evangelical church. 
Jacob Muskopf, to whom this sketch is dedi- 
cated, came to Sugar Creek township \\hen 
one year old. Pie early became familiar with 
all the details of that vocation to which he has 
ever since devoted his attention, and his educa- 
tional advantages were such as were afforded 
in the district schools of the pioneer era. He 
continued to assist his father in the operation 
of the home farm until he had attained years 
of maturity, and his independent career has 
been one of signal success and honor. In 1874 
he effected the purchase of his present fine farm. 
of two hundred and twenty acres, in section 
twenty-six, Sugar Creek township, and here 
he has since given his attention to diversified 
agricultuie, to the raising of excellent grades 
of live stock and to the timber business, from 
whicli last department of his enterprise he has 
reilized excellent profits, as has he also from 
his more specific farming industry, which he 
has conducted with marked discretion and 
energy, being known as one of the model farm- 
ers of this section of the county. He takes .a 
lively interest in public affairs of a local nature 
and is stanchly arrayed in support of the prin- 
ciples and policies of the Democratic party, 
though he has never been an office-seeker. For 
the past seventeen years he has rendered effec- 
tive service as a member of the school board, 
the catise of education finding in him a progres- 
sive supporter. Fraternally he is identified with 
the Knights of Pythias, affiliating with Lodge 
No. 520, at Beach City. The parents of Mrs. 
Muskopf were John and Catherine (Garver) 
Ricksecker, both of whom were born in Switzer- 
land, whence they emigrated to the United States 
about the year 1834, and became numbered 
among the pioneers of Stark countv, where the 
former died at the age of eighty- four yenrs, 
while his wife lived to attain the age of eighty- 
seven years. Six of their children are still liv- 
ing. In 1874 Mr. Muskopf married their 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1187 



daughter Sarah, who was born in this county, 
where she was reared and educated, and of this 
tuiion have been born seven children, namely : 
Clara, Arie, Vesta, Ruth, Kate, John C. and 
Walter. 



URIAH C. WARD is a native of the state 
of Pennsylvania, having been born in Fayette 
county, on the 28th of August, 1846, and being 
a son of Frederick C. and Mary Ann (Lane) 
Ward, both families having been estal)lished in 
the old Keystone state at an early period in its 
history, both families bemg of German extrac- 
tion. The father of the subject was born in 
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, on the 
6th of April, 1809, and in that same county 
occurred the birtli of his de^-oted wife, the date 
of her nativity having been February 28, 18 18. 
Both were reared to maturity there and there 
they remained several years after their mar- 
riage, Mr. Ward having been a boatbuilder by 
trade and vocation, while he was also identified 
,with agricultural pursuits in his native state. 
In 1852 they emigrated to Ohio and took up 
their residence on a farm, partially improved, 
in Sugar Creek township, Stark county, where 
they passed the remainder of their lives and 
W'here the father developed his place into one of 
the valuable farms of this .section, the area of 
the same being one hundred and thirty-five 
acres. On this homestead his death occurred. 
on the 9th of March, 1898, at which time he 
had attained the venerable age of eighty-seven 
vears, while his wife preceded him into eternal 
rest by exactly four years to a day, having 
passed away on the 9th of March, 1894. at the 
age of seventy-three years. None of the pio- 
neers of the community were held in higher es- 
teem and none lived lives of more signal use- 
fulness and honor. Mr. Ward was originally 
a Democrat in his political proclivities, but 
transferred his allegiance to the Republican 
party soon after its formation, and ever after- 



ward continued a .stanch advocate of its princi- 
ples. Though a firm believer in the verities 
of Christianity he was never formally identified 
with any religious body, his wife having been 
a member of the United Brethren cliurch. 
They became the parents of four children, 
namely : Morgan, who is engaged in farming 
in .Summit county; Jesse, who is a resident of 
Missouri, where he is engaged in farming; 
Melissa, who died at the age of ten years; 
Uriah C, who is the immediate subject of this 
review ; and Laura B., who died at the age of 
fifty years. 

Uriah C. Ward was a lad of six years at the 
time of his parents' removal from- Pennsylvania 
to Stark county, and thus he has practically 
passed his entire life in this section ;ind is 
known as one of its most loyal citizens. He 
was reared under the sturdy discipline of the 
farm and early became inured to hard work, 
which always exercises valuable functions in 
character building. As a youdi he conned his 
lessons in the district schools of the pioneer 
days, and there laid the foundation for that 
broad and practical knowledge which now de- 
notes his intellectual equipment. He has ever 
continued to be activeh' identified with the 
the great generic industry of agriculture, and 
on his fine farm of one hundred and forty-six 
acres, in Sugar Creek township, are found the 
most pronounced and unmistakable evidences 
of thrift and prosperity, the place being 
equipped with substantial and commodious 
buildings, including a spacious and attractive 
residence. Mr. Ward gives his attention to di- 
versified farming and also to the raising of a 
high grade of live stock. He was one 
of those most prominently concerned in 
the organization of the Beach City Bank- 
ing Company, in which he is one of the 
principal stockholders, and he has been presi- 
dent of the company siixe 1898, and as such 
gives most able service in directing the affairs 
of the bank, bringing to bear that same mature 



ii88 



OLD LANDMARKS 



judgment and that business acumen which have 
been the conservators of his individual success. 
In poHtics Mr. Ward is a stalwart Republican 
and while he takes a deep interest in all that 
touches the general welfare of the community 
he has never manifested the slightest ambition 
for political preferment. He has been for a 
number of years a member of the school board 
of his district and is incumbent of this office 
at the present time. The family attend the 
United Brethren church in Beach City. 

On the 5th of December, 1878, Mr. Ward 
was united in marriage to Miss Irene Rosetta 
Breninger, who was born in Noble county, In- 
diana, being a daughter of Daniel and Sarah 
(Weimer) Breninger, the former of whom was 
born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and the lat- 
ter in Sugar Creek township, Stark county, 
where her father, David Weimer, was one of 
the early settlers. The parents of Mrs. Ward 
removed from this county to Noble county, In- 
diana, where they passed the remainder of their 
lives, her father being there engaged in farm- 
ing. In the family were eight daughters and 
two sons, and of the number eight are living 
at the present time. Mr. and Mrs. Ward have 
two sons, Harry B., who was born on the 23d 
of February, 1884, was graduated in the Beach 
City high school as a member of the class of 
1901 and is now employed in the bank of which 
his father is president; and CuUen Artemas, 
who was born on the 13th of January, 1886, 
remains at the parental home, having received 
his educational discipline in the public schools. 



FREDERIC S. HARTZELL.— Through- 
out the civilized world the name of the city of 
Canton, which was his cherished home and the 
present residence of his devoted wife, is in- 
separably associated with that of the lamented 
and martyred President McKinley, and in no 
quarter is his name held in higher reverence 
than in his home city. It is thus fitting that 



it should be the portion of a native son of Can- 
ton to be so prominently identified with the- 
McKinley National Memorial Association as 
is the subject of this review, who has the dis- 
tinction of being a secretary of the same, to the- 
furthering of whose noble object, in the erec- 
tion of an appropriate monument to the mem- 
ory of the nation's distinguished and martyred 
executive, eminent statesmen and noble patriot, 
his services are being given with zeal and 
energy. Of the ancestral history of the subject 
we need not enter into detail at this point, since 
on other pages of this work appears a personal 
sketch of his honored father. Dr. Josiah Hart- 
zeil, one of the prominent citizens of Canton. 

Frederic S. Hartzell was born in what is ■ 
known as the old Lovett homestead, in North 
Market street, Canton, on the 22d of August, 
i860, and through both paternal and maternal 
lines and through his marriage he is identi- 
fied with prominent pioneer families of Stark 
county. He was reared to maturity in his na- 
tive city, receiving his early educational dis- 
cipline in the public schools, after which he 
entered the Canton Collegiate Institute, of 
which William H. H. Avery was president, 
and here he continued his studies under most 
efTective direction until he had attained the age 
of sixteen years. He then went to North 
Platte, Nebraska, which was then a bustling 
little frontier city, where he secured a clerical 
position in a bank, retaining this incumbency 
two years, and thereafter being identified with 
the same line of enterprise in several of the 
new towns in Colorado, including Canon City, 
Silver Clifif and Leadville, where he became 
familiar with the scenes and incidents char- 
acteristic of life in the mining towns. He 
remained in Colorado until 1884, when he re- 
turned to Canton, and on the 5th of December 
of that year he was there united in marriage to 
Miss Helen Whiting, a daughter of the late 
Julius Whiting, one of Stark county's most 
distinguished citizens and one to whom a me- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1189 



morial tribute is consistently entered elsewhere 
in (his work. After his marriage Mr. Hartzell 

■was for three years engaged in lousiness in 
Cleveland, then removing to Wooster, this 
state. Here and in Canton he was identified 
with manufacturing interests until 1898. 
His wife's health had in the meantime 
become seriously impaired, and thereafter he 
traveled with her for several years for the pur- 
pose of recuperating her energies. In 1.90 1, 
when the McKinley National Memorial Asso- 
ciation was organized, Mr. Hartzell was made 
secretary of the Ohio auxiliary of the same, 
and when the national organization was per- 
fected he was chosen assistant secretary of the 
association, and has since continued in this ca- 
pacity. 

From the time of attaining his legal ma- 
jority Mr. Hartzell has rendered a stanch al- 
legance to the Republican party, and has been 
an advocate of the principles and policies for 
which it stands sponsor. He is well known in 
his native city and county, and his friends may 
well be said to be in number as his acquaint- 
ances. Mrs. Hartzell was summoned to eter- 
nal rest on the 28th of January, 1901, in New 
York city, and is survived by her only son, ' 
Donald Whiting Hartzell, who was born on 
the 3d of January, 1886, and who is at the 
time of this writing a student in the University 

; School in the citv of Cleveland. 



GEORGE H. LEGGETT.— Among those 
prominently identified with railroading inter- 
ests and maintaining headquarters in the city of 
Canton is Mr. Leggett, who is here incumbent 
of the office of local freight agent of the Wheel- 
ing & Lake Erie Railroad. He has risen to 
this responsible preferment through his own 
efforts and is known as an able and discrimi- 
nating official. Mr. Leggett came to Canton 
in 1880, as a young man, and here became a 



messenger and student in the employ of the 
Connotton Valley Railroad Company, the same 
being now operated by the Wheeling & Lake 
Erie Company and the line being known as 
the Cleveland, Canton & Southern division. 
In 1885 he was appointed station agent at 
Canton for the Connotton Valley Railroad, re- 
ceiving this promotion in April of that year, 
and he served in the capacity noted until 1S91, 
from which time until 1899 he was paymaster 
and traveling auditor for the Cleveland, Can- 
ton & Southern. In the meanwhile this line 
had been absorbed by the Wheeling & Lake 
Erie system, and in the year mentioned our 
subject was advanced to his present position, 
of which he has ever since been incumbent. 
He is known as a thorough railroad man, 
having been a close student of the intricate 
methods and systems involved, and he has the 
confidence and esteem of his superior officers 
and of the people with whom he is thrown in 
contact in his executive capacity. 

George H. Leggett is a native of the Buck- 
eye state, having been born on a farm in Brown 
township, Carroll county, Ohio, on the 3d of 
January, 1858. There he was reared to the 
age of about twelve years, having in the mean- 
while secured his rudimentary education in the 
district schools, and he then accompanied his 
parents on their removal to the state of Vir- 
gnia, this being in the year 1873. Later they 
took up their abode in Barnesville, Charlotte 
county, that state, where the subject eventually 
engaged in the mercantile business, in company 
with his brother John, and there he continued 
to make his home until 1880, when he came 
to Canton, as has been duly noted in the open- 
ing paragraph of this sketch, while his later 
course has also been adequately outlined from 
that time to the present. In politics Mr. Leg- 
gett is a stanch advocate of the principles of 
the Republican party, having cast his first 
presidential vote for James A. Garfield, and 
his religious views are to a large degree domi- 



1 190 



OLD LANDMARKS 



nated by the faith of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, under whose influence he was reared, 
his parents having been devoted members of 
the same. Fraternally he is identified with the 
Masonic order, being affiliated with Canton 
Lodge No. 60, Free and Accepted Masons, in 
Canton. 

On the 5th of April, 1887, Mr. Leggett 
was united in marriage to Miss Rose A. 
Menches, of Canton, where she was born and 
reared, being a daughter of Jacob Menches. 
Of this union has been born one son, George 
Raymond, who is now a student in the Canton 
city schools. 

Sutton Leggett, the father of the subject, 
devoted the major portion of his active life to 
farming, and he now lives retired in the city of 
Canton. He was born, it is thought, in Car- 
roll county, Ohio, being of stanch English line- 
age, while his wife, whose maiden name was 
Mary- Tressell, is of German extraction. She 
was born in Carroll county, Ohio, and is a 
sister of Dr. John Tressell, a representative 
physician of Alliance, Stark county, while her 
brother Leonard was formerly a prominent 
business man of Canton, where his death oc- 
curred several j-ears ago. Mr. Leggett is vice- \ 
mayor and president of the city council of the 
city of Canton, being elected for two years 
at the last April election. 



PAUL GSCHWEND.— On other pages 
of this work is given, in connection with the 
sketch of Gustavus Elbel, an adequate descrip- 
tion of the important enterprise conducted by 
the Elbel Company, of which Mr. Gschwend is 
vice-president, and thus it is not requisite that 
we enter at this point further detail in regard 
to this well known manufacturing industry of 
the city of Canton. Mr. Gschwend arrived 
in Canton on the 12th of January, 1881. and 
became a partner in the concern of which he 
is now vice-president and general manager, 



having been previously identified with the en- 
terprise during the time its plant was located 
in the city of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, his 
capitalistic interest in the business thus dating 
from the year 1875, while it was originally 
conducted under the title of the Crawford 
Manufacturing Company. 

Mr. Gschwend was born in the town of 
Butler. Butler county, Pennsylvania, on the 
27th of August, 1848, and was there reared to 
the age of eight years, initiating his edu- 
cational work in the public schools of that 
place and completing his studies in the schools 
of Allegheny City, whither his parents re- 
moved in 1858. In 1862 Mr. Gschwend be- 
gan work in the establishment of the old firm 
of OInhausen, Crawford & Company, of that 
city, his initial duties being those of a filer 
in the fitting department, while his emolument 
at this time was the princely stipend of two 
dollars a week. He thus started at the foot 
of the ladder and his rises through the various 
grades of promotion through his own energy 
and ability, until he has become one of the 
principals in a large and important industrial 
enterprise, while his intimate knowledge of all 
details of the work justifies his retention in 
his practical executive office of genera] man- 
ager, aside from the otlier position which he 
holds more particularly by reason of his capi- 
talistic investment. He is a progressive and 
public-spirited citizen and is loyal to the inter- 
ests of his home city in every way. His po- 
litical allegiance goes forth in an unequivocal 
way to the Democratic party, and his religious 
faith is that of the Roman Catholic church, 
both he and his wife being communicants of 
St. Peter's church, in Canton. Fraternally 
he is identified with the local lodge of the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and 
the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association. 

Peter Gschwend, father of the subject, was 
born in Endingen. Germany, whence he emi- 
grated to America in 1840, making the voy- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 191 



age on the sailing ship "Oceanic" and being 
forty-two days on the ocean. In Germany 
he learned the trade of shoemaker, and for 
some time after his arrival in America he fol- 
lowed the same in the city of Allegheny, after 
which he became tollkeeper on the Butler plank 
road, retaining this incumbency until 1874, 
when he died, at the age of sixty-seven years. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Rosa Hess, 
accompanied him on his emigration to the new 
world, their eldest child having been born in 
the fatherland, while ten were later added to 
the family circle, the subject of this review 
having been the seventh in order of birth, while 
of the number six are living at the present time. 
The venerable mother still maintains her home 
in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, and cele- 
brated her ninety-first birthday on the 13th of 
September, 1903. The father of the subject 
was for six years a soldier in the German 
army. 

In Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, on the 
29th of October, 1872, Paul Gschwend was 
united in marriage to Miss Cecilia Zirhut, who 
was born in that city, and of this union have 
been born ten children, namely: Edward G., 
who died at the age of eleven years; William 
Bennett, who is a traveling salesman for the 
Elbel Company; Cecilia R., who is the wife 
of E. C. DePutron, of Canton; Lawrence J., 
who remains at the parental home, being em- 
ployed in the office of the Elbel Company ; H. 
Norbert, who is assistant bookkeeper for the 
company; Helen G., who remains at home; 
Grover E., who died at the age of twelve 
years; and Leo J., Marie B. and Ferdinand A., 
who are attending school in Canton. 



CHARLES P. DUFF.— One of the im- 
portant industrial entei-prises of the city of 
Canton is that conducted by the Elbel Com- 
pany, manufacturers of saddlery hardware, 
and of the same Mr. Duff' is one of the stock- 



holders and a member of its directorate, while 
he is also serving in the executive capacity of 
secretary of the company. Mr. Duff came to 
Canton in iSSi as bookkeeper and cashier of 
this concern, and upon the reorganization of 
the same, at wliicli time the oimpany was duly 
incoiporated under the laws of the state, he 
was elected to the office of secretary, a position 
of which he has ever since remained incumbent. 
Charles P. Duff is a native of the dominion 
of Canada, having been born in the picturesque 
old city of St. John's, New Brunswick, on the 
roth of September, 1837. Three years later, 
in 1840, his parents removed to the city of 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he received his 
early educational discipline in the public 
schools, later attending Westminster College, 
at Wilmington, Pennsylvania, where he com- 
pleted his purely scholastic education at the 
age of nineteen years, after which he was en- 
gaged as bookkeeper and cashier with vari- 
ous firms in Pittsburg, where he remained un- 
til his removal' to Canton, as already noted. 
His father, Peter Duff, was a native of Scot- 
land and possessed of the dominating traits 
which have ever indicated the canny Scotsman, 
—integrity, marked pragmatic ability and well 
balanced mentality. He emigrated to America 
when a young man and engaged in mercantile 
pursuits in St. John's, New Brunswick, where 
he remained until his removal to Pittsburg, 
\\-here he founded and long continued what was 
and is yet known as Duff's Business College, 
an institution which attained a high reputation 
and one which many residents of Canton at- 
tended in the early days, as is shown by vari- 
ous references in the sketches appearing in this 
compilation. After taking up his abode in 
Pittsburg Peter Duff also compiled and pub- 
lished a standard work on bookkeeping, while 
he attained marked precedence in educational 
circles. He died in Pittsburg, in 1869, at 
which time he was about sixty-seven years of 
age. In St. John's, New Brunswick, was sol- 



II92 



OLD LANDMARKS 



eninized his marriage to Miss Eliza Jane Mar- 
ter, a daughter of General Thomas P. Marter, 
of the British army, who was then stationed 
in that place, the family being of stanch Eng- 
lish lineage. Of this vinion were born seven 
children, of whom five are living at the pres- 
ent time. 

In the city of Pittsburg, on the 19th of 
March, 1S62, the subject of this sketch was 
imited in marriage to Miss Lizzie Edgar, who 
was born in that city. She was summoned into 
eternal rest at the family home in Canton, in 
1888, at the age of forty-eight years, and her 
funeral services were conducted from the First 
Methodist Episcopal church, of which she was 
a devoted member. On the 22d of November, 
1890. Mr. Duff consummated a second mar- 
riage, being then united to Miss Etta B. Sny- 
der, of Canton, and they now reside in an at- 
tractive home at 3150 West Tuscarawas street 
extension. In politics Mr. Dufif gives his al- 
legiance to the Republican party, and frater- 
nally he is affiliated with Center Avenue Lodge 
No. 124, of the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen, in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania. 

EDWARD S. RAl' F. late president of the , 
Central Savings Bank, and during life one of 
Canton's most prominent and progressive citi- 
zens, was born in Canton, Ohio, November 17, 
1858. and was the son of the late Judge George 
W. Raff. His preliminary education was ob- 
tained at the Canton Union school, after which 
he attended the Canton Academy. Graduat- 
ing from the academy in 1877, he entered 
Wooster University the same year, from which 
he was graduated with the class of 1881. 
While in the university he was a member of 
the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and of the Irving 
Library Society. He took first prize in the 
Junior contest for an original declamation, and 
first prize in the inter-society oratorical contest, 



the latter at the end of his senior year. During 
the winter of 1881-82 Mr. Rafif was for a short 
time in the employ of the First National Bank 
of Canton, and afterwards for some months 
was engaged in the office of the Peerless Reap- 
er Works. In the spring of 1882 he went to 
Omaha, Nebraska, and shortly afterwards was 
appointed assistant cashier of the Omaha Sav- 
ings Bank, then newly organized. He retained 
the position until October, 1885, when he re- 
signed it and accompanied his parents into Cali- 
fornia, where he remained until March, 1886, 
spending his time in San Jose and Los Angeles, 
when he returned to Omaha and occupied a po- 
sition in the Union Trust Company of that 
place. This position he held until October, 
1886, when he surrendered it, and after a trip 
to New York and other points in the east, re- 
turned to California and remained with his par- 
ents in that state for some time. He then re- 
turned to Canton and soon afterwards he and 
his father established the Central Savings Bank 
of this city, with Judge Rafif as president and 
the subject as cashier. The success of the 
bank was assured from the very beginning and 
continued, the institution becoming the leading 
banking house in Canton. In 1900, following 
Judge Raff's death, Edward S. was chosen 
president of the bank, a position he held until 
the time of his deith, which occurred at Tuc- 
son, Arizona, on February 2,_ 1901. During 
the above period Mr. Raff was actively inter- 
ested in a number of local enterprises and 
manufacturing concerns, and also with several 
local institutions. He was a director of the 
M. C. A., and a director of the Canton Li- 
brary Association. He was a prominent mem- 
ber of the Trinity Lutheran church, and a 
member of the council of that congregation. 
He was a trustee of the Hartford Poor Fund, 
and an administrator of the estate of Mrs. 
Aultman ; also left large sums to Canton insti- 
tutions. He was also a director in the Con- 
gress Lake Outing Club. Mr. Rafif was a 





J^/.' 




CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 193 



Democrat in politics, and was prominent in the 
councils of that party both locally and in the 
state organization. In 1894 he was the Demo- 
cratic candidate for congress in this district, 
in the three-cornered fight between himself, 
Taylor and Coxey. The district was largely 
Republican, but it is more than probable that 
had Coxey been eliminated from the contest 
Mr. Raff would have been elected, as Coxey 
drew the most of his votes from the Democratic 
party. Mr. Raff became a member of the 
Democratic state committee. In igoo he was 
an elector on the Bryan presidential ticket. He 
was closely associated with the leaders of his 
party throughout the state, including such as 
John R. McLean and John H. Clarke, the pres- 
ent Democratic candidate for the United States 
senate. 



GUSTAVUS ELBEL is a worthy repre- 
sentative of that valued type of men whom 
the German fatherland has given to America 
and through whose efforts the march of prog- 
ress has been distinctively accelerated. He is 
a native of the kingdom of Saxony, Germany, 
where he was torn on the 24th of June, 1835, 
and in his native land he attended the excellent 
•schools until he had attained the age of four- 
teen years, when, in the year 1849, he accom- 
panied his parents, Henry and Sophia (Bow- 
ers) Elbel, on their emigration to America. 
They embarked, in the city of Bremen, on the 
sailing vessel "Beethoven," and after a voyage 
of forty-nine days' duration the ship dropped 
anchor in the port of the city of Baltimore, 
Maryland, where the family remained for a few 
weeks. The father of the subject found it 
impossible to there secure a satisfactory posi- 
tion in the work of his trade, that of tanner, 
and he accordingly proceeded to Jefferson 
<:ounty, Pennsylvania, where he purchased a 
tract of land and turned his attention to agri- 
-cultural pursuits, becoming one of the pros- 



perous and honored farmers of that section of 
the old Keystone state, where he passed the 
remainder of his long and signally useful life, 
passing away in 1S74, at the age of seventy- 
four years, while his devoted wife died in the 
same county in 1882 or 1883, both having been 
zealous members of the Lutheran church, while 
Mr. Elbel espoused the cause of the Repub- 
lican party after attaining the right of fran- 
chise. This worthy couple became the parents 
of five children, all of whom were born in 
Germany, and all of whom came to the United 
States with their parents, three of the number 
surviving at the present time. 

The subject of this review remained in the 
city of Baltimore about ten months after the 
remainder of the family had removed to Penn- 
sylvania, having secured work in setting up 
ten pins in a bowling alley, and receiving in 
compensation the munificent sum of two dol- 
lars per month, with board included. At the 
expiration of the time noted he made his way 
on a canal packet-boat to the city of Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania, where he entered the employ of 
his uncle, Augtist Bowers, who was there en- 
gaged in the manufacture of scales. Mr. Elbel 
was thus engaged for several years, and there- 
after he devoted his attention for a time to set- 
ting up stoves in a local factory. His next 
move was to serve an apprenticeship at the 
trade of patternmaking, in which he attained 
marked efficiency, and through this facility he 
was led to become identified with the line of 
enterprise through which he has attained so 
marked success. In the year 1847 the firm 
of Eaton, OInhausen & Company had estab- 
lished a manufactory of saddlery hardware in 
the city of Pittsburg, and in 1850 a reorganiza- 
tion took place, the title of the firm being then 
changed to OInhausen, Crawford & Company. 
Of this concern Mr. Elbel became an em- 
ploye, while in 1868 the business had an- 
other change and was thereafter conducted 
under the title of John Crawford & Company, 



I 194 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the subject becoming a member of this fimi in 
the year 1869. In 1880 it was reorganized 
under the name of Elbel, Gilham & Company, 
while the present title of Elbel & Company was 
adopted in 1884, the business having in the 
meanwhile been removed from Pittsburg to 
Canton. In January, 1881, the headquarters 
were established in Canton, the original plant 
having been the old printing-press works, on 
Mulberry street, alterations on the building 
having been started in September, 1880. in 
order to fit the same for the new uses to which 
it was to be devoted. The building at the 
time extended across the present line of East 
Ninth street. The plant was destroyed by 
fire in the year 1884, and the municipal gov- 
ernment, in order to provide for the opening 
of the street mentioned, agreed to give the 
company two lots in East Ninth street in ex- 
change for that portion of their ground upon 
which the former buildings liad been located, 
the stipulation being made that the company 
erect their new plant back to the building line 
of-East Ninth street, and through this arrange- 
ment the street mentioned was opened to the 
line C'f Mulberry street. The first plant of 
the Elbel Company was ready to be put into 
practical operation in the middle of March, 
1S81, while on the corps of employes were to 
be found many of the men who had formerly 
been employed by the company in their plant 
at Allegheny City, Pennslvania, a large pro- 
portion of them having secured houses in Can- 
ton. At the time of the destruction of the 
plant, in the month of December, 1884. ar- 
rangements were immedately made for the re- 
building of the works upon a more extensive 
scale, and by August of the following vear the 
new and finely equipped plant was ready to be 
put in operation, while since that time extensive 
additions have been made and many improve- 
ments inaugurated, the buildings now cover- 
ing about two acres, while the grounds owned 
and utilized by the company comprise two 



acres, and the best of transportation facilities 
are afforded, the lines of several railroads being 
in close proximity to the plant, which has spe- 
cial connections. The manufactory was kept 
in active operation about three hundred days 
in the year until the financial panic of 1893, 
and thereafter, for a short period, the same was 
operated on half time, but at the present time 
the business is running at full capacity. The 
executive corps of the Elbel Company is as 
follows : Gustavus Elbel, president and treas- 
urer; Paul Gschwend, vice-president and gen- 
eral manager; and Charles P. Duff, secretary. 
Mr. Elbel is a man of fine executive and initia- 
tive ability, broad-minded and progressive in 
his policy, and all this is well and significantly 
indicated in the greaf enterprise at whose head 
he now stand?, while he enjoys unlimited con- 
fidence and esteem in the business world and 
the high regard of all who know him in a per- 
sonal way. In politics he accords a stanch 
allegiance to the Republican party, and his re- 
ligious faith is that of the Swedenborgian 
church, of which his wife likewise was a de- 
voted member. The wife died in 1895. 

In the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 
1862, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Elbel to Miss Elizabeth Enderegg, of that city, 
and they became the parents of four children, 
namely : Louisa, who is the wife of Chris- 
topher' Fultheimer. of Canton ; Henry, who is 
identified with the business of the Elbel Com- 
pany ; Caroline, who is the wife of John Ho- 
busch, of Canton ; and Kate, who remains at 
the parental home. 



JOHN M. STEWART is a native of the 
old Keystone state, where the family has been 
established for many generations, the original 
ancestors liaving come hither in the colonial 
epoch of our national history, being of Scotch 
and Irish blood, while the name has stood ever 
as exponent for sterling character and distinc- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1195 



tive" usefulness in connection with civic life 
and productive utilities. Mr. Stewart was 
born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, on the 
4th of April, 1873, being a son of Richard D. 
and Matilda (Moore) Stewart, whose six chil- 
dren are all living at the present time, while 
the immediate family has been signally fa- 
vored, in that death has never invaded its cir- 
cle. Of the six children we incorporate brief 
data, as follows : Mamie is the wife of James 
McCready, of Ottawa county, Kansas; Mar- 
garet remains at the parental home in Pennsyl- 
vania ; Nannie is the wife of James Stewarts, 
of East Liverpool, Columbiana county, Ohio ; 
John M., of this sketch, was the next in order 
of birth ; and Frank and Harry remain beneath 
the old home rooftree. 

Richard D. Stewart was born in Washing- 
ton county, Pennsylvania, and was reared to 
the sturdy discipline of the farm, while the 
common schools of the locality and period af- 
forded him his early educational privileges. 
He was married in his native county, where his 
wife was likewise born, and he continued to 
be engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1875, 
when he took up his residence in Hookstown, 
Beaver county, that state, where he established 
himself in the undertaking business, in which 
he has ever since consecutively continued, — 
a period of more than a quarter of a century, 
while he simultaneously became identified with 
the coal business, and he still continues to own 
and operate his mines. In politics he 
is an uncompromising advocate of the 
principles and policies of the Republican 
party. He and his wife are both prominent 
and devoted members of the Presbyterian 
church, in which he has served for many years 
as trustee and treasurer. 

John M. Stewart was a child of two years 
at the time when his parents removed from 
the farm to Hookstown, and there he acquired 
his early education in the public schools, while 
as a boy he began to assist his father in the 



undertaking business, in which he literally 
"grew up," becoming familiar with all details 
and gaining that professional discrimination, 
sympathy and delicacy which are so essential 
in the proper handling of this branch of in- 
dustry, and when he was but sixteen years of 
age he was given an interest in the business 
conducted by his father, and from that time 
forward assumed a large portion of the duties 
and responsibilities involved. In 1895 he was 
married, and in the following year he came to 
]\Tinerva, Stark county, where he purchased the 
undertaking business conducted by T. H. Car- 
penter, while later he also acquired the stock 
and business of P. W. Arnold, who was here 
engaged in the same line of enterprise in con- 
nection with the handling of furniture, so that 
Mr. Stewart thus added this analogous and 
consistent department to his original business, 
and since that time he has conducted the only 
furniture and undertaking business in the city, 
while for one year after coming here he also 
retained his interest in his father's establish- 
ment in Pennsylvania. He has a well equipped 
establishment in Minerva, carrying a complete 
and select stock of furniture in all lines and 
having an undertaking department which will 
compare favorably with those of many of the 
far more populous towns and cities. He is a 
thoroughly skilled embalmer and funeral di- 
rector, and his consideration and kindliness in 
the sad hours when his services are in demand 
in this department of his business have been 
fully appreciated in the community and have 
given him a high place in popular confidence 
and esteem. From the time of attaining his 
legal majority Mr. Stewart has exercised his 
franchise in support of the principles of the 
Republican party, taking an active and intelli- 
gent interest in the questions and issues of the 
hour and in public affairs of a local nature, but 
never seeking the honors or emoluments of 
public office. Fraternally he is an appreciative 
member of the time-honored and beneficent or- 



1 igO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



der of Freemasonry, in which he has attained 
the degrees of the York rite, being identified 
with Tubal Lodge No. 551, Free and Accepted 
Masons, of Minerva; Minerva Chapter No. 
123, Royal Arch Masons, of Carrollton, in 
the adjoining county of Carroll; and Canton 
Commandery No. 38, Knights Templar, in the 
■city of Canton, while he is also a member of 
Minerva Council No. 21, Junior Order of 
United American Mechanics. In religion he 
has ever held to the faith in which he was 
reared, being a prominent and valued member 
of the Presbyterian church in his home town of 
Minerva, in which he is at present serving as a 
member of the board of trustees, while he has 
also been treasurer of the church and superin- 
tendent of its Sunday school for several years, 
his wife likewise being a devoted member of 
the church, in whose work she takes an active 
part. 

On the 5th of September, 1895, Mr. Stew- 
art was united in marriage to Miss Eva R. 
Duff, who was born and reared in Beaver 
county, Pennsylvania, being a daughter of the 
late William B. Duff, a prominent oil operator 
in that state and Ohio, and a man of wealth 
and influence at the time of his death, which 
occurred in the fall of 1902, as the result of 
injuries received in a fall down a staircase. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Margret 
Hassen, still resides in the old home in Dar- 
lington, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart 
have no children. 



CLARENCE S. GREER.— In the old 
homestead in which he now resides, in the 
village of Magnolia, across the line in Carroll 
county, Clarence S. Greer was ushered into 
the world on the 8th of July, 1852, being a 
son of William H. and Charity Margaret 
(Elson) Greer, of whose five children he is the 
•eldest of the four surviving, the others being 
William H. and Richard E.. who are individu- 



ally mentioned elsewhere; and Margaret A., 
who is the wife of Charles E. Beck, Massillon, 
Stark county, where he is engaged in the bank- 
ing business. William H. Greer, Sr., came of 
stanch old Scotch-Irish stock and was bom 
near the village of Cookstown. county Tyrone, 
Ireland, on the 24th of June, 18 14, being a son 
of James and Elizabeth (Harkness) Greer, the 
former of ^^'hom was a tenant on a small farm 
in the Emerald Isle, where he died in early 
manhood, leaving his young wife with four 
small children and dependent upon her own 
resources. The problem which faced the brave 
woman was a serious and critical one, but she 
showed her devotion by making the best pos- 
sible provision for her little family, bringing 
to bear a self-abnegation which should ever 
cause her name to be held in reverence by her 
descendants, in whatever station of life. When 
the father of our subject was fourteen years of 
age he entered upon an apprenticeship in what 
was there known as a cloth shop (the same 
would in this country be designated as a 
select dry-goods store), and when his brother 
Samuel, who was two years younger, had like- 
wise reached the age of fourteen he too began 
an apprenticeship in the same line, the stipula- 
tion in the connection being that each was to 
thus serve for a period of seven years, receiving 
only their lx)ard in compensation for their 
services. William H. served out his term and 
then went to the city of Dublin, where he 
secured a position as a journeyman, but a 
short time later his brother Samuel, who had 
quit his place, persuaded him to emigrate to 
America, and they decided to join their uncle, 
William Harkness, who was residing in Mag- 
nolia, Stark county, being one of the pioneers 
of this section. In course of time they reached 
their destination, in the year 1837, and their 
uncle advised them to take the best available 
means of becoming acquainted with American 
customs and methods, and he thus secured for 
Samuel a position in a dry-goods establishment 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1197- 



in Spring-field, Ohio, while the father of the 
subject secured a place in the city of Wheeling, 
West Virginia. After there remaining for a 
brief interval he returned to Magnolia, where 
he was given an interest in his uncle's business, 
while his brother Samuel proceeded to Wheel- 
ing, where the uncle likewise had property, 
and there Samuel was assisted to establish him- 
self in business. William Harkness, who had 
thus so kindly aided and directed the efforts 
of his young nephews, died in the early '50s, 
and Wilham H. Greer succeeded him in the 
control of the large business which they had 
built up as pioneer merchants, the firm having 
been one of the most prominent in this section. 
They bought cargoes of coffee from New 
Orleans, while their dry goods and other lines 
of merchandise were transported overland from 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, by means of wagons. 
The members of the firm made annual trips to 
the city mentioned, making the journeys on 
horseback and carrying the gold requisite foi; 
their purchases in their saddlebags. William 
H. Greer continued to be actively engaged in 
the mercantile business in Magnolia until the 
time of his death, covering a period of almost 
sixty years. In later years he paid less personal 
attention to his store and gave his time more 
particularly to the extending of financial loans 
and to real-estate transactions, through which 
mediums he was not only helpful to others 
but also increased his financial resources ma- 
terially, becoming one of the most substanatial 
capitalists of this section and wielding a marked 
influence in local affairs. His death occurred 
on the 8th of August, 1899, and the community 
as an entirety mourned the loss of one of its 
valued citizens, able business men and honored 
pioneers. In his early life Mr. Greer exercised 
his franchise in support of the Democratic 
party, but at the time of the war of the Re- 
bellion his uncompromising advocacy of the 
Union cause led him to transfer his allegiance 
to the party which stood as its avowed sponsor. 



and thereafter he was known as a stanch adher- 
ent of the Republican party. He was without 
personal am.bition in a political way, but was 
chosen mayor of Magnolia, while he was the 
incumbent of the office of postmaster here for 
about thirty years. Thomas Greer, a cousin of 
William H., Sr., was a member of the English 
parliament, and another cousin, David Greer, 
was an eminent clergyman of the Presbyterian- 
church. Ihe Sinclair, Stanton and Kluff 
families were also related to the Greers. Will- 
iam H. Greer was reared in the faith of the 
Presbyterian church, and his religious views 
were ever in harmony with its tenets. His 
mother passed her entire life in Ireland, where 
slie died prior to the emigration of her sons 
to America. Charity Margaret (Elson) Greer, 
mother of the subject, was a native of Stark 
county and a member, of one of its earliest pio- 
neer families. She was born in Sandy town- 
ship, on the family homestead one mile north 
of the village of Waynesburg, on the 29th of 
January, 1828, and was one of triplets, two of 
whom survived, she and her sister Catherine 
E., who became the wife of Dr. T. H. Whit- 
acre and who is now deceased. The two sisters 
resembled each other so closely that even their 
intimate friends often mistook one for the other. 
They were children of Richard Elson, who 
came to- .Stark county as a pioneer from Vir- 
ginia, where the family was established in the 
pioneer days. Mrs. Charity M. Greer was 
summoned into eternal rest on the loth of 
March, 1896, having been a woman of noble 
and gracious character and having held the 
affectionate regard of all who came within the 
sphere of her influence, while she was a devoted 
wife and mother. 

Clarence S. Greer, whose name initiates 
this sketch, was reared in his native town and 
received his early business training under the 
effective direction of his able father, while his 
educational discipline was gained in the public 
schools of Magnolia. He continued to assist 



II98 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in the management and work of his father's 
store until two years after his marriage, which 
had teen solemnized in 1882, and then removed 
to a farm of one hundred and seventy-five acres, 
one mile north of Magnolia, the property be- 
longing to his mother. Here he continued to 
be actively and successfully engaged in agricul- 
tural pursuits and stock-growing until the death 
of his father, when he removed to Magnolia 
and soon afterward effected the establishment 
of a private banking business, under the firm 
name of William H. Greer's Sons, his brother 
being associated with him, while the enterprise 
is specifically designated as the Bank of Mag- 
nolia. The bank was organized in November, 
1899, while it is recognized as one of the solid 
and ably conducted financial institutions of the 
county and its business is constantly expanding 
in scope and importance. In April, 1902, 
Clarence S. Greer became associated with 
Wallen M. Beatty in the organization of the 
Greer-Beatty Clay Company, and they now 
have in operation a fine modern plant in which 
are manufactured hollow building blocks and 
fire brick. They have recourse to beds of a 
very superior quality of Hint clay on grounds 
owned and controlled by the firm, and thus have 
facilities which excel those of the greater num- 
ber of concerns engaged in a similar line of 
enterprise in the state. Mr. Greer is a popular 
and valued citizen of Magnolia, of which he is 
at. the present time mayor, giving an intelligent 
and thoroughly businesslike administration of 
municipal affairs. In politics he has ever 
accorded a stanch adherence to the Republican 
party, but his office-seeking proclivities are 
noticeable only from their absence. Fraternally 
he is identified with the Knights of Pythias. 

On the 7th of September, 1882, Mr. Greer 
was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Cable, 
who was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, 
being a daughter of David Cable, a prominent 
and influential farmer of that county, residing 
one mile north of .Sandyville, and of this union 



have been born three children, Ada B., Mary E. 
and Richard C. The Greer family, as may be 
inferred, is one of prominence in the social as 
well as the industrial life of this community, 
and the family homestead, which is occupied 
by Clarence S. and his family, has long been 
known as a center of gracious hospitality. 



FRANKUN R. YARGER.— The earliest 
definitely known fact in regard to the Yarger 
family is that the paternal great-grandfather, 
whose Christian name was either Michael or 
John, was a resident of Huntingdon, Pennsyl- 
vania, in early life but later removed to Ve- 
nango county, that state. He was a blacksmith 
by trade and highly respected by all who knew 
him. His sou, Henry Yarger, the subject's 
grandfather, was born in Huntingdon, Pennsyl- 
vania, about 1777, and died in Pike township, 
Stark county, Ohio, in 1824, at the age of forty- 
seven years. In his youthful years he learned 
the trade of a blacksmith, which vocation he 
followed throughout his later years. In Octo- 
ber, 1 81 6, he came to Ohio, locating in Sandy 
township, Tuscarawas county, subsequently 
locating across the line in Pike township, Stark 
county. He was united in marriage before 
coming to this state and became the father of 
seven children. Adam Yarger, the father of 
the subject, was born in Sandy township, Tus- 
carawas county on the nth of November. 181 6. 
Tie was a lad of but eight years at the time of 
his father's death and his mother, with her 
seven children, had a hard struggle to get 
along. She was determined to rear them to 
honorable manhood and womanhood and de- 
\oted her every thought and action to that end. 
One son, Paul, was bound out, but the mother 
managed to keep the other children under the 
parental roof and succeeded in implanting in 
them those sterling qualities and traits of char- 
acter which enabled them to attain to respected 
and honorable stations in later years. The sub- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 199 



ject's maternal grandmother was Sarah Lower, 
whose father, Adam Lower, came from Ger- 
many to the LTnited States in 1772, his naturah- 
zation papers bearing the date of 1775. He 
enhsted in the colonial army during the 
Revolutionary war and served throughout the 
struggle. Lie was a weaver by trade and a 
man small in stature. His death occurred in 
September, 1804, and he was interred at Will- 
iamsburg, Elair county, Pennsylvania. Adam 
Yarger, as he grew to manhood, learned the 
trade of carpentering and after his marriage he 
located at Sandyville, where he resided until 
his death, e>'cepting two years' residence at 
Navarre. His death occurred on the loth of 
April, TS64, at the age of forty-seven years, and 
his remains lie buried at Sandyville. It is 
Avorthy of note that his father died at the same 
age and that with one exception all of his 
brothers and sisters died between the ages of 
forty and fifty years. The mother of the sub- 
ject bore the maiden name of Mary A. Revell 
and was born in New Philadelphia, Ohio, the 
house in which she was born standing where 
the public sciuare now is. Her birth occurred 
in August, 1823, and she is the daughter of 
Thomas C. and Eve (Hiple) Revell. Her 
father was a native of England and came to 
this country some time prior to 1827, Masonic 
records showing that he paid dues in his lodge 
in that year. He located in New Philadelphia, 
Ohio, where he was employed at his trade, that 
of contracting and building. After a residence 
there of some years, he contracted that dread 
disease, consumption, and Ijecame convinced 
that by going back to England he might re- 
cover. His daughter, the subject's mother, 
intended accompanying him. but prior to his 
departure her mother induced her to remain 
here. The father was in very poor physical 
condition when he embarked and on reaching 
Liverpool he v.role back to his wife, announc- 
ing his arrival and his frail condition. This 
was the last heard of him for seven vears. 



and his wife thinking him dead, mar- 
ried William Fisher. Subsequently, when 
she was on her death bed, her first 
husband returned, but, while he wished to 
show affection for the dying woman, the second 
husband would not allow it. Mr. Revell 
claimed that he had been captured and held a 
prisoner by pirates, thus explaining his long 
silence. .Some years afterward he was again 
married. Lie built the first court house! in 
New Philadelphia and for many years was one 
of the prominent builders of that section of the 
state. He finally succumbed to his old ailment, 
consumption. Grandmother Eve Lliple was a 
nati\e of Pennsylvania and accompanied her 
parents upon their removal to Stark county 
about 1 81 5, they locating in Pike township. 

Franklin R. Yarger, the subject proper, was 
born in Sandyville, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, 
February 2, 1S42. Of the seven children born 
to his parents, but four now survive besides 
himself, namely : Mary E., the wife of Warren 
L. Umstead, of Pike township, this county; 
Oliver H. P., of Canton township, this county; 
Irene, the wife of George Capes, of Cleveland, 
and John E.,of Canton. The subject was reared 
at home and received such education as was 
obtainable in the common schools of the neigh- 
borhood. From his twelfth year he was com- 
pelled to look largely after his own interests 
and he worked for neighboring farmers and at 
whatever he could find to do. In the midst of 
his strenuous struggle to eke out an existence 
the tocsin of war was sounded throughout the 
land and the subject hastened to offer his serv- 
ices to assist in the preservation of the national 
integrity. On the 5th of June, i86r, he enlisted 
in Company D, Fourth Regiment Ohio Volun- 
teer Infantiy, and served valiantly in the de- 
fense of Old Glory until his final discharge, 
June 21, 1864, at Columbus, Ohio. He took 
part in all the battles and marches in which his 
regiment participated and bravely bore his part 
of the hardships and privations which fell to 



I200 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the lot of the brave sons of the North in that 
dire struggle. Among the battles in which he 
participated were Gettysburg, Mine Run, Fred- 
ricksburg, Chancellorsville, the battles of the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor and 
many minor engagements. The history of the 
Fourth Ohio Regiment is a notable one and in- 
cludes the record of sixty-nine battles and skir- 
mishes. The subject did not go through the con- 
flict unscathed, being wounded at the battle of 
Hanover Junction, and again wounded during 
the continuance of this fight on the folbwing 
day. in the battle of Cold Harbor Mr. Yarger 
was badly wounded in the back of the head and 
was put into a baggage wagon and carried eigh- 
teen miles. There were six other wounded 
soldiers in the conveyance and two of them died 
as a direct result of the rough jolting on the 
way. Mr. Yarger's time of enlistment expir- 
ing two days later, he was placed on a boat 
and taken home. His wound proved to be a 
severe one and he has not altogether re- 
covered from its efifects, the nerves of his right 
side having been slightly paralyzed ever since. 

As soon as he was so far recovered as to be 
able to do so, Mr,. Yarger married and settled 
on a farm belonging to his mother-in-law and 
at once entered upon his career as a farmer. 
After the death of his mother-in-law, in 1890, 
the estate was settled and the subject and his 
wife acquired possession of the farm, compris- 
ing one hundred and ninety-five acres of splen- 
did farming land. Prior to this time Mr. Yar- 
ger had purchased two pieces of land, twenty 
acres lieing bought in 1875 and a like amount 
in 18S1. in 1899 he bought thirty-eight acres of 
land lying across the road from the home farm 
and thus he has come into possession of some 
of the finest agricultural property in the county. 

On the 25th of May, 1865, Mr. Yarger was 
united in marriage with Miss Rebecca Rein- 
hart, a native of Sandy township. Stark coun- 
ty, the daughter of Valentine Reinhart, her 
birth having occurred in the house in which she 



now lives. Her father was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, but when a child was brought by his 
parents to Ohio, they being among its earliest 
settlers. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Yar- 
ger were born five children, of whom three sur- 
vive, as follows : George M. farms one of his 
father's tracts ; William E. cultivates the home 
farm, and Mary K., who is the wife of John W. 
Bartholomew, of Cleveland. In politics the 
subject is a firm and uncompromising Republi- 
can, while fraternally he is a member of Sandy 
Valley Post No. 433, Grand Army of the Re- 
public, of which he was at one time comman- 
der. His religious principles are embodied in 
the creed of the English Lutheran church, of 
which he has long been a faithful and consis- 
tent member. 



MASSILLON STATE HOSPITAL FOR 
INSANE. 

By Helena Ricks Slusser, 

The law authorizing the establishment of 
an additional hospital for insane in the state 
of Ohio was passed March 31, 1892. There- 
upon a committee, consisting of Dr. A. B. 
Richardson, George R. Davis and Dr. C. W. 
King, was appointed to select a site. After 
visiting different localities, the commission 
chose the beautiful location .south of Massillon. 
The ground was a gift of the citizens of Mas- 
illon to the state of Ohio, and consisted of two 
hundred and forty acres. The state has added 
one hundred and sixty acres by purchase. In 
December, 1892, Governor McKinley appoint- 
ed a building board, composed of Robert Sher- 
rard, S. J. McMahon, W. H. Mullen, Dr. A. B. 
Richardson and Dr. H. C. Eyman. This board 
was, in the same month, organized by the elec- 
tion of Robert Sherrard as president, S. J. Mc- 
Mahon, vice-president, and Dr. A. B. Richard- 
son, secretary. Plans for building were sub- 
mitted by Yost & Packard, with F. L. Packard 




WOMEN'S HOSPITAL BUILDING. 




WILLIAM McKINLEY HALL. 




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CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



I201 



as supervising" architect. The early part of 
1893 '^^'is spent by the board in visiting insti- 
tutions, comparing and perfecting plans. The 
first contract was let in August, 1893', and 
building- commenced in September of the same 
year. Dr. A. B. Richardson was elected sup- 
erintendent in May, 1898. After months of 
arduous labor in directing the details of com- 
pleting the four buildmgs under contract, and 
furnishing the same, the patients belonging to 
this district, in the hospitals at Columbus, To- 
ledo and Cleveland, numbering three hundred 
and thirty, were brought to their new, attrac- 
tive home. The opening reception took place 
September 6, 1898. 

October 15, 1899, Dr. Richardson received 
the appointment as superintendent of St. Eliza- 
beth's Hospital, Washington, D. C, and his de- 
parture was a source of regret to all. He was a 
distinguished alienist, a conscientious worker 
and a genial. Christian gentleman. It was the 
good fortune of the board of trustees to secure 
so worthy a successor to Dr. Richardson as Dr. 
H. C. Eyman, a man of experience, ability and 
enthusiasm for the work, who took charge No- 
vember I, 1899. At this writing twenty-one 
buildings have been completed and occupied, 
eleven for patients, nine forming the domestic 
group, and one large auditorium, named Will- 
iam McKinley Hall, dedicated to the memory 
of Ohio and Stark county's most illustrious 
son. The present capacity is for nine hundred 
and sixty patients. There is one large dining 
room for all the inmates able to leave their re- 
spective buildings. The room is light and airy, 
the floors and wainscoting of marble, and in ev- 
ery way constructed with a view to durability 
and sanitary conditions. The cottages are built 
after the style of the French-Swiss chateau, 
with large sun parlors and extensive porches 
added. A new hospital building for the care of 
the acute insane will be built on the brow of the 
hill to the extreme south. This building will 

be so arranged that the patients with suicidal 
75 



tendencies will be cared for on the first floor, 
having their dormitory or sleeping room ad- 
joining their sitting room. They will also have 
their dining room on the same floor. The acute- 
ly excited patients will be given separate sleep- 
ing rooms, a separate sitting room, bath room 
and dining room. There will also be a large 
dining room on the first floor for patients al- 
most well enough to be transferred to cottages. 
On the second floor a large dormitory and sun 
room will be devoted to the care of the acute 
physically ill and bedridden patients. The cen- 
tral portion of the building will be carried up 
three stories in height. On the third floor there 
will be an operating room, with amphitheatre 
for training school and other students, an anaes- 
thetizing room and a recovering room. There 
will also be four rooms built, in as nearly as 
perfectly sanitary manner as possible, for the 
purpose of isolating patients with contagious 
diseases. On the first floor there will also be 
reception rooms and examination rooms. Hy- 
drotherapy and electrotheraphy will be special 
features. 

Under the instructions of a landscape gar- 
dener, the grounds have been beautifully laid 
out, and artificial lakes, ornamental trees and 
flowers abound. Base ball grounds and tennis 
courts have been prepared for use of patients. 
Each year, as appropriations are made, cot- 
tages will be added until the institution will 
probably be the largest in the United States. 
Dr. Eyman was the first superintendent in Ohio 
to establish a training school for nurses. The 
course is the same as in regular institutions, 
comprising two years, followed by examina- 
tions, with granting of diplomas. The ability 
to obtain this instruction, free of cost, at hours 
not interfering with their duties, attracts a 
far better class of men and women for this very 
important part of hospital work, and raises 
the service from an almost menial to a skilled 
employment. 

A weekly medical society of the physicians 



I202 



OLD LANDMARKS 



is held under the supervision of the superin- 
tendent. Weekly dancing parties, concerts, lec- 
tures, stereopticon views and theatricals are giv- 
en for entertainment of patients. An experi- 
ment of Dr. Eyman's, "The Monday Even- 
ings at Home" for the patients in McKinley 
Hall, has been a great success. A stroll through, 
the grounds on a pleasant summer evening is 
a source of great delight. The porches, sun 
parlors and grounds are filled with tidy, order- 
ly people. Games of ball and tennis in prog- 
ress, giving the place more the aspect of a re- 
sort for summer visitors than a hospital for in- 
sane. The only fitting attitude of mind in re- 
sponse to such a cheerful sight is one of prayer, 
in thankfuhiess for the privilege of living in 
these latter days of enlightened humanity, when 
insanity is no longer considered a crime to be 
punished with chains in prison cells, but a dis- 
ease requiring the highest medical skill with 
the best environment. 



ROBERT B. HAMILTON is a native of 
New York state, having been born in New 
York city on the I'oth of October, 1829. He is 
the son of Robert and Finniah (Henry) Ham- 
ilton, of whose nine children but six now sur- 
vive, namely : The subject ; Cordelia, the 
widow of Alexander F. Atwell, late of 
Waynesburg; Adaline, the wife of John E. 
W'ilson, of Waynesburg; Finniah, the widow 
of the late B. F. Taylor, of Augusta, Ken- 
tucky; Alecia, widow of the late J. C. Rogers, 
of Waynesburg, and Edward H., of Waynes- 
liurg. Roliert Hamilton was a native of the 
Emerald Isle, having been born in the county 
of Donegal, Ireland, in 1795. In 1814 he was 
brought to the United States by his parents, 
two brothers also accompanying them. They 
located in New York city, where Robert 
learned the trade of morocco dressing". He 
was married while living in that city and in 
1830, with his wife and the subject of. this 



sketch, came to Stark county, Ohio. He pur- 
chased one hundred and sixty acres of land in 
Sandy township, two miles northwest of 
Waynesburg, where for a time the family re- 
sided. In 1838 he rented a farm near Waynes- 
burg and removed to it and about the same 
time opened a hotel at that place, the hostelry 
being still run under the name of the Hamilton 
House. The house soon gained a well de- 
served popularity and Mr. Hamilton continued 
its management until his death, August 31, 
1876. He was widely known over a wide sec- 
tion of counti-y and was universally esteemed. 
In politics he was a Democrat and in religion a 
Presbyterian. His wife, who bore the maiden 
name of Finniah Henry, was born in Wilming- 
ton, Delaware, and was of Irish extraction. 
She was possessed of marked intelligence and 
strength of character and at the time of her 
death, which occurred three years subsequent to 
that of her husband, she was widely mourned 
by a large circle of friends. 

The subject of this sketch was reared under 
the parental roof and early acquired habits of 
industry, his parents instilling in him right 
principles of thought and action. He was in- 
debted to the common schools for his educa- 
tion. He was possessed of ambition and an 
energetic disposition and at an early age of 
twelve years he worked in the harvest fields, 
raking the grain and carrying the sheaves. 
Upon attaining maturer years he learned the 
trade of wagon and buggy making, at which 
he worked steadily for a number of years. At 
the age of about twenty-five years he began 
contracting, building a number of bridges in 
this section of the country and also constructing 
many of the locks on the Sandy and Beaver 
canal. In coimection with his other enter- 
prises, he also did considerable carpentering 
and house building. From 1864 until 1874 
Mr. Hamilton engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness in the building now occupied by Blythe & 
Newkirk. During these years he was also en- 




COTTAGE "C" 




SUPERINTENDENT'S RESIDENCE. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1203 



gaged in the manufacture of brick. The mer- 
cantile venture was unfortunate, however, and 
Mr. Hamilton lost in that enterprise much of 
his wealth. Of recent years he lived a retired 
life, maintaining his residence at Waynesburg, 
running a farm situated just east of the city. 

On the 30th of March, 1858, Mr. Hamil- 
ton was united in marriage with Miss Usher 
Robertson, a native of Carroll county and the 
daughter of James and Jane (Nelson) Rob- 
ertson, both natives of Ireland. Her parents, 
upon their emigration to this country, first set- 
tled in Pennsylvania, but later came to Carroll 
county, where they resided until their deaths. 
Mrs. Hamilton is a graduate of the Canton Fe- 
male Seminary and is in every way a highly 
cultured lady. To Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton 
ha\-e been born six children, namely: James 
R., who lives in Oklahoma; Jane N. is the wife 
of R. T. Hawke, of Carroll county; Cora is an 
instructor in the commercial department of the 
Canton high school; Minnie M. is at home; 
Alexander lives in Oklahoma and Finniah is 
at home. In politics the subject is a Demo- 
crat and has been honored by the electors of his 
township with the oflices of trustee and treas- 
urer, serving two terms in the first named po- 
sition. He was also for several years a mem- 
ber of the school board. Religiously he is a 
member of the Presbyterian church and does 
all in his power for the advancement of the 
interests of the organization to which he be- 
longs. His faternal affiliation is with the 
Free and Accepted Masons, he holding mem- 
bership in Massillon Commandery No. 4. In 
every walk of life he is widely respected as a 
courteous, kind-hearted and generous man of 
perfect integrity and pure moral worth. 



T. F. WILLIAMS, the wholesale and re- 
tail butcher and grain merchant of Waynes- 
burg, Stark county, Ohio, was born in Rose 
township, Carroll county, this state, on the 14th 



of September, 1854, and is the son of John W. 
and Elizabeth (Mclrvin) Williams. The 
father was also born in Rose township, Carroll 
county, the son of Levi Williams, the date 
of his birth being the year 1832. John W. 
^Villiams was reared upon the parental home- 
stead and upon attaining manhood was given 
control of the farm, comprising one hundred 
and sixty acres, of which he later acquired sole 
possession. He resided upon that place until 
about 1885, when he sold it and removed to 
Mineral Point, where he resided for two or 
three years. He then located in Sandyville, 
but two or three years later removed to 
Waynesburg, which place has since been his 
home. For the past five years he has been in 
the employ of the subject in the latter's grain 
elevator. He is a Republican in politics and 
in religion affiliates with the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. He has been for many years 
quite active in church work and has held var- 
ious offices in the societies with which he has 
been connected. Mrs. Elizabeth Williams was 
born in Tuscarawas county, this state, in 1831, 
receiving a fair education and has proven to her 
husband a helpmate in the truest sense of the 
term. In the spring of 1902 Mr. and Mrs. 
Williams celebrated the g'olden anniversary of 
their wedding, a very enjoyable occasion for 
them and the many friends who gathered to 
offer congratulations. They became the par- 
ents of nine children, of whom the following 
named survive: T. F., the subject; Mary, the 
wife of Marshall Brown, who resides in Mis- 
sissippi ; Sarah, who is single and resides at 
home ; Minnie is the wife of R. I. Stemple, of 
Waynesburg; Grant lives in Blue Fields, Nic- 
aragua; William is engaged in the theatrical 
business. 

T. F. Williams remained at home during 
the years of his minority, in the meantime ac- 
quiring a 'good practical education in the com- 
mon schools of his neighborhood. At the age 
of twenty-one years he began his indepen- 



I204 



OLD LANDMARKS 



dent career as a farmer, renting land until 1884. 
In that year he came to Waynesburg and en- 
gaged in the grain business, buying the elevator 
at this place. He was very successful in his 
new enterprise and because of his many sterl- 
ing qualities of character soon won not only a 
remunerative patronage, but that which he 
values still more highly, the esteem and con- 
fidence of those with whom he was thrown in 
contact. In 1898 Mr. Williams acquired an 
interest in the Waynesburg Buggy Company, 
with which he was identified about three years, 
severing his connection therewith in 1901. In 
1900 the subject purchased the butcher shop in 
Waynesburg and was engaged in the whole- 
sale and retail meat business. He butchered 
for the custom trade of the adjacent country 
and also catered to the Waynesburg trade. He 
has intrenched himself strongly in the good will 
of his fellow citizens and has been given a 
well deserved recognition as one of the leading 
business men of his city. 

In 1877 Mr. Williams was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Margaret Mowls, a native of 
Carroll county, and the daughter of M. M. 
IMowls, a retired citizen of Waynesburg. This 
union has been a happy and felicitous one and 
has been blessed by the birth of the following 
children: Pearl E., a teacher; Roy F., Eva 
M., Ralph, Ray, Dean and Paul, all of whom 
are at home, and one deceased. Mr. Williams 
maintains a fraternal relation with Tent No. 
29, Knights of the Maccabees, and takes deep 
interest in the work of that society. In poli- 
tics he is a Republican and for. a number of 
)'ears has been one of the most influential and 
active party workers in this township. He has 
been honored by his party by election to the of- 
fice of township treasurer, holding the office for 
two terms and discharging its duties in an 
eminently satisfactory manner. He has on 
many occasions served as a delegate to the 
county and state conventions of his party and 
for, several years was a member of the central 



committee. At the present time he is serving 
as a member of the board of directors of the 
Stark county work house. Religiously Mr. 
Williams has for many years been a faithful 
and consistent member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church and has been active in advancing 
the cause of the Master. In the local society 
to which he belongs he has for years held of- 
ficial station and is at present the efficient super- 
intentlent of the Sunday school. During the 
past sixteen years Mr. Williams has missed but 
three sessions of the Sunday school, a record 
of which he certainly has just reason to be 
proud. He is one of the public spirited citi- 
zens of his community, always ready to contri- 
bute in any way possible to its improvement. 



HARMON ANTHONY was born on a 
farm in Osnaburg township, Stark county, 
Ohio, on the 23d of August, 1861, being a son- 
of Josiah and Lucinda (Baughman) Anthony, 
of whose ten children all save two are still liv- 
ing, namely : Harmon, the immediate subject 
of this sketch: Edwin, a farmer of. Osnaburg 
township; John, a resident of Hancock county, 
this state ; Levi, also engaged in farming in 
Osnaburg township; Orrin, who remains on 
the old homestead; Minerva, who is the wife 
of Rufus Zartman. of Osnaburg township; 
Ella, who is the wife of William H. Chenot, 
]3rincipal of the public schools of Hartville, this 
county ; and Ida, who is the wife of Herbert 
Starkey, of Osnaburg township. Josiah An- 
thony likewise was born in Osnaburg township, 
near the farm upon which he now resides, the 
year of his nativit}^ having been 1836, his 
father, John Anthony, having come to Stark 
county from Pennsylvania and having been 
numbered among the early settlers in Osnaburg 
township, where he reclaimed land and con- 
tinued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits 
until his death. The father of our subject was 
reared and educated in his native township,. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1205 



growing up on the farm, and while a young 
man he learned the carpenter's trade, which he 
followed as a vocation for a number of years. 
Soon after his marriage he purchased and re- 
moved to his present home farm, in Osnaburg 
township, where he has ever since resided, and 
he has gained recognition as being one of the 
most progressive and influential farmers in this 
section, while his efforts, directed with excel- 
lent judgment and marked energy, have been 
attended with a due measure of success. His 
home farm comprises one hundred and twenty 
acres, and a short distance to the east of the 
same he owns an additional thirty acres, while 
he also has a valuable farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres in Hancock county, this state, and 
residence property in the city of Canton. He 
lias been a stanch adherent of the Republican 
party practically from the time of its organi- 
zation, and has served as township trustee and 
been accorded other marks of public confidence 
and esteem. He and his wife are active and 
valued memters of the Reformed church and 
are numbered among the honored pioneer citi- 
zens of Osnaburg township. 

Harmon Anthony was reared principally on 
the homestead farm and received in his youth 
such educational advantages as were afforded 
by the public schools of the locality, later sup- 
plementing this discipline by one term of study 
in the state normal school at Ada, learning the 
trade of telegraphing, at which he was em- 
ployed in various places up to the year 1887, 
when he was appointed to his present position 
as station agent and operator at Robertsville, 
and here he has since given efficient and ac- 
ceptable service, having the entire confidence 
of the authorities in charge and being one of 
the popular citizens of the town. Early in the 
'90s he engaged in the haixlware and agricul- 
tural implement business in Robertsville, and 
continued this enterprise about three years, 
when he disposed of the same, and later he con- 
•ducted a meat market for a year and for some 



time was local agent for various fertilizers. In 
1902 he here established a general-merchandise 
business, having a well equipped store and se- 
curing a representative patronage, the business 
being largely assigned to the supervision of his 
wife and daughter, while his attention is given 
to his official duties. 

In politics Mr. Anthony has ever given an 
unqualified allegiance to the Republican party, 
and he acted as census enumerator in Paris 
township in the government census of 1890, 
while he is now serving his second term as 
justice of the peace, having been elected on the 
Republican ticket by a majority of one hundred 
and seventy-three in a township whose normal 
political complexion is Democratic by an aver- 
age of three to one. He and his wife are both 
members of the Reformed church, in whose 
work they take a lively interest, and fraternally 
he is identified with the Junior Order of United 
American Mechanics, being a member of Ethan 
Allen Council No. 171, in the village of Paris. 

On the 25th of April, 1889, Mr. Anthony 
was united in marriage to Miss Flora A. Bollin- 
ger, of Robertsville, she being a daughter of 
David Bollinger, an honored pioneer citizen, 
and of this unio!i has been born one daughter, 
Helen, who is one of the popular and attractive 
young ladies of the community, having received 
her educational training in the public schools. 



JOHN V/IESON CRAINE comes of 
stanch Scotch-Irish lineage, the respective 
families of the agnatic and cognatic lines 
having been long established in the north 
of Ireland and in bonnie auld Scotland, 
and the name which he bears has been identi- 
fied with the annals of American history 
for many generations. His paternal grand- 
father, John Craine, a saddler by trade and 
vocation, was one of the pioneers of West- 
ville, Columbiana county. Ohio, where he 
died when well advanced in years, as did 



I206 



OLD LANDMARKS 



also his wife, whose maiden name was Nancy 
Wilson and who was of stanch Scotch lineage. 
Samuel i\TcClelland Craine, father of our sub- 
ject, was born in Wellsville, Columbiana coun- 
ty, aliout the year 1828, and there received a 
common school education, so availing himself 
of the advantages afforded as to become eli- 
gible for successful work as a teacher in the 
public schools of the locality. A man of fine - 
mentality and marked ambition, he early made 
definite plans for his future life work, taking 
up the study of law and in due time being ad- 
mitted to tlie bar of his native state, within 
whose province he has ever since continued in 
active practice. In politics he was originally 
a Whig, ]'/Ut at the time of the organization of 
the Republican party he transferred his alle- 
giance to the same and has ever since continued 
an earnest and able advocate of its cause. 

In Washington county, Pennsylvania, was 
born the mother of the subject, her maiden 
name having been Elizabeth H. Hoft, and she 
was a resident of Canonsburg, that county, at 
the time of her marriage, her father, John 
Hoft, having been an influential farmer of that 
section of the Keystone state and an avowed 
Covenanter. She is now about seventy-six 
years of age and is a woman of gracious pres- 
ence, a strict Presbyterian and one who has the 
affectionate regard of all who know her. 
Samuel and Elizabeth H. Craine are the par- 
ents of four children, concerning whom we 
offer the following brief data : Agnes remains 
at the parental home; John W., subject of this 
review, was the next in order of birth ; Annie is 
the wife of Charles M. Watson and they re- 
side in the city of Cleveland ; and Maude is the 
wife of Frank M. Graham, of Clay Center, 
Clay county, Kansas. 

John \Y. Craine was born in the town of 
Wellsville, Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 
5th of March, 1859, and when he was a child 
of one year his parents removed to Carrollton, 
Carroll countv. this state, where he was reared 



to the age of ten years, securing his preliminary 
educational discipline in the public schools of 
that town, while it may be noted that his first 
teacher was Judge Thomas T. McCarty, now a 
representative member of the bar of Canton 
and incumbent of the office of judge of the 
common pleas court for a number of years. 
V.Hien the subject was eleven years of age his 
mother removed to Smith's Ferry, Columbiana 
county, this state, and shortly afterwards to 
Leetonia, Columbiana county, where she has 
since maintained her home. There he contin- 
ued to attend the public schools until he had 
attained the age of sixteen years, when he en- 
tered upon an apprenticeship at the trade of 
telegraphing", becoming an expert operator and 
continuing to follow this vocation, at various 
points, for about a decade. In the meanwhile 
he also taught school at Canonsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, for two years. He had determined to 
fit himself for a wider field of visefulness than 
that implied in the following of telegraphy, and 
he thus worked at his trade for a sufficient in- 
terval to acrumulate funds adequate to enable 
him to continue his educational work, and 
when liis exchequer began to show marks of 
depletion he would resume work until he had 
again husbanded his resources. He thus con- 
tinued his studies for several terms in Mount 
Union College, near the city of Alliance, this 
comity, while he also applied himself vigorous- 
ly and appreciatively to the study of law, pur- 
chasing the requisite text books and thus apply- 
ing himself diligently in his otherwise leisure 
hours. In 1882 he continued his technical 
reading of the law for five weeks under the 
preceptorship of Hon. H. W. Harter, of Can- 
ton, and later was for a time a student under 
the direction of William C. Pippit, an able 
member of the bar in the city of Alliance. In 
1885, upon examination before the supreme 
court, Mr. Craine was duly admitted to the bar 
of the state, thus gaining the desideratum for 
which he has so faithfully and intelligently 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1207 



labored. He forthwith engaged in the prac- 
tice of his profession in Alliance, and his novi- 
tiate was of brief duration, si-nce the energy 
and ability which had led him to apply himself 
to his technical study with such avidity could 
scarcely fail to bring him popular recognition 
and support. He secured a representative 
clientage in Alliance and there continued in 
practice until the ist of July, 1899, when he 
came to Canton, the capital of the county, in 
order to facilitate the important practice of 
•which he was in control and also to broaden the 
field of his endeavors. Here he entered into 
professional alliance with A. M. McCarty and 
C. vS. McDowell, under the firm name of Mc- 
Carty, Craine & McDowell, and they were as- 
sociated in practice until the ist of December, 
1 90 1, when the present firm of Craine & Sny- 
der was organized, the able coadjutor of our 
subject being Jacob B. Snyder, while the firm 
is recognized as one of the strong legal concerns 
of the county, retaining an important clientele 
and having to do with much of the litigation 
in the county and state courts, while the repu- 
tation gained by our subject both as an advo- 
cate and counselor is high and is based upon his 
thorough knowledge of the science of juris- 
prudence and his facility in applying that 
knowledge. 

In politics Mr. Craine accords an un- 
qualilied allegiance to the Republican party. 
having cast his first presidential vote in support 
of the "plumed knight" and eminent statesman, 
the late James G. Blaine, while he has been an 
effective advocate of the principles and policies 
of the party. While a resident of Alliance he 
served two terms as city solicitor, as a member 
of the ciiy council one term and two terms as 
a member of the board of education. Frater- 
nally he is identified with the Masonic order, 
being affiliated with Canton Lodge No. 60, 
Canton Chapter No. 84, and Canton Com- 
mandry No. 38, Knights Templar, and his re- 
ligious views are in harmony with the faith of 



the Presbyterian church, of which he and his 
w ife are attendants, she being a member of the 
same. 

In the city of Alliance, on the 15th of Feb- 
ruary, 1895, Mr. Craine was united in marriage 
to Miss Lida G. Graff, a daughter of Matthew- 
Graff, a well-known citizen of that place, and 
of this union has been born one child, Henlen. 



JAMES W. CARNES was born in Pike 
township. Stark county, Ohio, on the 13th of 
May, 1853, the son of James and Jane (Bech- 
tel) Carnes. The latter were the parents of 
seven children, all of whom are living at thi.s 
date. Their names are as follows : John W. 
is a painter and resides in Canton, Ohio; Katie 
A. is the wife of John H. Yarger, of Sparta, 
this state; Almina is the wife of A. D. Weaver, 
of Canton ; Flora is the wife of D. F. Lash, of 
Bolivar, Ohio; the subject is ne.xt in the order 
of birth; Margaret is a widow and resides in 
Bolivar, Ohio ; Joseph is a blacksmith and re- 
sides in Minerva, this county. The subject's 
paternal grandfather, John- Carnes, was a na- 
tive of Ireland, as was his wife, but they emi- 
grated to the United States and became early 
settlers of Pike township, this county. He was 
a very successful farmer and succeeded in ac- 
quiring eleven hundred acres of land all in one 
strip, the land lying partly in Pike and partly in 
Sandy township. James Car,nes-was born in 
Pike township in 1823, his birth occurring in 
the same house in. which occurred the birth of 
the subject. Fle was reared upon the paternal 
homestead and at the time of his marriage he 
acquired the old homestead as a marriage gift 
from his father. When a boy he was afflicted 
with white swelling which crippled him per- 
manently, but aside from this he was strong 
and sturdy in physique. In early life he took 
a great interest in live stock and dealt quite ex- 
tensively in various lines of stock, driving the 
animals over the mountains' to the eastern mar- 



I208 



OLD LANDMARKS 



kets. Through his deahngs he became very 
well acquainted and it was said that he was per- 
sonally known to almost every man, woman 
and child within a radius of twenty-five miles 
of his home. He became the owner of about 
two hundred acres of good land and in con- 
nection with his stock business he gave much 
attention to his farming interests. He was a 
liberal and kind-hearted to a favdt in his rela- 
tions with his friends. A stanch Republican in 
politics and wielding a wide influence for his 
l^arty, yet he never sought nor desired public 
office of any nature. During the Civil war he 
contributed largely from his own means to- 
wards buying substitutes to take the places of 
friends who had been drafted for military ser- 
vice. He was not a member of any church, 
but was a regular attendant upon divine ser- 
vices and lived a quiet and consistent Christian 
life, contributing liberally to church work and 
to all charitable objects. His death occurred 
when he was fifty-five years old. His wife was 
born in Pike township about 1820, and w^as of 
German ancestry, her parents being among the 
early settlers of Pike township, having come 
probably from Pennsyh-ania. ]\Irs. Carnes 
died at the age of se\-ent}'-eight years, beloveil 
and respected by all who knew her. 

James W. Carnes was reared under the 
parental roof and received such education as 
was afforded in the common schools of the 
period. He early exhibited habits of industry 
and freciucntly when not otherwise employed 
worked io\- neighboring farmers. At the age 
of twenty years he left the parental roof and be- 
gan life's battle on his own account, being em- 
ployed as a farm hand up to 1892. That 
year he went into mercantile business, opening 
a stove and tinware store, and in connection 
therewith did a regular tinning business, doing- 
roofing, spouting, furnace work, etc. He has 
been very successful in his various ventures 
and is today accounted one of the most pro- 



gressive and enterprising citizens of Waynes- 
burg. 

In 1888 Mr. Carnes was united in marriage 
\vith Miss Rebecca Norman, of Steubenville, 
Ohio. JMrs. Carnes is an amiable antl agree- 
al)le lady and has succeeded in winning for, 
herself a host of warm and loyal friends in the 
city of her adoption. The subject is a Repub- 
lican in politics and was recently elected to the 
town council, but declined to serve. Relig- 
iously he is affiliated with the Methodist Epis- 
copal church and takes deep interest in all move- 
ments having for their object the advancement 
of the moral or educational advancement of the 
community. As the architect of his own for- 
tune he has builded wisely and \vell and the 
success that crowns his efforts is justly merited. 



LOUIS SCHAEFER.— Among the citi- 
zens of Canton who by a long and useful ca- 
reer left the impress of their individuality upon 
the present generations was the late Louis 
Schaefer, who for over half a century was 
clearly identified with the growth of the city 
and its institutions, and who ever stood for the 
l)est interests of the community in all things. 
Mr. Schaefer was a native of the department 
of the Moselle, France, where he was born 
December 25, 1815, the son of Phillip and Eliz- 
abeth (Loehr) Schaefer. He received his edu- 
cation principally at the schools of his native 
place, this training being supplemented by val- 
uable instruction received from his father, who 
was a man of fine education and a teacher by 
profession in early life. In 1830 the family 
emigrated to America, and soon afterwards 
came to Stark county, and settled in Osnaburg 
township, near the present village of Maple-, 
ton, where Philip, the father, engaged in farm- 
ing. Subsequently he established a country 
store at that point, and for many years carried 
on farming and merchandising jointly. 




^r,^ C r -e. 



y 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1209 



Louis Schaefer came to Canton in 1832 and 
took a position as clerk in the general store of 
Martin Wikidal, one of Canton's old-time mer- 
chants. He was a restless and ambitious 
youth, and after working for Mr. Wikidal a 
few years decided the vocation of a clerk was 
too slow for him. All along his ambition had 
been for the legal profession, which fact he 
had frequently confided to a fellow clerk in Mr. 
Wikidal's store, which fellow clerk was John 
Banner, of Canton, and he finally abandoned 
merchandising and took up the law by enter- 
ing the office of Griswold & Grant, of Canton, 
where he remained as a student until 1842, 
when he was admitted to practice. He soon 
took rank among the members of the local bar, 
not so much as a brilliant lawyer, but rather as 
a careful, painstaking and thoroughly reliable 
attorney u hose forte was along the line of com- 
mercial practice. He also rose rapidly as a pub- 
lic man and became an influential exponent of 
the doctrines of Democracy. But he was not an 
office seeker, by any means. In the fall of 
1843 he was tendered, by the friends of the 
administration of President Tyler the secre- 
taryship of the American legation at France, 
which, for valid reasons, he respectfully de- 
clined. Had he embraced this opportunity to 
enter diplomatic circles he would no doubt have 
made his mark, for besides notorial gifts he 
was a linguist of more than ordinary ability, 
and besides the English language spoke fluent- 
ly French and German. In 1866 he was the 
candidate for congress of the Democrats of 
the seventeenth district, and was also on the 
commission sent to Washington City to de- 
mand the release of Vallandigham. He took 
an active interest and part in the development 
of Canton, and was for many years connected 
with the city council, in which body he was al- 
ways found working for the good of the entire 
community. He was also a member of the 
board of education for a long period, during 
•which time he devoted much of his time to the 



welfare of the public school system, of which 
he was a warm friend. In the establishment 
of the Canton city water works Mr. Schaefer 
was the leading active spirit, and to his efforts 
in this direction alone, if in no other, the people 
owe a debt of gratitude. He was also active 
m securing the passage of the bill authorizing 
county commissioners to build court houses, 
and the Stark county court house was the first 
one erected under the provisions of that law, 
he being a member of the board of county com- 
missioners at that time. He was instrumental 
in the establishment of several important in- 
dustrial enterprises in Canton, among them 
the Dueber Watch Manufacturing Company, 
in the bringing of which to Canton he was prob- 
ably more influential than any other one man. 
He was also active in bringing the Dueber Soap 
Manufacturing Company to Canton. 

In May, 1849, Mr. Schaefer was married 
to Catherine Anna, the daughter of the Rev. 
Stephen A. Mealy, of Savannah, Georgia, who 
was an estimable lady of more than ordinary 
intelligence and accomplishments. She died 
August 17, 1879. having been the mother of 
the following children: Louis M., who was 
educated at Kenyon College, took up the study 
of law and was admitted to the bar in 1877. 
His death occurred May 31, 1890. Mary E. 
married William R. Day. secretary of state 
during the first administration of President Mc- 
Kinley, and at present an associate justice of 
the L'nited States supreme court by appoint- 
ment of President Roosevelt. Alice L. died 
in 1874, aged twenty-one years. In 1882 Mr. 
Schaefer was again married, his second wife 
being Miss Helen E. Conger, of Millersburg, 
who survives him. 

Mr. Schaefer was a man of the strictest in- 
tegrity, of great energy and very enterprising. 
He was an excellent lawyer, a good business 
man and an admirable citizen. He was warm- 
hearted and generous, but at the same time 
was impulsive, impetuous and quick-tempered. 



I2IO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



but like all men possessed of those char- 
acteristics was a warm and steadfast friend 
and companion. He did much for Canton in 
many ways, and probably no man is better re- 
membered today or his memoi"y revered more 
than is his, among those who came in contact 
with him during his busy life. He died No- 
vember 12, 18S9. 



PHILIP ELSASS is a native son of the 
old Buckeye state, having been born in Piqua 
on the 13th of June, 1855. He is one of seven 
children torn to Christian and Christina 
(Engle) Elsass, of whom but three survive, 
George W., of Waynesburg, this state; Sarah, 
the wife of David Muckley, of Sandy township, 
this county, and the subject. Christian Elsass 
was a native of Alsace Loraine, Germany, hav- 
ing been born in 1825. Early in life he learned 
the trade of shoemaking and in young manhood 
came to the United States. Coming at once to 
Ohio, he located at Waynesburg, where he was 
employed by a cousin, Peter Elsass. After a 
short residence here he returned to his native 
country, but a short time afterwards again 
came to Waynesburg, where he was shortly 
afterward married. Soon after this interesting 
event he removed to Piqua, this state, where 
for a few years he was employed at his trade. 
About 1857 he returned to Waynesburg, and 
there spent the remainder of his life, his death 
occurring there in September, 1894. He was 
in poor financial condition upon his arrival in 
the new world, but by dint of steady persever- 
ance and rigid economy he amassed a comfort- 
able competence, and also won that which is of 
far more value, the respect and confidence of 
those who knew him. He was a firm Demo- 
crat in his political proclivities, but took no 
very active part in public affairs. , Religiously 
he was connected with the Evangelical Luth- 
eran church and lived faithfully in accordance 
with the teachings of the Holy Writ. His wife, 



who in her maidenhood bore the name of 
Christina Engle, was also a native of Alsace 
Loraine. Germany, and was born in 1823. 
\Vhen but a young lady she accompanied her 
parents; upon their immagration to the new 
world and was here united in marriage to the 
father of the subject. SJie was of marked in- 
telligence and sterling character and was be- 
loved by all who knew her. Her death oc- 
curred Eebruary 2, 1902. 

Philip Elsass, the immediate subject, was 
reared under the parental roof and acquired a 
fair education in the common schools. At the 
early age of fifteen years he went to work at 
the bench in his father's shoe shop and soon 
acquired a thorough practical knowledge of the 
trade, which served him well in later years. He 
continued so employed until 1877, after which 
time only the winters were so employed, the 
summers being spent at carpentering. In 1886 
Mr. Elsass engaged in the shoe business in 
Waynesburg, meeting with a marked degree of 
success. In 1893 he purchased the interest of 
his deceased brother in the mercantile firm of 
Beans & Elsass, to which he has since devoted 
his attention. Since casting his lot with the 
citizens of Waynesburg Mr. Elsass has won an 
honorable place in the business circles of the 
city because of his many excellent qualifica- 
tions. He is essentially the architect of his own 
fortune, and his career presents a series of con- 
tinued advancements until he now occupies a 
conspicuous place in the front rank of the 
city's most enterprising and Successful business 
luen. His name is a synonym for honorable 
dealing and his record demonstrates the ut- 
most conformity to the ethics of commercial 
life. 

On the 1 6th of March, 1876, Mr. Elsass 
was united in marriage with Miss Lucinda Gib- 
ler, of Sandy township, this county, the daugh- 
ter of Gabriel Gibler, now deceased. To the 
subject and wife four children have been born, 
of whom three survive, as follows : Emma L. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



121 I 



is the Vvife ol' Rev. C. J. Lautenschlager, of 
Glenford, this state; Sarah F. is the wife of 
Marion O. Peters, of Steubenville, Ohio, and 
Mable E., who is still at home. In matters po- 
litical the subject is liberal, though he possesses 
Democratic proclivities. He has served the 
public in several important capacities, having 
been for two terms a member of the board of 
councilmen and also for two terms a member 
of tlie scliool board and for three years a mem- 
ber of the board of health, being still an in- 
cumbent of the two offices last named. He is 
a firm and consistent member of the Lutheran 
church in which he has held various offices, be- 
ing at the present time deacon, secretary and 
treasurer. His time is almost entirely given 
to his business interests and the excellent con- 
dition of everything with which he is connected 
indicates his care and supervision. 



AARON B. BEANS is a native son of the 
Old Dominion state, having been born in' Rap- 
pahannock county, Virginia, on the 12th of 
February. 1836. Fie is a son of John F. and 
Almira J. (Hawkins) Beans, of whose six chil- 
dren four are yet living, namely : Jane H., 
who is the wife of S. M. Sexton, of Wellsville. 
Ohio; John W., who is a general contractor in 
Van Buren county, Iowa ; Mary, who is the 
wife of James Gibson, of Jones county, Iowa, 
and Aaron B., who is the immediate subject of 
this sketch. John F. Beans was born and 
reared in Virginia, and there he learned the 
trade of wagon-making, becoming a skilled ar- 
tisan in the line. In 1844 he removed from his 
native state to Knoxville, Jefferson county, 
Ohio, where he was engaged in the work of 
his trade for the ensuing three years, at the ex- 
piration of which he removed to New Cumber- 
land, Tuscarawas county, where he conducted 
a mercantile business up to the time when the 
discovery of gold in California led so many 
valiant argonauts across the weary stretches 



of plains, enduring innumerable dangers and 
hardships, to seek the hidden treasures. In 
March, 1849, he joined the "innumerable cara- 
van" moving slowly across the continent to the 
New Eldorado, and he arrived in California in 
the following September/, six months having 
been consumed in the perilous journey, the 
menace from the Indians lieing almost con- 
stant while enroute. He worked in the placer 
mines until the winter of 1852-3, having 
met with the varying success which has ever 
marked the search for gold, and then he re- 
turned to his home by the way of the Isthmus 
of Panama. The following spring he again 
made the trip across the plains, acting as guide 
for a party of six others, one of whom was his 
brother. They proceeded l)y the northern 
route and passed into Oregon, where all save 
himself decided to remain, while he went on 
to San Francisco, where he shortly afterward 
took passage for home, again making the trip- 
by the way of the Isthmus rpute and reaching 
his destination in the winter of 1853-4. In 
the following spring he purchased a general 
merchandise store at Norristown, Carroll 
county, Ohio, where he continued in business- 
until the close of the war of the Rebellion, 
when he removed to Van Buren county, Iowa, 
where hei established himself in the wagon- 
making business, which he thereafter followed 
up to the time of his death, which occurred 
when he was about se\'enty- three years of age. 
In his early life he was an old-line Whig in his- 
political proclivities, but during the crucial 
epoch of the Civil war he was a stanch Union 
man and he espoused the cause of the Repub- 
lican party at the time of its organization and 
thereafter remained an adherent of the same. 
His religious faith was that of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, as was also that of his wife, 
whose death occurred in 1848, at the age of 
thirty years. William Beans, the paternal 
grandfather of the subject, was likewise born 
in Virginia, being a representative of one of its 



12 12 



OLD LANDMARKS 



old anfl honored families, and there he passed 
his entire life, having been a wagonmaker by 
■trade and vocation. 

Aaron V,. Beans received his pneliminary 
•educational training in his native county in 
Virginia, and was about eight years of age at 
the time when the family came to Ohio, which 
has thus been his home for the major portion 
of his life. Here he continued to attend the 
common schools, laying an excellent foundation 
for lliat bro.'id and practical knowledge which 
he gained in later years. At the age of eighteen 
years he became a clerical assistant in his 
father's store at Norristown, Carroll county, 
where he gaineil liis initial business experience. 
He remained in the store until 1858, when he 
came to Waynesburg, Stark county, where he 
accqjted a clerkship in the general store con- 
ducted by the firm of J. Ranne & Company, and 
here he continued to make his home until the 
outbreak of the Rebellion, when his intrinsic 
loyalty and patriotism were noused to respon- 
sive protest, and scarcely had the smoke of the 
rebel guns cleared away above the ramparts of 
old Fort Sumter, ere he tendered his services in 
defense of a righteous cause. On the 17th of 
April, 1861, lie enlisted, for a term of three 
montiis, as a private in Comp;my A, Nineteenth 
Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which 
was organized in Stark- county. Colonel Samuel 
Beatty commanding, while the captain of Com- 
pany A was Charles F. Mandcrson. The regi- 
ment was assigned to the command of General 
McClelland in the Army of West Virginia, and 
actively engaged in the battle of Rich Moun- 
tain. Mr. Beans received his honorable dis- 
charge in the latter ])art of August, 1861, at 
Columbus, Ohio, and then returneil to 
Waynesburg, where he shortly afterwards en- 
listed as a member of the home guard, being 
made fir.st lieutenant of Company I, One Hun- 
dred and Sixty-second Regiment, John F. May, 
captain, and Colonel Ball commanding. In 
1864, when a call was made for one-hundred- 



day men, the regiment promptly responded and 
was sent to Kentucky, where it remained on 
detached duty, guarding railroads, supplies, 
etc., until the expiration of the term of enlist- 
ment, when its members received their honor- 
able discharges. Mr. Beans then returned once 
more to Waynesburg, and shortly afterwards 
he accepted a government position as special of- 
ficer in the office of the provost marshal at Al- 
liance, this county. In the suring of 1865 he 
returned to Waynesburg and became a clerk in 
the mercantile establishment conducted by the 
successors of his former employers, J. Renne 
& Company, and was thus engaged for the en- 
suing three years. In 1868 he initiated his in- 
dependent business career by effecting the or- 
ganization of the firm of A. B. Beans & Com- 
]3any, dealers in produce, the enterprise being 
continued in Waynesburg until the autumn of 
187 1, when the partnership was dissolved and 
the business sold. Our subject thereupon ac- 
cepted a clerical position in the establishment 
of Elson & Higley, who were engaged in the 
general merchandise business in this town, and 
he remained with this firm until April, 1877, 
when he associated himself with J. C. Elsass 
and R. Nctz in the purchase of the Ixisiness of 
this firm, and operations continued under the 
title of Beans, El.sass & Netz. In the follow- 
ing .spring Mn Netz's interest was acquired by 
the other two members of the firm, and the firm 
name of Beans & Elsass has been continued up 
the present time, while the enterprise has 
grown to be the most im])ortant of the sort in 
V\'aynesburg, deriving its trade from a wide 
territory normally tributary to the town. Mr. 
J. C. Elsass continued to be actively identified 
with the business until his death, in 1891, as the 
result r)f an accident, and his widow thereafter 
maintainec? his interest in the concern until 
1893, when she disposed of the same to Philip 
Elsass, a brother of her late husband, and he 
has since remained an interested principal in 
the business. Of the senior member of the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



I 2 13., 



firm one wlio lias known Iiini long and well 
has given, the following appreciative estimate : 
"Mr. Beans has learned the science of success- 
ful merchandising and his hrm conducts the 
principal Imsiness of the town. His honor and 
integrity are as inllexible as the 'laws of the 
Medes and Persians, which change not,' and no 
citizen is more worthy of the confidence and 
esteem of the community in which he has lived 
and labored to so goodly ends, while it is evi- 
dent that this objective appreciation of the man 
is not denied." rolitically Mr. Beans is a 
stanch adherent of the Republican parly, but he 
is essentially a business man and has never had 
any desire for the honoris or emoluments of 
public office, lie and his wife arc both valued 
members of the Presliyterian church. 

On the 2r)th of July, 1862, Mr. Beans was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary McCauley, of 
Wellsville, Ohio, and they are the parents of 
one son, Herbert S., who is now a resident of 
Waynesburg, Ohio. 



MADISON W. WADE.— The great ad- 
vances made in the science anrl art of photog- 
raphy within the last decade have been almost 
phenomenal and challenged the admiration of 
all, while the incidcnlnl \rdue has been of great 
importance as touching \-arious lines of repro- 
duction for commercial and amusement cnter- 
Ijrises, as well as in offering the most beauti- 
ful effects in art portraiture through the med- 
ium of the sun's rays. Among those who have 
introduced new lines of reproduction in the 
photographic line is Mr. Wade, who is widely 
known as the founder of the small photographs, 
or the process of securing several miniature 
portraits in different positions with but a sin- 
gle exposure for the securing of six or more 
photographs in the one position. That is, 
each plate, with its varying number of expos- 
ures, will contain many small portraits on the 
one negative. He now carries on an extensive 



business under the title of liic Wade Photo 
Company, and his success is gratifying from 
the fact that he has gained the same through 
his own efforts and ability. iM-om a small 
broclnu'e issued by Mr. Wade we make quota- 
tions at this point, since the ;niicle tlins pub- 
lished will afford an idea of the rise of the 
popular enterprise of which he was the founder. 
In these 'juotations we shall not follow the ex- 
act diction and shall eliminate extraneous data, 
as expediency may suggest, but retain the main 
points relevant to the subject. 

"M. W. Wade, the genial ])ro|)rietor of the 
Wade Photo Company, is the original founder 
of the small photographs and the attenflant 
and imporlrmt industry which has l)een built 
up through the same. In i8g6 Mr. Wade was 
in the cm])loy of Charles T. Pomeroy, a pro- 
gressive pho1:ographer of Kansas City, Mis- 
souri, who had a special camera for copying 
I)liotf)gra])hs for ;i marriage bureau in th.'it city, 
and from this camera Mr. Wade conceived the 
idea of the small photographs, with which he 
has achieved so much fame and success and de- 
lighted many thousands of customers. Mr. 
Wade now has this camera in his possession and 
woulfl not part with it for many times its orig- 
inal cost, as it is the first and original camera 
with which smrdl photographs were popularly 
and successfully introduced. When he first 
announced to some of the older and supi^oseilly 
wiser heads of the profession that with the 
multiplying principle he had evolved from this 
camera he could profluce sixteen photographs, 
in four different ])ositions for twenty-five cents 
and realize a profit, the general attitude mani- 
fested was one of incredulity and even ridicule. 
Ilis generous employer, Mr. Pomeroy, how- 
ever, realized to a greater extent the possibil- 
ities involved, and after several months of ex- 
perimenting gave Mr. Wade a vacation from 
the Kansas City gallery and furnished equip- 
ments, finances, etc., for making a practical and 
thorough test of the new departure in the busi- 



I2I4 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ness. Accordingly, on the 17th of July, 1897, 
in Leavenworth, Kansas, Mr. Wade swung his 
sign to the breeze, 'Sixteen photographs of 
yourself, four different styles, twenty-five 
cents.' Thus the small photos were launched, 
and stranger than fiction reads the story of the 
growth of the enterprise. Before a background 
could be arranged a daughter from one of the 
wealthiest families in town was in front of the 
camera demanding her picture. She was 
photographed with the wallpaper for a back- 
ground. The next customer was a prosperous 
young farmer who insisted that his name was 
William McKinley and that he wanted seven 
sets of those photos. The first day ran thir- 
teen dollars and Mr. Wade thought his scheme 
was ruined by the unlucky number. But not 
so;the next day showed a still livelier trade, and 
for six weeks an unbroken line of customers 
filed in front of the camera from morning until 
night. Being unaccustomed to such constant 
operating Mr. Wade was physically exhausted 
at the expiration of this period, and he was 
compelled to take a rest of ten days in Kansas 
City, where he opened business in his special 
line at the end of this interval, turning the same 
over to IMr. Pomeroy ten weeks later." 

In the above paragraph is outlined the in- 
ception of the important and extensive business 
which Mr. Wade has built up, and it is suf- 
ficient to say in this connection that his exper- 
iences in many of the leading cities of Kansas 
and Colorado in the following months were 
even more gratifying in the amount of business 
done and the public enthusiasm aroused. Mr. 
Wade had in the meanwhile thoroughly in- 
structed his brother and sister, F. H. and 
Maude J. \Vade, in the details of the luisiness, 
and thereafter branch studios were opened in 
various places. Mr. Wade and his party of 
six assistants passed three months in Colorado, 
doing an enormous business, and enjoying the 
many scenic beauties of that fair common- 
wealth, and after defraying all expenses for the 



party he realized a profit of more than nine 
hundred dollars from his operations during the 
period mentioned, while he had also accumu- 
lated seven hundred and fifty dollars' worth of 
the best diamonds to be found in the markets 
of Denver. From the pamphlet to which re- 
course has previously been had, we continue to 
quote, as follows : "On his return to Kansas 
City from his triumphal tour, to say that Mr. 
Wade was made the lion of the hour by his 
former employer, fellow photographers, pho- 
tographic stock dealers and acquaintances in 
general is putting it mildly. All who knew 
him \\^hen he launched the 'little photos' wished 
him well, but many doubted the success of the 
venture. They now bade farewell to their 
fears. Little photos had become the rage of 
the west. Photographers far and near were 
springing into line, as if by magic, and essaying 
the production of the popular little portraits. 
Western photographic supply houses which had 
watched the gr,owing popularity of these pho- 
tographs with keen interest, began pushing the 
sale of different styles of cameras for making 
them, and manufacturers of the same were 
worked to their utmost capacity supplying the 
demand. In May, 1899, ^''- Wade removed 
liis forces from Missouri and commenced 
opening a circuit of galleries in Ohio, embrac- 
ing the cities of Cleveland, Akron, Canton, 
Massillon, Mansfield, New Philadelphia and 
Coshocton, with headquarters at Canton. This 
was probably the largest circuit of photograph 
studios of the kind under one management and 
ownership in the United States. The business 
has since been constantly expanding in scope 
and importance, and Mr. Wade has control of 
a magnificent enterprise which has been built up 
solely through his own energy and talent. Lie 
attributes his phenomenal success principally 
to the following causes : His prices are within 
reach of the humblest, his results are good 
enough for the greatest, and he tries to give 
value received in every instance. He buys no 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1215 



cheap stock with \\hich to execute his work, his 
materials and accessories being the best the 
markets afford. His pictures are as permanent 
as photographic science knows how to make 
them. In his finishing departments he has the 
most experienced and competent assistants to 
be found, regardless of price." 

Aladison Wright Wade, of whose success- 
ful career an outline has been given in preced- 
ing paragraphs and who maintains his resi- 
dence in Canton at the time of this writing, is 
a native son of the Buckeye state, having been 
born in the city of Logan, Hocking" county, 
Ohio, on the ist of June, 1866. He was there 
reared to maturity, receiving his early educa- 
tional discipline in the public schools and there- 
after attending the Ohio Normal University, 
at .Ada, Hardin county, where he was a student 
in the years 38S4-5-6. He put his scholastic 
acquirements to practical test by teaching in the 
public schools for a time, and in 1889 he went 
to Kansas City, Missouri, where he served a 
thorough apprenticeship in the photographic 
business in the studio of Mr. Pomeroy, to 
whom reference has been previously made in 
this sketch, wdiile his future course has been 
noted in the preceding portion of this context, 
so that a recapitulation is not demanded at this 
juncture. In politics Mr. Wade is stanch ad- 
herent of the Republican party, in whose cause 
he takes a lively interest, his first presidential 
vote having been cast in support of Benjamin 
Harrison. His religious faith is that of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, in which he was 
reared. Mr. Wade is a young man of pleas- 
ing and genial personality and sturdy physique, 
and is at yet a single man. 

Edward Wade, the father of the subject, 
was born near the city of Altoona, Blair county, 
Penn.sylvania, where he passed his boyhood 
days, then coming with his parents to Perry 
county, Ohio, in which state he has since con- 
tinued to make his home, having been a resi- 
dent of Logan. Llocking countv, or its im- 



mediate \-icinity, for the past forty years. He 
is the patentee of several proprietory medicines 
which have long commanded a large sale. His 
father, Lliram Wade, was a pioneer physician 
of western Pennsylvania, where he was en- 
gaged in the j^ractice of his profession for many 
years, the family having been established in 
New England in the colonial epoch of our na- 
tional history and being of stanch English line- 
age. Hiram Wade was a cousin of Hon. 
Benjamin E. Wade, the eminent Ohio states- 
man and lawyer, long a member of the United 
States senate. The mother of the subject bore 
the maiden name of Elizabeth Wright, and she 
was born in Licking county, Ohio, being a 
daughter of Tranklin Wright, an honored pi- 
oneer of that section of the state. She died in 
Logan, in 1884, at the age of forty-four years, 
and was survived by her nine children, two 
since dying. She was a devoted member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, as is also her 
husband, and the latten has given his allegiance 
to the Republican party from practically the 
time of its inception. 



ALERED C. GOUDY, M. D., is a native 
son otthe Buckeye state and a scion of sterling 
pioneer stock. He was born in Wayne county, 
Ohio, on the 25th of September, i860, being a 
son of George W. and Sabina (Zortman) 
Goudy, both of whom were likewise natives of 
that county, where their respective parents took 
up their abode in the early pioneer days. In 
1868 the father of the subject removed to Tus- 
carawas county and located in the town of 
Ragersville, where he remained until 1882, re- 
moving to New Philadelphia in 1882. His 
death occurred on the 3d of November, 1899, at 
which time he was sixty-four years of age. Lie 
was a m.iller by trade and vocation and a man 
of utmost integrity and honor in all the rela- 
tions of life, while he was endowed with excel- 
lent business ability and held the unequivocal 



I2l6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



confidence and esteem of those with whom he 
came in contact. He was a stanch supporter) 
of the Democratic party and for many years 
was an active worker in its ranks, having been 
incumbent of various offices of pubhc trust and 
responsibility, including those of township 
trustee, tow^^ship treasurer and justice of the 
peace, Avhile in i8Si he was elected sheriff of 
Tuscarawas county, in which capacity he 
served two terms, giving a most able and ac- 
ceptable administration. His father, William 
Goudy, was a native of the Old Dominion state 
of Virginia, whither he came to Wayne coun- 
ty, Ohio, as a pioneer of 1800, and there he 
passed the remainder of his life, as did also 
his wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Bates 
and who was born in Pennsylvania in 1788,. 
where she was reared and educated. This wor- 
thy couple became the parents of the following 
named children : Samuel, James, Isaac, Hen- 
ry, George W., INIary, Cynthia, Eliza and 
Tena, and of the number only one is living 
at the present time. The mother of the sub- 
ject is still living, maintaining her home in 
New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas county. She is 
a de\'oted member of the Baptist church. Of 
their seven children we enter the following 
brief record : Martin B., who was born in 
1855, is a resident of Kokomo, Indiana; Peter, 
who was born in 1856, resides in Strasburgh, 
Ohio; Mary V., who was born in 1859, is now 
the wife of Isaac Swihart, of Ragersville; Al- 
fred C. is the immediate subject of this re- 
view ; Frank E., who was born in 1866, is a 
resident of New Philadelphia; Charles L., born 
in 1869, lives in New Philadelphia, and .\lta, 
born in 1872, is Mrs. William Price. 

Dr. Goudy was a lad of seven years at the 
time of his parents' removal to Tuscarawas 
county, and he was reared to maturity in the 
town of Ragers\-ille, where he secured his early 
educational discipline in the public schools, 
while he promptly formulated definite plans for 
the future sphere of action, determining to pre- 



pare himself for the medical profession, for 
which he early manifested a distinctive pred- 
ilection. At the age of nineteen years he be- 
gan his technical reading under the preceptor- 
ship of Dr. H. J. Peters, of Ragersville, an 
able and honored physician and one who did 
much to aid and encourag'e his young student. 
Dr. Goudy thus continued his studies for a 
period of three years, after which he was 
matriculated in that well known and partic- 
ularly well equipped institution, the Starling 
Medical College, in the city of Columbus, 
where he gave hiiuself earnestly to his study 
and practical clinical work until he had com- 
pleted the prescribed course, being duly grad- 
uated. as a member of the class of 1882 and 
receiving his coveted and well earned degree 
of Doctor of Medicine. Dr. Goudy forthwith 
established himself in the practice of his pro- 
fession in the village of Strassburg, Tusca- 
rawas county, where he remained until 1888, 
when he came to his present location, in Beach 
City, where he has built up a large and rep- 
resentative practice and where he has gained 
recognition among his professional confreres 
and the general public as a thoroughly able and 
discriminating physician and skillful surgeon, 
having the equipoise so essential in the time of 
emergency and e\'er keeping in close touch 
with the advances made in the various depart- 
ments of his profession. In addition to the 
exigent work of his profession the Doctor also 
conducts a well-ordered drug store, in which 
he also keeps a select stock of books and sta- 
tioner3\ and in this mercantile business he con- 
trols an excellent trade, drawn from the ter- 
ritory normally tributary to the town. In poli- 
tics he gives a stanch allegiance to the Demo- 
cratic party, and while residing in Tuscarawas 
county he was elected to the office of township 
clerk, and in Beach City he has been a member 
of the board of education for the past nine 
years. He is a member of the Bankers' Fra- 
ternal Union. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1217 



On the 23d of September, 1881, Dr. Goudy 
was tinited in marriage to Miss Mary R. 
Eckert, who was born in Tuscarawas county, 
being a daughter of Frederick and Phoebe 
F.ckert, her father being a prominent farmer of 
tliat count} , where she ■\\as reared and edu- 
cated, being a lady of gracious personahty and 
marked refinement. Dr. and Mrs. Goudy have 
four children, namely: Phoebe S., Grover C, 
Earl E. and James A. The family are prom- 
inent in the social life of the community and 
their pleasant home is one in which a gracious 
hospitality is ever in distinctive evidence. 



\\'ILLIAM W. CLARK, JR.— He to 
whom this brief sketch is devoted is a son of 
that well-known and Iionored citizen and prom- 
inent business man whose patronymic he bears, 
\\'ilham W. Clark, Sr., who has manifold capi- 
talistic interests in Canton and elsewhere, while 
he is president of the Canton Steel Roofing 
Company, of which the subject of this review 
is treasurer. On other pages of this work will 
be found specific mention of the father and 
also of the brother of our subject, and in the 
connection has been given adequate infonua- 
tion concerning the family history to forefend 
the necessity of reiterating the statements at 
this juncture, so that this article may be de- 
voted entirely to him whose name appears 
above and who is treasurer of the Canton Steel 
Roofing Company and known as a young man 
of alert mentality and. excellent business acu- 
men, as may be inferred from the responsible 
position of which he is in tenure. 

In the family homestead, in West Tusca- 
rawas street, in the city of Canton, William W. 
Clark, Jr., was born on the 17th of December, 
1880, and after attending the public schools 
he was entered as a student in that old historic 
institution, the Phillips Acadeiny, at Exeter, 
New Hampshire, which he left and entered the 
army. At the outbreak of the Spanish-Amer- 

76 



ican war Mr. Clark enlisted in Company I, 
Eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, wliich was 
commanded by Colonel C. V. Hand, while 
Henry Willis was captain of Company I. Mr. 
Clark had recei\ed thorough military discipline 
in the academy mentioned, and this tactical 
knowledge stood him well in and during his 
practical efforts as a soldier, his record during 
the campaign in Cuba being one which was 
creditable to him and to the state from which 
he went forth to do battle in a righteous cause. 
After his return from the war he became a stu- 
dent in the law department of the Ohio State 
University, in the capital city of Columbus, 
and was there graduated as a member of the 
class of 1902, though he has never engaged in 
the active practice of the profession for which 
he has thus qualified himself. He became iden- 
tified with the Canton Steel Roofing Company 
in a clerical capacity, and in January, 1903,. 
was elected treasurer, in which office he is 
rendering excellent service. In ])olitics he is a 
Reptiblican, while he is distinctively popular 
in both the business and social circles of his na- 
tive city and is a worthy representative of the 
name he bears. 



NORMAN REESE was bom in the vil- 
lage of Freeburg, this county, on the 24th of 
December, 1852, being a son of Edward and 
Emeline (Shidler) Reese, of whose eleven chil- 
dren the following named nine still survive: 
Norman, the immediate subject of this sketch; 
Harmon, who resides at North Georgetown, 
Columbiana county ; Edward H., who is a resi- 
dent of Freeburg, Stark county; John, who is 
a successful farmer of Paris township; Laura, 
who is the wife of Samuel Stafifer, of Free- 
burg; Emma, who is the wife of Wilson Hart- 
zel, of Freeburg; Ada, who is the wife of Cal- 
vin Aultman, of Alliance, this county ; Nancy, 
who is the wife of John Irwin, of Freeburg; 
and Ella, who is the wife of Ellard Hoppis, of 



I2l8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Alliance. The father of our subject was born 
in Washington township, Stark county, in the 
year 1S34, being a son of George Reese, who 
was a native of Pennsylvania and of stanch 
German lineage, the family having been 
founded in the Keystone state at an early epoch 
of its history. In the early pioneer days in 
Stark county George Reese came hither from 
his native state and settled on a tract of heavily 
timbered land in Washington township, eventu- 
ally reclaiming a goodly portion of the same 
and developmg a good farm, upon which both 
he and his wife passed the remainder of their 
lives. On this pioneer homestead on which he 
was born Edward Reese was reared to matun- 
tv, and after his marriage he settled on a farm 
adjoining the homestead, renting the same for 
a few years and then purchasing the place, 
which comprised eighty acres. He later pur 
chased thirteen acres lying contiguous, thus 
making the area of his farm ninety-three acres. 
Here he improved one of the valuable farms 
of tlie county and became known as a progres- 
sive and successful business man and a public- 
spirited citizen, and he has ever held the im- 
plicit confidence and esteem of all who know 
him. About i8g6 he sold his farm to his son- 
in-law, Samuel Staffer, and then purchased a 
residence in the pleasant village of Home- 
worth, where he has since lived retired from 
active business. In politics he is a stanch Re- 
publican, and for several years he served as 
trustee of Washington township, while he has 
long been an active and zealous member of the 
German Baptist church, of which his wife like- 
wise was a devoted adherent. She was born 
in Paris township, this county, being a daugh- 
ter of David Shidler, who was one of the early 
settlers there, whither he emigrated from 
Pennsylvania. The devoted and loved wife 
and mother was summoned into eternal rest in 
1 89 1, at the age of fifty-six years. 

Norman Reese was reared to the sturdy 
discipline of the homestead farm, and to the 



public schools of the neighborhood he is in- 
debted for the early educational advantages 
which fell to his portion, while he supple- 
mented this training by a course in the com- 
mercial department of Mount Union College, 
near the city of Alliance. He continued to as- 
sist his father in the management and work of 
the homestead farm up to the time of his mar- 
riage, in 1880, when he removed to the state 
of Michigan, where he remained about eighteen 
months, ha^/ing devoted his attention to teach- 
ing and other occupations while in the Wol- 
verine state. At the expiration of the period 
noted be returned to Stark county and settled 
on the paternal homestead, which he operated 
on shares for the ensuing three years, at the 
expiration of which, in 1886, he took up his 
residence in the village of Robertsville, where 
he established himself in the general merchan- 
dising business, in which he has ever since suc- 
cessfully continued, carrying a select and com- 
prehensive stock of goods and catering to a 
discriminating and representative patronage. 
He has long been interested in pomolog\', and 
for the past six years has devoted special at- 
tention to the raising of fine fruits, utilizing a 
tract of about five acres in Osnaburg township, 
near his home, so that he gives the enterprise 
his personal supervision, in connection with 
the carrying forward of his mercantile busi- 
ness. Tn 1897 Mr. Reese was appointed post- 
master at Robertsville and has ever since re- 
mained incumbent of the ofiKe, while for sev- 
eral years past he has been a valued and effi- 
cient member of the school board. He has ex- 
ercised bis franchise in support of the princi- 
ples of the Republican party from the time of 
attaining his legal majority and is knowii as 
a stalwart advocate of its cause. Like his par- 
ents, he has been a prominent and worthy 
member of the German Baptist church, in 
whose faith he was reared and of which his 
wife likewise is a member. 

On the 18th of Alarch, 1880, Mr. Reese 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1219 



was united in marriage to Miss Anna Myers, 
who was born in Trenton, Grundy county, Mis- 
souri, and who became the foster-daughter of 
Henry Dessler, a prominent miller and hon- 
ored citizen of Stark county, in whose home 
she was reared from her childhood. Mr. and 
Mrs. Reese have five children living, namely: 
Effie M., Carl N., Harry H., Lela and Ruby. 
One other child died at the age of twelve years. 
They have a pleasant home in the village and 
the same is a center of refined hospitality, while 
they are prominent in the social life of the 
community, in wlnich it may well be said they 
have "troo'^s of friends." 



THOMAS C. BELDING.— Among the 
progressive and highly respected business men 
of Canton is Mr. Belding, who holds the re- 
sponsiljle position of superintendent of the 
Canton Steel Roofing Company, of whose di- 
rectorate and executive he is a member, having 
been for a number of years one of the stock- 
holders of the company, while it may be said 
in due commendation that he has gained suc- 
cess through his own efforts. His grandfather, 
Titus Relding, was born in the state of Massa- 
chusetts, the family having been established in 
New England in an early day, and he became 
one of the pioneer settlers in Portage county, 
Ohio, where he served as a captain in the state 
militia, that section of the commonwealth con- 
tinuing to be his home until death. 

Thomas C. Belding is a native of Carroll 
county, Ohio, having been born in the town of 
Sherodsville, on the 7th of June, 1851, and be- 
ing- a son of Gershom B. and Margaret (Long) 
Belding, the former of whom was born in 
Portage county, this state, and the latter in 
Carroll county. When our subject was a child 
his parents removed to Leesville, Carroll coun- 
ty, and shortly afterward took up their abode 
in IJhrichsville, Tuscarawas county, where the 
father was engaged in bridge building for a 



period of six years, while our subject there re- 
ceived his early educational discipline in the 
public schools, while the family came to Stark 
county and located in the village of Waynes- 
burg when he was nine years of age. His par- 
ents came to Canton, Ohio, to reside in 1892, 
at which place occurred the death of his father, 
who passed away in 1895, at the age of sev- 
enty-eight years, while his wife died the same 
year, at the age of seventy-six years. They 
became the parents of three sons and two 
daughters, and of the number two sons are 
li\-ing at the present time. 

Thomas C. Belding learned the trade of 
carriage w^ood-working in the town of Carroll- 
ton, Carroll county, beginning his apprentice- 
ship at the age of nineteen years, and to this 
vocation he gave his attention about five years, 
at the expiration of which he learned the pat- 
tern-making trade. In 1886 he came to Can- 
ton, and on the ist of the following year as- 
sumed his present position as superintendent of 
the Canton Steel Roofing Company, in which 
he later became a stockholder and director, as 
has been previously noted in this context. He 
has been indefatigable and discriminating in 
his efforts and has done much to foster the up- 
building of this now large and important in- 
dustrial enterprise, while his course has ever 
been such as to retain to him the confidence and 
high regard of all with whom he has come in 
contact. Though never a seeker of political 
])referment of any order Mr. Belding has ever 
been a stanch advocate of the principles and 
policies of the Republican party and has been 
loyal to the various duties of citizenship. He 
was reared in the faith of the Disciples' church, 
and his views are in harmony with its teach- 
ings. 

At Waynesburg, this county, on the 21st of 
October, 1879, Mr. Belding was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Emma McCort, who died in 
1 882, leaving one child, Margaret, who is now 
employed as stenographer in the Central Sav- 



1220 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ings Bank, in Canton. On the 19th of May, 
1891, Mr. Belding consummated a second mar- 
riage, being then united to Miss Mary B. Ross, 
who was born in Stark county, Ohio, being a 
daughter of James H. Ross, and of this union 
have been born two children, H. Ross and 
Ruth C. 



ALEXANDER B. CLARK was born in 
Canton, Ohio, on the 23d of March, 1874, the 
oldest son of W. W. and Eunice Bierce. He 
received his early education in the Canton pub- 
lic schools, attended preparatory school at 
Wooster, Ohio, entered college at Yale Uni- 
versity and graduated in course in 1897 with 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts. After gradu- 
ation from college he studied law in the of- 
fice of Clark & Ambler for one year, and in 
1S98 entered the law department of the Ohio 
State ITniversity and was admitted to the bar 
of the state of Ohio in the following March, 
graduating from the law department of the 
Ohio State University with the degree of Bach- 
elor of Law. Immediately after graduation 
from the law school he accepted a clerical posi- 
tion with the Canton Steel Roofing Company, 
and was elected secretary in 1901. Besides be- 
ing connected with the Canton Steel Roofing 
Company, he is also director of the Dieljold 
Safe & Lock Company and the City National 
Bank of Canton, Ohio. On September 26, 
1000. Mr. Clark was married to Faith Fogle, 
and they ]ia\-e one child, A. B., Jr. 



THOMAS S. CULP is engaged in the 
manufacturing of bicycles, tricycles, motor 
cycles and automobiles in the city of Canton, 
and has labored faithfully and loyally during 
the many years of his active business career. 
His first establishment in Canton, opened in the 
year 1885, was a little shop twelve by twenty 
feet in dimensions, the same being a portion of 



his ))resent quarters, at the corner of Mahoning 
street and Sandal Court. He first established 
a tin shop and handled stoves on a rnodest 
scale, and when the bicycle was at the height 
of its popularity he found it expedient to aban- 
don his tin and stove business and engage in 
the handling, repairing and manufacture of the 
"wheels,'' while in 1901 he expanded the scope 
of his enterprise to include the manufacturing 
of automobiles and motor cycles, in which lines 
he has turned out some fine models, being an 
expert mechanic and one of individual ideas, so 
tliat he has brought out irumerous improve- 
ments in methods of construction. The motors 
utilized by him are principally of the gasoline 
type and are very effective in their operation, 
as well as economical. 

Mr. Culp was born near the village of Su- 
gar Grove Ridge, Jefferson county, Ohio, on 
the 20th of December, 1858, and there received 
his preliminary educational training in the 
common school, while he later . attended the 
public schools of Uhrichsville, Tuscarawas- 
county. When he was fourteen years of age 
his parents removed to Steubenville, Jefferson 
county, and at the age of sixteen he began his 
apprenticeship at the trade of tinner, serving 
three years, and thereafter working as a jour- 
neyman until the centennial year, 1876. In 
1877 he located in Toronto, Jefferson county, 
where he opened a small tin shop and worked 
at his trade, carrying a small stock of stoves 
and tinware in connection. About three years 
later he removed to Elliottsville, Jefferson 
county, where his father was at the time con- 
ducting a brick yard, and of this enterprise the- 
sujjject had the management for the ensuing 
two years, at the expiration of which he re- 
moved to Wells\-ille, where he secured employ- 
ment in the tin and copper shops of the Cleve- 
land & Pittsburg Railroad Company. Two 
years later he took charge of the tin shop of the 
Wellsville Hardware Company, in whose em- 
ploy he remained one season. During the fol— 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



I22I 



lowing autumn and winter he conducted a rol- 
ler-skating rink in the village of Minerva, 
Stark county, and then took up his residence 
in Canton, where he assumed charge of the 
■copper shops of the Wheeling & Lake Erie 
Railroad Company, retaining this incumbency 
more than eight years. Within this interval 
he opened a little shop of his own, giving it his 
personal attention in the evenings, after leav- 
ing his regular work. Later he Iniilt up his 
present flourishing enterprise, of which ade- 
quate mention has been made in an earlier para- 
graph of this article. 

In politics Mr. Gulp is a stanch adherent of 
the Republican party, in whose cause he takes 
an active interest, and fraternally he is iden- 
tified with the Junior Order of United Amer- 
ican Mechanics, the Daughters of Liberty, 
Daughters of America, Knights of the Macca- 
bees, and the Home Guards of America. His 
religious faith is that of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, and he was formerly an active 
member of tlie First Methodist Episcopal 
church of Canton. 

Of the ancestry of the subject we may sa}' 
that he is a son of Jacob G. Culp, who was a 
railroad engineer for a quarter of a century, 
having been thus engaged in the employ of 
the Panhandle, the Baltimore & Ohio and other 
lines, while at the present time he is a stationary 
engineer at Conneaut, this state. He likewise 
is a native of Ohio and a scion of one of its 
pioneer families, having been born in Jefferson 
■county, in 1S4T. His Avife, whose maiden 
name was Hannah Cole, was also born in that 
county, in 1S47, ^.nd she is a sister of Leander 
C. Cole, who was formerly mayor of the city 
■of Massillon, Stark county. John Culp, grand- 
father of the subject, was a successful farmer, 
wool buyer and speculator in Jefferson county, 
wliere he died, having been a man of worth 
:and influence and having been commonly 
Icnown as "Squire Culp. Lie married Elizabeth 
Cooper, who was of Irish lineage. The Culp 



family is of stanch German stock, and the 
first representative of this immediate branch in 
America was the great-grandfather of the sub- 
ject. It is but consistent that we make men- 
tion of the fact that during his entire life the 
subject has never used tobacco in any form 
nor taken a drink of intoxicating liquor, while 
to his abstemious habits he feels that he owes 
his fine physical health today, being a man of 
A'igor and energy and in the very prime of an 
active and useful career. 

On the 27th of May, 1886, in the city of 
Canton, Mr. Culp was united in marriage to 
Miss Lillie Arnold, of tliis city, and she was 
summoned into eternal rest on the i8th of 
April, 1891, at the age of twenty-seven years, 
being survived by her only child. Earl E,, who 
is a fine lad of fourteen years at the time of 
this writing (1903). On the loth of No- 
vember, 1892, Mr. Culp consummated a sec- 
ond marriage, being then united to Miss Mary 
A. Reinhokl, daughter of Captain L'rias R. 
Reinhoid, of Canton, and they have one daugh- 
ter, Viola, aged nine years. The pleasant fam- 
ily liome is located at No. 622 Mahoning street 
and here a hospitable welcome is ever assured 
to the wide circle of friends whom the subject 
and wife have gatiiered about them. 



HAL B. STONEBROOK, D. D. S., is a 
native of the village of Bakersville, Coshocton 
county, Ohio, where he was l)orn on the 17th 
of February, 1869, being a sonof Hiram J. and 
Emaline (Thompson) Stonebrook, of whose 
twelve children ten are living at the present 
tune, namely: .Vlonzo O., who is a teacher in 
the high school at Port Washington, Tusca- 
rawas count)'; Hal B., who is the immediate 
subject of this review; Harry G., who is en- 
gaged in tlie practice of dentistry at Canal Do- 
ver in partnership with the subject; Florence, 
who is the wife of Levi Sciioonover, of 
Canton, Ohio; Iimma, who is the wife 



1222 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of a Mr. Spraig; William H., who is in 
the employ of the Canton Steel Company, at 
Canton, Stark county; Francis M., a laborer in 
Canton; Oliver H., who is a farmer near Ba- 
kersville, Coshocton county; Carlyle H., who is 
at the parental home, as is also Cecil V. Hi- 
ram J. Stonebrook, the father of these children, 
was born in I'uscarawas county, Ohio, on the 
1st of August, 1840, and was there reared to 
maturity, receiving his preliminary educational 
discipline in the public schools, and effectively 
supplementing the same by a course of study 
in the Ohio Wesleyan University, in the city 
of Delaware, where he prepared himself for the 
profession of which he was to prove so suc- 
cessful and popular an exponent during a long 
and active career. Soon after leaving the col- 
lege he turned his attention with marked ef- 
ficiency to the pedagogic profession, and for 
the long period of twenty years he continued 
his active labors in the educational field, though 
for the greater portion of the period of the 
war of the Rebellion he laid aside all civic ef- 
forts to respond to the call. of higher duty, 
serving as a loyal and patriotic soldier in the 
Union army and aiding in perpetuating the in- 
tegrity of the nation. In the autumn of the 
year 1862 he enlisted as a private in Company 
C, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment 
of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he 
continued in active service until the close of the 
war, his regiment having been assigned to the 
command of General Sheridan. Among the 
more notaljle battles in which he participated 
may be mentioned the following: Monocacy, 
Cedar Creek, Winchester, the Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, siege of Peters- 
burg and Appomatox Court-house. Through 
gallant and meritorious service he rose through 
the different grades until he became com- 
mander of his company, as first lieutenant of 
which he led his valiant comrades of Company 
C into the memorable battle of the Wilderness, 
after which he continiied in command of the 



same until the close of the war, when he re- 
ceived his honorable discharge. After his re- 
turn. Lieutenant Stonebrook resumed teach- 
ing, to which he devoted his attention during 
the winter months, while in the suminer sea- 
sons he was engaged: in agricultural pursuits. 
In 1874 he established himself in the manu- 
facture of woolen goods in Bakersville, Co- 
shocton county, the while continuing his peda- 
gogic labors during the winters until about 
1880, after which he gave practically his en- 
tire time to his manufacturing interests until 
1897, since which year he has lived retired in: 
the city of Coshocton. In politics he has ever 
given a stanch allegiance to the Democratic 
party, and for a period of twelve years he was- 
incumbent of the office of justice of the peace. 
His religious faith is that of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, in whose work he has taken 
an active part, while fraternally he is an hon- 
ored member of the Grand Army of the Re- 
public, being past commander of the post with- 
which he is affiliated. At one time he was 
quite prominent in the Knights of Pythias fra- 
ternity, having organized several lodges, but 
in recent years he has allowed his membership 
to lapse. He is a son of Frederick and Pris- 
cilla Stonebrook, both of wdiom were born in 
Pennsylvania, of stanch old German lineage, 
and they emigrated from the old Keystone- 
state to Ohio in the pioneer davs, taking" up 
their abode in Carroll county, whence they 
eventually removed to Tuscarawas county, 
where they passed the remainder of their lives. 
Emaline ^Thompson) Stonebrook, the mother 
of the subject of this sketch, was born in Tus- 
carawas county, Ohio, on the 19th of No- 
vember, 1843, ^""^1 'i^i' death occurred on the- 
25th of October, 1892. She was a daughter 
of James Thompson, who with his wife emi- 
grater from Ireland, their native land, to 
America and took up their residence in Tus- 
carawas county, Ohio, in the early days, there- 
passing the residue of their lives. Mrs. Stone- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1223 



brook was a devoted member of the Methodist 
Episcopal cliurch and was a woman of gentle 
and gracious presence, ever retaining the love 
of those who came within the sphere of her 
kindly influence. 

Dr. Stonebrook, whose name introduces 
this article, passed his boyhood days on the 
homestead farm and his early educational priv- 
ileges were such as were afforded by the dis- 
trict schools. After sturdily completing the 
curriculum of the district schools he became a 
student in the Bakersville high school, where 
he completed the prescribed course. At the 
age of eighteen years he began his active en- 
deavors in that profession in which his honored 
father had attained so marked success, and dur- 
ing a period of seven years he was engaged in 
teaching during the winter months, while dur- 
ing the summers he was employed m his fa- 
ther's woolen mills, in Bakersville. In 1894 
he began his technical preparation for the pro- 
fession of dentistry, by entering upon an ap- 
prenticeship in the office and under the direc- 
tion of Dr. J. H. Riggle, a skilled practitioner 
at Sherodsville, Carroll county, and so earn- 
estly and effectively did he apply himself to 
the mastering of all details of operative and 
laboratory work that in 1896 he passed a rigid 
examination before the state board of dental 
examiners, in session at Columbus, and was 
granted his diploma and license to practice. In 
July of the same year he located in Waynes- 
burg and established himself in the practice 
of his chosen profession, his novitiate being of 
very brief duration, for his unmiistakable skill 
and discrimination in his professional work 
and his genial personality soon gained to him a 
representative patronage. His offices are 
equipped with modern accessories and conven- 
iences, and the highest grade of workmanship 
and most careful operations in the line of den- 
tal surgery are assured under all circumstances. 
In politics the Doctor gives his allegiance to 
the Republican party, but he has had no ambi- 



tion for ot^cial preferment of any sort. He is 
a prominent and zealous member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, of which his wife like- 
wise is a member, and at the present time he 
is a steward of the church in Waynesburg, 
while for ten years he has been a teacher in its 
Sunday school, and for several terms served 
as superintendent of the same, taking a lively 
interest in all departments of the church work. 
He is identified with the Knights of the Macca- 
bees, aPtiliating with Waynesburg Tent No. 29, 
of which he is past commander, while for three 
years he was keeper of records in the same. 
He also belongs to the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen. 

On the 3d of September, 1892, Dr. Stone- 
brook was united in marriage to Miss Lillie 
M. Riggle, a daughter of Charles Riggle, a 
prom.inent retired farmer of Bakersville, Co- 
shocton county, and of the five children born of 
this union four survive, namely : Mary Edna, 
Audrey Evangeline, Lois M. and Charlotte 
Lucille. 



JOHN E. BETZ is a native son of the 
Buclceye state, having been born in the town 
of Leetonia, Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 
13th of June, 1861, being the youngest of the 
three children of Joseph and Susanna 
(Stumpf) Betz, both of whom were of stanch 
German lineage. His two sisters are still liv- 
ing, Delia being engaged in the dressmaking 
business in the city of Alliance, this county; 
while A.manda is the wife of Lewis Waters, 
of Waynesburg. Our subject received his 
early educational discipline in the public 
schools, and when he was but fifteen years of 
age began to prepare himself for that vocation 
in which he has attained so signal prestige and 
success. He then entered upon an apprentice- 
ship at the tailor's trade, under the direction 
of an able journeyman named Hilliard, becom- 
ing proficient in all departments of the art and 



1224 



OLD LANDMARKS 



for a number of years traveling about the 
Union as a journeyman at his trade, working 
in Cliiaigo and in eastern cities and in various 
places in the middle west. In the year 1884 
IVJr. Bet;^ |)urchased his present tailoring es- 
tablishment from William H. Evens, a former 
employer, and with the exception of two and 
one-half years, which he passed in Malvern, 
Carroll county, he has been continuously en- 
gaged in business in W'ayncsburg. He has a 
well ec|ui]iped establishment, keeping in line 
a select stock of imported and domestic fabrics, 
while he employs only skilled assistants and 
gives his personal sujiervision to all portions 
of the work, allowing nothing to pass muster 
that does not come up to the highest standard 
of excellence. Though he is known as one of 
the l^est of cutters and titters, he still maintains 
that his art is one in which something new may 
always be learned, and he receives yearly 
courses of instruction from some of the most 
skilled and fashionable tailors in the metropol- 
itan centers and in tliis way keeps in touch with 
the latest styles and with all advances made in 
the various departments of his business. He 
has built an extensive business, controlling not 
only a reiircsentatixc trade in \\'a\ncsburg but 
also in surrounding towns, while an evidence 
of his skill is shown in the fact that even in 
the city of Canton he has a goodly list of reg- 
ular customers, in the face of the brisk com- 
petition which he there encounters, while he 
has patrons as far west as Breckenridge, Col- 
orado. In politics he gives his allegiance to 
the Republican party, and fraternally he is 
identified with the Knights of Pythias, being 
a memlier of Lodge No. 122, in Minerva. 

On the 29th of August, 1889, Mr. Betz 
was united in marriage to Miss Mary Shaffer, 
who was born in Sandy township, being a 
daughter of Hamilton Shaffer and a rejjre- 
sentative of one of Stark county's old and inllu- 
ential families. Mr. and Mrs. Betz have two 
children, i.eutia S. and Herl)ert S. 



WILLIAM A. LYNCH.— Among the 
prominent and distinguished citizens of Can- 
ton and northern Ohio, William A. Lynch eas- 
ily takes rank. For many years he was one 
of the recognized leaders of the Stark county 
bar, subsequently was active in the promotion 
and development of the street railway enter- 
prises, besides being interested extensively in 
manufacturing and the development of railroad 
and mining properties. 

William A. Lynch was born at Canton, 
Ohio, on August 4, 1844. His father and 
mother were both natives of Ireland, who met 
in Stark county and were here married. His 
father served as county surveyor and county 
recorder, and was a man of great energy and 
unusual business ability. He was a pioneer 
in the development of coal mining interests of 
this county, and also in the opening up of the 
coal fields of western Pennsylvania. Besides 
these he became deeply interested in railroad 
construction and promotion. He was one of 
the projectors of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne 
& Chicago Railroad, and of the Mahoning Val- 
ley Railroad between Youngstown and Cleve- 
land, now part of the Erie system. He was 
also interested more or less in other railroad 
enterprises. These \'ast projects necessarily 
carried with them a corresponding responsi- 
bility, and u]jon his death, which occurred just 
prior to the financial panic of 1857, it was 
found that by reason of the great depreciation 
in values of all properties, especially railroads, 
caused by the stagnation of business and the 
general financial depression, his estate had be- 
come seriously involved. Indeed, so great had 
been the shrinkage in values and the loss en- 
tailed bv the want of his personal supervision, 
that a large indebtedness was shown. At this 
time William A. Lynch was a boy of twelve 
years, old enough to realize his great loss, and 
yet quite too young to assume the burdens 
which at an early age were placed upon his 
shoulders. That these early trials had much 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1225 



to do with developing the breadth and keen- 
ness of his business capacity, and the firmness, 
decision and earnestness of his character, can- 
not be doubted. One of the earhest acts of his 
business career was to pay off all outstanding 
obligations of his father's estate, facing the 
trying situation more like one of mature years 
than as a youth just reaching his majority. He 
appreciated the value of education, and set him- 
self to work most assiduously to acquire knowl- 
edge. With the assistance of the education he 
acquired in the public schools, he became a 
great reader and deep student, and when he had 
attained his sixteenth year he entered the law 
office of the Hon. Louis Schaefer, of Canton. 
He was admitted to practice immediately upon 
reaching the legal age. on September i, 1865, 
and was taken into partnership by his precep- 
tor. While studying law, and afterwards in 
the early days of practice, he made the ac- 
quaintance of many men of prominence and 
distinguished ability. Among others the Hon. 
John McSweeney was attracted to the young 
man by reason of the promise shown in him of 
future strength, and he took delight in aiding 
him by advice and counsel from his own wide 
experience. This was always gratefully re- 
ceived and wisely utilized by the young man, 
so that in a few years the young and ardent 
student was by far the strongest advocate that 
his friend, McSweeney, had to contend with 
in the courts of northern Ohio. His partner- 
ship with the Hon. Louis Schaefer was dis- 
solved at the end of four years' time, and 
Mr. Lynch remained alone until 1872, when he 
was joined in practice by William R. Day, af- 
terwards secretar\' of state under President 
^IcKinley and at present associate justice of 
the L^nited States supreme court, the firm be- 
ing styled Lynch & Day. On April 17, 1878, 
an addition was made to the firm by the ad- 
mission of Austin Lynch, a brother of the 
senior partner, under the style of Lynch, Day 
&. Lynch. In 1885 Mr. William A. Lynch re- 



tired from the firm. A notable and historical 
case in northern Ohio, in which Mr. Lynch was 
prominent, was that of the State vs. Richard- 
son. The defendant was a woman charged 
with the killing of her husband, and the legal 
talent engaged on both sides was of the strong- 
est character. The state attorney was assisted 
by Mr. Lynch and Judge Day, while the 
defendant had employed John McSweeney, 
Judge Ricks, Judge Meyer and Judge 
Pease — an array of talent that is rare in 
one case. Medical expert testimony lent 
its aid in exciting ihe public interest, and 
the tragedy concluded with a verdict of man- 
slaughter. 

jMr. Lynch was twice elected by the people 
as prosecuting attorney of Stark county. The 
first lime his opponent was Charles Mander- 
son, recently United States senator from Ne- 
braska, the second time he had Major McKin- 
ley for a competitor and failed of election. But 
at the succeeding term he again contested with 
Major ]\IcKinley and was returned to the office 
to which he had aspired. During this period 
the county of Stark, was strongly Republican. 
The offices of prosecuting attorney and solicitor 
of the city of Canton are the only offices to 
which Mr. Lynch has been elected, and the only 
ones for which he permitted himself to be 
placed in nomination. He has always been a 
stanch, consistent, old-time Democrat, and has 
repeatedly been tendered the nomination for 
congress from his district, but always declined 
to enter political life. So firm was this resolve 
that he declined even an appointment to the 
common pleas judgship tendered him by Gov- 
ernor Hoadley. Mr. Lynch was a delegate 
to the 'Indianapolis national sound money con- 
vention in 1896, and was one of the electors-at- 
large on the Palmer-Buckner ticket for the state 
of Ohio, representing the hard-money wmg of 
the party. Realizing the hopelessness of vic- 
tory at the polls of the third, or soimd-money 
party, Mr. Lynch openly declared for his warm 



1226 



OLD LANDMARKS 



friend and fellow townsman, Mr. McKinley, 
and was active in his support. Again, in the 
presidential campaign of 1900, did Mr. Lynch 
declare against the election of Mr. Bryan, and 
with the Hon. John Cowen, president of the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, spoke in the city 
of Baltimore to a large meeting under the aus- 
pices of the Maryland Sound-money Demo- 
cratic League. It was during this memorable 
campaign of 1896 that Mr. Lynch delivered at 
Canton what is considered one of the most 
forcible speeches in the interest of sound money 
that was ever delivered, it being a strong and 
convincing argument and plea for sound money 
that met with response in all parts of the coun- 
try, and was a factor in the campaign literature 
used so tellingly for the first time probably, in 
that critical struggle, which meant so much to 
the prosperity and credit of the nation. 

Lt 1885, upon retiring from the firm of 
Lynch, Day & Lynch, he directed himself to 
the work of counsel to corporations, and this, 
with his natural predilection for business, soon 
led him into an active participation in the man- 
agement of several enterprises of great magni- 
tude. He was one of the projectors of the 
Pittsburg, Akron & Western Railroad, in 
northern Ohio, besides being exceedingly active 
in the promotion of new railroads in the west 
and the reorganizing of railroad, coal and iron 
properties and manufacturing companies. He 
was the projector and president of the Canton 
& Massillon Electric Railway, which was built 
up to a system comprising thirty miles of track. 
The Canton & Massillon line was the first inter- 
urban road in the United States to be equipped 
with modern improvements and conveniences, 
including the long car provided with cross- 
wise seats, with center aisle, and with provis- 
ions for carrying baggage, mail and express 
matter. In December, 1901, this system was 
sold to a syndicate, at which time Mr. Lynch 
retired from participation in its management. 
He has a number of times been appointed re- 



ceiver for large mterests, while in matters of 
litigation and reorganization of big properties 
his counsel and active co-operation are fre- 
quently sought. In 1895 Mr. Lynch reorgan- 
ized the Aultman Company, and became presi- 
dent of the same. From time to time he has 
made large investments in the company, until 
he is now one of the principal owners of its 
stock. Under his able management and guid- 
ance this old and prominent industry has con- 
tinued its prosperity and bids fair to enjoy 
even a greater and grander career in the future 
than in the past. 

Mr. Lynch was married, October 14, 1874, 
to Eliza Ruth Underbill, daughter of Judge 
Underbill, of Canton. 

A prominent member of the Ohio bar, 
in speaking of Mr. Lynch, said : "I have 
known him from his school days. He 
is a man of keen, logical, analytical mind. No 
fallacy escapes his attention. He was always 
most studious and industrious. He has the 
principles of the law thoroughly mastered and 
knows more of the philosoph.y of the law than 
of mere case law. He is well versed in law 
literature and the best English literature. He 
is a wide reader and of good general intelli- 
gence, reading and experience. When he was 
in the general practice of the law he was easily 
a leader of the bar in Stark county, and while 
his reputation was somewhat local, I know of 
no better trial lawyer in the state. He pos- 
sesses exactly the temperament for a trial law- 
yer, sufficiently combative, but not unneces- 
sarily so. He always retains complete control 
of his temper, his feelings and of himself, and 
never permits any of these to get the better of 
him to betray him into a mistake. He is full 
of wit, pathos and logic, and possesses com- 
mand of a wonderful vocabulary. He is a 
most forcible and convincing speaker. If ele- 
gance of diction, pathos, humor, analysis, logi- 
cal argument and forcible manner, combined 
with a warm enthusiasm, make an orator, then 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1227 



William A. Lynch is one. He has a cool head 
and rare tact and ripe judgment. His per- 
ceptions are quick. He is a broad-minded, 
capable man, who in a law suit or other mat- 
ters quickly grasps the strong points and relies 
in them for success, rather than be mag- 
nifying unimportant details, the common fault 
with loose thinkers. Mr. Lynch's position at 
the bar was entirely the result of his high 
character, his great ability and his sterling in- 
tegrity. A man, of solid parts, he relied upon 
the public judgment of his character and quali- 
fications for his business, and never resorted to 
the arts of the small lawyer to bring it to him. 
He has a warm, generous, sympathetic nature, 
free from all demagog)^ a man of convictions 
and a man of courage. The measure of the 
man, his strong sense of duty, courage and fear- 
lessness where duty prompts any line of con- 
duct, was shown in the campa'gn of 1896. He 
had always been a strong Democrat and an ar- 
dent partisan, but his conscience impelled him 
to oppose the action of his party in 1896, and 
he did it with all the force and ability of his 
character. On this occasion he made a truly 
magnificent speech in Canton. In my opinion 
there was no speech made during the campaign 
on the sound-money question, excepting, per- 
haps, that of Carl Schurz, at Chicago, which 
will in any way compare with it. Mr. Lynch 
is a consistent Catholic, but always tolerant of 
the religious views of others. He has never 
sought office, and yet there is no public office, 
even to the highest, that he would not be well 
qualified to fill. Had his mind and inclination 
run in that direction, he would certainly have 
achieved a great national reputation." 



TAMES C. LUPHER is a native son of 
the old Buckeye state, having been born on a 
farm in Sandy township, Tuscarawas county, 
Ohio, on the 3d of February, 1861, being a 
son of Thomas C. and Nancy A. (Miller) 



Lupher, of whose ten children the following 
six are yet living: John W., who is a resident 
of Canton township. Stark county; James C, 
who is the immediate subject of this sketch ; 
Cora B., who is the wife of Welty B. Cable, of 
Ttiscarawas count}- ; Emma J., who is a trained 
nurse, being the first graduate of the school for 
trained nurses conducted in connection with 
the Aultman hospital in the city of Canton; 
Ada K., who is the wife of William Hay, of 
Canton ; and Bertha B., who is the wife of 
William Cable, who is a resident of the city 
of Chicago, where he is in the employ of the 
government. Thomas C. Lupher, father of 
the subject, was born on the same farm in Tus- 
carawas county as was his son, of whom this 
sketch is written, and that he was a representa- 
tive of one of the early pioneer families of that 
locality is evident when Ave revert to the cir- 
cumstance that the date of his nativity was the 
year 1830. He continued to reside on the an-, 
cestral farmstead until within about a decade 
of his death, having taken up his residence in 
Waynesburg, Stark county, in 1888, and hav- 
ing here passed the residue of his life retired 
from active business, his demise occurring in 
1898. He was a man of exceptional energA^ and 
business acumen, and for many years, in con- 
nection with his agricultural operations, he did 
a quite extensive business in the buying of wool 
and also cattle. He was an uncompromising 
Republican in his political proclivities and' 
while in Tuscarawas he held the office of town- 
ship assessor for a number of years, while in 
1890 he was elected land appraiser of Sandy 
township. Stark county. He became a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church in his 
youth and ever continued a worthy and active 
adherent of the same ; he was for many years 
an officer in the church, having been called 
upon to serve in various capacities. He was a 
son of Henry Lupher, who was a native of 
Pennsylvania and of stanch German lineage. 
He emigrated from the Keystone state to Ohio- 



1228 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in an early day, settling in Tuscarawas county, 
where he passed the residue of liis hfe, devot- 
ing his attention to farming and to the work 
of his trade, that of blacksmith. 

Nancy A. (Miller) I-upher, the mother of 
the subject, was lx)rn in Pike township. Stark 
county, Ohio, in the year 1835, being a daugh- 
ter of Jacob Miller, who was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, w^hence he came to Stark county and 
became numbered among the early settlers of 
Pike township, where he reclaimed a good 
farm and became an influential citizen, having 
been engaged also in a freighting or transfer 
business in the pioneer epoch, transporting 
goods and pnjduce over the mountains to and 
from the eastern markets by means of teams 
and wagons, this being prior to the advent of 
railroads in this section of the Union. The 
mother uf the subject, who likewise was a de- 
voted member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, was summoned into eternal rest in 
1884, at the age of forty-nine years. 

James C. Lupher, whose name initiates this 
article, was reared on the old homestead where 
he was born, and his more rudimentary educa- 
tion was acquired in the public schools. When 
about fifteen years of age, in the spring of 
1876, he gained his first definite business ex- 
perience, ])eing placed in a general-merchandise 
store at Sandyville, Tuscarawas county, where 
he remained one year. In the spring of 1877 
he was matriculated in Richmond College, in 
Jefferson county, this state, where he continued 
his studies for one year, while within the fol- 
lowing two years he was for four terms a stu- 
dent in Mount Union College. That he took 
■due advantage of the opportunities thus af- 
forded him is evident wlien we achert to the 
fact that in the winter of 1879 he ])ut his scho- 
lastic acc|uirements to practical use by engag- 
ing in pedagogic work, proxing a capable and 
successful teacher from the start. In the sum- 
mer of t88i, in order to still further fortify 
liimself for the work of his profession, he at- 



tended the Northeastern Ohio Normal Uni- 
versity, at Ada, and -thereafter resumed his 
teaching in the public schools. In 1883 he was 
called to Waynesburg to assume charge of the 
grammar department of the city schools, and 
this incumbency he retained for somewhat 
more than three years, having in the meanwhile 
purchased a grocery and provision store in the 
village and finally resigning his place in the 
schools in order to devote his attention to the 
mercantile enterprise, which he continued for 
a period of about five years. In 1888 he ac- 
cepted a position with the fraternal order 
]<nown as the Knights of the Maccabees, for 
the purpose of organizing new tents of the 
order, and to this line of endeavor he gave his 
attention for one year, within which time he 
traveled cjuite extensively through eastern 
Ohio. He was thus engaged up to the time 
when he resigned to accept a salaried office as 
special agent for the Union Central Life In- 
surance Company, of Cincinnati, in which con- 
nection he was traveling the major portion of 
the time, not being assigned to any one terri- 
tor_\-. lie was thus engaged for one year, after 
w hich he became a commissioned agent for the 
same company, with headquarters in Waynes- 
burg, while he simultaneously became the local 
agent for various fire insurance companies of 
the most reliable order. In 1892 Mr. Lupher 
was elected to the office of justice of the peace, 
of which he remained in tenure for three years, 
while in 1894 he was honored in being called 
to the liead of the municipal government of 
Waynesburg. ■ having been elected mayor and 
having retained the incumbency for two years, 
giving a most economical and business-like ad- 
ministration and ha\-ing shown a progressive 
policv, doing all in his power to advance the 
!)est interests of the city in all departments. In 
1 896. he was made secretary and superintendent 
of the Waynesburg Brick & Clay Company, in 
which capacity he gave efficient service until 
the reorganization of the business, three years 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



122^ 



later, when he retired from the office. On the 
13th of Noveral)er, 1897, he received his com- 
mission as postmaster of Waynesburg, taking 
charge of the office on the ist of the follow- 
ing month, and he is still incumbent of this 
position, in which he has given a most able and 
popular administration, having done much to 
improve the facilities and service of the office. 
Since 1805 'i^ 'I'^s also been a notary public. 
No man in this section of the county is better 
kn.own or more highh' esteemed, andl it may 
well be said of Air. Lupher that his friends are 
in numljer as his accjuaintances. As will be in- 
ferred from the governmental office which he 
holds, the subject is to be found stanchly ar- 
rayed in support of the principles and policies 
of the Republican part}-, while he and his wife 
are both valued and consistent members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, in whose spiritual 
work and collateral benevolences they take a 
deep and helpful interest. Fraternally he is 
identified with W'aynesburg Tent No. 29, 
Knights of the Maccabees, in which he has held 
the various offices. 

On the 26. of April, 1884, Mr. Lupher was 
united in marriage to Mrs. Cjiithia E. Hewitt. 
She was born in W'aynesburg, being a daughter 
of the late Edward Eoory, who was one of the 
well known tanners and prominent citizens of 
this section in the early days, his death occur- 
ring, in Waynesburg, a number of years ago. 
Mr. and Mrs. Lupher have two daughters, 
Mary E. and Dorothy B., and she has one 
daughter by her previous marriage, Ruth 
Irene, who is assistant postmaster under the 
subject. The family are prominent in the so- 
cial life of the community and their pleasant 
home is a center of gracious and refined hos- 
pitality. 



CHARLES AI. STANDS was born in 
Pike township, this county, on the 5th of Au- 
gust, 1869, being a son of Leonard H. and 



Catherine (McKinney) Stands, to whom were 
born three children, namely: Cora, whfi is the 
wife of William G. Smith, of Canton, this, 
county; Emmet, who is a resident of Sparta, 
Pike township; and Charles M., the immediate 
subject of this review. Henry Stands, the pa- 
ternal grandfather of the subject, was a native 
of Pennsylvania, where the family was estab- 
lished in the colonial epoch of our national his- 
tory, and from Westmoreland county, that 
state, he came to Stark county, Ohio, and be- 
came one of the early settlers of Pike town- 
sliip, his original location here being on a tract 
of land a short distance south of the present 
village of Sparta. He eventually removed to- 
another farm, in the western part of the same 
township and there passed the residue of his 
life, being seventy-six years of age at the time 
of his demise. He was one of the leading horse 
dealers of this section of the state for many 
years, and through his operations in this line 
he became known to practically all the people of 
the county. In the later years of his life he be- 
came a prominent and zealous member of the 
Linited Brethren church. Leonard H. Stands 
was born in Pike township, in 1835, and was 
here reared to manhood, while he received su- 
perior educational advantages for the locality 
and period, having completed a thorough cur- 
riculum in the common schools, after which he 
entered Mount L^nion College, where he took 
a course of study which ably fortified him for 
the pedagogic profession, to w-hich he devoted 
his attention for the long period of thirty years, 
teaching during the winter months and during- 
the summer seasons giving his time to the culti- 
vation of his small farm, which is located one 
and one-half miles west of Sparta. He proved 
a particularly successful and popular teacher 
and since his withdrawal from that line of 
work he has continued to reside on his farm, 
which is maintained under a high state of cul- 
tivation and equipped with excellent improve- 
ments. In politics he is a stanch adherent of 



I230 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the Republican party, and for eighteen years 
he served as clerk of Pike township, while for 
many years he was incumbent of the office of 
school director, ever maintaining a lively inter- 
est in the cause of education. In 1864 he en- 
listed, for a term of one hundred days, as a 
member of Company F, One Hundred and 
Sixty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, of 
which he was commissioned second lieutenant, 
continuing in service until the expiration of 
his term, when he received an honorable dis- 
charge. He is a zealous member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church and for many years has 
been an official in the church. Fraternally he 
is an honored member of B. F. Steiner Post 
No. 511, Grand Army of the Republic, at 
Sparta. 

Catherine (McKinney) Stands, the mother 
of the subject, is a representative of one of the 
sterling pioneer families of Stark county, hav- 
ing been born in Pike township, in the year 
1840, a daughter of Daniel McKinney, who 
was a prominent farmer of the county. He 
was born in Pennsylvania, whence he came 
with his father, Martin McKinney, to Stark 
county, prior to 1820, the family taking up 
their abode on a tract of land in the vicinity of 
Sparta, while eventually Daniel McKinney 
bought a farm immediately adjoining that 
town, the original American ancestor, who was 
the father of Martin McKinney, having emi- 
grated from Ireland to Pennsylvania in the co- 
lonial days. Grandfather McKinney continued 
to reside on his farm near Sparta until his 
death, at the venerable age of eighty-three 
years. He was a man of influence and prom- 
inence in the township, where he held the 
office of justice of the peace for many years, 
while for two terms he served as township 
treasurer. The mother of the subject is like- 
wise a devoted member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, in whose work she has taken an 
active part. 

Charles M. Stands, whose name introduces 



this sketch, was reared on the homestead farm, 
near Sparta, and secured his preliminary edu- 
cation in the public schools, after which he 
completed a course of study in the Sparta 
Academy. He early determined to prepare 
himself for the profession of law, and with 
this end in view, when in his eighteenth year, 
he entered the law office of John C. Welty, a 
representative member of the Canton bar, and 
under effective preceptorship began his tech- 
nical reading, and in December of the year 
1890 he was duly admitted to the bar of the 
state. He forthwith entered upon the active 
practice of his profession, opening an office in 
the city of Canton, where he remained until 
1S98, when he removed to Waynesburg, where 
he lias since maintained his home and where 
he lias built up an excellent practice, being 
thoroughly informed in the science of juris- 
prudence and having gained marked preced- 
ence both as an advocate and counsellor. In 
politics Mr. Stands is a stanch advocate of the 
principles and policies of the Democratic par- 
ty, and he has done effective work in its cause. 
He has the distinction of being at the head of 
the municipal government of Waynesburg, 
having been elected to the office of mayor in 
the spring of igoo, and having given a most 
able and discriminating administration. Mr. 
Stands is nut married. 



JOSEI'H L. TODD, M. D.— Tlie Todd 
family is of stanch Scotch-Irish extraction and 
has been established on American soil for many 
generations, while the name has long been iden- 
tified with the annals of the old Keystone 
state, whence representatives have gone forth 
into the most diverse sections of the Union. 
James Todd, grandfather of the Doctor, passed 
his entire life in Pennsylvania, his death oc- 
curring on his farm, in Beaver county, that 
state. James Todd, father of our subject, was 
born on the old homestead farm, in Beaver 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1231 



county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1835, ^"^ 
there he recei\ed his education in tlie common 
schools of the period, after which he learned 
the tanning" trade, to which he devoted his at- 
tention for many years. He finally withdrew 
from this line of enterprise and devoted the 
remainder of his life to agricultural pursuits 
in his native county, where he died about the 
year '807, his wife, whose maiden name was 
Mary Brown and who was a relative of that 
historic character, John Brown, having passed 
away in 1869. Both were devoted meml>ers 
of the United Presbyterian church and were 
people of sterling character, honored by all 
who knew them. James Todd identified him- 
self with the Republican party and was a 
stanch advocate of its principles, while he was 
a man of prominence and influence in his native 
county, where he served as county commis- 
sioner and jury commissioner and in other of- 
iices of local trust and responsibility. They 
became the parents of nine children, concern- 
ing whom we offer the following brief record : 
Wilbert A., an able physician and surgeon, lo- 
cated in Sterling, Kansas, in 1890, and was 
there engaged in the jn'actice of his profession 
until his death, in 1898; Mary died at the age 
of thirty-two years ; Samuel B. is a resident of 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Alice is the wife of 
Martin Ramsey, of Hookstown, Pennsylvania ; 
Margaret is the wife of Samuel Reed, of Bea- 
ver Falls, Pennsylvania; James W. is a resi- 
dent of Osnaburg, Stark county, Ohio; Will- 
iam S. resides in the city of Milwaukee, Wis- 
consin ; and Clarence is engaged in the practice 
of dentistry in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 

Dr. Joseph Llewellyn Todd, the immediate 
subject of this sketch, was born on the home- 
stead farm, in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, on 
the loth of December, 1868, and as a youth be 
assisted in the work of the farm during the 
summer seasons and attended the public 
schools during the winter months, later supple- 
menting this discipline by a course of study in 



the normal school at Slippery Rock, Butler 
county, that state. In 1892 he entered the 
meflical department of the Western University, 
at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he com- 
pleted the prescribed course and was graduated 
as a member of the class of 1895, receiving the 
degree of Doctor of Medicine, for which he had 
worked faithfully and with marked ambition, 
availing himself of every opportunity to in- 
crease his technical knowledge and render him- 
self better prepared for his noble vocation. 
Shortly after his graduation the Doctor came 
to East Rochester, Columbiana county, Ohio, 
where he was engaged in the practice of his 
profession for the ensuing two years, when he 
sold his practice, having been advised of the ill- 
ness of his brother, who had been established 
in practice at Sterling, Kansas, as previously 
noted in this context, and he went to that place 
and there continued in practice one year, after 
which he returned to Ohio and took up his resi- 
dence in Mapleton, this county, where be has 
built up a large and representative practice and 
where his friends are in number as his ac- 
quaintances, lie is a member of the Stark 
County Medical Society and the Ohio State 
Medical Society, and enjoys the respect and 
good will of his professional confreres to the 
fullest degree. The Doctor is associated with 
his brother James W. in the manufacturing of 
brick and tile at Mapleton, the enterprise being 
a successful one and one that is rapidly in- 
creasing in scope and importance. The Doctor 
is devoting considerable attention to the propa- 
gation of the ginseng root, having a half- 
acre under cultivation and his garden in this 
line being considered the finest in Ohio. This 
product has long been recognized by the Chi- 
nese as a valuable remedial agent, and large 
quantities are now exported to the Orient from 
this country, the natural supply in China being 
inadequate, while the consumption in the home 
market is rapidly increasing as the value of the 
remedy becomes the more appreciated, the same 



1232 



OLD LANDMARKS 



being" clearly indicated in case of physical de- 
bility and other specific ailments. In politics 
the Doctor is a stalwart Republican, and his 
religious views are in harmony with the tenets 
of the United Presbyterian church, in which 
he v/as reared. Fraternally he is identified with 
the Juliard Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, 
at Louisville, this county. In 1900 he erected 
his present modern and attractive residence in 
ATapleton, and the family home is a center of 
refined hospitality. 

On the 30th of October, 1897, at East 
Rochester, Ohio, Dr. Todd was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Lillie Summers, who was born 
in that place, being a daughter of Galen Sum- 
mers, and of this union one child has been born, 
Janice. 



THE McCLYMOXDS PUBLIC LIBRARY 
MASSILLON. 



By Helena Ricks Slusseb 



In the spring of 1897, through the bequest 
of Hon. George Harsh, ten thousand dollars 
were left for the establishment of a public li- 
brary in Massillon. This was followed by the 
gift of the Nahum Russell homestead by Mrs. 
Flora R. and Annie M. McClymonds, daugh- 
ters of Mr. Russell, as a m.emorial to their par- 
ents. 

To these generous gifts J. W. McClymonds 
added the munificent sum of twenty thousand 
dollars as an endowment fund. These gifts 
were appropriately acknowledged at a public 
meeting of the citizens. 

The McClymonds Public Library Asso- 
ciation was formed under a state charter and 
June 4, 1897, organized with the following of- 
ficers as trustees ; J. W. McClymonds, presi- 
dent ; Caroline McCullough Everhard, vice- 
president; E. A. Jones, treasurer; C. A. Gates, 
secretary; Helena Ricks Slusser, F. H. Sny- 
der, J. C. Corns. The building was remodeled 
to adapt it to library uses. The current expen- 



ses are met by a tax levy made by the city coun- 
cil. 

The library opened with seven thousand 
volumes, purchased with the George Harsh 
bequest. Current literature and additional 
books are now supplied by the income from the 
endowment fund. The library has been in op- 
eration nearly five years and has over twelve 
thousand volumes on its shelves, and has 
reached an issue of forty thousand volumes an- 
nually. 



PATRICK L. MANLY is a native of 
county Mayo, Ireland, having been born in the 
town of Killala, a seaport on the bay of the 
same name, the date of his nativity being July 
12, 184T. He was about five years of age when 
his parents, Thomas and Mary (Holmes) 
]Manly, emigrated to America. In 1846 they 
set sail from Killala for Quebec, Canada, and 
from the dominion they came by the great lakes 
to Cleveland, Ohio, and thence by canal to 
]\Iassillon, Stark county, thus having made 
practically the entire trip from Ireland to their 
destination by water. Thomas Manly was born 
in the same town in the Emerald Isle, and he 
died in Massillon in 1868, at the age of sixty- 
three years, his wife having here been called 
to her eternal rest in 1854, at the age of thirty- 
six years, she also having been born in county 
Mayo. The father of the subject located on a 
farm in Jackson township, improving the prop- 
erty and becoming one of the successful and 
honored citizens of the county, while he con- 
tinued to follow agricultural pursuits until his 
death. He and his wife were devoted members 
and communicants of the Catholic church and 
in politics he was a stanch Democrat. 

Patrick L. Manly was reared on the home- 
stead farm and secured his rudimentary educa- 
tional training in the district school in the vi- 
cinity of his home, his first teacher having" been 
Jacob Bechtel of Massillon, one of the honored 




McCLYMONDS PUBLIC LIBRARY. 




INTERIOR McCLYMONDS PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1233 



educators of the county in the early days, while 
later he received instruction under the tutor- 
ship of Tliomas Harvey, the author of the vari- 
ous and well known school text-books which 
bear his name, — the Harvey Speller,' Grammar 
and Arithmetic, INIr, Manly completed a four- 
years course in the Massillon high school, and 
later he continued his studies in St. Patrick's 
Seminary, an excellent institution in the city 
of Toronto, Canada, passing the time while 
there in the homes of his two uncles. He had 
assisted in the work on the farm until he had at- 
tained the age of eighteen years, and the labors 
there devolved upon him were arduous in the 
extreme. 

While in Toronto, on the 8th of September, 
i860, Mr. Alanly was united in marriage to 
Miss Adeline Jones, of Markham township, 
that province, where she was born, being a 
daughter of Norman Jones, a native of Con- 
necticut, who was there eng^aged in teaching 
and farming- until his death. In 1863 Mr. 
Manly returned to Stark county, in company 
with his wife, and located in the city of ^las- 
sillon, where he . secured employment in the 
painting department of Russell & Company, 
manufacturers of threshers, mowers and reap- 
ers, and he continued to remain with this con- 
cern until 1876, when he was elected to the 
otiice of county recorder, and this of course de- 
manded his removal to Canton, the capital of 
the county, in that year. He remained incum- 
bent of this office three years, until the autumn 
of 1879, and upon his retirement engaged in 
the livery business in this city, devoting his at- 
tention to this enterprise until 1883, when he 
was again called upon to serve in an official 
capacity, having Ijeen elected, in the fall of that 
year, county auditor, and this position he re- 
tained, by successive re-elections, until 1890, 
his long service indicating most forcibly the 
appreciative estimate placed upon the same by 
the voters of the county. Since his retirement 
from this office Mr. Manly has been engaged in 
77 



the real-estate ami tire-insurance business in 
Canton, and he has built up a thriving enter- 
prise in both departments, his books showing 
at all times many desirable investments in both 
city and country realty, while in the insurance 
branch he is a representative of a number of 
the leading and most reliable companies doing 
business in the state. He is a man of excellent 
executive ability and his success has been fur- 
thered by the unequi\-ocal trust and confidence 
u hich the general public so implicitly place in 
him. Mr. Manly has given an unqualified al- 
legiance to the Democratic party from the time 
of attaining his legal majority and has been one 
of the leaders in its local ranks, having served 
as chairman of the county central committee 
of the same and having done much to advance 
the party cause in this action, while he has held 
other offices of trust in the gift of the party. 
He has been a notary public since 1900. He 
and his wife are communicants and valued 
members of St. John's church, Roman Cath- 
olic, and fraternally he is identified with the 
Catholic Alutual Benefit Association. 

In conclusion we enter the following brief 
record concerning the five children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Manly: Amelia is the wife of William 
L. Caldwell and they reside in New York city; 
Frank S. married Miss Elizabeth Koswosky 
and they reside in Canton; Caiiotta is the wife 
of Walter Sanford, of Cincinnati, this state; 
Araminta married Frank J. Shively, of Louis- 
ville, this county, and they now reside in Mani- 
stee, Michigan ; and Edward, who married Miss 
Cora Dannemiller, of this county, now resides 
in the city of Toledo, Ohio. 



GEORGE M. MEISER was born in the 
village of Clinton, Summit count}^, Ohio, on 
January 30, 1859, being a son of Frederick and 
Catherine (Keiser) Meiser, of whose six chil- 
dren the following named three survive: 
Louisa, who is the wife of W. A. Hawer, of 



1234 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Canton, tliis county; Mary, who is the wife of 
W. V. Stimmel, of Paris, this county; and 
George M., of this review. Frederick Meiser 
was born in Luffaw Laffal, Germany, on the 
loth of August, 1830, being a son of Conrad 
and Martha (Grusrak) Meiser, and he was 
reared on the old homestead farm in the fatlier- 
land, where he remained until he had reached 
the age of twenty-four years, his educational 
privileges being such as were afforded in the 
excellent schools of his native land. In 1854, 
at the age just noted, he severed the ties which 
bound him and friends and set forth to seek 
his fortunes in the United States, his total re- 
inforcement being his energy, honesty of pur- 
pose and a determination to win success 
through worthy means. He had learned the 
trade of wagonniaking in Germany, and upon 
arriving in America he made his way to the city 
of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he worked 
at his trade about one year and then came to 
Stark county, Ohio, and secured employment 
in the .same line in the village of Paris. Three 
years later, having been in the meanwhile mar- 
ried, he removed to Clinton, Summit comity, 
which continued to be his home for an equal 
period, at the expiration of which he came to 
Canton, Stark county, and here, after being- 
engaged in the work of his trade only three 
months, he fell from a wagon in such a way as 
to injure his spine and render him badly crip- 
pled for life. Well may we imagine that the 
future presented a dark and forbidding aspect 
to him, for he w^as no longer able to work at his 
trade, was entirely without means in a financial 
way and had a family dependent upon him. 
The outlook would have appalled tlie a\'erage 
man, but not so with this valiant soul, and he 
girdled him for the stern duty which lay before 
him. As soon as he had sufficiently recuper- 
ated as to be able to move about he secured a 
small stock of notions and began peddling in 
a most modest way but with utmost persever- 
ance, and finally he was able to provide him- 



self with a wagon and to increase the e.xtent 
of his stock and also widen the field of his 
operations. Alter three } ears of assiduous ap- 
plication in this line, with weariness of body, 
and no doubt of mind on many occasions, he 
had accumulated sufficient surplus to justify 
him in purchasing a stock of groceries and 
opening a modest store in Paris, where he re- 
mained about three years and then removed to 
New Berlin, this county, where he continued 
in the same line of business about seventeen 
years, carefully conserving his resources and 
gradually gaining that position of independence 
which had been his ultimate aim from the time 
the physical misfortune fell to his lot. In 1883 
Mr. Meiser returned to Paris, having sold his 
business in New Berlin, and here he opened a 
general-merchandise store, under the firm name 
of Meiser & Son, the subject of this sketch 
being the junior member. Through their strict 
attention to business, their discrimination in 
the selection of stock and their scrupulously fair 
and honorable methods they have built up an 
enterprise which can not fail to challenge the 
admiration of even the casual visitor to the es- 
t:;blishment, for the store is well equipped with 
modern conveniences and accessories and the 
.■■tock carried in the many and varied lines rep- 
resents a capitalistic investment extraordinarily 
large for a town of its size, though the firm 
have by no .means transcended the just limits of 
conservatism in this regard, for such has been 
tlieir policy that they draw their trade from 
sections not normally tributary to the village. 
Frederick Meiser well deserves the esteem 
and confidence w^hich he so unequivocally com- 
mands and which lie has so well earned, and he 
is to-day one of the able and conservative busi- 
ness men and public-spirited citizens of Stark 
county. In politics he is stanchly arrayed in 
support of the principles of the Democratic 
party, and within the first regime of Grover 
Cleveland as President of the United States he 
was appointed postmaster of Paris, retaining 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1235 



tlie incumbency four years. He and liis wiie 
are devoted members of the Reformed church. 
The latter was born in Baden, Germany, on the 
28th of December, 1833, being a daughter of 
John and Anna M. Keiser, who were born' 
end died in Germany. 

George M. Meiser, who is associated with 
his honored father in business, was reared un- 
der tlie influences of a good home and acquir- 
ing his educational discipline in the public 
schools. P"rom his boyhood days he continued 
to assist his father in the work of the grocery 
.^tore in New Eerlin, and after he attained 
maturity he acquired an interest in the business 
and relieved his father of much of the active 
management. Since coming to Paris the son 
has been a member of the firm, and has ever 
proved an able business coadjutor to his father. 
He is well known and highly esteemed in the 
community and he ever takes a lively interest 
in all that touches its welfare. In his political 
proclivities he gives an unqualified allegiance 
to the Democratic party, and both he and his 
wife are active and valued members of the Re- 
formed church and he is an efficient and popular 
teacher in its Sunday school. 

On the 23d of July, 1899, Mr. Meiser was 
united in marriage to Miss Effie Heim, who 
was born in Paris township, this county, being 
a daughter of the late Isaiah Heim, who was a 
prominent and influential farmer of this town- 
ship. He was born in Pennsylvania, Novem- 
ber 19, 1832, and his wife, whose maiden name 
was Lizzie Haines, was born April 8, 1847, in 
Paris, Stark county. Mr. and Mrs. Meiser 
liave tvxO children, IMildred S., who was born 
on the 31st of August, 1900, and Max F., who 
was born on the 14th of March, 1902. 



AUSTIN A. HAY claims the old Keystone 
state of the union as the place of his nativity. 
having been born in Somerset county, Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 3d of February, 1845, and being 



a son of George and Sarah (Fleck) Hay, who 
were likewise natives of that county, where 
the former was born on Christmas day of the 
year 1816, while the latter was born on the 
3d of June, 1823. In 1853 <-"ey came to 
Ohio and located in Dalton, Wayne county, but 
before the close of that year they came thence 
to Stark county and became numbered among 
the first settlers in wliat is now Beach City, 
Sugar Creek township, where they continued to 
reside until the year 1870, when they removed 
to Mower county. Minnesota, where the father 
died in June, 1886, having been there engaged 
in the hotel business in the town of Austin. 
While in Beach City he was engaged in the 
general merchandise business. After his death 
his wife returned to the old home here, and 
here her death occurred on the 13th of August, 
1901. They became the parents of two sons and 
two daughters, both of the latter dying in in- 
fancy, while James N., the elder of the sons, 
is now a resident of Gallipolis, Ohio. The 
father of the subject was originally an old-line 
Whig in his political proclivities, but upon the 
organization of the Republican party he identi- 
fied himself therewith, and ever afterward was 
a stanch advocate of its cause. Fraternally 
he was identified with the Masonic order, hav- 
ing been a member of the lodge at Navarre, 
this county. He and his wife were members 
of the Reformed church until their removal to 
Minnesota, when they identified themselves with 
the Methodist Episcopal church, there being 
no organization of the former in the vicinity of 
their home there. They were folk of sterling 
worth of character and ever commanded the 
utmost respect and esteem on the part of .ill 
who knew them. 

Austin A. Hay, the immediate subject of 
this review, attended school in his native county 
in Pennsylvania until he had attained the age 
of eight years, when he accompanied his par- 
ents on their removal to Stark county, where 
he was reared to maturity, his further educa- 



1236 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tional advantages being such as were afforded 
in the pubhc school in the village of Beach City. 
He continued to assist Ins father in the store 
until there came the call of higher duty, as the 
thundering of rebel guns against old Fort Sum- 
ter gave evidence that an effort was to be made 
to bring about a dissolution of the great Union 
founded at so great a cost by the patriots of 
the Revolution. Though he was but sixteen 
years of age at the time Mr. Hay promptly 
tendered his services in the support of the 
Union, and in September, 1S61, he enlisted as 
a private in Company F, Nineteenth Ohio Vol- 
unteer Infantry, with which he proceeded to 
the front, the regiment being assigned to the 
Army of the Cumberland, and thereafter he 
continued in active seivice for more than four 
years, and up to the time when victory crowned 
the Federal arms and the integrity of the nation 
was insured. He took part in all the engage- 
ments in which his regiment participated, see- 
ing much hard fightmg, and the history of the 
command is the history of his personal mili- 
tary career. He received his honorable dis- 
charge at Columbus, Ohio, on the 24th of No- 
vember, 1865, and as a youthful veteran and 
patriotic soldier returned to his home in Beach 
City, where he has ever since maintained his 
home. His honorable methods and careful at- 
tention to the demands of his patrons enabled 
him to soon build up a large and representative 
trade, his establishment being the leading one 
of the sort m this section of the county, while 
he has ever held the implicit confidence and 
esteem of the people of the community, who 
have signalized the same in divers ways. He 
has been called upon to serve as township trus- 
tee and treasurer, and for three different terms 
he was incumbent of the office of postmaster 
of his home town, while in 1901 a still more 
distinctive evidence of his popularity in the 
community was given in his election to the 
ofirce of county commissioner, of which he now 
is incumbent, and in which he is rendering 



eft'ective service to his constituents and the 
county at large. In politics he has always been 
a stalwart Republican, taking an active iiiterest 
in its cause and being a leader in its local ranks 
and a director of opinion, wdiile he is essentially 
progressive and public-spirited in his attitude 
at all times. Fraternally he is identified with 
the Grand Army of the Republic, being an 
honored member of Colton Post No. 510, at 
Beach City, and he also belongs to the Knights 
of Pythias and Elks. 

On the 25th of February, 1S69, Mr. Hay 
was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Agler, 
who was born in Stark county, being a daughter 
of George and Eva (Wygandt) Agler, the for- 
mer of whom was born in Pennsylvania, and 
the latter in Maryland, while they were num- 
bered among the early settlers in Sugar Creek 
township, Stark county, where they passed the 
residue of their lives. Of the four cliildren 
of Mr. and Mrs. Hay we enter the following 
brief record : J. Frank, who is the present 
postmaster in Beach City, receiving his edu- 
cation in the pulic schools, and was for a time 
engaged in the newspaper business in Ken- 
tucky, being a young man of fine mentality and 
marked business ability. ILva. A. and Sarah 
W. are twins. Mary, the first child, died in 
infancy. The family is one of prominence in 
the social life of the community, and the home 
of the subject is a center of gracious hos- 
pitality. 



JOHN McWHINNEY was born on the 
farm \\hich is now his home, in Sugar Creek 
township, Stark county, Ohio, on the 13th of 
June, 1835, being a son of John R. and Nancy 
(Wholf ) McWhinney, the former of whom was 
born in county Down, Ireland, in the year 
1797, while the latter was a native of Cumber- 
land county. Pennsylvania, where she was born 
in 1804. John Rand McWhinney w-as reared 
and educated in the Emerald Isle, where he re- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1237 



mained until he had attained the age of twenty- 
five years, when he emigrated to America, land- 
ing in New York city, and for a decade he 
continued to reside in the old Empire state. At 
the expiration of this period, in 1829, he came 
to Stark county, Ohio, and settled on a tract 
of wild land in Sugar Creek township, where 
he established his home in true pioneer style 
and forthwith instituted the reclamation of his 
land for the purposes of cultivation, and thus 
meriting recognition as one of the founders 
of the county. He continued to reside on this 
homestead, the present farm of our subject, 
until he was called from the scene of life'.=! 
activities, his death here occurring on the 17th 
of April, 1863. He was for a number of years 
superintendent of the Ohio canal, and prior 
to his death he had succeeded in clearing a con- 
siderable portion of his f.irm, which comprised 
one hundred and sixty acres. In his native land 
he had learned the trade of shoemaking, and 
to the same he devoted more or less attention 
■during the years of his residence in Ohio, wliile 
he was kriown as a man of impregnable integ- 
rity and excellent business ability. He came of 
■stanch Scottish ancestry, both of his parents 
having been born in the fair land of hills and 
"heather, the maiden name of his mother having 
"been Margai-et Bailey, and they removed across 
the border into the north of Ireland, where 
they passed the remainder of their lives. The 
father of the subject was a Democrat in hi-; 
political proclivities, and both he and his wife 
were members of the Presb} terian cliurch. Thev 
became the parents of two sons and two daugh- 
ters, and of the number the subject of this re- 
view is the only siu'viving son. 

John McWhinney, whose name introduces 
this sketch, was reared on the old homestead 
farm where he now resides, and as a bov he 
began to contribute his quota to the work of 
clearing and cultivating the land, while his edu- 
jcational opportunities were such as were af- 



forded in the pioneer log school house of the 
neighborhood, the same being a mere log cabin, 
with punchon floor and slab benciies and other 
crude accessories. He owns the original home 
farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and the 
same is one of the model places of this section 
of the county, thrift and prosperity being in 
evidence on every hand, while the permanent 
improvements are of substantial order, includ- 
ing a commodious and attracti\ e residence. Mr. 
McWhinney follows diversified farming and 
also gives no little attention to the raising of 
high-grade live stock, while his energy, dis- 
crimination and progressive methods have en- 
abled him to gain marked success, while he has 
ever retained the unqualified respect of the 
community in which he has thus passed his 
<^ntire life. In his earlier years he gave his 
support to tl'ie Democratic party, but finally be- 
came convinced that the Republican party stood 
sponsor for the principles and policies best 
adapted for the government of the republic, 
and, with the courage of his convictions, he 
transferred his allegiance thereto, and since 
1863 lie has exercised his franchise in its sup- 
port, having thus been identified with the 
"grand old party" during nearly the entire 
period of its existence. He was a stanch Union 
man in the period that led up lo the war of the 
Rebellion, and he supported Lincoln for the 
presidency at the time of his second nomination, 
while he rendered the valiant and loyal service 
of a true patriot during that great conflict 
through Avliicli the perpetr.ity of the Union 
was insured. In i86t he enlisted in Company 
F, Nineteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as a 
private, and on the 7th of September of tiat 
year his regiment left Wilmot, this county, and 
departed for the front, and Mr. McWhinney 
continued in service until April 17, 1865, when 
he received his honorable discharge, being at 
the time in a small-pox hospital in Louisville, 
Kentuckv, and having but recentlv recovered 



1238 



OLD LANDMARKS 



from an attack of that dread disease. He par- 
ticipated in all of the engagements of the At- 
lanta campaign, having heen under fire for 
eighty days, and in the battle of Atlanta he 
received injuries which necessitated his being 
sent to the rear, after which he was not in active 
service in the fighting line, while for some time 
he served as wagon and forage master. After 
receiving his discharge Mr. McWhinney re- 
turned to the home farm, and here he has ever 
since followed the vocations of peace, gaining 
victories no less renowned than those of war. 
In addition to the homestead farm he also owns 
another farm, of eighty acres, also in Sugar 
Creek township, and he likewise has the general 
supervision of this place. He erected his pres- 
ent modern and attractive residence in 1881, 
while the fine large barn on the homestead was 
built in 1902. The confidence and esteem in 
which our subject is held in the community 
has been signalized by his long retention in the 
office of township trustee, of which he is in- 
cumbent at the time of this writing, and in 
which he will have served seven years, includ- 
ing his present term, while for many years he 
has been a valued member of the school board 
of his district. Fraternally he vitalizes his 
interest in his old comrades in arms by retain- 
ing membership in the Grand Army of the 
Republic, being a member of Scott Wyant Post 
No. 384, at Wilmont, while he is also a mem- 
ber of Caldwell Lodge No. 346, Free and 
Accepted Masons; Ohio Lodge No. 246, 
Knights of Pythias; and Wilmont Grange, 
Patron? of Husbandry. 

On the 9th of October, 1861, Mr. McWhin- 
ney was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
Hall, who was born in Sugar Creek township, 
Stark county, being a daughter of Samuel Hall, 
one of the sterling pioneers of the county, and 
of this union six children have been born, 
namely: Carrie E., Sterling J., Cullen H. (de- 
ceased), Columbia, Minnie H., and Jessie W. 
Cullen H. married Miss Sibil Reed, and died 



in 1899, being survived by his wife and one 
child, who is the only grandchild of the sub- 
ject. 



HENRY C. BURWELL is a native son 
of the Buckeye state, having been born in Rose 
township, Carroll county, Ohio, on the 7th 
of August, 1862, and being a son of Adam 
and Barbara (Little) Burwell, the former of 
whom was born in Penns3lvania, of German 
ancestry, and the latter in Carroll county, where 
their marriage occurred. The father is now a 
resident of Magnolia, where he has devoted 
his attention to agricultural pursuits. The 
subject was reared on the homestead farm 
where he was born, and his educational ad- 
vantages were such as were afforded in the 
public schools, which he attended during the 
winter months until he had attained the age of 
eighteen years, while his services were required 
in connection with the work of the farm during- 
the summer seasons. He remained at the pa- 
rental home until he had reached his legal ma- 
jority, when he nntiated his independent career 
by hiring out to do farm work, to which he de- 
voted his attention until his marriage, in 1885, 
after \\hich he continued to follow agricultural' 
pursuits on rented farms, in Carroll county, 
until 1890, when he came to Waynesburg, 
Stark county, where he was employed in driv- 
ing a mule for the first two and one-half years. 
Li 1893 he secured a position in the employ 
of the Waynesburg Brick & Clay Company, 
whose plant was later absorbed by the H. B. 
Camp Company, with whom he continued in 
the capacity of boss burner of the kilns until 
1898, when patent recognition of his ability 
and fidelity was given in his being- chosen su- 
perintendent of the plant, in which responsible 
office he was retained, in April, 1902, when 
the business was purchased by the National 
Fire Proofing Company . Mr. Burwell has been 
a careful student of the detads of the business. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1239 



and through his practical knowledge and ear- 
nest efforts much has been done to advance the 
interests of the concern, both in facilitating pro- 
duction and securing the highest order of prod- 
ucts. Under !iis superintendency tlie output 
of the plant has been increased from sixteen 
thousand to twenty thousand Hellvor building 
blocks a day, while the equipment has been 
greatly improved, the concern being one of the 
largest of th.e sort in the Union. In politics 
Mr. Burwell gives his support to the Republi- 
can party, and fraternally he is identified with 
the Knights of the Maccabees. 

On the 5th of September, 1885, Mr. Bur- 
well was united in marriage to Miss Maggie 
L. Williams, daughter of David and Emeline 
(Gurst) Williams, of Carroll county, and of 
this union have been born six; ciiildren, all of 
whom remain at the parental home, their names, 
in order of birth, being as follows : Iva, David 
A., Emma Ethel, Bertha Blanche, Adam Ar- 
thur and Reuben Henry. 



JOHN H. KRUMLAUF is a native son 
of the Buckeye state, and comes of stanch Ger- 
man lineage, his ancestors in both the paternal 
and maternal lines having settled in the state 
of Pennsylvania several generations agone, 
while there were born and reared his parents, 
John and Sarah (Hahn) Krumlauf, who came 
to Ohio in an early day, locating in Hancock 
coimtv, where his father devoted his attention 
to farming for many years. He died in Arling- 
ton, Hancock county, Ohio, having attained the 
venerable age of eighty-nine years, while his 
wife passed away in 1882, at the age of sixty- 
six years. He was a stanch Republican in his 
political proclivities, having identified himself 
with the party at practically the time of its or- 
ganization, and his religious faith was that of 
the Evangelical church, of which his wife also 
was a devoted member. Of their nine children 
seven are living at the time of this writing. 



John Krumlauf came to Stark county in 1857, 
and became one of the prosperous and honored 
fanners of Osnaburg township, where he ever 
held the maximum confidence and regard of all 
who knew him. 

John H. Krumlauf, the immediate subject 
of this review, was born on a farm in the vicin- 
ity of Findlay, Hancock county, Ohio, on the 
4th of October, 1855, and he was thus about 
two years of age at the time of his parents' 
removal to Osnaburg township. Stark county, 
where he was reared to maturity under the 
grateful surroundings of the old homestead 
farm. He received the advantages of the pub- 
lic schools of the locality, in which he continued 
his studies until he had attained the age of 
nineteen years, in the meanwhile assisting in the 
improvement and cultivation of the farm, and 
also working on neighboring farms at inter- 
vals. At the age noted he entered upon an ap- 
prenticeship at the trade of stone-cutting, be- 
coming a skilled workman, and to this vocation 
he devoted his attention for several years, finally 
receiving an injury which compelled him to 
permanently abandon the work of his trade. 
Thereafter he entered the employ of the Can- 
ton Steel Company, in the capacity of stationary 
engineer, continuing to be thus engaged about 
four years, at the expiration of which he turned 
his attention to the real estate business, from 
which he retired to engage in the grocerv busi- 
ness, opening a store on East Tuscarawas street 
and later being engaged in the same line of 
enterprise at the corner of Walnut and Second 
streets, where he continued operations success- 
fully until 1896, when he disposed of the busi- 
ness and once more engaged in dealing in rerl 
estate, which has ever since constituted his 
province of endeavor and in which he has met 
with gratifying success, being an excellent 
judge of realty values, while most desirable in- 
vestments are ever recorded on his books, both 
in the line of city and farm property. He has 
conveniently located and well equipped offices 



1 240 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in the City National Bank bnilding-. In politics 
Mr. Krnmlauf lias ever given an unwavering 
allegiance to the Republicai; party, having cast 
his first presidential vote for Garfield, and he 
has taken an active part in furthei^ing the party 
cause in the local field, while his name is en- 
tered as a candidate in the nominating conven- 
tion of his party for the ofhlce of county re- 
corder, a position for which he is thoroughly 
well qualified, and for which he is a logical 
candidate. Fraternally he belongs to Council 
No. 137, United American Mechanics. 

In February, 1883, in the city of Alliance, 
this county, was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Krumlauf to Miss Ida Shidler, daughter 
of Eli Shidler. of that cily, and of tliis union 
have been born tin-ee children, Maud, Wilmer 
and Helen, all of whom remain beneath the 
parental roof. 



CHARLES O. HEGGEM is an American 
by adoption, being a native of the old historic 
country of Norway and as such inherits the 
sterling characteristics and honorable virtues 
which have long distinguished the Scandina- 
vians from the other peoples of the world. His 
father, Ole Heggem, was born about one hun- 
dred and fifty miles north of Bergen, Nor- 
way, on the 9th of April, 1832, the son of 
Axel Heggem. whose birth occurred in Ber- 
genstift May iq, 1783. By occupation the 
latter was a farmer. He also served as a sol- 
dier in the Norwegian army and took part in 
the war with Sweden, which lasted from 1807 
until 1S14, inclusive. Ole Heggem spent his 
youth on his father's farm, but when a young 
man learned the trade of pattern-making in the 
shops of his native place. He married in Nor- 
way Miss Johanna Mucklebust. a native of 
Bergensfift, and daughter of Knut ]\Iuckle- 
bust. a farmer, living not far from the citv of 
Bergen. In t868 Ole Heggem and family 
immigrated to the United States and took up 



their residence in Chicago, where the father 
and mother still reside, the father aged seventy- 
one, the mother, se\'enty-tW'0. 

Charles O. Heggem is the oldest of 
ten children, five of whom are living at 
the present time. He was born in Bergen, 
Norway, on the 29th day of November, 1851, 
and received his early education in the Latin 
school of that city, attending the same until a 
youth of fourteen. He then entered upon a 
three years' apprenticeship in the Bergen ma- 
chine works, and at the expiration of that time 
accompanied his parents to America, taking 
passage at Stevanger in 1868, on the "Atlanta," 
a sailing vessel which at that time made its 
first voyage to the new world. In due time the 
ship reached its destination at Quebec, _Can- 
ada, from wdiich city the Heggem family pro- 
ceeded to Chicago, where Charles soon found 
employment in the Chromatic Printing Press 
works, afterwards the Alden Printing Works, 
removed to Canton. After working in that 
establishment for two years he resigned his 
place and went to Salem, Ohio, where during- 
several ensuing }-ears he was employed by the 
Buckeye Engine Company, rising by a series of 
promotions to the important position of fore- 
man. He early developed unusual proficiency 
as a machinist and in addition to his skill as a 
workman displayed business abilities of such 
high order as to win the confidence of his em- 
ployers, with the result as above stated. Mr. 
Heggem continued with the Buckeye Engine 
Works until 1884, in the spring of which year 
he severed his connection with the company 
and accepted the position of foreman in the 
Russell & Comjiany machine shops at IMassil- 
lon. He served se\'eral years in that capacity, 
meanwhile so conducting the afifairs under his 
immediate charge as to win promotion to a 
higher position and from that by a series of con- 
tinued advancements until he reached the re- 
sponsible station of superintendent, in 1887, 
which he still holds. Keen, shrewd and vigilant. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1241 



he is complete master of the situation, nothing 
escaping his ever watchful gaze, being as famil- 
iar witli the most minute detail of the works as 
he is with the business in the aggregate. To 
manage successfully such a large force of men 
and retain their confidence and good will and to 
get from them the largest results obtainable, re- 
quires executive ability, tact and generalship 
rarely combined in a single individual. As al- 
ready stated, Mr. Heggem is master of his call- 
ing, and as a skillful workman, thoroughly ac- 
quainted with scientific mechanism in all of its 
details, he has few equals and no superiors. 

Reverting to his domestic history, it is 
learned that Mr. Heggem was happily mar- 
ried, in the year 1872, to Miss Rebecca Boe, 
also a native of Norway, and the daughter of 
Knut and Mary Boe, who came to the United 
States in 1870 and located at Salem, Ohio, 
where the father engaged in the manufacture 
of stoves. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Heg- 
gem has been blessed with three children, — 
Oscar E., Alfred G. and Chalmer R. 

In addition to his official position with the 
Russell engine works, Mr. Heggem is a director 
of the company, and is similarly interested in 
the Massillon Iron and Steel Works, besides 
being a director of the Massillon Building & 
Loan Association. He is also interested in 
the Warwick Glass Company, in the organiza- 
tion of which he bore a prominent part, and to 
him is largely due the credit of its incorpora- 
tion and success. Like many of the leading 
men in every city and town of any consequence, 
he is identified with the ancient and honorable 
order of Free and Accepted Masons, in which 
he has risen to high station, belonging to Clin- 
ton Lodge No. 47, Massillon Commandery No. 
4, and Hiram Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. 
He has also taken the Scottish rite and Mystic 
Shrine degrees, and in 1893 was elected ani- 
nent commander of the Knights Templar or- 
ganization referred to above. He has also rep- 
resented his commandery in the state conclaves 



and for several years past has been a member of 
the grand commandery of Ohio, meeting with 
the distinguished body in its annual gatherings. 
Mr. Heggem is a great admirer of the free 
institutions under which he has achieved such 
marked business success and high social stand- 
ing, and takes great interest in the afifairs of 
his adopted country, discharging the duties of 
citizenship with the same devotion to the na- 
tion's interest as if he were born and reared 
on American soil. He is pronounced in his ad- 
vocacy of the Republican party and has labored 
earnestly for its success in state and national 
affairs, sometimes losing sight of politics in 
matters purely local. He occupies a high po- 
sition in the American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers, to which organization he has be- 
longed since 1889, and in the deliberations of 
which he always takes a prominent part. Re- 
ligiously Mr. Heggem was reared according to 
the gentle but strict teachings of the Society 
of Friends, and when he entered the marriage 
relation the ceremony was soleinnized accord- 
ing to the manner of that church.^ 

Oscar E. Heggem, oldest son of the sub- 
ject, is a young man of splendid business at- 
tainments, and at this time holds the responsi- 
ble position of assistant superintendent of the 
Russell & Company's works. He was mar- 
ried, in 1893, to Miss Lizzie E. Davidson, of 
^^^ayne county, Ohio, and is the father of two 
children, — Frankie Elise and Charles O. Al- 
fred G, the second son, has also achieved en- 
viable repute as an energetic, far-seeing busi- 
ness man, and as superintendent of the Russell 
Engine Company's shops in this city. He is 
a graduate of Cornell University, with the de- 
gree of Mechanical Engineer, class of '97. 
Chalmer R., the youngest of the family, after 
completing his literary education, took up the 
law and is now prosecuting his legal studies in 
Cornell University, New York. He is gifted 
intellectually and will no doubt distinguish 
himself in the profession to which he proposes 



1242 



OLD LANDMARKS 



to devote liis life. Mr. Heggem has contrib- 
uted papers and articles to the press on me- 
chanical engineering and kindred subjects, 
many by request. 



THOMAS S. WOLF claims the old Key- 
stone state of the Union as the place of his 
nativity, having been i:)orn on the parental farm, 
near Tarenium, Allegheny county, Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 25th of September, 1862, being 
the youngest of the eleven children of Samuel 
and Mary (Haney) Wolf, both of whom were 
natives of Pennsylvania, and of stanch German 
stock. Samuel Wolf, grandfather of the sub- 
ject, was born in Germany, where he was reared 
to maturity. Shortly after his marriage he 
emigrated with his bride to America, landing 
in New York city, where he made his home for 
some time and then removed to Tarentum, Al- 
legheny county, Pennsylvania, where he died 
about the year 1857, in the prime of his man- 
hood. His wife survived him many years, her 
death occurring in Freeport, that state, in 1875. 
They became the parents of four children, 
namely: Joseph; Samuel (father of the sub- 
ject) ; Jackson and Wallace, the last mentioned 
being now the only survivor. The father of the 
subject was born in the state of New York, in 
1818, and was a boy at the time of his father's 
removal to Pennsylvania, wheie he was reared 
on a farm and where he received limited edu- 
cational advantages. lie was early compelled 
to assume the practical responsibilities of life 
and to depend on his ovi^n resources. While 
he was still a mere bo\ he secured employment 
in connection with the repairing on a canal, re- 
ceiving twenty-seven cents a day for his serv- 
ices. He continued to labor without ceasing 
as the days passed by, and through his industry 
and frugality saved a small amount of money, 
and finally felt justified in taking unto himself 
a wife and establishir.g himself in a home of 
his own. In the connection it is interesting to 



recall the fact that in providing for the fur- 
nishing of his modest dwelling he purchased 
seven chairs in Freeport, Pennsylvania, and 
that he transferred the same to his home, seven 
miles distant, by carrying tlie entire number on 
his head, while his sturdy vigor may be imag- 
ined when it is stated that he did not remove 
the load until he reached his destination. He 
eventually became the owner of a farm of two 
hundred and ten acres near Tarentum, and 
there he continued to be actively engaged in 
agricultural pursuits during the balance of his 
life, having disposed of the farm and removed 
to the town mentioned about six months before 
his death, which occurred in 1890. His wife, 
whose maiden name was ]\Iary Jane Haney, 
was born in that section of the Keystone state, 
and she is now living in the city of Pittsburgh, 
at the venerable age of eighty years. The 
father of the subject was a man of sterling 
integrity and became an influential citizen of 
his community, having served in various local 
offices of trust and ha^■ing been a devoted mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is 
also his widow. Of their eleven children eight 
are living at the present time. 

Thomas S. Wolf was the youngest son and 
he remained on the old homestead after the 
older boys had left the parental roof to estab- 
lish themselves independently in life, a large 
portion of the work of the farm thus devolving 
upon him in his youthful days, while his edu- 
cational advantages were such as were afforded 
in the public schools, which he attended during 
;he winter months of each year until he had 
attained the age of seventeen years, while hs 
thereafter continued to assist in the work and 
management of the home farm until he had 
reached his legal majority, when he initiated 
his independent career by securing employment 
in a barrel factory, where he was engaged about 
three years. Tiiereafter he engaged in coal 
mining at Hughs, Allegheny county, Pennsyl- 
vania, and with this line of industry he has 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



J 243 



now been identified for a period of twenty 
years. In 1883 he came to Osnaburg, Stark- 
county, wdiere he worked in tlie coal mines for 
several years, later carrying on operations on 
his own responsibility, while in January of the 
year igoi he entered into contract for the get- 
ting out of coal and clay for a local tile and 
brick concern, and to this contract he is now 
devoting his attention and is handling same 
with marked fidelity and ability. He has been 
an earnest and indefatigable worker, and hi*? 
integrity of purpose has never wavered in the 
least, so that he has at all times commanded 
the confidence and esteem of those with whom 
he has been associated in business or social life. 
Mr. Wolf has an attractive home in Osnaburg, 
the house having been erected by him in 1899. 
In politics he gives his allegiance to tlie Re- 
publican party, and his religous faith is that 
of the Evangelical Lutheran church, of which 
his wife likewise is a devoted member. 
Fraternally he is identified with the Indepen- 
dent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of 
Pythias. 

On the ist of January, 1885, Mr. Wolf 
was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie Lisbtag, 
■who was born in Osnaburg, being a daughter 
of George and Mary Lisbtag, and they are the 
parents of five children, namely: George C., 
Nettie Grace, William S., Noble and a baby. 



JOHN H. MONG was born in Brown town- 
ship, Carroll county, Ohio, on the 24th of 
March, 1861, being one of tlie three children of 
John and Mary M. (Young) Mong, while he 
and his brother Philip are now the only sur- 
vivors of the immediate family. The father 
was born in Rheinberger, German, in the year 
1818, and was there reared on a farm and con- 
tinued to follow agricultuial pursuits in the 
fatherland until 1846, when he emigrated to i\\c. 
United States, the trip being- made on a sailing 
vessel, which was thirty-six days in making the 



passage. He made his way to Indiana, and 
his cash capital at the time of his arrival there 
was represented in the sum of sixty cents. He 
remained in that state for a short interval, and 
then came to Carroll count)-, Ohio, and settled 
in Brown township, where he engaged in farm- 
ing on rented land, continuing operations in 
this line for about ten years, at the expiration 
of which he purchased the home farm of forty 
acres, in Osnaburg township. Stark county, 
which is now owned equally by his two sons. 
Here he continued to reside until his death, 
which occurred in the year 1871. For about 
three years he followed a threshing outfit, and 
with this exception his entire attention was 
given to agricultural pursuits from, his youth 
up. Upon becoming a naturalized citizen of 
the United States he espoused the cause of the 
Democratic party, and ever afterward remained 
a stalwart adherent of the same. He was a con- 
sistent member of the Reformed church, and 
was a man of exalted integrity and honor, ever 
commanding the high regard of his fellow men 
and living a life of signal usefulness and honor. 
His devoted wife, who was a true companion 
and helpmeet to him, was likewise a native of 
Rheinberger, Germany, where she was born 
in 1 82 1, whence she came to America with her 
parents in 1846, the family locating in Brown 
township, Carroll county, Ohio, where her mar- 
riage to John Mong was solemnized. She died 
on the homestead farm, on the 10th of May, 
1 89 1, at the age of three score years and ten. 
She was a woman of noble attributes of charac- 
ter, and was a zealous and devoted member of 
the Reformed church. 

John M. Morig remained beneath the pa- 
rental roof until he had attained the age of 
twenty years, when he initiated his independent 
career by securing employment as a farm hand, 
being thus engaged for about eight years, after 
which he devoted about six years to working 
as an engineer, operating stationary and porta- 
ble engines. Since that time he has given the 



'1244 



OLD LANDMARKS 



major portion of his attention to the mining- 
of coal, in which line of enterprise he has mei 
with gratifying success, while he is also asso- 
ciated with his brother in the ownership and 
management of the homestead farm acquired 
by their father so many years ago. Mr. IMong- 
is a bachelor, and for more than a decade past 
he has made his home with his brother, in Osna- 
burg township. He is known as a man of 
progressive ideas and marked business ability, 
while he has so ordered liis course as to retain 
the confidence and good will of those with 
whom he has come in contact. In politics he 
is a stalwart advocate of the principles of the 
Republican party, and his religious faith is 
that of the Reformed church, of which he has 
been a member from his youth up. 



ADAM HAY was born in Osnaburg town- 
ship. Stark county, Ohio, on the 17th of May, 
1857, being a son of Peter and Susan (Zwah- 
len) Hay, whose eight children are still living, 
their names, in order of birth, being as follows : 
Margaret M., who is the wife of Samuel !Marks, 
of Osnabnrg township; Adam, the immediate 
subject of this review; John, who is a resident 
of Denver, Colorado ; Edward, who is in the 
employ of the Aultman Manufacturing Com- 
pany, of Canton, this county; Albert, who is 
likewise a resident of Canton: Susan C, who 
is the wife of Alien Baughman, of Portland, 
Oregon; Mary E., who is the wife of Jacob 
.Sweitzberger, of Canton township; and Cora 
A., who is the wife of Grant Shearer, of New 
York city. 

Peter Hay, the father of the subject, was 
born in Rheinbeyn, Germany, in 1830, and in 
1837 he accompanied his parents on their emi- 
gration to America, the voyage being made on 
a sailing vessel, which reached New York city 
after an interval of thirty-six days on the At- 
lantic. The grandfather of our subject likewise 
tore the name of Adam Hav, and he came 



.forthwith from New York to Stark county, 
Ohio, and purchased a tract of land in Osna- 
burg township, the same having been an inte- 
gral portion of the farm now owned and occu- 
pied by the subject. Here he passed the re- 
mainder of his life, passing away in April, 1868, 
at the age of seventy-one years. Peter Hay 
was reared on the old homestead farm and he 
continued his residence in the townsliip until 
his death. Shortly afler his marriage he came 
into possession of one hundred and sixty-two 
acres of the homestead farm, which originally- 
comprised two hundred and six acres, the re- 
maining forty-four acres having been set off 
as a home for his sister, Mrs. Schwartz. Some 
time in the '60s he purchased two pieces of 
land adjoining his farm on the east and com- 
prising forty-four and fifty-six acres, respect- 
ively, while in 1881 he bought eighty-four acres 
which lay contiguous on the west, and in the 
following year acciuired the forty-four acres 
which had been allotted to his sister, thus mak- 
ing the area of his larded estate three hundred 
and ninety-four acres. He was a thoroughly 
pro.gressive and scientific farmer, and was very 
successful in his efforts, having developed one 
of the fine farm properties of the county. In 
politics he gave his support to the Democratic 
party from Ihe time cf attaining his legal ma- 
jority, while his religious faith was that of the 
Reformed church, of which bnili he and his 
wife were devoted members, while he held vari- 
ous official positions in the chtnxh. He w^as a 
man of sterling character, true and loyal in all 
the relations of life, and he held the unqualified 
confidence and esteem of all who knew him. 
His death occurred on the 17th of September, 
IQOI, and the community mourned the loss of 
one of its most able and honored citizens. Mrs. 
Susan CZwahlen) Hay, molher of the subject, 
was born in Switzerland, in the year 1831. and 
was twelve years of age at the time when her 
parents emigrated to America, taking up their 
abode on the farm now owned bv her brother. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



I24f 



Henry Zwahlen, in Osnaburg township, where 
they passed the remainder of their lives. She 
was summoned into eternal rest on the 12th 
of October, 1869, at the age of fifty-eight 
years, having been a woman of noble character 
and one who proved a devoted wife and mother, 
while her children may well "rise up and call 
her blessed." 

Adam Hay, whose name initiates this 
sketch, was reared on the ancestral homestead 
where he now resides, and his early educational 
privileges were such as were afforded in the 
district schools, his attendance being somewhat 
irregular, however, as he was the eldest son 
and was thus early called upon to assume much, 
of the work of the farm. In 1879 Mr. Hay 
was married and he then settled on what is 
known as the Shearer farm, of one hundred 
acres, adjoining the home farm, the same hav- 
ing been purchased by his father in the "60s. 
He operated the farm on shares for two years, 
at the expiration of which he removed to the 
farm which his father had purchased on the 
west of the homestead, and there he continued 
in agricultural pursuits for five years. He then, 
in 1886, removed to the city of Canton, where 
he entered into partnership with his brother 
John and engaged in the grocery business, the 
enterprise being successfully conducted for one 
year, at the expiratio-i of which they disposed 
of the same at a good profit, and for nearly 
two years thereafter our subject was em- 
ployed as a carpenter and millwright in the 
works of the Dueber-Hampden Company, 
in Canton. He tlien engaged in house carpen- 
try on his own responsibility, and continued in 
this line of enterprise for a number of years. 
In 1892 he engaged in the livery business in 
Canton, and one year later traded the same for 
a grocery store, of wh.icli he shortly afterward 
disposed. In 1896 he returned to the home 
farm, which he rented until the death of hi,-; 
father, when he purchased two hundred and six 
acres of land, and has here continued success- 



fully in agricultural pursuits to the present time, 
the farm being under most effective cultivation 
and equipped with model buildings and other 
permanent improvements of the best order. In 
politics Mr. Hay accords a stanch allegiance 
to the Demorcratic party, and in igoi waS' 
made the nominee of his paity for township 
trustee. He and his wife are prominent mem- 
bers of the Reformed church at Mapleton, in 
Avhich he holds the office of deacon, and fra- 
ternally he is identified with the Knights of 
Maccabees, affiliating with Malvern Tent No. 
349, at Malvern, Carroll county. 

On the 6th of March, 1879, Mr. Hay was 
united in marriage to Miss Susan Starkey, who 
was born in Paris township, this county, being- 
a daughter of the late John Starkey, who was- 
a prominent farmer and carpenter of that town- 
ship. Mrs. Hay"s death occurred on the i8th 
of December, 1884, and she left one child,. 
Laura A., who remains at the paternal home.. 
On the 2Sth of February, 1886, Mr. Hay con- 
summated a second marriage, being then united 
to Miss Elizabeth E. Foltz, of Marshall county, 
Indiana, and they are the parents of one son, 
Earl E. 



PHILIP MONG was bom in Brown town- 
ship, Carroll county, Ohio, on the 12th of De- 
cember, 1863, and he received his educational 
discipline in the public schools of that county 
and Stark county, where the family took up 
their abode at an early day. At the age of 
nineteeii years he severed the home ties and se- 
cured employment as a farm hand, and to this 
line of work he continued to devote his atten- 
tion for a number of years, being energetic 
and industrious and turning his labors to good 
account. In 1890 he was united in marriage 
to Miss Margaret N. Biler, \\ho was born in 
Osnaburg township, on the farm which is now 
her home, and which is conducted so success- 
fully by her husband. She is a daughter of the 



1246 



OLD LANDMARKS 



late Philip Biler, who was born in the province 
of Alsace, France,, w hich is now a portion of the 
German empire, and who emigrated thence to 
America when a young man, becoming one of 
the early settlers in Osnaburg township, this 
county, where he developed and otherwise im- 
proved a good farm, upon which he passed 
the remainder of his life, his death occurring 
in 1881. After his marriage Mr. Mong set- 
tled on the Biler homestead, and since 1890 
he has continued agricultural operations here 
in connection with the cultivation of the old 
Mong homestead, which lies contiguous. For 
the past twelve years he has also been asso- 
ciated with his brother in the development of 
the coal mines, devoting his attention to this 
work during the winter months and remaining 
in active supervision of his farming interests 
during the balance of the year. He is recog- 
nized as one of the able and progressive young 
men of the township, where his friends are in 
number as his acquaintances. In politics he 
is stanchly arrayed in support of the Republican 
party, and he and his wife are worthy mem- 
bers of the church near Mapleton. Of their four 
children two are living, William R. and 
Harry W. 



EDWARD A. BIECHELE is a member 
of one of the prominent pioneer families of the 
county, and who is numbered among the lepre- 
sentative business men of the city of Canton, 
controlling an important enterprise which had 
its inception many years ago, through the co- 
laboration of his father, Augustus G., and his 
imcle, Leopold Biechele. The subject is sole 
manufacturer of the Golden Star patent Swiss 
steam and fire copper ciieese kettles, candy pans, 
and also of sheet-metal work of every descrip- 
tion, while in his establishment are also handled 
furnaces, mantels, grates, tile flooring, gas fix- 
tures, and stoves of all kinds, while a specialty 
is made of plumbing work and the executing 



of contracts for roofing, spouting, etc., the 
headquarters of the business being in a large 
and well equipped building at 206-8 East Fifth 
street. This enterprise was established in the 
year 1853, by the firm of L. Biechele & Brother, 
the interested principals being Leopold and Au- 
gustus G. Biechele. The ongmal headquarters 
were located on the site of the present Dime 
Savings Bank, and later the firm removed to 
the lot on which the present building of the 
subject is located, said lot at the time extend- 
ing through from East Tuscarawas street to 
East Fifth street, while the building fronted on 
the former thoroughfare. The present build- 
ing, fronting on East Fifth street, was erected 
by the firm in the year 1879, ^"^ htre the 
brothers continued their partnership operations 
until the 20th of March, 1882, when a dissolu- 
tion took place, Leopold Biechele retiring, and 
thereafter the father of the subject continued 
the enterprise individually until his death, which 
occurred on the 22d of November, 1896. 

Augustus G. Biechele came of stanch Ger- 
man lineage, and was a sturdy representative 
of the valuable element of citizenship which the 
German fatherland has furnished to the United 
States. He was born in the town of Endingen, 
in the central portion of the province of Baden, 
Germany, the year of his nativity being 1828. 
He attended the excellent schools of his native 
land for the customary number of years de- 
fined by government law. In 1847 '^^ came to 
America in company with his brother Leopold, 
and later became associated with his brother in 
the establishing of the enterprise of which his 
son is now in control, operations being insti- 
tuted on a modest scale, and here he continued 
to reside until he was called from the scene of 
life's activities, having been a man of sterling 
character and one who held the unqualified 
confidence and esteem of the community in 
which he so long lived and labored. Li poli- 
tics he was a stanch advocate of the principles 
of the Democratic party, and while he was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1247 



never a seeker of public office, he ser\'ed most 
efficiently as a member of the board of trustees 
of the Canton water works, being loyal to his 
home city and ever lending his aid and influence 
in support of measures concerning its advance- 
ment and prosperity. He w^as a communicant 
of St. Peter's church, Roman Catholic, and con- 
tributed liberally to its support. In Canton, 
in the year 1855, was solemnized his marriage 
to Miss Mary A. Lothamer, a daughter of Peter 
Lothamer, who was born in the province of 
Alsace, France, whence he emigrated to the 
United States, and located in Canton, where 
he engaged in the shoe business and where he 
passed the remainder of his life. The mother 
of the subject is still living, being- seventy-one 
years of age at the time of this wi iting, and she 
likewise is a communicant and devoted member 
of St. Peter's church. This worthy couple be- 
came the parents of seven children, all of whom 
still reside in Canton with one exception, their 
names, in order of birth, being as follows : Ed- 
ward A., the immediate subject of this sketch; 
Andrew, who hves in Canton ; Tina, the widow 
of Dr. August Leininger; Alfred, who is en- 
gaged in the tin jobbing business in Canton; 
Ella, who is the wife of Harry Webb, of this 
city ; Corrine, who is the wife of James Burns, 
of Ix)uisville, Kentucky; and Arthur, who is 
engaged with the Aultman Company in Canton. 
Edward A. Biechele was born in the family 
homestead, at the corner of Third street and 
Cleveland avenue, in Canton, the date of his 
nativity being September 3, 1856. He received 
his early educational discipline in the public 
and parochial schools and the Canton Academy, 
and supplemented the same by a course of study 
in Duff's Business College, in the city of Pitts- 
burg, Pennsylvania, where he completed his 
education at the age of twenty years. He then 
entered his father's establishment and here 
learned the trade and familiarized himself with 
all other details of the business, so that he was 
eminently qualified to assume the full manage- 



ment of the enterprise at the death of his hon- 
ored father, in 1897, subsequently to which he 
settled up the estate and in 1899 he purchased 
the interests of the other heirs in the business, 
to which he has since given his undivided atten- 
tion, while through his well directed efforts he 
has increased its prestige and expanded its 
scope, controlling a large and important busi- 
ness in the various departments of the enter- 
prise. He owns valuable patents and the arti- 
cles manufactured in his establishment find a 
ready demand throughout a wide trade terri- 
tory. He accords an uncompromising allegiance 
to the Democratic party, and fraternally is iden- 
tified with the Benevolent and Protective Or- 
der of Elks, the Knights of Columbus, Wood- 
men of the World and Knights of the Macca- 
bees. He and his wife are communicants and 
valued members of St. John's church, Roman 
Catholic. 

In Canton, on the i8th of October, 1881, 
Mr. Biechele was united in marriage to Miss 
Lottie Trout, who was born in this city, being 
a daughter of Joseph Trout, concerning whom 
individual mention is m.ade elsewhere in this 
volume, and of this union have been born three 
children, namely: Burdeene, William Arnold 
and Josephine. 

Reverting to the life of the father of the 
subject, we may consistently make note of the 
fact that he was one of the argonauts who 
made their way to the state of California at the 
time of the ever memorable gold excitement 
in that section. In company with a party of 
Canton men he went to the Golden state in 
1850, making the trip by wzy of the Isthmus 
of Panama, while the return trip was made by 
the overland route. He and his companions 
prospected in the gold fields and located' a valu- 
able mine, but they became involved in litiga- 
tion with an English syndicate relative to the 
ownership of the property and finally abandoned 
the claim, having remained in California two 
years. In the party were L. V. Barkius.. John 



I2/|8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Trout and Frank Galler, and others oi Canton, 
and all are now deceased except the last men- 
tioned. 



DANIEL SCHWARTZ was born in Alill- 
hoven, Prussia, Germany, on the 13th of May. 
1826, the son of Peter and Catherine (Claty) 
Schwartz. He is one of seven children, of 
whom the only survivor besides himself is Ja- 
cob, a resident of Canton. Peter Schwartz is 
also a native of Prussian Germany, having first 
seen the light of day in 1789. In 1833 he came 
to the United States with his family. He had 
been a tavern-keeper in his native country and 
was considered a prosperous man there, so 
that upon his arrival in the new world he was 
enabled to buy eighty acres of good land in 
Osnaburg township, Stark county, Ohio, this 
tract being now owned by the heirs of hi? 
yoimgest son, William. The father cultivated 
this farm, made for himself and family a com- 
fortable home, and passed the remainder of his 
days there, his death occurring in 1857. In 
politics he was a firm and uncompromising 
Democrat, while his religous creed was in har- 
mony with that of the Reformed church. He 
was a man of sterling character and upright. 
Christian manhood, and was highly esteemed 
by all who knew him. 

Daniel Schwartz, the immediate subject. 
Avas reared under the parental roof and attended 
the pioneer schools of the locality, acquiring 
but a limited education. Tliis lack of schooling 
has, however, been compensated for in a large 
measure by a course of wide and liberal read- 
, ing and a close observation of men and events, 
so that he is today a well informed man, well 
able to deal successfully with the affairs of life. 
At the early age of fifteen years Mr. Schwartz 
apprenticed himself to learn the trade of shoe- 
making in Canton. Completing his term of 
apprenticeship in 1846, he went to Cincinnati, 
and was there employed at his trade for about 



two years, being for the following two years 
employed upon farms in that locality. In 1850 
he returned to Stark county and was married, 
after which event he went to Waynesburg and 
worked as a farm hand for one year, his com- 
pensation being forty cents a day and every- 
thing found. He was economical and carefully 
husbanded his earnmgs, meager as they were, 
so that at the end of die year he found himself 
in the possession of almost his entire earnings 
for the year. Returning to Osnaburg township, 
he rented land for a year and then bought a 
home in the southern part of the township, 
the place comprising four and a fraction acres. 
Upon this little place Mr. Schwartz resided for 
some five years, and then purchased a farm of 
twenty acres near his present home farm. After 
remaining upon this place about seven years 
he disposed of it and purchased his present home 
farm, comprising about eighty acres of fine and 
well tilled land, upon which he has since made 
his home. During the dark days of the Civil 
war things were in bad shape with Mr. 
Schwartz, as he was still in debt for a part of 
the purchase price of the farm. The draft debt 
on the township was a heavy burden on the ta.x- 
payers and for a time the subject found it hard 
to keep things moving. Ho^vever, he pulled 
through, and through his persistent and strenu- 
ous endeavors has succeeded where many others 
would have failed, and is today enjoying a fair 
depree of prosperity. It was a severe test for 
him, and showed the stutif of which he is made. 
Indomitable industry, .^ound judgment and 
honorable business methods are the elements 
which have contributed most largely to his suc- 
cess, and he is today one of the most highly 
esteemed residents of his township. 

In the fall of 1850 Daniel Schwartz was 
united in marriage with Miss Margaret Gross- 
man, a native of the little republic of Switzer- 
land. She accompanied her parents to America 
when she was but three years of age, and in this 
country acquired a good, practical common 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1249 



school education. This union has been a most 
happy and congenial one. and has been blessed 
by the birth of the following children: Jacol) 
and Daniel are residents of Indiana; William 
lives in Denver, Colorado ; Samuel is at home ; 
Frank resides in Louisville, this county ; Lucy 
is deceased ; Ellen is the wife of Charles Hay- 
man, of this county. Daniel Schwartz renders 
his political allegiance to the Republican party, 
and has taken i^ keen and active interest in pub- 
lic affairs. For ten years he served as super- 
visor, and was for several years a school direc- 
tor. Religiously he is a member of the Re- 
formed church, and not oniy lives a life con- 
sistent with the teachings of that society, but 
contributes liberally of his material substance 
to all movements having for their object the 
amelioration of the world's condition. He has 
held official station in his chuich, having been 
for four years deacon and two years elder. All 
in all, there are few men in OsnaJDurg township 
who have enjoyed in a larger degree than doe<; 
the subject the warm regard and high esteem 
of his neighbors, a relation which he has well 
merited. 



WALTER G. LOWE, M. D., was born in 
Wayne county, Ohio, on the 28th of March, 
1863, being a son of Gilbert and Catherine 
(Armstrong) Lowe, the former of whom was 
born in the state of New Jersey, on the 5th of 
September, 1823, while the latter was born in 
Holmes county, Ohio, on the 9th of August, 
1824. The paternal grandfather of the Doctor 
was Jacob C. Lowe, who was born in Auburn, 
New York, on tlie 9th of April, 1792, this date 
practically establishing the fact that the family 
became identified with the history of America 
in the colonial epoch. Jacob C. Lowe was en- 
gaged in the butchering business in Auburn 
for a number of years, and sold his meat prod- 
ucts in New York city. About the year 1837 
he came with his family to Ohio, and for a 

78 



number of years he was a drover by occupa- 
tion, and finally he purchased a tract of land 
near the capital city of Columbus, reclaiming the 
land and eventually disposing of the property. 
He then purchased a farm near Fredericksburg, 
Wayne county, and in that town he passed the 
residue of Ins long and honorable life, his death 
occurring on the 28th of May, 1868. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Phoebe Kershaw, was 
born on Long Island, New York, on the 8th 
of June, 1795, of an old colonial family, and 
she died on the 13th of February, 1865. Of 
this union nine children were born, and of the 
number only three are living at the present time. 

Gilbert Lowe did not accompany his par- 
ents on their removal to Ohio, but remained in 
the state of New York, where he was reared 
and educated, but in 1847 l""^ joined his par- 
ents in the Buckeye state, being at the time about 
twenty-four years of age, and here he continued 
to be actively engaged in farming in Wayne 
county, until his retiren^ent from active labors, 
and he now resides in the village of Apple 
Creek, that county, while he still retains pos- 
session of his valuable and finely improved 
farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which is 
located in East Union township, that county. 
In politics for many years he gave a stanch sup- 
port to the Republican party, but about 1880 
he transferred his allegiance to the Prohibiton 
party, of whose cause he has ever since been a 
stalwart and uncompromising advocate. His 
cherished and devoted wife was summoned 
into eternal rest on the 22d of February, 1866, 
at which time the subject of this review was 
but three years of age. They became the par- 
ents of four sons and three daughters, two of 
the children dying in infancy, while the re- 
maining five are living, two sons and three 
daughters, the Doctor having been the sixth 
in order of birth. Gilbert Lowe has long been 
a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal 
cinirch, as was also his wife. 

Dr. Lowe was reared on the homestead farm 



I250 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in Wayne county, and after securing such ad- 
vantages as were afforded in tlie district schools 
he continued his studies in the high school at 
Apple Creek, the Ada Normal School, and 
Wooster University. Thereafter he continued 
to be identified w ith the fanning industry until 
he had attained the age of twenty-three years, 
when, having determined to fit himself for a 
wider sphere of endeavor and to adopt the medi- 
cal profession, he initiated his work of techni- 
cal preparation by taking up the study of medi- 
cine in Apple Creek, where he had as a pre- 
ceptor Dr. Joseph K. King, an able and hon- 
ored practitioner of that county. Later he was 
duly matriculated in the College of Phj^sicans 
& Surgeons in the city of Keokuk, Iowa, where 
he continued his studies for one year, while in 
1888 he entered the Toledo Medical College, 
in the city of Toledo, Ohio, where he completed 
the prescribed course and \vas graduated as a 
member of the class of 1889, receiving his de- 
gree of Doctor of M'edicine. His novitiate in 
the practice of medicine was served in the vil- 
lage of Burbank, Wayne county, where he re- 
mained one year, after which he came to his 
present field of labor, establishing his home 
and professional headquarters in Justus, Stark- 
county, where he has attained marked prestige 
and popularity and where he controls a .repre- 
sentative and successful practice. In politics he 
gives a loyal supjwrt to the principles and poli- 
cies of the Republican party, and he ever mani- 
fests a lively interest in all that touches the 
general welfare of the community, where he 
and his wife enjoy marked popularity in social 
v'ircles, while both are valued and active mem- 
bers of the United Brethren church. 

On the 1 8th of October, 1893, Dr. Lowe 
was united in marriage to Miss Almcda Hoff- 
man, who was born in Sugar Creek township, 
this county, on t!ie 29th of July, 1863, being 
a (laughter of Daniel and Selecta (Putman) 
Hoft'man, tb.e former of whom died on the 
1st of February, 1895, while his widow now 



resides in Justus. Dr. and Mrs. Lowe have two 
children, C. Fay, who was born on the iSth 
of July, 1895, and Liez A., who was born on the 
.?8th of January, 1900. 



ALVAH P. TRUBEY, D. D. S., was born 
on the homestead farm, in Sugar Creek town- 
ship, this county, on the 31st of March, 1876, 
being the youngest of the eleven children born 
to Jacob M. and Elizabeth (Pherson) Trubey, 
while six of the children are still living. The 
father of the subject was born in Franklin 
county, Pennsylvania, in 1820, and when he 
was but three years of age his parents came to 
Stark comity, being numbered among its earli- 
est pioneers, and they located on a tract of wild 
land in Sugar Creek township, where they 
passeil their entire lives. There Jacob ]\L Tru- 
bey was reared to manhood, and he continued 
to reside on the old homestead until his death, 
which occurred on the 26th of May, 1902. He 
became one of the prominent farmers and rep- 
resentative citizens of that section of the county, 
commanding uniform confidence and esteem 
and being called upon to serve in various offices 
of public trust and responsibility. He served 
several years as county commissioner from his 
township, and for a long period was incumbent 
of the office of justice of the peace, while his 
political allegiance was given to the Rejiuljli- 
can party, of whose cause he was an ardent 
advocate. His religious faith was that of the 
Church of God, while his widow is a de\oted 
member of the United Brethren church. Jacob 
Trubey, the grandfather of the Doctor, w^as 
likewise a native of the old Keystone state, 
whither his father emigrated from Hesse-Cas- 
sel, Germany, his native province. Grand- 
father Trubey died on the old iiomestead farm, 
in Sugar Creek township, in the year 1834, 
having been one of the honored pioneers of the 
county, and one of the first to make permanent 
settlement in the township mentioned. It may 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1251 



further be said that his father came to America 
at the time of the Revolution, as a Hessian 
soldier. The mother of the subject still re- 
mains on the home farm, endeared to her 
through the memories and associations of the 
past, and she celebrated her seventy-first birth- 
day anniversary on the 26th of February, 1903. 
Dr. Trubej- remained on the old farm until 
he had attauied the age of sixteen years, his 
educational discipline up to this time having 
been received in the public schools. At the 
age noted he secured employment in various 
capacities, and through his earnings defrayed 
the expenses of his course of study in the high 
school at Beach City. In 1897, when twenty- 
one years of age, he was matriculated in the 
dental department *of the Ohio Medical Uni- 
versity, in the city of Columbus, Ohio, where 
he completed the prescribed three years' course, 
and was graduated as a member of the class 
of 190 1, having defrayed the expenses of his 
technical education through his ow'n efforts. 
The Doctor came forth from the university 
with a thor.jugh knowledge of all branches of 
the dental profession, whose demands under the 
improved niodern system are such as to re- 
quire distinctive surgical skill and mechanical 
ability, and he began the practice of his pro- 
fession in Beach City, where he remained six 
months, at the expiration of \\hich, in order 
to secure a wider field for his efforts he came 
to Canton, where he formed a professional part- 
nership witli Harvey B. Carl, with whom he 
was associated in practice until July, 1902, 
when he purchased the interest of his partner 
and has since continued an individual practice, 
having tasteful and well equipped offices and 
laboratory, and having gained a support of dis- 
tinctively representative order. In politics the 
Doctor exercises his franchise in support of the 
principles and policies of the Republican party. 
And fraternally he is identified with the Knights 
of Pythias and the Protective Home Circle, 
while he is also a member of the alumni asso- 



ciation of the Ohio Medical University, his 
alma mater. 

On New Year's day of the year 1902, w^as 
solemnized the marriage of Dr. Trubey to Miss 
Emma B. Caler, who was born in Beach City, 
this county, being a daughter of George and 
Elizabeth Caler, well known citizens of that 
place, Mr. Caler being a retired farmer. 



GEORGE A. JUILLIARD, as the name 
implies, comes of stanch French lineage, and he 
is a native son of la belle France, where he was 
ushered into the world on the 2d of January. 
1834, being a sou of John N. and Anna (Bur- 
lette) Juilliard, both of whom were likewise 
natives of France, where they were reared and 
educated and where their marriage was solem- 
nized. Of their seven children six are still liv- 
ing, namely: Julia A., who is the widow of 
Thomas Hall and resides in the city of Bucyrus, 
Ohio; Frederick, who is a resident of Santa 
Rosa, California; George A., subject of this 
sketch ; Catherine is the wife of Eli Walker, of 
Louisville, this county ; August D. is a banker 
in New York city; and Anna is the wife 
of David Cahill, of Bucyrus, Ohio. The father 
of our subject learned the trade of shoemaking 
in his native land, and in 1836, when our sub- 
ject was but six years of age, he emigrated 
with his family to the United States, landing 
in New York city and forthwith coming to 
Stark county, where many of his countrymen 
had previously located, and shortly after his 
arrival he effected the purchase of a tract ot 
one hundred and sixty acres of heavily tim- 
bered land in Washington township, and there 
established his home. He employed men to 
clear the land and continued personally to de- 
vote his attention to his trade, realizing more 
profit from this source than could he have done 
by individually grappling with the monarch 
trees of the forest, and he continued to work 
on the shoemaker's bench for aljout forty years. 



1252 



OLD LANDMARKS 



In 1854 he disposed of his farm in Washington 
township and purchased the farm, in Paris 
township, now owned by his son George, sub- 
ject of this review, and tliere he continued to 
make his home, honored by all who knew him, 
until his death, wiiicli occurred on the 
7th of June, 1876, at which time he was 
about eighty years of age. His loved and 
devoted wife was summoned to the "land 
of the leal" March 30, 1874, at the age of 
eighty years, both having been active and con- 
sistent members of the Lutheran church, while 
in his political proclivities he was ever an ardent 
advocate of the principles of the Democratic 
party as expounded by Jefferson and Jackson. 
George A. Juilliard was reared under the 
conditions and influences of pioneer life and 
early began to assist in the work of the old 
homestead farm in Washington township, while 
in the primitive log school house he conned his 
lessons when his services \\-ere not in requisi- 
tion at home, and weli he remembers the little 
"institution of learning,"' with its puncheon 
floor, slab benches and its yawning and cavern- 
ous fire-place, which the boys supplied with fuel 
which they chopped during the noontide recess. 
He remained on the home farm until he at- 
tained maturity and, being the only son left at 
home, much of the management of the place 
devolved upon him, and he thus continued in 
charge of the farm until the death of his father, 
whom he had accompanied on the removal from. 
Washington township to Paris township. Aft- 
er the death of liis father Mr. Juilliard pur- 
chased the interests of the other heirs and thus 
came into sole possession of the homestead, 
which he has ever since retained, and here he 
continued to be successfully engaged in diversi- 
fied farming and stock-raising until the year 
19CX), having made excellent improvements on 
the place and developed it into one of the valu- 
able farms of the township. In the year men- 
tioned he leased his farm and removed to the 
village of Paris, where he has since lived a re- 



tired life. The attractions of the bachelor's 
life have proved sufficient to retain him in the 
ranks of the celibates, but he is fully appre- 
ciative of the charms of home life and enjoys 
entertaining his many friends with the genial 
cheer so characteristic of him in his intercourse 
with his fellow men. In politics Mr. Juilliard 
has ever been stanchly arrayed in the ranks of 
the Democratic party, and his religious faith is 
that of the Lutheran church. Fraternally he 
is a valued frater of JuiUiard Lodge No. 460, 
Free and Accepted Masons, in the village of 
Louisville, said lodge having been named in 
honor of his brother Charles L. 



AMOS B. MASE was born in Bethlehem 
township. Stark county, Ohio, on the 13th of 
September, 1850, the son of Henry and Sarah 
A. (Kern) Mase, and is one of three children, 
the others being Elamina, the wife of William 
Staum, a resident of Portage county, this state, 
and Christina, who is the wife of Levi Lash 
and resides in Bethlehem township this county. 
Henry Mase, the subject's father, was born in 
1 82 1 in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, the son 
of Michael and Christina (Spangler) Mase. 
The latter couple came to Stark county, Ohio, 
in 1830, settling on a farm of eighty acres two 
miles west of Navarre. Four years later 
they sold this place and purchased one 
hundred and ninety-five acres in Bethlehem 
township, where they passed the remainder 
of tlieir days. Tire subject's father was 
reared upon this latter place and on the 
13th of January,' 1847, '^'^'^s united in mar- 
riage with Miss Sarah A. Kern. Shortly after 
his marriage Mr. Mase purchased seventy-five 
acres of land adjoining his father's farm and 
there settled down to the pursuit of farming. 
He resided upon that place until 1859, when 
he purchased eighty-four acres comprising the 
farm upon which the subject now resides. Up- 
on this place he resided until his death, though ■ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1253 



prior to that time he had bought another 
eighty-acre tract adjoining, making a total 
landed estate of one hundred and sixty-four 
acres. In poHtics he was a stanch adherent of 
the Democratic party, though he steadfastly re- 
fused all offices of a public nature. He was a 
man of steadfast qualities and unquestioned 
integrity and was highly esteemed by all who 
knew him. His religious affiliation was with 
the Reformed church and for many years he 
held various offices in the local society to which 
he belonged. His death occurred on the 3d 
of December, 1892. Sarah A. Kern, mother 
of the subject, was born in the township of 
Bethlehem, Stark county, Ohio, March 31, 
1829, the daughter of John and Christina 
(Baughman) Kern, who came to Stark county 
ii: 1828 from their native locality, Cumberland 
county, Pennsylvania. Upon coming to this 
county they settled in Bethlehem township, two 
miles west of Navarre, where the subject's 
mother was reared to womanhood. She now 
makes her home with the subject. She is a 
Avoman of marked intelligence and strength of 
character and by her fine womanly qualities 
has won and retains the warm friendship of a 
I'.ost of acquaintances. 

Amos B. Mase was reared to maturity un- 
der the parental roof and acquired his educa- 
tion in the common schools of the neighbor- 
hood. About 1872 he assumed charge of the 
liome farm and for six years conducted the 
same as a renter. In 1878 he purchased the 
l>]ace and has since continued to make this his 
home. From 1872 until 1881 farming was his 
principle occupation, though in connection 
therewith he also was engaged largely in the 
stock business, raising, buying and feeding 
large numbers of stock and finding in his busi- 
ness a source of considerable revenue. In 
1 88 1 Mr. Mase entered the employ of the Mc- 
Cormick Harvesting Company in the capacity 
of local and traveling salesman, being so en- 
gaged until 1896 and meeting with very grati- 



fying success. Since the latter date Mr. Mase 
has found it possible to live a comparatively re- 
tired life, putting the active management of 
Ihe home farm into the hands of his son Henry. 
In 1872 Mr. Mase was united in the holy 
bonds of matrimony with Miss Esther Baker, 
a native of Tuscarawas county, this state, and 
the daughter of Henry and Catherine (Bender) 
Baker. Henry Baker is now a resident of Beth- 
lehem township, this county, and is accounted 
one of the foremost citizens of the township. 
To the subject and his wife has been born one 
son, Harry Clayton. The latter married Maud 
B. Stuck and they are the parents of one child, 
Archie Hazen. In matters political the subject 
has always been a firm and uncompromising 
advocate of Democratic principles and has 
taken an active part in advancing the interests 
of the party in his township. The party has 
twice honored him with the nomination for 
sheriff of Stark county. In 1897, while not 
successful in the race, the county going Re- 
publican by three thousand majority, he ran 
ahead of his ticket about twelve hundred votes, 
being defeated by about one hundred and sev- 
enty-five votes, thus affording striking evi- 
dence of his popularity and the high regard in 
which he is held throughout the county. He 
was at one time elected to the office of town- 
ship treasurer and efficiently filled the position 
for six years, to the entire satisfaction of his 
constituents. He takes a deep and intelligent 
interest in educational matters and for the re- 
markable period of twenty-three years served 
as a member of the school board, doing much 
effective service in the interest of the schools 
of his township. Fraternally Mr. Mace is a 
member of Massillon Lodge No. 484, Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, Navarre Lodge 
No. 240, Knights of Pythias, John Hancock 
Council No. 76, Senior Order United American 
Mechanics, and the Grange. His religious affili- 
ation is with the United Brethren church, of 
which he is a trustee. He takes a keen inter- 



1254 



OLD LANDMARKS 



est in the ^veltare of the church and in all mat- 
ters looking to the betterment of the com- 
munity, morally, educationally or materially. 
Financially he is, as already indicated, in inde- 
pendent circumstances, the fruit of his industry 
and sound business methods, and few men in 
his county stand as high in public esteem as 
does he. 



DANIEL W. DeHOFF was born in Nimi- 
shillen township. Stark county, Ohio, on the 
7th of October, 1842, being a son of Anthony 
and Barbara (Metz) DeHoff, of whose eleven 
children seven are living at the present time, 
namely: George, who is a resident of the 
city of Canton, this county; Daniel W., who 
figures as the subject of this review; Louisa, 
who is the wife of Frederick Shrefler, of Darke 
county, Ohio; John, who maintains his home 
in. Indiana; Ellen, who is the wife of Isaac 
Shrefler, of Canton; Delilah, who is the wife 
of Joseph Hollihand, of Paulding county, 
Ohio; and Moses, who resides in Darke coun- 
ty, this state. The father of the subject was 
likewise a native of the Buckeye state, hav- 
ing been born on the pioneer homestead, in Co- 
lumbiana county, in the year 1816, a son of 
Henry DeHoff, who was born in the state of 
Maryland, Avhence he emigrated to Ohio within 
the first decade after its admission to state- 
hood, becoming one of the early settlers in 
Columbiana county, where he passed the resi- 
due of his life. Anthony DeHoff was reared 
to maturity on the old homestead, and in his 
youth he learned the trade of tinner. As early 
as the year 1S38 he came to the village of 
Louisville, Stark county, where he was shortly 
afterward married, and there he continued his 
residence one year subsequently to this event, 
after which he returned to his native county 
and settled near Georgetown, where he made 
his home for a numter of years, continuing 



in the work of his trade. Later he came again 
to Stark county, where he turned his attention 
to agricultural pursuits, and thereafter he made 
several removals back and forth between the 
two counties, and at intervals worked at his 
trade, in which he was exceptionally proficient, 
having marked mechanical talent. Though 
his early educational advantages, owing to the 
exigencies of time and place, were necessarily 
limited in scope, he has been endowed with 
very alert and receptive mental powers, ready 
of assimilation and an omnivorous reader, and 
during the course of his long and useful life 
he rounded out his fund of information until 
it may be consistently said he was a man of 
fine education. For many years he acted as 
a local clergyman of the German Baptist 
church, and was known as a forceful and con- 
vincing speaker, his utterances ever bearing 
the impress of earnestness and sincerity. Al- 
though he was eighty-six years of age he was- 
exceptionally well preserved, both physically 
and mentally, and was one to whose reminis- 
censes and general conversation it was a pleas- 
ure to listen. He stood six feet and six inches 
in height, and his son Samuel, now de- 
ceased, was six feet and seven inches 
in height, of consistent physique, and is 
said lo have been the tallest man in Stark 
county, where he died January 28, 1879, at 
the age of twenty-one years. Another son, 
Eli, who is likewise deceased, attained the same 
stature as his father. Anthony DeHoff had 
exceptional talent in the line of vocal music 
in his younger days, and e\'en at his advanced 
age his voice was singularly strong and sympa- 
thetic in timbre. For the past fifteen years he 
resided in the home of his son Daniel, subject 
of this review, and he here received the utmost 
filial solicitude and veneration, while he held 
the affectionate regard of the people of the 
community. He gave his support to the 
Democratic party from the time of his youth, 
and was a zealous and devoted member of the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1235 



German Baptist church. He died December 
9, igo2. His wife was bom in Nimishillen 
township, this county, in the year 1816, being 
a daughter of Abraham Metz, who was one 
of the eariiest settlers in that township, where 
he took up a tract of government land, which 
he in a large measure reclaimed from the vir- 
gin forest, and there he passed the remainder 
of his life. His son. Dr. Abraham Metz, 
was a celebrated eye and ear specialist at the 
time of his death, which occurred at Massillon, 
this county, and was president of the Cleveland 
Medical College, being a man of national repu- 
tation in the medical world. The mother of 
the subject was summoned into eternal rest 
in 1894, at the age of seventy-eight years. 

Daniel W. DeHoff, to whom this sketch is 
dedicated, secured his early educational train- 
ing in the district schools, and when but fifteen 
years of age he began his independent career 
as a farm hand, while at the age of eighteen 
he turned his attention to the manufacture of 
pipe-staves, which were shipped to foreign 
countries. These staves were for wine casks, 
and were four feet long, four inches wide and 
one and a half inches thick, being manufac- 
tured from the finest oak timber. To this line 
of enterprise he devoted the major portion of 
his time for about four years, while in 1863 
he entered the employ of the Aultman Com- 
pany, manufacturers of agricultural machin- 
ery, in the city of Canton. On the 17th of 
December, 1864, he was united in marriage to 
Miss Harriet Van Voorhis, who was born in 
Osnaburg township, this county, being a 
daughter ©f Peter Van Voorhis, an honored 
pioneer of the count}^ concerning whom more 
specific mention is made in the personal sketch 
of his son, Abraham, appearing on another 
page of this work. Shortly after his marriage 
Mr. DeHoff took up his residence on a rented 
farm in Osnaburg township, and to the cultiva- 
tion of the same he devoted his attention for 
the ensuing two years. In 1867 he made his 



initial purchase of land, securing a tract of 
twenty acres, in the same township, a property 
now owned by David Miller. There he resided 
five years and then sold the place and pur- 
chased forty acres a short distance to the south 
of his original purchase, and nine years later 
he disposed of this property and bought eighty 
acres of his present fine homestead, which is 
located on section 21, Osnaburg township, and 
which has continuously been his home and field 
of operations to the time of this writing. In 
1892 he purchased an adjoining tract of twen- 
ty acres, so tliat his homestead now comprises 
one hundred acres. On the place he has made 
the best of permanent improvements, includ- 
ing the erection of a commodious and substan- 
tial residence of modern architectural design 
and accessories, and also a fine barn, sixty-four 
by thirty-six feet in dimensions. 

At the time of the war of the Rebellion 
Mr. DeHoff enlisted in the home guard at the 
time of Morgan's famous raid through Oho, 
in 1863, and when, in the following year, the 
President issued a call for volunteers for the 
term of one hundred days, he enlisted as a pri- 
vate in Company G, One Hundred and Sixty- 
second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which 
he remained in service until the expiration of 
his term, the command being assigned to de- 
tached duty, in the guarding of railway lines, 
supplies, etc. Mr. DeHoff is a member of 
McKinley Post No. 25. Grand Army of the 
Republic, in the city of Canton. In politics 
he accords a stanch allegiance to the Repub- 
lican party, and he and his wife are consistent 
and valued members of the Christian church. 
To them have been born five children, namely : 
Barbara E., who is the wife of William Deck- 
ert. of Canton township; William H., who 
died July 9, 1899, at the age of thirty-two 
years; Abraham L., a successful farmer of 
Canton township: Charles W., who is engaged 
in farming in Osnaburg township ; and Albert, 
who remains at the parental home. 



1256 



OLD LANDMARKS 



WIIXIAM L. DAY was bom in the fam- 
ily homestead, in North Market street, Can- 
ton, on the 13th of August, 1876, the son of 
Judge WilHam R. Day, and after securing his 
preHminary educational discipline in the public 
schools of his native city he continued his stud- 
ies in Williston Seminary, at Easthampton, 
Massachusetts, where he remained until 1896, 
Avhen he was matriculated in the law depart- 
ment of the State University of Michigan, at 
Ann Arbor, where he was graduated in June, 
1900, receiving the degree of Bachelor of 
Laws, being admitted to the bar in the same 
month, and within the following month he 
became a member of the firm of Lynch, Day 
& Day and has since been engaged in the work 
of his profession in Canton. He has shown 
a determination to win his legal laurels by per- 
sonal effort and to not rely upon the prestige 
of the honored name which he bears. He has 
to do with much important litigation and is 
known to be well grounded in the science of 
jurisprudence and to have facility in its appli- 
cation. In politics Mr. Day pins his faith 
securely to the principles and policies of the 
Republican party, in whose cause he takes a 
deep mterest. Fraternally he is identified with 
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, 
in his home city, where he enjoys marked 
popularity in botli business and social circles. 
Mr. Day was married, September 10, 1902, to 
Estelle McKay, of Cairo, Michigan. 



JOHN H. SPONSELLER was born on 
the homestead farm, in section 25, Canton 
township, this county, on the 27th of June, 
185 1, being a son of Abraham and Elizabeth 
(Stoner) Sponseller. Abraham Sponseller 
was likewise a native of Stark county, having 
been born in the same township as his son, on 
the 8th of October, 1820, and being a son of 
John and Elizabeth (Herbster) Sponseller, the 
former of whom was born in Adams county, 



Pennsylvania, and the latter in the state of 
Maryland. The grandfather of the subject 
was born and reared in Adams county, Penn- 
sylvania, whence as a young man he emigrated 
to the wilds of Stark county, Ohio, making 
his advent in this section in about 1816, and 
taking up a tract of heavily timbered land in 
Canton township, reclaiming the same to culti- 
vation and developing a good farm, on which 
he lived the balance of his life. The property 
has consecutively remained in the possession of 
the family, and is now owned and occupied by 
his youngest son, David Sponseller. The farm 
is located on the Waynesburg road and on the 
same is what is known as the Sponseller school 
house, the site of which was donated by John 
Sponseller, grandfather of the subject. It has 
been utilized for the purpose ever since, so that 
the school is one of the landmarks of the sec- 
tion, and took its name from the donor. On 
said farm John Sponseller and his noble and 
devoted wife passed the residue of their lievs, 
honored and esteemed by all who knew them. 
He died at the age of eighty-four years, and 
his wife had attained the venerable age of near- 
ly ninety-two years when she was summoned 
into the life eternal. They were consistent 
members of the Lutheran church. Their eight 
children were as follows : Frederick, de- 
ceased ; Mary Sponseller Houtz, deceased ; 
Abraham, deceased ; John, deceased ; Cath- 
arine Sponseller Sellers, deceased; Julia Spon- 
seller Zeller, deceased ; Henry, deceased ; Da- 
vid, the only one living. 

Abraham Sponseller, father of the subject, 
grew up under the conditions and scenes of the 
pioneer epoch, contributing to the work of the 
homestead farm and securing his early educa- 
tional training in the district schools of the 
day, while later he supplemented this by a 
course of study in the Canton schools, gaining, 
through this means and his private reading 
and study, what might be considered a liberal 
education. He was a successful teacher for 



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^^B^' 



JOHN H. SPONSELLER. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1257 



several years, and was a man of excellent in- 
tellectual powers and unbending integrity of 
character. After his marriage he located on 
the farm on which the subject was born, and 
devoted the remainder of his life to agricultural 
pursuits, being successful in his efforts and 
being known as one of the progressive and pub- 
lic-spirited citizens of his native county. He 
died on his homestead farm on the 27th of 
August, 1S99, at the age of nearly seventy- 
nine years, his wife having passed away on the 
7th of June, 1897, at the age of seventy-three 
years. He was a stanch advocate of the prin- 
ciples and policies of the Democratic party, and 
his religious faith was that of the Lutheran 
church, of which his wife likewise was a mem- 
ber. Concerning their children we enter the 
following brief record : John H. is the im- 
mediate subject of this sketch; George W. re- 
sides at New Berlin, this county, where he is 
engaged in mercantile pursuits; Samuel W. is 
a prosperous farmer of Plain township ; Will- 
iam E. resides in Canton, where he is engaged 
as a machinist ; Mary A. is the wife of Charles 
Lehr, of this city; David W. is engaged in 
farming in Canton township, this county ; Lucy 
is the wife of Douglas W. Stahl, of this city; 
and Augustus is engaged in farming in 
Perry township. 

John H. Sponseller was reared on the old 
homestead, and after availing himself of such 
advantages as were afforded in the district 
school he continued his studies in the public 
schools of Canton, completing- a course of study 
in the high school, after which he was matricu- 
lated in Alliance College, a Presbyterian insti- 
tution at Alliance, this county, being there a 
student for a period of three years, and effect- 
ively rounding out his more purely literary edu- 
cation. At the age of nineteen years he put 
liis scholastic attainments to the practical test 
by engaging in teaching, and for the following 
decade he was numbered among the popular 
and successful pedagogues of the county, hav- 



ing taught in various schools. Thereafter he 
served five years as deputy probate judge, dur- 
ing the regime of Judge Seraphim Meyer, and 
within this period he devoted assiduous at- 
tention to the specific reading of the law under 
the preceptorship of John C. Welty, a promi- 
nent member of the bar of Canton, and in 
1887, upon examination before the supreme 
court of Ohio, he was duly admitted to the bar 
of the state. He thereafter served three years 
as deputy county auditor under Patrick L. 
Manly and one year during the regime of his 
successor, Louis A. Loichot. Li 1892 Mr. 
Sponseller established himself in the general 
practice of his profession in Canton, where he 
has ever since continued, and no indefinite suc- 
cess has attended his efforts, since his ability and 
devotion to his profession soon gained him 
recognition, while his life acquaintanceship in 
his native county has likewise proved an ele- 
ment in his success, and he has secured a rep- 
resentative clientele and had to do with much 
important litigation, being known as an able 
advocate, ever giving careful preparation to 
his causes and also being a safe and duly con- 
servative counsel. 

Li politics Mr. Sponseller has given his al- 
legiance unequivocally to the Democratic party 
from the time of attaining his majority, having 
cast his first presidential vote in support of 
Horace Greeley, while he has taken a deep 
interest in the party cause, in which he has been 
more or less active in a local way. When but 
twenty-one years of age he was elected town- 
ship assessor of Canton township and he served 
as such for three terms. Fraternally he is 
numbered among the members of the Knights 
of the Maccabees, and his religious views are 
in harmony with the tenets of the Reformed 
church, in which he was reared, his wife being 
a devoted and active member of Trinity church, 
of this denomination. 

On the loth of October, 1872, Mr. Spon- 
seller was united in marriage to Miss Emma 



I2S8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



J. Smith, whO' was born in Perry township, 
this county, being a daughter of Josepl: and 
Nancy (Burger) Smith, her father being an 
inlluential farmer of that section of the coun- 
ty. Mr. and Mrs. Sponseller have two chil- 
dren, namely : Cennora E., who is the wife of 
Horace E. Deuble. of Canton; and Niles A., 
who was admitted to the bar of the state in 
June, 1902, and is now engaged in the prac- 
tice of his profession in Canton. He is, the 
junior member of the law firm of Sponseller & 
Sponseller. Niles A. Sponseller was married, 
on June 21, 1903, to Kathryn A. McKeon. of 
Cleveland, Ohio. 



SAMUEL GREGORY is a native son of 
the Buckeye state, having been born in Car- 
roll county on the 29th of June. 1S44, one of 
eight children born to James and Jane 
(Moody) Gregory. The names of the chil- 
dren who survive are as follows : Mary is 
the wife of James A. George, of Carrollton, 
Ohio; Agnes is the wife of William George, 
of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Eliza is the 
wife of H. H. Denny, of Elbert, Colorado; 
Emma is the wi'fe of Frank Long, of Kiowa, 
Colorado ; Peary is the wife of Leonard Or- 
rin, of Carrollton ; and the subject. James 
Gregory was born in Berks county, Pennsyl- 
vania, in tSiO, and when a boy was brought 
by his parents to Stark county, Ohio, the fam- 
ily locating in Canton township. This was 
early in the '20s, at which time the city of Can- 
ton was but a small, unpretentious hamlet. 
James Gregory \\as Ijut a boy when his father 
died, and he was reared to manhood by a Mr. 
Baestle. At an early age he became appren- 
ticed to the trade of cabinetmaking, at which 
he worked for some years in Canton, with 
George Raunk. Subsequently he removed to 
Carroll county, this state, where he was mar- 
ried, and where he remained during the rest of 
his active years. In advanced age he went to 



reside with a daughter in Minerva, and died 
there, at the age of eighty-five years, on Feb- 
ruary 26, 189S. He was a well known man 
and was noted as a fifer, being probably the 
most skillful performer upon that instrument 
in the United States. His services as a fifer 
were in great demand and he was present at 
all the reunions and musters in his section of 
the state, and sometimes even at greater dis- 
tances. He carried on the business of under- 
taking for some years in connection with his 
cabinetmaking and made many coffins for use 
in his locality. In politics he was a stanch 
Republican, taking a keen interest in the suc- 
cess of his party, while in religion he was 
allied with the Methodist Episcopal church, of 
which he was long a faithful and consistent 
member. Because of his faithful and con- 
sistent life he won and retained the highest re- 
gard and esteem of all who knew him. 

Samuel Gregory remained under the pa- 
rental roof until his twentieth year, and early 
became inured to hard toil. He is indebted to 
the common schools of his neighborhood for 
his mental discipline. Upon attaining mature 
years he learned the trade of carpenter and 
was employed at -that occupation for some 
time. At the outbreak of the war of the Re- 
bellion he took a keen and anxious interest 
in the trend of events in the Southland. At 
length, feeling that his services were needed 
in the effort to suppress the insurrection, he 
enlisted, on the i6th of February, 1864, in the 
Twenty-sixth Ohio Independent Batter}^, un- 
der command of Capt. T. D. Yost, the term of 
his enlistment being for three years, or during 
the war. The battery was assigned to duty 
with the Southwestern army and saw much 
hazardous service. The subject bore his full 
share of the hardships and privations incident' 
to a soldier's life and sen-ed his countn,' faith- 
fully until the close of hostilities, receiving his 
final discharge at Columbus, Ohio, September 
5, 1865. After his discharge from the army 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1259 



Mr. Gregory returned home and resumed 
work with his father at the carpenter business. 
In 1868 he removed to Canton, and for three 
years was in the employ of A. J. Kintz. Upon 
quitting the latter gentleman's employ he en- 
tered the shops of the Aultman Company, re- 
maining there for eleven years. His position 
here was a very pleasant one, his employers 
being' exceptionally fair in their treatment of 
him. In 1882 Mr. Gregory resigned his posi- 
tion with the Aultman Company and purchased 
a farm in Osnaburg township, near Mapleton, 
to which he removed. He applied himself 
with diligence to the work of cultivating this 
place and in a few years became known as one 
of the progressive and enterprising agricultur- 
ists of the township. In 1895 ^''- Gregory 
suffered the loss of his wife, and shortly there- 
after removed to Mapleton and occupied the 
handsome and commodious residence in which 
he now resides. Because of his former dili- 
gence, wise judgment and economy, he is now 
enabled to live free from the cares and worries 
of an active life and in the enjoyment of the 
ease which is the rightful heritage of an honest 
and industrious man. 

On the 5th of September, 1866, Mr. Greg- 
on,' was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
Gibler, a native of Carroll county and the 
daughter of Daniel Gibler. To this union were 
born two children, — Elva E., the wife of 
George Shott, of Canton, and Rachel, the wife 
of Charles Criswell, also of Canton. As be- 
fore stated, Mrs. Gregory died in 1895, and 
in January, 1897, Mr. Gregory married Miss 
Cordelia H. Tressler, of Waynesburg. In 
politics the subject is a stanch Republican and 
takes a keen interest in the success of his party, 
though possessing no personal ambition to hold 
office. His religious principles are those em- 
bodied in the creed of the Christian (or Disci- 
ples') church, and in his daily life he endeavors 
to exemplify the teachings of the man of Naz- 
areth. The qualities which have made him one 



of the prominent and successful citizens of 
Stark county have also brought him the good 
will and esteem of his fellow citizens. After 
the election of McKinley Mr. Gregory was 
tendered a very lucrative office, which he de- 
clined, Mr. McKinley saying he could have 
anything in his gift that he felt competent to 
fill'. 



JAMES A. ROBINSON was born in the 
village of Washington, on the national turn- 
pike, in Guernsey county, Ohio, on the 12th 
of October, i860, and there he attended school 
until he had attained the age- of thirteen years, 
when he went to Bellaire, Belmont county, 
where he learned the trades of painting and 
paper-hanging, serving an apprenticeship of 
four years, during the summer seasons, while 
during the winter months he continued his 
studies in the public schools. Thereafter he 
passed six years in the work of his trades, at 
various points in the state, and on the 3d of 
September, 1883. at Martin's Ferry, Belmont 
county, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Mary Keller, who was born in that place, being 
a daughter of Henry Keller, and since his mar- 
riage he has lived, for varying intervals in 
Byesville, Bellaire, Barnesville and Columbus, 
Ohio, and also in Wheeling, West Virginia. 
In the city of Columbus he was engaged in 
business on his own responsibility for a period 
of four years, and in May, 1896, he came to 
Canton, where he continued to follow his trade 
until the ist of November, 1902, when he pur- 
ch.ased a half interest in the Craftsman, a paper 
devoted entirely to the interests of union la- 
bor. He has been an active worker in the 
labor cause for the past twenty-seven years, 
maintaining a duly conservative attitude and 
being at all times careful and discriminating 
in his counsels. When but fifteen years of 
age he was made a member of the Knights of 
Eabor, at Bellaire, Ohio, and even as a hoj 



I26o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



"he manifested a lively interest in the further- 
ing of the interests of the laboring man, having 
a supreme respect for the dignity of honest 
toil and endeavor, in whatever capacity. He 
has been delegate to various labor conventions, 
and since September, 1902, he has rendered 
efficient service in the office of district organ- 
izer for the American Federation of Labor, 
while in January, 1902, he was elected presi- 
dent of the Central Labor Union of Canton, 
where his interposition met with so appreci- 
ative endorsement that he was chosen as his 
own successor at the election in January of 
the present year. He was for two terms presi- 
dent of the local union of painters and paper- 
hangers in Canton, of which he is at the pres- 
ent time treasurer, and his various official du- 
ties, together with his work in connection with 
the Craftsman, an ably edited and managed 
publication, issued weekly from its office in 
Canton, now place such demands upon his time 
and attention that he has practically abandoned 
the active work of his trade. In politics Mr. 
Robinson has ever given a stanch allegiance 
to the Republican party, having cast his first 
presidential vote for James A. Garfield. In 
1903 Mr. Robinson was running for the nomi- 
nation for mayor of the city of Canton on the 
Republican ticket, and was third in a field of 
five candidates. He was reared in the faith 
of the Presbyterian church, and fraternally is 
identified with the Junior Order of United 
American Mechanics. He and his wife are 
the parents of four interesting children, — Har- 
ry A., Allen C. Flora May and James A., Jr. 
Mr. Robinson is a man of fine intellectuality, 
being an omnivorous reader and a close student 
of the questions and issues of the hour, so that 
-his opinions are always based on careful analy- 
sis and fortified by mature judgment. 

Alexander Robinson, father of the subject, 
was bom in Washington, Guernsey county, 
Ohio, in 1825. beng a representative of one 
of the honored pioneer families of that sec- 



tion, where he was reared to maturity, becom- 
ing a most skillful artisan in the line of wood 
manufacturing and having been long engaged 
in the cabinetmaking and undertaking busi- 
ness. He secured liis educational discipline 
in the primitive log-cabin school house of the 
pioneer epoch, the same being equipped with 
puncheon floor and rudely constructed benches 
of slabs, but his was a mentality that was not 
circumscribed by the curriculum of school or 
college, and through personal application he be- 
came an excellent mathematician and also 
gained a good knowledge of the classical 
languages. Soon after the outbreak of the 
war of the Rebellion he tendered his services 
in defense of the Union, becoming a corporal 
in Company F, Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantry. He veteranized in 1863, and was at 
home on a furlough at the time when Morgan 
made his memorable raid through Ohio and 
Indiana, and he aided in repelling the invasion 
and also in bur}'ing the dead Confederate soU 
diers. In this engagement he received a wound 
in the right side of the face, and from the same 
resulted a state of chronic ulceration, from the 
effects of which he died, in 1881, having suf- 
fered much as a result of the injury and its 
' sequelae. He was a stanch Republican from 
the time of the organization of the party, and 
served for eighteen consecutive years in the 
office of justice of the peace, while such was 
his integrity and honor in all the relations of 
life that he ever commanded the unqualified 
esteem of all who knew him. He was master 
of the local lodge of the Free and Accepted 
Masons at Washington until its organization 
lapsed, and was for many years a member of 
the school board, while he was an elder in the 
Presbyterian church. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Mary Jenkins, was likewise a na- 
tive of Guernsey county, where she was bom 
in the year 1833, being a daughter of James 
Jenkins, who emigrated to the county from 
Virginia in the early pioneer days. The 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



126k 



mother of the subject died in 1897, tliere hav- 
ing been nine children in the family, of whom 
six are yet living. William Robinson, the 
paternal grandfather of the subject, was born 
in Scotland, and his wife on the neighboring 
island of Guernsey. He came to America as 
a young man, being a cabinetmaker by trade, 
and he was one of the pioneers in this line of 
Guernsey county, where he also conducted an 
undertaking business, his son Alexander hav- 
ing learned the business under his direction. 



WILLIAM STEELE, M. D., is a repre- 
sentative of one of the honored pioneer fam- 
ilies of the county and was born on the old 
homestead farm, in Tuscarawas township, on 
the loth of May, 1858, being a son of John 
L. and Margaret M. (Christman) Steele. 
John L. Steele was born in this county, on the 
2ist of March, 1826, being a son of James 
and Margaret (Latimer) Steele, who were na- 
tives of Pennsylvania, whence they came to 
Stark county in the early days of its settle- 
ment. The father of Margaret Latimer was 
Robert Latimer, who was one of the first to 
make a permanent settlement in Osnaburg 
township, while Archibald Steele, father of 
James and the first representative of the family 
in America, as well as in Stark county, was a 
native of the north of Ireland, whence he emi- 
grated to the United States about 1790. He 
was of stanch Scottish lineage, being a de- 
scendant of Robert Steele, who was driven 
from his native land for political reasons, and, 
like many another of his countrymen, took up 
his abode in the north of Ireland. James 
Steele, the grandfather of the Doctor, was a 
man of sterling character and wielded much 
influence in the pioneer community in the early 
day, while for a number of years he was in- 
cumbent of the office of justice of the peace. 
He died on the old homestead, in Tuscarawas 
township, as did also his devoted wife, who 



had been a true helpmeet to him during the 
days when he was subduing the wilderness and 
developing what has become one of the finest 
farms in this section of the Buckeye state, the 
homestead now being owned by the father of 
the subject of this sketch. John L. Steele was 
reared to manhood on his present farm and 
received such educational advantages as were 
afforded in the primitive log school house, with 
its puncheon floors and slab benches, while he 
early began to contribute his quota toward the 
reclamation and cultivation of the home farm. 
His marriage to Margaret M. Christman was 
solemnized on the 9th of January, 1852, she 
being a native of Westmoreland county, Penn- 
sylvania, and a daughter of Henry and Susan 
(Bash) Christman. Of this union have been 
born three children, namely : Rev. James H., 
who is an able clergyman of the Reformed 
church ; William, who is the immediate sub- 
ject of this review; and Ida, who is the wife 
of John Erb. John L. Steele has been a stanch 
adherent of the Republican party from the 
time of its organization and has served as 
treasurer of his township and also in other 
local offices. He and his estimable wife are 
among the most honored pioneer residents of 
Tuscarawas township and both are consistent 
members of the Reformed church. 

Dr. Steele was reared on the old homestead 
farm, and received his preliminary educational 
discipline in the public schools, after which, at 
the age of twenty years, he was matriculated 
in Heidelberg College, at Tiffin, Seneca coun- 
ty, Ohio, where he continued his studies, in 
the scientific course, for three years, withdraw- 
ing from the institution in his junior year, in 
order to enter upon the specific work of pre- 
paring himself for the noble profession which 
he had determined to adopt as his vocation in 
life. In the autumn of 1880 he entered the 
Cleveland Medical College, in the city of Cleve- 
land, Ohio, and there completed the thorough 
technical course prescribed, and was graduated 



1262 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in the spring of 1883, receiving his coveted de- 
gree of Doctor of Medicine and being ably 
fortified for the practical work of his pro- 
fession. Within the same spring he located in 
the village of Navarre, in his native county, 
where he has since been established in the act- 
ive practice of his profession. He has long 
since left the ranks of the many to stand 
among the successful few, his ability and his 
devotion to his profession gaining him this 
relative precedence. He has studied and read 
broadly and with marked discrimination, car- 
rying his investigation into every field of 
thought bearing upon his profession, and adopt- 
ing those methods and improvements which 
his experience and judgment indicated to him 
as being of practical valuation in connection 
with his work. Though ever heeding the du- 
ties of citizenship, he has never manifested po- 
litical ambition in a personal sense, though he 
gives unqualified endorsement and support to 
the principles and policies of the Republican 
party. His religious views are those of the 
Reformed church, in whose faith he was 
reared. 

In 1S82 Dr. Steele was united in marriage 
to Miss Mary McEwen, of Massillon, this 
county, and they are the parents of two daugh- 
ters, — Edith and Laura, both of whom remain 
at the parental home. 



DAVID MOTTS was born on a farm in 
Osnaburg township. Stark county, Ohio, on 
the 28th of July, 1859, being a son of Michael 
and Mary (Fahl) Motts, who still reside in 
Osnaburg township, where they hold high rank 
among the honored pioneers of the county. Of 
the father of the subject individual mention 
is made on other pages of this work. 

David Motts was reared on the parental 
farmstead on which he was born, and his edu- 
cational privileges in his youth were such as 
were afforded by the public schools of the lo- 



cality and period. Upon attaining his legal 
majority he initiated his independent career by 
assuming the management of the home farm, 
which he operated on shares for' about three 
and one-half years, at the expiration of which 
he became associated with his brother Eli in 
the purchase of the Paris grist mills, which had 
previously been owned by their honored fa- 
ther, and under the title of Motts Brothers the 
firm continued the enterprise until the spring of 
1891, when our subject purchased his brother's 
interest in the mi Us and assumed the sole own- 
ership. In 1899 he admitted to partnership 
his only son, Curtis A., and simultaneously the 
firm name of D. Motts & Son was adopted and 
operations have since continued under these 
auspices. Soon after Mr. Motts and his broth- 
er purchased the property from their father 
they tore out the old burrs with which the mill 
had been equipped and then installed a full 
roller system and other modem accessories of 
the most improved design, thus making the 
equipment of the highest standard and en- 
abling them to turn out products of superior 
excellence and to greatly expand the scope and 
importance of the enterprise, which has by this 
means, as coupled with correct business meth- 
ods, energy and progressive policies, been 
made a profitable venture and an industry 
which is greatly appreciated in the community. 
The daily, capacity of the mill is in the output 
of sixty barrels of flour, and it is operated to 
this full capacity, while its products not only 
command an appreciative patronage through- 
out the county but are also shipped into other 
portions of the state, as well as into contiguous 
states. Mr. Motts is an ambitious, far-sighted 
business man and public-spirited citizen, and 
his efforts have not fallen short of popular ap- 
preciation, while he has an able and energetic 
coadjutor in his son, who is actively concerned 
in the management of this important enter- 
prise. In politics Mr. Motts has invariably 
exercised his franchise in support of the prin- 




DAVID MOTTS. 




Y>-\- 



' ^if^ - 



c 



^/^^^rwJ: JM/^r^^At 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1263 



ciples of the Democratic party, of whose poh- 
cies he is a stanch advocate, and he and his 
wife are vakied and zealous members of the 
Reformed church in Paris, of which he has 
served as deacon for the past fifteen years. 

On the 28th of March, 1880, Mr. Motts 
was united in marriage to Miss Ameha A. 
Otto, who Hkewise was bom in Osnaburg 
township, this county, her father having been 
one of the honored pioneer farmers of said 
township, Avhile lie is now living retired, in the 
city of Canton. Mr. and Mrs. Motts have 
two children, — Curtis A., who is associated 
with his i'atlier in business, and Myrta N., who 
is a student in the public schools. 



FRED ALBRECHT.— The Albrecht fam- 
ily had its origin in Germany and for genera- 
tions beyond the memory of man its anteced- 
ents lived in a part of Plavaria bordering on 
the river Rhine. Nicholas Albrecht, the sub- 
ject's grandfather, was born at Seele, Bavaria, 
and there married Christina Engel, whose an- 
cestors were also among the old families of 
that kingdom. By occupation Nicholas was 
a farmer, and spent all his life in his native 
land, dying near the place of his birth a num- 
ber of years ago, and his faithful companion 
also departed this life and lies buried in the 
same locality. Of their seven children, six 
sons and one daughter, all but one of the 
former, who died in the old country, came to 
the United States and settled in Stark county, 
Ohio, where they became well and favorably 
known. Among these sons was one by the 
name of John, whose birth occurred in Ba- 
varia in 1820, and wdiose arrival in Stark 
county was some time in the year 1843. ]o\\n 
Albrecht came to America poor in purse, and 
for some time after reaching- his new home in 
Ohio supported himself by working as a com- 
mon farm laborer, receiving for his services 
the sum of fifty cents per day. He was a 



man of great industry and by prudence and 
thrift succeeded after a few years in getting a 
substantial start, judiciously investing his 
earnings in real estate, which in due time in- 
creased greatly in value. As the years went 
by he added to his possessions until he finally 
became one of the largest land owners in the 
county, his estate in the country at the time of 
his death amounting to something over seven- 
ty-five thousand dollars, in addition to which 
he also owned considerable valuable property 
in the city of Massillon. For a number of 
years he was engaged in merchandising in 
partnership with his brother, and it was from 
this business that he laid the foundation of 
his subsequent career as a land owner and 
successful agriculturist. In his business af- 
fairs he exercised great prudence and fore- 
thought, exerted considerable influence in 
financial circles and so deported himself as to 
win and retain the confidence of those with 
whom he had dealings, enjoying worthy pres- 
tige as a man and citizen. In politics he was 
a Republican, and while taking an active inter- 
est in the success of his party, never mani- 
fested any desire for office or public distinction. 
Margaret Zimmerman, wife of John Albrecht, 
was born in Bavaria in 1824 and became the 
mother of eleven children, seven of whom are 
living at the present time ; she is now a hale, 
well preserved woman of seventy-eight, and 
a widow, her husband having died on the 9th 
day of July, 1893, when seventy-three years 
old. 

Fred Albrecht, the first child of John and 
Margaret Albrecht, was bom in Perry town- 
ship, Stark county, Ohio, June 24, 1845. He 
spent his childhood and early youth in Mas- 
sillon. receiving his education in the city 
schools, and when old enough to work was 
sent to tlie farm, where he grew up a strong, 
well favored young man, with a proper appre- 
ciation of life and its responsibilities. From 
his father he received a substantial start and 



1264 



OLD LANDMARKS 



to this he added from time to time until he be- 
came the possessor of a fine landed property in 
Tuscarawas township, where he has since re- 
sided, as one of the county's leading agri- 
culturists. In addition to his home place and 
an interest in his father's estate, he recently 
divided one hundred and two acres of fine land 
among his children, besides providing liberally 
for their welfare in other respects when they 
set up domestic establishments of their own. 

Mr. Albrecht was married, April 2, 1870, 
to Miss Margaret Gorman, of Massillon, who 
has borne him children as follows : Henry, 
Amelia, Annie, Emma and Flora. In all mat- 
ters of business the subject has been heartily 
seconded by his good wife, who has proven 
herself a true and faithful helpmeet, contribut- 
ing much to his success and by her wise and 
judicious counsel prompting him to noble 
deeds and great activities in behalf of his fel- 
low men. None stand higher in the esteem 
of the public than this worthy couple, and 
wherever known their names are synonymous 
with what is' good and upright in manhood 
and womanhood. Politically Mr. Albrecht 
supports the Republican party, and religiously 
belongs, with his wife, to the Evangelical 
church of Massillon. 



REV. CLEMENT H. TREIBER, son of 
Maximilian and Amelia (Helmer) Treiber, is 
a native of Ohio, having been born in the city 
of Cleveland, on the 20th of July, 1856. His 
father was born in the historic old city of Stutt- 
gart, in the kingdom of Wurtemburg, Ger- 
many, in the year 1836, and his mother was 
born in Kaiserlautern, kingdom of Bavaria. 

By occupation Maximilian Treiber was a 
stone cutter and stone mason, having learned 
this dual trade in his native land, although the 
greater part of his active business life was 
passed in the United States, whither he came 
and located in Cleveland, where he continued 



to follow his chosen vocation until within a 
short time prior to his death, which occurred 
in April, 1870, while his widow resides at 
Berea, Ohio, near Cleveland. Their marriage 
was solemnized in Cleveland, and of the same 
were born children as follows : Joseph, who 
was drowned at the age of twelve years ; Clem- 
ent H., who is the subject of this review; Al- 
bert, who died at the age of nine years; Ru- 
dolph, who is agent for the live-stock exchange 
of Kansas City, Missouri; Otto, who is secre- 
tary of the Van Cleve Glass Company, of Cleve- 
land; Rosa, living in Cleveland; and Theodore, 
who holds an important position with a busi- 
ness house in Chicago. 

Reverting to the life of Maximilian Treib- 
er, father of the subject of this sketch, it is 
learned that for a number of years he followed 
marble cutting, but that later he became a con- 
tractor for various kinds of stone work, in 
which capacity he erected some of the finest 
church edifices in Cleveland, as well as a num- 
ber of the city's largest and most pretentious 
public buildings. He was a master of his 
calling, was a man of utmost integrity and as 
a citizen stood high in the estimation of the 
people of his adopted city. He and his wife be- 
came communicants first of St. Mary's of the 
Flats, next of St. Peter's and next of St. Jos- 
eph's, the change in church being the result of 
new parishes and boundary lines being formed. 

Father Clement H. Treiber passed his child- 
hood and youth in his native city, receiving 
from his worthy parents instruction in moral 
and religious things, while this gracious disci- 
pline had a decided influence in moulding his 
character and shaping his future course in life. 
He was baptized by Very Rev. John H. Luhr, 
pastor of St. Peter's church, in Cleveland, and 
when of sufficient age he entered the parochial 
school of this church, attending the same until 
1862. Then St. Joseph's parish, by a change 
of parochial boundaries, claimed him as a mem- 
ber, in consequence of which he attended its 




Jl)Uv C J^- tjjj.^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1265 



church and school thereafter until 1869, when 
he began his classical studies under the direc- 
tion of the Franciscan fathers at Teutopolis, 
Illinois. He was graduated in the college at 
that place in June, 1875, ^^^ ^" '^'i^ following 
September became a student in St. Mary's 
Theological Seminary, at Cleveland, where he 
completed a five-year course in philosophy and 
theology, after which he was ordained to the 
priesthood, in St. Jolin's cathedral, by Bishop 
Gilmour, the ceremony taking place on the 4th 
of July, 18S0. After a fortnight's vacation 
Father Treiber was assigned to the charge of 
the missions at Mineral Ridge, East Palestine, 
Salem, Canfield and Austintown, in northeast- 
ern Ohio, in all of which he soon endeared him- 
self to his parishioners, by earnest work and 
kindly deeds. During the first year of his 
pastorate he established the houses of worship, 
and in i88t effected the erection of the East 
Palestine church and St. Paul's church, at 
Salem. He ministered to the people of these 
parishes for seven years, during which time 
the churches were much strengthened numer- 
ically and the cause of religion given an im- 
petus which had a decided influence for good 
in the several communities. 

Father Treiber's next charge was St. Jos- 
eph's church, at Crestline, Ohio, to which point 
he was transferred in June, 1887. Some idea 
of the magnitude of his work in this parish 
may be gleaned from the statement that within 
the year following he built a beautiful temple of 
worship, at a cost of twenty-three thousand dol- 
lars, while the church was free from debt save 
to the comparatively nominal amount of twen- 
ty-five hundred dollars. After ministering to 
this parish with great acceptability until Sep- 
tember, 1899, he was then commissioned by 
Bishop Horstmann to organize the new parish 
of the Immaculate Conception, in Canton, to 
which undertaking he at once addressed him- 
self most manfully and with great enthusiasm. 
This congregation began its career, with Fa- 
79 



ther Treiber as its organizer and pastor, on the 
8th day of October, 1899, at which time were 
formulated well defined plans for the future 
work. Within the first three months there was 
purchased a large plat of ground, favorably 
located in the southern part of the city, and as 
soon as practicable thereafter a beautiful build- 
ing, known as the chapel school of the Immacu- 
late Conception, was erected and opened, for 
the twofold purpose of worship and education. 
The structure, which is erected of brick with 
stone trimmings, and which represents an ex- 
penditure of twenty-one thousand seven hun- 
dred dollars, is of beautiful design, is com- 
modious and conveniently arranged, so as to 
meet the requirements of the congregation for 
some time to come, although the numerical 
growth of the church will in no far distant fu- 
ture necessitate an edifice of enlarged propor- 
tions. During his pastorate of two years and 
nine months in the church of the Immaculate 
Conception he raised twenty-seven thousand 
dollars, and the indebtedness at the end of his 
ministry was but eleven thousand dollars, a fact 
which is significant as showing his earnest la- 
bors and the devoted co-operation accorded by 
people of the parish. Within the period men- 
tioned he established the parochial school, 
which was placed in charge of four sisters of 
St. Joseph, from Cleveland, who still remain 
as teachers, and he also arranged a home for 
three sisters and one for the priest, leaving the 
work in admirable condition for the further la- 
bors of his successor. Father Treiber resigned 
the work of this parish to enter upon a new 
and equally strenuous field of labor. The 
bishop of the diocese requested that he accept 
the charge of organizing a new parish in the 
west end of the city, under the auspices and 
patronage of St. Joseph. On the 15th of 
June, 1902, he initiated the services of the new ' 
church in Benskin's hall, which was thus util- 
ized until the 8th of March, 1903, when the 
basement of the new church was made ready 



1266 



OLD LANDMARKS 



for occupancy, and the edilice was dedicated 
June 21, 1903. In August, 1902, Father 
Treiber purchased the parish lots, one hundred 
and fifty by five hundred and fifty feet in di- 
mension, at a cost of ten thousand dollars, the 
same being attractively located at the corner of 
West Tuscarawas street and Columbus avenue. 
The church, when completed, represents an ex- 
penditure of thirty thousand dollars, and fronts 
on Bedford avenue, while the priest's residence, 
a fine building, with facade facing Tuscarawas 
street, is on Columbus avenue. The parochial 
school was opened September 8, 1903, with an 
attendance of one hundred and twenty-five pu- 
pils, in charge of three Sisters of St. Joseph of 
Cleveland. The church now has a membership 
of one hundred and fifty families, and its spir- 
itual and temporal affairs are in most pros- 
perous and gratifying order. 

Of the forty-seven years of his life Father 
Treiber has devoted twenty-three to the priest- 
hood of the holy Roman Catholic church, and 
within this period he has gained the highest 
reputation for energ}% business ability and zeal 
in good works. He is still as vigorous and re- 
sourceful as when he inaugurated his mission- 
ary labors, in 1880, and is really better pre- 
pared than ever before to carry forward the 
great work to which he has consecrated his 
life and labors. There are devolving upon him 
at the present time many temporal duties and 
responsibilities in addition to his spiritual and 
pastoral obligations, but he holds all as in the 
direct line of duty and cheerfully proceeds with 
the work, conscious that all is for the advance- 
ment of religion and the uplifting of his peo- 
ple. It is needless to assert in this connection 
that Father Treiber is a man whose varied tal- 
ents fit him for great usefulness in his sacred 
calling. Father Treiber has seemingly realized 
at every point of progress the maximum po- 
tential for accomplishment at that point. 
Broad-minded and charitable, erudite and de- 
vout, he well deserves the high regard thus ac- 



corded, as his efforts have been fruitful of good 
results in winning many souls to the higher 
life. In the spiritual sphere of his labors Fa- 
ther Treiber is zealous, earnest, serious and ex- 
act, setting forth the living word of the lowly 
Nazarene with a due sense of the burden of 
responsibility resting upon him in his sacerdotal 
ofiice, while naught of materialism is ever per- 
mitted to encroach upon or in any way inter- 
fere with that to which all else is secondary and 
tributary, — religion pure and undefiled. In 
the public service of the church he is collected, 
graceful and precise, using his musical talent 
to impress the people with the beauty and sol- 
emnity of its office and ceremonial. 



A. F. BLANTZ is a native of Stark coun- 
ty, Ohio, but traces his family history to Ger- 
many, in which country his parents, Andrew 

and F- (Kreser) Blantz, were born and 

reared. 

Andrew Blantz, a brick and stone mason 
by trade, came to America a number of years 
ago and settled in Stark county, Ohio, where 
he followed his chosen calling the rest of his 
life, dying at his home in the town of West 
Brookfield, Tuscarawas township, in 1901, 
aged seventy-eight years; his widow survives 
him, and still lives in the above village, having 
reached the age of seventy-six. Mr. Blantz 
was a man of great industry, an efficient work- 
man and his standing as a citizen was such as 
to win the esteem of the people among whom 
he lived. In politics he was a Democrat, in 
religion a Catholic, in which church his wife 
was also reared. Mr. and Mrs. Blantz were 
the parents of nine children, all but two living, 

A. F. Blantz was born in West Brookfield, 
Tuscarawas township, July 4, 1867, and spent 
his childhood and early youth in that town, 
securing his educational training in the public 
schools. His father owning a farm not far 
from the village, young Blantz was put to 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1267 



work thereon as soon as old enough to be of 
practical service, and in this way learned the 
lessons of industry and thrift which have 
marked his career in all of his subsequent un- 
dertakings. He continued a tiller of the soil 
until about the year 1885, when he 'abandoned 
agriculture and became a mining engineer, in 
which capacity he has since been actively en- 
gaged in the mines of Stark county, meeting 
with encouraging success not only as a master 
of his calling, but also in the matter of adding 
to his material possessions. 

In addition to a fine residence and other 
valuable property in West Brookfield, Mr. 
Blantz owns an interest in the old family home- 
stead in Tuscarawas township and is well situ- 
ated so far as temporal wealth is concerned. 
He has displayed excellent business ability in 
his transactions, all obligations, whether writ- 
ten or verbal, being alike sacred to him, and by 
and honorable and signally useful life he has 
fully merited the esteem wth which he is re- 
garded in the community. In politics he has 
always been a Democrat, but while deeply in- 
terested in the success of his party, has avoided 
official position, having no aspiration in that 
drection. 

On June 9, 1892, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Blantz and Miss Sophia Garver, 
the latter born in the town of West Brookfield, 
Stark county, March 15. 1869. Mrs. Blantz 
is the daughter of Christian and Jennie 
(Maulter) Garver, natives of Germany, who 
came to Stark county about the year 1855 and 
settled at West Brookfield, where the father's 
death occurred in 1888, at the age of sixty- 
three years and eight months ; Mrs. Garver, 
who is the mother of eight children, all living, 
survives her husband, and is still a resident 
of the above town, where she is highly es- 
teemed by a large circle of friends and ac- 
quaintances. 

Mr. and Mrs. Blantz have one child, a 
daughter by the name of Bridget S., whose 



birth occurred on the 29th of June, 1901. In 
religion the subject and wife are Catholics, and 
as such have been influential in promoting the 
success of the local church to which they be- 
long. They are respected by their neighbors 
and thus far their lives have been worthy and 
consistent, with nothing connected therewith 
which does not reflect credit upon them. 



LOUIS BESS LER.— Though an Amer- 
ican by birth, Louis Bessler is German in na- 
tionality, his parents, Bartholomew and 
Keninqunda (Brucher) Bessler, being natives 
of the kingdom of Bavaria. In his native 
country Batholomew Bessler was an iron 
worker, having been especially skilled as a 
maker of fine-edged tools, by reason of which 
he earned the appellation of "Knifesmith." 
About the year 1852 he came to America and 
in looking for a favorable location settled in 
Massillon, where he worked for some time at 
blacksmithing. After spending three years in 
the above city he removed to West Brookfield, 
where he opened a shop and soon secured a 
large and lucrative patronage, his efficiency as 
a mechanic winning him much more than local 
repute. He spent the rest of his life in this 
town, earned the reputation of an honorable, 
industrious man and praiseworthy citizen, and 
died March 2, 1892, at the age of seventy- 
three. Mrs. Bessler survived her husband, 
and is still living, having reached her eighty- 
fourth year, a remarkably well preserved wo- 
man for her age. Mr. and A-Irs. Bessler 
reared a family of six children, all living, 
namely : Sophia, Thomas, Louis, Daniel, 
Mary and Frederika. 

Louis Bessler was born in West Brookfield, 
Stark county, Ohio, August 27, 1859, and 
spent his childhood and youthful years under 
the parental roof, meantime enjoying such edu- 
cational advantages as the town schools af- 
forded. When old enough to rely upon his 



1268 



OLD LANDMARKS 



own efforts he began working as a miner, first 
in the coal fields of Stark county and later 
turned his attention to something which he 
considered more remunerative in a region of 
country far remote from his native place. 
Actuated by a laudable ambition to acquire, if 
not a fortune, at least a competence, young 
Bessler, about 1884, went to California where 
he spent five succeeding years in quest of gold, 
visiting a number of mines in that state and 
experiencing the vicissitudes which usually at- 
tend the seekers of wealth under conditions 
similar to his own. At the expiration of the 
above period he returned to Stark county and 
resumed coal mining, working mostly for 
other parties, but at times operating upon his 
own responsibility. Mr. Bessler continued 
delving in the earth until he spent about 
twenty years as a miner, the meanwhile provid- 
ing liberally for his own comfort besides lay- 
ing aside a surplus with the object in view of 
ultimately engaging in some other line of busi- 
ness. In 1890 he started a meat market in 
West Brookfield and to this he devoted his at- 
tention for about seven years, disposing of 
his establishment in 1897 for the purpose of 
opening a sample room. The latter enterprise 
proved quite a financial success and he has 
conducted a very quiet and orderly place to 
the present lime, realizing such profits from 
the business as to make him one of the well- 
to-do men of the town. 

Mr. Bessler is wide-awake, shrewd and 
in every respect honorable in his business 
transactions and his reputation as an intelli- 
gent, enterprising man of affairs has won him 
the confidence and regard of the communit)'. 
In politics he is a stanch Democrat and makes 
many sacrifices for the party, in all of which 
he loses sight of self. He is not an office 
seeker, but works diligently for his friends 
who became candidates, deeming no effort too 
strenuous to promote their interest or assure 
their success. Religiously Mr. Bessler was 



born and reared within the pale of the Roman 
Catholic church and he adheres to its tenets, 
doctrines and traditions with the same loyalty 
as did his ancestors before him. 

The domestic life of Louis Bessler dates 
from 1 88 1, on September 30th of which year 
he was united in marriage with Miss Cather- 
ine Holtzman, of Stark county, the union be- 
ing blessed with children whose names and 
dates of birth are as follows: M. Amelia, 
June 26, 18S2; Olivia E., March 16, 1884; 
M. Esther, April 20, 1887; Stanley F., Janu- 
ary 6, 1890; Isabella M., May 11, 1892; 
Adolph S., February 3, 1894; Hilda H., April 
8, 1896; William J. B., May 29, 1898, and 
Lillian A., July 10, 1900, the last named dying 
in infancy. 

Mr. Bessler owns a beautiful home in West 
Brookfield and a fine lot of twenty acres ad- 
joining the town, both valuable and attractive 
properties. He has not been sparing in sup- 
plying his family with comforts and con- 
veniences, being a liberal provider and gener- 
ous in his efforts to make his children happy 
in the home circle and contented with their lot. 



JOHN J. SNYDER was born on the- 
parental homestead in Osnaburg township, 
this county, on the 8th of October, 1847, ^"^ 
is now the only surviving child of Jacab J. and 
Margaret (Moke) Snyder, three other chil- 
dren having been born of the union. He was 
reared tnider the vitalizing influences of the 
farm and in the public schools of the locality 
secured his early educational discipline, which 
in later years he has most effectively supple- 
mented through keeping in touch with the 
questions and issues of the hour and through 
his active association with men of affairs. He 
continued to abide beneath the parental roof- 
tree until the time of his marriage, and when 
but nineteen years of age showed the energy 
and self-reliance which have ever been his- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1269 



dominating characteristics, since he tlien se- 
cured a threshing outfit which he continued 
i:o successfully operate for a period of five 
years. After his marriage, in the year 1871, 
he assumed charge of his father's farm and 
thereafter continued to operate the same on 
■shares for ahout nine years, sparing no pains 
to consen'e his financial resources and ever 
looking to the establishing of himself in a po- 
-sition of conservative independence. After 
leaving the home place he rented the Frank 
Spiegel farm, also in Osnaburg township, for 
■one year, and in the spring of 1881 he effected 
the purchase of a tract of ninety acres in sec- 
tion 6, Paris township, and forthwith removed 
to the same and began farming his own land. 
In 1887 he purchased another farm, of seventy 
acres, in the same township, and removed to 
the same, where he continued to reside until 
1892, when he purchased a contiguous fifty 
acres and removed to this place, while two 
years later he still further increased his landed 
•estate, having retained all he had previously 
bought, and at this time he purchased his 
present homestead place of one hundred and 
ten acres in section 8, where he has since main- 
tained his home; he also has thirty-two acres 
in section 2. The place is equipped with sub- 
stantial and attractive buildings, while each of 
the farms is well improved and under effective 
cultivation, the entire landed estate of three 
hundred and fifty-seven acres being located 
within the limits of Paris township, which is 
one of the most attractive agricultural sections 
of the county. Mr. Snyder is one of the most 
extensive stock growers in this section, and the 
major portion of the products of his farm are 
utilized in the feeding of the stock, while he 
has given special attention to grading up the 
same and has many fine specimens of 
thorough-bred strains. The discrimination 
which he has brought to bear in the connection 
•has made the enterprise a very successful one, 
and his annual shipments are large and net 



him good returns. He is public-spirited and 
progressive and his influence and tangible aid 
may ever be counted upon in the promotion of 
all legitimate enterprises for the general good 
of the community, while the unqualified con- 
fidence and esteem of all who know him is 
freely extended to him. He is a stalwart ad- 
vocate of the principles and policies of the 
Republican party, but has never sought the 
honors or emoluments of public office. He 
and his wife are consistent and valued mem- 
bers of the Evangelical church, in whose 
spiritual and temporal work they take an abid- 
ing interest. 

On the 1 8th of April, 1871, Mr. Snyder 
was united in marriage with Miss Maria 
Shearer, the fourth daughter of Jonathan and 
Eliza Shearer. Mrs. Snyder was born near 
Mapleton, Ohio, July 10, 1847, and was reared 
by kind and Christian parents. By frugal and 
industrious habits she was enabled to attend 
Wooster University, after which she taught 
school until the time of her marriage. Jona- 
than Shearer, an industrious and prosperous 
farmer, noted for his many acts of kindness, 
was born near Mapleton, Ohio, June 8, 1819. 
He married Anna Eliza Lautzenheiser, to 
which union were born eight daughters. Mr. 
Shearer's ancestors were among the pioneer 
settlers of the county, having come from York 
county, Pennsylvania, in 1813. Mr. and Mrs. 
Snyder are the parents of four sons, to each 
of whom have been afforded exceptional edu- 
cational advantages, of which they have been 
most appreciative. John R., who was a gradu- 
ate of Mt. Union College in the year 1899, 
is now incumbent of the responsible office of 
county treasurer of Stark county and is in- 
dividually mentioned elsewhere in this work. 
Arthur T., taught school for several winters 
and graduated at Mt. Union College with the 
class of 1901, delivering the class day oration. 
He is now a student in the Harvard Law 
School. Irwin A. was married to Miss Emma 



12/0 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Krieger and now resides on one of his father's 
farms. He has decided to follow farming and 
to remain in the neighborhood of his youth. 
Harvey R., the youngest son, prepared at Mt. 
Union College and is now a junior in Harvard 
College. 



JOHN STIMMEL was born on tlie 
pioneer farm of his father in Paris township, 
this county, on the 226. of May, 1834, being a 
son of Peter and Elizabeth (Hagerman) 
Stimmel, who became the parents of eight chil- 
dren, of whom the only survivor is the sub- 
ject of this sketch. His maiden sister, Eliza- 
beth, died at her home in the village of Paris, 
this count)'-, January 5, 1903. The father was 
born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, 
about the year 1792, his parents having come 
to the old Keystone state from Germany, 
which was their fatherland. They died when 
he was a mere child and he was reared in the 
home of an English family, thus finally losing 
all familiarity with the language of his parents. 
As a young man he was employed on a farm 
and in a gristmill, and in the latter connection 
he gained a practical knowledge of the cooper's 
trade, to which he continued to devote his at- 
tention at intervals for a number of years. 
He was twice married, his second wife having 
been the mother of the subject. She likewise 
was l)orn in Pennsylvania, and their marriage 
was there solemnized. In 1826 they came to 
Stark county, and here the father effected the 
purchase of a farm of eighty acres, in Paris 
township, the same being practically in the 
midst of the virgin forest, so that no easy 
task confronted him, since he was compelled 
to literally hew out his farm. He succeeded 
in his efforts to an admirable degree and was 
one of the prosperous and honored citizens of 
the township at the time of his death, which 
occurred on this homestead in the year 1865. 
He was a Democrat in his political proclivities, 



and he was called upon to serve in various 
offices of distinctive trust and responsibility. 
He was first elected constable, later served 
several terms as township assessor, held the 
office of county commissioner one term, and 
for several years he was incumbent of the 
office of justice of the peace, in which con- 
nection it is intei^esting to record the fact 
that he learned to speak the German language, 
his mother tongue. His second wife, the 
mother of the subject, was summoned into 
eternal rest in 1844, at the age of forty-two 
years; she was a IMethodist. 

John Stimmel was reared to maturity on 
the homestead farm which was the place of 
his birth and he is indebted to the pioneer 
schools for his early educational discipline. He 
assisted in the fork of the farm until he had 
reached the age of eighteen years, when he 
left home and, after passing a short interval 
in Canton and Louisville, this county, he came 
to the village of Paris, where he entered upon 
an apprenticeship at the wagonmaker's trade,, 
and within the time he was thus working, 
at wages of thirteen dollars a month, he was- 
married, and for some six months thereafter 
he and liis bride managed to maintain them- 
selves on this meager amount, their courage 
being unlimited and their mutual trust in- 
violate. After completing his apprenticeship 
Mr. Stimmel was employed as a journeyman 
in Paris about ten years, at the expiration of 
which he leased the shop and contiiuied oper- 
ations on his own responsibility. He was an- 
earnest and indefatigable worker and such- 
was his desire to accumulate a competence for 
the future that the days were not long enough- 
for him to accomplish all his energ\' prompted, 
and he frequently labored far into the night. 
While employed as a journeyman he received ■ 
one dollar and twenty-five cents a day, which 
was considered good wages at that time, and 
such was his careful economy that he found it 
possible to save an average of one hundred dot- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1271 



lars a year out of his earnings. F'rom this 
source, while still working as a journeyman, 
he was able to erect for himself a good resi- 
dence, and in 1871 he had accumulated a suf- 
ficient surplus to enable him to purchase his 
present home farm, of twenty-five acres, which 
is eligibly located one mile distant northwest 
from the village of Paris and in the township 
of the same name. He forthwith took up his 
abode on this place, which has ever since been 
his home and upon which he has made excel- 
lent improvements. Here he engaged in 
gardening and the raising of small fruits, con- 
ducting his operations with such discrimi- 
nation and care as to make the venture a profit- 
able one, and that in a cumulative way. For 
two years after coming to the farm Mr. Stim- 
mel continued to work at his trade at inter- 
vals, but eventually found it expedient to give 
his entire time and attention to the work of 
the market farm. Though he takes a proper 
interest in all that pertains to the wellbeing 
of the community he has not been an active 
factor in public affairs, and in politics be 
maintains an independent attitude, supporting 
such men and measures as his judgment ap- 
proves. 

Mr. Stimmel has been twice married. On 
the 5th of October, 1855, he was united to 
Miss Mary E. Turner, of Paris, a daughter of 
Jesse Turner, a pioneer of the county, and of 
this marriage were born five children, of whom 
the following named four survive : Arthur, 
who is a carpenter and blacksmith by vocation, 
is located in Paris; Robert is living in Indian- 
apolis, Indiana: Jennie is the wife of Rev. 
Levi Ditch, a clergj-man of the Dunkard 
church, now located in the state of Nebraska ; 
and Ellen, the wife of Ezra Stuckey, a suc- 
cessful farmer of Paris township, this county. 
The Vi'ife of Mr. Stimmel's youth was sum- 
moned into eternal rest in 1869, and on the 
3d of April, 1871, he \\as united in marriage 
to Miss Mary Stimmel, who was born in Paris 



township, this county, a daughter of Christian 
and Rebecca Stimmel, who came as pioneers 
from Pennsylvania, and she still remains with 
him to solace his declining years, having been 
a devoted companion and helpmeet. They be- 
came the parents of two children, of whom the 
one survivor is Walter, who is engaged in 
mercantile business in the village of Paris. 



Z A DOCK NUMAN is one of the progress- 
ive and prosperous farmers of Osnaburg town- 
ship, of which section of the county he is a 
native son, having been born here on the 9th 
of February, 1847. He is one of the six chil- 
dren of John and Catherine (Freyfogle) 
Numan, and of the. number four are living at 
the present time, namely : John, who is a resi- 
dent of Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Lydia, who 
is the wife of Hiram Doll, of Canton, this 
county; Zadock, who is the subject of this 
sketch ; and Miranda, who is the wife of Zacha- 
riah Doll, of Newcastle, Colorado. 

The father of the subject was born in 
Berks county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1793, 
and was there reared to maturity, adopting 
agricultural pursuits as his vocation in life. 
About 1835 he emigrated with his family to 
Stark comity, Ohio, and here purchased a farm 
about three miles east of Osnaburg, in the 
township of the same name. Later he disposed 
of tliis property and purchased another tract 
of land, two miles east of the present village of 
Mapleton, in the same township, where he 
erected the first gristmill in this section of the 
county, and there he continued to do a suc- 
cessful business in the operation of his mill and 
farm for a number of years. In the early '40s 
he disposed of his farm and mill and purchased 
what is now known as the McKinley farm, one 
mile west of Osnaburg, where he continued to 
make his home during the remainder of his life, 
his death occurring in March, 1868. His wife 
survived him about six years, being summoned 



1272 



OLD LANDMARKS 



into eternal rest in 1S74. In politics he was 
originally a radical Whig', bnt upon the organi- 
zation of the Republican party he transferred 
his allegiance to the same and ever afterward 
gave to its cause an uncompromising support. 
He was an active and influential member of the 
Reformed church, in which he lield various offi- 
cial positions, his wife likewise being a devoted 
member of the church. Henry Numan, the 
paternal grandfather of the subject, came to 
Stark county in company with his son John, 
or perhaps somewhat later, and here passed the 
• remainder of his life. The maternal grand- 
father, George Freyfogle, who was a patriot 
soldier in the Continental line during the war of 
the Revolution, was a prominent farmer in 
the state of Maryland, whence he eventually 
came to Columbiana county, Ohio, where he 
remained until his death. 

Zadock Numan remained beneath the pa- 
rental rooftree until he had attained maturity, 
having attended the common schools and also 
attended the high school at Miner\-a for a short 
period. In 1867 he was united in marriage to 
Miss Sarah E. Marks, who was born in Canton 
township, this county, Ijeing a daughter of the 
late Peter Marks, who was one of the early 
settlers in that portion of the countv. After 
his marriage I\lr. Numan located on the farm 
of his father-in-law and there conltinvied to 
foIlo\^- agricultural pursuits for the ensuing 
f^ve vears. In 1873 he purchased his present 
home farm, on section 29, Osnaburg township, 
the same at that time comprising one hundred 
and twenty-four acres, and here he has ever 
since maintained his home. The place now 
comprises one hundred acres, the remaining 
twenty-four acres of the original tract having 
been sold a number of years ago. Mr. Numan 
is to lie distincti\-ely mentioned as one of the 
model farmers of the county, and a more at- 
tractive rural estate than his would be difficult 
to find in this section of the state. In politics 
he is a stalwart supporter of the Republican 



party, and while never ambitious for political 
preferment, he served two years in the re- 
sponsible office of township trustee, giving a 
most alile and satisfactory administration of 
the duties devolving ifpon him. He and his 
wife are the parents of four children, namely : 
William, who is associated with his father in 
the operation of the home farm ; Florence, who 
is the wife of Louis Deckert, a representative 
farmer of Canton township ; Edward, who is 
in the employ of Bucher & Gibbs, plow manu- 
facturers in Canton ; and Clara, who remains 
at the parental home. In the spring of 1903 
Mt- Numan rented his farm and moved to 
Canton, where he is living a retired life. 



NAHUM S. RUSSELL.— In the death of 
Nahum S. Russell, on the i8th of November, 
1891, Massillon lost one of its most dis- 
tinguished and valued citizens, and it is the de- 
sire to accord within these pages a proper 
tribute to his memory, avoiding undue eulogy 
but affording a true estimate of the man and 
of his accomplishment. He was president of 
the extensive corporation of Russell & Com- 
pany, manufacturers of threshing machines, 
horse-powers, portable traction engines and 
sawmills, in Massillon, and held this office un- 
til he retired from active business in 1888. 

Nahum S. Russell was born in Weston, 
IMiddlesex county, Massachusetts, on the 17th 
of February, 181 3, being the fourth in order 
of birth of the eleven children of Cyrus and 
Louisa (Stratton) Russell. The Russell 
family is of stanch old Scottish stock, and in 
Scotland occurred the birth of the great-grand- 
father of the subject of this memoir. Early 
in the eighteenth century he left the fair land 
of hills and heather and emigrated to America, 
locating in Middlesex county, Massachusetts. 
From the old family Bible, which is carefully 
treasm^ed by the family, we are able to secure 
much interesting ancestral data, though little 




S'Tuf.ijfS'^^/'lam!, dBrs 



iuA, 



/////I : 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO: 



^271 



is given concerning the original American pro- 
genitor. His son Joseph was born in Weston, 
Middlesex county, Massachusetts, on the 5th 
of July, 1745, and on the 20th of May, 1773, 
was solemnized his marriage to Susanna Up- 
ham, who was born August 20, 1751. They be- 
came the parents of seven children, namely : 
Joseph, Sukey, Sarah, Cyrus, Abigail, Syl- 
vanius and Clement. 

Cyrus Russell, father of the Russell 
brothers, of Massillon, was born in Weston, 
]\Iassachusetts, December 17, 1784, and in 
1820 he removed thence to New Hampshire, 
purchasing a farm at Alstead, Cheshire county. 
This he improved and conducted until 1829, 
when he removed with his family to Sutton, 
' Caledonia county, Vermont, where he con- 
tinued to devote his attention to agricultural 
pursuits until his retirement from active labor, 
by reason of the infirmities of advancing age, 
and he then went to the home of his daughter 
in Thompson, Connecticut, where he died at 
the age of eighty-eight years. In politics he 
was originally a Whig and later a Republican, 
and while a resident of Massachusetts he served 
with credit as an officer in the war of 18 12. 
His wife. Louisa, was a daughter of Isaac 
Stratton, a farmer of Lincoln, Massachusetts, 
where she was born on the 8th of November, 
1786. and lived to attain the age of eighty- 
four years. Of their children we enter at this 
point brief record in order of birth : Charles 
M. was born October i, 1806. and of him 
further mention will l)e made in an appending 
paragraph. Martha Upham was born Janu- 
ary 12, 1808, and became the wife of Rev. 
Alanson Rawson, four children being born to 
them, Alanson R., Mary A., Juliette and Har- 
riet. Harriet was born April 12, 1809. and 
became the wife of Milan Harris, and her 
death occurred in December, 1880. being sur- 
vived by one daughter, Harriet L. Nahum S., 
the next in order of birth, is the immediate 
subject of this memoir. Sylvanius was born 



August 22, 1815, and died August 18, 1844. 
Clement was born December 29, 181 7, was 
twice married, — first to Laura M. Waterman, 
who bore him two children, — Charles and 
Louisa, — and second to Mrs. Augusta Miller, 
no children being born of this union. Joseph 
K. is individually mentioned later on in this 
context. Sarah Susanna was born November 
2^. 1825, and became the wife of Alfred O. 
Evans, to whom she bore one daughter, Susan 
S. Mrs. Evans died May 20, 185 1. Thomas H. 
was born May 15, 1828, and he married Ellen 
Dunn, five children being born of this union, 
while three of the number are now living, — 
Warren R., Laura and Harriet. Thomas H. is 
deceased. George L. was born October 27, 
1830, and he married Sarah Galagher, who 
bore him one son, William C. After her death 
he married Martha Kennard. He is now de- 
ceased. Alba Allen was born May 7, 1833, ^""i 
first married Lorinda Chase and second Olive 
Cook, two children being born to the second 
union, Harley A. and Carrie B. ; he is now de- 
ceased. 

Of Nahum S. Russell, a previous publi- 
cation has offered an appreciative estimate, the 
same having been written prior to his death, 
but the words are well worthy of perpetuation 
at this point, as outlining his career, and inci- 
dentally those of his brothers, with whom he 
was so long and intimately associated in busi- 
ness : "Few men have had more humble be- 
ginnings than the Russell brothers or have 
achieved for themselves a brighter and clearer 
record as business men. By their zeal and 
unflagging industry they pioneered their way 
through an eventful past, many times dark and 
portentious, surviving panics and hard seasons 
which seemed at times ready to nivolve them 
in business disaster and ruin, and yet by their 
adherence to the principles of right and justice, 
coupled with their energ\' and praiseworthy 
fidelity to their business and its concomitant 
obligations, they have ever surmounted the 



1274 



OLD LANDMARKS 



difficulties uhich environed them and dis- 
tinguished themselves as manufacturers and 
stalwart business men. They are now sending 
their products all over the world, and the 
manufacture of the same gives employment at 
their shops to hundreds of men, and indirectly 
to thousands of others. Nahum, the eldest of 
the brothers living at the time of this writing, 
was reared on the home farm. His advantages 
for attending school were poor, since he was 
enabled to pursue his studies in the country 
schools for a short time during the winter 
months, working on the farm during the re- 
mainder of the year. In the winter of 1831 
he went to Walpple, New Hampshire, to learn 
the trade of carpenter and joiner, serving an 
apprenticeship of three years' duration. Dur- 
ing this time he strove to improve himself in 
everj' way. Realizing the value of an edu- 
cation more extended than he had hitherto 
acquired, he attended the academy at Walpole 
during such intervals as he could spare from 
his work. In the spring of 1835 he removed 
to Keene, New Hampshire, where he remained 
one year, working at his trade, after which he 
was similiarly engaged at Virgennes and 
Buffalo, New York. Later he came to Ohio, 
taking up his residence in Cleveland, where he 
assisted in building the American hotel, on 
Superior street. He remained in Cleveland 
until 1838, when, in company with his brothers 
Charles M. and Clement, he came to Massillon, 
where the three brothers became associated in 
the building and contracting, business. On the 
1st of Janua^\^ 1842. the three brothers formed 
a co-partnership under the title of C. M> Rus- 
sell & Company, for the manufacture of thresh- 
ing machines and horse-powers, in conjunction 
with their enterprise as carpenters and builders. 
Their capitalistic investment was but fifteen 
hundred dollars, and yet from the signally 
modest nucleus, by hard work, tireless energy' 
anl unflagging perseverance, they built up one 
of the largest and most prosperous industrial 



enterprises in the county, giving employment 
to hundreds of men." 

In the connection it may be stated that 
Charles M. Russell, the senior member of the 
firm, had examined the Pitt threshing machine 
of Buffalo, and becoming convinced that he 
could improve upon the same he forthwith 
essayed the task, and that he was successful in 
this initial endeavor is evidenced by the fact 
that his improved machine vanquished the 
original prototype at the Ohio state fair of 
1845. Thus encouraged, the new firm vigor- 
ously pushed forward their manufacturing 
enterprise and continued to improve their Mas- 
sillon thresher until it distanced all competitors, 
while its precedence has never been permitted 
to wane to the present day. After the death of 
Charles M. Russell, in i860, the name of the 
firm was changed to N. S. & C. Russell, and in 
1864 three others of the Russell brothers — 
Joseph K., Thomas H. and George L. — pur- 
chased interests in the business. In 1865 
William K. Miller and Thomas H. Williams 
were admitted to the concern, the former be- 
ing the patentee of the Peerless mower and 
reaper, which was manufactured by his firm 
until 1 871, when it was sold to C. Russell & 
Company, of Canton, to which city was trans- 
ferred its manufacturing. In 1868 Mr. Will- 
iams retired from the firm and three years 
later Allen A., the youngest of the Russell 
brothers, was adnn'tted to partnership, as was 
also Alanson R. Rawson, a nephew, who died 
in 1875, at which time his interest was ac- 
quired by J. Walter McClymonds. On the 
1st of Januar}-. 1878, Clement Russell, one of 
the founders of the business, withdrew from 
the firm ("incorporated under the old firm 
name of Russell & Co.), after thirty-six years 
of active connection therewith. Prior to 1865 
the shops were located on Erie street, between 
Tremont and South streets, but the business 
had then outgrown its accommodations and the 
firm accordingly purchased a tract of twenty 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1275 



acres south of the raidroad and erected the 
main structures of the present substantial plant. 
On the 17th of May, 1878, fire destroyed all 
the iron-working machinery, involving the de- 
struction of the entire south wing and one-half 
of the Erie street front of the building, while 
the entire stock of patterns, valued at seventy- 
five thousand dollars, with machinery of tan- 
tamount value, was a complete loss, the in- 
surance realized being but fifty thousand dol- 
lars. The firm at once rebuilt and its plant 
is now one of the largest and most thoroughly 
equipped in the country, ofifering adequate 
facilities for the constantly increasing business. 
In the autumn of 1878 the enterprise was in- 
corporated under the laws of the state, with 
a capital stock of one million dollars, a fact 
most significant when we recall the original 
capital of fifteen hundred dollars. The com- 
pany maintain many branch offices throughout 
the most diverse sections of the Union, and in 
addition to the manufacture of the New Mas- 
sillon thresher, known today as the most suc- 
cessful in America, the company also makes a 
specialty of their portable farm engine, with 
traction attachment. They were the first of the 
large manufacturers to introduce steam thresh- 
ing, and their engines have attained the highest 
reputation. The products of this great plant 
are sold in all agricultural sections of the 
United States and have been successfully in- 
troduced in the various European countries. 
South America, Australia and other foreign 
lands. The officers of the company at the 
present time are as follows : J. Walter Mc- 
Clymond, president; Charles M. Russell, vice- 
president; Edward C. Merwin, second vice- 
president and secretary; Charles O. Heggem, 
superintendent, and Jesse J. Pitts, treasurer. 

Of Nahum S. Russell it may be consistently 
said that such was his acumen, business pres- 
cience .and progressive policy, that he con- 
tributed in a large measure to the upbuilding 
of this gigantic industry, which continued to 



feel the impress of his strong individuality un- 
til he was summoned from the field of life's 
endeavors. In the light of his temporal ac- 
complishment we can not but pronounce him a 
successful man; in the light of his noble and 
sincere character we can not but realize that 
hi? life was prolific in good and in all direc- 
tions and that it reached its maximum of 
potentiality at every step. To him was ac- 
corded the utmost confidence and esteem in his 
home city and county, to whose interests he 
was ever loyal, and his gracious and unosten- 
tatious personality won to him strong and in- 
violable friendships. In politics he gave his 
allegiance to the Republican party, and his 
religious faith was that of the Presbyterian 
church. 

On the 27th of April, 1841, was solemnized 
the marriage of Nahum S. Russell to Miss 
Esther K. Millard, who was born in New 
York, on the 27th of February, 1819, being 
a daughter of William J. and Betsey Jerome 
(Ball) Millard. They were the parents of 
three children, namely: Flora R., who is the 
wife of J. Walter McCIymonds, of Massillon; 
Anna, who is the wife of Louis K. McCIy- 
monds, of New York; and Mary Louise, who 
died on the loth of March, 1861, at the age of 
nineteen years. 

Charles M. Russell, the eldest of the 
brothers of the subject, was likewise a citizen 
of marked prominence and influence. He was 
born in Middlesex county, Massachusetts, on 
the 1st of October, 1806, and accompanied his 
parents on their removal thence to New 
Hampshire and later to Vermont. His fine 
mental gifts and sturdy self-reliance enabled 
him to make good the lack of early educational 
advantages, and yet it was a slight presage of 
the eminence he was to attain in the industrial 
world when we revert to his early labors on 
the farm and to his later efforts as a contrac- 
tor and builder. Of his career after coming to 
Massillon, in the spring of 1838, we quote from 



1275 



OLD LANDMARKS 



a previous publication : "Tlie genius of Mr. 
Russell would never permit him to pursue the 
beaten path, but wherever there were imper- 
fections in his way improvements marked his 
course, and this characteristic, added to his 
great energy and enlarged enterprises, never 
permitted him to rest until the manufactured 
articles of his firm had deserved and acquired 
a reputation surpassing that of all others. The 
unerrnig judgment of the Russell brothers did 
not rest with the securing of the greatest pres- 
tige for their tlireshers, but they also estab- 
lished an extensive manufactory of cabinet 
ware in Massillon. Soon after the completion 
of the railroad through the town Charles M. 
Russell, in association with Messrs. Wellman 
and Davenport, erected large works for the 
manufacture of railroad cars, this enterprise 
later passing into the control of the firm of 
C. M. Russell & Company. ]Mr. Russell was 
elected to the directorate of the Pennsylvania 
& Ohio Railroad in 1856, retaining this office 
until the consolidation under the title of the 
Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad 
Company, of which he was at once made a 
director, remaining such until his death. His 
position on the board was a prominent one 
and his counsels had much weight with the 
company, his loss being' deeply felt by those 
interested in the road. Within the last year 
of his life, in connection with ^Ir. Davenport, 
he invented and patented an iron railroad car. 
His benevolence, though exerted without 
ostentation, was constantly put into practice, 
and the unfortunate who applied to him for 
relief never went away empty-handed. There 
was no class of people who had a larger place 
in his regard than the mechanics, for he never 
forgot that he himself arose from this same 
class, and he was ever ready to aid and en- 
courage them in every consistent way. He 
had bee;i the chief among the citizens of Alas- 
sillon and, unlike many others who departed 



from her confines in her hour of adversity, 
brought about by a change in the means of 
intercommunication, he was always foremost 
in her defense and using his best energies for 
her welfare. Her citizens always had the bene- 
fit of his wise counsels and wise experiences. 
He was equally prompt to distribute his money 
to forward the best interests of the town, either 
in a religious, social or public point of view. 
His death occurred on the 19th of February, 
i860, and thus passed away a dear brother, a 
loyal friend and worthy citizen. He married 
Nancy Davis, but no children were born to 
their union." 

Joseph K. Russell, who was the vice-presi- 
dent of Russell & Compan}-, was lx)rn at 
Alstead, Chesliire county. New Hampshire, on 
the 26th of June, 1823, and well upheld the 
high standard of the family name through his 
business and civic career in Massillon. He 
came to this place in 1842 and served an ap- 
prenticeship of three years with his brothers, 
who were then engaged in contracting and 
building, having, like them, grown up on the 
homestead farm and secured such educational 
ad\-antages as were oft'ered in the primitive 
district schools, which he attended during the 
winter terms. At the expiration of the period 
noted his health had become so impaired that 
he returned to his native county, where he 
entered the woolen-mills of his father-in-law, 
at Harrisville, eventually becoming overseer of 
the weaving department and incidentally work- 
ing on one of the first power looms ever in- 
stalled in New England. He returned to Mas- 
sillon in 1863, and in Januai-y of the following 
year purchased an interest in the firm of N. S. 
& C. Russell, the title of which was at that time 
changed to Russell & Company, and upon the 
incorporation of the company he was made 
vice-president and superintendent of the lumber 
department, in which dual capacity he rendered 
most effective service for a long term of years. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1277 



ably complementing the labors of his brothers 
and gaining high prestige as a citizen and rep- 
resentative business man. 

In Harrisville, New Hampshire, Joseph K. 
Russell was united in marriage to Miss 
Lucretia J. Harris, daughter of Milan Harris, 
one of the pioneer woolen manufacturers of 
New England. Mr. and Mrs. Russell became 
the parents of five children, as follows : Vinet 
S., deceased; Charles M. is vice-president of 
Russell & Company; Mary E. is immarried ; 
Louisa J. is the wife of Isaac Conrad, of Mas- 
sillon ; and Jessie L. is unmarried. Mrs. Rus- 
sell died on the 28th of February, 1S75, 
and subsequently Mr. Russell married Mrs. 
Lydia H. Harris, who was born in Nel- 
son, New Hampshire, a daughter of Oliver 
Heald. Mrs. Russell died in February, 
1888, without issue, and in December, 
1890, Mr. Russell married Mrs. Har- 
riet W. Ballard, daughter of Dr. Perkins Wal- 
lace, a pioneer physician and citizen of Canton, 
a portrait of whom may be found on another 
page in this volume. 



CHARLES N. DEWALT was born on the 
farm where he now resides, the date of his na- 
tivity having been September 29, 1865, while 
he is the third of the four children of Samuel 
S. and Barbara (Newhouse) Dewalt, the elder 
members of the family being as follows : Sadie, 
who remains at the parental home; Mary, who 
is the wife of McClelland Shy, of Osnaburg 
township, and Flora, who is the wife of Alva 
L. Lotz, of this township. The father of the 
subject is likewise a native of this township, 
having been born on this same homestead, 
where he still resides, on the 27th of December, 
1838, being a son of Charles and Saloma 
("Shook) Dewalt, the former of who was born 
in Pennsylvania and the latter in Plain town- 
ship, this county. Charles Dewalt was born 
in the year 1821, and two years later his father, 



Heniy Dewalt, came to Stark couaty, Ohio, 
settling on a tract of unimproved land one- 
half mile north of the present village of Osna- 
burg, the farm being now owned by David 
Gehman. There the family maintained their 
abode until the j'car 1S33, when the purchase 
of the farm now occupied by our subject was 
effected, the property being owned by his father, 
Samuel S. DcAvalt, who also makes his home 
here. With the children of the subject five 
generations of the family have thus lived on 
the one farm. The property was transferred 
by Henry Dewalt to his son Charles, in 184 1, 
and in 18S6 the latter devised the property by 
will to his son Samuel S., father of the sub- 
ject, who still owns the property. Both Henry 
and Charles Dewalt died on this farm, the 
former at the age of sixty-six years and the 
latter at the age of eighty-six. Charles Dewalt 
was a stanch and uncompromising advocate of 
the principles of the Democratic party and was. 
one of the highly honored and influential citi- 
zens of Osnaburg township, where he held the. 
ofP.ce of township trustee for several years. 

Samuel S. Dewalt, the father of the sub- 
ject, was reared on the old homestead farm, 
and at the age of eighteen years he entered 
upon an apprenticeship at the carpenter trade, 
to which he has consecutively given his atten- 
tion s;ive for a few years when he remained 
at home and cared for his honored parents in 
their declining days. For the past twenty years 
he has devoted his entire time to the work of 
his trade, as a contractor and builder, while 
our subject has had the entire charge of the 
farm. Samuel S. Dewalt secured his early edu- 
cational discipline in the primitive log school- 
house of the pioneer epoch, the building being 
equipped with puncheon fioor, slab benches, 
oiled paper Avindows in lieu of glass, and yawn- 
ing fireplace in one end of the room. From such 
unpretentious institutions have been "gradu- 
ated" some of the noblest and strongest men that 
our nation has ever produced, and we may well 



1278 



OLD LANDMARKS 



revert with a feeling of respect to these rude 
little cabins in which future greatness was thus 
nurtured. In politics Mr. Dewalt is a stalwart 
Democrat, but he has never been an aspirant 
for political preferment of any sort. He and 
his wife are both zealous members of the Re- 
formed church, in which he held the office of 
deacon for many years. Fraternally he is iden- 
tified with Juilliard Lodge No. 460, Free and 
Accepted Masons, at Louisville, and he is hon- 
ored as one of the sterling citizens of the 
coimty, being an able business man and one 
whose word is ever inviolable. His wife, Bar- 
bara ( Nevvhouse ) Dewalt, was born in 
Waynesburg, Sandy township, Stark county. 

Charles N. Dewalt, the immediate subject 
of this sketch, has passed practically his entire 
life on the homestead farm where he was bom, 
his early educational privileges being such as 
were afforded in this district schools. For 
eighteen months he worked at the blacksmith 
trade in Robertsville, this county, but was com- 
pelled to abandon this vocation owing to severe 
rheumntic troubles, and with the exception of 
this brief interval he has resided consecutively 
on the ancestral farm from the time of his 
birth. He assumed the entire management of 
the place when seventeen years of age, and is 
to-day recognized as one of the most progress- 
ive and thoroughly scientific farmers of the 
county, never faltering in his allegiance to 
the great fundamental art of agriculture and 
considering it worthy of his best efforts and 
undivided attention. He is a reader of the 
best classical and contemporary literature and 
is a man of broad and exact information and 
excellent intellectual powers. In politics he 
gives his unqualified support to the Democratic 
party, and in 1809 he wais first elected to the 
office of assessor, serving two terms, while in 
1900 he was elected to the office of trustee and 
is the present able incumbent, being president 
of the board. Fraternally he is a member of 
Juilliard Lodge No. 460, Free and Accepted 



Masons, at Louisville, with which his father 
has been identified for many years, and he is 
signally appreciative of the noble teachings of 
this time honored fraternity. He is at the 
present time senior deacon of the lodge, which 
he had previously served for two years as wor- 
shipful master. He is a deacon in the Re- 
formed church at Robertsville, of which his 
wife is a member, and for the long period of 
ten years he gave most efficient service as super- 
intendent of the Sunday school. 

On the 2 1 St of March, 1889, in Roberts- 
ville, this county, Mr. Dewalt was united in 
marriage to Miss Minnie E. Combs, who was 
born in that village, being a daughter of James 
and Matilda Combs. Mr. and Mrs. Dewalt 
have had five children, of whom four surv'ive, 
Guy G., Floyd V., Ruth N., and E. Carme. 
Odane died at the age of ten months, in 1897. 



ABRAHAM VAN VOORHIS is a native 
of the old Keystone state, having been born in 
Washington count}% Pennsylvania, on the 12th 
of December, 1822, a son of Peter and Mar- 
garet (Sickman) Van Voorhis, of whose four- 
teen children seven are living at the time of this 
writing; Susan, the wife of Albert Glass, of 
Missouri ; Margaret, the widow of George Wel- 
ker, of Mapleton, Stark county; Sarah, the 
widow of Samuel Foulk, of Mapleton; Mary, 
the widow of George Judd, of the same place; 
Eliza, the wife of David Coy, of Mapleton; 
Harriet, the wife of Daniel Dehoff. of Osna- 
burg township; and Abraham, the immediate 
subject of this sketch. Peter Van Voorhis was 
of sturdy Holland ancestry and was a native 
of the state of New York, whence he later 
removed to Pennsylvania, where he remained 
until 1824 when he came to Stark county, Ohio, 
passing the first year in Canton township and 
then purchasing a farm of eighty acres of 
heavily timbered land in Osnaburg township, 
one and one-half miles west of the present at- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1279 



tractive village of Mapleton, and there he con- 
tinued to make his home until his death, which 
occurred when he was about seventy-two years 
of age, his wife surviving him by about a dec- 
ade. Both were consistent members of the Chris- 
tian church and held the high regard of all who 
knew them, being worthy types of that sterling 
pioneer element which conserved the laying of 
firm foundations for the future prosperity and 
pride of this section of the state. In politics 
the father was originally an old-line Whig, 
but upon the organization of the Republican 
party he transferred his allegiance to the same 
and ever afterward supported its cause, being 
a man of excellent intellectual powers and ma- 
ture judgment and taking a deep interest in the 
questions of the hour. 

Abraham Van \''oorhis was but two years 
of age at the time of his parents' removal to 
Stark county, so that this has been his home 
for nearly eighty years, the locality being en- 
deared to him by the memories and associations 
of the past and by the privileges and prosperity 
of the present, as the glorious twentieth century 
swings into the cycle of the ages. As a boy 
he did his part' in the work of the pioneer farm, 
assisting in clearing off the underbrush on the 
new land and later in the cultivation of the 
fields, the duties devolving upon him being 
more numerous and insistent than the average 
farmer boy of the present day can well appre- 
ciate. The pioneers were not unmindful of the 
value of educational advantages, but the ex- 
igencies of time and place rendered it im- 
possible to make as ample provision for their 
children as they desired. Still from the histori- 
cal viewpoint we well know that some of the 
grandest characters in the history of our repub- 
lic have been "graduates" of the same sort of 
primitive log school-houses, with slab benches, 
puncheon floors, oiled-paper windows and wide 
fire-place, such as the subject of this sketch 
attended in his boyhood days. Character has 
been made and exalted manhood and woman- 



hood fostered witliin the walls of those rude 
little institutions of learning, and we may not 
revert to them with contempt or lack of appre- 
ciation. In such a school Mr. Van Voorhis 
received his eariy education, and he continued 
to assist in the work of the home farm until 
his marriage, on the Sth of December, 1842, 
when he was united to Miss Elizabeth Ingle, 
who was born on the farm where the subject 
now resides, and after this important event he 
rented the farm of Samuel Ake, in Osnaburg 
township, and there continued in agricultural 
pursuits for a period of eight years, at the ex- 
piration of which he purchased the farm of 
eighty acres, in Canton township, now owned 
by Douglas Fierson, which he sold soon after, 
while about the same time he also bought one 
himdred acres of the farm on which he had 
been living, and he continued his residence there 
for a further period of eight years. He then sold 
the one-hundred-acre farm and in 1859 pur- 
chased of the Ingle heirs his present fine farm 
of one hundred and sixty acres, where he has 
ever since maintained his home, having de- 
veloped the farm into one of the best in this 
part of the county, while its permanent im- 
provements are in keeping with the day, includ- 
ing a commodious and attractive residence, 
with many modern accessories and conveni- 
ences, and substantial barns and other outbuild- 
ings for the accommodation of stock, produce, 
etc. Ke is now enjoying the aftermath of his 
labors, in that rest and comfort which are the 
fitting crown to a signally active and useful 
career. Mrs. Elizabeth (Ingle) Van Voorhis. 
who had been a true helpmeet to our subject, 
was sum.moned into the eternal life on the 19th 
of February-, 1891, having become the mother, 
of five children, of whom only one survives, 
Cyrus, who has charge of the operation of the 
homestead farm and who is a young man of 
excellent business ability. On the 22d of 
t^'ebruary, 1893, Mr. Van Voorhis consum- 
mated a second union, being then married to 



i28o 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Mrs. Belle fjudd) Ingle, who was born in this 
county, a daughter of Christian Judd, a pio- 
neer of Stark county. It may be noted that at 
one time the subject was the owner of thirty- 
two acres of land where the village of Cook- 
town, this county, now stands. In politics he 
has been a stanch Republican from the time of 
the organization of the party, but has invari- 
ably refused to permit his name to be con- 
sidered in connection with nomination for 
office, though he has always shown a public- 
spirited interest in all that concerns the welfare 
of the community. He is a prominent and 
honored member of the Christian church, in 
which he has served as deacon for more than 
forty years, and no man in the community is 
more highly esteemed or can claim a wider 
circle of friends than he. 

Cyrus Van Voorhis was Ixirn December 9, 
1848, and married, March 10, 1870, Ellen, 
daughter of George Judd, of Osnaburg, Their 
three children are : Alvesta, now Mrs. Charles 
Hershey; Olive, now Mrs. Robert Griffith, and 
I.ouis, at home. 



LEWIS L. DAUM was born in the prov- 
ince of Darmstadt, Germany, on Christmas 
day O'f the year 185 1, and is one of the seven 
children born to George L. and Catherine 
(Shauer) Daum, four of the number sur- 
viving at the present time, namely : John, who 
is a resident of Canton, this county; Margaret, 
who also resides in that city, having never 
married ; Leonard, who also has his home in 
Canton ; and Lewis L., who figures as the im- 
mediate subject of this review. George L. 
Daum was born in Darmstadt, Germany, 
about the year 1809, and his early educational 
discipline was received in the excellent schools 
of the fatherland, where his vocation was that 
of farming. In the spring of 1853 he emi- 
grated to the United States, in company with 
his wife and their five children, and came 



forthwith to Stark county, locating on a farm 
in Osnaburg township, one mile west of the 
village of Mapleton. He there became the 
owner of a small farm and there he continued 
to reside until his death, which occurred in 
the autumn of 1880, when somewhat past the 
age of three score years and ten. He was pos- 
sessed of moderate means, and after coming 
to America lived practically a retired life. He 
was a Republican in politics, and both he and 
his wife were devoted members of the 
Lutheran church. She survived him by about 
thirteen years, being summoned into eternal 
rest in 1893, at the venerable age of eighty- 
seven years. 

The subject of this sketch was about two 
years of age at the time of his parents' emi- 
gration to America, and he has thus passed 
essentially his entire life in Stark county, 
having been reared on the home farm and be- 
ing indebted to the public schools of the lo- 
cality for his early educational privileges, 
while the discipline thus secured has been most 
efifectively supplemented by self-application, 
broad and well directed reading and intimate 
association with the practical affairs of life, 
so that Mr. Daum stands as a man of wide 
information and marked intellectual strength. 
At the age of seventeen years he went to the 
city of Canton and secured work in the shops 
of the Aultman Company, and he was thus 
engaged for a period of about four years, while 
in later years, at intervals, he was again in 
the employ of this company, as an expert, his 
duties being in the line of setting up machines 
and giving instruction in regard to their opera- 
tion. His services were thus in requisition in 
the most diverse sections of the Union, and it 
mav be said that he was twice sent to California 
as a representative of the company, and worked 
throughout that state. In 1875, soon after his 
last trip to the Golden state. Mr. Daum en- 
gaged in the sawmilling and lumbering busi- 
ness in Mapleton, this county, and in 1878 he 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



I28I 



sold his mill site to the village, the same be- 
ing utilized as the site of the new school house 
and shortly afterward he erected a new mill, 
while he also received a patent on a portable 
sawmill which he had invented. He has since 
continued in the sawmill and lumber business, 
though this has represented but one depart- 
ment of his active and successful business 
operations, since he conducts his fine farm, 
near the village mentioned, and also finds his 
services in frequent requisition as an expert 
machinist, being employed by some of the 
largest and most important corporations. He 
has sawed the lumber for many of the finest 
houses and barns in Stark, Carroll and Tusca- 
rawas counties, and for twenty-six years he has 
operated a threshing outfit, having at the 
present time a most modern and improved 
equipment in this line and receiving a repre- 
sentative support throughout this section of 
the state. He has been employed as an expert 
not only by the Aultman Company, but also 
by the Walter A. Wood Harvester Company, 
while he is now handling special work for the 
Westinghouse Electric Company. He resides 
on his farm, of forty acres, one mile south of 
Mapleton, the same having the best of im- 
provements, including a commodious and at- 
tractive modern residence, while the place is 
maintained under a high state of cultivation, 
showing that, in the midst of the thronging 
exactions of a peculiarly active and busy life, 
he finds time to give proper supervision to 
his model little farm. 

Mr. Duam has ever been animated by a 
distinctive public spirit, and his influence has 
been exerted in a most helpful and judicious 
way in furthering the advancement of local 
interests, for he has brought to bear the same 
energy and business acumen which have con- 
served his success in his individual enterprises. 
He gives an unqualified allegiance to the Re- 
publican party and has been an active worker 
in its cause, having been for several years a 

80 



member of the county central committee. He 
is now serving his second term in the office of 
township trustee of Osnaburg township, while 
for the past nine years he has been clerk of the 
school board. He has wielded marked in- 
fluence in local affairs of a public nature, and 
his advice and counsel are sought in connection 
with matters of public policy as well as of 
private import. He and his wife are members 
of the Lutheran church, and fraternally he is 
identified with Osnaburg Lodge No. 570, 
Knights of Pythias, and Waynesburg Lodge 
No. 29, Ivniglits of the Maccabees. 

On the ist of April, 1875, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Daum to Miss Elizabeth 
Weis, who was born in Carroll county, this 
state, being a daughter of the late Jacob Weis, 
who was a stone mason by trade and vocation. 
Mr. and Mrs. Daum are the parents of five 
children, all of whom are still beneath the 
home roof, their names, in order of birth, 
being as follows: Clarence, Ida, Irena, Her- 
man and Walter. 

Mr. Daum's career has been one of con- 
secutive application and well directed energy, 
and the success which it records stands to his 
credit as a man of marked business sagacity 
and inflexible integrity of purpose, — a record 
which ofifers both lesson and incentive. Mr. 
Daum built the tile works at Mapleton in 1902 
and also built the first portable sawmill ever 
built in Stark county. 



JACOB J. SNYDER is a native of the fair 
province of Alsace, Germany, which was still 
a portion of France at the time of his birth, 
which occurred on the 5th of May, 1820. He 
is the youngest son and only surviving member 
of a family of six children born to George 
H. and Margaret (Grose) Snyder, the former 
of whom was born in Alsace, in 1785. He was 
there reared to maturity and there learned the 
shoemaker's trade. In 1827 he emigrated to 



1282 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the United States, being forty days on the 
ocean, and he landed at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania, \\hcre he established himself in the work 
of his trade, also conducting a modest shoe 
store. There he remained until 1836, when he 
came to Stark county, Ohio, and here he pur- 
chased eighty acres of land in section 36, 
Osnaburg township, where his grandson, Will- 
iam H. Snyder, now resides. He continued 
to work at his trade, assigning the work and 
management of the farm to his son, the sub- 
ject of this sketch. He continued to reside on 
the homestead until within a short time before 
his death, in his seventy-fourth year, on the 
1 2th of March, 1859, having passed the last 
few years of his life in the home of his daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Geiger, in Carroll county, this state. 
In politics he was an old-line Whig, and his 
religious faith was that of the Lutheran church. 
He was a man of fine intellect, honorable and 
straightforward in all his dealings, industri- 
ous and Godfearing, and ever devoted to his 
family, while with him friendship was ever 
held in\'io!ahle. His wife was born in Ra- 
baugh, Germany, in 1788, and she died on the 
20th of June, 1866, at the home of her son 
George H., in Mapleton, this county. 

Jacob J. Snyder, the immediate subject of 
this re\iew, was seven years of age at the 
time of his parents' emigration to America, 
and he was reared to the age of si>rteen in the 
city of Philadelphia, where he secured his early 
educational discipline in the public schools, and 
there he early began to assist his father in the 
work of his trade, working on the bench as 
a shoemaker, in the handling" of repairs and 
the more common class of work. On coming 
to Stark county he at once gave his attention 
to the work of the homestead fann, and the 
same was to a large extent still covered with 
the native timber, but he proved equal to the 
task assigned him, and, even as a boy, showed 
marked discrimination in carrying on the work 
of improving and cultivating the farm. On 



the 23d of October, 1843, Mr. Snyder was 
united in marriage to Miss Margaret Moke, 
who was born in Germany, being a daughter 
of John Moke, who emigrated to America 
when she was a child, locating in Stark county 
as one of its pioneers. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder 
became the parents of four children, of whom 
the only survivor is John J., a successful 
farmer of Paris township, this county. Mrs. 
Snyder entered into eternal rest on the 23d 
of May, 1854. Mr. Snyder's second marriage 
occurred on the 2Sth of September, 1854, 
when he wedded Miss Elizabeth Groseman, 
who was born in the city of Buffalo, New 
York, being a daughter of Christian and Eliza- 
beth (Walzhart) Groseman, who were pio- 
neers of Carroll county, Ohio, where they took 
up their residence in 1834. 

Four years after his first marriage Mr. 
Snyder purchased a farm of eighty acres, ad- 
joining the parental homestead, and took up 
his abode thereon, but one year later, his par- 
ents being left alone, he returned to the old 
farm to care for them. In 1854 he purchased 
the old homestead of his father, and thus be- 
came owner of one hundred and sixty acres 
in the two contiguous tracts which he had thus 
purchased, the same being the southwest 
quarter of section 36, Osnaburg township. 
In 1863 he ])urchased, of Samuel Leohr. his 
present home farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres, constituting the southwest quarter of 
section 35, in the same township. In the 
spring of 1864 he took up his residence on this 
farm, which has ever since continued to be his 
home, — a period of forty years. For a number 
of years he gave his attention to the cultivation 
of both farms, but in 1895 he disposed of the 
old homestead farm, together with the ad- 
joining eighty acres which figured as his , 
original innxliase, the same becoming the prop- 
erty of his son William H., who still resides 
there, being one of the successful and honored 
farmers of this section. Mr. Snyder 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1283 



has made the best of improvements on 
liis home farm, having erected a large 
and substantial residence and other good 
buildings, while he has placed the land under 
a high state of cultivation and has shown 
great discrimination in his efforts. He has 
capitalistic interests of importance and is 
known as one of the substantial men of the 
county. It has been his pleasure and gratify- 
ing privilege to be able to assist each of his 
children in securing a start in life, and his re- 
ward has not been denied, for they have proved 
altogether appreciative and accord to him the 
highest measure of veneration and filial solici- 
tude. 

In politics Mr. Snyder accords an un- 
equivocal allegiance to the Republican party, 
and has ever taken an active and intelligent 
interest in the questions and issues of the day 
He has never sought the honors or emoluments 
of public office, but his distinctive elegibility 
led to his selection to the office of township 
trustee, of which he has been incumbent two 
terms, bringing to I)ear in the connection the 
same mature judgment and business sagacity 
which have conserved his personal success, and 
tlius proving a capable and acceptable official. 
He is a consistent and honored member of 
the United Evangelical church, taking a deep 
interest in the spiritual and temporal advance- 
ment of the church and in the general cause 
of religion, and for many years he served as 
classleader of the church at Mapleton. He has 
given material aid in the erection of six dif- 
ferent church buildings. He has conducted a 
Sunday .school for many years and though 
eighty-three years old is still a regular attend- 
ant and teacher. 

She who has been his loved companion and 
helpmeet for more than forty years was called 
to the "land of the leal" on the i6th of August, 
1900, but there remains to him the consolation 
of the memories of her pure and beautiful life 



and gentle womanhood, through which their 
wedded years were idealized. 

Jacob J. and Elizabeth (Groseman) Sny- 
der became the parents of ten children, of 
whom seven survive their devoted mother, 
namely: Ellen, who is the wife of John 
Weckman, of Carnegie, Pennsylvania; Will- 
iam H., who resides on the ancestral home- 
stead in Osnaburg township; Frank, who re- 
sides in the city of Canton; George E., a rep- 
resentative farmer of Paris townshp; Carrie 
E., wife of William Hontz, who has charge of 
the subject's farm; Lucinda A., the wife of 
Frank Haynam, of Paris township; and Emma 
M., wife of Sherman Singer, of Canton. 



WILLIAM H. SNYDER, who is one of 
the progressive and successful farmers of 
Osnaburg township, was born on the farm 
which is now his home, on the 27th of Sep- 
tember, 1857, the land having been entered 
by his grandfather in the pioneer days and 
having later been the property of his father, 
who is still a resident of the township, of which 
he is a revered and patriarchal citizen, so that 
the property has been in the possession of the 
family for three generations. He is one of 
ten children of Jacob J. and Elizabeth (Gross- 
man) Snyder, and eight of the number still 
survive, as is duly noted in the personal sketch 
of their father, elsewhere in this volume. Will- 
iam H. was reared on the old homestead, 
early beginning to lend his aid in the work 
of the farm, while he is indebted to the pub- 
lic schools for his educational privileges in his 
youthful days. He continued to reside on the 
home farm until his marriage, wliich occurred 
on Christmas day of the year 1884, when he 
was united to Miss Retta Creighton, who was 
born in Carroll county, this state, being a 
daughter of Thomas Creighton, who was of 



1284 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Irish lineage. After his marriage he assumed 
full charge of the homestead farm, and con- 
ducted the same on shares, thus continuing 
until 1895, when he purchased the property 
of his father, and since that time he has con- 
tinued successfully to devote his attention to 
the great basic industry under whose benef- 
icent inflneiices he was reared, while his ef- 
forts have been directed with that mature 
judgment and thorough knowledge wliich in- 
variably make for definite success. He is 
known as one of the representative farmers 
of the township and county, and his place is 
one which can not fail to challenge the at- 
tention of even the cursory observer, being a 
model of thrift and neatness and having the 
best of permanent improvements. The farm 
comprises one hundred and sixty acres, of 
which one-half was the original tract taken up 
by his paternal grandfather in the pioneer 
days, while the other eighty acres was the 
farm purchased by his father and used as the 
place of his frrst independent venture in con- 
nection with the practical activities of life, so 
that the homestead is one of which he may well 
feel proud, both from its historic associations 
and its value and attractiveness as one of the 
best farms of the township. 

In politics Mr. Snyder has ever been 
stanchly arrayed in support of the principles 
and policies of the Republican party, and his 
religious faith is that of the United Evan- 
gelical church, of which he is a prominent and 
influential member, having long taken an 
active part in the church work, while he has 
served as trustee, steward and classleader of 
the same and also as superintendent of the 
Sunday school, his wife also being a zealous 
worker in the church. They are held in the 
highest esteem in the community, and the 
pleasant family home is a center of unreserved 
and refined hospitality. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder 
are the parents of five children, all of whom 
are still members of the home circle, their 



names, in order of birth, being as follows: 
Ef^tie v., W. Rogers, Nora Alice, Ella E. Z., 
and Henry Roland. 



WILLIAM CLAPPER, who is one of the 
representative and influential farmers of the 
younger generation in Osnaburg township, 
was born on the farm which is now his home, 
on the 13th of March, 1866, being a son of 
John and Elizabeth (Neidig) Clapper, to 
whom were born nine children, namely: 
Hiram, who is a resident of Nimishillen town- 
ship, this county; Jonas, of Paris township; 
Hezekiah, of Osnaburg township ; Harriet, also 
of this township; Eliza, of Trumbull county, 
this state; Levi, of Osnaburg township; John, 
of Nimishillen township; William, the subject 
of this sketch; and Cora, the wife of Henry 
Royer, of Louisville, this county. The father 
of the subject was born in 1815, in this county, 
being a son of Henry Clapper, who came to 
this locality from Pennsylvania in the early 
pioneer days, becoming one of the first settlers 
in Osnaburg township, where his son John 
was reared to maturity on the farm, eventually 
becoming the owner of one hundred and sixty 
acres of the old homestead, and also accumu- 
lating other farm land. He was a man of in- 
telligence, energy and sterling character and 
through his well directed effort attained 
marked prosperity. He attained the venerable 
age of eighty-six years, his death occurring 
on the 2 1 St of July, 1901. His widow sur- 
vives him and resides on the old homestead 
farm with her youngest son, the subject of this 
review. She was born on this farm, being a 
daughter of John Neidig, who settled here 
among the early pioneers, having come hither 
from Pennsylvania. She has long been a de- 
voted member of the United Brethren church, 
of which her husband likewise was a consist- 
ent adherent, while in his political views he- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1285 



was a stanch Republican from the time of the 
organization of the party. 

Wilham Clapper was reared on the home- 
stead farm where he now resides, contributing 
his quota to its work from his boyhood days 
and receiving- his educational training in the 
public schools of the township. In 1891 he 
assumed charge of the home farm, which he 
forthwith began operating on shares, thus con- 
tinuing until 1895, when he located on a small 
place of his own, one mile to the west of the 
homestead, but about two years later he dis- 
posed of his property and returned to the home 
place, where he has since resided. He has been 
successful in his agricultural enterprises, be- 
ing progressive, alert and discriminating, and 
in January, 1902, he showed his good judg- 
ment by expanding the scope of his operations, 
establishing a dairy and finding a ready market 
for his product in the town of Robertsville, 
where he has a large list of appreciative 
patrons. The milk and cream supplied is 
handled with the greatest care, in order that 
the maximum of purity and cleanliness may be 
insured, and a herd of about fifteen high-grade 
milch cows is kept in requisition. This depart- 
ment of his farming enterprise has proved very 
profitable and Mr. Clapper has spared no pains 
in catering to the best class of patrons, — those 
most appreciative and discriminating. He 
"takes an active interest in the cause of the Re- 
publican party, of which he is a stanch ad- 
herent. 

On the 28th of December, 1890, Mr. Clap- 
per was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. 
Sefong, daughter of Samuel Sefong, of this 
township, and they are the parents of four 
children, Bertha, Nova M., Earl and Albert. 



ALFRED C. EYNON is a native of the 
province of Ontario, Canada, having been born 
in the picturesque town of St. Catherines, on 
the ^th of September, 1859, and coming of 



stanch Welsh lineage. His father, Charles 
Eynon, was born in England, of Welsh parent- 
age, and was there reared and educated, the 
place of his nativity having been the city of 
Bristol, and near that place was born Miss 
Fannie Childs, who became his wife, she like- 
wise being of Welsh-English ancestry. Their 
marriage was solemnized in the year 1840, and 
they came to America on their wedding tour, 
their marriage having been a somewhat roman- 
tic one, since the mother of the subject was the 
daughter of a proud old English 'squire, who 
made serious objections to her marriage to Mr. 
Eynon. Her mother died when Mrs. Eynon 
was a child and she was reared principally in 
boarding schools and seminaries, so that the 
paternal authority was not adequate to frus- 
trate her plans to unite her destinies with the 
man of her, choice. Charles Eynon was an ex- 
pert machinist and patternmaker, and was 
superintendent of important concerns in Eng- 
land, as was he also after his removal to , 
Canada. He made his home in the town of 
Thorold, Ontario, during the greater portion of 
the time after coming to America, and there 
his death occurred in the year 1898, at which 
time he was seventy-six years of age. His 
widow still resides in that place, and of their 
nine children four are living at the present tim.e, 
the subject of this review having been the fifth 
in order of birth. 

Alfred C. Eynon was reared in his native 
province and remained at the parental home 
until he had attained his legal majority, while 
he received a good common-school education. 
At the age of seventeen years he entered upon 
an apprenticeship at the plumber's trade, in 
which he became an expert artisan, and he con- 
tinued to be employed as a journeyman in 
Canada until 1883, when he came to Ohio and 
passed one 3'ear in the city of Cleveland, after 
which he came to Alliance, Stark county, and 
entered the employ of the plumbing firm of 
Oby & Love, eventually becoming foreman of 



1286 



OLD LANDMARKS 



their establishment. In 1887, when Mr. Oby 
organized the firm of Oby & Company and 
located in Canton, Mr. Eynon came with him to 
this city, and later the subject secured an in- 
terest in the business, the firm of Eynon & 
Company succeeding that of day & Company, 
while one year later a reorganization took place 
and the firm name became the A. C. Eynon 
Plumbing Company, under which the business 
has since been continued, the concern 
having been incorporated in October, 1902, 
and the business now being conducted 
on the co-operative plan, five of the 
employes bemg given an interest in the 
business. The company does a large and repre- 
sentative business, having the most modern 
equipments and accessories and executing tlie 
highest class of work, so that a high reputation 
has been gained, insuring the continuous ex- 
pansion of the enterprise. 

]\Ir. Eynon has ever given a stanch allegi- 
ance to the Republican party and is one of the 
leaders in its local ranks, having been chair- 
man of the Republican central committee of 
Stark county in 1893, while he has also served 
efficiently as a member of the Republican execu- 
tive committee and was chairman of the execu- 
tive committee of a McKinley day banquet. He 
has not been a seeker for public office, but has 
taken a most lively interest in the advancement 
of the cause of his party and is known also as 
a thoroughly public-spirited citizen. Fratern- 
ally he is identified with the Masonic order and 
the Knights of Pythias, while both he and his 
wife are members of the First Methodist 
Episcopal church, of Canton. 

Tn the city of Alliance, this county, on the 
30th of June, 1S88, Mr. Eynon was united in 
marriage to Miss Nellie V. Haun, daughter of 
George and Liic)' Haun, well-known residents 
of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Eynon have three 
sons, George A., Charles Chester, and Wal- 
ter E. 



HEZEKIAH CLAPPER was born on the 
parental homestead, in Osnaburg township, 
Stark county, Ohio, on the 9th of September, 
1849. being the third in order of birth of the 
nine children of John and Elizabeth (Neidig) 
Clapper, a brief record concerning the children 
being as follows : Hiram is a successful farmer, 
of Nimishillen township, this county; Jonas 
is similarly engaged in Paris township ; Flar- 
riet maintains her home in Osnaburg township, 
being a maiden lady ; Eliza is the wife of Joseph 
Barb, and resides in Trumbull county; Levi is- 
a prosperous farmer of Osnaburg township, 
and John, of Nimishillen township, while Will- 
iam is similarly engaged in Osnaburg town- 
ship ; and Cora is the \vife of Henrys Royer, of 
Louisville, this county. 

John Clapper, the father of the Subject, was- 
probably born in Osnaburg township, while the 
date of his nativity was 1815, this fact indicat- 
ing that the family must have become identified 
with the history of Stark county in the early 
pioneer epoch. He was a son of Henry Clapper, 
who emigrated from his native state of Penn- 
sylvan.ia to Stark county, Ohio, and here de- 
voted the residue of his life to agricultural pur- 
suits, having at one time been the owner of the 
farm upon which our subject now resides, while 
he contributed materially to the developing of 
the land of this section from the primeval 
forest into. well cultivated fields — a work which 
was carried forward l)y his descendants. John 
Clapper was reared to maturity amidst the 
conditions anrl en\-ironments of pioneer life, 
and the entire span of his useful and honoraljle 
life was passed within Osnaburg township, 
where his early educational advantages were far 
more limited than was the amount of sturdy 
labor which fell to his portion in reclaiming the 
land to cultivation. He became the owner of 
one hundred and sixty acres of the old home- 
stead farm and also owned for a time the 
present fine farm of the subject. He was a man 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1287 



of good intellectual powers and inflexible honor 
in all the relations of life, so that he ever held 
the unqualified confidence and esteem of his 
fellow men. He was summoned into eternal 
rest on the 21st of July, 1901, in the fullness 
of years and honors, having attained the vener- 
able age of eighty-six years. His widow still 
survives, at the age of seventy-seven years, antl 
continues to reside on the old homestead, so 
endeared to her by the associations and memor- 
ies of the past. John Clapper was originally 
a Whig in his political proclivities, but identi- 
fied himself with the Republican party at the 
time of its organization and thereafter con- 
tinued a stalwart advocate of its principles. He 
was a consistent and valued member of the 
United Brethren church, of which his wife like- 
wise has been a member from her youth. She 
was born on the farm where she now resides, 
her father, John Neidig, having come to Stariv 
county from Pennsylvania and cast in his lot 
among the first settlers of Osnaburg township. 
Hezekiah Clapper, the immediate subject of 
this sketch, was reared on the parental farm- 
stead, and received a common school education, 
while from his boyhood up he has been inti- 
mately associated with the great basic art of 
agriculture, and thus has gained an intimate 
and valuable knowledge of the most effective 
methods to be utilized in securing results from 
the cultivation of the soil of this section, having 
the advantage of personal and ancestral experi- 
ence. After his marriage, in 1875, he took 
charge of his present farm, which he operated 
for his father until about 1887, when he effected 
the purchase of the property and has since de- 
voted himself with marked discrimination and 
judgment to its cultivation, while he has not 
been denied a full measure of prosperity, being 
known as one of the substantial and progressive 
farmers and public-spirited citizens of the town- 
ship and county. In politics he is stanchly 
arrayed in support of the princii)les and policies 
of the Republican party, and both he and his 



wife are prominent members of the Lutheran 
church at Mapleton. 

On the 8th of April, 1875, Mr. Clapper was 
united in marriage to Miss Anna M. Hein, who 
was horn in Osnaburg township, being a 
daughter of Powell Hein, who emigrated hither 
from Germany in the pioneer days. Mrs. 
Clapper died on. the 2d of January, 1887, at the 
age of thirty-six years, and is survived by five 
children, namely; John H., Benjamin, Eliza- 
beth L., Viola C, and .\lpha T., all of these 
children remaining at the paternal home, and 
Elizabeth, who is the wife of Charles Krum- 
lanf, a s'.iccessful young farmer of Osnaburg 
township. On the 14th of March, 1889, ^^''• 
Clapper consummated a second marriage, being 
then united to Miss Elizabeth Betts, who was 
born in Columbiana county, this state, a daugh- 
ter of Henry Betts. No children have been 
born of this marriage. 



\\'ILLTAM STUART is one of the repre- 
i^entative business men of the city of. Canton, 
where he has a well equipped and metropolitan 
turniture establishment, the same being eligibly 
located at 323, 325 and Tf2'j East Tuscarawas 
street. He comes of the stanch old Scottish 
stock of the famous clan Stuart, so well known 
in the songs and stories of bonnie old Scotland, 
.\nd his record bears evidence that he possesses 
those sterling attributes of character which 
have ever designated the true Scotsman, 
though he hiniself is a native of the United 
States and was reared under its institutions. 

William Stuart was born in the immediate 
vicinity of the city of Baltimore, Maryland, 
Oil the 1 6th of October, i860, being a son of 
Plarry and Jessie (Fife) Stuart, both of whom 
were born in Ayrshire, Scotland, Avhere they 
were reared to maturity. There their marriage 
was solemnized and after the liirtli of two of 
their children they emigrated to America and 
located in Allegany county, Maryland, later 



1288 



OLD LANDMARKS 



removing to the vicinity of Baltimore, where 
Ihey passed the remainder of their lives, the 
father having been engaged in farming and 
dairying. He was left an orphan when a mere 
boy and won his own way in the world, pro- 
viding for the support of a large family, since 
he and his wife became the parents of ten chil- 
dren after coming to the United States. Harry 
Stuart died in 1869, at the age of forty-seven 
years, and his wife passed awaj' in 1S71, also 
aged forty-seven, both having been devoted 
members of the Presbyterian church and folk 
of sterling character. 

William Stuart was about ten years of age 
when he became doubly orphaned, and such 
were the exigencies of the case that his early 
educational advantages were limited in scope, 
though he made the best use of the opportuni- 
ties afforded and later through his own efforts 
effectively supplemented his rudimentary edu- 
cation, since he attended night school in the 
Bryant & Stratton Business College in Balti- 
more and thus was able to fortify himself for 
the practical responsibilities of an active busi- 
ness career, while he has found the entire 
course of life a valuable school, being a close 
observer and profiting from his association with 
men and affairs. As a boy he became identified 
with business affairs, receiving his early experi- 
ence as a clerk in a furniture and carpet store 
conducted by John Melia, in Baltimore, while 
later he was for a number of years employed bv 
the Baltimore Furniture Manufacturing Com- 
pany, and through these associations he gained 
an intimate knowledge of the details of the 
furniture business and also of the values of 
all lines of stock handled, so that in his 
individual enterprise he is a careful and 
discriminating buyer. In 1885 Mr. Stuart 
engaged in the furniture and carpet busi- 
ness in Baltimore, where he conducted 
operations on his own responsibility fo>r 
a period of four years, at the expiration of 
which, in 1889, he came to Canton. Ohio. 



where he established his present enterprise, 
which has grown to be one of the leading un- 
dertakings of the sort in the city, the large and 
representative trade having been built u.p by 
careful business m.ethods and fair dealings, 
while the stock- is at all times select and com- 
prehensive. He is progressive and energetic 
and has gained the confidence and good will 
of the community. In politics, while without 
personal ambition for official preferment of 
any description, Mr. Stuart accords a stanch 
allegiance to the Republican party and takes a 
proper interest in the questions of the hour and 
in local affairs of a public nature. He and his 
wife are consistent and active members of the 
Presbyterian chiurch. 

On the 26th of May, 1887, in the city ot 
Baltimore. Maryland. Mr. Stuart was united 
in marriage to Miss Isabella Eirich, who was 
born in New York city, being a daughter of 
Louis Eirich, and of this union has been born 
one daughter, Jessie I. 



GEORGE DUNBAR, Sr.— Among the 
distinguished and honored pioneers of Stark 
county stood the subject of this brief memoir, 
who was a man of high intellectuality and ex- 
alted character, \x\-\o was prompt in public af- 
fairs, having held offices of distinctive trust and 
responsibility, and who was known as an able 
and representative business man of Canton 
during the long years of his residence here. 
He was summoned into eternal rest on the 31st 
of May, 1859, and in his death the community 
lost an honored and valued citizen. In this 
connection we may state that the family is of 
distinguished and patrician Scottish extraction, 
its original home having been Dunbar castle, 
whose ruins are still to be seen among the fair 
highlands of Scotland, the same having been 
the scene of many historic events. John Dun- 
bar, the founder of the family in America, 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1289 



came hither in the early colonial epoch, having 
been born and reared in the town of Dunbar, 
Hadding1:onshire, Scotland. 

Of the life history of George Dunbar we 
can not do better than to quote from an ap- 
preciative estimate appearing in one of the 
Canton newspapers at the time of his demise : 
"When those who have lived long among the 
pioneers of our state who aided in laying the 
foundations of society in our community, are 
removed from us by death, it is becoming that 
a proper tribute of respect be paid to their 
memories, and that by this means their names 
and their virtues may be perpetuated. The 
subject of this notice had passed far beyond the 
ordinary limit of human life,- — eighty-nine 
years ! How few number so many ! The de- 
ceased was born in Philadelphia county, Penn- 
sylvania, on the first day of May, 1770, and 
was thus six years, two months and two days 
of age at the time when that immortal docu- 
ment, the Declaration of Independence, was 
signed. His father, John Dunbar, soon after- 
ward removed to Dauphin county, Pennsyl- 
vania, in company with his family, comprising 
his wife, two sons and one daughter, George 
being the eldest of the children. The father 
having been called to participate in the perilous 
events of the war of the Revolution, was en- 
gaged as a commissary, supplying the army of 
General Washington at Valley Forge with such_ 
provisions as he could secure, and while thus 
engaged he contracted what was then known 
as camp fever and was brought to his home, 
where he soon afterward died, leaving his 
widow and children to struggle along through 
the tr^nng days that followed, the hardships 
«ntailed being the greater by reason of the 
dangers and uncertainties attending the prog- 
ress of the great struggle for national inde- 
pendence. Under such conditions and vicissi- 
tudes as these George Dunbar was reared to 
manhood. On the 21st of April, 1796, he 



was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
Elliott, and they became the parents of five 
sons and four daughters, all of whom survived 
him except one son and one daughter. The 
first six years after his marriage were passed 
in Hummelstown, Dauphin county, and at the 
expiration of this period, in 1802, he removed 
to Mifflinburg, Northumberland county (now 
Union county), where he resided until 1814, 
when he came to Columbiana county, Ohio, 
where he made his home until 1816, in which 
year he came to Stark county and located in 
the little pioneer village of Canton. On the 
1 2th of August of that year he was called upon 
to mourn the death of his wife. In the autumn 
of 1 82 1 he married Mrs. Catherine Slusser, 
who survived him and lived to an advanced 
age, her death having occurred about 1892. 
Mr. Dunbar ever manifested a deep interest in 
the growth and prosperity of Canton. Within 
the forty years of his residence here he wit- 
nessed the gradual and healthy growth of the 
place until, from a town of three or four hun- 
dred inhabitants, it had grown to a city of five 
thousand population, while since his death the 
advancement has been still more marked. By 
his kind and amiable disposition, his integrity, 
his sympathy with his neighbors in their trials 
and afflictions, and his fidelity to those stations 
of public trust which he had been called upon 
to fill, Mr. Dunbar won for himself the respect, 
the confidence and the afl^ection of all those by 
whom he was known. Mr. Dunbar was a 
notary public and had been mayor of the city 
and justice of the peace. He and his sons con- 
ducted a chair factory and did a flourishing 
business, manufacturing chairs of all kinds, 
while their trade extended into all parts of the 
state. Upon the death of his son George he 
closed out the business and thereafter lived re- 
tired until his death. He was at one time a 
member of the Ohio legislature, and during his 
term of service rode to and from the capital 



1290 



OLD LANDMARKS 



city of Columbus on'i:orseI)ack. tliis being prior 
to the era of railroad building." 

Mr. Dunbar was a man of fine intellectual 
gifts and mature judgment and was well fitted 
for leadership in thought and action. His 
opinions were always well fortified and he 
never lacked the courage to defend them, 
though he was always tolerant and chairitable 
in his judgment of others and his sympathy 
for those in afiliction was instant and helpful. 
In politics he gave his allegiance to the Demo- 
cratic party and was an active worker in its 
local ranks, while his religious faith was that 
of the Presbyterian church. No children were 
born of his second marriage, and of those of 
the first union we enter the following brief 
data : John, who was a talented portrait 
painter, died in Canton in 1877, and his grand- 
children, Paul and Ella Rider, are now the 
only descendants of the family living in Can- 
ton; George died in 1851 ; William was a rep- 
resentati\e member of the bar of Mt. Vernon, 
Ohio ; Allison was for a number of years sheriff 
of Stark county ; Horace was a successful and 
prominent lawyer of the county ; Mary became 
the wife of Eli Sowers; Elizabeth married 
Hiram Myers; Margaret was the wife of 
Doctor Sala; and Matilda died unmarried, all 
of the children being now deceased. 

Of the Rider family we may say that it 
was of stanch German extraction, the name . 
having originally been Von Renter, while the ' 
first representatives m Stark county were Paul 
and Sarah (Shorb) Rider, who came from 
Frederick county, Maryland, in 1823. and set- 
tled on a section of land in Plain township, 
where the Plain Center mills now stand, Mr. 
Rider having erected the first mill on that site. 
Mr. Rider died shortly after the erection of 
the mill. The children of their son Louis 
Dubarth Rider are now the only represent- 
atives of the family iri Stark countv, as are 
they also of the Dunbar family, as has been 
previously intimated. 



JEREMIAH E. SHEARER was born on 
the fine farmstead which is now his home, in 
Osnaburg township, the date of his nativity 
having been April 23, 1837. He was the sec- 
ond in order of birth of the ten children of 
Adam and Eliza (Clapper) Shearer, and of 
the numlier six survive, namely; Harriet, wha 
is the wife of Jeremiah Hershbei;ger, of Osna- 
burg township; Jeremiah E., the immediate 
subject of this review; William, who is a resi- 
dent of Waco, this county; Hezekiah, who is 
a successful farmer of Osnaburg township; 
Fleanora, who resides in the home of her 
brother William; and Charity, who is the wife 
of William Tate, of Zoar, Tuscarawas county. 
Adam Shearer, father^ of the subject, was born 
in York county, Pennsylvania, in 1809, the 
family having been established in the Keystone 
state at an early epoch in its history, the orig- 
inal American progenitors having emigrated 
thither from Germany. He bore the full pa- 
tronymic of his father, Adam Shearer, Sr., 
who came to Stark county, Ohio, about the 
year 1814, two of his brothers, John and 
Henry, and his sister, Catherine, having come 
here a short time previously, their father, Jacob 
Shearer, having acquired three quarter-sections 
of wild land in Osnaburg township ami tr^ms- 
ferred the same to his children, in order to af- 
ford them a start in life. The father of our 
subject was a child of about five years at the 
time of his parents" removal to Stark county, 
and he was rearerl to maturity on the pioneer 
farm, early beginning to lend his aid in reclaim- 
ing the land and placing it under cultivation, 
while his educational advantages were perforce 
xery limited, owing to the exigencies of time 
and place. He gave inception to his independ- 
ent career by locating on a tract of eighty acres 
of heavily timbered land, in Osnaburg town- 
ship, erecting a log house upon the same and 
setting himself vigorously to .the task of clear- 
ing o.Pf th.e forest and otherwise improving the 
place, his pre\ious experience giving him a 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1291 



certain facility in the handling of his arduous 
work. After bringing a considerable portion 
of the land under effective cultivation he dis- 
posed of the property and purchased the eighty 
acres now owned by Daniel Dehoff, in the same 
township, and there he remained eleven years, 
at the expiration of which he sold his farm and 
purchased from General Augustine, wdio had 
been an oflker in the war of 181 2 and who was 
one of the honored pioneers of Stark county, 
the farm of one hundred and sixty acres which 
constitutes an integral portion of the subject's 
present fine landed estate. He developed this 
into one of the best farms in the township. 
making the best of improvements and showing 
marked discrimination in his management of 
his farming enterprise. In 1881 he sold the 
farm to our subject and removed to the village 
of Osnaburg, where he lived retired until his 
death, which occurred in 1884, at which time 
he was seventy-five years of age. In politics 
he was originally an old-line Whig, but upon 
the organization of the Republican party he 
transferred his allegiance to the same and ever 
afterward gave a stanch support to its principles 
and policies. His religious faith was that of 
the Lutheran church, with which he identified 
himself when a young man. 

Eliza (Clapper) Shearer, mother of the 
subject, was Ijorn in Osnaburg township, this 
county, about the year 1820, being a daughter 
of Henry Clapper, who came hither from Penn- 
sylvania shortly after the Shearers had here 
taken up their abode, and here she passed her 
entire life, honored and loved as a noble, earnest 
woman and as one whose influence was ever 
exerted for good. She lived to attain the xen- 
erable age of eighty years, her demise occurring 
in the year 1900, and she likewise was a de- 
voted member of the Lutheran church. 

Jeremiah E. Shearer was reared under the 
influences of the pioneer days and has been a 
witness of the transitions which have marked 
the magnificent de\-elopment of this favored 



section of the Buckeye state. As a boy he 
found it his portion to labor arduously and 
almost consecutively on the home farm, so that 
he was not able to take full advantage of even 
the limited educational advantages afforded by 
the primitive district schools. However, 
through personal application and association 
with men and affairs he has effectively supple- 
mented the knowledge which he gained through 
his somewhat irregular attendance in the 
schools of the early epoch, being a man of broad 
information and distinctive business and ad- 
ministrative ability. He was married in i860, 
and two years later he left his young wife and 
their one child at their home and valiantly went 
forth in response to the call of higher duty, 
grim-visaged war having reared its horrid 
front and the rebellious south having taken 
arms against the nation, which thus became as 
a house divided against itself. On the 12th of 
August, 1862, Mr. Shearer enlisted as a private 
in Company B, One Hundred and Fifteenth 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served 
three years, lacking one month, receiving his 
honorable discharge, in the city of Cleveland, 
on the i2th of July, 1865, and having made the 
record of a true soldier and faithful son of 
the republic, whose integrity he thus aided in 
perpetuating for future generations. The regi- 
ment was assigned to the Army of the Cumber- 
land and during the greater portion of the time 
was on detailed duty, in guarding railroads and 
block houses, having frequent skirmishes and 
taking part in a number of spirited engage- 
ments. After his return home, his father-in-law 
having died during his absence, Mr. Shearer 
purchased the latter's farm, on section 27, 
Osnaburg township, and there he continued to 
reside ab(iut sixteen years, disposing of the 
pro])erty in 1881 and purchasing the old home- 
stead of his father, as has already been noted 
in this connection. Here he has since main- 
tained his home, having a finely improved and 
most productive farm of one hundred and 



T292 



OLD LANDMARKS 



seventy-two acres, upon which are fine build- 
ings, including one of the most spacious and 
attractive residences in the township. Mr. 
Shearer is essentially progressive in his atti- 
tude, and this is not only exemplified in the 
ability and success with which he has carried 
forward his farming enterprise, but also in the 
deep and helpful interest which he has shown 
in all that tends for the well-being of the com- 
munity. Though he has never been an aspirant 
for public office, his signal eligibility has led to 
his being called upon to serve in the responsible 
office of township trustee, of which he was in- 
cumbent for three terms, his political allegiance 
being given to the Republican party. Fratern- 
ally he vitalizes his interest in his old comrades 
of the Civil war through his association with 
the Grand Army of the Republic, affiliating 
with McKinley Post No. 25, in Canton. He 
and his wife hold membership in the Evangeli- 
cal Association and have taken a lively interest 
in the work of the church. 

On the 4th of June, i860, Mr. Shearer was 
united in marriage to Miss Rachel Criswell, 
daughter of William Criswell, a sterling pio- 
neer of Osnaburg township, and of this union 
seven children have been born, namely: Benja- 
min F., who is a traveling salesman; Ulysses 
S. G., who is engaged in the brokerage business 
in New York city; William, who is engaged in 
agricultural pursuits in Osnaburg township; 
Adam, at home; Homer, who also resides in 
that city; Grace, who is the wife of Henry 
Jones, who is associated with the subject in the 
management of the homestead farm ; and John, 
who died in infancv. 



AMOS M. HORST, deceased, was a native 
of Ohio, having been born in the cnuntv of 
Stark on the 6th day of February, 1864. His 
father, John Horst. also a natiAe of the same 
county, was born in the month of December. 
1819, and on March 9, 1843, married Barbara 



Metzler, whose ancestors were among the old 
and valued people of Lancaster. John Horst 
was the son of Christian Horst, a native of 
Lancaster county and a man of considerable 
local prominence in the communitj^ where he 
lived. Some years after their marriage John 
Horst and wife disposed of their interests in 
Pennsylvania and moved to Stark county, Ohio, 
5ettling in Tuscarawas township, where the 
former's death occurred January 29, 1870. He 
was the father of ten children, all deceased, the 
widowed mother being the only living repre- 
sentative of the once large and happy family. 
Amos ]\I. Horst was reared a farmer and 
followed that calling in Stark county al! his life, 
having been brought to Tuscarawas township 
when quite young. He was educated in the 
public schools and grew up to the full stature 
of well rounded manhood with a proper concep- 
tion of the responsibilities of life and a full ap- 
preciation of the duties which devolved 
upon him as a neighbor and a citizen. His 
habits of industry early led him to plan 
well and take advantage of opportunities and 
lie prosecuted his labors earnestly, always mak- 
ing it a point to live within his income and add 
to his surplus against old age or a possible sea- 
son of adversity, neither of Avhich exigencies 
were ever realized. By successful management 
he succeeded in accumulating a valuable estate, 
his landed property at the time of his death 
amounting to one hundred and seventy acres, 
nearly all tillable and highly improved, in ad- 
dition to which he was also the possessor of 
large personal interests representing several 
thousand dollars of capital. Mr. Horst was 
judicious in his business affairs, succeeded in 
everything to which he addressed his time and 
energies and his judgment of men and things 
was seldom at fault. In politics Mr. Horst was 
a Republican, but had little inclination to en- 
ter the arena as a party worker, though well 
informed upon the issues of the day. He was 
reared according to the rather strict but 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1293 



eminently high and correct religious tenets of 
the Mennonite faith and to the day of his death 
remained a true and loyal son of the churcii 
and one of the most valuable members of the 
congregation worshiping in Pleasant township. 

Mr. Horst was married, November 24, 
1886, to Miss Annie Eschleman, of Lawrence 
township, Stark county, who bore him chil- 
dren as follows : Grace E., born March 4, 1887 ; 
Arthur R., born November 13, 1891, died in 
infancy; Ella, born April 24, 1893, and Ralph, 
whose birth occurred November 25, 1896. 

Mr. Horst was cut down in the very prime 
of life and in the midst of his usefulness, being 
a few months past thirty-three when sum- 
moned by the grim messenger to join the silent 
majority. He died June 30, 1898, and in his 
sad taking off his family suffered the loss ot 
an almost ideal husband and father, the church 
one of its most faithful and efficient members 
and the community an honorable, upright. God- 
fearing citizen, whom all held in the highest 
confidence and esteem. 

Mr. Horst's maternal grandparents were 
Samuel and Mattie (Sensenich) Metzler, na- 
tives of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. They 
came to Stark county, Ohio, in 1835 and set- 
tled on a farm in Sugar Creek township, later 
removing to the county of Holmes, where Mr. 
Metzler died on the 26th day of August, 1850. 
Subsequently the widow returned to Stark 
county and here she departed this life February 
24, 1882 ; she bore her husband seven children, 
three of whom are living at the present time. 

Miss Annie Eschleman, who married Amos 
M. Horst, was born in Lawrence township. 
Stark county, Ohio, July 3, 1861, the daughter 
of Samuel and Anna Eschleman, the father a 
native of Lancaster county. Penn.sylvania, the 
mother of Wayne county. Mr. Eschelman was 
born March 29, 1833. and when about four 
years old was brought to Stark county by his 
parents, Abram and Elizabeth Eschleman, of 
whom mention is made in the biography of 



Jonas Eschleman, on another page of this vol- 
ume. He was reared on the farm in Law- 
rence township where he spent the remainder 
of his life, became one of the enterprising and 
successful farmers of that part of the county, 
owning at one time real estate to the amount 
of three hundred and sixty-two acres. Of the 
eleven children born to Samuel and Elizabeth 
Eschleman eight survive, all highly regarded 
where they live and reflecting in their conduct 
the sterling characteristics for which their 
parents were distinguished. Mrs. Eschleman 
died June 19, 18S8, her husband on the loth 
of January, 1896. 



MARSHALL C. BARBER.— To the sub- 
ject of this sketch is accorded the unique dis- 
tinction of being a descendant of the first white 
man that settled on the present site of the flour- 
ishing city of Canton. According to the most- 
reliable information obtainable, the individual 
referred to was Harry Barber, a native of Con- 
necticut, who about the beginning of the nine- 
teenth century penetrated the wilderness to the 
present site of Steubenville, from which point, 
in 1804, he moved his family over the old In- 
dian trail into what is now Stark county and 
located on Nimishillen creek, selecting for his 
home what has long been, known in local annals 
as the old .Sherrick place, not far from the 
northern limits of the city, but within the cor- 
poration. The fact of his having been the 
first settler was long a matter of dispute among 
old residents and local historians, but Peter 
Lautzenheiser, who was known to have been 
here in 1806, stated that upon his arrival M;-. 
Barber and family were the only white people 
living in this part of the county and that there 
were no evidences of any others having pre- 
ceded them. The fact has also been verified 
by other incontrovertible proofs, in the light 
of which the honor of having paved the way of 
civilization into what is now one of the most 



1294 



OLD LANDMARKS 



enterprising and progressive sections of Ohio, 
and to have lieen the first white man to erect 
his humble cabin where one of the common- 
weahh's most flourishing cities and important 
industrial and business centers stands will al- 
ways belong to the sturdy old pioneer whose 
claims to it appear so well founded. 

Harry Barber and family lived a number 
of years where they originally settled and he 
appears to have been a striking example of the 
strong, fearless, industrious pioneer of the 
early times. He cleared a farm, provided as 
well for those dependent upon him as circum- 
stances would admit, lived peaceably with the 
Indians, and spent much of his time in pursuit 
of game, with which the country then abound- 
ed, having been a natural hunter and an \\n- 
erring shot with the rille. In an early day 
he hauled from his farm stone for the founda- 
tions for many of the first buildings in Can- 
ton, among which was the block on Avhat was 
formerly known as the Hazlett corner, now 
the McKinley block. Subsequently Mr. Bar- 
ber disposed of his interests here and moved 
to Lockport, Tuscarawas county, where he 
purchased land, developed a farm, and spent the 
remainder of his days, and where a monument 
now stands to liis memory. He was a soldier 
in the war of 1812, and preceding and follow- 
ing that struggle took an active part in the 
campaigns against the Indians throughout the 
northwest. After his death his widow re- 
turned to Canton and spent the rest of her life 
with her son, the subject's father. She is re- 
membered as a most genial and lovable old 
lady and would frequently entertain her grand- 
children by narrating her thrilling experiences 
on the frontier. By kind treatment, she won 
the friendship of the Indians, among whom she 
lived a number of years, gave them sugar and 
other things they craved, nursed their sick and 
in many other ways demonstrated an interest 
in them, which they were not slow to recognize 
and appreciate. She died in Canton many 



years ago, at the advanced age of eighty years, 
and her memory, like a benediction, is still cher- 
i^hed and revered by her descendants. 

Harry Barber reared a family of five chil- 
dren, namely: William, James, John, Leon- 
ard and Harry, some of whom moved to west- 
ern state? and all of whom have exchanged 
the earthly life for tlie life eternal. \\'illiani 
Barber, the eldest of these sons, and father of 
the subject of this review, was born on the 
old farm, within the present limits of Canton, 
and grew to manhood among the stormy 
scenes and varied vicissitudes of the pioneer 
period. Wlien a lad of twelve 3'ears he drove 
stage from Canton via Waynesburg and Car- 
rollton to Steubenville, and on attaining his 
majority was made superintendent of the line. 
He followed staging exclusively until the com- 
jiletion of the Ft. Wayne Railroad, v/hen he 
opened a livery and sale stable in Canton, to 
which business, with the exception of a few 
years on a farm, he devoted the remainder of 
liis life. He married, in Canton, Miss Freder- 
icka Honk, a nati^^e of Germany, who was 
brought by her parents to the United States, 
when a child and who lived for some time 
thereafter in Pennsylvania. Subsequentlv her 
family moved to Canton, where she was reared 
to womanhood. William Barber died in this 
city about the year 1S86 and his wife was called 
to the other life two years later. They had 
cb.ildren as follows: Mary, deceased wife of 
George Buckius ; Preston, who ser\-ed four 
years in the late Civil war, married a Miss 
Allen, and died some years ago in Akron; 
Marshall C, the subject of. this sketch, is the 
third in order of birth ; Lavenia, now ^Irs. 
John Yost, lives in Canton, as does Orrin, the 
next in succession ; Edward is a resident of 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and Emma, the 
youngest, who became the wife of Charles 
Pence, is not living. 

Marshall C. Barber was born in the city of 
Canton, on the 23d day of July, 1847. Here 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1295 



he grew to manhoocrs estate, enjoying the ad- 
■\antages of the city schools, and on attaining 
his majority he began hfe in the grain business, 
in connection \Yith whicli he was also interested 
for a considerable time in the manufacture of 
flour. He followed the grain trade in Canton 
for a number of years, bought and shipped 
large quantities to the eastern markets, and 
met with encouraging success from his under- 
taking. Later he followed the same line of 
business in New Yoi"k, but Canton has been 
the scene of his most extensive operations, and 
it was in this city that his success was mainly 
achieved. In 1890 Mr. Barber, with several 
other parties, organized a company for • the 
purpose of building an opera house in Canton, 
he being made secretary, treasurer and busi- 
ness manager of the enterprise. In due time 
the present large, imposing structure was 
erected, a building meeting all the require- 
ments for which designed and reflecting great 
credit not only on the projectors, but upon 
the city as well. Since its completion the man- 
agement has been in the hands of Mr. Barber, 
who spares no pains to furnish the people a 
comfortable, elegantly ap])ointed and thor- 
oughly up-to-date place of public entertain- 
ment, one of the finest buildings of the kind 
in the state and comparing favorably with the 
best opera houses in the metropolitan cities of 
the country. 

Mr. Barber, on August 20, 1873, contracted 
a matrim.onial alliance with Miss Mary Sax- 
ton, who has borne him seven children, the 
oldest of whom, a son by the name of James, 
died a few years ago in Hong-Kong, China, 
while in the discharge of his duties as assist- 
ant paymaster of the Uuited States navy r 
Mary, the second of the family, married R'alph 
Ilartzell and at the present time resides in Den- 
yer, Colorado: George is in business in New 
York city: John is past assistant paymaster in 
the United Stales navy on the cruiser "To- 
peka ;" Ida is the wife of Luther Day, a son 



of Hon. William R. Day, formerly secretary 
of state in President McKinley's cabinet, now 
associate justice of the supreme court of the 
United States; William is a student of Yale 
College and Kate, the youngest of the num- 
ber, is prosecuting her literary studies in Smith 
College, Nortliampton, Massachusetts. 

Mr. Barber has long been interested in the 
inaterial prosperity of Canton and, like all 
good citizens, takes pride in the city and has 
faith in its future. He is public spirited to the 
extent of encouraging all laudable enterprises 
having for their object the social, intellectual 
and moral as well as the material welfare of 
the community, and lends his influence to every 
legitimate agency, for the accomplishment of 
ihese ends. In politics he supports the Repub- 
lican party, but has never been an office seeker 
nor an aspirant for any kind of public honor. 



WILLIAM L. STOLZENBACH is a na- 
tive of the Buckeye state, having been born in 
the town of Roseville, Muskingum county, 
Ohio, on the 4th of May, 1861, and being a son 
of Henry and Louise (Jockers) Stolzenbach, 
the former of whom was born in the city of 
Hambui^g, Germany, and the latter in Zanes- 
ville, Ohio, of German lineage. The father of 
the subject came to America when a young 
man, having learned the trade of tanner in his 
fatherland, and to this vocation he continued to 
devote his attention for many years, while he 
is now living retired in Lima, where he removed 
some fourteen years ago. Both he and his 
wife are consistent members of the Lutheran 
church. To them were born seven children, of 
whom all are living. William L. Stolzenbach 
was reared in his native town and in the city 
df Zanesville, where he attended the public 
schools until he had attained the age of eigh- 
een years, when he secured a position as travel- 
ing salesman for a mercantile house in Rose- 
ville, continuing to be thus employed for four 



1296 



OLD LANDMARKS 



years, at the expiration of which he became 
associated with his brother-in-law, James W. 
McCoy, in the general merchandise trade in his 
native town of Roseville, where they success- 
fully continued operations for several years. 
Mr. Stolzenbach then disposed of his interests 
to his partner and removed to Lima, Allen 
county, where he entered into partnership with 
his brother, Charles F., in the baking business, 
remaining there until 1894, when he came to 
Canton and established his present business, 
having at the present time a finely equipped 
establishment, with the most modern and ap- 
proved facilities for the turning out of the best 
order of bakery goods in all lines, while he 
employs the best class of assistants in the 
various departments, so that the best attain- 
able results are at all times assured. The busi- 
ness requires the use of six wagons and much 
of the product is shipped to outside points. In 
politics he is a stanch Republican, his religious 
faith is that of the Lutheran church, both he 
and his wife being members of Trinity church, 
of this denomination, in Canton, and fratern- 
ally he holds membership in the Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of 
the county board of review, having been ap- 
pointed to the same in May, 1903, for one year. 
On the 30th of December, 1885, in Rose- 
ville, Muskingum county, Mr. Stolzenbach was 
united in marriage to Miss Lulu Brown, who 
was born and reared in that county, being a 
daughter of James Brown. The subject and 
his estimable wife have won a wide circle of 
friends in Canton, and their pleasant home is 
one in which a genuine spirit of hospitality is 
ever in evidence. They have four children, 
namely : Lawrence, Jacob, Henry and Harold. 



MILLARD FILLMORE TAYLOR is a 
native of the old Keystone state, having been 
born in the town of Leechburg, Armstrong 
county, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of Decem- 



ber, 1856. He was reared to manhood in his 
native place, where he received excellent educa- 
tional advantages, having completed the curric- 
ulum of the public scliools and therafter sup- 
plemented this discipline by a course of study 
in the Leechburg Academy, while he also 
studied the higher branches and took a special 
commercial course while prosecuting his regu- 
lar course in this institution, being thus able 
to well fortify himself for the active responsi- 
bilities of life. Mr. Taylor left school at the 
age of eighteen years and then entered a drug 
store and began to devote careful attention to 
the study and practical work of pharmacy. He 
was employed as a drug clerk for several years, 
and in 1879 he engaged in the general merchan- 
dise business in Leechburg, continuing the en- 
terprise until 1886, when he established himself 
in the drug business in the same town, conduct- 
ing the same most successfully until 1894, when 
he became associated with other citizens of 
Leechburg in the organization of the Canton 
Rolling Mill Company, of which he was chosen 
secretary, the headquarters and mill of the con- 
cern being established in Canton, Ohio, within 
that year. He continued to be actively identi- 
fied with this concern, in the capacity noted, 
until the absorption of the business by the 
American Sheet Steel Company, in 1899, and 
he then liecame an interested principal in the 
Carnahan Stamping & Enameling Company, of 
which he is at the present time secretary and 
treasurer, the enterprise being one of the im- 
portant industries of the city. Mr. Taylor is 
a man of initiative power and has shown pro- 
gressive spirit by identifying himself witli 
other enterprises. He is vice-president of the 
A. P. Gould Dental Chair Manufacturing 
Company, of Canton, and is national secretary 
of the Lincoln Insurance Company. 

Mr. Taylor is intrinsically public-spirited, 
taking an active interest in all that concerns ' 
the moral, intellectual and material welfare of 
his home community. He has ever given a 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1297 



stanch allegiance to the Republican party, and 
while a resident of his native town in Pennsyl- 
vania was called upon to serve in various offices 
of public trust. He is a member of the Repub- 
lican Club of Canton and takes a lively interest 
in the party cause, while he was a member of 
the speakers' committee on the memorable 
occasion of the birthday banquet tendered in 
honor of the late President McKmley in his 
home city in 1903. Fraternally Mr. Taylor 
has completed the circle of York rite Masonry 
and has advanced to the fourteenth degree 
(Grand Lodge of Perfection) in the Scottish 
rite, while he is also identified with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of 
Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. He 
was reared in the faith of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church and from his youth up has been a 
devoted member of the same. He is at the 
present time a member of the board of trustees 
of the First Methodist Episcopal church of 
Canton, having been elected to this position in 
1895, at which time President McKinley was 
likewise chosen a member of the board. He is 
also a member of the board of managers of the 
Canton Young Men's Christian Association. 
In the First Methodist Episcopal church he is 
chairman of the committee on music and also 
has charge of the music in the Sunday school, 
while he takes an active part in all departments 
of the church work. He has a cultured musical 
taste, as have also the other members of his 
family, and their attractive home, at 120 West 
Lake street, is a center of gracious hospitality, 
the refined amenities being there ever in dis- 
tinctive evidence, while the entire family are 
devoted members of the Methodist church. In 
Leechburg, Pennsylvania, Mr. Taylor was 
prominently concerned in effecting the erection 
of the present fine edifice of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, his father having been one 
of the pillars of the church from the early days, 
and his home having been ever open to the 

itinerant clergyman and others who were act- 
si 



ively engaged in church work. He erected the 
first Methodist church in Leechburg and was 
a man who commanded the most unequivocal 
confidence and esteem in the community in 
which practically his entire life was passed. 

In Leechburg, Pennsylvania, on the 19th 
of September, 1878, Millard Fillmore Taylor 
was married to Miss Anna Maria Schwalm, 
who was born in that place, being a daughter 
of John and Sarah (Small) Schwahn, repre- 
sentatives of old and honored Pennsylvania, 
families. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have three chil- 
dren, Royal and Raymond, who are twins, the 
latter being organist of the First United Breth- 
ren church in Canton; and Helen Marie, who 
likewise remains at the parental home, the 
family being prominent in the social life of the 
city. 

Mr. Taylor's father, John Taylor, was born 
in the western part of Pennsylvania, and re- 
sided in the town of Leechburg from liis 
boyhood days until his death on Mon- 
day of the week of President McKinley's 
death, in 1902, at the age of seventy- 
seven years. He was a man of fine in- 
tellectuality and spotless integrity of charac- 
ter, wielding a beneficent influence in the com- 
munity where he lived and labored to so goodly 
ends. In his youth he learned the trades of 
tanning and harnessmaking, and to the same he 
devoted his attention for a long term of years, 
while he became knovvu as one of the prominent 
and influential business men of the town. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Julia Bair, was 
likewise a native of the Keystone state, where 
she passed her entire life, her death occurring 
in 1885, at which time she was fifty-two years 
of age. She was a noble and devoted Christian 
woman, and the family home was one which 
fully justified the name. This worthy couple 
became the parents of seven children, concern- 
ing whom we enter the following brief record : 
George B. is a resident of Bethlehem, Pennsyl- 
vania ; Mary C. is the wife of Jacob H. Parks, 



1298 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of Leechburg; Millard F., of this sketch, was 
the next in order of birth ; Harriet C. is the wife 
of Samuel M. McCracken, of Leechburg; 
Charles G. is a resident of Canal Dover, Stark 
county, Ohio; William L. is engaged in busi- 
ness in Canton, this county; and J. Siebert is 
a resident of Janesville, Wisconsin. 

Matthew Taylor, grandfather of the sub- 
ject, was born and reared in England, whence 
he emigrated to America as a young man, his 
birth having occurred in the year 1797. He 
was a merchant tailor by trade and was en- 
gaged in this line of work in Leechburg for a 
number of years, but in later life was identified 
with various other lines of enterprise. He 
died at the age of eighty-eight years, while his 
wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Craw- 
ford and who was born in Pennsylvania, of 
Scotch-Irsh .descent, passed away at the age of 
seventy-five years. 



ATLEE POMERENE.— An able and rep- 
resentative member of the bar of Stark 
county, Mr. Ponierene comes of distinguished 
French ancestry in the agnatic line, his great- 
grandfather having come to America as a mem- 
ber of the staff of General Lafayette and having 
served most valiantly until the close of the war 
of the Revolution, after which he established 
his home in the state of Pennsylvania, where 
he secured a grant of land. There was born 
his son Julius, grandfather of the subject, and 
he was reared to agricultural pursuits which 
he followed in the old Keystone state up to the 
time of his emigration to Ohio, where he be- 
came a pioneer farmer of Holmes county. He 
married Miss Elizabeth Piersol, and both died 
in Holmes county, honored by all who knew 
them. Peter P. Ponierene, M. D., the father 
of him whose name initiates this paragraph, 
was born in Holmes county. Ohio, in the year 
1832, and was there reared to maturity. He 



became one of the leading medical practitioners 
of that section of the state, where he continued 
in practice for forty years, while in the early 
period of professional labors he prosecuted 
the same under circumstances which called for 
the utmost self-abnegation and devotion. He 
was reared under the discipline of the pioneer 
farm and received his early educational disci- 
pline in the district schools of Holmes county 
and in a seminary in Medina county, after 
which he was for a time engaged in teaching 
school. Fie studied medicine under the direc- 
tion of his older brother, Dr. Joel Pomerene, 
who was later a surgeon during the war of the 
Rebellion, having been thus attached to the 
regiment commanded by General Garfield. 
Later Dr. Peter P. Pomerene continued his 
technical studies in Cleveland, Ohio, and 
eventually was matriculated in Jefferson Medi- 
cal College, in the city of Philadelphia, where 
he was graduated. He was a man of fine in- 
tellectual and professional attainments and was 
one of the influential and honored citizens of 
Holmes county, where he died in 1892, having 
been for some time a member of the faculty of 
the Ohio Medical University, in Columbus, of 
which position he was incumbent at the time of 
his demise. He was reared in the faith of the 
Baptist church, with which the family has long 
been identified. 

In his native county Dr. Pomerene was 
united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Wise, who 
was born in the same county in 1841, and who 
still maintains her home in the village of Berlin, 
where she has resided for so many years and 
where she is sustained and comforted by the 
affection of a wide circle of friends. Dr. 
Pomerene ever gave an uncompromising alle- 
giance to the Democratic party, taking a deep 
interest in local affairs of a public nature and 
being particularly active in promoting the cause 
of education. He was twice married, the 
maiden name of his first wife having been 
Loretta Maxwell, and of his eleven children 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1299 



the subject of this sketch was the eldest of the 
children born of the second marriage. 

Atlee Pomerene was born in the parental 
homestead, in Berlin, Holmes county, Ohio, on 
the 6th of December, 1863, and after availing- 
himself of such advantages as were afforded 
in the public schools of his native village he 
entered the \^ermilion Institute, at Hayesville, 
Ashland county, where he also acted as tutor 
for one year. He thereafter secured admission 
to the junior class in Princeton College, New 
Jersey, where he was graduated in 1884, as 
one of the honor men of his class. He then 
located in the city of Cincinnati, where he be- 
gan the reading of law under the direction of 
General Durbin Waid, later being matricu- 
lated in the Cincinnati Law School where he 
was graduated as a member of the class of 
1886, and while a student in this institution 
he secured the prize in a debating contest. 
Soon after graduating from this college Mr,. 
Pomerene came to Canton, and entered into 
a professional partnership with Major Charles 
R. Miller, who is now a resident of the city of 
Cleveland, and this alliance continued until 
July, igoi, after which Mr. Pomerene con- 
ducted an individual practice about six months, 
at the expiration of which he entered into part- 
nership with Robert S. Shields, under the firm 
name of Shields & Pomerene, which associa- 
tion still obtains, the firm having well equipped 
offices in the Eagle Block. 

Mr. Pomerene is one of the leaders in the 
local ranks of the Democratic party and is a 
prominent worker in the cause of the same, 
while he has been called upon to serve in posi- 
tions of trust and responsibility in the gift of 
the voters of Stark county and touching the 
technical work of the profession for which he 
has been so thoroughly well trained. Tn 1887 
he was elected city solicitor of Canton, in which 
office he served two terms of two years each. 
In 1896 he was elected prosecuting attorney 
of .Stark county, with a majority of six hundred 



and twenty. The county is strongly Republican 
and he being the only candidate elected on the 
Democratic ticket since 1892. He was incum- 
bent of this office until 1900, and within hi.s 
term as prosecutor he was identified with many- 
important cases, including the trial of the mur- 
derer of George B. Saxton,in which he handled 
the prosecution with marked ability and dis- 
crimination, adding much to his prestige as an 
advocate. He served one year as a member 
of the board of education and has at all times 
shown a marked interest in all that makes for 
the well-being of his home city and county, 
while his course has been such as to retain to 
him the unequivocal confidence and regard of 
his professional confreres and also of the gen- 
eral public. Mr. Pomerene is president of the 
William R. Hearst Democratic Club, of Canton, 
and fraternally he is identified with the local 
lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks, of which he has the distinction of being 
past exalted ruler. Mr. Pomerene is a stock- 
holder of the Canton Steel Roofing Company 
and a member of its board of directors, thus 
representing one of the important industrial 
enterprises of the county. 

On the 29th of June, 1892, Mr. Pomerene 
was united in marriage to Miss Mary Bockius, 
daughter of Lewis V. and Caroline (Graham) 
Bockius, of Canton, and they are prominent in 
the social life of the city. 



JUDGE HENRY A. WISE was born on 
the old homestead farm, near Middlebranch, 
Plain township, Stark county, Ohio, on the 
nth of September, 1845, and there also oc- 
curred the birth of his father, Aaron S. Wise, 
on the 25th of Janu.-iry, 1819, this fact indicat- 
ing- that the family came to the county in the 
early pioneer q^och. Aaron S. Wise was 
reared to maturity under the invigorating dis- 
cipline of the farni, and his educational advant- 
ages were such as were aft'orded in the district 



I300 



OLD LANDMARKS 



schools of llic lime and locality. In 1843 '^^ 
was united in marriage to Miss Catherine 
Houser, who was b(5ni in Nimishillen town- 
ship, this county, on the 5th of January, 1825, 
being a daugiiter of Martin Houser, who 
was one of the pioneers of that town- 
ship, and who was a son of Martin Houser, 
Sr., who was located in Pennsylvania, prior to 
the war of the Revolution, in which he was an 
active participant. He was taken prisoner by 
the Indians, in company with a companion, and 
they were held in captivity for a period of three 
years, when they effected their escape by secret- 
ing themselves in a hollow log until the Indians 
hatl passed. The father of the subject passed 
his entire life in Stark cuuiity, where he wa"s en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits and also ran a 
general store and flouring mill and tannery, 
and here his death occurred in the year 1858, 
his funeral services being held on the 4th of 
July of that year. There his parents also died, 
having been folk of sterling character and hav- 
ing lived lives of honor and usefulness, as did 
also their children, who did not depart from the 
lines of rectitude along which they had been 
so carefully and conscientiously trained. The 
mother of the subject is still living, and re- 
sides in Canton. Of her five childrai we enter 
the following brief record : Phoebe, who be- 
came the wife of Philip E. Thompson, died in 
i8qi, leaving one child, Catherine, who is now 
the wife of Joseph Hartzell, of Canton ; Henry 
A., of this sketch, was the next in order of 
birth; Aurelia died in infancy; Amanda is also 
deceased; and Ella is the wife of \Valter S. 
Chance, of Washington, D. C. 

Henry A. Wise passed his boyhood days 
on the old homestead farm, securing his early 
educational training in the district schools and 
thereafter attending the high school in Canton. 
Pie later entered the University of Michigan, 
at Ann Arbor, where he was a student for two 
years, taking the scientific course. In 1867 he 
was matriculated in the Dennison Universitv 



at Gran\ ille, Ohio, where he was graduated as 
a member of the class of 1870, receiving the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts. After leaving col- 
lege he began reading law in the office of and 
under the direction of Alexander Bierce, an 
able member of the Canton bar, and two years 
later he was admitted to the bar of the state. 
He fortliwitli established himself in the prac- 
tice of his profession in this city, associating 
himself with Anson Pease, who was subse- 
quently elected to the bench of the court of 
coninum pleas. They continued to be asso- 
ciated in practice about ten years, the firm gain- 
ing marked precedence and retaining a repre- 
sentative clientage, while Mr. W^ise gained a 
high reputation both as an advocate and a safe 
and conservative counsellor. He has in the past 
appeared in connection with much important 
litigation, and has shown himself well versed 
in the law and facile in the application of his 
broad and exact knowledge of the science of 
jurisprudence. In July, 1882., Judge Wise was 
appointed to serve out the unexpired term of 
Timothy .Sullivan in the office of county treas- 
urer, and at the end of the term, in September 
of the following year, he accepted the position 
as cashier of the City National Bank, remain- 
ing incumbent of the same until the autumn of 
the year 1S90, when he resigned the office and 
was engaged in the practice of his profession 
until the following- spring, when he was elected 
vice-president of the Earmers' Bank, to which 
institution he ga\-e his attention until taking his 
seat as judge of the probate court in Eebruary, 
1894, having been elected to that office the pre- 
vious November. He was incumbent of this 
office until February, 1900, and his administra- 
tion was one of signal discrimination and; 
ability. The popular appreciation of his 
efforts in this connection was signified by 
his having been re-elected for the second 
term. Since his retireinent from the 
office Judge Wise has not been engaged 
in the practice of his profession, devot- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1301 



ing his time and attention to his various 
financial and real estate interests. During the 
year 1901 he was secretary and treasurer of the 
Canton & Malvern Fire-brick Paving Com- 
pany, remaining in tenure of this dual office 
until the plant and business was sold. For fif- 
teen years he was treasurer of the Stark County 
Agricultural Society, in whose promotion he 
took a most zealous interest. He is president 
of the Canton Cemetery Association and vice- 
president of the Dime Savings Bank, of this 
city, and also has farming interests in Jackson 
township and other real-estate investments of 
importance. Since 1862 he has made his home 
with his widowed mother in Canton. 

In May, 1S64, Judge VVi.se enlisted as a pri- 
vate in Company B, One Hundred and Sixty- 
second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he 
-continued in service until -the expiration of his 
term of enlistment, whei: he received an honor- 
able tlischarge. In politics he has ever accorded 
an uncompromising allegiance to the Repub- 
lican party, his first presidential vote having 
been cast in support of General Grant. The 
Judge has attained the thirty-second degree in 
the Scottish-Rite Masonry, affiliating with the 
consistory at Cleveland, Ohio, while he had the 
distinction of being the first eminent comman- 
der of Canton Commandery No. 38, Knights 
Templar. He is also identified with Canton 
Lodge No. 68, Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks; Nimishillen Lodge No. 39, 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Mc- 
Kinley Post No. 25, of the Grand Army of 
the Republic. 



ISAAC N. DAGER.— Jacob Dager, fa- 
ther of the subject, was born in Washington 
county, Pennsylvania, on the 29th of Sei)tem- 
ber, 1814. His parents were Jacob and Cath- 
erine (Hewitt) Dager, of Pennsylvania, while 
his grandfather, Martin Dager, was a native of 
'Germany. Jacob Dager was reared under the 



parental roof and remained there until his 
twenty-eighth year. In the meantime he had 
acquired a good i)ractica] education and became 
(|ualified for the profession of teaching, which 
he followed for about five years in the home 
locality. He was ambitious to broaden his 
knowledge and between his terms of school 
applied himself to the study of the higher 
branches in Washington College, in his native 
state. In 1840 he came to Carroll county, 
Ohio, teaching during the winter months and 
de\-oting the summers to the arduous toil of 
clearing the heavy growth of timber from his 
nev.dy-j)urchased farm. In the spring of 1853 
he purchased the farm which his son, John 
IL, now owns and added to it from time to 
time until he at length possessed a splendid 
tract of two hundred and eighty acres. The 
locality was remarkal)Iy well adapted to stock- 
raising and Mr. Dager combined this with 
farming, and it may be said with perfect truth- 
fulness that no other man in al.l this part of 
Ohio did so nuich to advance the interests of 
sheep breeding and raising as did Mr. Dager. 
He first introduced Merino sheep into his town- 
ship and at all the fairs and exhibits for a num- 
ber of years carried off all the premiums on this 
breed of sheep. He was financially successful 
in all his operations, particularly in connec- 
tion with his sheep industry. On the 8th of 
November, 1838, Mr. Dager and Miss Eleanor 
Hastings were united in the holy bonds of wed- 
lock, a union which was blessed by the birth 
of five children, of whom two survive, John 
H. and the subject. Jacob Dager died on the 
4di of March, 1889. In all political matters he 
allied himself with the Democratic party and, 
though nex'er v\'hat might be termed an oflicc 
seeker, he served sc\'eral terms as trustee of 
his township and for many years filled the office 
of justice of the peace. All in all, he was wide- 
ly known and highly respected and few men 
exerted so potent an influence in his township 
as did he. 



I302 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Isaac X. Dager was born in Carroll coun- 
ty, Ohio, on the 17th of December. 1846, and 
Avas reared under the parental roof. He ac- 
quired his preliminary mental discipline in the 
common schools and supplemented this with 
attendance at Mt. Union College. At the age 
of nineteen years he commenced teaching 
school, continuing this occupation four winters. 
About the time of his marriage, in 1868, he 
settled upon the farm on which he now re- 
sides, it then comprising one hundred and 
twenty acres and havinsj been given him by 
his father. He continued to teach school for 
two winters after his marriage, attending to 
his farm duties during the summers, but has 
since then devoted almost all his attention to 
agriculture. He is thoroughly up-to-date in 
his methods and is accounted one of the sub- 
stantial farmers of his township. 

Jn t868 Mr. Dager was united in marriage 
with Miss Rachel Gibler, also a native of Car- 
roll county. To them have been bom four 
children, of whom three survive, as follows : 
Ida Viola, wife of Byron B. Bowman, of Rob- 
ertsville, Ohio; and Eleanor F. and Hannah 
R., at home. The subject is a Democrat in his 
political adherency, has taken an active part 
in advancing the interests of his party and for 
many years served as a member of the school 
board. Fraternally he is a member of Juilliard 
Lodge No. 460, Free and Accepted IMasons, 
and in his daily life exemplifies the beneficent 
principles of that time-honored fraternity. As 
an agriculturist Mr. Dager has long enjoyed 
the reputation of being a leader among his 
fellow citizens of Osnaburg township. He 
cultivates the soil according to the latest and 
most improved methods, and, believing hus- 
bandry to be a science worthy of the most 
careful thought, is very thorough in all he at- 
tempts and seldom fails to reap abundant har- 
vests as a reward for the care and toil ex- 
pended. 



JOHN F. SPITLER comes of stanch Ger- 
man ancestry in both the agnatic and mater- 
nal lines, and the name which he bears became 
early identified with the annals of the state of 
Pennsylvania, from which commonwealth his 
grandfather. Christian Spitler, emigrated to 
Summit county. Ohio, in the pioneer epoch of 
its history, having been a cabinetmaker by 
trade and vocation and having become the 
pioneer undertaker of Greensburg, Summit 
county, where he died when well advanced in 
years. Darius Spitler, father of the subject, 
was born in that town, in 1846, and there 
learned the trade of cabinetmaker under the 
eiTective direction of his honored father, while, 
being 'the eldest of three sons, he carried on 
the business after the death of his father. At 
the age of sixteen years, against the wishes of 
his father, he tendered his services in defense 
of the Union, joining three other boys of 
Greensburg and going to Indiana, where they 
enlisted, Mr. Spitler becoming a private in 
Company F, Twelfth Indiana Volunteer In- 
fantry, with which he rendered valiant service 
during two years of the war of the Rebellion, 
being then discharged by reason of physicial 
disabihty and having been taken prisonar at 
Richmond, Virginia, being held in captivity 
for some time and then released on parole. 
His regiment participated in many important 
campaigns and he had his full quota of hard 
service. His father died soon after Darius 
returned home, and the latter then assumed 
charge of the undertaking and cabinetmaking 
business in Greensburg, where he remained un- 
til 1862, when he came to Canton, where he 
was for a time engaged in the same line of 
enterprise, after which he was employed in 
the plow factory of Ephraim Ball, of this city, 
and later in the wood-working department of 
the Aultman shops, while at the present time he- 
is incumbent of a responsible position with the 
Ohio Table Company, at Massillon, this coun- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1303 



ty. In politics he has been a stanch supporter 
of the principles of the Reptibhcan party from 
the time of attaining his majority, and his re- 
ligious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, of which his wife likewise is a de- 
voted member. 

In the city of Canton, on the i8th of Sep- 
tember, 1864, Darius Spitler was united in 
marriage to Miss Margaret Boom, who was 
born in Canton, in 1848, being a daughter of 
Conrad and Mary Boom, both of whom were 
born and reared in Germany, where they mar- 
ried, and shortly after this event came to 
America and located in Canton, where their 
seven children were born. Here Mr. Boom 
was a pioneer shoemaker and cobbler, having 
been for many years engaged in business on 
East Tuscarawas street, and here he and his 
wife passed the remainder of their lives. 
Darius and Margaret (Boom) Spitler became 
the parents of hve children, namely : Elta, 
who is the wife of Charles Diebold, of Cleve- 
land, Oliio; John F., who is the immediate sub- 
ject of this sketch; Forest, who is in the em- 
ploy of the Albrecht Company, of Akron, 
Ohio; Oscar, who is stenographer at the Best 
Street Light Company, of Canton ; and 
Howard, who is likewise a resident of this 
city and employed as estimating clerk in the 
office of the J. H. Eller Company, of this city. 

John F. Spitler was born in the city of 
Canton, on the 23d of May, 1868, and here he 
attended the public schools until he had com- 
pleted the studies of the eighth grade. He 
then determined that it was expedient for him 
to initiate his independent career, and accord- 
ingly he secured a position in the cabinet de- 
partment of the Diebold safe works, where as 
a boy of fifteen years he secured six cents an 
hour in recompense for his services, while 
later he supplemented his educational disci- 
pline by taking a thorough course in the Can- 
ton Business College in bookkeeping and ste- 
nography. In 1890 Mr. Spitler became clerk 



;aid stenographer in the office of Baldwin 
& Shields, a representative law firm of Can- 
ton, at the same time taking up the study of 
law with the Sprague Correspondence School 
of Law, of Detroit, Michigan. With this law 
finn he remained for the long period of ten 
years, at the expiration of which the fimi was 
dissolved, Judge Baldwin having been ap- 
pointed by President McKinley consul to Nur- 
emberg. In the meanwhile Mr. Spitler had 
acquired an excellent knowledge of the law and 
of the various publications pertaining there- 
to, so that he was distinctively eligible for the 
preferment which then came to him in his ap- 
pointment by the court, F'ebruary i, 1900, over 
ten other applicants, to his present office of 
librarian of the Stark County Law Library 
Association, in which capacity he has rendered 
most efficient service, his management of the 
library having gained him the unequivocal 
commendation of the members of the bar, who 
have not failed to manifest their appreciation 
of his fidelity and scrupulous care. In Oc- 
tober, 1902, Mr. Spitler was appointed by the 
trustees of Canton township, justice of the 
peace, to fill out the unexpired term of T. C. 
Snyder, entering upon the discharge of his 
official duties on October 16, 1902. He has 
devoted no little attention to the reading of 
law in the past few years, and is thus specially 
well qualified for the handling of this judicial 
offi.ce. In April, 1903, Mr. Spitler was elec- 
ted- by the people to succeed himself as justice 
of the peace, for a term of three years, receiv- 
ing the largest plurality of any of the candi- 
dates on the Republican ticket at said election. 
In politics he gives a stanch allegiance to the 
Republican party, and fraternally he is identi- 
fied with several of the prominent fraternal 
orders in Canton. 

On the 2d of September, 1891, Mr. Spitler 
was united in marriage to Miss Rose L. 
Bechele, who was bom and reared in Canton, 
being a daughter of John Bechele, a well 



I304 



OLD LANDMARKS 



known and honored citizen of the county, and 
of this union have been bom two children, 
Viola and Arthur. 



PROF. EDMUND A. JONES is one of 
Ohio's distinguished educators and for over a 
quarter of a century he has been at the head of 
the public schools of Massillon, of which city 
he is an honored and influential citzien. He is 
a New Englander l)y birth and an Ohioan by 
adoption. He was born February ii, 1842, 
at Rockville, Massachusetts, and is a son of 
Elisha Adams and Rhoda (Ellis) Jones. His 
great-grandfather was Simpson Jones, a nati\-e 
of Medway, Massachusetts, and an agricultur- 
ist by occupation. Elisha Adams Jones, grand- 
father of the Professor, was born in Massa- 
chusetts in 1 78 1 and died in i860. He was 
well educated, taught school many years, and 
in later life was a farmer. He was prominent 
in his community and served as a captain of 
the Massachusetts militia. Elisha Adams 
Jones, second, the subject's father, was born in 
October, 181 5, and died in October, 1899. He 
was also a teacher and followed farming. 
Rhoda Ellis, the Professor's mother, was born 
in Medway, Massachusetts, in 1820 and was 
the daughter of Moses Ellis, also a native of 
Massachusetts, and a descendant of one of the 
old families of that commonwealth. She was 
a iady of more than ordinary intelligence and 
education, having been a student of the old 
Bradford Academv. Her death occurred in 

1873- 

Professor Jones received his earlv edu- 
cation in the common schools, and was fitted 
for college at Mt. Hollis Academy. In i860 
he entered Amherst College, where he pursued 
his studies for two years, leaving the college 
in the fall of 1862 to enlist in Company B, 
Forty-second Massacluisetts Reg'iment of In- 
fantiy. With the Forty-second he was sent 
first to New Orleans to join Banks' expedition. 



The first battle he participated in was Bayou 
LaFourche, in June, 1803, in which engage- 
ment he was seriously wounded in the left 
shoulder. While the wound was most painful 
and needed attention, he was compelled tO' re- 
main on duty for three days thereafter, before 
he was ordered to New Orleans to have it 
properly dressed. He held the rank of fifth 
sergeant, and was recommended by his lieu- 
tenant-colonel for promotion for meritorious 
service. He was honorably discharged and 
mustered out of service at Boston, in July, 
1863. He soon resumed his studies at Am- 
herst College, where, in 1865, he was grad- 
uated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts 
and three years later received the degree of 
Master of Arts. While at Amherst he was 
president of the sophomore class of '64, and of 
the senior class of '65. 

Professor Jones began his educational 
work in 1865 as professor of Latin and 
gymnastic instructor at Lake Forest, Ilinois. 
At the close of his second year he was made 
associate principal, and so continued until the 
fourth year, when he was advanced to the post 
of principal of the academy. In October, 1869, 
he came to Massillon as superintendent of the 
city schools, in which position he served for 
four years, then resigned to accept a similar 
position at Marietta, Ohio, to which he had 
been elected without solicitation on his part and 
without ever having even met a member of 
the board of education of that city. But so 
pleased had been the people of Massillon with 
his administration of school affairs in their 
city that in 1875 he was elected and induced 
to accept the superintendency at this place 
again, and from that time on he has continued 
at the head of the city schools, his administra- 
tion proving so uniformly successful and satis- 
factory that he has been re-elected from time 
to time practically without opposition. For 
ten or twelve years Professor Jones was a 
member of the board of examiners for Stark 





■'iT'l/X^^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



>305 



county, and was president of the board several 
years. In 1889 he was elected principal of 
the West Cleveland high school at an advanced 
salary, but the Massillon board of education, 
unwilling to relinquish him, promptly met the 
raise and retained his services. 

Professor Jones was a member of the Ohio 
state board of examiners from 1887 to 1895, 
of which board he was made president. He 
assisted in the organization of the State 
Teachers' Reading Circle in 1883, and for 
several years was corresponding secretary and 
treasurer. He has been a member of the board 
of control continuously to the present time. 
He is a member of the Ohio Teachers' Associ- 
ation and in 1892 was president of the same. 
He has been secretary of the board of trustees 
of the Charity Rotch School for many years, 
and treasurer of the McClymonds Public 
Library. He has been a trustee of the Presby- 
terian church for twenty years or more, also 
an elder, and for more than a quarter of a 
century was superintendent of the Sunday 
school. He is an active member and past com- 
mander of Hart Post No. 134, Grand Army of 
the Republic, and has been president of the 
Stark county soldiers' relief commission for 
sixteen years. He was a delegate to the Grand 
Army of the Republic national convention at 
Boston in 1890. He helped to organize the 
Massillon lx>ard of trade, and has served as 
its secretarv- from the time of its organization. 
On June 4, 1903. Professor Jones received the 
Republican nomination for state commissioner 
of common schools. 

December 23, 1873, Professor Jones mar- 
ried Flora Richards, who was Ixjrn in ISIas- 
sillon. She was a daughter of Warren C. and 
Helen (Ford) Richards. One son, Walter 
Elisha. was Ijorn March 4, 1893. There was 
also a daughter. Flora Ellis, born in December, 
1879, but who died the same year. The son 
graduated from the Massillon high school, 
afterward attending the Hudson Preparatory 



School and is now at Amherst College, from 
which he will graduate in 1904. Professor 
Jones has long been a popular lecturer before 
county institutes and teachers' associations. In 
June, 1903, he received the degree of Doctor 
of Philosophy from the Ohio University at 
Athens. 



JOHN H. SPRANKLE.— The paternal 
grandparents of the subject were Michael and 
Elizabeth Sprankle, the former a well known 
and influential resident of Bedford county, 
Pennsylvania. He was the owner of the Bed- 
ford mills and was reputed to be the wealthiest 
man in his native county. Selling his property 
there in 181 5, he removed to Stark county, 
Ohio, with the declared purpose of becoming 
the wealthiest man in that county also. But 
his ambition was not to be realized, as a short 
time after his arrival he was killed by a falling 
tree. Upon coming to this county he had 
entered a large tract of fine land, which upon 
his death was inherited by his sons. Jacob 
Sprankle, the father of the subject, after his 
father's death made his home for two or three 
years with his brother Michael, when he was 
united in marriage with Miss Margaret 
Drushal. Soon after his marriage he pur- 
chased one hundred and twenty acres of land 
which, is now within the city limits of Can- 
ton and is the property of Mr. Deuber, the 
watch manufacturer. Here he resided up to 
within about a year of his death, when he re- 
moved down into the city. He was tw-ice mar- 
ried, there being no issue to the second union. 
To his marriage with Margaret Drushal were 
born ten children, of whom but three survive, 
Anna, the wife of Emanuel Cover, of Michi- 
gan; Catherine, wife of Abraham Murphy, of 
Canton, and the subject. 

In politics Jacob Sprankle was a Democrat 
up to the time of the organization of the Re- 
publican party, when he allied himself with the 



I305 



OLD LANDMARKS 



new party and remained faithful to its princi- 
ples until his death. He was notably success- 
ful financially, owning two residences in Can- 
ton, and besides his home farm he also owned 
a farm of one hundred and forty-eight acres 
in Pike township. He was the owner of the 
Eagle Woolen Mills, but did not operate this 
enterprise himself, having rented it to other 
parties. Religiously he was a member of the 
German Baptist church and lived a life con- 
sistent with his profession. His death oc- 
curred in April, 1887. 

John H. Sprankle was born in the city of 
Canton, the date of his birth being Septem- 
ber 7, 1829. He was reared under the parental 
roof and received his education in the common 
schools of his neighborhood. In May, 1849, 
at the age of twenty years, the subject went to 
work in the Eagle mills, where he was em- 
ployed until 1854, when he left the mill and 
purchased his present farm, the tract at that 
time comprising one hundred and ten acres. 
During subsequent years he added to this tract 
until eventually he became the possessor of 
three hundred and twenty acres. He has since 
sold one hundred and ten acres of this to his 
sons, now owning two hundred and ten acres. 
In 1885 he purchased the Osnaburg grist mills, 
but in December, T887, they were utterly de- 
stroyed by fire, entailing a loss of over eight 
thousand dollars. Mr. Sprankle has been very 
successful in his various financial operations 
and is now one of the heaviest tax payers in his 
township. For the past fifteen years he has not 
taken a very active part in business matters, 
having rented his farm to other parties, though 
he still makes his home there. 

On tlie 20th of November, 1852, Mr. 
Sprankle was united in marriage to Miss Anna 
E. Frey, a native of Osnaburg township and 
the daughter of Frederick Frey. The latter 
was a native of Germany, but when a young 
man tied to this country in order to escape 
army service, which is compulsory in his native 



country. Upon his arrival in this country he 
was the possessor of but six dollars in money, 
but was energetic, ambitious and economical, 
and at the time of his death was considered a 
wealthy man. For a number of years he ran 
a cooperage shop and a distillery in connection 
with his farm, making much money in both 
enterprises. He has also for many years prac- 
ticed veterinary surgery, with marked success. 
To the subject and his wife were born six 
children, four sons and two daughters, of 
whom those surviving are Henry, a resident 
of Osnaburg township; Florence, the wife of 
Louis Loutzenheiser, of Louisville, this coun- 
ty; and John G., who is employed by the 
American Bridge Works, of Chicago. In poli- 
tics the subject is a stanch and uncompro- 
mising Republican and served one term as 
trustee of the township, refusing to accept the 
office longer, though importuned by his friends 
to do so. Mr. Sprankle is one of the oldest 
native born residents of Stark county and his 
life has been closely interwoven with the 
growth and development of the county. He 
early realized the necessity of good citizenship 
and with strong mind and determined purpose 
addressed himself to the bringing about of 
this result. He has always been optimistic 
enough to look upon the bright side, and, un- 
like the majority of old men, he still retains 
much of his youthful spirit and is popular with 
all who know him. 



JONATHAN BOWMAN was born in the 
township in which he now resides, the date of 
his birth being December 13, 1821. His parents 
were Samuel and Mary M. (Klinger) Bow- 
man. His father was probably born in North- 
umberland county, Pennsylvania, and in 1817, 
in company with two brothers, Jacob and John, 
and a sister, Mrs. Clark, he came to Stark 
county, Ohio. Here Samuel entered eighty 
acres of land in Osnaburg township, that is 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1307 



now owned by his son Isaac ; Jacob entered one 
hundred and sixty acres of land in Pike town- 
ship, and John, after remaining in this county 
nearly a year returned to his home in Penn- 
sylvania. Samuel Bowman resided upon this 
farm until his death, which occurred when 
he was in his seventy-fourth year. He was 
a Whig in politics and a Lutheran in religious 
belief. His wife was a native of Dauphin coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, and survived her husband 
about seven years, dying at the age of about 
seventy-seven years. They were the parents 
of twelve children, of whom three now sur- 
vive, Benjamin, a resident of Iowa ; Isaac, 
who resides on the old homestead, and the sub- 
ject. 

Jonathan Bowman was reared under the 
parental roof and secured his education in the 
common schools. The school facilities at that 
time were crude and scant in comparison with 
the splendid system in operation at the present 
day, but such as it was it was eagerly taken 
advantage of by the subject, who proved an apt 
pupil. This education has since been supple- 
mented by a wide and liberal course of reading, 
covering a long line of topics, and a close ob- 
servation of men and events, so that today 
there are in Osnaburg township but few better 
informed men than the subject. At the age 
of twenty-one years Mr. Bowman became ap- 
prenticed to the carpenter's trade and for some 
ten years followed that occupation, meeting 
with a fair degree of success. About 1850 
Mr. Bowman settled upon the farm whereon 
he now resides and has since made that his 
home. This farm was formerly owned by his 
father-in-law, who died some two years be- 
fore the subject's marriage. 

On the 20th of October, 1850, Jonathan 
Bowman was united in marriage with Miss 
Eliza A. Kelly, the daughter of Colonel Rich- 
ard Kelly, in his day one of the most promi- 
nent men in Stark county and at one time a 
candidate for the legislature on the Whig 



ticket. He came to Stark county from Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, about 1819, buy- 
ing the farm which is now the home of the sub- 
ject, on which he resided until his death. He 
bore an honorable military record, having en- 
listed for service during the war of 1812 and 
rose to the rank of captain. To the subject and 
his wife have been born six children, four of 
whom survive, namely : Mary is the wife of 
Isaac Clapper, of Osnaburg; Sadie is the wife 
of Daniel Myers, of Osnaburg; John B., who 
is a teacher at Mt. Union College, this state, 
was for three years superintendent of the 
Northeast Ohio College at Canfield; Homer 
is a farmer and has charge of the home farm. 
In politics the subject is a stanch advocate of 
Republican principals, believing them to be 
the most conducive to the welfare of the 
American people. He possesses sound and 
well-founded convictions on all public ques- 
tions and has the courage to express himself 
upon them when occasion requires. He takes 
a deep interest in educational matters and for 
fourteen years was a member of the school 
board, four years of the time being its presi- 
dent. Religiously he is identified with the 
Methodist Episcopal church and lends his sup- 
port to all movements having for their object 
the welfare of the community and society at 
large. 



JOHN D. FRANK is of the third .genera- 
tion of the family in the United States, his 
grandfather, George Frank, having been born 
in the province of Alsace, France, now an 
integral portion of the German empire, whence 
he came tn America as a young man and located 
in Washington county. Pennsylvania, where 
he married and where he continued to reside 
until 180S, when he came as a pioneer to Stark 
county, Ohio, taking up a tract of heavily tim- 
bered land in Lake township, where he de- 
veloped a good farm and became one of the 



l3o3 



OLD LANDMARKS 



wealthy and influential men of the community, 
both he and his wife passing the residue of their 
lives on this old homestead. 

John Frank, father of the subject, was born 
in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in the 
year 1806, and as a boy accompanied his par- 
ents on their removal to Stark county, being 
reared on the pioneer homestead in Lake town- 
ship, while his educational advantages were 
such as were afforded in the common schools 
of the period. He was self-reliant and inde- 
pendent and gave manifestation to the pos- 
session of these attribute.^ by marrying against 
the wishes of his father, believing that this 
should be a matter for he himself to decide and 
having confidence in his ability to make his 
own way in the world. He accordingly was 
imited in marriage to Miss Margaret Thomp- 
son, daughter of John Thompson, who was of 
Scotch-Irish descent and who was one of the 
sterling pioneer farmers of Lake township, 
where his daughter was born and reared. Af- 
ter his marriage Mr. Frank located on a tract 
of land in Lake township and in course of time 
he reclaimed a valuable farm and became one 
of the substantial and representative citizens 
of that section of the county, where he com- 
manded the high regard of all who knew him. 
He retired from the farm in i860 and took 
up his residence in the village of Uniontown, 
where he passed the remainder of his life, be- 
ing summoned into eternal rest in 1886, at the 
age of eighty years. His first wife, mother 
of the subject, passed away in 1855, at the age 
of forty-seven years, having been a devoted 
member of the United Brethren church. She 
was survived by her six children, concerning 
whom we enter the following brief record : 
Keziah became the wife of George K. Bolan- 
der and she died in Michigan ; Lewis, deceased ; 
Isaac died in Lake township; Mary Ann, the 
wife of Ezra Harris, died in Medina county, 
Ohio; David T. is a resident of the city of 
Massillon, Stark county; John D. is the im- 



mediate subject of this sketch; and Milton F. 
is a resident of East Liverpool, Columbiana 
county. After the death of his first wife John 
Frank married Miss .Savilla J. Reynolds, of 
Springfield, Summit county, by whom he had 
one child, Elva, who is the wife of William F. 
.Shoner, of Uniontown. Mr. Frank was a 
Democrat in his political proclivities and his 
religious faith was that of the United Breth- 
ren church, of which he was a corisistent and 
valued member. 

John D. Frank was born near the \'illage 
of Uniontown, Lake township, this county, on 
the 20th of June, 1847, ^"^ he early began to 
lend his quota in the work of the homestead 
farm, while his educational opportunities were 
above the average accorded to the farmer boy 
of the day, his father being fully appreciative 
of the value of discipline in this line, so tliat 
he did not deny his son such privileges as were 
in his power to offer. John D. attended the 
village school in Uniontown, later was a stu- 
dent in the academy at Greensburg, Summit 
county, and thereafter was matriculated in the 
Iron City Business College, in Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania, where he was graduated at the age of 
eighteen years, being thus thoroughly equipped' 
for the practical duties of life. In May, 1864, 
when but seventeen years of age, Mr. Frank 
showed his intrinsic loyalty and patriotism by 
enlisting as a private in Company G, One Hun- 
dred and Sixty- second Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantry, for a *.erm of one hundred days. Col- 
onel Ephraim Ball commanding the regiment. 
The company was raised at Osnaburg and 
Mapleton. The regiment was assigned to duty 
in Covington, Kentucky, doing guard duty, 
and after the expiration of his term of service, 
having received his honorable discharge, at 
Camp Chase, in September, 1864, Mr. Frank 
returned home and for a time assisted his 
brother, David T., who was at the time en- 
gaged in the grain business at Uniontown, and 
later he was employed as clerk in mercantile 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1309 



establislimeiits at Canaan, Wayne county, and 
in the city of Sandusky. In 1870 Mr. Frank 
entered the employ of the firm of Cutter & 
Howe, in Akron, Ohio, who were there en- 
gaged in the shoe business, and he remained 
with this concern about five years, within which 
time he gained a thorough knowledge of the 
business in all its details, while for a time he 
was a clerk in the shoe store of S. E. Phinney, 
in the same town. In 1877 he came to Can- 
ton and engaged in the shoe business on his 
own responsibility, his original quarters being 
one-half of his present store, on the east side 
of the public square, while the other half was 
occupied by Calvin and Alfred Herbruck, who 
were engaged in the jewelry business. Mr. 
Fi'ank's business rapidly expanded in scope and 
importance and he soon required the entire 
store in which he had fu^st located, while in 
1889 he also added the store on East Tuscara- 
was street. His establishment is now one of 
the most metropolitan and well stocked shoe 
store in the county, and he caters to a large 
and representative patronage, being known as 
one of the reliable, progressive and public- 
spirited business men of the city, while the ex- 
tent of his enterprise mdicates the personal es- 
teem in which he is held in the community. 
In politics Mr. Frank gives his allegiance to 
the Republican party, and his religious faith 
is indicated by his holding membership in Trin- 
ity Lutheran church, of which Mrs. Frank is 
likewise a devoted adherent. Fraternally he 
is identified with McKinley Post No. 25, Grand 
Army of the Republic, and with the local lodge 
of the Benevolent and Protective Order of 
Elks. In 1882 he erected his present commodi- 
ous and attractive modern residence on North 
Market street, the same being one of the many 
beautiful homes of which Canton may well be 
proud. 

In the city of Akron, Ohio, on the 26th of 
July, 1876, Mr. Frank was united in marriage 
to Miss Alice Seiberling, a native of that place, 



where she was reared and educated, and of 
this union have been l;iorn five children, Nellie, 
Grace, Fred, Margaret and Katherine, all of 
whom remain at the parental home. 



MICHAEL MOTTS was born in Ger- 
many on the i6th of February, 1S35, the son of 
Jacob and Elizabeth (Wingert) Motz. These 
parents had three children, all of whom sur- 
vive, as follows : Jacob, of Paris township, 
this county, the subject, and Elizabeth, wife 
of John Zwahlen, of Louisville, this county. 
The father was born in Germany in 1803, was 
reared upon a farm "and in 1836 came to the 
United States, settling in Paris township, just 
north of Paris. He bought fifty-two acres of 
land, to which he added until he possessed one 
hundred and fifteen acres. Upon that place he 
lived the remainder of his days, dying at the 
age- of eighty-one years. His first wife, the 
mother of the subject, had passed away at the 
age of fifty-three years and he later married 
Mrs. Elizabeth Gugkeman. The latter had 
two children by her first husband, of whom 
one survives, Frank, of Paris township. 

The subject was reared at home and was 
given the advantage of such schooling as was 
then available, but which at best was but limit- 
ed. He was early inured to the hard toil in- 
cident to the life of a pioneer farmer and was 
taught the mysteries of successful agriculture. 
He followed farming as a vocation and after 
his marriage he purchased sixty acres of his 
present farm. Subsequently he bought addi- 
tional tracts of fifty-five, forty-one and forty 
acres respectively, making an aggregate of one 
hundred and fifty-six acres. In 1881 Mr. 
Motts purchased the grist mill in Paris and, re- 
moving to the town, ran the mill for about 
four years. He was unfitted for this business, 
however, and lost about six thousand dollars 
in the venture. He finally disposed of the 
place to his sons and returned to the farm, 



I3IO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



where he has since remained. Mr. Motts was 
united in marriage February 27,. 1857, with 
Miss Mary Fahl, also a native of Germany. 
Her parents died in their native land and she 
came to America in company with a sister. To 
the subject and his wife were born nine chil- 
dren, seven of whom survive. They are briefly 
mentioned as follows : Eli lives in Cleveland ; 
David is a mill man at Paris, this county; 
Emanuel and John are residents of this town- 
ship; William and Elizabeth are at home, the 
former conducting the home farm ; Rose is the 
wife of Edward Hay, of Canton. 

In politics the subject is a firm and uncom- 
promising Democrat, ever taking a keen and 
intelligent interest in the success of his party 
and keeping closely in touch with public ques- 
tions. On national questions he votes in line 
with his party, but frequently in local elections 
he casts hi? ballot for those men whom, he 
considers best qualified for the offices sought. 
In religion he is affiliated with the Reformed 
church and endeavors to live a life in harmony 
with the teachings of the man of Nazareth. He 
is an energetic, industrious gentleman who ha'i 
made a success of life by his persistent efforts. 
His farm is well cared for, the soil having 
been enriched until it is one of the most pro- 
ductive and fertile in the township, no part of 
which is permitted to lie in idleness. 



LAWRENCE ALEXANDER was born 
in the city of Dublin, in the year 181 5, where 
he was reared, availing himself of such educa- 
tional advantages as were presented and early 
becoming dependent upon his own resources. 
He entered a woolen mill in his native city 
for the purpose of learning the trade, and was 
thus employed until about fifteen years of age, 
when he came to America, landing in the port 
of Boston, from which place he proceeded to 
Lowell, Massachusetts, where he soon found 
employment in one of the leading woolen mills 



of the place. He mastered the tiade in all de- 
tails and continued to work in Lowell until 
1835, when he came west to Ohio, locating in 
Steubenville, where he lemained a short in- 
terval, after which he came to Stark county, 
working in Massillon for a short time, and 
taking up his residence in the village of 
Waynesburg. He worked at his trade iluring 
his residence in these places and eventually ac- 
cumulated a sufficient sum from his earnings 
to justify him in the purchase of a small woolen 
factory at Lexington, Stark county, where he 
carried on a successful business until the indus- 
trial prestige of the town began to wane, when 
he disposed of his interests there, and in 1857 
came to Canton, where he established the Alex- 
ander Woolen Mills, which, under his manage- 
ment came to represent a prosperous industry, 
while he continued to be actively identified with 
the same until his death, which occurred in the 
year 1889, ?ince which time the enterprise has 
been continued under the same title. 

In the city of Boston, Massachusetts, Mr. 
Alexander, in the year 1836, was united in 
marriage to Miss Hannah Fitzgerald, who was 
born in Dublin, Ireland, in i8t8, her mother, 
whose maiden name was Mary McCarty, hav- 
ing died shortly after the birth of Mrs. Alexan- 
der. In the year following that of her nativity 
her father, Richard Fitzgerald, brought her to 
the United States, his other two children re- 
maining in the Emerald Isle. He located in 
Lowell, Massachusetts, and there Mrs. Alexan- 
der was reared to maturity, and there met him 
who was to be her companion on the journey 
of life. She survived her husband by a num- 
ber of years, her death occurring in Canton, 
in 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander became the 
parents of twelve children, of whom three are 
living at the present time, all of whom reside 
in Canton. 

The third child in order of birth was 
Charles Augustine, and he was summoned into 
eternal life in 1883. He was educated for the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1311 



priesthood of the Roman Catholic church, and 
entered upon the duties of his holy office as 
a member of the order of the Passionist Fa- 
thers, his title being that of Father Augustine. 
He was a young man of brilliant intellect and 
bade fair to live a long life of distinguished 
usefulness, but that inscrutable Providence 
whose ways are past finding out, ixmoved him 
in the bloom of j'oung manhood to another and 
better sphere. His remains were interred in 
the vault of St. Paul's monastery, in Pittsburg. 
Pennsylvania, with those of other consecrated 
members of his order, they will lie until the 
resurrection morn. Lawrence and Hannah 
(Fitzgerald) Alexander were devoted mem- 
bers of the Catholic church, and during their 
many years' residence in Canton were valued 
members of St. John's church. Mr. Alexander 
was an enterprising and broadminded business 
man, and one who ever commanded unequivo- 
cal confidence in the community, while he man- 
ifested his loyalty to the duties of citizenship 
by a deep interest in affairs of a local nature. 
During his residence in Lexington he served 
for six years as a member of the board of 
county commisisoners, and for some time he 
>vas a member of the Canton board of health, 
ind also board of education. He . also held 
membership on the board which had charge of 
the poor fund of the Hartford estate, through 
which provision is made for the care of the in- 
digent of Canton, and in many other capacities 
he proved his usefulness as a citizen and his 
sterling worth as a man among men. Earnest 
in all he attempted, he carried to successful 
issue the enterprises to which he gave his at- 
tention, whHe his social qualities made him 
popular among all classes of persons. He was 
a fine type of the intelligent, large-hearted and 
progressive business men of the day, and he 
impressed himself upon the various communi- 
ties in which he lived, while he left to his de- 
scendants the most valuable of all heritages, an 
honored name. A life-long Democrat in poli- 



cies, he supported the principles of this party 
with earnestness but never was a seeker of pub- 
fic office, notwithstanding the fact that he was 
called upon at various times to serve in posi- 
tions of trust and responsibility in this line. 
Mr. Alexander died in 1883. 



GEORGE RANK.— The Rank family is 
of stanch German origin, the original orthog- 
raphy of the name having been Reinke. The 
first representatives of the family in America 
emigrated from the fatherland in the colonial 
epoch of our history and took up their abode 
in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, so that the 
name has been identified with pioneer annals 
in more than one generation, while it has ever^ 
stood exponent of lofty integrity, well directed 
industry and distinctive loyalty and patriotism. 
George Rank, whose name initiates this review, 
was born in Canton township, in May, 18 10, 
being a son of Abraham and Susan (Werten- 
berger) Rank, who took up their abode in 
Canton in 1807, so that the entire life of the 
subject was passed in this county. It may be 
consistently noted in the connection that the 
celebrated German historian, Reinke, was of 
the same lineage as he of whom he write, the 
family having been one of distinction in Ger- 
many for many generations. 

Abraham Rank, grandfather of the subject, 
was born in Reading, Lebanon county, Penn- 
sylvania, where he was reared to maturity and 
where he learned the carpenter trade, becoming 
a fine mechanic, and this he there followed, in 
connection with agricultural pursuits, until the 
time of his removal to Ohio. As he came from 
the productive districts of the old Keystone 
state he was naturally prejudiced against the 
level land or plains in the vicinity of Canton, 
and thus secured a wooded tract, his dictum 
being that land which would not produce timber 
would not produce wheat. He became the 
owner of about fifty acres of land in the imme- 



I3I2 



OLD LANDMARKS 



diate vicinity of Canton, a portion of the city 
beings located on the same, and he reclaimed his 
farm to cultivation, having that energy and 
thriftfulness so typical of the Pennsylvania 
farmers of German type from the early days 
to the present time. He erected the first log 
cabin on the meadow to the east of the little 
pioneer village of Canton and neat natural 
springs, the same being constructed of round 
logs and having two rooms. Later he built an- 
other house, two hundred feet distant from his 
original cabin, and in building the new resi- 
dence he utilized hewed logs, while it was lo- 
cated on higher ground. Here he dug a well, 
which he eventually equipped with a pump, 
Avhich constituted a marked event in the family 
affairs and the history of the neighborhood, 
since so modern a facility was very unusual in 
the locality at that time. The family were de- 
voted members of the Lutheran church, and in 
the primitive pioneer home was reared the 
famil)' altar and the daily worship was never 
neglected, divine guidance being asked in con- 
nection with all labors and duties. Abraham 
Rank was an old-line Whig in his political pro- 
clivities and was a man of decided opinion 
but never intolerant or arbitrary. He died on 
his homestead farm December 15, 1851, at the 
age of seventy-three years, and his loved com- 
panion did not long survive him, her death 
occurring on October 25th of the following 
year, at the age of sixty-seven. His wife's 
maiden name was Susan Wertenberger and 
she was a woman of fine presence and noble 
attriluites of character. They endured the pri- 
vations and hardships of pioneer life but were 
ever sustained and encouraged by mutual love 
and sympathy, theirs being the faith that makes 
faithful. Abraliani and Susan Rank became 
the parents of eleven children, concerning 
whom we are able to offer the following brief 
data: Nancy, who became the wife of Rev. 
Benjamin Faust, died in Canton ; Betsey, the 



wife of Jonas Weidner, died in Marlborough 
township, this county; Salome, the wife of 
Samuel Essig, died in Canton township; 
Magdalena, who never married, is deceased; 
Susan, the wife of George Schweir, died in 
Perry township: Lydia, the wife of Peter Sell, 
who died in Canton; Kate, the wife of Eli 
.Sipes, died in Canton ; George was the father of 
the subject of this memoir; John married Eliza- 
betli Hull and his death occurred in Canton 
township; AJary, the wife of John J. Trump, 
(lied in Canton; Abraham, who married Mary 
Rahn, likewise died in this city. 

George Rank was born on the old home- 
stead farm, in Canton township, in May, 1810, 
and here his death occurreil on the 17th of 
June, iS/"^. Tic was for many years promi- 
nently engaged in the work of his trade, that of 
carpenter and cabinetmaker, and he erected the 
Monitor block, which he utilized as a sash, 
door and blind factory, having purchased two- 
thirds of the block where the city library is now 
being built, in 1858, for "one thousand dollars. 
He became one of the most prominent and in- 
fluential business men of Canton, commanding 
unequivocal confidence and esteem in the com- 
munity and being called upon to serve in ofifices 
of public trust and responsibility. He was for 
a number of years incumbent of the office of 
township trustee and was also a valued and 
efficent member of the city council. In poli- 
tics he was a stalwart advocate of the principles 
of the Republican party, and during the Civil 
war he ardently upheld the cause of the Union, 
having on more than one occasion stripped his 
shop of lumber, which he utilized in setting up 
temporary tables upon which he set forth food 
for the volunteers assembled in the city. He 
was reared to the strenuous life of the pioneer 
farm and early began to lend his aid in its 
reclamation and cultivation, while for his edu- 
cational discipline he was indebted to the primi- 
tive district school, which he attended during 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1313 



the winter mojitlis when hii services were not 
demanded in connection with the work of the 
farm. 

On the 20th of May, 1S30, George Rank 
was united in marriage to Miss Henrietta 
Emich, wlio was born in Adams county, Penn- 
sylvania, on the 15th of September, 181 1, and 
who came to Canton with her parents in 181 5. 
She was a daughter of George and Dorothy 
(Smith) Emich, both of whom were born in 
Adams county, Pennsylvania, and Mr. Emich 
was a man of means at the time of his emigra- 
tion to Stark county. Here he took up a tract 
of land and turned his attention to farming, be- 
coming one of the influential citizens of the 
pioneer community. His wife died about 1825, 
and he thereafter passed his time in the homes 
of his children, his death having occurred at 
the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Kimmel, 
in Waynesburg. Mrs. Henrietta Rank died 
at her home, 534 West Seventh street, Canton, 
on the 24th of April, 1901, at the venerable 
age of nearly ninety years, her death resulting 
from the infirmities incidental to advanced age, 
while she was one of the few remaining repre- 
sentatives of the pioneer epoch in the history 
of the county, loved for her gracious woman- 
hood and her unvarying kindliness in all the 
relations of life. At the time of her death a 
local publication spoke of her as follows : "Pier 
life for many years was typical of the epoch 
in which she lived, and with a memory that 
never failed she could entertain her grandchil- 
dren and their children with reminiscences of a 
wild country, long walks to school — a part of 
the time to the old academy where the central 
high school now stands — when her path often 
showed the footprints of wolves and Indians. 
She was familiar with the flax field, the raw 
wool, the spinning wheel, the old-tirrje fulling 
mill and the loom, from all of which the needs 
of life called for industry and self-sacrificing 
patience." 

George and Henrietta (Emich) Rank be- 

82 



came the parents of eleven children, concerning 
whom we offer brief record, as follows: Jef- 
ferson, who was born in 1831, and who served 
four months during the Civil war as a member 
of the One Hundred and Sixty-second Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, married Amanda Hilder- 
biddle and he died in Canton in 1875 ; William, 
the next in order of birth, is individually men- 
tioned in appending paragraphs; Adalinc is 
the widow of O. J. Hardgrove, of Canton; 
Amos, who married Rebecca Wright, resides 
near Chattanooga, Tennessee; Sarah is the 
widow of Dr. J. H. Estep, of Canton ; Amanda 
is the wife of L. E. Hake, of this city; John, 
who married Martha Wright, is likewise a na- 
tive of Canton; Ellen is the wife of L. P. Farn- 
ham, of Canton; Mary is the widow of J. F. 
Johnston, of this city; Orlando, a resident of 
Canton, was first married to Rebecca Ewart 
and after her death to Alice Krider; and Ada 
is the wife of F. F. I'rimble, a prominent citi- 
zen, of Salem, Ohio. 

William Rank was born on the old home- 
stead farm in Canton township, on the 20th of 
September, 1832. Plis first educational disci- 
pline was received in the school house located 
on East Tuscarawas street, and his instructor 
was Philip Everhard, while later he conned 
his lessons under the guidance of Hon. B. F. 
Lester, who eventually was chosen to repre- 
sent this district in the halls of congress. Mr. 
Rank's early schooling comprised an attendance 
of about two months in each year, this being 
in accord with the laws of the state, while it 
was also the custom at that time for the average 
youth to learn a trade. ATr. Rank completed 
his specific educational work in the old Union 
school, on West Tuscarawas street, under Prof. 
Ira M. Allen, and he was eighteen years of age 
when he left school to devote his undivided at- 
tention to the practical duties of life. At the 
age of fifteen he began an apprenticeship at the 
carpenter trade, under the effective direction of 
his father, who was for many years, in connec- 



I3I4 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tion with his other business enterprises, the 
leading undertaker in this section, and from his 
boyhood days William Rank assisted in this 
special department of his father's business. 
After leaving school, having a disinclination 
for carpenter work, he turned his attention to 
ornamental painting, and at the age of nineteen 
he went to the city of Cleveland, where he en- 
gaged in sign painting, while later he followed 
the same line of work in various other cities and 
towns of the state, being recognized as an ex- 
pert workman and having distinctive artistic 
taste in the connection, so that he found a ready 
•demand for his services. In the summer of 
1855, through t!ie interposition of a repre- 
sentative mercantile firm in Alassillon, he was 
enabled to establish himself in the furniture 
business in Canton, conducting a branch estab- 
lishment here for one year, after which he re- 
sumed the trade of painter. In 1859 he re- 
turned to Canton and assumed the position of 
foreman in the painting department of the C. 
Aultnian Company, and he contiinied to be 
thus identified with this great manufactvn-ing 
concern for the long period of tliirty-one 
years. 

At the time of the Rebellion Mr. Rank 
tendered his services in defense of the Union, 
enlisting as a member of Company B, One 
Hundred and Sixty-second Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantrv, which was recruited in Canton and 
vicinity, and he was made first sergeant of his 
company, in which capacity he served until 
the close of his term of four months, receiving 
his honorable discharge, at Camp Chase, in 
Columbus, on the 4th of September, 1864, aftei; 
which he resumed iiis duties in the .A.ultman 
works. In April, iS8q, Mr. Rank was elected 
to the office of secretary and superintendent of 
the Canton Cemetery Association, in which 
capacitv he has ever since continued to render 
efficient and discriminating service, the duties 
involved demanding ])ractically bis entire time 
and attention. In politics, while without per- 



sonal' ambition for office of any sort, he ha.s 
accorded a stanch support to the Republican 
party from the time of its organization, his 
first presidential vote having been cast for John 
C. Fremont for the presidency, in 1856. He 
was a charter member of the first post of the 
Grand Army of the Republic organized in Can- 
ton. 

On the 19th of January, i860, was solem- 
nized the marriage of William Rank to Miss 
Mary ]\I. Chilson, who was born in Conneaut, 
Ohio, in 1837, a daughter of Abel and Mary 
(Gould) Chilson, the Chilson family having 
come from Virginia and the Goulds from Con- 
necticut.. Mr. and Mrs. Rank have one child, 
Warren A., who was born in Canton, on the 
28th of January, 1S61, and who was educated 
in the public schools of his native city, being 
graduated in the high school when eighteen 
years of age. After leaving school he secured 
employment in the machine shops of the Ault- 
man Company, where he remained until 1881, 
when he accepted a similar position in the city 
of Cleveland, wdiere he remained nine months, 
during which interval he completed a com- 
mercial course in a night school. In 1882 he 
returned to Canton and here took a position in 
the advertising department of the Aidtman 
Company, later being assigned to the shipping 
department and finally being promoted to the 
office of collector for the company. He .served 
his connection with this concern in 1888 and in 
tlie following year became a clerk in the census 
office in Washington, D. C, retaining this in- 
cumbency until 1894, and passing the following 
two and one-half years in Canton, after which 
lie returned to Washington, in 1896, where he 
continucf] in goxcrnment employ, in a clerical 
capacity, until June, 1902. In the national 
capitol, in 1891, Warren A. Rank was united 
in marriage to Miss Minnie M. Clinton, 
daughter of Jesse and Helen M. Clinton, anil a 
lineal descendant of DeWitt Clinton, at one 
time governor of New York and known in his- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1315 



tory as an eminent statesman. Warren A. and 
Minnie M. Rank have one child, William Clin- 
ton, who was born in Washington, in 1899. 



ADAM LOTZ is descended from German 
parentage, his father lieing Peter H. Lotz, who 
was born in 1780, and his mother's maiden 
name being Elizabeth Nets, both of whom were 
born in Prussia, Germany. Peter Lotz was 
reared upon a farm in his native country, and 
when twenty-one years of age came to America 
with his mother, brother and two sisters. His 
future wife was also in the party, and as they 
were all too poor to pay tlieir ocean passage 
in advance they were, upon their arrival in this 
country, bound out for three years to pay for 
their passage. They first settled in Wilming- 
ton, Delaware, but in 1803, shortly after their 
marriage, they removed to Washington 
county, Pennsylvania, where they resided until 
1 8 18, when . they came to Stark county, 
Ohio, where they made their home, became 
well known and well liked people, and there 
died at advanced ages, the father at ninety- 
three years and the mother at eighty-eight. 
They were the parents of fourteen children, 
of whom but three survive: Elizabeth, the 
widow of Daniel Allen, of Carroll county, Olho; 
Maria, the wife of John Pottorff, of Colum- 
biana county, Ohio, and the subject. The 
father had entered eighty acres of land upon 
locating in Ohio, in what was then Stark coun- 
ty, it later being made a part of Carroll county. 
and had later by purchase added to this until 
he had in his possession one hundred and seven 
acres. He -was an active Democrat in politics, 
and in religion a member of the Reformed 
church. He was an entei prising and progress- 
ive man, and one highly esteemed by all who 
knew him. For a number of years he con- 
ducted a saw mill upon his farm. 

Adam Lotz first saw the light of day iu 
Washington county, Pennsylvania, on the 25th 



(.■^f January, 1S16, and his youthful years were 
passed under the parental roof. liis educa- 
tion was somewhat limited, -having been sucli 
as was obtainable in the old-fashioned pioneer 
log school houses of that early day. These 
schools were crude in the extreme when com- 
pared with those of the present day, and the 
subject well remembers the old slab benches 
and the greased-paper windows. But these 
were the best facilities that could be provided 
at that time, and of these the subject took full 
advantage. After his m.arriage, in 1842, Mr. 
Lotz settled on a farm of one hundred and ten 
acres in Carroll county, which he had purchased 
a long time previously. In 1867 he disposed of 
this place and purcha.sed his present farm, con- 
sisting of two hundred and forty acres in Os- 
naburg township, where he has since resided. 
Mr. Lotz has all his life been a hard working- 
man. For some years prior to his marriage he 
worked at the carpenter's trade, and he was 
also employed for five years in clearing land, 
about the hardest toil imaginable. He re- 
ceived the first three crops off his land as his 
pay, and this largely enabled him to make the 
payments on his first purchase of land. 

In 1842 Mr. Lotz was united in marriage 
with Miss Catherine Hanck, a native of Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, who died .\prit 
5, 1898. .She was of foreign ancestry, her 
parents having come to this country from Wur- 
temburg, Germany. This union was a most 
happy and congenial one, and was blessed by 
the birth of fifteen children, thirteen of whom 
survive, as follows: Simon Z., a carpenter 
of Canton, Ohio; Alpheus J., of Labette coun- 
ty, Kansas; Reuben, of Carroll county, Ohio: 
Elizabeth A., the wife of John Ritz, a black- 
smith of Canton; Margaret J., Belinda C. and 
Willis W. are at home; Maretta I. is the wife 
of Frank Shirk, of Canton ; Alvin K. is a far- 
mer of Osnalwrg township ; Alvina L. married 
John P. Richen, and lives in Canton; Flora 
I. is the wife of Frank Henning, of this town- 



I3t6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ship; Phenora I. is the wife of Thomas Nimon, 
of Canton; Edward M. is at home; Tina M. 
is deceased, and one that died in infancy. 

Pohtically the principles of the subject are 
those embodied in the platform of the Demo- 
cratic party, and he has for many years taken 
a keen and intelligent interest m the trend of 
public events. He has done much active cam- 
paign work for his party, though he has never 
been an office seeker, lie was, however, at 
one time elected to the office of township trus- 
tee, the duties of which he discharged efficiently 
for several years. Religiously he is a member 
of the Reformed church, and has lived a life 
strictly in accordance with the teachings of 
that society. 



JAMES C. BURNHEIMER, as the name 
implies, is of German descent, although his fam- 
ily has been represented in America for many 
years, his great-grandfather emigrating from 
old country and settling in Pennsylvania at 
an early period in our national history. Sam- 
uel Burnheimer, the subject's grandfather, was 
born and reared to manhood in tiie Keystone 
state, and there married a lady of the name 
of Bechtel, whose ancestors also came from the 
Fatherland. Shortly after his marriage he 
moved to Stark county, Ohio, settling in Pike 
township, but later changed his abode to In- 
diana, in which state he lived for several years. 
Returning to the county of Stark at the re- 
quest of his son, he spent some years here, but 
afterwards went back to Indiana, where he 
spent the remainder of his life, dying there in 
1897 at the advanced age of eighty. His wife 
died in Stark county in the year 1880. 

John Burnheimer, father of the subject, 
was born in Pike township, this county, and 
in early manhood worked at various occupa- 
tions, finally turning his attention to agricul- 
tural pursuits. He married, in his native town- 
ship. Miss Margaret Carnes, and later pur- 



chased the old Henry Keety farm, one of the 
first settled places in the township. Mrs. Burn- 
heimer died on this place at the early age of 
thirty-seven years, and Mr. Burnheimer subse- 
quently married the widow of John Briggle, 
of Sparta. Moving from his farm to Sparta, 
he remained in that town until 1886, when he 
emigrated west, locating at Breckenridge, Col- 
orado, where for sevral years he was engaged 
in mining and dealing in live stock. Subse- 
quently he moved to Oregon, in which state 
his death occurred on the isth of October, 
1896, his wife dying there in the year 1900. 
By his first marriage John Burnheimer was 
the father of children as follows: Flora, de- 
ceased, married John Muckley; Ida, wife of 
D. S. Van Vorhis, of Van Wert, Ohio; James 
C, of this review; Maggie, now Mrs. Robert 
Foote, of Colorado; and Cora, who married 
Peter Cummins, also a resident of the latter 
state. Two children resulted from the second 
union: Edward, who died at the age of four 
years, and Charles. 

The birth of James C. Burnheimer occurred 
in Pike township. Stark county, Ohio, on the 
9th of May, 1862, and he received his early 
educational discipline in the village of Battles- 
btn-g. He attended school in the winter time 
until the death of his mother, after which he 
started in the world to make his own living, 
spending the first three years as a farm laborer. 
Realizing that the future held out little promise 
to one who depended upon poorly remunerative 
labor as a tiller of the soil for others, he took 
up the carpenter's trade, and being naturally 
skillful in the use of tools it was not long until 
he became an efficient workman at liberal 
wages. In the year 1880 Mr. Burnheimer was 
married, in Sparta, to Laura, daughter of James 
Sanford, and shortly thereafter took up his 
residence in Mineral City, where he soon found 
remunerative employment at his trade. During 
the greater part of the ten years following he 
was in the employ of the Valley Railroad as 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1317 



a bridge builder, later devoting his attention 
to contracting and building at that town and 
elsewhere, meeting with good success in his 
undertakings. In the year 18S7 he moved to 
Canton, and from that date to the present time 
he has been actively plying his trade, taking 
numerous large contracts for buildings in this 
city and other structures in different parts of 
the country. 

Mr. Burnheimer is a master workman, as 
is attested by his workmanship on the many 
buildings which today stand as monuments to 
his efficiency and skill. He was early thrown 
upon his own resources, but has succeeded in 
spite of the many obstacles in his way, oc- 
cupying a conspicuous position at this time 
among the leading contractors and builders in 
this part of the state. As a citizen he is re- 
spected by the people of Canton, and in indus- 
trial circles he has long been an influential 
factor, being one of the leaders in his own 
craft besides taking an active interest in behalf 
of organized labor of wliatever name or char- 
acter so it is honorable. In politics he is a 
staunch Republican, and ever since old enough 
to cast a ballot he has earnestly defended the 
soundness of his principles and labored zeal- 
ously for the party's success. In November, 
1902, he was elected for the important office 
of county commissioner on the Republican 
ticket by a majority of twenty-four hundred, 
having previously served two terms on the 
board of education of the city of Canton. 

For a number of years past Mr. Burnheimer 
"has been prominently identified with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows in its several 
departments, joining the fraternity in 1883. 
Fle has held high official stations in the sub- 
ordinate lodge, encampment and Rebekah de- 
gree, in addition to which he is also a member 
of the Order of Eagles, belonging to Society 
No. 143. He has pronounced religious views, 
and is a firm believer in Christianity, belong- 
ing, with his wife, to the Simpson Methodist 



Episcopal church of Canton. Mr. Burnheimer 
is a gentleman of progressive ideas and in 
many ways has done much to elevate his fellow 
workmen and improve their social and moral 
condition, assisting to the extent of his influ- 
ence and ability all enterprises with these ob- 
jects in view. The pleasant home of Mr. and 
Mrs. Burnheimer is brightened by the presence 
of two children, a son and daughter whose 
names are Blanche L. and Dennis M. 



LEONARD M. LEAS was born in Osna- 
burg township. Stark county, Ohio, on the 14th 
of January, 1846, being a son of Jacob and 
Maria (Strayer) Leas, of whose nine children 
six are living at the present time, namelv: 
Leonard M.. who is the immediate subject of 
this sketch ; Lucy, who is the widow of J. S. 
Bissell, of Wooster, Ohio; Elizabeth, who is 
the widow of William Montgomery, and re- 
sides in Osnaburg tov\ nship ; Margaret, who is 
the wife of Isaac N. Kinney, a hardware mer- 
chant in Wooster, this state; Josephine, who 
is the wife of Joseph Firestone, who is identi- 
fied with the Columbus Buggy Company, in 
the capital city of the state; and Alice, who is 
the wife of W. S. Earseman, a successful mem- 
ber of the Stark county bar, residing in the vil- 
lage of Louisville. The father of the subject 
was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, in the year 
181 7, which date is significant as indicating 
how early was the period at which the name 
became identified with the annals of the Buck- 
eye commonwealth. He was a son of Jacob 
and Elizabeth (Zimmerman) Leas, and he was 
reared on the old homestead farm and received 
a common-school education. After his mar- 
riage, which occurred about the year 1840, 
he came with his bride to Stark county, and 
located on the farm now owned by his daugh- 
ter, Elizabeth, Mrs. Montgomery, one-half mile 
north of the village of Osnaburg, the land hav- 
ing been previously entered from the govern- 



I3i8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ment by his grandfather, John Leas, who came 
here in an early day, and secured this prop- 
erty and also the farm now owned by the 
American Fire Proofing Company. He placed 
his son John on the first farm and his son 
Leonard on the second, but the former pro-\-ed 
tinsuccessful in the connection, and his father 
then sold the farm to his son Jacob, grand- 
father of the subject, and from him it came 
to the father of our subject. John Leas, the 
original representative of the family in this 
section of the state, after securing the two farms 
in Stark county, passed on through Carroll 
count)' and thence to Jefferson county, where 
he acquired extensive tracts of land. His son 
Jacob located in that county, and also a son- 
in-law in the immediate vicinity, and they all 
became prominent in the pioneer community. 
The son Leonard later removed to Carroll 
county, where he located on a farm and where 
he also conducted a tannery. The father of 
our subject boarded with his cousin John for 
about eighteen months after coming to Stark 
county on the first occasion, and then returned 
to Jefferson county and married, after which 
he came again to Stark county, and with his 
bride located in a small log cabin on his farm, 
W'hich was practically a virgin forest at the 
time. He set to himself the task of reclaiming 
the land to cultivation, and was successful in 
his efforts, eventually becoming one of the 
representative farmers of the county and re- 
taining the high regard of all who knew him. 
Here he passed the residue of his life, his de- 
clining years being spent in the home of his 
son, the subject of this review, and his death 
occurring on the 30th of May, 1900. He was 
a stanch supporter of the Republican party, but 
never sought the honors or emoluments of pub- 
lic office. He was a member of the Lutheran 
church, having been active in its work and 
having been an officer in the same for a long 
term of vears. His wife was born in Jefferson 



county, Ohio, in August, 182 1, being a daugh- 
ter of Samuel Strayer, who was a prominent 
farmer and teamster in that county for many- 
years, doing a large freighting busi'ness to Bal- 
timore, Philadelphia, Pittsburg and other east- 
ern points in the pioneer days, while he wielded 
a large influence in his section, his death oc- 
curring in Jefferson county when he was well 
advanced in years. The mother of the subject 
was summoned into eternal rest on the 20th 
of March, 1885. 

Leonard M. Leas was reared on the old 
homestead farm on which he was born, and 
after completing the curriculum of the district 
schools became a student in Mount Union Col- 
lege, where he completed his literary education. 
In 1867 he went to Waterloo, DeKalb county, 
Indiana, where he was for two years employed 
in a drug store, after which he purchased a 
half interest in a livery business in that city, 
the same being conducted imder the firm name 
of Leas, Zwilling & Company, and while he 
was thus concerned he was employed in the 
dry-goods store of his partner to offset the lat- 
ter's work in connection with the livery. The 
enterprise, however, proved a financial failure, 
and after a period of three years had elapsed 
Mr. Leas disposed of his interest in the same 
and returned to Stark county, where he had 
charge of the home farm for the ensuing three 
years, after which he passed a similar period on 
other farms in the vicinity, renting the same, 
while during this interval he also did a quite 
extensive business in the buying, feeding and 
shipping of live stock, in which connection his 
energetic and discriminating efforts were at- 
tended with marked success. In 1873 ^""^ P'-"'- 
chased his present home farm, which is located 
in sections 5 and 8, Osnaburg township, the 
same comprising seventy-eight and one-half 
acres. During the financial panic which fol- 
lowed matters did not present a flattering out- 
look to Mr. Leas, but by working assiduously- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1319 



and with characteristic sagacity and energy he 
kept forging forward and finally developed one 
of the valuable farm properties of the county and 
attained a position of independence and definite 
prosperity. He has erected substantial and 
attractive farm buildings and kept the soil of 
his farm up to the highest state of productivity, 
and today he is referred to as one of the model 
farmers of this section. He still continues to 
devote much attention to ytock-growing, and 
not only feeds the major portion of the products 
of his own farm but also purchases much grain 
from outside sources, making this department 
of his farming enterpiise a source of excellent 
revenue. In politics Mr. Leas upholds the 
principles of the Democratic party, but is lib- 
eral in his views and is not insistently partisan 
in public affairs of a local nature. He is a 
consistent and valued member of the Lutheran 
church, as is also his wife, and fraternally he 
is identified with Osnaburg Grange, Patrons of 
Husbandry. 

On the 5th of March, 1871, Mr. Leas was 
united in marriage to Miss Nellie Farr. who 
was born in Orleans county. New York, being 
a daughter of Chesterl Farr, who died six 
months after his removal to Kansas, his Vvidow 
later removing to Waterloo, Indiana, where our 
subject formed the acquaintanceship of the 
family, and Mis. Farr later removed to Bryan, 
Ohio, where she was residing at the time of 
Mr. Leas" marriage to her daughter. I'o Air 
and Mrs. Leas have been born three children. 
namely : Alberta, w ho is the wife of I^^ee 
Housley, of Canton, this county ; Lucy, who 
is a student of osteopathy, in DesMoines, Iowa, 
and who was a companion to Mrs. Angel, wife 
of a well-known attorne}- of the city of Cleve- 
land, on a European lour in 1898, Mr. Angel 
later starting to join them and meeting death 
on the ill-fated steamer, "La Burgoyne," which 
went to the bottom, entailing the loss of nearly 
six hundred lives; and Elizabeth, the third 
daughter, remains at the parental home. 



CHARLES F. NARWOLD is a native 
son of the Buckeye state, having been born in 
the city of Cincinnati, on tlie 28th of August, 
1867, and having been there reared to matur- 
ity. He began the battle of life on his own 
responsibility at an early age, having attended 
the public schools until he was fourteen years 
old, and having thereafter been variously em- 
ployed until he had attained the age of sixteen 
years, when he began an apprenticeship at the 
trade of confectioner, learning the same thor- 
oughly in all details.. With this line of in- 
dustry he has ever since been consecutively iden- 
tified, and through the same he has gained 
definite success and precedence as a business 
man. In i8gi he came to Canton from Cin- 
cinnati, and here engaged in the confectionery 
business on a modest scale, at the corner of 
Fifth and Cherry streets, utilizing rooms in 
the basement of the Flickering block. The 
superior character of his products as conjoined 
with his energetic and enterprising methods 
brought about a rapi^i expansion in his trade, 
and he was soon compelled to seek more com- 
modious quarters. In 1892 he purchased a 
building on Mahoning street, and there he con- 
tinued operations until 1898, when he pur- 
chased his present commodious and eligible 
headquarters, where he has the best of facili- 
ties for the manufacturing of high-grade con- 
fections, and from which he transacts a large 
and important business, his trade extending 
throughout the wide area of country naturally 
tributary to Canton as a wholesale center, while 
the products of the establishment have attained 
the highest popularity wherever introduced. In 
i8go Frederick Narwold. a brother of the sub- 
ject, became associated with the enterprise, but 
was later succeeded by C. C. Palmer, who 
withdrew from the business in 1894, at which 
time Frederick Narwold again became asso- 
ciated with the business, though he was not a 
partner in the same until April, 1902, when the 
business was incorporated under the title of 



I320 



OLD LANDMARKS 



C. F. Narwold & Company, the interested in- 
dividuals being Charles F. and Frederick Nar- 
wold; John F. Diebel, \\ho had formerly been 
bookkeeper for the concern ; and Jacob Hawk, 
of Bolivar. The Messrs. Narwold are both 
stanch supporters of the Republican party, and 
both are valued members of the First Re- 
formed church, in Canton. Fraternally the 
subject is prominently identified with the 
Woodmen of the World, the Knights of Pyth- 
ias and the United Commercial Travelers. 

In the city of Canton, on the i6th of Sep- 
tember, 1 89 1, Mr. Narwold was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Sophia Lammers, who was born 
in Cincinnati, being a daughter of Frederick 
Lammers, of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Nar- 
wold have had four children, namely : Carl, 
Lewis, Alfred and Marion, the last named hav- 
ing died in infancy. Frederick Narwold, the 
brother of the subject, was born in Cincinnati, 
on the 14th of May, 1870, and he married Miss 
Matilda Beneker, of Cincinnati, where, like his 
brother, he has gained a i eputation of being an 
able and straightforward young business man. 
Their parents, Richard and Louisa Narwold, 
were born in Germany, and both still retain 
their residence in Cincinnati, where they lo- 
cated soon after coming to America. 



JAMES A. SAXTON was born in Canton 
May I, 1812, in the old family home, a brick 
house which stood in a part of the present site 
of the McKinley Hotel, on South Market 
street. He was the son of John and Margaret 
(Laird) Saxton. He received his early edu- 
cation in the village schools, having for his 
classmates a number of lads who, like 
himself, afterwards Ijecame prominent in the 
affairs of the city, county and stat^. His 
early training was such as to foster 
habits of industry and self-reliance, as is 
attested by the fact of his having engaged in 
business for himself at the age of eighteen. 



when he opened a hardware store in a building 
which stood on part of the present court house 
site, adjoining what was formerly known as 
Laird's Tannery. After conducting this 
line of trade for some years with liberal finan- 
cial profits, he founded the Stark County Bank, 
of which he was made president, and which 
under his efficient management became one of 
the most successful and popular institutions of 
the kind in the eastern part of Ohio. ~Slr. Sax- 
ton devoted much attention to the study of 
monetary questions and became familiar with 
every phase of finance, theoretical and practical, 
and continued at the head of the above bank for 
a number of years, during which his reputation 
as a sound, conservative and eminently hon- 
orable business man added greatly to the stand- 
ing of the institution in the financial circles of 
the state. Subsequently Mr. Saxton retired 
from the bank and went to New York, where, 
in addition to other business enterprises, he set- 
tled up the estate of his old friend and former 
partner, Mr. Schweitzer, who for a number of 
years had conducted a large hardware house in 
the city of New York. After satisfactorily ad- 
justing the affairs of this important undertak- 
ing he returned to Canton, where he spent the 
remainder of his days, having by diligent at- 
tention to business during a long and active ca- 
reer, acquired an ample competence, which en- 
abled him to pass his closing years in the en- 
joyment of the fruits of his well directed toil. 
Mr. Saxton was a man of mark in the busi- 
ness and social circles of Canton, and his life, 
eminently honorable and upright, was crowned 
with useful labors and efficient service. Dur- 
ing his active years there were few enterprises 
or movements appealing to public spirit in 
which he was not a conspicuous, constant and 
worthy co-laborer. He was originally a Whig 
in politics, later became a Republican, and 
while always zealous in upholding the princi- 
ples of his party and untiring in his efforts to 
promote its success, he never aspired to of- 




^^2-<r-^ 





rj 



f/rJ. ja?^^J,^,.r^9i 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1321 



ficial preferment, nor sought any kind of pub- 
lic distinction at the hands of his fellow citi- 
zens. 

Mr. Saxton was twice married, the first 
time on Augxist 31, 1846, to Miss Kate De- 
walt, of Canton, daughter of George and Cath- 
erine (Harter) Dewalt, who was born August 
18, 1827, and who shared with him the es- 
teem and respect of the community and was his 
loving and faithful coadjutor in everything 
in which her womanly heart and brain could 
do service. She departed this life at the old 
Saxton home March 14, 1873, after bearing her 
"husband the following children : Ida, born 
June 8, 1847, married, January 25, 1871, Will- 
iam McKinley, afterwards President of the 
United States, and to whose union two daugh- 
ters were born, — Ida M. died at the age of four 
months, and Katie died at the age of three and 
a half years; Mary B., born December 15, 
1848, married, August 20, 1873, Marshall C. 
Barber; George D., born October 31, 1850, 
died October 7, i8q8. Sometime after the 
death of his first companion Mr. Saxton con- 
tracted a matrimonial alliance with Mrs. Het- 
tie Medill, a most estimable lady, whose former 
husband was a brother of the late Joseph 
Medill, of Chicago, editor of the Tribune of 
that city and for many years one of the leading 
journalists of the United States. The life of 
Mr. Saxton terminated at the home he loved so 
well and around which so many tender associ- 
ations and hallowed recollections clustered, on 
the 14th day of March, 1887. His was indeed 
a full life, fraught with good to all with whom 
he came in contact and crowned with blessings 
to the world. In him the city of Canton lost 
a- truly great man, a useful citizen, and the 
community a kind neighbor, a sympathizing 
and self-sacrificing friend. His ambition al- 
ways ran to the benefit of others and never to 
public distinction or personal aggrandizement. 
With a single exception of serving for a short 
time in the city council, he never held public 



office, nor desired or attained political promi- 
nence, although his personal popularity and in- 
fluence were such that he might have stood first 
among his fellow citizens and received the most 
distinguished honors at their command, had he 
so chosen. His indifference to the customary 
objects of ambition, his constant services in 
all kindly offices and labors, his benevolent face, 
genial manner and venerable appearance, all 
combined to make him for almost a generation 
one of the most conspicuous and revered citi- 
zens of the community in which he was born 
and with the history of which his life for over 
tliree-quarters of a century was so closely 
identified. 



HENRY MILLER was born on a farm in 
Washington township, this county, on the 6th 
of October, 1856, being a son of Christian 
and Fanny (Krabill) Miller, all of whose seven 
children are yet living, namely : Michael, a 
successful farmer of Washington township* 
Christian, who is similarly engaged in the same 
township; Peter, who is engaged in agricul- 
tural pursuits in Nimishilien township, as is 
also Jacob, who is associated with the subject 
in the ownership of the farm where he resides; 
Henry, who is the subject of this sketch; 
Catherine, who is the wife of Rudolph Pfander, 
of Nimishilien township ; and Jonas, who is 
engaged in farming in Washington to\\nship. 
The father of our subject was born in the 
province of Alsace, France, which is now a por- 
tion of the empire of Germany, the date of his 
nativity having been 182T. When he was 
twelve years of age his father, who likewise 
bore the name of Christian, emigrated with 
his family to .'\merica, and came forthwith to 
Ohio and located on a farm of eighty acres, 
in Washington township. Stark county, where 
both he and his wife passed the remainder of 
their lives. The fatlier of the subject was 
reared to maturity on this pioneer farm, which 



1322 



OLD LANDMARKS 



has been in possession of the family since the 
3'ear 1833, and after his marriage lie purchased 
a farm of one hundred and twenty-seven acres, 
in the southwest corner of ^Vashington town- 
ship, where he continued to reside until his 
death, on July 26, 1892. In 1876 he pur- 
chased the farm of one hundred and sixty-two 
acres in Niraishillen township, where our sub- 
ject now resides, and he was known as one of 
the progressive and substantial farmers of the 
county, whde he ever held the esteem of all 
who knew him, being a man of sterling char- 
acter and marked business ability. In politics 
he gave his support to the Democratic party, 
and both he and his \vife were devoted mem- 
bers of the Mennonite church. The mother of 
the subject was likewise a native of Alsace, 
France, where she was born about the year 
1827. When she was about thirteen years of 
age she accompanied her parents on their emi- 
gration to the United States, and her father. 
Christian Krabill, located on the farm where 
the subject now resides, and here passed the 
residue of his life The mother was summoned 
into eternal rest in 1885. 

Henry Miller was reared on the old home- 
stead farm, in Washington township, and early 
became inured to the labors pertaining to its 
cultivation, while he is indebted to 'the dis- 
trict schools for the early educational advant- 
ages which fell to his portion. At the age of 
eighteen years he became associated with his 
brothers Peter and Jacob in operating the farm, 
of which he is now part owner, and in 1882 they 
leased the same from their father and continued 
to conduct the same for a number of years. 
In 1 89 1 our subject and his brother Jacob 
purchased the property, and the latter now nas 
charge of the place, the subject having given 
up his active association with the work of the 
farm in 1895, in order to devote his entire 
attention to the buying and shipping of live 
stock, in which line he has met with most 
gratifying success, having shown marked dis- 



crimination in his busiiiess affairs and handling 
a large amount of stock each year, the held 
of his operations extending over a wide radius 
of country. As early as his trfteenth year Mr. 
Miller purchased, contrary to the advice of his 
father, two yearling cattle, and his judgment 
proved good in the connection, since he real- 
ized a good profit from his transaction, and 
from this modest initiation he has gradually 
built up his present business, whose extent is 
indicated in the fact that he is known as the 
most extensive buyer and shipper of live stock 
in this section of the county, shipping to East 
Liberty, Buffalo and New York city. In addi- 
tion to the home farm Mr. Miller owns a 
half interest in another tract, of fourteen acres, 
in this township, and he is also the owner of the 
old Krabill school house, which he now rents 
for residence purposes. He has twenty-six 
acres of land in W^ashington township, and 
owns a half interest in a steam cider press and 
apple-butter factory in that township. In poli- 
tics he gives his allegiance to the Democratic 
party, and for the past fifteen years he has 
been a member of the school board of his dis- 
trict, ever taking a lively interest in all that 
tends to conserve the progress and muteriai 
prosperity of the community. 

On the 19th of October, 1882, Mr. Miller 
was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Feller, 
who was born in Switzerland, whence she came 
to America with her parents when sixteen 
years of age, her father, John Feller, settling 
on a farm in Nimishillen township, this county, 
where both he and his wife remained until 
their death. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have one 
daughter, Laura, who remains beneath the 
home roof. 



HUGH DANIEL McCREA is a native 
of Cincinnati, Ohio, but when two years of 
age his parents moved to the village of Han- 
over, Columbiana countv, Ohio. He was borrt 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1323 



on the 2 1 St of May, 1849, and received his 
educational disciphne in the pubhc schools. He 
is a son of John B. McCrea, who was born in 
Blairsville, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, 
where he was reared, and there he learned the 
trade of cabinet-making. In the old Keystone 
state was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mary 
McGarry, who was likewise a native of Penn- 
sylvania, and in 185 1 they removed to Hanover. 
Columbiana county, Ohio, where Mr. McCrea 
was engaged in the mercantile business for ,\ 
period of eighteen years, at the expiration of 
which he came to Canton, where he established 
himself in the furniture and undertaking busi- 
ness on East Tuscarawas street, between Wal- 
nut and Cherry streets, and this enterprise he 
continued until the time of his death, a period 
of eighteen years. He became known as one 
of the able and progressi\-e business men of the 
city, and so ordered his course as to retain the 
unqualified esteem of all who knew him. He 
was a Democrat in politics, and both he and 
his wife were communicants of the Roman 
Catholic church, having been members of St. 
John's church during the entire interval of their 
residence in Canton. Here the father of our 
subject died in 1887, at the age of sixty-one 
years, while his wife survived until April 24, 
1901, when she was summoned into eternal rest, 
at the age of seventj^-four years. They be- 
came the parents of three sons and three daugh- 
ters, and of the number five are living at the 
present time, the subject having been the eldest 
in order of birth. 

Hugh D. McCrea accompanied his parents 
on their removal to Canton, in 1868, and here 
he was employed in his father's store until 
1875, when, in company with Joseph Bour, of 
Canton, he went to New Castle, Lawrence 
county, Pennsylvania, where they engaged in 
the furniture business, under the firm name of 
McCrea & Bour. At the expiration of three 
and one-half years this partnership was dis- 
solved, and j\Tr. McCrea then removed to 



Youngstown, Mahoning county, Ohio, where 
he was engaged in the same line of business 
until 1886, when he returned to Canton and 
assumed control of the furniture business which 
had been conducted by his father, whose death 
had recently occurred. He continued to in- 
dividually carry on this enterprise until 1892, 
when he moved to Market street and engaged 
in undertaking only until 1899. Then he 
formed a partnership with John L. Arnold, and 
they have since conducted business under the 
name of the Canton Home Furnishing Com- 
pany. They have greatly expanded the scope 
of the original enterprise, and their finely 
equipped establishment is located at 238 North 
Market street, and controls a large and ever 
increasing trade, all lines of furniture and 
house-furnishing goods being carried in stock, 
and the display is at all times select and com- 
prehensive. The policy of the firm is progress- 
ive, and the honorable methods brought to bear 
have conserved popular appreciation and con- 
fidence, so that the business has taken high rank 
among the mercantile enterprises of the city. 
Mr. McCrea exercises his franchise in support 
of the principles of the Democratic party, and 
he has ever clung to the religious faith in which 
he was reared, being a communicant of St. 
John's church, Roman Catholic, as is also his 
wife. Fraternally he is identified with the Cath- 
olic Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent 
and Protective Order of Elks. 

On the 30th of April, 1874, Mr. McCrea 
was united in marrfage at Butler, Pennsyl- 
vania, to Miss Catherine Sheridan, who was 
born near Butler, being a daughter of Bernard 
and Ellen Sheridan. They have two children, 
Frank A., who was born in New Castle, Penn- 
sylvania, on the 20th of October, 1S76, and 
Clarence, who died at the age of two years. 

Mr. McCrea has been identified with un- 
dertaking all his life, and has officiated at over 
six thousand funerals, having had charge of 
our lamented President McKinley's funeral, 



1324 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and also of the latter's mother. He 
served as president of the Canton Business 
Men's Association, and was also secretary and 
treasurer of the Miller Coach and Livery Com - 
pany, also secretary and treasurer of the Can- 
ton Home Furnishing Company. 



BENJAMIN M. ESHELMAN comes of 
stanch German lineage, and of that stock which 
the fatherland contributed to the great state 
of Pennsylvania in the initial stages of its his- 
tory. He was born in Nimishillen township, 
Stark county, Ohio, on the 9th of October, 
1847, being a son of Michael and Susan (Mat- 
thias) Eshelman, whose children were five in 
number, namely : Levi, who is a resident of 
Belford, Nimishillen township; Julia, who is 
the wife of A. B. Hess, of Canton; Benjamin 
M., the immediate subject of this review; Isaac, 
Avho is a resident of Marlboro township; and 
Henry, of Nimishillen township. Michael Esh- 
elman was born in Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, wh.ere he was reared to years of ma- 
turity on a farm. As a young man he came to 
Stark county, Ohio, in company with a man 
named Rothrock, in whose employ he continued 
for a number of years. After his marriage he 
purchased eighty acres of heavily timbered 
land from Mr. Rothrock, this being the farm, 
in Nimishillen township, now owned by Henry 
Wertenberger. He erected a modest frame 
house on his land, and at once entered vigor- 
ously upon the task of reclaiming his farm 
and placing the land under cultivation, eventu- 
ally developing one of the valuable farms of 
the township, while his indefatigable and well 
directed efforts were attended with a due meas- 
ure of success. He finally erected upon the 
farm a substantial brick house, while he added 
to the area of his farm, which comprised one 
hundred and fifty acres at the time of his 
■death, in 1894, at which time he had attained 
the venerable age of eighty-five years. He 



was a man of high intelligence and upright 
character, ever commanding the confidence of 
his fellow men, and though not a member of 
any church was a believer in the Christian re- 
ligion, and lent his support to church work, 
without regard to creed or dogma. His politi- 
cal support was given to the Republican party, 
with which he identified himself at the time 
of its organization. His wife was born in 
Nimishillen township, Stark county, being a 
daughter of one of the honored pioneers of 
Stark county, and she died in 1897, at the age 
of eighty years, having been a devoted member 
of the Progressive church. 

Benjamin M. Eshelman was reared on the 
old homestead farm, and early began to assume 
his share of the work about the place, while he 
is indebted to the district schools for the early 
educational opportunities which came to his 
portion. After he had reached his twenty-first 
year the management of the farm largely de- 
volved upon him and his brothers, Isaac and 
Henry, and they conducted the same on shares 
up to the time of the subject's marriage, in 
1884, when he removed to his present home 
farm, comprising sixty-six acres, which had 
been purchased liy him and his two brothers 
previously mentioned, in 1881, while upon his 
locating upon the farm he effected the pur- 
chase of his brothers' interests in the property, 
and has ever since continued to follow agricul- 
tural pursuits here, having made excellent im- 
provements on the farm and placed the same 
under most effective cultivation, using, that dis- 
crimination in his methods which insures the 
maximum return therefrom. In 1900 he 
erected his present commodious and attractive 
modern residence, and on the whole the farm 
is one of the model ones of the township. In 
politics he is a stanch advocate of the principles 
of the Republican party, though he has never 
desired official preferment, and his religious 
faith is that of the Protestant church. 

On the 25th of December, 1884, Mr. Eshel- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1325 



man was united in marriage to Miss Lydia Zv 
Sefong, who was born in Niniishillen town- 
ship, being a daughter of Jacob Sefong, a 
prominent pioneer farmer of this section of the 
:ounty, and of this union four children were 
born, all of whom remain beneath the home 
roof, their names, in order of birth, being as 
follows: Florence P., Dora B., Harrison M., 
and Zella M. Mrs. Eshelman was summoned 
into eternal rest on the 4th of July, 1895, at 
the age of thirty-two years, having been a 
loving and devoted wife and mother, and a 
woman of noble character. 



WILLIAM WAGNER comes of stanch 
German lineage, and is a son of the late Jacob 
Wagner, who was born and reared in Ger- 
many, whence he emigrated to America when 
a young man, having learned the shoemaker's 
trade in the fatherland, and having devoted his 
attention to the same for a number of years 
after coming to the United States. He first 
located in the state of Pennsylvania, but later 
came to Stark county, Ohio, locating in Lake 
township, where he reclaimed an excellent farm, 
becoming one of the prosperous and highly 
honored citizens of the county, where he passed 
the remainder of his long and useful life. He 
died at Hartville, this county, in 1900, at the 
venerable age of eighty-six years, and there his 
widow, whose maiden name was Magdalena 
Emerich, and who was likewise born in Ger- 
many, still maintains her home, being now 
eighty-seven years of age. They became the 
parents of six sons and three daughters, and ot 
these five of the former and three of the latter 
are still living: Lovina married Daniel Ful- 
mer, who is now deceased ; Caroline married 
Louis Werstler, now deceased ; Mary married 
Milton Richards ; Jacob resides at Cairo ; Frank 
L. died in 1903; John is a retired farmer of 
Hartville; U. R. lives in Hartville; and Ed- 
win, at Akron. Jacob Wagner was a Demo- 



crat in his political proclivities, and his re- 
ligious faith was that of the Reformed church, 
of which his wife also is a member. 

William Wagner was born on the old home- 
stead farm, in Lake township. Stark county, 
Ohio, on the 25th of May, 1845, and he re- 
ceived his early educational training in the dis- 
trict schools, and later continued his studies in 
Greensburg Seminary and Mount Union Col- 
lege, this county. In 1864 he came to Canton, 
where he was employed in the factory of the 
late Colonel Ephraim Ball for a few months, 
at the expiration of which time he resigned his 
position in order to respond to the call of higher 
duty. On the 4th of October, 1864, in Can- 
ton, Mr. Wagner enlisted as a private in Com- 
pany K, Twenty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 
under Captain Ferguson and Colonel Plorton, 
and he therefore continued in active service 
with his command until victory had crowned the 
Union arms and the integrity of the nation had 
been perpetuated. He took part in many spir- 
ited skirmishes in South Carolina, and was ever 
found at the post of duty. He received his 
honorable discharge at Columbia, South Caro- 
lina, in November, 1S65, and he then returned 
to Stark county, and with the funds which he 
had saved from his pay as a soldier he re- 
sumed his educational work, at this time enter- 
ing the seminary at Greensburg, and later pros- 
ecuted his studies in Mount Union College, as 
has already been intimated in this context. 
Thereafter he was successfully engaged in 
teaching in the district schools of his native 
county for fourteen terms, and he then opened 
a country store at Uniontown, and later he 
established himself in the general merchandise 
business at Hartville. While thus engaged he 
also served as township clerk and township 
treasurer of Lake township, and also became 
incumbent of the office of justice of the peace, 
and during the administration of President 
Cleveland he was postmaster at Hartville, ever 
retaining the implicit confidence and high es- 



1326 



OLD LANDMARKS 



teem of the people of the township in which he 
was born and reared. 

In 1890 Mr. Wagner came to Canton to 
assume the position of deputy sheriff under 
Charles A. Krider, retaining this incumbency 
four years during the regime of that able 
sheriff, and later remaining for two years as 
deputy under Sheriff Hiram Doll. He was 
twice arrayed against Mr. Doll as candidate 
for the office of county treasurer, being de- 
feated in each instance, and Mr. Doll mani- 
fested his personal esteem and good will when 
he was elected sheriff by retaining Mr. Wag- 
ner as his deputy. The latter left the sherift"s 
office in 1896, and for about three years there- 
after devoted the major portion of his time 
and attention to the real estate business, with 
headquarters in Canton. He was one of the 
organizers of the People's Savings Bank, in 
1891, and a member of its original directorate, 
while for several years he served as vice-presi- 
dent of the institution. He was also concerned 
in the organization of the Canton State Bank, 
and he has been a member of its board of di- 
rectors from the time of its inception. In 
March, 1899, Mr. Wagner became associated 
with others in the organization and incorpora- 
tion of the Citizens' Building & Loan Company, 
of Canton, the original executive corps of the 
institution being as follows: John B. Broth- 
ers, president; William H. Smith, attorney; 
Albert S. Griffin, secretary; and William Wag- 
ner, treasurer. In the spring of 1902 Mr. 
Griffin resigned his office and the subject was 
appointed to fill the vacancy, since which time 
he has held the dual office of secretary and 
treasurer, devoting the greater portion of his 
time to the executive duties involved. 

In politics Mr. Wagner has ever given an 
unqualilied allegiance to the Democratic party, 
and has taken an active interest in its cause, 
and since coming to Canton he has served three 
years as a member of the board of park com- 
missioners. He and his family are regular at- 



tendants of Trinity Reformed church, to whose 
support he contributes liberally, though he is 
not formally identified with the same as a 
member. Fraternally Mr. Wagner is a valued 
member of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
holding membership in McKinley Post No. 25, 
of which he has served as commander, adjutant 
and quartermaster, while he is also affiliated 
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

In the village oi Hartville, this county, in 
1868, Mr. Wagner was united in marriage to 
Miss Urena Baum, who was born in this coun- 
ty, being a daughter of Daniel, and Sarah 
(Bomberger) Baum, honored pioneers of Lake 
township. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner have four 
children, namely: Jennie and Effie: Kittie, 
who is a graduate of the Canton high school, 
and who is now a successful and popular teacher 
in the public schools of this city; and Paul, 
who was graduated in the high school as a 
member of the class of 1902, and who is now 
assistinsr his father in his business. 



DAVID S.XIDER was born and reared on 
his present farm, in Nimishillen township, 
Stark county, Ohio, the date of his nativity 
having been August 28, 1837, while he is the 
eighth in order of birth of the nine children of 
Michael and Elizabeth (Holben) Snider, and 
the eldest of the three survivors, the others 
being as follows : Eli;;abeth, who is the widow 
of Henry C. Wise, and who resides in the \il- 
lage of Louisville, this county; and Rebecca, 
who is the widow of John Hook, and resides 
near the city of Birmingham, Alabama. Mich- 
ael Snider was born in Baltimore county, Mary- 
land, on the 5th of January, 1797. the original 
American ancestors having emigrated to 
American in the early colonial epoch, and his 
father, George Snkler, was the first representa- 
tive of the family in Stark county, Oliio, wliich 
locality he had visited in the year 1810, and 
entered claim to three quarter-sections of gov- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1327 



ernment land, in the midst of the virgin forest, 
which property he subsequently divided among 
his children. The deed to the land is now in 
the possession of our subject, and is a valuable 
heirloom. It bears date of November i, 1810, 
and is signed by James Madison, who was at 
the time President of the United States. Tlie 
family made a permanent removal to their new 
home in the primitive wilds of the new country 
shortly after the war of 1812, and here the 
grandfather of the subject passed the residue 
of his life. His son Michael received the quar- 
ter section where our subject now resides, and 
forthwith made a clearing in tiie midst of the 
woods, and there erected a log cabin of the 
primitive type, and then set to himself the her- 
culean task of reclaiming his land and bringing 
it under cultivation. How well he succeeded, 
and how earnest his endeavors, the conditions 
today indicate, and he lived to witness the de- 
velopment of the county from the condition of 
a primeval forest to that of a populous and 
opulent division of one of the greatest states 
in the Union. He died on the old homestead 
on the 30th of October, 1880, at the venerable 
age of eighty-three years and nine months. 
He w-as a stanch Democrat in his political ^'iews, 
and took an active interest in local affairs of 
a public nature, while he served as township 
assessor, and was shown other marks of popu- 
lar confidence and esteem. Both he and his wife 
were devout and Avortliy members of the Luth- 
eran church, in whose faith they reared their 
children, whose v.'elfare was their deepest solici- 
tude. The mother of the subject w-as born in 
Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, on the ist of 
July, 1799, and her deatli occurred on the old 
homestead farm, in Stark county, on the 7th 
of January, 1888, at the age of eighty-eight 
years and six months. Her parents came to 
Stark county about the same time as did the 
Snider family, and the two families were the 
first to t.ake up a permanent abode in Nimi- 
shillen township. 



David Snider passed his youthful days on 
the oicl homestead, which is still his abiding 
place, and it is needless to say that he early 
became familiar with the manifold details that 
entered into the reclamation and cultivation 
of a pioneer farm, this formative period in his 
life being one that has had its influence upon 
his entire subsequent career, since he then 
learned the value of consecutive endeavor and 
to appreciate that sturdy independence which 
is ever begotten under such circumstances and 
environments. His scholastic privileges were 
necessarily limited, being confined to an ir- 
regular attendance in the little log school house 
so typical of the early days, but this alert 
mentality has enabled him to fully profit by the 
fessons of experience, and he is today a man of 
broad information and mature judgment. Upon 
attaining his majority he began farming a por- 
tion of the homestead "on shares," as the col- 
loquial expression has it, and in 1873 he pur- 
chased the interest of one of the other heirs 
to the estate, while by successive purchases. 
— in 1873, 1875, 1877, 1S84, and 1889,- — he 
finally acquired the interests of all the heirs, 
thus becoming the sole owner of the ancestral 
farm. He also purchased thirty acres adjoining 
the home place, and his landed estate now com- 
prises one hundred and eighty-two acres, while 
no more prolific a farm can be found in the 
county. 

In 1862 Mr. Snider was drafted into the 
government service as a soldier of the Civil 
war, being mustered in as a private of Com- 
pany K, One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, with which he proceeded to 
Camp Steel, Tennessee, and the first engage- 
ment in which he participated was at Arkansas 
Post, where seven bullets passed through his 
clothing, and where the scabbard of his bayonet 
was shot off, showing that he must have been 
in the thick of the fray. He next took part 
in the battle of Haines Bluff, and the com- 
mand then followed Grant down to Grand Bluft' 



1328 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and crossed over into Mississippi, taking part 
in the capture of Jackson, tiie capital of that 
state, and later participating in the forty-seven 
days' siege of Vicksburg, after which they 
returned to Jackson and took part in the five 
days' fight with Johnston. Mr. Snider continued 
in the service until August, 1863, when he was 
mustered out, at Black River, Mississippi, re- 
ceiving his honorable discharge in August, 
1863, at Black River, Mississippi. He suffered 
severe attacks of chills and fever while in the 
south, and this,as taken in connection with other 
hardships and privations, worked havoc with 
his physical system, as is evident when we re- 
vert to the fact that when he entered the serv- 
ice he weighed two hundred and ten pounds, 
while there were only one hundred and thirty 
pounds of the individual to be mustered out. 
Prior to the war Mr. Snyder was a Democrat 
in politics, but upon the organization of the 
Republican party, as the avowed opponent of 
slavery, he espoused its cause, and the "grand 
old party" has ever since had his firm allegiance. 
Though not formally identified with any church 
Mr. Snider is a firm believer in the teachings 
' of the lowly Nazarene, and is an upright, sin- 
cere Christian gentleman. 

On the 1 8th of October, 1866, Mr. Snider 
was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Ringer, 
who was born in Marlboro township, this coun- 
ty, a daughter of Michael Ringer, who came 
from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and 
became one of the early settlers of Stark coun- 
ty, where he passed the remainder of his life. 
Of the five children boin of this union four 
are living at the present time, namely : Isa- 
belle, the wife of Peter Monter, of Marlboro 
township ; Thaddeus, a successful farmer of 
Osnaburg township; Eliza J., the wife of Her- 
bert Heise, of Marlboro township; and Lora, 
the wife of Irwin Warner, also a resident of 
that township. Mrs. Snider was summoned 
into eternal rest on the 26th of December, 
1875, and in 1878 the subject married Miss 



Elizabeth Knepper, wiio was born in Nimishil- 
len township, a daughter of Ananias Knepper, 
who came to the county from Pennsylvania. 
Mr. and Mrs. Snider are the parents of four 
children : Phcebe, who is the wife of Otis Bur- 
gett, of this township; and Ellsworth, John D. 
and Lillie, who remain at the parental home. 



JOSEPH LARKIN HIGLEY comes of 
stanch English ancestry m the agnatic line, the 
original progenitor in ihe United States having 
been Captain John Higley, who was born in 
Frimley, Surrey county, England, whence he 
came to America in 1665, taking up his resi- 
dence at Windsor, Connecticut, where he re- 
sided until his death. He gained his title of 
captain by reason of service in the Colonial 
militia. Joseph Higley. grandfather of the 
subject, was a native of the state of Massa- 
chusetts, having been born in Becket, Berk- 
shire county, whence, in 181 5, he came as a 
pioneer to Ohio, locating in Portage county, 
where he entered claim to a tract of govern- 
ment land in what is now the town of Wind- 
ham, where he developed a good farm, upon 
which he continued to reside until the close of 
his life. On this honiestfead was born his son 
John Larkin Higley, father of the subject, and 
there he was reared to maturity, and he suc- 
ceeded to the ownership of the farm, which 
continued to be his home during the remainder 
of his long, honorable and signally useful life, 
his deadi occurring at the age of eighty-one- 
years. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza- 
beth Frary, was of Scottish ancestry, and was 
born in Becket, Berkshire county, Massachu- 
setts, whence his parents removed to Wind- 
ham, Portage county. Ohio, when she was 
a child, and she still resides on the old home- 
stead, endeared to her through the hallowed 
memories of the past, and she is eighty-two 
years of age at the time of this writing, in 1903. 

Joseph Larkin Higley was born on the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1329 



homestead farm mentioned, the date of his na- 
tivity having been January 23, 1S47, ^^^^ after 
availing himself of sacii. advantages as were 
offered in the district sclioois he continued his 
educational discipline in the high school at 
Ravenna. At the age of seventeen years he 
assumed a clerical position in a general store 
at Newton Falls, Trumbull county, later on 
occupying" similar positions at Cleveland and 
Ravenna, Ohio. He continued in the mercan- 
tile business for the period of fourteen years, 
having removed, in 1870, to Stark county, and 
located in Waynesburg, where he established 
himself in the general merchandise business, 
continuing the enterprise until 1877, and in 
1879 he removed to Mansfield, this state, where 
he became interested in the sheet-metal roofing 
business, the headquarters of the business hav- 
ing later been removed to Canton, where the 
enterprise was reorganized under the title of 
the Canton Steel Roofing Company. In 1880 
Mr. Higley came to Canton, and for about six 
years he was in the employ of the Peerless 
Reaper Company, and for one year with the 
C. Aultman Company, and then purchased an 
interest in the Canton Brick Company, with 
whose operations he contmued to be identified 
as secretary and treasurer until 1897, when it 
was reorganized under the name of the Canton 
& Cleveland Brick Company, and in March, 
1902. he disposed of his interest in the same, 
and has since given his attention to his various 
capitalistic and industrial interests. He is 
president of the Cleveland Brick & Clay Com- 
pany, a director of the Canton .Savings & Trust 
Company, also secretary and treasurer of the 
Sevres China Company, being concerned in 
several other important enterprises, while he 
is also the owner of a considerable amount of 
valuable realty. In politics Mr. Higley is a 
stalwart advocate of the j^rinciples and policies 
of the Republican party, but he has never had 
any personal ambition in a political way and 
has never held office. Mr. and Mrs. Higley 

83 



hold membership m the First Presbyterian 
church, and he is serving as a member of its 
board of trustees. 

At Waynesburg, this county, on the 31st 
of October, 1876, Mr. Higley was united in 
marriage to Miss Jane Scott, who was born 
at Bushnell, Illinois, being a daughter of Cap- 
tain George M. Scott, who served with dis- 
iiinction in the war of the Rebellion, and who 
died in the service during' the war. The 
maiden name of his wife was Nancy Gibson, 
and she is still living, making her home with 
her daughter, Mrs. Higley. The subject and 
his wife have had three children, all of whom 
died in early childhood. 



JOHN R. MATTHEWS.— The Matthews 
family is of stanch English stock, the grand- 
father of the subject having been John Mat- 
thews, who was born in the city of Bristol, 
England, whence he came to the United States 
as a young man, locating in the state of Massa- 
chusetts, where he passed the remainder of his 
life. John Matthews, father of him whose 
name initiates this sketch, was born in the old 
Bay state, where he was reared to m.aturity, 
after which he removed to Monroe county. 
New York, locating in the village of Pittsford, 
where he was engaged in the cooperage business 
for a number of years. There was solemnized 
his marriage to Miss Martha Enisted. who was 
born in England, and who was about four year.s 
of age at the time of her parents' emigration 
to the United States. She died at the home 
of her daughter, Mrs. Sarah Whitcomb, in 
North Hartland, Niagara county. New York, 
in May, about twenty-eight years ago, about 
sixty-eight years of age, and her husband pre- 
ceded her into eternal rest in the city of Roch- 
ester, New York. He was originally a \Miisr 
in his political proclivities, and later trans- 
ferred his allegiance to the Republican party, 
while both he and his wife were consistent 



I330 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



members of the Presbyterian church. He was 
a close Bibhcal student, and was very famihar 
with all portions of the scriptures, from which 
he was able to quote almost any passage from 
memory. He and his wife became the par- 
ents of eight children, of whom only two are 
living at the present time, John Iv., the imme- 
diate subject of this review, and Charles H., 
who is likewise a resident of the city of Canton. 
John R. Matthews was born in Pittsford, 
Monroe county, New York, on the 30th of 
November, 183 1, and he was reared and edu- 
cated in his native state. He was early thrown 
on his own resources, and his educational ad- 
vantages were limited, smce he was compelled 
to walk two miles to and from the little school 
house, which he was enabled to attend only 
during the short winter terms. He left home 
when quite young, and served a thorough ap- 
prenticeship at the nursery business, to which 
he continued to devote his attention for many 
years. In i860 Mr. Matthews came from 
Rochester, New York, to_ Canton, for the pur- 
pose of taking charge of the nursery of Henry 
Meyer, who had advertised for a man to fill 
this position, our subject having noted the ad- 
vertisement in the Rural New Yorker, and he 
was selected to fill the position, for which fully 
fifty persons had made application. He con- 
tinued to be actively identified wilh this line 
of industry until about 1877, when he accepted 
a clerkship in the establishment of the Guns- 
berg Clothing Company, of Canton, later en- 
tering the employ of the Goldberg Clothing 
Company, with which he remained about four 
years, and was then with that company's suc- 
cessor, I. & D. Rosenthal, until about 1900. 
For several years past he has conducted an in- 
dependent business in Canton, where he is 
agent for eastern clothing concerns. In poli- 
tics Mr. Matthews accords an unwavering alle- 
giance to the Republican party, and in the 
spring of 1902 he was elected to the office of 
trustee of Canton township, in which position 



he is rendering most efficient and satisfactory 
service. Fraternally he is identified with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the 
Royal Arcanum, the Senior Order of United 
American Mechanics and the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen. He is well known in Can- 
ton and vicinity, and holds the high regard of 
the community in which he has so long m.ade 
his home. 

In the city of Rochester, New York, Mr. 
Mattliews was united in marriage to Miss Julia 
Stiles, who was born in the city of Syracuse, 
New York, being a daughter of Martin J. 
Stiles, a farmer and blacksmith. When she 
was a child her parents removed to Fairport, 
Monroe county. New York, where she was 
reared and educated, and where they passed the 
remainder of their lives. Of the eight children 
of Mr. and Mrs. Matthews we incorporate the 
following brief record: Delia is the wife of 
John H. Diffenbacher, of Middlebranch, Stark 
county; Charles died in childiiood; Ida is the 
wife of Ewing S. Barnes, of Youngstown, Ma- 
honing county ; Minnie is deceased ; William 
died in childhood; Harry, who was born in 
Canton, on the 4th of September, 1S67, and 
who was educated in the public schools of this 
city, is now engaged in business with his father; 
Fred resides at Salem, Ohio; and John resides 
in Canton. 



HIRAM SMITH was born on the parental 
homestead farm, in what is now North Can- 
ton, on the I2th of October, 1852, being a son 
of John J. and Nancy (Shriver) Smith, the 
former of whom was a son of Daniel Smith, 
who were numbered among the very early set- 
tlers in Stark county, whither they emigrated 
from the state of Maryland. John J. Smith 
was born in Maryland, in the year 1806, and 
was reared to maturity amid the scenes of pio- 
neer days in Stark county, where he devoted 
his attention to agricultural pursuits until the • 



CANTON 'AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1331 



time of his deatli. His wife was a daughter of 
Daniel Shriver, who hkewise was among tlie 
very early settlers in the county. His farm lay 
m Canton township, and the north and north- 
eastern parts of the city are located on the land 
which he thus secured. His land extended as 
tax southward as the present Turner Hall, and 
he used to cultivate the flats which are now 
practically in the center of the city. He owned 
a large amount of land, and through its appre- 
ciation in value with the growth of the city and 
the increase in population throughout the coun- 
ty he became well-to-do, and was an influential 
citizen of the community. The mother of the 
subject inherited eighty acres of the old home- 
stead, and after their marriage she and her hus- 
band located on this farm, where the latter 
passed the remainder of his life, his death oc- 
curring in 1865, at the age of fifty-nine years. 
His widow survived him by many years, her 
death occurring in 1897, at the venerable age 
of eighty-three years. In politics the father 
was a Whig until the organization of the Re- 
publican party, when he transferred his sup- 
port to the same, and both he and his wife 
were worthy and zealous members of the Luth- 
eran church. Of their childien we incorporate 
the following brief data : Daniel is a farmer of 
Plain township; Mary, who became the wife 
of Matthias Grofifmiller, is now deceased ; Jere- 
miah is a resident of the city of Canton ; Susan 
died at the age of about twenty years; Harriet 
is the wife of Benjamin F. Smith, of Plain 
township; William maintains his residence in 
the state of Texas; Orlando and Amanda, 
twins, the latter residing on the old homestead, 
and the former on North Market street, this 
city; Hiram, subject of this sketch, was the 
next in order of birth ; and Emma J ., the widow 
of William J. Adams, lives on the McKinley 
farm, east of Minerva. 

Hiram Smith was reared on the home farm, 
early beginning to contribute his quota to its 
work, while his educational privileges Vk'cre 



those afforded by the public schools of Canton. 
He continued to be actively identified with agri- 
cultural pursuits until after his marriage, while 
in his present line of business he has been en- 
gaged since 1S89, when he associated himself 
with his brother-m-law, Alva C. Zeiter, in es- 
tablishing a grocery at their present location, 
on North Market street, the enterprise being 
conducted under the firm name of Zeiter & 
Smith. They have a thoroughly modern and 
well equipped establishment, are known as re- 
liable and progressive business men, and con- 
trol a representative trade. In politics Mr. 
Smith accords a stanch allegiance to the Re- 
publican party, though he has never desired 
the honors of public office of any order. He 
has a pleasant residence at 911 Lawrence ave- 
nue, where he resided until recently, and which 
thoroughfare was named in honor of the father 
of his first wife. Mrs. Smith is a devoted 
member of the German Reform church, and 
takes an active part in its work. 

In October, 1874, in Canton, was solem- 
nized the marriage of Mr. Smith to Miss Jose- 
phine Lawrence, daughter of the late George 
Lawrence, who was formerly an influential 
citizen and prominent banker of Canton, and 
who for the past ten years has resided in Los 
Angeles, California. He served as treasurer 
of Stark county and also as county commission- 
er, and was highly esteemed in the community. 
Mrs. Smith entered into eternal rest on the 
nth of January, 1883, there having been no 
children of the union. On the 8th of April, 
1886, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to 
Miss Mary Zeiter, a daughter of Christian 
Zeiter, a well known and highly honored pio- 
neer of Canton, and of this union have been 
born three children, Nellie, Earl and Esther. 



JACOB B. SNYDER.— Jacob Snyder, 
grandfather of the subject, was bom in Berks 
county, Pennsylvania, where the family was 



1332 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



established in an early period, the original 
American progenitors having emigrated from 
Germany prior to the war of the Revolution. 
The grandfather came to Stark county in the 
early pioneer epoch and took up a tract of 
heavily timbered land near the present village 
of Belfort, Nimishillen township, where he 
made a clearing and erected his primitive dom- 
icile of round logs, the building being twenty- 
two by thirty feet in dimensions. He contin- 
ued to reside on the pioneer farm until his 
death, in about 1870, having reclaimed a con- 
siderable portion of his land. His son Jacob, 
father of the subject, was born on the old 
homestead farm, in this county, in the year 
1826, and there fell to his portion from his 
boyhood much arduous toil in connection with 
the reclamation and cultivation of the farm, 
while his educational advantages were perforce 
most limited, owing to the exigencies of time 
and place. As a boy he assisted in threshing 
out wheat with the old-fashioned hand flails, 
and later by using horses to tread out the grain. 
He learned to read antl write in the German, as 
well as the English, language. In 1863 he was 
united in marriage to xVIiss Mollie Bolinger, 
who was born in Pennsylvania, being a daugh- 
ter of Daniel Bolinger, who was numbered 
among the pioneers of Stark county and who 
died at the age of eighty-flve years, at the home 
of his son Benjamin, a clergyman of the Dunk- 
ard church, in ]\lichigan, three others of his 
sons having likewise been ministers of that 
church. i\fter his marriage Jacob Snyder, Jr., 
located on a farm adjoining the town of Osna- 
burg, this county, and there he continued to be 
identified with agricultural pursuits until his 
death, which occurred on the 25th of October, 
1891. He became one of the prominent and 
successful farmers of that locality and ever 
commanded unqualified confidence and esteem 
in the community, while in politics he gave his 
support to the Republican party practically from 
the time of its organi/iation. His wife passed 



away on the ist of January, 1897. Both were 
devoted members of the Dunkard church. Of 
their children we enter the following record : 
Callie is the wife of Jacob Keim, near Middle- 
branch; Jacob B. is the immediate subject of 
this sketch ; Benjamin is a resident of Salem, 
Columbiana county ; Louis resides in Akron, this 
state, as does also Mahlon, who is the youngest 
of the children. 

Hon. Jacob B. Snyder was born on the 
homestead farm, near Osnaburg, this county, 
on the 26th of July, 1866, and attended the 
public schools in a somewhat desultory way 
from the age of six years to that of twenty, 
and it may consistently be said that he is self- 
educated, since he has been untiring and assid- 
uous in his personal application and has thus 
rounded out a symmetrical and broad educa- 
tion of a practical order. He began teaching 
in the district schools at the age of eighteen 
years, and was engaged in this line of work 
during two winter terms. In 1889, during the 
administration of President Harrison, he was 
appointed postmaster at Osnaburg", reniaining 
incumbent of this office for a period of two 
years, at the expiration of which he resigned, 
in order to give his entire time and attention 
to the study of law, which he carried forward 
with such concentration and energy that he se- 
cured admission to the bar of the state in the 
year 1892. Thereafter he was engaged in the 
practice of his profession in the city of Canton 
until 1898, when he was elected to represent the 
Stark district in the lower house of the state 
legislature, serving as a member of the seventy- 
third general assembly, in which he proved 
himself a capable and progressive legislator and 
one who so acceptably represented the interests 
of his constituency that he was returned to 
the seventy-fourth assembly as his own suc- 
cessor in the election in the autumn of 1902. 
At the opening of the seventy-third assembly 
he was a prominent candidate for speaker of 
the house, withdrawing at the last moment 



CANTON 'AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1333 



and being; elected speaker pro tem, in which 
position he proved that he was well eciuipped 
as a presiding officer, being well versed in 
parliamentary usages and having that self 
poise so essential in that connection. He 
gained recognition as one of the leaders of the 
Republican side of the house, and during his 
present term his retention pf membership on 
important committees will work for the promo- 
tion of effective legislation. Mr. Snyder is 
essentially a working member and one who is 
known to permit no compromise for the sake 
of partisan expediency at the sacrifice of prin- 
ciple, so that he commands the respect and es- 
teem of his confreres in the legislature, as 
. does he the liigh regard of the people of Stark 
county. Fraternally he is identified with the 
Masonic order, the Indepaident Order of Odd 
Fellows and the Ijene\'oIent and Protective 
Order of Elks. He has been one of the active 
and valued workers in the Republican party 
and is one of its wheel-horses in Stark county, 
while it may be said that he cast his first presi- 
dential vote in support of James (i. Blaine. 
Mr. Snyder is an able and honored member 
of the bar of the county and is still engaged in 
the practice of his profession in Canton, where 
he has maintained his home since 1899. 

On the .?7th of November, 1894, Mr. Sny- 
der was united in marriage to Miss Alice Stein- 
metz, a daughter of George Steinmetz, a prom- 
inent and influential farmer of Pike township, 
where Mrs. Snyder was born. Mr. and Mrs. 
Snyder have two children, Bernice, who was 
born in 1897, and Hubert, who was born in 
1808. 



LOl'IS DUMONT.— In the early epoch 
of its history Stark county was favored in the 
acquisition of a large number of sterling citi- 
zens of French birth or extraction, and today 
there remain within its borders many repre- 
sentatives of this line, among: the number be- 



ing him to whom this brief sketch is dedicated. 
His ancestors lived for many years in the sub- 
urbs of the fair city of Paris, and there his 
father, John J. L. Dumont, was born in the 
year 181 6. He was there reared and educated 
and in the suburbs of Paris he became the 
owner of a small tract of land upon which he 
had an excellent vineyard, devoting his atten- 
tion to the manufacturing of wines. His fa- 
ther, Louis Dumont, served for .seven years in 
Napoleon's army and ever" remained loyal to 
the great commander. He married Virginia 
Gdlette. and they became the parents of sev- 
eral children. In the year 1833, in company 
with his family, he emigrated to the United 
States, landing in New York city, whither they 
came to Stark county, Ohio, by way of Buf- 
falo and Lake Erie, while from Cleveland they 
proceeded by canal to Alliance, this county. 
Shortly after his arrival in the county the 
grandfather of the subject purchased a tract 
of one hundred and twenty acres of land in 
Jackson township, and there the family re- 
sided for several years, after which they re- 
moved to the city of Canton, and for a number 
of years the grandfather lived with two of 
his daughters on the corner of North Walnut 
and Fourth streets. The closing years of his 
life were passed in the home of his son John, 
father of the subject of this review, who was 
then engaged in farming northeast of the city 
of Massillon. This venerable and honored pio- 
neer of Stark county entered into eternal rest 
in 1869, at the age of eighty-two years, his 
devoted wife having passed away in 1851, 
when nearly sixty-six years of age. Of their 
children we enter brief record, as follows : 
Job.n was the father of the subject ; Ulillia, who 
became the wife of Dennis Charmois, of this 
county, died in a hospital in Cincinnati ; and 
Euphrosia, who never married, died in the 
city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In his 
native land the father of the subject re- 
ceived his educational advantages, and after 



1334 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



coming to Canton he attended the Canton 
schools for three months, early becoming 
quite proficient in the Enghsh language. He 
was eighteen years of age at the time of the 
family removal from France to the United 
Slates, and later was united in marriage to 
Miss Malina Mariec, who was born near Belle- 
fort, in the province of Alsace, France, and 
who was but six years of age at the time of her 
parents' emigration to America. They located 
in the village of Louisville, this county, where 
she was reared and educated. After their mar- 
riage the parents of the subject located on a 
farm four miles west of Canton, and the fa- 
ther continued to be actively engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits until his death, which oc- 
curred on the 29th of December, 1891. He 
was a man of high principles and fine mentality, 
and through his well directed efforts he ac- 
cumulated a competency, having been the own- 
er of a landed estate of about four hundred 
acres at the time of his demise. His widow 
still survives him; having now attained the 
venerable age of eighty-four years. In poli- 
tics he was a stanch supporter of the Demo- 
cratic party, and both he and his wife became 
members of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Du- 
mont died March 9. 1903, aged eighty-three 
years. They became the parents of eight chil- 
dren, namely: Henry, who resides near Cha- 
grin Falls, Cuyahoga county; Louis, who is the 
immediate subject of this sketch; Hermance, 
who is the wife of Jefferson Clay, who like- 
wise resides near Chagrin Balls ; Amelius Jo- 
seph P., who is engaged in the grocery busi- 
ness in the city of Canton ; Olympia and Flora 
(twins), the former of whom became the wife 
of Calvin Clay and died in Stark county, in 
1900, while the latter is the wife of Joseph 
Pierson, of New Berlin, this county; Edward, 
who is associated with the subject in the man- 
agemait of the grocery business ; and Mary, 
who died at the age of six years. 

Louis Dumont, son of John J. L. Dumont, 



was born on the old homestead farm, on the 
Fulton road, in Canton township, this county, 
the date of his nativity having been December 
18, 1842, and he was reared under the sturdy 
discipline of the farm, while his rudimentary 
scholastic training was received in a log school- 
house of the primitive pioneer type, the same 
being known as the Scharid school. Later he 
continued his studies in the Robinson district, 
No. 6, near the city of Massillon, and he 
availed himself of the advantages of the pub- 
lic schools until he had attained the age of 
nineteen years, his first teacher having been 
Ira M. Allen, who was later principal of the 
union school in Canton and who also served as 
treasurer of Stark county. After leaving 
school Mr. Dumont came to Canton and se- 
cured a clerkship in the general store of John 
R. Miller, on the public square, and here he 
continued in the employ of George Fessler, 
who purchased the business of Mr. Miller in 
1863, with whom he remained until 1869, in 
which year he purchased the grocery business 
of George A. VVinterhalter, his place of busi- 
ness being in the building standing immediately 
to the south of the present Harter block, on the 
public souare. Here Mr. Dumont maintained 
his headquarters for two and one-half years, 
at the expiration of which he purchased of 
A. J. Douds the site of his present fine estab- 
lishment. The huilding originally occupied was 
destroyed by fire in 1893, and our subject 
shortly afterward erected his present substan- 
tial and commodious brick building, in which 
he has a select and complete line of staple and 
fancy groceries and provisions, while the fa- 
cilities of the store are of metropolitan char- 
acter. Mr. Dumont is known as a thoroughly 
progressive and reliable business man and he 
has ever commanded the entire confidence and 
esteem of the community and is recognized as 
one of the leading business men and valuable 
citizens of Canton. Though taking a public- 
spirited interest in all that concerns the wel- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1335 



fare of the community, he has never evinced 
the sHghtest personal ambition in a political 
way, yet is not neglectful of his duties as a citi- 
zen and exercises his franchise in support of 
the principles of the Democratic party. 

Mr. Dumont has been thrice married. On 
the i8th of February, 1872, he wedded Miss 
■Christina Kryer, who died in 1891, without 
issue, and in 1896 he was united to Miss Clara 
E. Lincoln, who passed away on the 7th of 
May, 1900. On the 19th of November, 1902, 
Mr. Dumont wedded his present companion, 
whose maiden name was Anna C. Haggart. 
Jie has no children. 



MICHAEL W. OBERLIN was born in 
-Akron, Summit county, Ohio, on the 12th of 
February, 1856, being a son of Obed and Cath- 
erine (Smith) Oberlin, of whose eleven chil- 
dren nine are living at the present time. Obed 
Oberlin was born in Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, being of sturdy German lineage, and 
the original progenitors in the new world set- 
'tled in the old Keystone state prior to the war 
of the Revolution, and two representatives of 
the family served as members of Washington's 
body guard during that great conflict which de- 
termined the independence of our republic, 
while the intinsic loyalty and patriotism of the 
family has ever been of insistent order, and 
members of it were found arrayed in the ranks 
of the American army during the Mexican war 
and also that of the Rebellion, while it should 
also be noted, apropos of this statement, that 
the eldest son of our subject rendered valiant 
service as a soldier in the late Spanish-Amer- 
ican war. Li Pennsylvania Obed Oberlin was 
united in marriage to Miss Catherine Smith, 
who was likewise a native of that state, and 
about 1850 they came to Ohio, locating in Ak- 
ron, whence, about 1859, they came to Stark 
county and took up their abode in Plain town- 
ship, where the father continued to be identi- 



fied with agricultural pursuits until his death. 
Both were persons of sterling character and 
were consistent members of the Lutheran 
church, exemplifying their faith in their daily 
life. In politics the father gave his support to 
the principles and policies of the Republican 
party, with which he identified himself at the 
time of its organization. 

Michael W. Oberlin was about three years 
of age at th.e time when his parents took up 
their residence on the farm in Plain township, 
and there he was reared to years of maturity. 
His early educational discipline was secured in 
the Middlebranch district school and he later 
supplemented this training by a course of study 
in an academy at Mount LJnion, this county. 
He was matriculated in the Ohio State Agri- 
cultural & Mechanical College (now the Ohio 
State University) , in the capital city of Co- 
lumbus, having been one of the first students 
to enter this institution from Stark county. In 
order to defray expenses of his collegiate 
course he engaged in teaching during the win- 
ter months, and with the funds thus secured he 
attended the summer session of his alma mater. 
After leaving college Mr. Oberlin was for live 
years a general teacher in the public schools 
of the coimty, and thereafter his services for a 
full score of years were enlisted as a special 
teacher of penmanship, drawing and bookkeep- 
ing, in public and commercial schools of Can- 
ton and Massillon, in which lines he achieved 
noteworthy success, while his name has thus 
been indelibly impressed on the history 
of educational work in Stark county, where 
are to be found many able and promi- 
nent business men who are indebted to 
him for much of their practical educa- 
tion in business forms and methods, for 
he was ever careful and conscientious in every 
detail of his pedagogic work, in which he kept 
in touch with all advances made and spared no 
pains to create a spirit of enthusiasm and am- 
bition in his students. He continued to be act- 



1336 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



ivclv engaged in educational work until 1902, 
and during tliese long years of active and ef- 
ficient service he gained the highest confidence 
and esteem of a very wide circle of appreciative 
friends. In politics J\Ir. Oberlin has ever ac- 
corded an uncompromising allegiance to the 
Republican party, and in the autumn of 1901 
he became the candidate of his party for the 
office of county auditor, to which he was 
elected by a gratifying majority, his peculiar 
eligibility for the position being distinctly re- 
alized in the county where his many friends 
rallied to his support. He entered upon the 
discharge of his official duties in October, 
1902, and his administration is fully justifying 
the choice made by the electors of the county. 
Fraternally Mr. Oberlin is identified with the 
Knights of Pythias, holding membership in 
Perry Lodge No. 87; with the Junior Order of 
United American Mechanics, as a member of 
Patrick Henry Council, and with the Protective 
Home Circle. 

In the city of Canton, on the 28th of April, 
1880. Air. Oberlin was united in marriage to 
Elizabeth Lind, who w^as born in this city, be- 
ing a daughter of Samuel and Mary Lind, hon- 
ored pioneers of the county, and Mr. and Mrs. 
Oberlin have become the parents of six chil- 
dren, namely : Edgar G., who is now a cadet of 
the United States Naval Academy, at Annapo- 
lis, being a member of the class of 1904 ; he was 
a member of Troop D, First Ohio Cavalry, dur- 
ing the late war with Spain, having been but 
sixteen years of age at the time of his enlist- 
ment; Ralph L. is an assistant to his father in 
the auditor's office; and Mary, Florence and 
Mariette remain at the parental home. 



MORTIMER M. SOUTHWORTH was 
born in New Baltimore, Stark county, Ohio, 
on the 28th of November, 1842, being a son of 

Velorus N. and Paulina S. (Benson) South- 
worth, of whose six children onlv he himself 



and his brother Dallas are now living, the lat- 
ter being a resident of Marlboro, this county. 
Velorus Southworth came of stanch New Eng- 
land ancestry and was himself a native of the 
Green Mountain state, having been born in the 
city of Rutland, Vermont, on the 20th of May, 
1807, and having been there reared to maturity, 
receiving a common school education and 
learning the painter's trade. In his native state 
he was married about 1856 and shortly after- 
ward he came with his bride to Columbiana 
county, Ohio, locating in the village of Lisbon, 
where he was engaged in the hotel business 
for several years and then came to Marlboro, 
Stark county, where he followed his trade 
about three years, at the expiration of which he 
removed to New Baltimore, this county, where 
he continued to be employed in the work of his 
trade until 1852, in which year he removed to 
Delphi, Indiana, leaving his family in Stark 
county, and while he was thus absent his death 
occurred. In 1852 he officiated as drummer 
for the Democratic delegation from his dis- 
trict at the time when they attended the county- 
convention, and the subject, who was then but 
ten years of age, bore the iinwieldy bass drum, 
which he manipulated with precision and with 
a feeling of distinctive pride, which was in- 
creased when the delegation carried of the 
honors of the occasion. Velorus Southworth 
was in active service as a Union soldier during 
three years of the Civil war, having been first 
a member of the Ninth Indiana Regiment of 
Volunteer Infantry and later of the Sixtieth 
Regiment, while he held the office of drum- 
major during the greater portion of his terms 
of service. He died in Delphi, Carroll county, 
Indiana, in 1874. The Southworth family is 
of sturdy Scottish origin, and representatives 
of the same became early settlers in the state 
of New York as well as New England, and in 
the Empire state there have been many of the 
name who have attained prominence and dis- 
tinction, one having been a judge of the su- 




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^O'^i-t-^^^-^^t^c^ir-iOr/, 




'.7^.T!s £ Brr yVr' 




CANTON 'AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1337 



preme court of New York and another having 
long presided on the probate bench, while of 
this family Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, the 
celebrated novelist, was also a member, her 
home having in Yonkers, New York. , Preston 
Southworth, a cousin of the subject, and a 
son of Myron M. Southworth, was a judge of 
probate in the state of Alabama and was promi- 
nent in the public affairs of that state, which 
he stumped effectively in suport of General 
Grant at the time of his first nomination for 
the presidency. 

Paulina (Benson) Southworth, mother of 
him to whom this sketch is dedicated, was born 
in Rutland, Vermont, on the 20th of Decem- 
ber, 1810, and eventually through the in- 
temperance of her husband they became separ- 
ated, the father leaving his home and family, 
and after he went to Indiana, as noted, she as- 
sumed the task and reared her two sons 
Andrew and Dallas, while the subject was 
bound out to William Thompson, a farmer 
of Portage county, Ohio, where he remained 
up to within four months of his twentieth year, 
having received such educational privileges as 
were implied in a somewhat desultory attend- 
ance in the district schools. At the age noted 
he manifested the intrinsic loyalty and patriot- 
ism of his nature by tendering his services in 
defense of the nation, whose integrity was 
thrown in jeopardy through armed rebellion. 

On the 25th of July, 1862, Mr. Southworth 
enlisted as a private in Company B, One Hun- 
dred and Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, of 
which his brother Andrew also became a mem- 
ber. Shortly after his enlistment at Camp 
Massillon, this county, Andrew J. Southworth 
was unanimously chosen by his company as 
second lieutenant, and later he was promoted 
to first lieutenant and finally captain of the 
company, and,' was offered still higher pro- 
motion, but refused to leave the comrades of 
Company B, with whom he had become very 
popular. On the ist of August, 1864, he re- 



ceived his commission as captain, but before 
being mustered in as such he was killed, before 
Atlanta, on the 16th of that month. His 
brother Dallas served one year as a member 
of the Sixty-second Ohio Regiment, and was 
then discharged by reason of physical dis- 
ability, but four months later he re-enlisted, 
becoming a private in the One Hundred and 
Eighty-fourth Ohio Volunteers, with which he 
continued in active service one year. At the 
time of his enlistment the subject was promised 
the position of sergeant-major of his company, 
but as he failed to secure this office he was 
made drummer of his company, and after serv- 
ing four months in this capacity he was ordered 
into the ranks, because the fife-major, C. L. 
McLean, entered the claim that he could not 
learn to drum. Mr. Southworth refused to be 
placed in the ranks and asked to be sent home. 
Before definite action was taken, however, he 
asked of Major Woodworth the privilege of 
receiving instructions from one of the drum- 
mers of the regiment, and his request was 
granted. The following night he beat taps and 
drummers' call, and within three weeks was 
acknowledged to be one of the most skillful 
drummers in the regiment. About six months 
later the One Hundred and Fourth Ohio 
Comet Band was organized and Mr. South- 
worth was made its snare drummer. In Janu- 
ary, 1865, there was held at Goldsboro, North 
Carolina, a musical convention, with all the 
bands of Sherman's army in attendance, and 
the One Hundred and Fourth Ohio band, in 
the competitive playing, secured second honors, 
while a similar honor came to Mr. Southworth 
in his specialty. Among the more prominent 
engagements in which Mr Southworth took 
part were those of Camp Ruff, Fort Mitchell, 
and Frankfort, Kentucky; Crab Orchard and 
various subsequent skirmishes through Ken- 
tucky; the siege and battle of Knoxville; 
Resaca ; Marietta ; Atlanta ; Peach Tree Creek ; 
Jonesboro; Columbia; Franklin; Nashville; 



5338 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



Fort Anderson ; Willmington ; Kingston ; and 
Goldsboro. He received no wounds during his 
term of service and was confined to the hos- 
pital but three days. He was mustered out at 
Greensboro, North Carohna, in June, 1865, 
and received his honorable discharge in the 
•city of Cleveland, Ohio, on the fifth of the fol- 
lowing month. A number of his ancestors in 
the paternal line participated in the war of 
1812, while in the maternal line were repre- 
sentatives to be found both in that conflict and 
the war of the Revolution. 

After his discharge Mr. Southworth re- 
turned to Portage county and, realizing that 
his education was deficient, he made an effort 
to supplement the discipline which he had 
previously received, and for two terms attended 
a select school conducted by H. D. Smalley, 
at Randolph, that county. Later he went to 
the city of Cleveland, where he completed a 
course of study in the Bryant & Stratton 
Business College. His funds became depleted 
before he completed his studies in this insti- 
tution, and in order to make provision for con- 
tinuing his course he secured a position as de- 
livery boy for J. H. Lodge, who was then a 
prominent grocer of the Forest City, and with- 
in eight months he had saved from his earnings 
a sufficient sum to enable him to complete his 
work in the college. Here he assisted simul- 
taneously in keeping books for Dr. L. W. Sapp, 
under whose preceptorship he began the study 
of the Hahnneman school system of medicine, 
•w\th a view to becoming a physician of the 
Homeopathic school. He remained with Dr. 
Sapp two years and then accepted a position 
as bookkeeper for the firm of Hogan & Carr, 
wholesale grocers of Cleveland, his object be- 
ing to thus earn the funds necessary to taking 
a collegiate medical course. After ten months' 
service, however, his health became so impaired 
that he was compelled to resign his position, 
and he then came to Alliance, Stark county, 
and here, on the nth of September, 1867, he 



was united in marriage to Miss Allie M. Hea- 
cock, of Atwater, Portage county, who had been 
a school mate while he was residing with his 
foster-father, Mr. Thompson. After his mar- 
riage Mr. Southworth established himself in 
business in Alliance, where he opened a music 
store, handling all kinds of musical merchan- 
dise, and in this line of enterprise he continued 
until the financial panic of 1872, when he.dis- 
posed of the business, which had become un- 
profitable, and then entered the employ of the 
Adams Express Company, with which he re- 
mained in the capacity of railroad clerk and 
messenger, for a period of three and one-half 
years, at the expiration of which he resigned 
the position to accept a clerkship in the estab- 
lishment of D. G. Hester, who was engaged in 
the general merchandise business in Alliance. 
A year later he resigned this position and for 
the following two years was employed as bag- 
gage master at the local station of the Penn- 
sylvania railroad. He then resigned the po- 
sition and became manager of the Sourbeck 
hotel, in Alliance, whose proprietor, Daniel 
Sourbeck had recently died. Two years later 
he assumed the management of the Hotel Con- 
rad, at Massillon, and at the expiration of a 
year he resigned to accept the superintendency 
of the Charity Rotch School, to succeed Ira 
M. Allen, who had been superintendent for a 
decade. The board, however, discovered a 
discrepancy in the returns from the endow- 
ment of the institution and considered it ex- 
pedient to reduce the salary of the superinten- 
dent, and on this score the subject refused to 
enter upon the duties of the office. He then 
assumed the management of John Hunting- 
ton's summer home and fruit farm, near the 
city of Cleveland, and two years later the home 
was burned and Mr. Southworth lost valuable 
household effects and also his collection of 
army relics, which he prized very highly. He 
and his family barely escaped with their lives. 
Through exposure during the fire Mr. South- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1339 



worth's health became seriously impaired, and 
he then returned to Alliance, where he was 
shortly afterward appointed to the position of 
truant officer, by the board of education, and 
in 1891, while incumbent of this position, he 
was chosen to his present responsible prefer- 
ment as superintendent of the Fairmount 
Children's Home, which is most eligibly lo- 
cated, in Washington township, the board of 
trustees having granted him this well merited 
preferment. Within his regime sixteen hun- 
dred children have been inmates of the home, 
while the average number in the institution at 
one time is about two hundred. Since he as- 
sumed charge there having been but sixteen 
<leaths in the home, though there was a severe 
epidemic of malignant diphtheria in the insti- 
tution during his first years, thirty-seven cases 
having developed, while only two deaths oc- 
curred. From a total of sixty cases of measles 
and nine of scarlet fever only one death was re- 
corded. I'hese facts bespeak in no uncertain 
way the careful attention given to the children 
by Mr. Southworth and his noble wife, while 
a more able and satisfactory administration 
■of the affairs of the institution could not be 
asked. Mrs. Southworth keeps watch and 
ward over her numerous foster family, and of 
many children who came to her care in the 
most frightful physical condition the large 
majority have been brought through her de- 
voted ministrations to health and happiness and 
many of the little wards have been established 
in good homes, where they are doing credit to 
the training received at Fairmount. A dis- 
tinctive evidence of the appreciation of the 
board of trustees was recently accorded, when, 
in joint session with the county commissioners, 
they gave most emphatic and commendatory 
endorsement to the course taken by Mr. South- 
worth and gave a farther recognition by in- 
creasing his salary by three hundred dollars per 
annum. 

In politics Mr. Southworth has ever given 



a stanch allegaince to the Republican party, and 
his religious faith is that of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, of which he and his family 
are valued members. Fraternally he is a mem- 
ber of the Grand Army of the Republic, affili- 
ating with John C. Fremont Post No. 29, at 
Alliance, Ohio, while he has attained high rank 
in the time honored order of Freemasonry, 
being identified with the following named 
bodies of the same: Conrad Lodge No. 271, 
Free and Accepted Masons; Alliance Chapter 
No. 83, Royal Arch Masons; Omega Council 
No. 44, Royal and Select Masters ; Salem Com- 
mandery No. 42, Knights Templar; Al Koran 
Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the 
Mystic Shrine ; and Lake Erie Consistory, Sub- 
lime Princes of the Royal Secret. It will thus 
be seen that he has completed the circle of both 
the York and Scottish rites, and he stands 
high in the Masonic circles of the state, as does 
he in the respect and confidence of all who 
know him. 

Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Southworth three are living, namely : Glenn 
A., who is in the employ of the Alliance Ma- 
chine Company, as an expert machinist ; Fer- 
dinand L., who is a rising young lawyer of 
Cleveland;, and Esther. M., who is the efficient 
bookkeeper for her father. Mr. and Mrs. 
Southworth are also educating a foster daugh- 
ter whom they took from the home seven years 
ago, and who is amply repaying their care and 
devotion. 



HENRY E. WEBER was born in Canton, 
on the 27th of April, 1861, and in its public 
schools he received his educational training 
as a boy, and when nineteen years of age he 
entered upon an apprenticeship at the trade of 
machinist in the tool department of the Die- 
bold Safe & Lock Company, of Canton, where 
he served for a term of four years, while later 
he held the position of head machinist for the 



I340 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Connotton Valley Railroad, in the employ of 
which he continued for two years. In the 
meanwhile he was carefully conserving his 
financial resources, his mental makeup being 
such that he has ever worked toward some 
definite object, and in 1885 he felt himself jus- 
tified in continuing his educational work in a 
technical way. He entered the College of 
Pharmacy in the city of Cleveland, where he 
was graduated as a member of the class of 
1887, and shortly afterward he passed the re- 
quired examination before the state board of 
pharmacy and was duly registered as a li- 
censed pharmacist. In 1885, in company with 
his brother Charles, he effected the purchase 
of the drug store of John Geiger, in Canton, 
and they continued to conduct the same, under 
the firm name of Weber Brothers, for a period 
of seven years, at the expiration of which our 
subject purchased his brother's interest and 
remained as sole proprietor until 1894, when 
he sold the business to the firm of Pope & 
Binckley, of Doylestown, Wayne county. He 
then accepted a position as traveling salesman 
for the Harvard Company, of Canton, Ohio, 
in whose interests he visited the most diverse 
sections of the Union and also the principal 
European countries. At the end of three years 
he resigned his position and came again to 
Canton, where he began manufacturing dental 
supplies and specialties. The inception of the 
enterprise was most modest, since his original 
headquarters comprised one small room in his 
stable, where he placed a foot lathe and other 
absolutely essential machinery and personally 
did all portions of the manufacturing, turning 
out a considerable quantity of products and 
then going out on the road and disposing of the 
same. At the end of six months his business 
had so sufficiently increased as to justify him 
in removing to more commodious quarters, at 
404 East Fifth street, while in November, 
IQ02, he removed to his present well equipped 
and commodious establishment on East Ninth 



street, having purchased the property in 1902, 
and having utilized much discrimination in in- 
stalling the needed mechanical devices and as- 
cessories. On the 19th of December, 1899, 
he secured his first patent on his newly invented 
dental cuspidor, known as Weber's fountain 
spittoon, while in 1901 he also secured anothei 
United States patent and also one in Canada, 
while he has patents in Great Britain, France 
and Germany. He has also invented a hot- 
water syringe, which he has patented and is 
manufacturing, while he also has patents pend- 
ing on dental operating chairs of very superior 
order. The Weber fountain spittoon has 
gained a high reputation and has secured a rep- 
resentative and appreciative reception by the 
dental profession throughout the United States 
and also in foreign countries, shipments being 
made to the various European countries and 
also to South Africa. The sole agents for this 
ingenious and attractive dental accessory are 
I.ee S. Smith & Son, of Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, and the demand for the product is rap- 
idly increasing in scope as the undeniable su- 
periority of the same over all others becomes 
known. While it is aside from the province of 
a publication of this nature to enter into details 
in regard to aught aside from pure genealogi- 
cal and biographical record, yet the products 
of Mr. Weber's genius constitute a phase of his 
life work, and there can thus be no impropriety 
in quoting briefly from the attractive trade cir- 
cular issued by his agents : "The Weber foun- 
tain spittoon is the most beautiful and at the 
same time the most practical thing that has 
ever Ijeen made for use in the dental office. 
Without sacrificing a single essential feature 
an article has been made that is an ornament 
to any office. The artistic features of the 
Weber spittoon will appeal to anyone. It is 
practical as well as beautiful. From the prac- 
tical standpoint it combines the three features 
essential to perfection in an article of this char- 
acter. Of first importance is the fact that it is 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1341 



sanitary. The bowl is made of one solid piece 
of glass or porcelain. JMo part of it revolves. 
There is nothing complicated about it. There 
are no parts to wear out or get out of order, 
hence there are no places for impurities to 
lodge and become foul. Second in importance 
is its noiseless operation. It is utterly im- 
possible to hear it running, even when seated 
in the chair beside it. Water from the sup- 
ply pipe is fed into the bowl beneath the sur- 
face of the water already in the depression. 
Under these conditions it simply is not possible 
for it to be heard. Ihe water on entering the 
bowl does not come in contact with the air. 
There is no other possible way to insure noise- 
less operation. This is one of the patented me- 
chanical features of this spittoon. The third 
essential feature is the rapidity with which the 
saliva is carried out of sight of the patient. 
Nothing that is thrown into the bowl can re- 
main in sight for more than a fraction of a sec- 
ond." 

In 1893 ^'^^- Weber converted his manu- 
factory into a stock company and incorporated 
the same for one hundred thousand dollars, his 
associates being W. L. Smith, of Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania, L. A. Loichot, of Canton, H. B. 
Stewart, of Canton, M. E. Weber, of Canton, 
and R. Humelbaugh, of Canton. 

Mr. Weber is a man of fine mechanical 
skill and technique, as is evident to all who have 
seen the article mentioned, and he is constantly 
devoting his attention to experiments and is 
certain to patent other articles which will meet 
an equally favorable reception. He is well 
known in Canton and commands unequivocal 
confidence and esteem as a citizen and business 
man. He is a stanch advocate of the principles 
of the Democratic party, but has never sought 
official preferment, though he served one term 
as a memljer of the city council, from the first 
ward, being assigned to membership on the 
ways and means committee and also that on 
fire and water. Fraternally he is a member of 



the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. 
He was reared in the faith of the English Lu- 
theran church, but is not formally identified 
with any religious body, his wife being a de- 
voted member of the Baptist church. 

On the 5th of January, 1887, Mi". Weber 
was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Mor- 
ris, who was born in Canton, being a daughter 
of Elliott and Sarah (Miller) Morris, of this 
city, and they are the parents of three children, 
namely: Helen E., Mirriam L. and Mary J. 
Mr. Weber is an ardent sportsman and great- 
ly enjoys excursions afield and afloat, being an 
excellent shot and being one of the enthusias- 
tic members of the Canton Gun Club. 



THEODOl^E C. McQUATE, M. D., was 
born in the city of Canton, Stark county, Ohio, 
on the 19th of December, 1870, and was here 
reared to maturity, having completed the 
course of study in the high school, which was 
then a department of the old Union school, 
where he was graduated. During his vacations 
he traveled about the country as a jockey, gain- 
ing an excellent reputation on the turf, while 
he also worked as a mechanic at intervals. He 
grew up with a great appreciation of fine horses, 
this having been fostered, no doubt, by rea- 
son of the fact that his home was located op- 
posite the county fair grounds, now the city 
park, so that he early became interested in the 
racing events there scheduled and was finally 
led to adopt riding as an avocation. He has 
ever continued to be a fancier and lover of fine 
horses and dogs, fancy poultry, etc., and it was 
through his work as a veterinary surgeon that 
he was led into the wider sphere of professional 
endeavor in which he is now laboring. In 
1886 he took up the study of veterinary sur- 
gery in the famous McGill University, in the 
city of Montreal, Canada, and later entered the 
Ontario Veterinary College of Toronto Uni- 
versity, where he was graduated on the 29th 



1342 



OLD LANDMARKS 



of March, 1889, at the age of nineteen years, 
recei\'ing the degree of Doctor of Veterinary- 
Medicine. He then returned to Canton and 
here built up a large practice as a veterinarian, 
his services being in requisition throughout all 
parts of this section of the state, while he be- 
came particularly expert in surgical work, do- 
ing a large amount of individual experimenta- 
tion in the line. He continued in practice here 
about four years, and at the age of twenty- 
three years, as candidate on the Republican 
ticket, he was elected to the office of county 
coroner, receiving the largest majority ever ac- 
corded a candidate for this office in the coun- 
ty, while he was elected for a second term, dur- 
ing which he continued to serve, as did he 
also through a portion of a third term, pending 
the qualification of his successor, and while 
incumbent of this position the Doctor made it 
a point to gain as much practical supplemental 
knowledge as possible in regard to anatomy 
and surgery, while during the winters he 
studied medicine in the medical department of 
•the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in the 
city of Cleveland. After retiring from the of- 
fice of coroner he went to the city of Cleve- 
land, where he continued his study of medicine 
and surgery under the direction of the eminent 
surgeon. Dr. Crile Gillette, of Toledo. In the 
spring of 1897 he left Cleveland, on account of 
the radical laws advocated by a few physicians 
of the city, demanding that the state prohibit 
the awarding of medical diplomas to such 
candidates as had not previously taken the 
degree of either science or arts. An amend- 
ment to the proposed law was drawn up by the 
students in the different medical colleges in 
Cleveland and Dr. McOuate was chosen to 
present their grievance before the state legis- 
lature, in session at Columbus, and through his 
efforts the amendment was finally added and 
thus effectually did away with the unjust dis- 
crimination attempted. From Cleveland Dr. 
McOuate went to Chicago, where he attended 



the College of Physicians and Surgeons for one 
year, while he gained valuable clinical experi- 
ence in Cook County Hospital during this time. 
He later entered the Toledo Gillette's Hospital 
for abdominal surgery, where he was gradu- 
ated as a member of the class of 1901. While 
pursuing his studies, in order to see the coun- 
try and also to earn the funds with which to 
enable to continue his college work, the Doctor 
traveled for two seasons with the New England 
Carnival Company. After his graduation he 
did post-graduate work in Chicago, and there 
had a wide and varied hospital experience. He 
has defrayed the entire expense of his literary 
and professional education through his own 
efforts, appl)'ing himself diligently to what- 
ever work he has undertaken and ever working 
with a definite end in view, so that his preced- 
ence in his profession is sure to be cumulative, 
for he brings to bear the same self-reliance and 
enthusiasm and is thoroughly well read in the 
science of medicine and well equipped as a sur- 
geon, while he is a close student and keeps 
abreast of the advances made in his profession, 
while he devotes no little time to personal ex- 
perimentation and original investigation. He 
was first assistant to the well-known surgical 
expert, Dr. William Gillette, of Toledo, one and 
a half years, the latter being noted for his 
wonderful success in gun shot wounds in 
the abdomen, and also holding the world's 
record on operations on women. In the spring 
of IQ02 Dr. McOuate opened his present office, 
at 20S South Market street, in the city of Can- 
ton, and here he is building up a satisfactory 
practice, being well knowTi in the community 
and holding the high esteem of all with whom 
he has come in contact. The Doctor makes a 
specialty of stomach diseases. 

The Doctor has ever been a stanch adherent 
of the Republican party and a zealous worker 
in its cause. In 1896, when the late lamented 
President McKinley's campaign was in prog- 
ress, the Doctor was a member of the Repub- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1345^ 



lican reception committee in the President's 
home city of Canton, and he also was a mem- 
ber of tlie reception committee at the time when 
the remains of the martyred President were 
brought to Canton for interment. During the 
last presidential campaign Dr. McQuate was 
also a member of the McKinley escort troop. 
Fraternally he is identified with the Knights 
of Pythias and the Junior Order of United 
American Mechanics. 



PETER V. LOUTZENHISER.— As to 
the subject's early family history we can not 
do better in this connection than to make ex- 
cerpts from the interesting and carefully pre- 
pared little brochure entitled a "History of the 
Loutzenheiser family," which was read at the 
annual reunion of the family on the 17th of 
August, 1893, ^"cl later published by its au- 
thor, whose name introduces this sketch. He 
speaks as follows: "Then, A. D. 1764, we 
find our more direct ancestors settled in Amer- 
ica. The record left does not even show what 
country they came from, but, being written in 
the German language, it goes to show that they 
had been educated in a German country, and all 
tradition agrees that they came from the Ger- 
man Rhenish country. It has, however, been 
more definitely learned that Zweibrucken, a 
town in the kingdom of Bavaria, was the orig- 
inal home of the Loutzenheisers who first came 
and settled in America. * * * 'phe only 
known authentic record of the arrival of our 
ancestors in this country was written by Peter 
Loutzenheiser, great-grandfather of your his- 
torian. Let us note here that all traditional ac- 
counts agree that there were three brothers 
named Loutzenheiser who came to this coun- 
try together, but this is probably not strictly 
true. No account tells anything as to age, or 
whether married or single, and these traditional 
accounts do not state whether the parents of 
these three men also came to this country or 



not, but all accounts do agree that all persons 
of the name of Loutzenheiser in this country 
sprang from two of the brothers. The record 
of our elder Peter incidentally shows us that 
his parents were also in this country and that 
his father's name was Henry. * * * Now 
let us go back to 1764, which is the time the 
elder Peter says he arrived in this country. As 
before mentioned, he does not say that his fa- 
ther was in this country, but incidentally we 
learn that he was, and just the same way he 
speaks of one Jacob Loutzenheiser, who we 
think it reasonable to believe was an older 
brother. Now we believe that it was this Ja- 
cob and the elder Peter who were the progeni- 
tors of all the Loutzenheisers in this country. 
We have already learned that the father of 
these men was also in this country, therefore 
we have found the one man who was the father 
of all the Loutzenheisers in America. His 
name was Henry, or Heinrich, and he was 
great-grandfather to Henry, the chairman of 
our reunion. Just when and where he was 
born or when he died we are not informed. It 
is quite probable, however, that he came to 
America when the elder Peter did and that he 
died somewhere in the state of Pennsylvania." 
From the same source of information we 
learn that this elder Peter Loutzenheiser, great- 
grandfather of the subject, was married to 
Anna Barbara Schneider, on May 14, 1770, 
and on November i, 1771, was born their first 
child, John Jacob, who grew to manhood in 
Pennsylvania and there married Elizabeth 
Weber, daughter of a clergyman of the Ger- 
man Reformed church in Westmoreland coun- 
ty, that state. He came from that county to 
Stark county, Ohio, in 1806, in company with 
his family, and settled on land which he had 
chosen the preceding year, about one-half mile 
north of the present Nimisilla Park, in Canton 
township. He was the grandfather of the sub- 
ject of this sketch, who has written as follows 
in regard to his honored ancestor: "Here he 



1344 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



built his cabin and lived among the native red 
men, always on friendly terms with them. He 
was one of the first justices of the peace com- 
missioned for Stark county, his jurisdiction ex- 
tending all over the northeastern portion. He 
died in 1810, at the age of thirty-seven years, 
and his widow died in 1S43. Their children 
were John, Barbara, Peter, William, Polly, 
Sarah and Jacob." All of these children are 
now deceased, and in the connection it is im- 
perative that we speak specifically only of the 
second son, Peter, who was the father of him 
to him whom this sketch is dedicated. Of this 
honored pioneer of Stark county his son and 
namesake lias written as follows : "Peter 
Loutzenheiser was born April 13, 1800; came 
to Stark county with his parents in the spring 
of 1806; 'grew up with the country,' a genuine 
pioneer of Stark county and a backwoodsman, 
yet a man of more than ordinary attainments 
for the opportunities afforded him. He kept 
himself well posted on the general topics of 
his day, especially in political affairs and the 
laws of Ohio. He was a lifelong Democrat 
but never allowed political prejudice to inter- 
fere with his better judgment. He faithfully 
served in many places of trust, to which he was 
chosen by the people of Plain township, having 
served nearly twenty years as justice of the 
peace, while he was twice elected associate 
judge for Stark county, by the legislature of 
Ohio, and was president of the Pioneer Asso- 
ciation at the time of his death, which occurred 
June 8, 1882. This pioneer Peter had six sons : 
William, of Grass Valley, California, who has 
two sons and two daughters ; Jacob, of New 
Philadelphia, Ohio, now deceased, had one 
daughter; Joseph, who died the 8th of August, 
1893. left four sons and one daughter and a 
number of grandchildren ; George, of Williams 
county, Ohio, has three daughters and a num- 
ber of grandchildren ; John, deceased, of Plain 
towniship; and Peter V., of Canton, Ohio, who 
has three sons and three daughters. Of the 



three daughters of the pioneer Peter — Hannah, 
Amanda, now deceased, and Rebecca — there 
have sprung the Mountains, the Pontiuses, the 
Stettlers, Beards and Goodrichs, and other 
younger side branches are being cultivated." 

From the foregoing paragraph it will be 
seen that the father of the subject was a man 
of no little prominence in his community, while 
he continued to reside on his old homestead 
farm in Plain township, this county, until he 
was called from the scene of life's endeavors, 
secure in the confidence and regard of all who 
knew him and had appreciation of his sterling 
manhood. In the year 1823 he w'as united in 
marriage to Miss Rebecca Kimmel, who was 
born in Union county, Pennsylvania, on the 
13th of January, 1801, being a daughter of 
Joseph and Hanna Kimmel, who were num- 
bered among the pioneers of Stark county. 
She proved a devoted companion and helpmeet 
and a kind and loving mother, her memory 
resting like a benediction upon all who came 
within the sphere of her gracious and kindly 
influence. She was summoned into eternal rest 
on the 0th of November, 1884, having been a 
consistent and zealous member of the German 
Reformed church, as was also her husband. 
Of their children due mention has already been 
made, and after this brief summary of the 
family genealogj' ^\■e may now turn to the more 
salient points in the personal career of the im- 
mediate subject of this sketch. 

Peter Van Buren Loutzenhiser was born 
on the old homestead farm owned by his father, 
two miles north of the city of Canton, in Plain 
township, on the 14th of June, 1842, and there 
he was reared under the benign and invigorat- 
ing influences ever implied under conditions 
where "those who in the love of nature hold 
communion with her visible forms," while at 
an early age he began to contribute his quota 
to the work of the farm, waxing strong in . 
m.ind and body under the influences brought to 
bear in this formative period of his character. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1345 



His initial scholastic training was secured in 
district No. 8, and his first teacher was Miss 
Rebecca Niesz, who boarded in his home. The 
lad became a favorite pupil of this successful 
teacher, and he- accompanied her to and from 
the little school house, w^hile as a child he 
showed a notable fondness for books and study. 
As a boy he began writing verses in a crude 
way, and furnished his playmates with numer- 
ous effusions which were duly presented to the 
favored sweethearts in the respective cases, 
the budding poet being at the time but twelve 
years of age. Mr. Loutzenhiser continued to 
attend the public schools until he had attained 
the age of seventeen years, having passed his 
fourteenth and fifteenth j-ears in the Canton 
schools, where he made marked progress in his 
studies. At the age of seventeen he put his 
scholastic acquirements to practical test by en- 
gaging in pedagogic work, becoming a suc- 
cessful and popular teacher in the district 
schools of Lake "and Plain townships, this coun- 
ty, and he continued to teach at intervals until 
the intrinsic loyalty and patriotism of his na- 
ture was roused by the clarion call to arms 
when the dark cloud of civil war cast its pall 
athwart the national horizon. He forthwith 
responded to this higher call of duty, and in 
October, 1861, in Canton, he enhsted as a pri- 
vate in Company C, Forty-third Ohio Volun- 
teer Infantry, for a term of three years or until 
the close of the war. I'he regiment passed the 
ensuing winter in camp at Mount Vernon, 
Knox county, Ohio, and in the spring pro- 
ceeded to Commerce, Scott county, Missouri, 
near which place General Pope's army had 
mobilized, and thence they went forward to 
New Madrid, that state, where the regiment 
took part in its first battle. Mr. Loutzenhiser 
had been ill for two weeks prior to this en- 
gagement, and later, in company with others, 
was sent back to the hospital which had been 
established in the town of Commerce, while 



such was his disability that two weeks later he 
was transferred to the hospital in the city of 
St. Louis, and there, being incapacitated for 
further service, he received his honorable dis- 
charge on the 2d of June, 1862. He then re- 
turned to his home, where he endeavored to re- 
cuperate his wasted physical energies, having 
contracted a low type of fever and also been 
attacked with astlmia, and from the latter ail- 
ment he has continued to suffer to a greater or 
less degree up to the present time. Mr. Loutz- 
enhiser passed the summer of 1873 in studying 
law, in the office of Rrown & Myers, in Canton, 
with the intention of adopting the profession 
as his vocation in life. His finances reached a 
low ebb, and the following winter he resumed 
teaching, and it eventuated that he never re- 
sumed his reading of the law, having been led 
to take up the study of theolog}', to which he 
devoted his attention at home, having first be- 
come interested in religious work while visit- 
ing his brother and sisters in the northwestern 
part of the state. He became an exhorter in 
the Methodist Episcopal church, laboring zeal- 
ously for the cause of the divine Master and 
the uplifting of his fellow men, and later was 
licensed as a local preacher in this church. En- 
do\^ed with strong imaginative powers and a 
fine appreciation of poetical form, Mr. Loutz- 
enhiser had written a number of very able short 
poems prior to 1866, when he unfortunately 
abandoned his efforts in this line, partially at 
the suggestion of his elder brother. In 1869, 
mainly in the hope of regaining his health, he 
joined his brother William in Grass Valley, 
Nevada county, California, where he was em- 
ployed in his brother's drug store until Novem- 
ber, 1870, and during this interval he was very 
active in church work, holding regular services 
and being urged to enter the regular ministry. 
However he felt that so precarious was the 
condition of his health that he was not justified 
in seeking ordhiation in the church, and he thus 



84 



1346 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



returned to his home in Stark county, finding 
his health somewhat impro-\-ed by his sojourn 
in the Golden state. 

On the 19th of May, 1872, at Sandyville, 
Tuscarawas county, this state, Mr. Loutzenhis- 
er was united in marriage to Miss Ida M. 
Sternberger, who was born in Dover township, 
that county, on the 20th of June, 1847, where 
she was reared and educated, her parents, 
Adam and Anna Mary (Burkhardt) Stern- 
berger, having been pioneers of that section, 
whither they emigrated from the Rhine section 
of Germany, her father devoting the balance 
of his signally and active and useful life to ag- 
ricultural pursuits. After his marriage the 
subject resided for a time in Plain township, 
and then removed to Beach City, this county, 
where he established himself in the drug and 
grocery business, in which he was there suc- 
cessfully engaged until the Centennial year, 
1876, when he returned to the old homestead 
farm to care for his venerable parents, all the 
other children having left the old home roof. 
He remained with them until they answered 
the inexorable summons of death, his father 
passing away on the 8th of June, 1S82, and 
his mother on the 9th of November, 18S4, as 
has been previously noted in this context. He 
then settled up the estate, and after the old 
homestead had been sold he removed to the 
city of Canton, and here he afterward turned 
his attention to the huckstering business, in 
which he continued until his health became so 
impaired as to necessitate his withdrawal. In 
i8q3 Mr. I.ontzenhiser purchased his present 
property, at the corner of Cedar and High 
streets, and there, in April of that year, he 
opened a general store, where he has since con- 
tinued operations, having built up a very grat- 
ifying trade and receiving a representative sup- 
porting patronage. He commands the une- 
quivocal confidence and esteem of all who 
know him, and is recognized as one of the 
sterling citizens of his native county. In 1891 



Mr. Loutzenhiser resumed the writing of 
verses, and since that time has composed some 
very creditable poems, which have been pub- 
lished in various papers. One of these, en- 
titled "A Grocer's Meditations," was published 
in the Inland Grocer, a leading trade journal, 
issued in the city of Cleveland. Mr. Loutzen- 
hiser still continues to take an active part in 
church work, and lx)th he and his wife are de- 
voted and valued members of Simpson Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. In politics the sub- 
ject usually voted the Democratic ticket until 
after the tirst administration of President 
Cleveland, and since that time he has mainly 
exercised his franchise in support of the cause 
of the Prohibition party. Fraternally he is 
identified with McKinley Post No. 25, of the 
Grand Army of the Republic. 

In conclusion we enter a brief record con- 
cernnig the children of Mr. and Mrs. Loutz- 
enhiser : Peter S., who is a resident of the 
city of I'ittsburg, Pennsylvania, is there sec- 
retary of the South Side Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association. He secured his early educa- 
tion in the public schools and later attended the 
Northwestern University, at Evanston, the 
beautiful lakeside subiu'b of the city of Chi- 
cago. In 1897, in Canton, he was united in 
marriage to Miss Elizabeth Snyder, and they 
have two daughters, Ruth E. and Grace Thel- 
ma. Aquilla B. died at the age of six years and 
Ruth Orpha at the age of four and one-half 
years, while Paul Leo was three and one-half 
years of age at the time of his death ; Byron S. 
and Fernanda O. remain at the parental home; 
Rue Olga died at the age of about three years ; 
and the three younger children — Mary E., 
Pansy V. and Inez L. — are attending the pub- 
lic schools of Canton. 



HUGO STANDKE is a native of the em-, 
pire of Germany, having been born in the pic- 
turesque little Rhine city of Bonn, on the 10th 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1347 



of August, 1870, and being the youngest of 
the six children born to Otto and Emily 
(Schoenhals) Standke. Otto Standke was 
born in the town of Lennep, province of West- 
phaha, Germany, on the 8th of February, 1836, 
and was there reared and educated. He was a 
talented musician, and attained no little celeb- 
rity as a composer and as conductor of orches- 
tras and singing societies, while for many years 
he held the position of organist in the English 
Lutheran church in the city of Bonn, where his 
death occurred in 1888. His widow survived 
him by several years, her death occurring, in 
the same city, in the year 1892. One of their 
sons, I.udwig, is a distinguished physician of 
Bonn, having been formerly a surgeon in the 
German army, and another son, Otto W., is 
chief chemist in an extensive aniline factory in 
Rummelsburg, near the city of Berlin, Ger- 
many. 

Hugo Standke received his preliminary ed- 
ucational discipline in the common schools of 
liis native city and thereafter entered the cele- 
brated University of Bonn, where he continued 
his studies until he had attained the age of 
eighteen years. Mr. Standke severed the ties 
which bound him to home and fatherland and 
proceeded to the city of Bremen, where he 
embarked for America, and in due course of 
time he landed in the city of Baltimore, whence 
he proceeded directly to the city of Cincinnati, 
Ohio, to join his uncle, Charles Schoenhals, 
who was there engaged in the manufacturing 
of scap. For the first year of his residence in 
America our subject was employed as time- 
keeper and shipping clerk in his uncle's factory, 
after which he gave inception to his independ- 
ent business career by becoming agent for the 
Metropolitan T.ife Insurance Company, while a 
year later the company promoted him to the 
office of assistant superintendent. In i89.'^ he 
came to Canton to assume charge of the com- 
pany's business in this district, and a few 
months later he was transferred to the city of 



Brooklyn, New York, as assistant superintend- 
ent. Subsequently he determined to establish 
himself independently in the general insurance 
business. He accordingly came to Canton, 
where he became district manager of the New 
England Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of 
Boston, the oldest organization of the sort in 
America, and later he also became agent for 
the Security & Trust Company, of New York 
city, and the Pacific Mutual Accident Insur- 
ance Company, of San Francisco. In August, 
1899, Mr. Standke acquired the interests of the 
John Raeber insurance agency in Canton, and 
thus became the local representative of the Teu- 
tonia and the Cooper Fire Insurance Compa- 
nies, both of Dayton and both leading con- 
cerns of the sort in the state of Ohio, and later 
he also became agent for the Northwestern 
Underwriters, of Wilwaukee, the Baltimore 
Fire Insurance Company, of Baltimore, Mary- 
land: the National Fire Insurance Company, of 
Cincinnati ; the Commerce, of Albany, New 
York ; the German, of Wheeling, West Vir- 
ginia; the German, of Indianapolis. Indiana; 
the North German, of New York city; and the 
Farmers' & Merchants', of Lincoln, Nebraska. 
Mr. Standke conducts an extensive and profit- 
able business and his agency is one of the most 
important in this section of the state. In con- 
nection with his insurance business he is also 
agent for a number of the leading steamship 
lines, including the following : The Hamburg 
American ; North German Lloyd of New 
York ; North German Lloyd, of Baltimore ; the 
Red Star line, American line; the Holland 
American line: the American, of Philadelphia; 
and the Cunard, ^^^^ite Star, Italian, Beaver, 
Anchor and French lines. He is also repre- 
sentative of the German Bank, of Cincinnati, 
and the banking firm of Knauth, Nachod & 
Kuhne. of New York city, through which lat- 
ter he transacts his foreign business, in the 
way of inheritance claims, etc. In politics Mr. 
Standke gives his allegiance to the Republican 



1348 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



party in national affairs, but in local matters, 
where no issue is involved, he maintains an in- 
dependent attitude. He has served for the 
past three years as secretary of the Canton 
Turnverein and is now president of the Ger- 
man Turnverein, of Canton. Fraternally he 
is identified with Manheim Lodge No. 408, In- 
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he 
is treasurer at the present time. He is one of 
the popular young men of the city, and is held 
in high regard in both business and social 
circles. 



CHAUNCEY A. WALKER, ^L D., is a 
native of Stark county and a worthy repre- 
sentative of two of its old and highly respected 
families. His father, Albert Walker, born 
and reared in the township of Osnaburg, was 
reared to agricultural pursuits and when a 
young man married jMiss Sarah Brownell, after 
which he followed farming in this county until 
his removal, about six years ago, to Denver, 
Colorado. He has since returned east, and is 
now living in Canton, Ohio. For many years 
he was a conspicuous figure in the affairs of 
his township, prospered in temporal things, and 
his reputation as an honorable. God-fearing 
man and consecrated Christian was duly recog- 
nized and appreciated by his fellow citizens. 
Politically he was long a potent factor in the 
Democratic party, but never aspired to official 
honors, and as a member of the Reformed 
church he executed a wholesome influence in 
the community, the eft'ect of which is still felt 
by those among whom he mingled. To Albert 
and Sarah Walker have been born two sons, — 
Roland G., for many years connected with 
the public schools of Canton, now a medical 
student; and Chauncey A., whose name intro- 
duces this review. 

Matthias Walker, the subject's .grandfa- 
ther, was a native of Pennsylvania and one 
of the early pioneers of Stark county, coming 



here when the few settlements were but niches 
in the forests and entering land in what is now 
Osnaburg township. He was by vocation an 
agriculturist, and his death occurred in 1877.. 
His children were : Albert ; Juxop, deceased ; 
Eli ; Mathias and Catharine, deceased. 

Mrs. Sarah (Brownell) Walker, the Doc- 
tors mother, was bom in Pennsylvania, the 
daughter of George and Sarah Brownell, who 
were also among the early settlers of Stark 
county. The Brownell family made the jour- 
ney to their new home in Osnaburg township 
by wagon and spent a number of days en route, 
experiencing many difficulties and hardships 
before arriving at their destination. They 
were among the substantial residents of the 
community in which they lived and bore an 
active part in the growth and development of 
the country, also maintained a lively interest 
in everything pertaining to its social and moral 
advancement. George and Sarah Brownell 
spent the remainder of their lives where they 
originally located, and died a number of years 
ago, honored and respected by all who knew 
them. 

Dr. Chauncey A. Walker was born August 
5, 1873, '" Osnaburg township, and received 
his educational training in the public schools, 
supplemented by a course of training in the 
high school of Minerva. His early life on the 
farm and the wholesome influences of his home 
training early inspired him to noble aims and 
high ideals, and while still a youth he care- 
fully formulated his plans for the future, de- 
termining to make the most of his opportuni- 
ties and if possible achieve a career of honor 
and usefulness. When it came time to decide 
upon a vocation he chose the profession of 
medicine, and in 1893 began the study of the 
same under the direction of Dr. J. P. Schilling, 
of Canton, in whose ofiice he pursued his in- 
vestigations until entering the Ohio Medical 
University at Columbus in the fall of 1895. 
He attended that institution until completing 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1349 



the prescribed course, in the spring of 1898, 
spending the last year as assistant professor 
of anatomy, an honor seldom conferred upon a 
student, in that the position calls for a thor- 
ough mastery of that difficult and important 
branch of the profession. Immediately fol- 
lowing his graduation Dr. Walker opened an 
office in Louisville, where his abilities soon won 
recognition and it was not long until he suc- 
ceeded in building up a large practice, as suc- 
cessful financially as it was professionally. 
His patronage has steadily increased in magni- 
tude and importance, and he now enjoys 
worthy prestige among the leading physicians 
and surgeons of the county, keeping pace with 
the most advanced of his professional associ- 
ates in all that pertains to modem discoveries 
in the domain of medical science. He has no 
specialties, being equally successful in all 
branches of the profession, and as a skillful 
surgeon stands in the front rank of his com- 
peers. He loses no opportunity to keep him- 
self in close touch with the trend of modern 
medical thought, and to this end has become 
identified with the various organizations to 
which the members of his profession in this 
part of the state belong. Among these are the 
Northeastern Ohio Medical Society, in the de- 
liberations of which he is no passive specta- 
tor, but an active and influential participant. 

In 1898 Dr. Walker was appointed health 
officer of Louisville, the duties of which posi- 
tion he has discharged to the present time, and 
so satisfactorily has been his course that in all 
probability the place will be his as long as he 
cares to hold it. He has also held the office of 
township physician since the above year, and as 
far as is known there is no disposition or de- 
sire on the part of the public for a change in 
this important and far-reaching position. In 
politics the Doctor is independent, preferring 
to exercise his own judgment in the support 
of candidates and principles rather than obey 
the behests of party leaders. He is well post- 



ed upon the leading issues and public qustions 
of the day and is never at a loss what measure 
to support when it comes to exercising the 
elective franchise. For some years he has been 
a prominent worker in the Masonic order, be- 
longing to Juilliard Lodge, at Louisville, hav- 
ing also risen to the degree of Sir Knight. 
In matters religious he has well defined views, 
being one of the influential members of the 
Reformed church of Louisville and active in 
all good work in which the congregation is 
engaged. 

On the 5th day of May, 1893, was solem- 
nized the marriage of Dr. Walker and Miss Ida 
M. Schilling, daughter of Dr. J. P. Schilling, 
of Canton, to which union two children have 
been born, — Nellie and Helen. 



DAVID HAMMOND is a native of Stark 
county, having been born on the old homestead 
farm in Plain township on the 12th of Sep- 
tember, 1830, and the environment, associa- 
tions and privileges of his youth were such as 
attended the average farmer boy of the locality 
and period. He remained at the parental home 
until he had attained the age of eighteen years, 
when he came to Canton and here entered upon 
an apprenticeship at the carpenter trade, and 
after his term of apprenticeship he continued 
to follow his trade as a journeyman until 1861, 
when he turned his attention to bridge build- 
ing, and has since continued to be identified 
with this particular line of industry. In 1870 
Mr. Hammond effected the organization of the 
Wrought Iron Bridge Company, of Canton, 
and of this he served as president for many- 
years, being vice-president of the company in 
1890, when he disposed of his interests in the 
concern. In 1892 the Canton Bridge Com- 
pany was organized and incorporated, and 
though he became a stockholder at the time of 
its inception it was not until two years later 
that he became an executive officer of the com- 



I350 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



pany, then assuming an active part in promot- 
ing its interests. He was president of the 
company about four years, and since that time 
has been incumbent of the office of vice-presi- 
dent, while in addition to giving the benefit of 
his mature judgment and business sagacity in 
directing its affairs he also engages more or 
less in active solicitation in the securing of 
important contracts, his thorough knowledge 
of the details of the business rendering his in- 
terposition particularly efifective. Mr. Ham- 
mond is essentially a business man, thoroughly 
trained through long experience and having 
those natural attributes which make for pre- 
cedence, and his success has been achieved 
through legitimate channels and by means ever 
upright and honorable. He is quick to see 
and prompt to act, and has had a seemingly 
inexhaustible capacity for hard work, so that 
prosperity has come as a natural sequel. 

Mr. Hammond was united in marriage, in 
Canton, to Miss Margaret Henlin, who proved 
a true wife and helpmeet, kindly and generous 
in all the relations of life and devoted to- her 
home and family, while her gracious woman- 
hood won to her the love of an exceptionally 
large circle of friends. She died in 1882, at 
the family home, on North Cleveland avenue, 
having been a de\-oted and active member of 
the Lutheran church. Some time after her 
death the family removed to their present resi- 
dence on North IMarket street, and this has 
since been the abode of the subject. 



T.A.MES C. DEIDRICK is a native son of 
the Buckeye state, having been born in East 
Liverpool. Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 24th 
of November, 1864, and being a son of Joseph 
L. and Louisa C. Deidrick, both of whom were 
likewise born in Columbiana county, the father 
having been for many years a prominent mer- 
chant and stock broker at Pittsburg, but being 
now retired from active business. The paternal 



grandfather of the subject was George W. 
Deidrick, who was born in France and who- 
served in the French army prior to his emigra- 
tion to America. He located in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, where he married Cath- 
erine Garrett, who was born in that state, 
whence they came to Columbiana county, Ohio, 
in the pioneer epoch, passing the remainder of 
their lives there. The maternal grandfather 
of the subject was Gibson Verner, who was 
born in Maryland, being of French lineage, his 
parents having come from Brest, Brittany, and 
located in the city of Baltimore, where his 
father engaged in the ship-building business. 
The paternal grandmother of Mr. Deidrick 
bore the maiden name of Gray. She was born- 
in this country, the family having been mem- 
bers of the Society of Friends. 

James C. Deidrick was reared to maturity 
in his native town, where he received his educa- 
tional discipline in the public schools, and there 
he became identified with the newspaper busi- 
ness in his early youth, finally becoming editor 
and publisher of The Crisis, at East Liverpool. 
He was identified with this enterprise from 
1884 until 1899, when he came to Canton and 
effected the purchase of the News-Democrat, 
which he has since conducted, while a semi- 
weekly edition is also issued, and is known as- 
the Stark County Democrat. 

I\Ir. Deidrick has taken an active interest in 
politics and is an influential figure in the ranks 
of the Democratic party, while he has held 
office in the party org^anization about twenty 
years. He was elected a delegate to the state- 
convention and was chairman of the Columbi- 
ana county Democratic executive committee 
before he had attained his legal majority. He 
was for three years a member of the state cen- 
tral committee of his party, and during two of 
these years he thus represented the eighteenth 
congressional district, better known as Mc- 
Kinley's district. In 1893 he conducted the 
campaign in this district, and his able marshal- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1351 



ing of his forces resulted in the defeat of the 
Repubhcan candidate for congress and in tlie 
election of the Democratic candidate, who had 
been his associate in the newspaper business. 
For five years Mr. Deidrick was chairman of 
the board of trade at East Liverpool. He is 
identified with a number of fraternal organiza- 
tions. While a resident of East Liverpool 
Mr. Deidrick conducted a very spirited fight 
in the pottery district, the same attracting na- 
tional attention, while it resulted in the radi- 
cal changing of conditions which then existed 
in the manufacturing and political situation in 
that section and which were admitted to be in- 
jurious to the people and to the cause of good 
governm.ent. 

On the ist of August, 1889, Mr. Deidrick 
was united in marriage to Miss Louise M. 
Lindesmith, of Wellsville, Ohio, she being a 
representative of one of the earliest pioneer 
families of Columbiana county, her ancestors 
having there located before the formal settle- 
ment of the state had been inaugurated. Her 
paternal grandfather was a soldier in the war 
of the Revolution. 



PERCY L. McLAlN.— He to whom this 
sketch is dedicated may consistently be said to 
have grown up with the business with which he 
is now identified in so important a capacity, 
being secretary and treasurer of the J. H. Mc- 
Lain Company, manufacturers of steam and 
hot-water heating apparatus, feed mills, horse- 
power saw mills, etc., at qoi-29 South Cleve- 
land avenue, in the city of Canton. The plant 
of the concern is well equipped and an excellent 
business has been built up, the enterprise be- 
ing one of no slight importance in connection 
with the industrial activities of the city and 
county. The J. H. McLain Company was or- 
ganized in the year 1884, and the founder of 
the enterprise, the name of which perpetuates 



his name, was James H. McLain, father of our 
subject. 

James H. McLain was born in the city of 
Massillon, this county, on the i6th of Novem- 
ber, 1842. In Canton, on the 3d of August, 
1865, was solemnized his marriage to Miss 
Ellen M. Tonner, who was likewise born in 
this county, being a daughter of Rev. John 
Tonner, who came to this section in an early 
day from Bellefonte, Center county, Pennsyl- 
vania. After his marriage the father of the 
subject eventually became identified with the 
coal, stone and brick business in Massillon, 
having owned a well conducted brick yard in 
which he carried on a successful manufacturing 
business in that line. About 1880 he came to 
Canton and here effected the organization of 
the company through whose enterprise the city 
gained its first electric-lighting plant, with 
whose operation he was prominently concerned 
for the ensuing four years, at the expiration of 
which he exchanged his interests in the same 
for the plant and business conducted under the 
firm name of Underbill, Fogle & Lynch, and 
thereupon organized the J. H. McLain Com- 
pany, of which he became the head and with 
which he continued to be actively identified un- 
til his death, which occurred on the 9th of 
March, 1894. He was a man of marked ex- 
ecutive ability and indomitable energj', and 
upon no portion of his career rests any shadow, 
for he lived so as to command the confidence 
and high regard of all who knew him, while 
he was a distinct and worthy type of the self- 
made man. He was a stalwart Republican in 
his political proclivities, but never sought or 
desired official preferment. He was a promi- 
nent and appreciative member of the Masonic 
fraternity, in which he had attained the thirty- 
second degree of the Scottish. Rite. His re- 
ligious faith was that of the Presbyterian 
church, of which his widow is likewise a de- 
voted member. She now resides in the city of 
Massillon, where many years of her life have 



135^ 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



been passed. They became the parents of five 
children, namely : Charles T., who died at the 
age of eight years ; Frank C, who is a resident 
of New York city, where he is engaged in the 
heating and radiator business; John E., who is 
president of the J. H. McLain Company and 
resides in Massillon ; Percy L., who is the im- 
mediate subject of this sketch ; and Helen R., 
who is the wife of Robert Hess, of Massillon. 

Percy L. McLain was born in Massillon 
on the 27th of February, 1874, and to the pub- 
lic schools of his native city he is indebted for 
his early educational advantages. He left 
school at the age of thirteen years, being anx- 
ious and arribitio'US to inaugurate his business 
career and showing a decided aptitude for busi- 
ness while thus a mere boy. He assisted his 
father in his various business operations from 
that time on, and after the organization of the 
company of which he is now secretary and 
treasurer he began doing general work in the 
various departments of the enterprise, working 
his way up from the bottom round of the ladder 
and persistently continuing his efforts until he 
had mastered every detail of the business and 
thus became thoroughly qualified to assume 
the manifold duties of his present dual execu- 
tive office, and it may consistently be said that 
much of the success which has attended the 
industry has been the result of his efforts, while 
he has had the valuable co-operation of his 
brother. He is known as an alert and pro- 
gressive young business man, and his rise is 
certain to be consecutive in connection with 
business affairs with which he finds it expedi- 
ent to identify himself. In politics Mr. Mc- 
Lain is a stanch advocate of the principles of 
the Republican party, and fraternally he holds 
membership in the Masonic order and the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His 
pleasant hom.e is located at 3140 West Tus- 
carawas street. 

In October, 1896, Mr. McLain was united 



in marriage to Miss Anna Fast, of Canton, 
and to this union two children have been born, 
— Ruth and Louise A. 



CHARLES A. DOUGHERTY, recorder 

of Stark county, Ohio, and a prominent real 
estate man of Canton, was born at Greentown, 
Stark county, Ohio, October 28, 1850, the son 
of the late Dr. James E. Dougherty, a biog- 
rapln- of whom appears elsewhere in this vol- 
ume. Charles A. Dougherty was educated in 
the public schools of his native village, and in 
1869 he came to Canton to begin his career. 
He studied dentistry in the office of Dr. Sid- 
dall, and after practicing a few years he took 
a course at the Philadelphia Dental College, 
graduating from that institution in 1882. He 
then practiced his profession in Canton until 
his health broke down, in 1890, when he be- 
came superintendent of the McLain Machine 
Company of this city, a position he held for 
several years, after which he engaged in the 
real estate business, at which he has since con- 
tinued. In 1897 he was elected county re- 
corder, and was re-elected in 1900. His fa- 
ther also served as recorder of the county, and 
this is the only instance in the history of the 
county where a son succeeded his father to the 
office. For twelve years Mr. Dougherty was 
a member of the Canton board of trade, and 
twice president of the board. He is man- 
ager of the Southern Gum Company and di- 
rector in the Sanitary Milk Plant of Canton. 
He has on many occasions demonstrated his 
public spiritedness by giving freely of his time 
and money in securing for Canton new indus- 
tries, having done as much in this direction as 
any other one in the city. 

Mr. Dougherty married Miss Mary Fess- 
ler, and to this union two daughters were bom, 
— Ada and IMary, both of whom were educated 
at Nottingham, Ohio. The older daughter 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1353 



married I. H. Clark, superintendent of the 
Massillon Stone and Fire Brick Company. 
The younger daughter died at the age of nine- 
teen years. Mr. Dougherty's second marriage 
was to Miss Tamazine Tonner, who was born 
in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and to this union 
two children were born, — Charles T. and Mar- 
gar ite. 



ROBERT P. SKINNER is a native of 
Massillon, where he was born February 24, 
1866. He is a son of Augustus T. Skinner, 
also a native of Massillon, and whose father, 
Charles K. Skinner, was one of the early set- 
tlers in Kendall. His great-grandfather, a 
veteran of the colonial army, lies buried in the 
Massillon cemetery, together with the succeed- 
ing generations. After a common school edu- 
cation, in part completed at Cincinnati, Rob- 
ert P. Skinner acquired a half interest in the 
then Massillon Weekly Independent. The fol- 
lowing year, 1887, a daily edition was estab- 
Hshed, and Mr. Skinner continued to be its 
editor until the date of his appointment as 
consul at Marseilles, in 1897. During his 
newspaper experience Mr. Skinner left Mas- 
sillon upon a number of occasions, serving upon 
the staff of the New York World as telegraph 
editor, and also as a political correspondent in 
the field. President McKinley gave him the 
post of consul at Marseilles, and subsequently 
promoted him to the grade of consul general. 
This being a recess appointment, and President 
McKinley having passed away before the as- 
sembling of the senate, he was nominated for 
the same office by President Roosevelt and 
promptly confirmed. 

During Mr. Skinner's consular career he 
discovered the importance of the hard or maca- 
roni wheat in the French market, a wheat not 
at that time grown in the United States, and 
succeeded in arousing the interest of the agri- 
■cultural department in the subject to such a 



point that experts were sent to Europe to pro- 
cure seed, and the foundation of a promising 
agricultural and manufacturing industry laid 
down. He also wrote a handbook upon the 
question. 

While residing in Marseilles Mr. Skinner 
had frequent opportunity to study the commer- 
cial and political situation in Africa, and not- 
ing the entire absence of official contact with 
the empire of Abyssinia, where the United 
States enjoys a considerable commerce, recom- 
mended the negotiation of a treaty of amity 
and reciprocal establishments, and was himself 
appointed commissioner by President Roose- 
velt, and instructed to proceed to Abyssinia for 
the purpose of carrying out his recommenda- 
tions. Mr. Skinner expected to sail from Mar- 
seilles on October 25, 1903, for Djibouri, 
Africa, and to proceed thence to Addis Ababa, 
the capital of Abyssinia. 

On June 17, 1897, Mr. Skinner married 
Miss Helen Wales, daughter of the late Ar- 
vine C. Wales. 



GEORGE D. EVANS is a native of the 
"tight little isle" of England, having been born 
in the town of Pontyminster, Monmouthshire, 
on the loth of June, 1849, ^"d being a son 
of Benjamin and Sarah (Robbins) Evans, the 
former being of Welsh and Scotch descent and 
the latter of English. The father of the sub- 
ject was a nailer by trade, and followed the 
same as a vocation in his younger life, later 
becoming an inspector of rails in mills at Cum- 
berland, England, where he died in 1876, at 
the age of fifty years. His widow later joined 
the subject in Wheeling, West Virginia, where 
she died in 1898, her remains being, taken to 
Little Washington, Pennsylvania, for inter- 
ment. This worthy couple became the parents 
of ten children, of whom seven are living at 
the present time. The maternal ancestors of 
Mr. Evans were from Bristol, England, and 



1354 



OLD LANDMARKS 



his grandparents were John and Betsey Rob- 
bins, the former of whom was a manufacturer 
of shoes and one of the first to avail himself 
of machinery for this purpose. He had large 
manufactories at Bristol and Beaufort, Eng- 
land, and was a man of prominence and in- 
fluence. 

George D. Evans passed his boyhood days 
in his native town, and his early education was 
somewhat desultory and limited in character. 
At the age of eight years he began work at 
the cold rolls, in the mills of his native county, 
and advanced through the various grades of 
work in the iron industry in that section, in- 
cluding casting, furnace work and rolling of 
the metal plates. At the age of twelve he be- 
gan attending night school in his native town, 
and thus continued for several years, and when 
seventeen years he gave up his work and de- 
voted his entire attention to his studies for an 
interval of sixteen months, thoroughly im- 
proving his advantages and thus supplement- 
ing his limited discipline of his boyhood days. 
He early manifested distinctive musical taste 
and appreciation and managed to secure good 
instruction in this art, taking up his technical 
study at the age of ten years, and at the age of 
fourteen his services were brought into requisi- 
tion as organist in the parish church. As a 
youth he arranged very effective music for 
bands, and that his knowledge of the theory 
of music is of superior order may be seen when 
it is stated that he has taken eleven certificates 
for proficiency in this line. All of these were 
awarded him by the Royal Academy of Music, 
in London, and he also has diplomas from the 
Rayol Academy of Music. 

At the age of eighteen years, after having 
become proficient in roll turning in the mills 
of his native county, Mr. Evans went to Staf- 
fordshire, England, where he was employed 
at this vocation for fi\^e years, while he also 
learned to operate the plate mills. At the age 
of twenty-three he became superintendent of 



the tin mill at Wolverhampton, in Stafford- 
shire, retaining this position two years, and he 
then made an extended tour through Ireland, 
France, Germany and the United States, being' 
absent for a period of eleven months, and visit- 
ing all the principal manufacturing centers in 
the United States. He then returned home, 
but during his visit to America he had become 
so impressed with the advantages and attrac- 
tions offered in the United States that he tar- 
ried only ten days in his native land and then 
took passage for New York city, where he 
landed in April, 1881. From the national me- 
tropolis he proceeded to Wheeling, West Vir- 
ginia, where he was employed at his trade for 
one year, after which he came to Bridgeport, 
Ohio, and was there employed as a roller in the 
Aetna Standard Mills for several years, also as 
assistant superintendent of these mills. He 
then became associated with others in the erec- 
tion of a mill at Lisbon, Columbiana county,, 
and he continued in supervision of its opera- 
tions for the ensuing five years, at the expira- 
tion of which the plant and business were sold 
to the syndicate which was buying up the vari- 
ous mills here and elsewhere in the Union, and 
he continued to manage the mill for three 
years tliereafler. He then, in tqoi, came to- 
Canton and assumed the position of superin- 
tendent of the Carnahan Tin Plate & Sheet 
Company. 

In politics Mr. Evans gives his allegiance 
to the Republican party, and his religious views 
are in harmony with the faith of the Protestant 
Episcopal church, his early training having 
been under the influence of the established 
church of England, representing the same 
faith, and he and his wife are regular attend- 
ants of the Episcopal church, to whose sup- 
port he contributes a due quota. Fraternally 
he is identified with the Free and Accepted 
Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of 
Elks and the Knights of Pythias, being popu- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1355- 



lar in both the business and social circles of the 
community. 

At Pontyminster, England, in 1872, Mr. 
Evans was united in marriage to Miss Jane 
Davis, who died there in 1878, and she is sur- 
vived by their three children, — Sophia, who is 
the wife of Matthew Griffiths, of Canton; 
George Drayton, who is engaged in tin mill 
work in this city; and Margaret, who is the 
wife of George Miller, of Canton. On the 
1 8th of June, 1896, at Lisbon, Ohio, Mr. 
Evans wedded Miss Helen M. Smith, daughter 
of Albert G. and Maria R. (Leland) Smith, 
of that place; no children have been born 
of this marriage. 



AUGUSTUS J. RICKS was born in West 
Brookfield, Ohio, February 10, 1843. He was 
educated at the public schools of Massillon, 
graduating at the high school and entered Ken- 
yon College, at Gambler, Ohio, in 1861. He 
left college at the end of the first year, intend- 
ing to enlist as a private soldier, but receiving 
a commission as first lieutenant, he recruited, 
with the aid of some of the leading citizens, 
fifty-three men in the city of Massillon, and 
entered the One Hundred and Fourth Regi- 
ment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving in 
Kentucky from 1862 to 1863. when he joined 
General Burnside's expedition to east Tennes- 
see. Immediately upon entering Knoxville he 
was made post adjutant, and formed such an 
attachment for the city of Knoxville that it 
resulted in his subsequent location there. He 
served with Bumside in east Tennessee at the 
capture of Cumberland Gap, the siege of 
Knoxville and the operations of that army dur- 
ing the winter of 1863-64. In January, 1864, 
he was detailed on the staff of Brigadier Gen- 
eral Milo S. Hascall, commanding the Second 
Division, Twenty-third Army Corps, and 
served with tliat corps through the Atlanta 
campaign. In January, 1865, he served as 



aide-de-camp on the staff of Major General 
J. D. Cox, of the Twenty-third Army Corps, 
in North Carolina. In April, 1865, he was ap- 
pointed captain, but seeing the early termina- 
tion of the war declined to be mustered. 

Returnmg to his home in Massillon Mr. 
Evans began reading law, and in September, 
1865, went to Knoxville, and there finished his 
course of law, reading in the office of the late 
Judge John Baxter, of the United States cir- 
cuit court. In 1866 he became a member of 
the firm of Baxter, Champion & Ricks, which 
for five years was one of the leading law firms 
of the state of Tennessee. In 1870 he became 
one of the founders of the Knoxville Daily 
Chronicle, the only Republican daily paper 
then published in the entire southern states, 
outside of Louisville, continuing as one of the 
editors and proprietors until September, 1875, 
when he sold his interest to Parson Brownlow. 
Returning to Massillon, he resumed the prac- 
tice of law with Judge Anson Pease. He was 
appointed clerk of the United States circuit 
court in March, 1878, by Judge Baxter, and 
later was also made clerk of the district court 
by Judge Welker. While serving as clerk 
he acted as master in chancery for this district. 
In 1889 he was appointed to the vacancy 
caused by the retirement of Judge Welker, of 
the United States district court, which posi- 
tion he now holds. 



WILLIAM F. RICKS was bom in Pitts- 
burg February 16, 1839. The family came 
to Stark county in 1840, locating at West 
Brookfield, but removed to Massillon in 1853, 
where as a youth he attended the public schools 
of the city. In 1857 he entered his father's 
store as a clerk. In 1862 he purchased the 
business and continued the same until 1890, 
when he closed the same to accept a position 
as cashier of the Merchants' National Bank of 
Massillon, which position he holds at this time.' 



«356 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



The bank is one of the prosperous institutions 
of Massillon and of Stark county. Mr. Ricks 
has always taken a deep interest in the pros- 
perity of iVlassillon. He was active in secur- 
ing the location of the Wheeling & Lake Erie 
Railway in that city, and was one of the char- 
ter members of the Massillon Building and 
Loan Association, the first one in the city, and 
has been a director continuously. It is the 
largest association today in Stark county. He 
took an active part in securing the location of 
the State Hospital for Insane in Massillon. 
Mr. Ricks has been president of the board of 
trade for a term of years. Politically he has 
ever been a stanch Republican. He cast his 
first vote for Abraham Lincoln for President. 
Believing earnestly in the principles of the 
"grand old party," he has always taken an act- 
ive interest in securing its success. 



LEWIS CONRAD.— Peter Conrad, the 
subject's father, was a native of France, bom 
in 1793, but when a young man left that coun- 
try in company with his parents and sought a 
new home in a land where there are no dis- 
tinctions of class and where opportunities for 
rising in the world are opened alike to all. 
With these objects in view he came to the 
United States and for a short time thereafter 
lived with his father and mother in Pennsyl- 
vania, moving thence to Stark county, Ohio. 
Shortly after coming to this part of the coun- 
try he was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
Loutzenheiser, and then turned his attention to 
agriculture, purchasing a farm of one hundred 
and twenty acres in Paris township, on which 
he lived until within a year of his death. Mr. 
Conrad was an honest, industrious man of 
strict integrity, and became an influential fac- 
tor in the county. For some years he was en- 
gaged in the manufacture of woolen goods, 
having operated one of the early carding and 
■woolen mills of the township, in addition to 



which he also built a saw-mill which he ran 
for some time on quite an extensive scale. One 
year before his death he turned the homestead 
over to his son, the subject of this review, and, 
purchasing a smaller place of twenty acres near 
by, spent the short residue of his life in retire- 
ment. In politics he was a Democrat, in re- 
ligion a devout member of the Reformed 
church, and as a citizen his career was all 
that the most loyal and patriotic American 
could have desired. He died March 20, 1858. 

Lewis Conrad was born February 15, 1829, 
on the place in Paris township where his par- 
ents originally settled. He grew up at home, 
and as soon as old enough became accustomed 
to the varied duties of farm life, learning while 
a mere lad how to use all kinds of agricultural 
implements. Young Lewis' early years were 
routines of honest toil, varied of winter sea- 
sons by attending the district schools, in which 
he received about the average educational 
training of country lads. Reared to agricul- 
tural pursuits, Mr. Conrad took a natural lik- 
ing to the same, and when about twenty-three 
years old began farming for himself on the 
home place. As already stated, he took pos- 
session of the farm one year prior to his fa- 
ther's death and continued to cultivate it until 
the estate was sold, after which he purchased 
his present home in Paris township, consisting 
of one hundred and twenty acres, on which are 
some of the most substantial improvements in 
this part of the county. As an agriculturist 
Mr. Conrad has long taken high rank, as the 
fine condition of his place sufficiently attests, 
and as a financier and successful man of af- 
fairs he occupies no inconsiderable place among 
the most enterprising of his contemporaries. 
Although an unflinching Democrat, he has 
never had any political aspirations, and, a zeal- 
ous member of the Reformed church, his re- 
ligion is of that broad, generous kind that rec- 
ognizes good in all denominations. 

The domestic life of Mr. Conrad dates 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1357 



from 1S54, on May 4th of which year he took 
a wife in the person of Miss Mary Stucky, of 
Washington township, this county, the union 
resulting in the birth of the following children : 
Mirian (Mrs. Robert Shearer) ; Addie (Mrs. 
F. Booth, of Pennsylvania) ; Eliza (Mrs. W. 
Walker, of Canton) ; Marion, of Canton ; How- 
ard, a farmer of Nimishillen township; Nettie 
(Mrs. Albert Coen, of Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania) ; Amanda (Mrs. Rev. Jacob Streats- 
ley, of Delaware, Ohio) ; Alvin, of Washing- 
tonville, Ohio; Carrie and Olive, who died in 
infancy. 



CHRISTIAN SEFERT is the son of 
Michael and Salome Sefert, both natives of 
Alsace, formerly one of the French provinces, 
now a part of the German empire, the father 
born March 20, 1805, the mother on the nth 
of April, 1815. These parents came to the 
United States in 1830 and shortly after their 
arrival were married, the wife being but fif- 
teen years old at the time. For several years 
after his arrival in this country Michael Sefert 
was employed in the rolling mills at Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania, but later abandoned that kind 
of labor, and, moving to Stark county, Ohio, 
worked for some time on the farm near Can- 
ton now owned by Mr. Cornelius Faust. He 
proved a valuable hand, and nearly all the labor 
of the place, together with the greater part of 
its management, fell to him while thus em- 
ployed. Later Mr. Sefert purchased forty 
acres of land near Mapleton, on which he lived 
until 1852, when he disposed of the place and 
bought what has since been known as the 
Sefert farm, situated one mile west of Paris. 
In connection with farming he was for a num- 
ber of years engaged in buying cattle, which he 
drove to the Pittsburg market, and in this way 
he acquired the greater part of his wealth. In 
1866 he left his farm and moved to the town of 
Paris, where he spent the remainder of his life 



in retirement, dying there in 1884, his wife 
preceding him to the other world by seventeen 
days. Michael and Salome Sefert were con- 
sistent members of the German Reformed 
church and their lives beautifully exemplified 
the gentle but powerful influence of the faith 
which they professed. They had a large fami- 
ly of children, fourteen in all, only three of 
whom survive, viz : Michael, a resident of 
Mobile, Alabama; Christian, of this review, 
and Henry, whose home is in Canton. 

Christian Sefert was born January 23, 
1843, in Osnaburg township, Stark county, 
and there spent his early life pretty much after 
the manner of the majority of country lads. 
Stirrounded by an atmosphere of industry, he 
grew up accustomed to labor and until young- 
manhood he remained at home assisting his, 
father on the farm, meanwhile acquiring a mea- 
ger education in the township schools. Upon 
the breaking out of the Rebellion, in 1861, 
when but little more than seventeen years old, 
he responded to the call for three months men, 
enlisted in Company A, Nineteenth Ohio In- 
fantry, which saw considerable active service 
in Virginia, taking part in the battle of Rich 
Mountain, one of the first engagements of the 
war. After serving his time, he returned 
home and eccepted the position of brakemau 
on the Pittsburg & Ft. Wayne Railroad, in 
which capacity he continued for some months. 
During the succeeding three months he worked 
in a machine shop at Canton, at the end of 
which period he again entered the army, enlist- 
ing in Captain F. D. Yost's company of vol- 
unteers, which formed part of the Twenty-sixth 
Ohio Light Artillery. Mr. Sefert accompanied 
his command through all its varied experiences 
in the Southland, took part in numerous en- 
gagements and at the close of the war received 
an honorable discharge at Natchez, Mississippi, 
the document bearing date of June 8, 1865. 
Returning home at the cessation of hostilities, 
he took up the duties of civil life and March 25 



»358 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



of the year following witnessed his marriage 
with Miss Julia Sponseller, daughter of George 
and Leah Sponseller, of Paris township. Mr. 
Sefert set up his first domestic establishment in 
Paris township and from that time to the pres- 
ent has given his attention to agricultural pur- 
suits, meeting with success as a farmer and 
stock raiser such as few attain. At the death 
of his father, he purchased the home place and 
immediately thereafter inaugurated a system of 
improvements which in due time made it one of 
the finest and most desirable farms in the town- 
ship of Paris. The buildings which he erected 
are surpassed by few structures of the kind in 
the county, being models of design and as com- 
fortable and convenient as modern architecture 
can possibly make them. The other improve- 
ments are in keeping with the dwelling, bams 
and outbuildings, everything on the farm at- 
testing the deep interest the owner manifested 
in making- his home one of the most beautiful, 
attractive and valuable places of residence in 
this part of the state. After acquiring a suf- 
ficiency of this world's goods to render further 
activity unnecessary, he sold his farm to his 
son Walter, and in 1892 removed to the village 
of Paris, where he now owns a beautiful home, 
also a small and highly improved farm of forty- 
three and a fraction acres, adjoining the town 
limits. Although practically retired, Mr. 
Sefert devotes considerable time to the culti- 
vation and improvement of his place and that 
he has made it one of the model homes in this 
part of the county is apparent to every passer- 
by. His dwelling is a magnificent building 
with all modern improvements, the barn is sub- 
stantially constructed and finished much better 
than the majority of residences, while the fine 
orchards, tastefully arranged shrubbery, neat 
lawns, grateful shade trees, in fact everything 
connected with the premises bespeak the home 
of a gentleman of refined ideas and elegant 
leisure. 



Politically Mr. Sefert is a stanch Republi- 
can and takes much more than a passive inter- 
est in the great questions and issues upon which 
men and parties are divided. He has never held 
office nor desired public recognition, preferring 
to devote his time and attention to his business 
and domestic affairs and to be known merely 
as a citizen. He served for a number of years 
on the school board and in that capacity was 
instrumental in advancing the cause of educa- 
tion in his township. His religious belief con- 
forms to the creed of the Reformed church, 
wnih. which bod}' himself and wife have long 
been identified. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Sefert has 
been blessed with five children, namely : Her- 
man, who lives in Paris township ; Walter, who 
owns and farms the home place; Horace, de- 
ceased: Frederick, one of the well-known 
young men of Paris township, and Ruben, who 
is still a member of the home circle. 

George Sponseller, father of Mrs. Sefert, 
was a native of Pennsylvania, his wife, Leah 
Cameron, having been born in Scotland. Mrs. 
Leah Sponseller was the daughter of John 
Cameron, a Scotch Covenanter who came to 
this country a number of years ago to escape 
religious proscription in his native land. 
Father Sponseller was one of the pioneers of 
Stark county, coming here in an early day 
when his sole earthly wealth consisted of a mat- 
tock, a team of oxen and what little clothing he 
wore. Possessing an indomitable spirit and 
knowing no such word as fail, he set to work 
under many discouraging circumstances and in 
due time succeeded in getting a substantial 
start in life. He purchased land when it was 
cheap, cleared a good farm and as the years 
went by added to his possessions until finalh' his 
real estate amounted to over two hundred acres, 
the greater part of which he reduced to culti- 
vation by the labor of his own hands. He be- ' 
came one of the leading farmers of Paris town- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1359 



ship, earned the reputation of an enterprising 
and worthy citizen and his memory is fondly 
cherished as one of the noble, God-fearing men 
of his day and generation. 



DAVID BATES is a native son of the old 
Buckeye state, having first seen the light of 
day in Paris township, this county, on the 7th 
of September, 1843. He is the son of Fred- 
erick and Catherine Ann (Slack) Bates, and is 
one of nine children, of whom but two survive 
besides himself, namely : Maria, now the 
widow of Adam Sawner, of Canton, and Levi, 
of Washington township, this county. Fred- 
erick Bates was born in Pennsylvania in 1785. 
In his early manhood he was engaged in teach- 
ing school, folowing this profession for a num- 
ber of years. He also learned the trade of 
shoemaking, at which he was employed when 
not engaged in teaching school. He was in 
the military service of his country during the 
war of 1812 and shortly after the close of the 
struggle he came to Stark county, Ohio, and 
was engaged in teaching school in this ami 
Columbiana county. He was twice married, 
his second Vi-ife being the mother of the sub- 
ject. Shortly after his second marriage he 
settled on a farm two and a half miles south of 
New Franklin, and in 1855 located in about 
the center of the township, where he remained 
until his death, four years later. 

David Bates at the early age of twelve years 
was thrown upon the world practically depend- 
ent upon his own resources. His father be- 
ing in rather straitened financial circumstances, 
the subject began to work for neighboring 
farmers. He met with many rebuffs, but was 
energetic and determined and managed to get 
along in a manner, until, at the age of eighteen 
years, he apprenticed himself to an uncle, Levi 
Slack, to learn the trade of a carpenter. At 
this time the air was filled with portentious 
•warnings of the terrible struggle which was so 



soon to overshadow the land and a year later, 
August 6, 1862, when the country became in- 
volved in a conflict the like of which the world 
has never witnessed, the subject offered his 
services to assist in maintaining the integrity of 
the national union. He enlisted in Company 
B, One Hundred and Fourth Reg"iment, Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, for three years or during 
the war. This regiment was assigned to the 
Army of the Ohio and remained in active ser- 
vice until the close of the war;. Among the 
battles in which the subject participated were 
Knoxville, Cumberland Gap, Franklin, Ten- 
nessee, Nashville, Atlanta, and the many en- 
gagements during Sherman's Georgia cam- 
paign. The regiment was also engaged at 
Fort Fisher, North Carolina, besides many 
minor engagements, and at Greensboro the 
regiment was designated to receive Johnson's 
implements of war. On the 17th of June, 
1S65, the regiment was discharged at Greens- 
boro and the subject immediately returned 
home and again engaged in peaceful pursuits. 
During- his military service Mr. Bates never 
missed a roll call except when absent on de- 
tailed duty and was not in the hospital a day. 
Upon his return home he again engaged with 
his uncle to complete his apprenticeship at car- 
pentering and remained with him four years. 
At the end of that time he commenced con- 
tracting and building on his own account and 
was so engaged up to 1887, since which time 
he has worked at his trade only at odd inter- 
vals. 

Mr. Bates has been twice married. On the 
7th of November, 1867, he was joined in wed- 
lock to Miss Mary C. Essick, of Columbiana 
county, this state, and the daughter of William 
Essick, deceased, who during his life was one 
of the prominent and well known farmers of 
his county. One child, now deceased, was born 
to this union. Mrs. Bates died on the 29th of 
January, 1869, and in 1870 Mil. Bates- mar- 
ried Miss Elizabeth Walter of Columbiana 



1360 



OLD LANDMARKS 



county. Her father, Henry Walter, now de- 
ceased, was a prominent agriculturist and a 
well known preacher of the Mennonite church. 
His wife died October 17, 1902, at the age of 
eighty-four years. She made her home with 
the subject. To the second union of the sub- 
ject three children have been born, namely : 
David W., of Columbiana county, is a farmer 
and is also engaged in teaching in the district 
schools; Anna is the wife of L. C. Hickory, of 
Oakmont, Pennsylvania; Mary O. is the wife 
of Lloyd Blanchard, of Columbiana county. 
In politics the subject is a stanch Democrat. 
He was elected a justice of the peace in 1886 at 
a special election to fill a vacancy and for six- 
teen years continued to discharge the duties of 
that responsible position to the eminent satis- 
faction of all classes of people. He takes a 
deep interest in educational matters and for 
nine years served as a member of the board of 
education, doing much effective service in the 
cause which means so much to the future of 
the republic. In his religious faith he is a 
Lutheran and for many years has held various 
offices in the local congregation with which he 
is identified. He keeps alive his old army as- 
sociations through his membership in the 
Grand Army of the Republic and takes a 
strong: interest in the welfare of the old soldier. 



JOHN M. FOULKS.— The Foulks family 
has a most remarkable military record. 
William Foulks, the subject's great-grand- 
father, served gallantly in the struggle for in- 
dependence and his son, also named William, 
gained distinction as captain in the war of 
1812. - John Foulks, son of the latter, was also 
a veteran of the second war with England, 
serving with Captain Harbaugh's cavalry com- 
pany, which won honor on a number of bloody 
battle fields. Later when the clouds of rebel- 
lion darkened the national horizon and armed 
hosts of treason threatened to disrupt the gov- 



ernment, six sons of John Foulks took up 
arms in defense of the nation and nobly upheld 
its honor. With a single exception, these sons 
passed through the fiery ordeal safely, the ex- 
ception being one who received a painful wound 
in the leg while facing the storm of shot and 
sliell in the engagement of Resaca, Georgia. 
Another Ijrother, William,; was captured at 
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and for some months 
suffered all the untold and unexplainable 
horrors of the prison at Andersonville. 

Reverting to the genealogy of the subject, 
it is learned that his paternal ancestors were- 
aniong the early white settlers of Pennsylvania, 
and that shortly after the revolutionary period 
many representatives of the family found 
homes within the present limits of Beaver 
county. Not long after the close of that war, 
the Indians, incited to hostility by British 
emissaries, took the war path and devastated 
that part of the country, mercilessly murdering 
men, women and children, but few of the 
Foulks escaping the general massacre. It is 
a matter of record that the savages, for some 
reason, refrained from killing a few of the un- 
fortunate captors that fell into thdr hands, 
among the number being two daughters and a 
son of William Foulks, the Revolutionary hero 
referred to in a preceding paragraph. The 
son, whose name was George, finally succeeded 
in making his escape and for many years there-- 
after his fame as a scout made him widely 
known on the frontier. He was a warm friend 
and intimate associate of the celebrated scout 
and Indian fighter, Brady, of "Brady's leap" 
fame, and the two met with many thrilling ex- 
periences and daring adventures during the 
troublesome time which characterized the early 
settlement of western Pennsylvania and the 
eastern counties of Ohio. While in captivity 
one of the daughters married a man by the 
name of Whittacre, who was also a prisoner, 
the Indians according this privilege to such 
white people as fell into their hands. Subse- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1361 



quently they appear to have fared quite well as 
the chief not only gave them their liberty but 
also allotted them a large tract of land near the 
present site of Upper Sandusky, Ohio. There 
Mr. Whittacre improved a farm on which he 
and his wife spent the greater part of their 
lives, but of the fate of the other daughter 
nothing definite was ever learned. 

William Foulks, Jr., grandfather of the 
subject, was born June 10, 1770, in Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania, and shortly after the Revo- 
lutionary war removed with his parents to 
Beaver county, where he grew to manhood and 
married. While living there he laid claim to 
four hundred acres of valuable land and was in- 
tending to make it his home when a law was 
enacted requiring all holders of real estate to 
perfect their titles to the same. In this matter 
Mr. Foulks did not experience any difficulty 
as his claim Avas perfectly valid, but a number 
of unscrupulous speculators organizing them- 
selves into a company for the purpose of de- 
frauding settlers out of their holdings, insti- 
tuted proceedings him, his place being one of 
the most fertile and in many respects one of the 
most desirable farms in the county. Compelled 
to defend his rights, he contested the matter 
in several law suits which were tried in Phila- 
delphia and each time received a favorable 
verdict, but the expenses of so much litigation 
exhausted all of his means and well-nigh im- 
poverished his family. The land sharks per- 
sisting in their persecutions, he finally was 
obliged to let matters take their course as he 
had no means with which tO defend himself 
further. Driven to this extremity, he finally 
abandoned his home to his persecutors and, 
with others similarly situated, moved in the 
year 1800 to the newly settled country of 
eastern Ohio, locating on the present site of 
New Lisbon, Columbiana county. His dwell- 
ing, a rude log cabin of the most primitive pat- 
tern, was the first improvement on the land 
where now stands the above county's flourish- 

85 



ing seat of justice, one of the most beautiful 
as well as one of the wealthiest cities of its size 
in the state. 

After remaining a few years where he orig- 
inally settled, Mr,. Foulks moved to what is 
now the thriving town of Calcutta, where he 
subsequently built the first brick dwelling in 
that section of the country. His place soon be- 
came the nucleus of quite a flourishing settle- 
ment and, being centrally located, with superior 
natural advantages, he finally laid out a town 
which in compliment to him was called Foulks- 
town. The village grew apace and became the 
chief trading point for a large area of territory, 
but in the course of time the name was officially 
changed to Calcutta, by which it has since been 
known. 

While a resident of the village, William 
Foulks took a leading part in the public affairs 
of the county and became one of the most in- 
fluential politicians in the eastern part of the 
state. He represented the district of which 
Columbiana formed a part, three times in the 
general assembly, having been one of the 
leaders of his party during the sessions of 1810, 
181 1 and 1818. His legislative career was 
eminently satisfactory to his constituents and 
his name is prominently connected with many 
of the most important laws enacted during his 
incumbency. He spent the closing years of his 
life in Richland county and in his death, which 
occurred on the 3d day of September, 1832, the 
state lost one of the most influential legislators 
and high-minded men of his day and gen- 
eration. 

Elizabeth Morgan, wife of William Foulks. 
was a granddaughter of the celebrated Revolu- 
tionary patriot. General Daniel Morgan, whose 
prowess and leadership saved the day at Sara- 
toga, and it is also to his gallant feats of arms 
that the history of our country is indebted for 
many of its most interesting and thrilling pages. 
Mrs. Foulks' father, who was also named 
Daniel, served with distinction during the war 



1362 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



for independence and no doubt held an import- 
ant commission as he was ever afterwards 
known as General Morgan. 

John P'oulks, son of William and Elizabeth 
Foulks, was born in Beaver county, Pennsyl- 
vania, about the year 1793. He was a small 
child when his parents moved to Ohio and grew 
to mature years in the county of Columbiana, 
experiencing all the vicissitudes of life in a new 
and undeveloped country. When a youth in 
his 'teens he engaged in the overland freighting 
business as a teamster between the settlements 
of eastern Ohio and the Alleghany mountains. 
He devoted his attention to this line of work 
for several years and after giving it up followed 
diiTerent vocations for a livelihood until finally 
becoming a farmer and keeper of a house of 
public entertainment. As stated in a preceding 
paragraph, he served in the war of 181 2, having 
been a youth, of about fifteen when he entered 
the service to fight for his country. Of his 
military experience sufficient is known to war- 
rant the statement that he proved a brave, cool 
and collected soldier under many trying cir- 
cumstances and that he did nothing to bring dis- 
credit to a name distinguished for gallant and 
meritorious service. 

Mr. Foulks was twice married, the first 
time to a Miss Fisher, who lived but a short 
time and Ixire him no children. In 1830 he 
chose a life companion in the person of Mrs. 
Mary Hassler (nee Slence), whose former 
husband, Daniel Hassler, died while moving 
his family from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to 
a tract of land in Columbiana county which he 
had purchased the previous year. After the 
death and burial of her husband the widow 
Hassler, continued the journey until reaching 
lier destination and then set resolutely to work 
to hold her land and meet the payments as they 
came due. A woman of fine natural endow- 
ments and not lacking the qualities that over- 
come difficulties and win success, she managed 
her business affairs admirably, provided well 



for her children and was in very comfortable 
circumstances at the time of her second mar- 
riage. By Mr. Hassler she had five children, 
all now deceased, and her union with Mr. 
Foulks v.'as blessed with seven, of whom the 
following survive: John M., the subject of 
this sketch; Theodore L., of Boise City, Idaho; 
Calvin, a resident of Springport, Michigan, and 
Minerva, widow of the late William Vink, of 
Canton. 

.After his second marriage Mr. Foulks 
settled on his wife's farm, just east of Moultrie, 
on the "Plahn Bottoms," and- in addition to 
cultivating the soil, opened his house for the 
entertainment of the traveling public. He kept 
a tavern at this point for many years and met 
with fair success, later removing to the town 
of ?\Ioultrie where he built a larger and much 
better equipped hotel. Mr. Foulks continued 
to run a hostelry until the death of his wife, 
when he broke up housekeeping and from that 
time on lived among his children. In 1878, at 
the ripe old age of eighty-five, his spirit g'ently 
passed into the great beyond, leaving as a 
monun:ent to his posterity a name and reputa- 
tion abo\-e reproach. 

John M. Foulks was born in West town- 
ship, Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 5th of 
June, 1840. His childhood years were con- 
fined to the usual routine of labor and play 
which characterize the early life of the majority 
of boys, and when old enough he began his 
studies in the public schools, the training thus 
received being afterwards supplemented by a 
course in a private educational institution at 
North Georgetown, conducted by Rev. Mr. 
Heming, a teacher of scholarly ability and high 
professional attainments. 

.\t the age of fifteen young Foulks earned 
his first money by working for a neighboring 
farmer, receiving for his services the modest 
compensation of four dollars per month. In 
this way he earned thirty-two dollars,, after 
which, in his sixteenth year, lie apprenticed 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1363 



himself to learn the carpenter's trade, his wages 
while thus engaged to be seven dollars per 
month the first summer, nine dollars the second 
and eleven dollars the third, by which time it 
was supposed he could master the craft. Mean- 
while he applied himself so diligently to his 
studies that in his twenty-first year he was 
sufficiently qualified to pass the required exam- 
ination and secure a license entitling him to 
teach in tlie public schools. Mr. Foulks taught 
his first term in the winter of 1861-62, and 
achieved an honorable reputation as an in- 
structor. He continued to divide his time be- 
tween educational work and carpentry until 
1864, in September of which year he laid aside 
his books and tools for the purpose of entering 
the army. He enlisted in Company I, One 
Hundred and Seventy-eighth Ohio Infantry, 
and two weeks after entering the service was 
made orderly sergeant, in which capacity he 
served until honorably discharged at the close 
of the w^ar. Ihe One Hundred and Seventy- 
eighth formed part of Twenty-eighth Corps, 
Army of the Ohio, and took part in all the cam- 
paigns and battles in which that command was 
engaged. Among the more noted actions in 
which Mr. Foulks participated was the fighting 
in the vicinity of Murfreesboro. Tennessee, 
where he was under almost constant fire from 
November 30th to the 14th of the following 
month, the arrival of the Confederate forces 
under General Hood necessitating a change of 
operations at the latter date. From that time 
until the expiration of his period of enlistment 
his conduct was all that could be expected of a 
brave and courageous soldier. On the 29th of 
June, 1865, he received his discharge at Char- 
lotte, North Carolina, and as soon as possible 
returned home and resumed the dual duties of 
mechanic and educator. 

Meantime, September 15, 1864, Mr. Foulks 
was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth 
Jones, daughter of Joseph Jones, the father 
one of the largest and most successful farmers 



of Columbiana county, in whicii part of the 
state Mrs. Foulks was born and reared. In 
1866 Mr. Foulks moved to his father-in-law's 
farm, which he ran for several years with the 
assistance of hired labor, devoting the greater 
part of his own time to contracting and build- 
ing. Two years later he gave up his trade, the 
better to look after his agricultural interests, 
but he still devoted the ^^ niter seasons to school 
work, continuing the latter profession with 
marked success until 1873. From that year 
until his retirement Mr. Foulks was exclusively 
a tiller of the soil. In 1S90 he purchased of 
Mr. Jones the large and beautiful farm on 
which he had been living for twenty-four year.s 
and after cultivating- it with encouraging finan- 
cial results until 1901 turned it over to the 
management of his son-in-law and moved to 
the town of New Franklin, where lie is now 
living a retired life. 

Mr. Foulks has always maintained an active 
interest in the affairs of his community and 
township and served the latter three terms as 
assessor. In politics he is staunchly Democratic 
and for years has been a leader of his party in 
local affairs, also rendering valuable service in 
state and general elections. He belongs to 
Homewortl) Lodge No. 499, Free and Accepted 
Masons, and is also an infiuential member of 
the Grand Army post at Miner\'a. 

A pleasing incident in tlie career of Mr. 
Foulks occurred in 1898 when the beautiful 
monument erected m honor of the soldiers from 
West township, Columbiana county, was pub- 
licly unveiled. The occasion attracted a large 
concourse of people, and the beautiful and im- 
pressive ceremony seived to arouse their en- 
thusiasm and patriotic pride to a degree seldom 
witnessed on any previous occasion. W'hen 
asked wliat part he proposed to take in the 
exercises, Mr. Foulks replied to the effect that 
he had but one favor to ask and that was the 
privilege of designating the party to whom 
should be accorded the honor of pulling the 



1364 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



cord that was to loosen the veil and expose the 
monument to view. He gave as reasons for 
this request the fact that he could name a per- 
son present who had one grandfather, five times 
removed, and four grandfathers, four times re- 
moved, that served with distinction in the 
Revolution, three grandfathers three times re- 
moved and two, twice removed, that were 
veterans of the war of 18 12, also one grand 
uncle that took pare in the latter struggle ; two 
grandfathers, eleven grand uncies and more 
than ten cousins, more or less distant, that 
fought for the Union during the late Rebellion ; 
one grand uncle that participated in the Black 
Hawk war, besides a number of near relatives 
that served in the war between the United 
States and Spain, designating as the one hon- 
ored by such a patriotic lineage, his own little 
granddaughter, Ruth Bates. It is needless to 
state that his request was most freely and 
cheerfully granted and at tiie proper moment 
the little miss pulled the cord which exposed 
the noble shaft to the gaze of hundreds in at- 
tendance, the closing ceremony being marked 
by the most enthusiam. 

Mr. and Mrs. Foulks have a daughter by 
the name of Anna M., now the wife of D. W. 
Bates, a well-known farmer of Columbiana 
countv, and the mother of the little Ruth re- 
ferred to above; also one son, Victor, and one 
daughter, Elva. 



FRANKLTN UNKEFER.— The Unkefers 
had long lived in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
vania, the first of the name to locate there 
coming to America at an early period in the 
history of the colonies. It is not definitely 
known when the subject's grandfather left Lan- 
caster county and took up his residence in the 
wilderness of eastern Ohio, but it must have 
been shortly after Stark county \vas opened 
for settlement as there were but few white peo- 
ple here at the time of the family's arrival. The 



place where they originally located is what is 
now known as the old Dupes farm, in Wash- 
ington township, so named by reason of Mr. 
Dupes purchasing the land of Mr. Unkefer a 
number of years after the latter had settled and 
improved it. Among the sons of Mr. Unkefer 
was one by the name of John, who was a young 
man v^'hen the family came to Ohio and who in 
due time became one of the leading spirits in the 
community in which he lived. He was born in 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, about the - 
year 1798, and in his youth learned blacksmith- 
ing, but did not work very much at the trade 
after becoming a resident of the county of 
Stark. A good scholar for his day and pos- 
sessing the requisite qualifications for teaching, 
he was early induced to take charge of a school 
in the little settlement and to this line of work 
he devoted his attention of winter seasons for 
a number of years. 

When a young man John Unkefer married 
Mary A. Thomas, after which he located in 
Paris township, on the present site of New 
Franklin, which town he afterwards laid out 
and for the growth of which he devoted so • 
much of his time and energy. Shortly after 
moving to the place he erected a large and sub- 
stantial brick building which was opened for 
the entertainment of the traveling public and 
for many years his tavern was reported the 
best hostelry between the cities of Massillon 
and Pittsburg. Mr. Unkefer was a typical 
host of the time in which he lived, and for a 
period of forty years his place was a favorite 
public resort. While thus engaged, he also 
devoted much of his attention to other lines of 
business, in all of which he met with marked 
success. He bought and shipped horses' on 
quite an extensive scale for a number of years, 
also dealt in real estate and, with an eye to the 
future, platted the town of New Franklin with 
the object in view of ultimately making it the 
county seat. This purpose, however, was never 
realized, but he did succeed in attracting a class - 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1365 



-of substantial men to the town and lived to see 
it become the chief trading and distributing 
point tor an extensive territory and the center 
-of a large and flourishing populace. As a 
Democrat of the old Jacksonian school, he 
wielded a powerful influence for his party in 
local and general affairs, but he never sought 
-official preferment although well qualified by 
nature and training to fill any office within the 
•power of the county to bestow. He was ex- 
ceedingly careful in the management of his 
business affairs, but conducted them so honor- 
ably that his name became a synonym for fair 
dealing, nothing savoring in the least of dis- 
reputable practice having ever attached to his 
•character. Besides valuable town property, he 
owned a large amount of fine land contiguous 
to New Franklin, his real estate amounting to 
over four hundred acres, the greater part well 
improved and thoroughly cultivated. He en- 
tered into rest in 1853, his companion departing 
this life about the year 1855. John and Mary 
A. Unkefer were the parents of thirteen chil- 
dren, of which large family there are now only 
four living- representatives, namely : William, 
a resident of Barton county, Missouri; Frank- 
Jin, whose name introduces this review; John, 
of New Franklin, and Alvin, who lives in Pitts- 
burg, Pennsylvania. 

Franklin Unkefer was born in the village of 
New Franklin, Stark county, Ohio, March 30, 
1836. He early manifested a sturdy manli- 
ness unusual in one of his years and gave evi- 
dence while still a child of the correct bent of 
mind which had so much to do in shaping his 
subsequent course of life. At the proper age 
he entered the public schools where in due sea- 
■son he received about the usual amount of in- 
tellectual discipline, but his education however 
did not cease with the time spent under the in- 
■struction of teachers. With a natural craving 
for knowledge he so utilized his intervals of 
freedom from manual labor that upon attaining 
manhood he had acquired those habits of appli- 



cation and prompt, self reliant action which 
have since marked his career in many responsi- 
ble situations. Mr. Unkefer grew up with the 
sincere love and profound respect for his coun- 
try, and when the South insanely attempted to 
disrupt the union and destroy the government, 
his patriotic indignation was so aroused that 
he did not long hesitate in the matter of offer- 
ing his services for its defense. Two of his 
brothers, John and Alvin, enlisted with him 
shortly after hostilities began and served with 
distinction to the close of the war; William, 
who went to Missouri some time prior to the 
'sixties, was living in a section of the country 
where the secession sentiment greatly predomi- 
nated, and much against his will he was forced 
to join a Confederate regiment, but .so deter- 
mined was he not to raise hostile hands against 
the union that, shortly after going to the front, 
he deserted his command and in due time en- 
tered the Federal army, in which he rose to the 
position of lieutenant. In 1862 Franklin Un- 
kefer enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and 
Fifteenth Ohio Infantry, which for some time 
thereafter was mainly on detached duty to 
guard railroads, block-houses and various 
other kinds of public property. Later the 
regiment took part in checking the rebel ad- 
vance on Nashville, in the battle of which 
place the subject participated. During his 
military career Mr. Unkefer proved a good 
soldier and was never known to complain of 
any position to which he was assigned. At the 
expiration of his period of service, June 22, 
1865, he was discharged at Cleveland, Ohio, 
and immediately thereafter returned home 
where he again took up the duties of civil life. 
During the eight years following the war 
Mr. I.^nkefer was engaged in railroading with 
the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Company, 
with headquarters at various places, and for 
about the same length of time he worked in the 
car shops at Minerva, this state. Severing his 
connection with the latter branch of service, he 



1366 



OLD LANDMARKS 



took up carpentn- and subsequently, in addition 
to that trade, devoted considerable attention to 
agriculture, both of u-hich vocations he pur- 
sued until appointed, in 1891, postmaster of 
New Franklin, a position he has since held. 
On the 1st of Jul}', ] 862, a short time before en- 
tering the army, Mr. Unkefer was luiited in 
marriage with Miss Elenora Hahn, of Colum- 
biana county, the daughter of Henry Hahn, 
for many years one of the leading farmers and 
prominent citizens of West township, but now 
deceased. The mother of ]\Irs. Unkefer is still 
living, a remarkably well preserved woman of 
eighty, and now the wife of Jacob Holwick 
and making her home in New Franklin. 

The Hahns, like the Unkefers, were among 
the early pioneers of Stark and Columbiana 
counties, the two families settling in the same 
locality, the former on what has since been 
known as the "Hahn Bottoms." Father auvl 
mother Hahn were for many years leading 
church workers, having been among the origi- 
nal members of the first Methodist church in 
this part of the state, this organization being 
still in existence, and Mrs. Holwick being the 
only constituent member now living. 

Mr. and Mrs. Unkefer have one son and 
two daughters, viz : Jack L., Minnie and 
Maude E. The first named married Eva 
Hawkins and is the father of two children, Ed- 
na and Floyd. ]\Iinnie is the wife of William 
Kingsbury, of Dayton, and the mother of a 
child by the name of Mabel. Maude E. mar- 
ried E. E. Early, of Minerva, a union blessed 
with two offspring, A\'illiam McKinlev and 
Franklin W. 

In politics Mr. Unkefer is an uncompro- 
mising- Republican and his fraternal relationship 
is with the Grand Army of the Republic, iii 
which he has long been an active and promi- 
nent worker. His religious belief is embodied 
in the ^Methodist creed, himself and wife being 
faithful and zealous members of the church in 
New Franklin. 



JACOB MATZ was Ijorn in Germany on 
the 7th of January, 1829, being a son of Jacob 
and Elizabeth (Wingerd) Matz, both of whom 
were born and reared in the Fatherland, where 
they continued to reside until 1836, when they 
emigrated with their children to America, the 
subject of this review being eight years of age 
at the time. The father, who was born in the 
year 1S03 and who was thus a comparatively 
young man at the time of leaving his native 
land, came forthwith to Stark county and set- 
tled on a tract of wild land just north of th.e 
\illage of Paris, in the township of the same 
name. His original purchase comprised fifty- 
two acres, and he subsequently added to the 
area of his farm until he was the owner of one 
hundred and fifteen acres. Here he developed 
a valuable property and here continued to re- 
side until his death, at the venerable age of 
eighty-one years, having been a man of ex- 
alted integrity and indefatigable industry,, 
while he was honored as one of the worthy 
pioneers and valuable citizens of the county, 
while he and his wife were consistent members- 
of the Reformed church, while in politics Mr. 
Matz gave his allegiance to the Democratic 
party. This worthy couple became the parents- 
of three children, all of whom are yet living, 
namely : Jacob, the immediate subject of this- 
review; Michael, who is a successful farmer of 
Osnaburg township, and who is the subject of 
an individual sketch appearing on another page 
of this work, where it may be identified under 
the name of Motts, to which he has changed the 
original German orthogxaphy ; and Elizabeth, 
who is the wife of John Zwallen, of Louisville, 
this county. Mrs. Matz was summoned into 
eternal rest at the age of fifty years, and her 
husband sul)sefniently married Airs. Elizateth 
Guckeman, no children being born to this union. 
By her first marriage i\Irs. Matz, who is now 
deceased, had two children, of whom one is 
living, Frank Guckeman, who is a prosperous- 
farmer of Paris township. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1367 



Jacob Matz, Jr., grew to maturity under 
the beneiicent influences of the pioneer farm, 
his youthful days being filled with "ceaseless 
toil and endeavor," while his educational privi- 
leg'es were such as were afforded in the com- 
mon schools of the locality and period. He 
continued to assist his father in the work of the 
homestead until he had attained the age of 
nineteen years, when he assumed connubial re- 
sponsibilities. Shortly after his marriage he 
purchased eighty acres of land on the line be- 
tween Paris and Osnaburg townships, in the 
immediate vicinity of the village of Roberts- 
ville, and here he continue.d to reside for a 
period of seventeen years, applying himself 
indefatigably to the work of improving his 
farm and bringing it under effective cultiva- 
tion. As prosperity attended his efforts he 
added to the area of his landed estate until he 
was the owner of five hundred acres, in Paris 
township, but in later vears he generouslv 
made provision for his children by giving to 
them portions of this land, and he now retains 
in his possession one hundred acres, to which he 
still gives his personal supervision, the home- 
stead being located in section 7, Paris 
township, and being one of the fine farms of 
the county. The improvements are of excel- 
lent order, including a commodious and attrac- 
ti\'e farm residence, and Mr. Matz is now in 
the full enjoyment of the rewards of his many 
years of earnest application in connection with 
the great basic art of agriculture. In 1S8: 
Mr. ]\Tatz took up his residence in the \-illage of 
Paris, where he purchased the American hotel, 
which he conducted for a brief interval. The 
prerogatives of a boniface did not prove suf- 
ficently attractive to him to long demand his 
allegiance to this line of enterprise, and he 
thus disposed of the hotel property and pur- 
chased the Shidler farm, near the village, the 
same having lieen a portion of the estate of his 
father-in law, and here he resumed agricultural 
pursuits, in the meantime retaining his resi- 



dence in the village. In 1897 he returned to 
his old homestead, where he has since remained. 
On the 27th of March, 1847, Mr. Matz was 
united in marriage to Miss Eliza Shidler, 
who was born in this township, being a daugh- 
ter of Georg-e Shidler, one of the honored pio- 
neers of the county, and of this union were born 
eleven children, of whom six are living at the 
present time, namely : Jacob, Jr., who is a 
prosperous farmer of Paris township ; Caroline, 
who is the wife of Joseph Bair, of Malvern, 
this county ; Aaron, who is likewise engaged in 
farming in this township; Samuel, who has 
active charge of the homestead farm; Eliza, 
who is the wife of John Otto, of this town- 
ship ; and Isreal, who is conducting a meat 
market in the village of Malvern. Mr. Matz 
has been a stanch adherent of the Democratic 
party from the time of attaining the right of 
franchise and though he has never been an as- 
pirant for office he has taken a proper interest 
in local affairs of a public nature and is a loyal 
and progressive citizen. He and his wife are 
both devoted and acti\-e members of the Re- 
formed church. 



ALVIN SCHMACHTENBERGER is a 

son of Jacob Schmachtenberger, whose grand- 
father was one of se^en brothers that served 
with distinction in the American war of 
the Revolution, Adolph Schmachtenberger, 
father of Jacob, was a native of Maryland, but 
moved to eastern Ohio as early as 1806, set- 
tling- in Osnaburg township. Stark county, 
where he entered land and made some improve- 
ments. Subsequently he changed his abode to 
the township of Canton where he lived for a 
period of twenty-two years and died near 
Mapleton when about middle aged; his wife, 
\\ho bore the maiden name of Margaret Re- 
puert, lived to be quite old, dying at the age of 
ninetv-one years. 



1368 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Jacob Schmachtenberger was born in Can- 
ton township, Stark county, August 13, 1819, 
and continued to live there until 1840, when he 
moved to the township of Paris, where in due 
time he became a prominent farmer and lead- 
ing citizen. In 1849 he purchased the home 
farm just north of the village of Minerva, and 
this he increased at intervals until the place 
embraced an area of one hundred and eighty- 
one acres of fine land, in addition to which he 
also owned two others farms in the vicinity, 
besides valuable property in the town, buying 
the latter in 1868. His careful management, 
steady habits and successful financiering result- 
ed in the accumulation of an ample competence 
and he also won the confidence and respect of 
his fellow citizens, having filled worthily many 
public trusts, among which was that of assessor 
in which he served six years, and for over thirty 
years he held the office of justice of the peace, 
besides filling the position of president of the 
Minerva school board for a period of eight 
years. In the latter capacity he showed excel- 
lent financial ability by extricating the town 
from a long impending debt of seven thousand, 
five hundred dollars, erecting a fine brick school 
building and leaving the corporation entirely 
free of incumbrance. In politics Mr. Schmach- 
tenberger was a Democrat and an active and 
influential worker for the party, representing 
it in various county, district and state conven- 
tions and proving himself a safe and conserva- 
tive leader. In addition to agriculture, he de- 
voted considerable attention to wool growing, 
which yielded him a large income. He also 
operated two saw-mills and in connection there- 
with bought, sold and otherwise handled large 
quantities of lumber. 

In 1840 Jacob Schmachtenberger was 
united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Meyers, 
who bore him six children, of which number 
two only survive, Alvin, the subject of this 
review, and David, who is also a resident of 
Stark countv. The death of this excellent 



man occurred April 3, 1892, while his wife 
died January 6, 1886. 

Alvin Schmachtenberger was born March 
I, 1863, on the farm in Paris township, where 
he now lives. After mastering the fundamen- 
tal branches in the district school he took a 
course in the high school at Minerva and when 
eighteen years old began his car,eer as an ag- 
riculturist by farming the home place for a 
share of the proceeds. In this way he prose- 
cuted his labors until his father's death, after 
which he secured possession of the home- 
stead, consisting at that time of one hundred 
and thirty-four acres of as fertile and well 
situated land as the township of Paris can 
boast. Mr. Schmachtenberger devoted his at- 
tention exclusively to husbandry until 1886 
when he engaged in the dairy business, which, 
in connection with farming, he carried on for 
a period of about seven years, meeting with 
marked financial success the meantime. In 
1S93 he disposed of his dairy stock for the 
purpose of again giving his entire time and at- 
tention to the pursuit of agriculture. During 
the ensuing seven years he carried on farming 
quite extensively, but at the expiration of that 
time he once more began dairying, convinced 
that the enterprise if properly conducted would 
yield greater profits than he was then realizing 
from his crops. Purchasing in 1893 quite a 
number of the finest and most valuable milch 
cows that could be procured, he started under 
favorable auspices a business which has stead- 
ily grown in volume and importance until he is 
now in the enjoyment of a trade of greater 
magnitude than that of the majority of the 
men of this county similarly engaged. He 
sells principally to the consumer, has an ex- 
tensive patronage and by fair and honorable 
dealing has so ingratiated himself into the con- 
fidences of the public as to g'ain the unqualified 
good will of all with whom he has relations of 
a business nature. Mr. Schmachtenberger has 
been quite successful in his financial afifairs and 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1369 



is now one of the well-to-do men of his com- 
■miinity, owning one of the finest and best im- 
proved farms in the township besides possess- 
ing other means, the whole constituting a 
fortune sufficient to make him independent. 
Politically he is a stanch Democrat and for a 
number of years past has been a forceful factor 
in local affairs, having been twice elected jus- 
tice of the peace, in which capacity he is serving 
at the present time. His personal popularity 
with the people of his towoiship is attested by 
the fact of his having received the largest ma- 
jority ever given a candidate for the office of 
justice. Republicans as well as Democrats rec- 
ognizing his peculiar fitness for the position 
and vieing with each other in giving him their 
support. 

Mr. Schmachtenberger was married on the 
22d of October, 1885, to Miss Theodosia Freed, 
of West township, Columbiana county, the 
daughter, of Peter and Sarah (Brown) Freed, 
the father a leading farmer and a prominent 
citizen of that part of the state. Eight chil- 
dren have been born of this union, namely : 
Jacob W., John Franklin, Arthur F., William 
E., Harry D. and Clyde F., all living; one 
who died at the age of five years, and Hazel, 
who died at the age of one and one-half years. 



WILLIAM IRWIN.— This representative 
of two old pioneer families of Stark county is 
the youngest of twelve children whose parents 
were Joseph and Mary (Cooper) Irwin, natives 
of county Tyrone, Ireland. Joseph Irwin was 
born about 1790 and in 181 5, when twenty- 
five years old, came to America and for eight 
years following worked for an old Quaker 
farmer, in the vicinity of Philadelphia, Penn- 
sylvania. At the expiration of that time he 
came to Stark county, Ohio, entered eighty 
acres of 'and in Paris township and for some 
time thereafter experienced the hardships and 
vicissitudes common to life in this part of the 



state in an early day. His first dwelling was 
the conventional log cabin peculiar to the 
pioneer period, the barn was composed of the 
same kind of material and while raising her 
children the good wife and mother had recourse 
to the sugar trough for a cradle, with her own 
fingers spinning and weaving the coarse mate- 
rial of which clothing for the different members 
of the family was made. Mr. Irwin was a 
hard working man and, possessing great bodily 
strength and persevering energy, his labors 
were in due time rewarded with a good farm 
and much better and more convenient build- 
ings than the original structures. Later he 
increased his purchase by twenty-five addition- 
al acres and by industry, frugality and prudent 
management succeeded finally in placing him- 
self and family in very comfortable circum- 
stances. He lived where he originally settled 
until his death, departing this life at the ripe 
old age of eighty-six years, carrying with him 
to the end the confidence and esteem of the 
people with wliom he had so long mingled. Of 
the twelve children born to Joseph and Mary 
Irwin, three only are living, to-wit : Nancy, 
wife of David Unkefer, of Paris township; 
Samuel, who lives in the city of Cleveland, and 
William, the direct subject of this review. The 
mother died about the year i860; she was a 
devoted Christian woman, greatly beloved by 
her neighbors and friends, and, with her hus- 
band, belonged to the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

William Irwin is a native of Stark county, 
Ohio, and was born Septemberi 10. 1835, °i^ the 
family homestead in Paris township. His life 
up to the time of young manhood was the un- 
eventful one of a country lad in a family of 
moderate means. In his youth he attended 
school in an old log building not far from his 
home, his means for acquiring an education be- 
ing limited. He early became accustomed to 
all kinds of farm labor and continued until his 
marriage with Miss Hannah Sponseller, 



I370 



OLD LANDMARKS 



daughter of George Sponsdler, one of the early 
settlers of Paris township, moving here from 
Columhiana county, where the family located 
many years ago. During the nine years fol- 
lowing his marriage the subject farmed the 
homestead on the shares, but in 1864 purchased 
one hundred and six acres of his present place, 
which he improved and reduced to a success- 
ful state of tillage. Later he added to his real 
estate until the farm was increased to one hun- 
dred and thirty-three acres, its present area. 
Mr. Irwin has long been regarded as one of the 
intelligent and enterprising citizens of Paris 
township, energetic and quite successful in the 
management of his own affairs and equally so 
in the interest he has manifested in the 
public good. He has acquired a fine property 
and raised himself to his present respectable 
position in the community solely through his 
o-wn efiforts and persevering industry. 

Ten children were born to Mr. Irwin's first 
marriage, of which note is made in a preceding 
paragraph, two of the number being deceased; 
those surviving are Ellen, wife of Edward 
Rosenberg, of Washington township; George 
and Frank, who live in the township of Paris ; 
John, a resident of Washington township; 
Alice, who married Jasper Croft, of Osnaburg 
township: Florence, wife of William Macken- 
derfer, of Washington township; Grace, now 
Mrs. Frank Schwartz, of Osnaburg, and Fred- 
erick, whose home is in the township of Can- 
ton. The mother of these sons and daughters 
passed out of life July 4, 1893, ^"^ later Mr. 
Irwin married Elizabeth Gray, a native of Ire- 
land who came to the United States in 1896, 
the second union lieing without issue. 

]\lr. Irwin's political training has been with 
the Republican party, but he has never been a 
very active politician, much less a seeker after 
public place. He is a liberal contributor to all 
wortliv enterprises especially those of a char- 
itable and benevolent nature and while not 
identified with any church he has always been 



generous in the support of religion, donating 
freely of his means for the maintenance of the 
Reformed church, to which his wife belongs. 



JOSEPH FOLK is a native of Nimishillen 
township. Stark county, Ohio, where he was 
born on the the 6th of July, 1847, being a son 
of Peter and Lydia (Reese) Folk, of whose 
two children he alone survives. Both parents 
were likewise bom in Stark county, the former 
having been ushered into the world in Nimishil- 
len township, on the 26th of October, 1826, 
while the latter was born in Washington town- 
ship, on the 22d of October, 1822. The pater- 
nal grandparents of the subject were Peter and 
Catherine (Miller) Folk, the former of whom 
was born in the state of Pennsylvania, near the 
line of ^Maryland, while the latter was born in 
Westmoreland county, of the old Keystone 
state, where their marriage was solemnized. 
Peter Folk, Sr., was a son of George Folk, who 
was one of the original representatives of the 
family in America, whither he was brought from 
Germany by his parents, who emigrated to the 
United States when he was a child of but 
four years, the family taking up their abode 
in Pennsylvania in the pioneer epoch. Con- 
cerning the ancestral history we enter far- 
ther record l>y quoting briefly from a pre- 
viously published sketch : "Peter Folks, Sr., 
grew to manhood in Pennsylvania, where he 
was married and where four of his children 
were born, three daughters and one son. One of 
the daughters died in infancy. Elizabeth mar- 
ried Frederick Herbster, whose home was in 
\\^ashington township, Stark county, Ohio, 
where her descendants still live. She left 
eight children by her first husband and one by 
her second husband, Abraham Lutz. Cath- 
erine married Joshua Lentz, and they likewise 
resided in Washington township, this county, 
where she died, leaving four children. John 
resided for manv years in Nimishillen township 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1371 



Avhere he died about 1881, when more than 
sixty years of age, leaving four children." 

Peter Folk, Sr., was numbered among the 
earliest settlers of Stark county, where he en- 
tered a section of government land in the midst 
of the virgin forest of Nimishillen township, 
and here his youngest son, Peter, Jr., father of 
the subject, was born, all the other children 
having been born in Pennsylvania, as before 
noted. After the survey of the land was com- 
pleted Peter Folk, Sr., divided the same among 
his three sons, Peter, Jacob and Abraham, each 
of whom recei\ed two hundred and seventeen 
acres. After the father of the subject grew to 
manhood he and his brother John came into 
possession of their father's farm, and there the 
former continued his residence until the early 
eighties, when he removed to the village of 
Louisville, this county, our subject having pur- 
chased the old homestead about this time. Of 
the father of the subject the following has been 
written: "Peter Folk, Jr., attained his 
growth on the farm entered by his father and 
received a fair education for his day. His 
early life was spent in hard labor in clearing 
the farm, and amid pioneer scenes. He was 
married a little before his twenty-first birthday 
on the nth of December, 1846, to Miss Lydia 
Reese, and shortly afterwards his father gave 
him one hundred and six acres of land. This 
young couple began housekeeping in a log 
house, and although they had little else to be- 
gin with save willing hands and any amount of 
energy, they met with much success and were 
classed among the substantial and representa- 
tive citizens of the county. In the year 185S 
Mr. Folk purchased a quarter section of land 
in the state of Michigan, retaining possession of 
the same for twent)^ years and then disposing 
of the property. In 1847 h^ erected on his 
farm a good bank barn, and 1861 a fine resi- 
dence, which still stands. The farm has now 
been in the possession of the family for four 
generations. Mr. Folk is a Republican in poli- 



tics, and his first presidential vote was cast in 
1848, for General Taylor, the candidate of the 
Whig party. He was school director about 
fifteen consecutive years and is a member of the 
Progressive Brethren church of which he was 
trustee for a long term of years." 

Joseph Folk was reared on the old home- 
stead farm, and early began to contribute his 
quota to its work, while he received such educa- 
tional advantages as were afforded in the pub- 
lic schools of the locality and period, thus lay- 
ing the foundation for that broad fund of in- 
formation which he has since gained through 
being in active touch with men and affairs. As 
before noted, he came into possession of the 
farm about the time of his father's removal to 
the village of Louisville, and he continued to 
reside there until 1891, when he also removed 
to the same town, renting the farm, and in 
Louisville he has since continued to make his 
home, while for the past two years his vener- 
able and revered father has resided with him. 
When the integrity of the Union was in jeop- 
ardy through armed rebellion on the part of 
the Confederate states, Mr. Folk showed his 
intrinsic loyalty by enlisting, on the 4th of Sep- 
tember, 1864. as a private in Company I, One 
Flundred and Seventy-eighth Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, with which he continued in service 
until victory crowned the Union arms. Soon 
after the organization of the regiment was 
eft'ected it was sent to Nashville, Tennessee, 
and thence to Tullahoma, where it was detailed 
on guard duty about two months, after, which 
it moved back as far as Murfreesboro, where it 
was stationed at the time of the memorable bat- 
tle of Nashville, after which it went to Clifton, 
Tennessee, and there embarked for the city of 
Cincinnati, Ohio, from which point it proceeded 
to the national capita! and thence to Newbern, 
North Carolina, where it disembarked and 
marched forward to Goldsboro, having a 
spirited engagement at Clifton while en route. 
The command joined Sherman's army at Golds- 



1372 



OLD LANDMARKS 



boro and remained with his forces until the sur- 
render of Lee, after which the regiment re- 
turned to Columbus, Ohio, where Mr. Folk re- 
ceived his honorable discharge on the 28th of 
July, 1865. He was under fire at Cedar Flats 
and Kingston, North Carolina, and also partic- 
ipated in numerous skirmishes, having several 
narrow escapes from capture and having been 
fortunate in escaping all wounds. He was 
found at the post of duty every day save one of 
his entire period of service, and made the rec- 
ord of a gallant and faithful soldier. 

After the close of the war Mr. Folk re- 
turned to the old homestead, where he con- 
tinued to devote his attention to agricultural 
pursuits, while in addition to this he mani- 
fested his enterprising spirit by securing a 
modern threshing outfit, which he continued to 
operate for a number of years, the same having 
been the first threshing machine operated by 
steam in the county. In 1872 he purchased a 
half interest in a saw-mill on the home farm, 
eventually acquiring full control of the same, 
which he kept in active operation for a number 
of years, and which is now used for short 
periods, on special work. In politics Mr. Folk 
has ever given a stanch allegiance to the Repub- 
lican party, and his personal popularity in 
Nimishillen township was brought into dis- 
tinctive evidence in about 1886, when he was 
elected to the office of township trustee, in face 
of the fact that the political complexion of the 
township is strongly Democratic, while he nat- 
urally appeared as the candidate of the Repub- 
lican party. In 1889 he was the nominee of 
his party for director of the county infirmary, 
but was defeated with the remainder of the 
party ticket, the normal Democratic majority 
being large and impossible to overcome. Mr. 
Fplk and his wife are prominent and zealous 
members of the Reformed church, in which he 
is deacon and treasurer of the church in Louis- 
ville, taking a deep interest in its spiritual work 
and the support of its collateral benevolences. 



Fraternally he holds membership in George D. 
Harter Post No. 555, Grand Army of the Re- 
public, in the city of Canton, and Louisville 
Council No. 152, of the Junior Order of 
United American Mechanics. 

On the 14th of December, 1873, ^r. Folk 
was imited in marriage to Miss Eliza A. Miller, 
who was born in the village of Louisville, this 
county, on the 3d of Deceniber, 1847, being a 
daughter of Peter and Barbara (Kloffenstein) 
Miller, the former of whom was born in Penn- 
sylvania and the latter in France, while they 
were numbered among the honored pioneer 
citizens of Stark county, where the death of 
each occurred, as did also that of the mother of 
Mr. Folk, who entered into eternal rest in 1898, 
at the age of seventy-five years. Mr. and Mrs. 
Folk have no children. 



WILLIAM T. SOMMERVILLE is a na- 
tive of the old Keystone state of the Union, 
having been born in Mercer county, Pennsyl- 
vania, on the lOth of December, 1854, and 
being a son of William and Catherine (Weath- 
erspoon) Sommerville, of whose six children 
all survive except Margaret, who died in 1865, 
the others being as follows: Jane, who is the 
widow of John Kelly, of Hanover, Licking 
county, Ohio; Thomas, who was killed by a 
cave-in in a coal mine in 1902, in Columbiana 
county; Catherine, who is the wife of Melvin 
Scholenberger. of Freeburg, Stark county; 
James, who is a resident of East Rochester, 
Columbiana county; and William T., whose 
name indicates this sketch. The father of the 
subject was born in Scotland, in the year 1822, 
and there he was reared and educated, while 
as a youth he began working in the coal mines 
and became thoroughly familiar with the meth- 
ods of development in this line of industry. 
Shortly after his marriage he emigrated to 
America and located in Mercer county, Penn- 
sylvania, where he became a member of the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1373- 



coal-operating firm of Pierce, Fish & Sommer- 
ville, and there he maintained his residence until 
1865, when he came to Ohio and located on a 
farm near East Rochester, Columbiana county, 
the same comprising one hundred and sixty 
acres. On the farm which he thus purchased 
was a good deposit of coal, and he there re- 
mained for eighteen years, engaged in farming 
and in the development of his coal bank. In 
1883- he left his son /ames in charge of this 
farm and came to Stark county, where he pur- 
chased the farm, in Paris township, where our 
subject now resides. On the place a coal bank 
had been opened many years previously, but 
the development had not been carried forward 
to any considerable extent, and through aban- 
donment for a term of years the property was 
in very bad shape. The father of the subject 
forthwith employed a corps of men, and at 
an expense of several hundred dollars drained 
the mine and put the same in proper order for 
effective development. He continued to work 
this mine until 1888, when his son William T.. 
of this sketch, purchased the farm and coal 
bank, and has since carried forward the dual 
enterprise with distinctive discrimination and 
success. The father's death occurred in 1891. 
He was a Republican in politics, and was a 
valued member of the Masonic fraternity. His 
devoted wife, who was likewise a native of the 
fair land of "brown heather and shaggy wood," 
survived him by about two years, having been 
a woman of noble and gracious character. 

William T. Sommerville was reared to ma- 
turity beneath the home rooftree, and received 
his early educational training in the public 
schools, his opportunities in this line, however, 
being somewhat limited in scope. On the 4th 
of February, 1883, Mr. Sommerville was united 
in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Emmons, of 
East Rochester, Columbiana county, and about 
this time his father purchased the farm in Stark 
county, and the subject entered into partner- 
ship with him in the operation of the coal mine 



on the place, thus continuing until 1888, when 
he purchased the farm and mine, as has already 
been noted. In politics he accords a stanch 
allegiance to the Republican party, and he is 
known as a public-spiriteci and progressive citi- 
zen. He and his wife are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, in whose cause 
they are zealous workers, Mr. Sommerville be- 
ing a member of the board of trustees of the 
church at New Franklin, and also treasurer of 
the same. To him and his wife have been 
born two daughters, Carrie E. and Olive A. 



DAVID L. VAN DYNE was born on his 
present farm, in Paris township. Stark county, 
Ohio, on the loth of January, 1834, being a 
son of William and EHzabeth (Slagle) Van 
Dyne, of whose three children he is the elder 
of the two surviving ; his sister, Mary Elizabeth, 
is the widow of Abraham H. Bair, of Akron, 
Ohio. As the name indicates, the Van Dyne 
family is of Holland derivation, and the orig- 
inal American progenitor emigrated from the 
sturdy land of dykes to the new world prior 
to the war of the Revolution, thus adding an- 
other to the list of his countrymen who have 
played so important a part in our nation's his- 
tory from the time of the foundation of- New' 
Amsterdam, the quaint and characteristic 
Dutch village, which has given place to the 
magnificent metropolis of the republic. This 
ancestor settled either on Long Island or Staten 
Island, but eventually removed over into New 
Jersey, where the old family homestead, erected 
in the Revolutionary epoch, is still standing, in 
Keyport, Monmouth county. Dennis Van 
Dyne, the grandfather of the subject, was a 
soldier in the Continental line during the great 
struggle for independence, as were two of his 
brothers, and after the war he migrated to 
Pennsylvania and took up his abode in Adams 
county, where he maintained his home for a 
number of years, being engaged in agricultural 



1374 



OLD LANDMARKS 



pursuits. In tliat county Wiiiiam Van Dyne, 
father of our subject, was born and reared, 
and there his marriage was solemnized. The 
date of his nativity was the year 1788, and 
he grew to maturity on the homestead farm, 
while he received a good education for the day 
and was a man of strong intellectual powers. 
About the year 1828 lie came to Stark county, 
Ohio, being accompanied by his family and by 
his venerable father, who here passed the resi- 
due of his life. William Va'n Dyne located on 
the farm now owned by his son, subject of 
this sketch, settling in the midst of the primeval 
forest and setting to himself the herculean task 
of reclaiming the land to cultivation, while the 
original family abode was a primitive log cabin 
of the type common to the locality and period. 
The maternal grandfather of the subject, Dan- 
iel Slagle, having entered two sections of land 
in this county, and having divided the same 
among his children, his daughter Elizabeth 
(Mrs. William Van Dyne) securing one hun- 
dred and fourteen acres as lier share. Mr. Van 
Dyne reclaimed and improved this farm, mak- 
ing it one of the valuable properties of the 
county, and on this homestead he continued to 
reside until his death, in the year i860, when 
more than three score and ten years of age, 
his devoted wife passing away in 1880, at the 
age of eighty-six years. 

David L. Van Dyne was reared to maturity 
on the pioneer farm, and the educational ad- 
vantages which fell to his portion in his youth 
were such as were afforded in the little log 
school-house of the period, the same being 
equipped with puncheon floor, slab benches, 
yawning fire-place and windows of oiled paper 
in lieu of glass, — primitive institutions often 
described and often the places where future 
greatness was nurtured. In 1858, up to which 
time he had assisted in the work of the home 
farm, he became imbued with an earnest de- 
sire to see somwhat more of the outside world, 
and, at the age of twenty-four years, he then 



started forth on a tour of the west, visiting 
various sections and being in Nebraska at the 
time of his father's death. Upon' receiving- 
tidings of tlie demise of his sire he returned 
home and purchased his sister's interest in the 
homestead, and since that time he has con- 
secutively maintained his home here, having 
remained in the west about two years. He 
has been successful in his farming enterprise, 
is a man of broad information and fine intel- 
lectuality, a constant and omnivorous reader 
of standard literature and one who also keeps 
in close touch with the questions and issues 
of the day, so that his reminiscences of the 
pioneer days, as well as his discussions of the 
latter-day topics, are of marked interest. He 
has giv'en an uncompromising allegiance to the 
Republican party from the time of its organiza- 
tion, and his religious faith is that of the Lu- 
theran church, of which his devoted and cher- 
ished wife was likewise a member. 

On the 1 6th of September, 1862, Mr. Van 
Dyne was united in marriage to Miss Ellen 
Smith, who likewise was born in Paris tov.n- 
ship, being a daughter of Lewis Smith, who 
was one of the prominent pioneer farmers of 
this township, and she remained his devoted 
companion and helpmeet for nearly forty years, 
being summoned into eternal rest on the nth 
of September, 1898, secure in the affectionate 
regard of all who had come within the sphere 
of her gentle influence. One child was Iwrn 
of this union, Ada, who is the wife of Charles 
Newcomer, who has active supervision of the 
homestead farm of the subiect. 



HENRY R. SWALLEN is a native son 
of the Buckeye state, having been born in 
Brown township, Carroll county, Ohio, on 
Christmas day of the year 1841. He is a son 
of Christian and Elizabeth (Schory) Swallen, 
of whose nine children the following named 
five are yet living: Sophia, who is not mar- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



>375 



ried and wlio resides in the city of Alliance, 
this county; Henry R., subject of this sketch; 
Christopher, who is a successful farmer of 
Washington township, this county; Albert, 
who resides in the city of Alliance; and Will- 
iam L., wdio has been for the past nine years a 
missionary of the Presbyterian church in 
Corea. 'J"he father of our subject was born in 
Switzerland, in 1813, and was there reared to 
the age of twelve years, and then accompanied 
his parents on their emigration to America, the 
family coming to Stark county and residing for 
a brief interval in \\hat is now the city of 
Canton, the place being at that time a mere vil- 
lage, and from here they proceeded over the 
line into Carroll county, wdiere the grandfa- 
ther, Henry Swallen, took up a tract of unre- 
claimed land, in Brown township, where he 
passed the remainder of his life, clearing his 
land of its heavy growth of native timber and 
bringing the same under effective cultivation. 
On this old homestead Christian Swallen was 
reared to maturity, and it is needless to say 
that he had his full quota of hard work in con- 
nection with the reclamation and cultivation of 
the pioneer farm, and for a number of years 
after attaining maturity he had charge of the 
homestead. In 1859 he removed with his fam- 
ily to Stark county and located on a farm in 
Paris township, the same comprising one hun- 
dred and sixty acres and being about two miles 
east of the village of Paris, and the property 
being now owned by daughter, Sophia, of Al- 
liance. The farm had been partially improved, 
and he de\-eloped the same into one of the valu- 
able places of this section, equipping it with 
good buildings and bringing the land under a 
high state of producti\ity, while this continued 
to be his home until he was called from the 
scene of life's labors, his death occurring in the 
year 1880, at the age of sixty-seven years. He 
was energetic and discriminating in his efforts 
and was one of the highly honored citizens of 
the county, being signally true and faithful in 



all the relations of life. In politics, though 
never an aspirant for otiicial preferment, he 
was an uncompromising advocate of the prin- 
ciples and policies of the Democratic party, 
while both he and his wife were zealous mem- 
bers of the Reformed church. His w;ife was 
born in Switzerland, and survived her husband 
by about a decade, her death occurring in 1890. 

Henry R. Swallen was reared to maturity 
on the homestead farm, and his educational 
privileges were such as were afforded in the 
public schools of this locality. He continued to 
assist in the work of the home farm until his 
marriage, in 1867, after which he purchased a 
small farm southwest of the village of Paris 
and there made his home for the ensuing ten 
years, at the expiration of which he purchased 
his present tine farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres, where he has since been successfully en- 
gaged in general farming, devoting somewhat 
of his attention to the raising of a high grade of 
live stock. He has ever been stanchly arrayed 
in support of the principles and policies of the 
Democratic party, and was elected to the office 
of township trustee, in which he served one 
term, proving" a capable and acceptable incum- 
bent, though he has never been an aspirant for 
the honors or emoluments of public office. He 
is a valued member of the Reformed church in 
the village of Paris, as is also his wife, and the 
family are prominent in the best social life of 
the community. 

In February, 1867, Mr. Swallen was united 
in marriage to ]\Iiss Florence Goodin, who was 
born in Osnaburg township, this county, being 
a daughter of the late \\'illiam B. Goodin, who 
was an honored pioneer of the county, where in 
the early days he had his residence while con- 
ducting a quite extensive freighting business 
overland between Massillon, this county, and 
the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In the later 
years of his life he was one of the influential 
farmers of Osnaburg township. I\Ir. and Mrs. 
Swallen are the parents of eight children. 



1376 



OLD LANDMARKS 



namely: Frank O.. who is a successful young 
farmer of Osnaburg township; Edgar, who is 
engaged in the produce business in the city of 
Canton ; May, who is the wife of Orwig F. 
Sinigar, of that city ; Arthur who is a popular 
and talented teacher of music in Canton ; and 
Anna, Karl, Webster and Edith, all of whom 
still remain at the parental home. 



JAMES E. DOUGHERTY, M. D., de- 
ceased, was one of Stark county's most promi- 
nent physicians and citizens, he having prac- 
ticed medicine in the county for over thirty- 
six years, and his prominence and popularity 
led to his being twice elected county recorder. 
Dr. Dougherty was a native of Beaver county, 
Pennsylvania, and was born on March 13, 
1820, being the eldest child and only son of 
four children born to John and Elizabeth 
(Crail) Dougherty. The father was born in 
Franklin county, Pennsylvania, on December 
3, 1796, and was the son of James Dougherty, 
a native of Ireland. The mother of the Doc- 
tor was born in Pennsylvania on June 25, 1801, 
and was the daughter of John Crail, Esq., a 
native of the Isle of Man, who was a Revolu- 
tionary soldier. John Dougherty died at Rich- 
mond, Ohio, March 20, 1831, his wife, Eliza- 
beth, preceding him to the grave, she dying in 
1827. 

Dr. James E. Dougherty attended the com- 
mon schools of Jefferson county, Ohio, and was 
afterwards a student at the classical institute 
of Richmond, Ohio, where he spent two and a 
half years. He then taught school at intervals 
and at the same time took up the study of 
medicine with Dr. E. M. Pyle, of Richmond, 
Ohio, as his preceptor, and from whom he re- 
ceived his diploma, that being previous to the 
regulations later prescribed by law requiring a 
diploma from a medical college. The suc- 
ceeding five years were spent in Beaver county, 
Pennsylvania, where he practiced his profes- 



sion, after which he located in Jefferson coun- 
ty, Ohio. In 1849 he took up his residence at 
Greentown, Stark county, where he continued 
in the active practice for thirty-six years. Dur- 
ing the Civil war he enlisted, in May, 1864, 
and became lieutenant colonel of the One Hun- 
dred and Sixty-second regiment, Ohio National 
Guard, which was called out for one-hundred- 
day service and sent to Covington, Kentucky, 
at which point it did garrison duty most of the- 
time. He was always a stanch Republican, 
from the organization of that party. In 1885 
he was elected on the Republican ticket tO' the 
office of county recorder, and removed to Can- 
ton in December of that year to take charge of 
the office for a term of three years. His ma- 
jority at the polls was only sixteen votes, but 
so faithfully and acceptably did he discharge 
his duties and so popular did he become that 
in 1888, at the expiration of his term, he was 
again nominated by his party, and was re- 
elected by a majority of six hundred and sev- 
enty-one votes, running one thousand votes 
ahead of his ticket. The Doctor was a mem- 
ber of Canton Lodge No. 60, Free and Accept- 
ed Masons, Canton Chapter No. 84, Royal 
Arch Masons, Hodassah Lodge No. 350, In- 
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, of Green- 
town, and of Canton Post No. 25, Grand 
Army of the Republic. He was a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. . He served 
from 1877 to 1885 as secretary of the Lake 
Township Mutual Fire Insurance Company, re- 
signing when he removed to Canton. 

Dr. Dougherty was twice married. His 
first wife was Miss Phoebe L. Thompson, of 
Carroll county, Ohio, whom he married April 
II, 1844. At her death she left one son, Will- 
iam T., who is now engaged in the real estate 
business and also insurance business in New 
Castle, Pennsylvania. On September 27, 1849, 
the Doctor married Miss Angeline, the daugh- 
ter of Thomas- Gorgas, of Greentown, Ohio, 
who was a native of Lancaster county, Penn- 




^ , •Zy^^T^Z^ >4^t^^-«^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



^177 



sylvania. To this man-jage eight children 
were born, as follows: Charles A., recorder 
of Stark county; Louis Edwin, physician, of 
Greentown, Ohio; James E. died in 1888; John 
F., a dentist of Canton; Mary E., who was 
deputy recorder during her father's incumb- 
ency of that office, and is filling the same posi- 
tion under the administration of her brother, 
Charles A., present recorder; Sarah A., who 
married Martin A. Mattice, and died in 1891 ; 
Maggie, who died at the age of seven years; 
and an infant daughter who died unnamed. 
Dr. Dougherty died March 24, 1894. His 
widow, who survives him, was born January 
4, 1833- 



MRS. MARY E. GROOM was born in 
New Franklin, this county, being a daughter 
of Thomas and Catherine (Kiplinger) Martin, 
of whose four children three are yet living, 
namely: Andrew A., who is a resident of 
Sebring, Mahoning county, this state; Anna 
E., who is the wife of Frederick Goodman, of 
Akron, Ohio; and Mrs. Groom. Thomas 
Martin was born in Franklin county, Pennsyl- 
vania, his father being a native of England 
and his mother being of Scottish parentage. 
The Martin family was one of wealth and 
prominence in England, and the father of 
Thomas became involved in some dissension 
with the family and manifested his independ- 
ence by emigrating to the United States. He 
located in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, 
where he engaged in contracting and build- 
ing, and he was killed by a falling timber 
when forty-seven years of age. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Mary Campbell, was 
born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, shortly 
after her parents' emigration to that place from 
Scotland. Thomas Martin was reared and 
educated in his native county and learned in 
his youth the trade of tailoring, to which he 
there devoted his attention until 1852, when he 

86 



came to Stark county and located in New 
Franklin, where he was engaged in the work 
of his trade and in conducting a hotel for 
many years. In 1870 he withdrew from the 
tailoring business, but he still continued his 
hotel enterprise until 1890, when he removed 
to the city of Alliance, where he lived till 1894, 
when he returned to New Franklin, where his 
death occurred in 1897, at which time he was 
seventy-eight years of age. He was well 
known in Stark county and was a man who 
commanded unqualified confidence and esteem. 
In his political proclivities he was a stanch 
Democrat, and for many years he was a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, but in 
1865, on account of the political dissensions 
-which brought about a division in the northern 
and southern branches of the church owing 
to the war of the Rebellion, he withdrew from 
the body and identified himself with the 
Lutheran church, in which he remained a con- 
sistent and active member until his death, his 
widow being likewise a devoted adherent of 
this church. She was born in New Franklin, 
this county, in 1840, being a daughter of 
Samuel and Sarah (Slagle) Keplinger, who- 
came from Franklin county, Pennsylvania, as 
early settlers in New Franklin, where they 
passed the remainder of their lives. Mrs. 
Martin now makes her home with her elder 
daughter, Mrs. Goodman, of Akron, this state. 
Mrs. Groom was reared in her father's, 
hotel in New Franklin, and as a child began- 
to assist in the culinary department of the 
same, ever manifesting a lively interest in the 
preparation of attractive and wholesome 
viands, and this early discipline is what has led 
her to continue in the line of enterprise in 
which she has achieved so noteworthy suc- 
cess, her parents having been consecutively 
engaged in the hotel business in this place for 
more than forty years. She received her edu- 
cational discipline in the public schools, but 
was married at a very early age, since she was 



1378 



OLD LANDMARKS 



united to Kersey H. Groom only twenty-two 
days after her twelfth birthday anniversary. 
Her husband was a blacksmith and wagon 
maker by A'ocation, and after their marriage 
they continued to reside in New Franklin. In 
1890 her parents retired from the hotel busi- 
ness and removed to Alliance, and Mrs. Groom 
was persuaded to provide table accommoda- 
tions for transient guests, as the town was left 
without proper hotel facilities. Her hospi- 
tality and attractive service caused her busi- 
ness to soon assume such proportions that she 
found it expedient to remove from her cottage 
to the brick hotel building, where she con- 
ducted a successful business for one year, at 
the expiration of which she was called to Alli- 
ance to take charge of the boarding house con- 
ducted by her mother. She personally leased 
the building for a term of two years and when 
this lease expired she returned to her New- 
Franklin cottage, where she lived retired from 
all business associations for the ensuing two 
years. On the 22d of January, 1897, directly 
after the death of her honored father, she 
again removed into the hotel building and 
there carried on a very popular and success- 
ful business until the 17th of February, 1900, 
when she removed to her own building, which 
is conducted as a hotel and whose accommo- 
dations are fully appreciated by the traveling 
public, so that her indefatigable and earnest 
efforts are crowned with a due measure of suc- 
cess. An idea of the extent of the business 
may be gained when we state that during the 
year 1901 she entertained more than two 
thousand guests, implying the serving of more 
than four thousand meals, while the last year 
showed a marked increase in the volume of 
trade. Of Mrs. GroonVs four children the 
following named three survive: George W., 
who is a mechanical draughtsman in Alle- 
gheny, Pennsylvania; and Myrtle E. and 
Daisv M., who remain with their mother.. Mrs. 



Groom is a member of the Lutheran church 
and has taken a deep and helpful interest in 
the various departments of its work. 



HIRAM H. ESSICK is a native son of 
Ohio, having been born in Columbiana coun- 
ty, on the 14th of March, 1856, and being a 
son of William and Catherine (Hossler) Es- 
sick, of whose eleven children ten are living, 
namely : Abram, who is a resident of Ells- 
worth county, Kansas; William A. and John 
M., who likewise reside in that county; Hiram 
H., who IS the immediate subject of this 
sketch ; Charles E., who resides in Columbiana 
county, Ohio; Anna L., who is the wife of 
Dr. John J. Chambers, of Alliance, this coun- 
ty; Ella, who is the wife of Benjamin F. Sulli- 
van, of Alliance; George, who is a practicing 
physician in Wayne county, this state; 
Katurah, who is the wife of David V. White- 
leather, an attorney of Columbia City, Indi- 
ana : and Ida, who is the wife of Fernando S. 
Pieren, of Kno.x township, Columbiana county, 
Ohio. The father of the subject was born in 
Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in the year 
1 819, and was reared on a farm and continued 
to follow agricultural pursuits during his en- 
tire life. In 1850 he emigrated with his family 
to Ohio and located on a farm in West town- 
ship, Columbiana county, near the line of 
Stark county, and there he continued to reside 
until his death, which occurred in 1898. He 
owned a well improved farm of one hundred 
and sixty-five acres, and devoted his attention 
to general agriculture and the raising of high- 
grade live stock. He was a stalwart Demo- 
crat in his political proclivities and was promi- 
nent in public affairs of a local nature, having 
served as township trustee and treasurer and 
in other offices of trust and responsibility. He 
was a valued and consistent member of the 
Lutheran church, as was also his estimable 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1379 



wife, who survived him by about four years, 
her death occurring in April, 1902. 

Hiram H. Essick was reared to ma- 
turity on the homestead farm where he was 
bom, and secured an excellent common-school 
education. Upon attaining his legal majority 
he assumed the management of the home farm, 
which he operated on shares up to the time of 
his marriage, in the year 1881, when he leased 
a farm two miles west of the village of New 
Franklin, in Paris township, Stark county, and 
here he continued to follow farming as a renter 
until 1 89 1, when he purchased the place and 
continued his residence on the same until 1897, 
whein he purchased and removed to his present 
handsome home, a quarter of a mile south of 
New Franklin, the same having been formerly 
the home of his father-in-law and the residence 
being one of the most spacious and attractive 
in this section of the county. In this farm, 
which Mr. Essick purchased of the heirs of the 
estate, are eighty-eight acres, while in his other 
farm, which he still retains, are seventy-three 
acres, both places being operated under his di- 
rect supervision. In politics he gives an un- 
compromising allegiance to the Democratic 
party, and at the present time he is president 
of the board of education of his district, while 
he is a leading member of the Home Mutual 
Insurance Company, of Paris and Washington 
townships, of which he is secretary, proving a 
most capable and popular executive in the 
handling of the affairs of this well established 
and Ijeneficent organization. He and his wife 
are both earnest and zealous members of the 
Lutheran church, in which he is an elder, while 
for the past four years he has done a most 
helpful and highly appreciated work as super- 
intendent of the Sunday school. 

On the 20th of September, 1881, Mr. Es- 
sick was united in marriage to Miss Margaret 
Deppen, who was born in New Franklin, Paris 
township, being a daughter of the late Andrew 
Deppen, who was for many years a prominent 



business man of New Franklin, where he was 
engaged in the harness and saddlery business, 
while he also conducted his fine farm, lying 
contiguous to the village. Mr. and Mrs. Es- 
sick have one daughter, Edna C, who was 
born on the 27th of September, 1884. 



THOMAS C. HAYNAM, of Paris town- 
ship, is descended from one of the earliest set- 
tlers of Stark county, his grandfather, Thomas 
Haynam, a native of Maryland, having come 
to this part of the state as long ago as 1804 and 
settled on the place now owned and occupied 
by James Haynam, This land was entered for 
Thomas Haynam by his father, who was also 
a pioneer and a man of sterling worth. 

After clearing his land and converting it 
into a good farm Thomas Haynam purchased 
additional real estate and in due time became 
one of the prominent agriculturists and leading 
citizens of this community. He reared a 
family of three sons, George, William and 
John, and four daughters, Mary I., Barbara, 
Betsey and Rachel, all deceased. Mr. Haynam 
died on the homestead about the year 1859, 
honored and respected by all who knew him. 
John Haynam was the first white child born 
within the present limits of Paris township, 
and the birth of several other members of the 
family also occurred in a very early day. 
George Haynam, another son of Thomas, was 
born in Paris township in the year 1822. He 
was reared to agricultural pursuits and after 
his marriage settled on one of his father's 
farms, which he continued to cultivate until 
purchasing one hundred and sixty acres of his 
own, the latter having also been a part of the 
paternal estate. As an agriculturist and man 
of aft'airs John Haynam enjoyed marked pres- 
tige. A pronounced Republican in politics, he 
never aspired to official station, but in a cour- 
ageous, manly way did much for the success of 
his party during the active period of his life. 



1380 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Religiously he was one of the pillars of the 
Disciple church in Paris township and to him 
as much as to any one man is due the remark- 
able progress which has marked the histon,' of 
the Current Reformation in this part of Stark 
county. The maiden name of Mrs. George 
Haynam was Elizabeth Crowd, whose parents 
were also among the early settlers of Stark 
county. She bore a family of thirteen children, 
eleven of whom survive, namely : Angeline, 
wdfe of George Rutledge; Henrj^; Thomas C. ; 
Mary, who married George J. Holben ; Elmira, 
wife of James Neiman; John, Jeremiah, 
Charles, Daniel, Frank and Curtis, all residents 
of Paris township except Mrs. Rutledge, who 
lives in Carroll county, this state. The father 
of these children departed this life in February, 
1901, at the age of seventy-nine 3-ears; the 
mother is still living. 

Thomas C. Haynam was born in the pa- 
ternal homestead in Paris township, Stark 
county, Ohio. February 5, 1852. He grew up 
a well developed youth of marked individuality 
and when old enough entered the public schools 
where he acquired a practical knowledge of 
the fundamental branches of learning. During 
the working seasons he assisted his father and 
other brothers in running the farm, and when 
it became necessary to chose a vocation of his 
own, he did not long hesitate in deciding to de- 
vote his life and energies to the time honored 
calling of agriculture. 

On the nth day of October, 1874, Mr. 
Haynam was happily married to I\Iiss Amelia 
Werle, of Paris township, whose father, Mich- 
ael Werle, came to the United States from Ger- 
many and in the early 'fifties settled in Stark 
county where he engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits. Immediately after his marriage Mr. 
Haynam settled on one of his father's farms in 
Paris township and later in 188/], came into 
possession of the place by purchase. Subse- 
quently, in 1897, he bought of Mr. Marshall 
a seventy-acre farm on which, two years later. 



he began the erection of a fine residence, which 
was completed and ready for occupancy in 
I goo. Mr. Flaynam moved to his second pur- 
chase the year in which his house was finished 
and since that time lias managed both farms, 
meeting with most encouraging success in his 
agricultural and other business interests. 

Mr. Haynam's private character is without 
a stain and his name carries no blemish. In the 
public affairs of his township he lias long been 
an influential factor and for many years his 
name has been identified with nearly every en- 
terprise for the general good of the community. 
In politics he supports the Republican party, in 
religion he is one of the leaders of the Dis- 
ciple church, and in all things his life has been 
characterized by that broad spirit of charity 
and philanthrophy which bespeak the sincere 
Christian and the true lover of his kind. Aside 
from seeing six years as a member of the local 
school board, he has held no public office and it 
may be safely said that his tastes and inclina- 
tions have been in other directions than that of 
political distinction. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Haynam 
has been blessed with six children, of whom the 
following are living: Ida, wife of Ira Myers; 
George, Arthur and Clay, the last three still 
with their parents. 



HENRY HAYNAM stands distinctively 
as one of the enterprising and progressive farm- 
ers of his township and is a native of Stark 
county, born in Paris township on the 17th day 
of February, 1852, being the first son of George 
and Elizabeth (Crowl) Haynam, and a brother 
of Thomas C. Haynam, to whose sketch the 
reader is respectfully referred for facts con- 
cerning the family's ancestral history. The 
subject's early life on the paternal homestead 
passed quietly and in the main uneventually. 
Being one of the oldest of the family, there 
fell to him, while still a mere lad, much of the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1381 



labor and responsibility of the farm. On this 
account his educational discipline was quite 
limited, notwithstanding which he attended, 
during his childhood and youth, the country 
schools and by making the most of such op- 
portunities as they presented, obtained a fair 
knowledge of the common branches of study, so 
that on reaching the age of manhood he was 
well prepared to assume the responsibilities 
which mature years naturally bring. After 
careful reflection he decided to follow the pur- 
suit to which his ancestors for many years 
had devoted their lives, — farming, — and the 
better to prosecute it successfully he chose in 
his twenty-first year a companion and help- 
mate in the person of Miss Lydia Newcomer, 
of Columbiana county, who became his wife 
on tl:e 9th day of January, 1873. 

Shortly after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
Haynam set up their first domestic establish- 
ment on a part of his father's place in Paris 
township, and he continued to cultivate the land 
as a renter until purchasing a farm of his own, 
about ten years later. His present place, con- 
sisting of sixty acres of finely tilled and beauti- 
fully situated land, is one of the model farms 
•of the township, being well improved and pre- 
senting every appearance of a home of an in- 
telligent and progressive American agricultur- 
ist of the most enterprising class. Mr. Hay- 
nam has not been sparing of his means in im- 
proving and making attractive his place, as its 
present aspect testifies. His wife proved in 
■every sense of the word ? fitting partner, sliar- 
ing his trials, helping him to face and overcome 
them, rejoicing in his success until, in the sun- 
shine of a happy home, they enjoyed the tran- 
quil peace and content which resulted from 
diificulties conquered and obstacles removed. 
After a happy wedded life of twenty-one years, 
Mrs. Haynam, in 1894, gently passed into tlie 
great beyond, leaving two children, namely: 
Vernum and Zetta, a third having died some 
time previous to the mother's departure. Sub- 



sequently, April 18, 1896, Mr. Haynam was 
united in marriage with Mrs. Mary Heastland, 
widow of the late Levi Heastland, of Paris 
township, and daughter of Jacob Wolfe, the 
union being without issue. By her previous 
marriage Mrs. Haynam had one child, Roy 
Heastland. The subject's political views are 
in harmony with the Republican party, of 
which he has been a firm adherent ever since 
old enough to exercise the rights of citizenship. 
Like his father and brothers, he was reared ac- 
cording to the teachings of the Disciples and 
for a number of years has been an earnest and 
devout member of the church. 



DANIEL H. HAYNAM is a son of George 
and Elizabeth Haynam and a younger brother 
of Thomas C. and Henry Haynam, of Paris 
township, and was born in Stark county, Ohio, 
May 10, 1867, having first seen the light of 
day on the home farm where his father spent 
the greater part of a long and useful life. 
Young Daniel was reared in Paris township 
and as a farmer's boy early laid broad and deep 
a solid foundation upon which in subsequent 
years the superstructure of a well rounded 
character was gradually builded. 'When old 
enough to work he was assigned his proper 
place in the fields and he there learned that de- 
votion to duty and steadfastness of purpose 
which in after years made so much for his suc- 
cess in material things and earned him enviable 
repute in the domain of citizenship. The edu- 
cational experience of young Haynam em- 
braced about the usual attendance at the public 
schools, which was afterwards supplemented 
by considerable reading. When a mere lad, 
Mr. Haynam manifested extraordinary me- 
chanical ingenuity and nothing pleased him as 
much as to display his skill in making various 
kinds of contrivances. He handled all kinds 
of tools with the ease of'an adept, and when 
older turned this abiiitv to good account bv 



1382 



OLD LANDMARKS 



taking up the carpenter's trade, at which he 
soon became a very efficient workman. At the 
age of twenty he rented a part of the home 
farm and four years later entered the marriage 
relation with Miss JVIanuela Baughman, of 
Paris township, the ceremony being solemnized 
on the 14th day of July, 1894. Mrs. Haynam 
is a native of Stark county, and the daughter of 
Isaac and Mary J. Baughman, the father for 
many years a leading farmer and prominent 
citizen of Paris. 

Shortly after taking to himself a wife and 
helpmeet Mr. Haynam moved to his present 
place in Paris township and cultivated the same 
as a renter for a period of five years, purchas- 
ing the land from his father at the expiration 
of that time. He has brought his place to a 
high state of tillage, besides adding many sub- 
stantial improvements such as the majority of 
farms do not contain. Mr. Haynam is not only 
a man of energy, but also possesses business 
ability of a high order, as witness the liberal 
financial returns with which his labors have 
been rewarded. Wlien not otherwise engaged 
he adds very materially to his income by work- 
ing at carpentry, his efficiency in this direction 
causing his services to be in great demand, not 
only in his own neighborhood but throughout 
the county generally, his repatation as a builder 
being much more than local. 

Mr. Flaynam is a fine example of the loyal 
public spirited citizen. He has always been 
deeply interested in political cpiestions and since 
his twenty-first year has supported the Repub- 
lican party. Recently he was nominated for 
the office of trustee, but owing to the over- 
whelming strength of the opposition he failed 
of election, but only by the narrow margin of 
thirteen votes in a township whose normal 
Democratic majority is many times that num- 
ber. Mr. Haynam is popular with the people 
of Paris, irrespective of party, many of his 
warmest friends holding views directly opposite 
to those he entertains. He has decided views on 



the leading questions of the day, keep:; well 
informed relative to the great issues before 
the American people and his ideas and opinions 
have nc little influence upon those with whom 
he associates. His religious views coincide 
with the plain simple teachings of the Disciple 
or Christian church, of \\hicli body he has for 
some years been a faithful and constant mem- 
ber, at the present time holding the office of 
trustee in the congregation to which he and 
his wife belong. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Haynam has been borne 
two bright children, both daughters, namely: 
Lila L. arid Aline M. Then- home life is happy 
and in the best social circles' of Paris townsiiip 
no family is better known or more highly re- 
spected. 



LEVI HAYNAM. — As stated elsewhere 
in the sketch of Henry W. Haynam, a brother 
of the subject, the ancestors of the Haynam 
family were among th.e early pioneers of Stark 
county and the name is inseparably connected 
with the origin and gradual development of 
civilization in the section of country included 
within the present boundaries of Paris town- 
ship. For a brief notice of William Haynam, 
the subject's father, the reader is respectfully 
referred to the biography of his son. Plenry W. 
Levi Haynam, the second son of William and 
Louisa Hayman, was born on the family home- 
stead in Paris township, July 2,- 1849. T" ^'''^ 
usual manner of farm lads he spent the days of 
his boyhood and youth, and when old enough 
became a pupil of the public schools, which he 
attended of winter seasons until a young man 
in his teens, making the most of such opportun- 
ities for intellectual impiovement as came liis 
way. As his father's assistant, he nobly ac- 
cepted his share of the burdens and re- 
si)onsibilities of the farm, and in this way- 
labored diligently until his twenty-first year, 
when it became necessiiry to plan for his- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1383 



own future as an independent, self-support- 
ing factor in society. He chose agricul- 
ture and on attaining his majority he was 
given a part of the homestead, on which he 
began his life work. Four years later he took 
to himself a wife and helpmeet in tiie person 
of Miss Annie C. Miller, ot Columbiana coun- 
ty, Ohio, daughter of John Miller, a well- 
known citizen of that part of the state, and as 
soon as practicable thereafter located on the 
beautiful little farm of forty acres where he has 
since lived, coming into possession of the same 
by an exchanging of properties with his brother 
Amos. As an agriculturist Mr. Haynam has 
always taken high rank ; although his- farm is 
not as large as those of some of his neighbors, 
the deficiency in area is more than compensated 
for in successful tillage as he realizes a much 
greater income from his few acres than do the 
majority of men from vastly more extensive 
estates. That he has succeeded in life is abun- 
dantly attested by the beautiful and commodious 
home in his possession and the ample share of 
material wealth at his command, having now a 
sufficient competence to answer all his purposes 
for the remainder of his days. 

In politics Mr. Haynam is a stalwart Re- 
publican and for a number of years past has 
been one of the leading members of his party 
in the township of his residence. He has been 
a worker rather than an aspirant for public 
honors, his ambition never having led him to 
desire official position of any kind. He is not 
only a believer in the religion of the Bible but 
for years has been an humble and devout dis- 
ciple of the Nazarene, belonging, with his 
wife, to the Disciple church. 

Mr. Haynam is the father of two children, 
one, Harry E., living- with his parents. Of 
the home life of the subject much inight be 
said, as he finds his greatest pleasure with his 
family. His dwelling is a substantial structure, 
tastefully furnished and well supplied with all 
the comforts and manv of ihe luxuries of life, 



and the spirit of hospitality which abounds 
within its walls bears evidence of the kind 
hearts and open hands of the inmates. 



TOBIAS M. HAYNAM, son of William 
and Louisa (Slack) Haynam, was born in 
Paris township, Stark county, Ohio; on the 
17th day of January, 1862. His early life on 
the farm was characterized by the experience 
common to country boys and he grew to the 
full stature of manhood with a proper concep- 
tion of life and its responsibilities, assisting his 
father in the summer time and during the 
winter seasons pursuing his studies in the com- 
mon schools. On attaining his majority Mr. 
Haynam engaged in agriculture for himself 
and from that time until his marriage culti- 
vated a part of the home farm for a share of 
the proceeds, his efforts being crowned Avith 
encouraging success. In 1885 was solemnized 
his union with Miss Lettice Crowl, daughter of 
Hubbard Crowl, of Paris township and im- 
mediately thereafter he moved to his present 
home, a beautiful place of seventy-eight acres 
which originally formed a part of his father's 
estate. Mr. Haynam cultivated this farm as a 
renter until the father's death, after which, in 
1897, iie purchased the place and has since 
made it one of the finest and most desirable 
rural homes in the township, his improvements 
as well as the fine condition of the land bespeak- 
ing the presence of a man of advanced and 
progressive ideas in all matters relating to 
modern agricultural science. Subsequently, 
190T, Mr. Haynam increased his original hiOld- 
ing by an addition of twenty acres, thus making 
a farm of ninety-eight acres, which for pro- 
ductiveness and general agricultural purposes 
is not excelled by any like area within, the limits 
of Stark county. 

A man so actively identified with the growth 
and upbuilding of the community as Mr. Hay- 
nam would hardly be indifferent to or sepa- 



1384 



OLD LANDMARKS 



rated entirely from political life. While he 
has read much and is well informed on state 
and national issues, he is not a politician in 
the modern sense of the term, although an 
earnest and pronounced supporter of the Re- 
publican party. He has decided views as to 
revealed religion, and by much reading and 
timprejudiced observation has learned to look 
upon man-made creeds and formulated state- 
rnents of doctrine as inimical to God's word 
and subversive of the plain teachings of the 
Savior who prayed that his disciples might be 
one even as He and the Father were one. Ac- 
cepting the Bible alone as an all-sufficient rule 
of faith and practice, he united some years ago 
with a church founded on this statement, in the 
Disciple church, of which he and his wife are 
earnest and consistent members. Mr. and Mrs. 
Haynam have one daughter, Hazel, born May 
29, 1 89 1. 



HENRY W. HAYNAM.— The family of 
which the subject of tiiis review is a representa- 
tive has been prominent in the affairs of Paris 
township e\er since the pioneer period. Just 
when the subject's grandfather, Thomas Hay- 
nam, came to this country is not known, but it 
must have been at a very remote date, as he is 
remembered as one of the early pioneers of 
what is now the township of Paris. He pur- 
chased land, developed a farm, took an active 
part in the stirring times in which he lived and, 
dying- many years ago, left to his descendants 
the heritage of a good name which they prize 
among their most cherished possessions. 
Among the cb.ildren of Thomas Haynam was 
a son by the name of William, whose birth oc- 
curred in Paris townshi]), February 17, 1S20. 
He grew up familiar with the rugged duties 
of the pioneer period, received a limited knowl- 
edge of books in the old log school house com- 
mon to this part of the Buckeye state three- 
quarters of a century ago and assisted his father 



in clearing die farm and supporting the family. 
After his marriage he purchased eighty acres 
of woodland in Paris township and at once ad- 
dressed hunself to the formidable work of re- 
moving the timber and reducing the soil to a 
state of tillage. This in due time was success- 
fully accomplished and in the course of a few 
years he became not only one of the energetic 
and progressive farmers of his neighborhood, 
but also an active participant in all enterprises 
tending to the general improvement of the 
community along material, social and moral 
lines. He was a fine business man and from 
a small place of eighty acres increased his hold- 
ings until he became the owner of four hun- 
dred and fifty-six acres of land. In politics he 
was a staunch Republican and in religion a 
consistent member of the Disciple church. He 
died on the 5th of February, 1897, in his 
seventy-seventh year, honored and revered by 
his immediate family and esteemed by all who 
knew him. The maiden name of Mrs. William 
Haynam was Louisa Slack, and she was 
born in Stark county in 1826, the daughter of 
Henry Slack, one of the pioneer settlers of 
Paris township. She died in 187 1, having 
borne her husband ten children, of whom the 
following survive: Amos; Levi; Sarah, wife 
of Jacob Myers; Samantha, wife of Ed. 

Zininger; Tobias; E ; Cora, who married 

Benjamin Smook, and Henry W., all residing 
in the county of Stark. Some time after the 
death of the mother of these children, Mr. Hay- 
nam entered tlie marriage relation with Miss 
Eliza Ross, who is still living, the union being 
without issue. 

Henrv W. Haynam was born in Stnrk 
county. Ohio, and grew to mature years on the 
home farm in Paris township, the meanwhile 
acquiring a fair education in the public schools. 
He was reared a tiller of the soil and has al- 
ways followed that humble vocation, beginning 
for himself in 18S2, when he was united in 
marriage with Miss Qiarlotte Heim, of Paris 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1385 



township, daughter of Isaiah Heim, a carpenter 
and prominent farmer and a member of one 
of the county's old famihos. Immediately after 
his marriage Mr. Haynam moved to the place 
where he now lives and cultivated the same on 
the shares until his father's death, when he 
purchased the farm, buying the interests of the 
other heirs to the estate. Since then he has 
brought the farm to a very high state of culti- 
vation, making numerous substantial improve- 
ments in the way of buildings, etc., and earning 
well merited repute not only as a progressive 
agriculturist but as a public spirited and far- 
seeing man of affairs. In his political ad- 
herency Mr. Haynam is one of the leading Re- 
publicans of Paris tov.'nship and occupies no 
small place in the councils of his party jn coun- 
ty and district affairs. Religiously he adheres 
to the plain, simple teachings of the Christian 
church, of which for some years he has been an 
humble and devout commun.icant. Of the six 
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Haynam four 
are living, namely : Arthur, in the employ of 
the Lake Erie & Western Railroad : Elsie, 
Pearl and Dwight, who are still members of 
the home circle. 



CURTIS L. HAYNAM.— Not the least 
-prominent of the Haynam brothers mentioned 
in these pages is Curtis L., of Paris township, 
to a brief review of whose life and achieve- 
ments the reader's attention is here respectfully 
invited. A native of Stark cotmty, he was born 
on the 28th of May, 1872, in Paris township 
and here spent his childhood and youth, grow- 
ing to maturity amid the quiet scenes and 
wholesome influences of farm life. He enjoyed 
the advantages of a public school education 
and at the early age of eighteen began life 
for himself as a tiller of the soil, renting a por- 
tion of the home farm which he continued to 
cultivate for a share of the proceeds until reach- 
jne his twentv-fourth year. At that time he 



assumed sole management of the entire place 
and subsequently, 1896, contracted for the 
farm, agreeing to devote a specific amount to 
the support of his parents during their life- 
time and otlierwise provide for their comfort 
and look after their interests. It is needless 
in this connection to state that the mutual 
agreement was most faithfully and religiously 
observed by all concerned and to the credit of 
the subject be it said that he never wavered in 
carrying out his part of the contract. He was 
untiring in his efforts in his father's behalf, 
spared no pains in ministering to his comfort 
and alleviating his suffering in his last illness 
and since the latter's death, which occurred 
February 24, 1901, he has manifested the same 
tender, filial regard in relation to his mother, 
who is still living and an honored inmate of his 
household. 

Since taking possession of the homestead 
Mr. Haynam has come rapidly to the front as 
an enterprising agriculturist and stock raiser, 
in both of which respects he is easily the peer 
of any of his contemporaries in the township 
of his residence. 

On the loth of September, 1896, was sol- 
emnized the ceremony which united Mr. Hay- 
nam and Miss Emma Baughman, daughter of 
Willard Baughman, of Paris township, in the 
holy bonds of matrimony, the union being 
lilessed with one child by the name of Royal 
J. The domestic life of Mr. Haynam is a 
happy one and his pleasant home is the center 
of a genial hospitality which he and his good 
wife freely dispense to all who may choose to 
claim it. Since his twenty-first year, he has 
been an uncompromising supporter of the Re- 
publican party and at the present time is one 
of the leading local politicians of his township. 
He has also achieved considerable repute as a 
raiser of fine short-horn cattle, in which branch 
of farming he is destined ere long to take 
marked precedence, as he is now stocking his 
place with the most valuable animals to be ob- 



1386 



OLD LANDMARKS 



tained in this part of the state. Like his father, 
mother and older brothers, Mr. Haynam is a 
man of profound rehgious convictions, and since 
young manhood he has been a sincere and de- 
voted communicant of the Disciple church. He 
is active in all lines of religious work, as is 
also his wife, and his influence in the com- 
munity has always been on the side of right. 



ELMER E. HAYNAM, the fifth son of 
William, and Louisa (Slack) Haynam, was 
born April lo, 1868, in Paris township and 
spent his early life on the paternal homestead, 
where he acquired those exact and commenda- 
ble habits whicii have characterized his career 
to the present time. In the public schools, 
which he attended during his minority, he re- 
ceived a fair intellectual training, but in the stern 
school of experience was acquired the sturdy, 
practical knowledge which formed the princi- 
pal groundwork of his subsequent career. Mr. 
Haynam remained with his parents until at- 
tending his majority and then engaged in ag- 
ricultural pursuits for himself, beginning his 
life work as a renter on a part of the home 
farm. In the year i8go he was united in mar- 
riage widi Miss Emma Lentz, daughter of 
John Lentz, one of Paris township's prominent 
ngriculturists, and from that time until his 
father's death continued to cultivate the soil 
as above stated, meeting with satisfactory suc- 
cess in his undertakings. His father dying in 
Febriiary, 1897, Mr. Haynam, some time the 
following month, purchased eighty acres of 
the Jacob Newcomer estate and has since lived 
on the same, meantime by a system of well 
conducted improvements converting his place 
into one of the finest and most desirable as well 
as one of the most valuable country homes in 
the county of Stark. Tine dwelling, thoroughly 
remodelled, is both commodious and sightly, ;t 
fine specimen of modern architecture and sup- 
plied with all the comforts and conveniences 



which money can procure. That Mr. Haynam 
is a model farmer will not be questioned by 
any one at all acquainted with the methodical 
and systematic manner with which he prose- 
cutes his labois and conducts his business af- 
fairs. In connection with agriculture he de- 
votes considerable attention to the raising and 
selling of fine live stock, his success in this 
respect being equally as great as that which has 
crowned his efforts as a tiller of the soil. 

Politically Mr. Haynam is a Republican of 
the most orthodox type and as such takes a very 
active interest in party questions and issues. 
He has never sought official preferment and 
aside from serving for a number of years as 
president of the school board, has neither held 
nor desired public position. Although plain 
and undemonstrative in manner he is enterpris- 
ing and progressive in his ideas, strong and 
faithful in his friendships and pre-eminently 
kind hearted and charitable. The home of Mr. 
and Mrs. Haynam has been brightened by the 
advent of four children, namely: Grace, Car- 
rie, Lov and Svlvia. 



FRANK L. HAYNAM is a native of 
Stark county, born August 15, T869, on the 
old Haynam farmstead in Paris township, 
being the twelfth in a family of thirteen chil- 
flren whose parents w-ere George and Elizal^eth 
(Growl) Haynam. Raised in the country and 
early inured to manual labor, his youthful ex- 
periences were about the same as those of the 
majority of lads reared in close touch with 
nature on the farm. In common schools he 
obtained a fair educational training and as 
soon as old enough took his place in the fields 
Avhere he bore his full share of the work re- 
quired to keep them in cultivation. Young 
Haynam remained at home, assisting his father, 
until twenty-one years of age, at which time ■ 
he engaged in agricultural pursuits for himself, 
renting a portion of the homestead for the pur- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



i3«7 



pose. He continued as a renter until 1896, 
when he bought of his father one hundred and 
sixty-two and a half acres of fine land in Paris 
township, while his holdings at this time con- 
sist of one hundred and forty-two and a half 
acres, he having sold twenty acres. In addi- 
tion to general farming Mr. Haynam devotes 
considerable attention to live stock, especially 
to fine hogs of the Poland China breed, in the 
raising of which his success has been most en- 
couraging. Familiar with every detail of 
modern agriculture and a systematic worker 
and superior manager, he runs his farm well 
and never fails to realize abundant returns 
from the land in cultivation. 

The married life of Mr. Haynam began in 
1896, on March 28th of which year IMiss Lu- 
cinda Snyder, of Osnaburg township, daughter 
of Jacob Snyder, became his wife. The father 
of Mrs. Haynam has long been one of the suc- 
cessful and wealthy farmers of Osnaburg and 
as a citizen ranks with the prominent men of 
his part of the county. It was shortly after 
his marriage that the subject moved to his 
present place of residence in Paris township and 
he is now inimbered with the enterprising and 
progressive citizens of his community, being 
alive to everything calculated to advance its 
material prosperity and deeply interested in the 
moral and intellectual improvement of the 
neighborhood. In politics he is a pronounced 
Republican and an earnest worker for his party; 
in religion his views are in harmony with the 
teachings of the Disciple church, having been 
reared imder its influence, as were also his 
parents and several of his brothers, the latter, 
at the present time, being leading members of 
the congregation worshiping in Minerya. Mrs. 
Haynam is a lady of sterling worth and has 
proved an admirable companion to her husband, 
promoting peace and harmony in the domestic 
circle and making liome the dearest and hap- 
piest spot on earth to its inmates. She has 



borne her husband four children, three daugh- 
ters and one son, namely: Mable E., Flossie 
F., Earl E. and Lela L., all living. 



JACOB BURGER was born on the 23d of 
November, 1850, being a son of Jacob and 
Anna (Morrow) Burger, to whom were born 
six children, all of whom are living at the pres- 
ent time, namely : Rachel, who is the wife of 
William Hayman, and resides in the state 
of Oregon ; Hannah, who is the wife of 
Henry Crowl, of Columbiana county, Ohio; 
Daniel M., who is likewise a resident of that 
county: Jacob, Jr., the immediate subject of 
this sketch ; and Harriet and Hiram, who are 
twins, the former being the wife of William 
Holmes, of the state of Oregon, while the lat- 
ter is a farmer of Columbiana county, this 
state. 

The father of the subject was bom in the 
year 1807, in the state of New York, being a 
son of Daniel Burger, who came with his fam- 
ily to Stark county in the year 18 19. For a 
number of years after his arrival in the county 
he leased land, having cleared and improved 
the farm upon which David Chaddock now re- 
sides, near the village of Minerva. The father 
of the subject was reared to manhood on this 
homestead, and lent his due quota of aid in re- 
claiming the same from the forest, the tract 
having been heavily timbered, while eventually 
he came into possession of the farm, which he 
purchased of his father. Here he continued to 
devote his attention to farming up to the time 
of his death, which occurred in the year 1885, 
at which time he had attained nearly the age 
of four score years. He was an adept in the 
use of the ax and was a man of much physical 
strength in his day. For many years he did 
much chopping and also hewed manj^ of the 
timbers used in the erection of buildings in the 
early days. In politics he was a stanch ad- 



t383 



OLD LANDMARKS 



herent of the Democratic party, and he was a 
■man of much pubHc spirit and progressive 
ideas. His wife was born in Stark county, 
Ohio, and her death occurred in 1873, both 
having held membership in the Disciple church 
at Minerva. 

Jacob Burger was reared to the sturdy and 
invigorating life of the farm and his education- 
al advantages were such as were afforded in 
the public schools of this section nearly a half 
century ago. At the age of eighteen years he 
entered upon an apprenticeship at the trade of 
carpenter, in which he became a skilled work- 
• man, and he followed this as a vocation for a 
number of years, while for nearly a quarter of 
a century he devoted his attention to the mov- 
ing of buildings, having an excellent equipment 
for the purpose and finding his services in req- 
uisition throughout a wide radius of country. 
He abandoned this branch of his enterprise in 
1900, since which time he has given his un- 
divided attention to his farming interests. In 
1884 he effected the purchase of the old home- 
stead from his father, and somewhat later he 
purchased a tract of ninety-three acres in Co- 
himbiana county, where he now lives, and he 
has since continued to give his active super- 
vision to the operation of both farms, which 
are separated by a distance of about two miles. 
Mr. Burger clings to the political faith in which 
he was reared and is known as a stalwart ad- 
vocate of the principles and policies of the 
Democratic party, in whose cause he has taken 
a zealous interest. He served for two terms as 
trustee of Paris township, and for several was 
a member of the board of education of his dis- 
trict. He and his wife are both consistent and 
valued members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, while fraternally he is identified with 
the Senior Order of United American Me- 
chanics, affiliating with Minerva Lodge No. 21. 

On the 25th of December, 1877, Mr. Bur- 
ger was united in marriage to Miss Liddie M. 
Kurtz, who was born in Columbiana county. 



Ohio, teing a daughter of Charles Kurtz, who 
was one of the honored pioneers of Columbiana 
county. Mr. and Mrs. Burger have three chil- 
dren, namely: Clay O., who is station agent 
for the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railroad at 
Martin's Ferry, Ohio; and Mary A. and Car- 
rie B., who remain at the parental home. 



MICHAEL WERLE was born in the 
province of Baden, Germany, on the i6th of 
Augiist, 1844, being a son of Michael and Ma- 
thilda (W'eishar) Werle, who became the par- 
ents of ten children, nine of whom are living at 
the present time, namely: Catherine, who is 
the wife of Chris Kepinger, of Bushnell, Illi- 
nois ; Barbara, who is a maiden lady and who 
resides in the village of Osnaburg, this county; 
Michael, who is the subject of this sketch; 
Amelia, who is the wife of Thomas C. Hay- 
nam, of Paris township; Mathilda, who is the 
wife of John Starkey, of Minerva, this county; 
Lena, who also resides in that village; Eugene 
and Harmon, both of whom are residents of 
Osnaburg township ; and Cora, who is the wife 
of Henry Foltz, of Minerva. 

In the year 1852 Michael Werle, Sr., ac- 
companied by his wife and the children who 
were born to them in the fatherland, emi- 
grated to the United States, landing in New 
York city, where they remained for a short in- 
terval and thence came directly to Stark coun- 
ty, Ohio, where he purchased a farm of sixty- 
six acres, near the southwestern corner of 
Paris township, later purchasing an adjoining 
tract of forty acres and eventually becoming 
one of the successful and independent farmers 
of the county, having personally reclaimed a 
considerable portion of his farm, as much of 
the native timber was still standing on the place 
when it came into his possession. Here he lived 
and labored to goodly ends until he passed to 
his final reward in the fullness of years and se- 
cured in the esteem of all \\ho knew him. hav- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1389" 



ing been eighty-two years of age at the time of 
his death. His loved and devoted wife sur- 
vived him about three years, passing away at 
the age of seventy-two years. In pohtics he 
was a stanch Democrat and both he and his 
wife were consistent and vahied members of 
the Reformed church. 

Michael Werle, Jr., was about eight years 
of age at the time when the family bade adieu 
to the fatherland and came to America to estab- 
lish a new home, and he was reared to maturity 
on the homestead farm in this county, having 
such educational advantages as were afforded 
by a somewhat irregular attendance in the dis- 
trict Schools of a half century ago. He con- 
tinued to assist in the work of the home place 
until his marriage, in 1870, when he rented the 
farm of which he is now the owTier, in section 
23, Paris township, and for the ensuing decade 
he continued to here follow farming as a 
renter. In 1880 he purchased the farm now 
owned by Jerry Haynam, in section 23, this 
township, where he remained four years, at the 
expiration of which he returned to his pres- 
ent farm, to whose improvement and cultiva- 
tion he has since devoted his attention, while 
it may consistently be said that he has one of 
the most valuable farms in this section, so far 
as comparison may be made according to rel- 
ative areas. 

On the 17th of March, 1870, Mr. Werle 
was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Hein, 
of Osnaburg township, she having been the 
daughter of Powell Hein, who was a native of 
Germany, whence he came to Stark county sev- 
eral years prior to the arrival of the Werle 
family and here passed the remainder of his 
life, being one of the honored pioneer farmers 
of the township mentioned. Mrs. Werle was 
summoned into eternal rest in 1886, and of her 
five children four yet survive, namely : Amelia, 
who is the wife of William Myers, of Paris 
township; Elizabeth, who is the wife of Grant 
Ford, of this township; and Matilda and Cora, 



who remain at the paternal home. In 1888, 
Mr. Werle married his present wife, whose 
maiden name was Wilhelmina Miller, and who 
was born in Osnaburg township, being a 
daughter of Jacob Miller, an influential pioneer 
farmer of this county, whither he emigrated 
from Germany and where he resided until the 
time of his death. The farni now owned by the 
subject was a portion of the Miller estate and 
after his second marriage he purchased the in- 
terests of the other heirs aside from his wife,, 
and now has a finely improved farm of one 
hundred and eighteen acres. No children 
have been born of the second marriage. In his 
political proclivities Mr. Werle exercises his 
franchise in support of the Democratic party 
so far as national issues are involved, but in 
local affairs he is not dominated by strenuous 
partisanship, giving his support to such men 
and measures as meet the approval of his judg- 
ment. He and his wife are honored members 
of the Reformed church and take an active in- 
terest in its work. 



JOHN CARSON, who was in his eighty- 
fourth year at the time of his death, was a na- 
tive of the fair Emerald Isle, having been born 
in county Tyrone, Ireland, on the 15th of July, 
1 8 19, and being a son of Samuel and Mary 
(Aiken) Carson, both of whom were likewise 
born in Ireland, of the stanch old stock, and 
of their eleven children only three are now 
living, namely: Rebecca, who is the widow of 
John McTntyre and resides in Hebron, Indiana;- 
James, who is a resident of Carroll county, 
this state; and Isabelle J., who is the widow of 
William Beaty, and resides in Waynesburg, 
Stark county. The youngest of these children 
is seventy-seven years of age. The father of 
the subject was born in county Tyrone, on the 
estate of the Marquis of Abercorn, the year of 
his nativity having been 1788 while he was a 
son of John Carson, who also was born on the 



I3S.O 



OLD LANDMARKS 



same estate, where he passed his entire Hfe. 
The subject well remembered as a boy he saw 
Lord Russell and the Marquis of Abercorn, 
with their retinues of servants, when they were 
on a visit to their estates. 

In 1834 the father of the subject emigrated 
with his wife and ten children to the United 
States, landing in the city of Philadelphia and 
thence coming westward to Ohio, stopping in 
Carroll county, where he joined his maternal 
aunt, who was residing in Rose township. 
There he rented a farm, on which he remained 
about two and one-half years, after which he 
removed to Brown township, that county, 
where he purchased a farm of eighty acres, to 
which he subsequently added a contiguous 
tract of forty acres. The subject of this sketch 
and his brother James, upon attaining matur- 
ity, purchased an adjoining tract of eighty 
acres, and there they continued to be actively 
engaged in the improving and cultivating of 
the farms until 1856, when father and sons all 
disposed of their holdings there and came to 
Paris township, Stark county, and here effected 
the purchase of the Daniel Shively farm of two 
hundred and thirty-two acres, lying two and 
one-half miles south of the village of Paris. 
In 1 859 the honored father was summoned into 
eternal rest, and two years later the farm was 
sold and the subject received his due portion of 
the proceeds. He thereupon purchased one 
hundred and fifty-seven and one-half acres of 
his present farm, which was badly run down at 
the time, being thus so depreciated in value that 
he secured it for a reasonable price. Soon 
afterward he made a trip to Pennsylvania, 
where he purchased one hundred and fifty head 
of thoroughbred Delaine-Merino sheep, with 
which he stocked his farm, and within a few 
years following the price of wool rose to one 
dollar per pound, and through this circum- 
stance Mr. Carson realised profits far beyond 
his most sanguinary expectations, and was thus 
enabled to carry vigorously forward the im- 



proving and reinvigorating of his farm, whose 
fertility had become impaired through neglect 
on the part of the previous owners. He began 
to erect new buildings and continued to make 
improvements in this line, as his available re- 
sources justified, until the place became recog- 
nized as one of the most attractive and well 
equipped farms in the township. All the build- 
ings at present in evidence on the place have 
been erected by him and give evidence of his 
discrimination and energy during the past 
years. He devoted the farm to general agri- 
culture but continued to devote special atten- 
tion to the raising of high-grade sheep and did 
much to improve the type and breed in this 
section of the state, being an excellent judge of 
values and understanding the best methods to 
be utilized in the carrying forward of this de- 
partment of his farming enterprise. Though 
he was an octogenarian, this by no means im- 
plies that he was withdrawn from active duty, 
for he maintained an active supervision of his 
farm and his years rested so lightly upon him 
that in appearance he belied his age to a not- 
able decree. The home farm comprises one 
hundred and eiglity-five and one-half acres, 
and is a model of thrift and attractiveness, 
while Mr. Carson was known as one of the rep- 
resentative and influential citizens of the town- 
ship, where his friends were in number as his 
acquaintances. 

Mr. Carson was a Democrat in his political 
views, but was broad-minded and independent, 
and where no issue of national import was in- 
volved exercised his franchise in support of 
the men whom he considered best qualified for 
office, having at various times gone into the 
campaign and pressed the claims of Republican 
candidates when he believed the candidates of 
his own party were not fit for the respective 
oftices. He served his township for the long 
period of twenty years as trustee and was ten- 
dered the office of county commissioner, but 
refused to become a candidate, while such was 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1391 



the regnrd and confidence in which he has ever 
been held in the community that his nomination 
to any local office would have proved equiv- 
alent to an election had he consented to accept 
nomination. Pie was a veritable pillar and 
patriarch in the Presbyterian church, in which 
he served as elder for fourteen years, while for 
several years he was a member of the session 
of the church. 

On the 27th of April, 1853, Mr. Carson 
was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Bell, 
who was born in Washington county, Pennsyl- 
vania, and her death occurred on the 7th of 
May, 1S87, no children having been born of 
the union. On the 2d of October, 1889, Mr. 
Carson wedded Mrs. Celestia (Kurts) Lang, 
the widow of Rev. Williami Lang, and a 
daughter of the late Daniel Kurts, who was a 
wealthy and influential farmer of Columbiana 
county, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Carson had 
two children, Mary J. and John S., both of 
whom remain at the parental home, as do also 
Mrs. Carson's two children by her first mar- 
riage, namely : Catherine, the wife of Charles 
Bates, who has charge of the homestead farm ; 
and Harvey, who also assists in its work. Mr. 
Carson died March 19, 1903. 



DAVID WEIAIER was born on a farm in 
Brown township, Carroll county, Ohio, on the 
23d of January, 1848; being a son of David 
an_d Catherine ( Hepler) Weimer, of whose 
twelve children the following eight are still 
living: Jacob, who is a resident of Kosciusko 
county, Lrdiana ; Martin, who resides in the 
village of Minerva, Stark county, Ohio; 
Susan, who is the wife of Eli Dumbleton, of 
that village; David, Jr., who is the subject of 
this sketch; Samuel, who makes his home in 
Minerva; Reuben, who is a successful farmer 
of Paris township ; Frank, who resides in Car- 
roll county, and Catherine, who is the wife of 
Peter Schorey, of Sandy tow nship. The father 



of these children was born in Somerset county, 
Pennsylvania, about the year 1810, being a 
son of Jacob Weimer, who was of staunch 
German lineage and a member of a family 
early established in the Keystone state. About 
the year 181 8 Jacob Weimer came with his 
family to Ohio and took up his residence on a 
tract of heavily timbered land in Brown town- 
ship, where he purchased seventy-seven acres, 
about the only improvement that had been 
made on the place being in the erection of a 
small log house, in which the family took up 
their abode. -Here the grandfather of the sub- 
ject, with the able assistance of his sturdy sons, 
reclaimed the farm and placed the same under 
effective cultivation, while substantial improve- 
ments of a permanent order were made as 
rapidly as opportunity permitted. He had been 
well-to-do in Pennsylvania, but lost heavily 
through ■ over-confidence in his supposed 
friends, for whom he went security and who 
took advantage of him. He was thus led to 
seek a new home in Ohio, in the hope of re- 
cuperating his resources. He passed the re- 
mainder of his life on the homestead farm in 
Carroll county, and was called to his reward 
when well advanced in years. The father of 
the subject was reared to maturity on this 
pioneer farm and as a boy began to contribute, 
according to the measure of his strength, to 
the work of reclaiming the same and carry- 
ing forward its cultivation. After his mar- 
riage he continued to operate the home farm 
for his father during a number of years, and 
finally purchased the place from his father and 
sisters and continued to make it his home dur- 
ing the remainder of his life. He identified 
himself with the Republican party at the time 
of its organization and though a stalwart ad- 
vocate of its principles was never an aspirant 
for offxe. He was a worthy and consistent 
member of the Lutheran church, as was also 
his devoted wife, who passed away in 1897 at 
the age of seventy-nine years. 



1392 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Da\-id Weimer was reared to maturity on 
this ancestral homestead, and is indebted to 
the pubhc schools of the locality for the early 
educational advantages which fell to his por- 
tion. At the age of eighteen years he prac- 
tically initiated his independent career, secur- 
ing employment at farm work, while for a 
short time he also devoted his attention to work 
as an apprentice carpenter. On the 28th of 
October, 1874, Mr. Weimer was united in 
marriage to Miss Charity Combs, who was 
born on the farm where she and her husband 
now reside, in Paris township, being a daugh- 
ter of James Combs, who came with his par- 
ents to Ohio from New Jersey, which latter 
was his native state, and he became one of the 
honored and influential fanners of Stark 
county, where he passed the remainder of his 
life. After liis marriage Mr. Weimer rented 
a farm in Carroll county and continued in 
charge of the same for two years, at the ex- 
piration of which he bought a small farm in 
Washington township. Stark county, the same 
comprising thirty-two acres. From this place 
he was able to secure better returns than would 
many a farmer from a place of twice the area, 
and there he remained for a period of six and 
one-half years, at the expiration of which he 
disposed of the property and purchased his 
present homestead of eighty-five acres, the 
same having been a portion of the estate of his 
father-in-law, and it is one of the fine farms of 
the township. 

Mr. Weimer accords an unqualified alle- 
giance to the Republican party, and is ever 
able to show a reason for the faith that is in 
him, keeping in touch with the questions and 
events of the day and having his convictions 
well fortified. In 1899 he was elected to the 
o.'Bce of trustee of Paris township, and in 1902 
he was chosen as his own successor in this 
office, by the flattering majority of two hun- 
dred and eighteen votes, the compliment being 
the more pronounced froin thfe fact that the 



normal political complexion of the township is 
strongly Democratic. He and his wife are 
both consistent and valued members of the 
Lutheran church, in whose work he has taken 
a zealous interest, as has he also in the cause 
of education, having served for a number of 
years as a member of the school board. Mr. 
and Mrs. \\'eimer have three interesting 
daughters, Zoa, who remains at the parental 
home, as do also Edith and Eva, who are twins. 



J. WALTER McCLYMONDS is an ex- 
soldier of the Civil war, one of the representa- 
tive business men of the state, president of the 
Russell & Company and the Russell Engine 
Company, two of the most extensive and im- 
portant industrial concerns in their line in the 
country, and president of the Merchants' Na- 
tional Bank of Massillon. which he organized 
and established in the year 1890. Mr. Mc- 
Clymonds was born in New Lisbon, Ohio, Sep- 
tember 18, 1842, and is of Scotch-Irish extrac- 
tion. His grandfather, John McCIymonds. a 
resident of Pennsylvania, was a soldier in the 
war of 1812, with the rank of captain, and was 
also for many years postmaster at Darlington, 
in that state. 

The father of the subject, John McCIy- 
monds, came from Pennsylvania to Ohio, and 
settled in New Lisbon, where for many years 
he conducted a mercantile and banking busi- 
ness. He was married to Elizabeth Kincaid, 
at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, whose father, Thomas 
Kincaid, came from Hagerstown, Maryland, 
where she was bom and raised. In i860 John 
AlcClymonds removed to Massillon, where for 
nine years he was engaged in banking. In 
1869 he removed to Cleveland and became one 
of the organizers of the Ohio National Bank 
of that city, of which he was president until he 
retired, a few years before his death, which oc- 
curred in 1894, in the eighty-sixth year of his 
age. He was also active in organizing and es- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1393 



tablishing the Cleveland Rubber Company, of 
Cleveland, Ohio, and the Chicago Rubber 
Works, of Chicago, Illinois, in both of which 
concerns he was a director. 

J. Walter McClymonds graduated from the 
New Lisbon high school at the age of eighteen, 
and in April, 1861, entered the service of the 
government by enlisting as a private in Com- 
pany E, Nineteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 
for three months, his regimeht being assigned 
to the Army of West Virginia under McClel- 
lan and Rosecrans, and the subject was compli- 
mented by General McClellan for his gallantry 
in the battle of Rich Mountain. At the ex- 
piration of his term he re-enlisted, becoming 
a member of Company A of the same regiment. 
A short time afterwards he was promoted to 
the office of sergeant major, in which capacity 
he was in active service with his regiment until 
the summer of 1862. His regiment was at- 
tached to the Eleventh Brigade, Second Di- 
vision, Army of Ohio, under General Carlos 
Buell in his campaign in Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee, during the fall and winter of '61 and 
the spring of '62, which terminated in the bat- 
tles of Shiloh and Pittsburg Landing, April 
6th and 7th, and in the advance upon and siege 
of Corinth and campaign below luka, in Mis- 
sissippi. Sergeant Major McClymonds was 
honorably discharged in July, 1862, to accept 
promotion, and was commissioned adjutant of 
the One Hundred and Fourth Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, and was active in organizing that 
regiment at Camp Massillon, Ohio. During 
his connection with the One Hundred and 
Fourth he saw service in the defense of Cin- 
cinnati against Kirby Smith's attack, the en- 
gagement at Fort Mitchell in September, 1862, 
and in the pursuit of Morgan in Kentucky, dur- 
ing the winter of 1862. In the spring of 1863 
his regiment and brigade were with Burnside 
in the East Tennessee campaign, and in the 
operations about Cumberland Gap; in the 



Knoxville campaign and siege of Kno.Kville, 
which terminated in the spring of 1864. His 
regiment was then assigned to General Cox's 
division of the Twenty-third Corps of Sher- 
man's army, where it began its campaign to- 
wards Atlanta, at Dalton, in May, 1864. His- 
service covered all of the marches, skirmishes 
and battles in which his brigade and corps par- 
ticipated during this campaign — at Resaca, 
Cartersville, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, Lost 
Mountain, battle of Peachtree Creek, battle of 
Atlanta, siege of Atlanta, Utoy Creek, Battle 
of Jonesboro and Lovejoy Station and in pur- 
suit of General Hood into Alabama, which ter- 
minated in October, 1864. His regiment,, 
forming part of the First Brigade, Third Di- 
vision, Twenty-third Army Corps, Army of 
Ohio, under General Schofield, participated in 
the Nashville campaign of November and De- 
cember, 1864. which included the battles around 
Pulaski, Columbia and Columbia Ford, Ten- 
nessee, Spring Hill and battles of Franklin, 
November 30th, and Nashville, December 15th 
and 1 6th. At the close of this campaign the 
regiment was transferred to North Carolina 
and participated in the operations against the 
forces of General Hoke about Fort Fisher and' 
Fort Anderson, and in the battles of Town 
Creek, Wilmington and Golsboro, where they 
were mustered out, after the surrender of John- 
son's army, April 5, 1865, and where Mr. Mc- 
Clymonds was honorably discharged from the 
service. He was commissioned captain on 
June 27, 1864, and served as assitant adjutant 
general of brigade, on the staff of General 
Reilly, from August, 1863, to April, 1865. At 
the close of the war he received a commission 
in the regular army, as first lieutenant Foui- 
teenth Regular Infantry, but after holding the 
commission for a few months returned it, pre- 
ferring a business to a military life. 

During the summer, fall and winter of 
1865 Mr. McClymonds was employed as sec- 



87 



1394 



OLD LANDMARKS 



retary in the office of General Poe, chief en- 
gineer on General Sherman's staff, in Wash- 
ington, D. C. In the spring of 1866 he located 
in Massillon and for some three years was en- 
gaged, first, as a clerk in the manufacturing 
establishment of Russell & Company, and sub- 
sequently as teller in the Union National Bank 
of that place. In the spring of 1869 he re- 
moved to Cleveland and for three years was 
employed as assistant cashier in the Ohio Na- 
tional Bank of that city, of which his father 
was president. In the spring of 1872 he re- 
turned to Massillon and held the position of 
bookkeeper for Paissell & Company. He be- 
came a partner in the concern in January, 1876, 
and was placed in charge oi the financial man- 
agement of the business. In January, 1878, 
the firm was incorporated as Russell & Com- 
pany, and Mr. McClymonds was made secre- 
tary and treasurer, which positions he held un- 
til 1 888, when he was made president of the 
company, and has retained this position until 
the present time. In 1900 he reorganized the 
firm of Russell & Company, separating the sta- 
tionary engine business, organizing a separate 
corporation under the title of the Russell En- 
gine Company and building a separate plant 
for the conduct of this branch of the business. 
The old firm of Russell & Company was re- 
incorjwrated under the title of the Russell & 
Company, and continues the manufacture of 
traction engines, threshing machines and saw- 
mills, Mr. McClymonds lieing at the head of 
both concerns as president. The firm of Rus- 
sell & Company was established in 1842, the 
horse power consisting of one blind horse and 
the investment being only fifteen hundred dol- 
lars. From this small beginning it has grown 
to large proportions. The two corporations, 
as now constituted, conduct business that runs 
into the millions annually. Their product is 
in demand in every state in the Union and large 
shipments are made annually abroad. Rus- 



sell & Company was one of the first agricul- 
tural machinery houses to commence the manu- 
facture of a successful grain thresher and sep- 
arator, and also among the first to embark in 
the manufacture of farm engines. 

Mr. McClymonds has always been an ar- 
dent Republican, having cast his first vote for 
Abraham Lincoln while in the army. He 
never sought political preferment, though he 
has been repeatedly tendered positions in his 
party. In 1884 he served as president of the 
Ohio commission at the New Orleans exposi- 
tion, having been appointed as a commissioner 
by Governor Hoadley. He was one of the 
presidential electors in 1888, wdien Benjamin 
Harrison was elected President of the United 
States. He was tendered the position of di- 
rector general of the board of Ohio commis- 
sioners to the world's fair at Chicago in 1894, 
by Governor McKinley, but declined the honor, 
owing to his extensive business engagements. 
As pertains to continuous service, he is one of 
the oldest members of the board of directors of 
the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railway 
Company. 

On November 9, 1870, Mr. McClymonds 
married Flora .\., daughter of Nahum S. Rus- 
sell, the head of the firm of Russell & Com- 
pan}-, who has borne him two children. His 
eldest daughter married Arvine Wales, treas- 
urer of the Russell Engine Company, his sec- 
ond daughter being Ruth E. Mr. McCly- 
monds, while a member of no church organiza- 
tion, is liberal in his contributions to all re- 
ligious and charitable objects, and interests 
himself in every enterprise that promises to 
benefit his community. A broad-minded and 
public-spirited citizen, he occupies a place of 
prominence in industrial and financial circles 
of the country, while his course has ever been 
such as to command for him the unequivocal 
confidence and regard of all who know him, 
or with whom he has business relations. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1395 



THOMAS T. CROWL.— The Crowl 
family is of sterling German origin but has been 
established on American soil since the colonial 
epoch, the original representatives in* the new 
world having located in the statp of Maryland, 
with whose annals the name has been identi- 
fied for several generations. The subject of 
this review, who was one of the highly 
esteemed and prosperous farmers of Stark 
county, was a native of this county, having 
been born on the parental homestead, in Paris 
township, on the ist of November, 1833, be- 
ing a son of Daniel and Anna (Townsend) 
Crowl, of whose six children he was the eldest 
of the three surviving at the time of his death, 
which occurred May 17, 1903, the other three 
being Hubbard and David, who are prominent 
and honored farmers of Paris township, and 
Henry, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits 
in Columbiana county, this state. Daniel 
Crowl was born in the state of Maryland, in 
the year 1S08, being a son of Michael Crowl, 
who was likewise a native of that common- 
wealth. The father of the subject was reared 
on the home farm in Maryland, and shortly 
after his marriage he came with his bride to 
Stark county, Ohio', where they made their ad- 
vent in 1833. For the first two years after his 
arri\'al he was employed by Peter Conrad, and 
he then etifected the purchase of a tract of 
eighty acres of timbered land, in Paris town- 
ship, the same being now owned by his son 
Hulibanl. He gradually brought about the de- 
velopment of this farm, and in 185 1 he pur- 
chased seventy-one acres of the farm now 
owned by the subject. His first purchase was 
in the midst of the virgin forest, no improve- 
ments having been made on the place, and 
there he erected a log cabin of the primitive 
type common to the locality and period, later 
building another and more pretentious resi- 
dence, in harmony with the other improve- 
ments which he made on his farm, and here he 
continued to reside until 1857, when he pur- 



chased twenty acres of land in the village of 
Minerva, and in a comfortable residence there- 
on he passed the remainder of his signally 
honorable and useful life, passing to his eternal 
reward in 1882. He was a stanch advocate 
of the principles and policies of the Demo- 
cratic party, and though never an aspirant for 
public preferment, he was called upon to serve 
in various offices of local trust and responsi- 
bility and ever discharged the duties in\-olved 
with marked business acumen and distinctive 
fidelity. He was a devoted member of the 
Disciples church, in which he held various of- 
ficial positions for a long term of years. His 
first wife, the mother of the subject, was 
summoned into eternal rest in 1845, ^"d he 
later married Miss Matilda Unkefer, who bore 
him one child, Nora, who became the wife of 
Joseph Alexander, of Minerva, this county, , 
and who is now deceased, as is also her mother. 
Thomas T. Crowl was reared on the old 
homestead farm where he was born and re- 
ceived a common school education. Upon at- 
taining his legal majority he assumed charge 
of the farm which he afterward owned, oper- 
ating the same on shares for his father. In 
1855 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
A. Boory, who was born in P^ris township, 
being a daughter of Frederick Boory, who was 
a native of Switzerland, whence he came to 
America with his parents when he was a boy, 
and he became one of the early settlers in 
Stark county, where he passed the remainder 
of his life. After his marriage Mr. Crowl con- 
tinued to cultivate his present farm, for which 
he paid a cash rental up to i88r, when he pur- 
chased a half interest in the property from his 
father, after whose death he acquired the re- 
maining interest, while he eventually increased 
its area by the purchase of an adjoining twenty 
acres, so that he had a fine farm of ninety- 
one acres, all of which is maintained under 
a high state of cultivation, while the permanent 
improvements are of that substantial and at- 



1396 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



tractive order which indicate thrift and pros- 
perity. For the last six years Mr. Crowl rele- 
gated the active management of his farm to 
his sons, who are prominent and success- 
ful farmers and stock-growers of this 
section of the county, and he personally 
retired from the more active labors. In 
his political proclivities he was an ardent 
Democrat and took an active interest in the 
party cause. He served one term as trustee 
of Paris township and was a member of the 
school board for many j^ears. He held mem- 
bership in the Disciples church, to whose sup- 
port he was a liberal contributor. Of his ten 
children nine are still living, and of them we 
offer the following brief record : Ola is the 
wife of Henry Perdue, of Paris township; 
Laura is the wife of John Stucky, also of this 
township; Frank H. is individually mentioned 
elsewhere in this volume; Orin is a resident of 
West township, Columbiana county; Caroline 
is the wife of Milton Slack, of Minerva, this 
county; Morris D. and Horace J. are twins, 
the former being associated in the management 
of the home farm, while the latter resides in 
the village of Minerva; Jennie Maud has 
been in charge of the domestic economies of 
the home since the death of her mother; and 
Homer C. is associated with his brother 
Horace in conducting the farm, as has already 
been noted. The devoted wife and mother was 
summoned into eternal rest on the i8th of 
July, 1896, at the age of sixty-one years, hav- 
ing been a zealous member of the Disciples 
church and having had that faith that makes 
for faithfulness in all the relations of life. 
Mr. Crowl erected his first residence in 1866, 
and the same was destroyed by fire in the 
spring of 1902. the present fine residence be- 
ing erected immediately afterward and being 
one of the most attractive farm homes in this 
section of the county. Mr. Crowl died May 
17, 1903. 



HOSTETTER FAIMILY.— The original 
American progenitor of the family was Ulrick 
Hostetter, who came to America with nine 
brothers, they all being born in Switzerland, 
where they were reared to maturity. As young 
men they emigrated to America and took up 
their residence in the state of Maryland, where 
they passed the remainder of tlieir lives. David, 
son of Ulrick, was born in the city of Balti- 
more, and was there reared, educated and mar- 
ried, and there two sons were born, David and 
an infant deceased. David, Sr., was the 
founder of rhe family in Stark county, whither 
he came in the "year 1808. He first located in 
Lisbon and later he entered a tract of heavily 
timbered land in what is now Paris township, 
and it is pleasing to note that the property re- 
mains in the possession of the family to the 
present time. He became a man of prom- 
inence and influence in the pioneer community, 
and at the outbreak of the war of 181 2 his 
son David tendered his services in defense of 
the republic, becoming a second lieutenant in 
a company of Ohio volunteers commanded by 
Captain Roller, participating in the battle of 
Maiden and being present at the unfortunate 
surrender of General Hull, at Detroit. He 
succeeded in reclaiming a considerable portion 
of his land and here continued to reside until 
his death, as did also his wife. They became 
the parents of seven children, of whom the 
only two now surviving are Ephraim, of whom 
.specific mention is to be made later in this con- 
text, and Elderkin. Of his son Hiram, who 
died on the 28th of April, 1902, a previous 
publication has given the following appreciative 
estimate : 

Hiram Hostetter was born on the pioneer home- 
stead. September 19, 1825, and remained on the farm 
until his twentieth year, when he entered the Wooster 
Academy. He completed his education by "swinging 
the ferule" for a few terms in district school. In 1854. 
he taught school at Racine, Wisconsin, and in the follow- 
ing year he taught a precinct school in the city of Chi- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1397 



■cago, Illinois. In 1857 he returned to Ohio and began the 
stndy of law at Ashland. With this fine foundation 
in erudition and knowledge of men, he chose the pleas- 
ant occupation of husbandry, and returned to the home- 
stead, which he later enlarged and improved. Mr. 
Hostetter never ceased the prosecution of his studies, 
to which the retirement of rural life is so favorable. 
His reading and research were wide and liberal and 
-gave him high rank in the community for his accom- 
.plishments in the sciences and history. 

Hiram Hostetter was in politics originally 
arrayed in support of the Whig party, but 
when the Republican party came into being, 
as the avowed opponent ot the fiu'ther exten- 
sion of slavery, he allied himself therewith and 
ever afterward remained a stanch advocate of 
its cause. At the time of the war of the Re- 
bellion he enlisted as a private in the One Hun- 
dred and Sixty-second Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantry, in which he became a second lieutenant, 
continuing in service for three months. He 
was one of the most zealous members of the 
Disciples church and was active in the promo- 
tion of religious and educational affairs in the 

• community. He was seventy-five years of age 
at the time of his demise, and his loss was 

■deeply deplored in the community where prac- 
tically his entire life had been passed, — a life 

• consecrated to good works and kindly deeds. 

On the 1st of January, i860, was solem- 
nized the marriage of Hiram Hostetter to Miss 
Elizabeth P. Walker, who was born in Ches- 
ter county, Pennsylvania, on the 22d of June, 
1838, being a daughter of Ely and Elizabeth 
(Barden) Walker, and she is still living on the 
•old homestead, being one of the revered pio- 
neer women of Paris township. Of this union 
were born nine children, two of whom met ac- 
cidental death, — Ethel, deceased, and Hiram 
B., who received a fatal shock in falling from a 
tree. The living children are Karl M.. con- 
'cerning whom individual mention is made in 
later paragraphs: Almira, who died at the age 
of twenty-six years, and Atta Carma, who is 
a missionary in Japan, under the auspices of 



the Disciples church. She thus rendered effect- 
ive service in the orient for a period of five 
years and then return.ed home for a rest and 
in August, 1900, she again returned to Japan 
to resume her devoted labors. Before enter- 
ing the missionary field she taught for several 
terms in the public schools, after which she 
completed a special course of study at Hiram 
College, at Hiram, Ohio, and after returning 
to the United States she took a course of study 
in Nashville, Tennessee. Of Victor Grant, a 
prominent clergyman of the Disciples church, 
further mention will be made at a later point 
in this article. In the ownership of the old 
homestead Hiram Hostetter was associated 
with his brother Ephraim, and of the latter we 
now enter a brief record. 

Ephraim Hostetter was born on the old 
homestead farm on which he now resides, in sec- 
tion 25, Paris township, the date of his nativity 
having been January 11, 1835, and it may be 
further said that his grandfather here took up 
an entire section of land, and that the latter 
was one of the ten brothers who came from 
Switzerland to the United States. Ephraim 
was reared to the sturdy discipline of the pio- 
neer farm, and in his youth has such educa- 
tional advantages as were afforded in the prim- 
itive log school house of the pioneer epoch. In 
1862 he tendered his services in defense of the 
Union, enlisting as a private in Company B, 
One Hundred and Fourth Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantry, with wliich he continued in active ser- 
vice nearly three years. He participated in the 
battle of Resaca, and the regiment thereafter 
was engaged in almost constant skirmishing 
during the long and weary march to Nashville, 
where the command was held in reserve. They 
then returned with General Thomas to Knox- 
ville. Tennessee, where, under Longstreet, the 
Confederates laid siege to the city, and the be- 
leaguered Federal soldiers were eventually re- 
duced to a diet of bread made from bran, de- 
pending on this subsistence at the time when 



1398 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



Sherman came north and raised the siege, the 
troops going llien on the Georgia campaign. 
The One Hundred and Fourth Ohio then re- 
turned with General Thomas, and took part 
in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, and 
Mr. Hostetter was mustered out and honor- 
ably discharged at Cleveland, Ohio, on the 17th 
of June, 1865. After his return to Stark 
countv he again resumed his association with 
agricultural pursuits, he and his brother Hiram 
eventually purchasing the present fine home- 
stead, which comprises one hundred and sixty- 
four and one-hall acres, and which has been 
devoted to diversified agriculture and to the 
raising of high-grade live stock. In politics 
he has ever given an unequivocal support to the 
Republican party and he is a devoted member 
of the Disciples church. Fraternally he is a 
member of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
being identified with Minerva Post No. 106, 
at Miner\a. Mr. Hostetter remains a bachelor 
and has resided consecutively in the home of 
his brother and the latter's estimable wife. 

Karl M. Hostetter, the eldest son of the 
late Hiram Hostetter, was born on the old 
homestead farm where he now lives, on the 
19th of May, 1S61, and he received the ad- 
vantages of the excellent public schools of his 
native county. He continued to be identified 
with the work of the farm until he had attained 
maturity, and in 1888 h.e removed to the vil- 
lage of IMiner^ a, where he became an interested 
principal in the Minerva Furniture Company, 
whose establishment was destroyed by fire in 
1901, after which he returned to the home 
farm, of which he now has the active man- 
agement, being known as one of tlie able and 
progressive business men of this section. He 
is a Republican in politics and a member of the 
Lutheran church. On the 27th of January, 
1888, Mr. Hostetter was united in marriage to 
Miss Mary Hockenberger. a daughter of Henry 
Hockenberger, of Paris to\\nship, who came to 
this county from Germany when a boy, being 



now one of the influential farmers of Paris 
township. .Mr. and Mrs. Hostetter have two 
children, Claire and Bessie. 

Rev. Victor G. Hostetter, the younger son 
of Hiram Hostetter, w-as born on the home 
farm, on the 28th of August, 1871, and after 
completing the curriculum of the public schools 
he entered Bethany College, at Bethany, West 
Virginia, where he completed a theological 
course and prepared himself for the ministry 
of the Disciples church, in which he was or- 
dained in 1899. Previously to this he had 
been engaged in teaching for a number of years. 
He is at the present time pastor of the church 
at I.orain, Lorain county, Ohio, and previ- 
ously to this he had held three other charges 
in the state. He accepted the pastorate of the 
church at Mungen, Wood county, and later 
resigned this to become pastor of a church in 
Zanesville, where he remained until 1901, 
when he took the Elmore charge at Elmore, 
Ohio, and in July, 1902, he assumed his pres- 
ent charge. He has been most successful in 
his work and is one of the valued clergy of the 
church and a man of high ability. He married 
Miss Alma Groh, of Bays, Wood county, and 
thev have one child, Claris. 



FRANK H. CROWL was born on the 
paternal homestead in Paris township. Stark 
county, Ohio, on the 2d of March, 1861, be- 
ing a son of Thomas T. and Mary (Boorey) 
Growl, of wliom individual mention is made 
on other pages of this work, so that a re- 
capitulation of tlie family history is not de- 
manded at this juncture, though it may be 
stated that his father still resides on the old 
homestead mentioned. Our subject was reared 
to maturity on the home farm and from his 
boyhood up contributed his share of work to 
the same, while he was accorded such edu- ' 
cational advantages as were afiforded in the 
public schools of the locality. Upon attaining 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1399 



his legal majority Mr. Cro\vl began work at 
the carpenter's trade, to which he devoted his 
attention about four years, becoming a skilled 
artisan in the line. On the 14th of September, 
1885, he was united in marriage to Miss Leone 
Myers, a daughter of David M. Myers, one of 
the well known pioneer farmers of Paris town- 
ship, and after his marriage Mr. Crowl rented 
the Schorey farm, located near tlie home farm, 
and there continued to be actively engaged in 
agricultural pursuits for the ensuing five years, 
at the expiration of which he leased the farm 
of Madison Farmer, also in this township, 
where he remained two years, while he passed 
the following year on the Thomas Jackson 
farm, near Minerva. In these years he had 
husbanded his resources in such a way that, 
in 1894. he found himself justified in purchas- 
ing his present tine farm of eighty acres, and 
here he has since been successfully engaged in 
general farming, conducting his operations up- 
on scientific and practical principles, keeping 
his land at the highest possible state of pro- 
ductiveness and having excellent improve- 
ments of a permanent nature, including a com- 
fortable and attractive I'esidence. Mrs. Crowl 
was summoned into eternal rest on the 22d of 
September, 1898, being survived by two of her 
four children. Myrtle and Frederick, both of 
whom remain at the paternal home. The two 
deceased are Anna and Harry. On the 23d of 
January, 1900, Mr. Crowl consummated a 
second marriage, being then united to Miss 
Mary Alice Barnhouse, who was born in Car- 
roll county, Ohio, being a daughter of the late 
Samuel Barnhouse, who was an influential and 
honored farmer of that* county, and of this 
union one child has been born, Bessie. 

In politics Mr. Crowl is found stanchly 
arrayed in support of the principles and 
policies of the Democratic party, and in the 
spring of 1900 he was elected to the office of 
trustee of Paris township, his term expiring in 
iQoG. He is a worthy member of the Disci- 



ples churcli, in which he held the office of deacon 
for a number of years and in whose work he 
has maintained a deep and helpful interest, his 
wife likewise being a member of this church. 
Fraternally he is identified with the Knights 
of the Maccabees, holding membership in 
Minerva Tent No. 153. 



HENRY SCHORY was born in Paris town- 
ship. Stark county, Ohio, on the 31st of July, 
1843, being a son of Christian and Anna 
(Zwallen) Schory, to whom were born nine 
children, all of whom are living, namely: 
Sophia, who is the widow of Charles Lebeau 
and resides in Paris township ; Henry, who 
is the immediate subject of this sketch; Eliza- 
beth, who is the wife of William Foltz, of 
Carroll county; Mary, who is the wife of Jacob 
Geiger, of that county; Christian W., who is 
a successful farmer of Canton township, Stark 
county; Peter S., who is a prominent farmer 
of Sandy township; Amelia M., who resides in 
Lancaster, this state; Caroline J., who is a 
resident of Alliance, this county; and Melinda 
M., who is the wife of John R. Miller, of Alli- 
ance, where he is foreman in an extensive ham- 
mer factory. The father of these children was 
born in tlie fair little republic of Switzerland, 
the place of his nativity having been the fair 
little village of Radelfingen, ui the picturesque 
canton of Bern, where he was ushered into 
the world on the 14th of February, 1803, and 
where he was reared to the sturdy life of the 
farm. After the death of his parents, in com- 
pany with his five brothers and two sisters, he 
emigrated to America, setting sail in the year 
1833 and landing in due course of time in the 
city of New York. The family came forthwith 
to Canton, Stark county, their intention being 
at the time to seek a permanent location farther 
west, but the father of our subject, in company 
with his brother Peter, set forth to seek a de- 
sirable location, and finally selected one in this 



I400 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



county, and the family forthwith effected the 
purchase of this farm of one hundred and six- 
ty acres, in Paris township and near the village 
of Minerva, the property being owned jointly 
by the brothers and sisters. There all took up 
their abode and there all continued to reside 
for a number of years with the exception of 
Peter, who returned as far eastward as Penn- 
sylvania, where he was engaged in teaching 
school for a time and then studied theology 
and became a clergyman of the German Re- 
formed church. Eventually the father of the 
subject became associated with his brother 
Jacob in the joint ownership of the farm, 
having purchased the interests of the other 
members of the families and in 1853 Jacob ac- 
quired the entire property and Christian then 
purchased eighty-five acres of land in the same 
township, the tract being contiguous to the 
present homestead of his son Henry, subject 
of this review, who purchased the property 
about three years ago. Here Christian Schory 
passed the residue of his life, being successful 
in his efforts, which were directed with energy 
and discrimination, and being known as one of 
the reliable and upright citizens of the com- 
munity, commanding unequivocal confidence 
and esteem. He died on this homestead, in 
September, 1894, at the patriarchal age of 
ninety-one years. He was a man of fine in- 
tellectual powers and could speak the German, 
Swiss, French and English languages fluently. 
In politics he was a stanch supporter of the 
principles of the Democratic party, and his 
religious faith was that of the Reformed 
church, of which his wife likewise was a de- 
voted member, she having preceded him into 
eternal rest, her death occurring in February, 
1892, at the age of seventy years. She like- 
wise was a native of Switzerland, being seven 
years of age at the time of his parents" emi- 
gration to the United States. Her father, 
Henry Zwallen, located on a farm in Brown 
'township, Carroll county. Ohio, purchasing the 



property from its original owner, who had 
shortly before entered the claim from the gov- 
ernment and thus he became one of the first 
settlers in that locality, where he passed the 
residue of his life. Of the members of the 
Schory family who emigrated to America, 
seventy years ago, the last one. Rev. Peter D. 
Schory-, died May i, 1901, in Lancaster, this 
state, at the very advanced age of ninety-five 
years. 

Henry Schory, whose name initiates this 
sketch, was reared to maturity on the home- 
stead farm, to whose work he early began to 
contribute his due quota, while in the district 
schools he pursued his studies and laid the 
foundation for that broad and practical knowl- 
edge which he has since acquired in connection 
with, the active associations of an eminently 
successful business career. On the 26th of 
March, 1867, Mr. Schory was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Mary M. Geiger, who was born 
in Brown township, Carroll county, Ohio, be- 
ing a daughter of John P. Geiger, one of the 
influential and \\ell known pioneer farmers of 
that township, and after his marriage the sub- 
ject located on his present homestead farm, 
which he rented for a period of about five 
years, at the expiration of which he purchased 
the property. At the beginnnig he acquired a 
tract ot seventy-five acres and by subsequent 
purchases its area has been increased to one 
hundred and eighteen acres, while in 1899 he 
purchased of the other heirs of his father's 
estate their interests in the old homestead farm, 
comprising eighty-five acres, so that his landed 
estate now has an aggregate area of two hun- 
dred and three acres, while it is maintained 
under most effective cultivation and has the 
substantial improvements and well ordered ap- 
pearance which invariably indicates thrift and 
prosperity. In his early manhood Mr. Schory 
devoted his attention to threshing for about a 
decade, being part owner of an excellent 
equipment for this purpose, but he now gives 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1401 



his entire time to his farming operations. He 
exercises his franchise in support of the Demo- 
cratic party, so far as national issues are in- 
volved, but is liberal in his views in the appli- 
cation of politics to local affairs, and gives his 
support to the men and measures endorsed by 
his judgment, rather than following strict 
partisan dictates. He and his wife are promi- 
nent and consistent members of the Reformed 
church, of which he is a deacon. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Schory have been born seven children, all 
of whom are living except one, and of them we 
here enter a brief record, in order of birth ; 
Ella F., who is the wife of Edward Schearer, 
of Maplelon, this county; Ida E., who is the 
wife of Clifton Coffel, an accomplished teacher 
of music in Paris township ; Alice, who died 
at the age of eighteen years; Mary, at home; 
Edward H., who is a successful school teacher 
and who remains at the parental home, as do 
also Grace A. and Erma E. 



THOMAS B. KEITH, deceased, passed 
the major portion of his life in Stark county, 
though he was a native of the adjoining county 
of Canoll. having been born in the village of 
Pekin, on the 29th of September, 184T, and 
being the fifth in order of birth of the nine 
children of James and Sarah (Hnett) Keith. 
The father of the subject was born in Virginia, 
about the year 1804, and -was reared to matur- 
ity in the Old Dominion, and there he was 
employed as a slave-driver for a time, but be- 
came cognizant of the fact that his employer 
had stolen a number of slaves and was paid 
to leave the state in order that his compromis- 
hig testimony might not be entered. He was 
a voung man at the time and he came to Stark 
county, whei-e he was employed at farm work 
for some years and finally became identified 
with the construction of the Ohio & Beaver 
canal, in which he took a certain amount of 
stock, practically investing all his savings, and 



thus, when disaster overtook the venture, he 
found himself again at the foot of the financial 
ladder, but not deprived of the recuperative 
power ever inherent in self-reliant manhood. 
He continued in the employ of others until he 
had accumulated sufficient funds to justify him 
in the purchasing of a tract of sixty acres, in 
Paris township, this county, and he then lo- 
cated on this place, to which he subsequently 
added until he had a farm of one hundred and 
twenty-nine acres, his original place of abode 
being a primitive log house, which had been 
erected by the former owner. Here he contin- 
ued to reside until his death, as a result of an 
attack of typhoid fever, in 1857, at which time 
he was fifty-two years of age. In politics he 
exercised his franchise in support of the prin- 
ciples of the Democratic party and both he and 
his wife were members of the Disciples' church. 
The mother of the subject was born in Paris 
townsh-'p, this county, in 1810, being a daugh- 
ter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Johnson) Huett, 
who were born in Ireland, where they were 
married and whence they emigrated to Amer- 
ica, locating in Pennsylvania, where they re- 
mained until 1807, when they came to .Stark 
county and cast in their lot with the early set- 
tlers of Paris township, where Mr. Huett took 
up a tract of wild land, upon which he passed 
a portion of each year until his death, in the 
interim remaining in Pennsylvania for the 
purpose of earning the money with which to 
sustain the family and carry forward the im- 
provement of the pioneer farm. He died in the 
old Kevstone state and his wife thereafter took 
up her permanent abode on the Stark county 
hom.estead, where she passed the remainder of 
her life, surviving her husband several years. 
The mother of the subject survived her hus- 
band by nearly forty years, her death occurring 
in iS03- at which time she had attained the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-three years. She was a 
woman of noble character, self-abnegating and 
ever mindful of others, and she held the love 



I402 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



of all who came witliiii the range of her imme- 
diate influence. 

Thomas B. Keith was reared to manhood 
on the old homestead farm in Paris township, 
and here he passed practically his entire life. 
The district schools afforded him his prelimin- 
ary educational privileges, and he made good 
use of his opportunities and laid the founda- 
tion for that ample fund of knowledge which 
he has since gained in the beneficent and prac- 
tical school of experience. While he was still 
a youth he became associated with his brother 
Smith in assuming charge of the home farm, 
which they took from their father on "shares," 
and this partnership continued until 1890, 
when the subject purchased his present home- 
stead farm, of eighty acres, on section 21, 
Paris township, where he forthwith took up 
his residence and where he resided until his 
death. May 21. 1903. After the death of his 
mother Mr. Keith also purchased the old 
homestead, the place being now in charge of 
his son. Smith, Jr., and his son-in-law, Allen 
Zininger. Through his indefatigable industry 
and good judgment ]\Ir. Keith advanced to a 
position as one of the essentially representative 
and influential farmers of this section, and 
at no point in his career can there be found a 
shadow upon his integrity and honor. He ex- 
ercised his franchise in support of the princi- 
ples and policies of the Democratic party, in 
whose faith he was reared. 

On the 31st of October, 1874, Mr. Keith 
was united in marriage to Miss Rachel Wy- 
man, who was a daughter of Jacob Wyman, 
one of the prominent farmers of Holmes coun- 
ty, Ohio, and of this union have been born four 
children, concerning whom we incorporate the 
following brief data : Lulu is the wife of 
Allen Zininger, and has one daughter, Ruth 
C. ; Mr. Zininger is in associate charge of a 
farm adjoining the old homestead farm of the 
subject's father, as has been noted: Smith. Jr.. 
is associated with Mr. Zininger in carrying on 



the work of the farm mentioned, and both are 
known as able and progressive young business 
men ; and Richard R. and Carrie remain at the 
parental home. Mr. Keith had typhoid fever 
in the spring of 1903, and later died from the 
eft'ects of pneumonia. His widow still resides 
on the homestead. 



ELMER A. HURSH was born on the 
parental homestead farm in Paris township, 
on the 6th of December, 1872, being a son of 
John and Catherine (Riegel) Hursh, of whose 
eleven children the followng named eight are 
still living: Mary, who is the wife of Thomas 
Watson, of Carroll county, this state; Milton, 
who is a resident of Butler county, Kansas; 
John L, who is engaged in the coal business 
in the city of Canton; Francis, who maintains 
his home in Canton, being a traveling sales- 
man for the Ohio Oil & Grease Company, of 
Cleveland; Alice, who remains at the old 
home: Curtis G., who is likewise engaged in 
farming in Paris township; Elmer A., who is 
the direct subject of this resume; and Martha 
J., w-ho is the wife of Jacob Potoff, of Carroll 
county. 

John Hursh, the father of the subject, was 
born in the old Keystone state of Pennsylvania, 
on the 7th of January, 1826, being a son of 
Jacob and Mary A. (Harsh) Hursh, and he 
was but tW'O years of age at the time when his 
parents removed to Carroll county, Ohio, lo- 
cating on a pioneer farm, and there his father 
died shortly afterward. John was then placed 
in the home of an uncle, Philip Harsh, while 
his mother passed her time in the homes of 
her brothers, Leonard, Philip, Lewis and Will- 
iam Harsh, all of whom came to Carroll coun- 
ty in an early day. The father of the subject 
was reared on the farm of his uncle and re- 
ceived most kindly treatment, while he secured 
such educational privileges as were to be had 
in the pioneer schools of the locality. As a 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1403 



young man he served an apprenticeship at the 
trade of cabinetmaking, but devoted his atten- 
tion to the same for a comparatively brief in- 
terval, preferring to engage in agricultural pur- 
suits. He accordingly settled on a farm in Car- 
roll county, the property having been an inheri- 
tance of his young wife, whom he had married 
a short time previously. In 1863 they disposed 
of this farm and came to Stark county, where 
they effected the purchase of the present Hursh 
homestead, which comprises two hundred and 
five acres, and here Mr. Hursh continued to 
reside until his death, which occurred on the 
13th of April, 1889. In politics he gave his 
allegiance to the Republican party, while his 
religious faith was that of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. His venerable widow survived 
him and lived on the old homestead, en- 
deared to her by the memories and associations 
of the past, and cheered and solaced by the 
love of her children and the affection of a wide 
circle of appreciative friends until her death, 
April I, 1903. She was born in Carroll coun- 
ty. Ohio, on the nth of February, 1825, be- 
ing a daughter of George and Catherine 
(Stinger) Riegel. Her father was born in the 
city of Baltimore, Maryland, on the 19th of 
October, 1774, and he came to Carroll county 
in the early epoch of its history, becoming one 
of its honored and influential pioneers. He 
was twice married, and of his first union were 
born six sons, while his second wife, mother of 
Mrs. Hursh, bore him thirteen children, of 
whom only three are living at the present time. 
His second' wife brought him a handsome 
dowry and he became a wealthy man, his 
Landed estate at the time of his deatli com- 
prising about seven hundred and sixty acres. 
Mrs. Catherine (Riegel) Hursh is likewise a 
devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, while in her home community she is 
revered as one of the noble pioneer women of 
the locality. 

Elmer A. Hursh was reared to maturity on 



the old homestead farm and the public schools 
of his native township afforded him his early 
educational discipline. One year after his fa- 
ther's death, at which time he was eighteen 
years of age, he became associated with his 
brother Curtis in the operation of the home 
farm on shares, and this partnership thus con- 
tinued for a period of four years, at the ex- 
piration of which the subject assumed the en- 
tire charge of the farm, which he conducted 
successfully for the ensuing three years. In 
the spring of 1898 he rented his present farm 
and forthwith took up his residence on the 
same, where he remained until the following 
October, when he removed to the village of 
Paris and there established himself in the 
general merchandise business, in which he was 
asociated with Allen O. Zininger, imder the 
firm name of Zininger & Hursh. The enter- 
prise did not prove as successful as Mr. Hursh 
had anticipated and at the expiration of one 
year he disposed of his interests in the same, 
and in May, 1899, he purchased his present 
farm., upon which he had previously resided, 
the same comprising eighty acres of exception- 
ally fertile land. In politics he accords a stanch 
support to the Republican party, and both he 
and his wife are valued and consistent mem- 
bers of the Reformed church. Fraternally he 
is identified with the Junior Order of United 
American Mechanics, being affiliated with 
Etlian Allen Council No. 171, in the village of 
Paris. 

On the 2ist of March, 1894, Mr. Hursh 
was united in marriage to Miss Grace Spon- 
seller, who was born in Paris township, being 
a daughter of Frederick Sponseller, a promi- 
nent and influential stock buyer and a repre- 
sentative of one of the old and honored pio- 
neer families of Stark county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hursh have two children, namely : Vera M., 
who was born on the 14th of May, 1895, ^'""^ 
Carl H., who was born on the 6th of February, 
1897. 



■I404 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



OLIVER C. BATES was born in Wash- 
ington townsliip, Stark county, Ohio, on the 8th 
of February, i860, being one of the ten chil- 
dren born to John and EHza (Bush) Bates, 
their names, in order of birth, being as follows : 
Adaline, who died in 1884; Henry, who is a 
farmer of Paris township; Mary A., who is 
•the wife of Oliver Haynes, of the same town- 
ship: Phoebe, who is the wife of Reuben 
■Dourm, also of this townshp; Oliver C, who 
is the immediate subject of this sketch; John, 
who is a resident of Elwood, Indiana ; Wesley, 
who is a farmer of Paris township; Matilda, 
who is the wife of John Myers, of this town- 
ship; Jesse, who is likewise engaged in farm- 
ing in this township; and Harriet E., who is 
the wife of William Keister, of Osnaburg 
■township. 

John Bates, father of the subject, was like- 
Avise a native of the old Buckeye state, having 
•been born in Columbiana county, on the 8th 
•of October, 1827, his parents having been 
numbered among the prominent pioneer set- 
tlers in that locality. He was reared to man- 
hood on the old homestead, assisting materi- 
ally in reclaiming the same from the forest wilds, 
and there he remained until his marriage, soon 
after which he came to Stark county, where 
for a number of years he was engaged in farm- 
ing on rented land, in Washington township. 
In 1863 he purchased the present homestead 
farm of seventy acres, on section 17, Paris 
township, and there he made his home for 
nearly forty years, up to the time of his death, 
which occurred on the 25th of October, 1902, 
at which time he had passed the span of three 
score years and ten allotted by the psalmist. In 
politics he was a stalwart advocate of the 
principles and policies of the Republican party, 
and during his long life he never failed to 
exercise his right of franchise after attaining 
his legal majority save in the case of the last 
two elections prior to his death, when he was 
too feeble to go to the polls. He was a con- 



sisrent and valued member of the Reformed 
church, with which he identified himself when 
a young man, and his was the faith that makes 
faithful, and when he passed on to that "un- 
discovered country from whose bourne no 
traveler returns," the community mourned 
the loss of a distinct man and one in whose na- 
ture were many noble attributes. Mr. Bates 
was a veteran of the war of the Rebellion, in 
which he served with the patriotic devotion of 
a true son of the republic, and he was an 
horored comrade of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, being affiliated with the post in the 
village of Minerva. His wife, who survives 
him, was born in Paris township, within a 
short distance of her present home, in 1830, 
being a daughter of Philip and Martha (Kon- 
kle) Bush, who were natives of Pennsylvania 
and who came to Stark county and settled in 
Paris township in an early day, here passing 
the residue of this lives and being numbered 
among the sterling pioneers of this section of 
the state. Like her husband, Mrs. Bates is a 
devoted member of the Reformed church, and 
she still resides at the old home so endeared to 
her by the memories and associations of the 
past. 

Oliver C. Bates was reared on the home 
farm and secured his early educational disci- 
pline in the public schools. At the age of 
seventeen years he located in the village of 
Paris, this county, where he entered upon an 
apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade, at 
which he served the regular three years' term, 
becoming a thoroughly competent workman in 
the line. At the expiration of his apprentice- 
ship he entered the employ of Pennock 
Brothers, the well known car builders of Mi- 
nerva, this county, and while thus engaged he 
was united in marriage, on Christmas day of 
the year 1881, to Miss Mary E. Brothers, who 
was born in Paris township, being a daughter 
of James and Susan (Shepard) Brothers, both 
of whom are now deceased. In 1884 Mr. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1405. 



Bates located in the village of Robertsville, 
where he conducted a blacksmith shop for one 
year, after which he removed to the farm of 
his maternal grandfather, Philip Bush, in this 
township, where he remained one year, while 
for the ensuing three years he was engaged in 
agricultural pursuits on the farm of George B. 
Maser, in the same township. In 1888 he 
disposed of his stock and farming implements 
and removed to the village of Minerva, where 
he purchased a home, and there remained in 
the employ of John Starkey, in a planing mill, 
for one year, at the expiration of which time 
he sold his property and removed to the farm 
of his father-in-law, to whose cultivation he de- 
voted his attention for the ensuing two years, 
and then was again in the employ of the Pen- 
nock Brothers, in Minerva for a year. In 1892 
he entered into a partnership with B. M. Stier 
and they Jointly purchased the present fine 
farm occupied by the subject, who forthwith 
took up his residence on the same and who 
has since continued to actively superintend its 
cultivation. In politics he has never had any 
ambition for official preferment, but he accords 
a stanch allegiance to the principles and poli- 
cies of the Republican party, in whose support 
he has been arrayed from the time of attain- 
ing his legal majority, and fraternally he is 
identified with the Senior Order of United 
American Mechanics, holding membership in 
Minerva Council No. 21. He has two chil- 
dren, Nora N. and Chauncey H. 



RICHARD CUNNINGHAM was born 
in East township, Carroll county, Ohio, on the 
2ist of April, 1839, being a son of Sutton and 
Mary (Harsh) Cunningham, who became the 
parents of five children, of whom two survive, 
Alexander, who is a resident of Kensington, 
Columbiana county, this state, and Richard, 
who is the subject of this sketch. Sutton Cun- 
ningham was born in the state of Pennsyl- 



vania, whither his parents emigrated from Ire- 
land, of which fair land they were natives, 
coming of stanch old Irish and Scotch lineage. 
The father of the subject was reared in the old 
Keystone state and as a young man he came 
thence to Carroll county, Ohio, being at the 
time without financial reinforcement and de- 
pendent entirely upon his own resources, so 
that with the attainrhent of the marked suc- 
cess of later years he also gained the right 
to the title of self-made man, which is one 
which the loyal American citizen ever holds 
in the highest regard and honor. For some 
time after his arrival in Carroll county he was 
employed as a farm hand, and later he became 
a clerk in a general store, the while gaining 
valuable knowledge and business experience- 
and also husbanding his resources and having 
ever in mind the placing of himself in a po- 
sition of independence. Finally he engaged in 
the general merchandise business on his own 
responsibility, in the village of Augusta, that 
county, and he successfully conducted the 
enterprise for a number of years, then dispos- 
ing of the same and purchasing one hundred 
and sixty acres of land in East township, that 
county, and forthwith taking up his residence 
on this farm, which continued to be his home 
until his death, which occurred in the year 
1866. He was a man of alert mentality, pro- 
gressive ideas and marked business acumen, 
and thus he attained a high degree of success- 
in his efforts. In addition to his home farm 
he also became the owner of the one-hundred- 
acre farm where our subject now resides, to- 
gether with two other farms in Augusta town- 
ship, Carroll county, one comprising one hun- 
drd and fifty-six acres and the other one hun- 
dred and fourteen acres. He devoted special 
attention to the raising of sheep, and through 
this branch of his farming enterprise he 
realized large profits, becoming one of the lead- 
ing representatives of the industry in this sec- 
tion of the state. In politics he was a stalwarts 



i4o5 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



adherent of the Democratic party and was one 
of the influential men of his county, though he 
never sought the honors or emoluments of 
public office. His wife was born in Ohio, be- 
ing a daughter of Leonard Harsh, who was 
one of the honored pioneers of the county. 
Mrs. Cunningham survived her husband by ten 
years, being summoned into eternal rest in 
1876, at the age of about sixty years, and hav- 
ing been a devoted member of the Disciple 
church. 

Richard Cunningham was reared beneath 
the parental roof and acquired his educational 
discipline in the public schools of his native 
county. When he attained the age of eighteen 
years his father assigned to him a portion of 
the home farm upon favorable terms, since he 
was to have all the crops raised on the land and 
with only specifie recompense asked was that 
he should pay the taxes during the five years 
through which the agreement was to remain in 
force. He made the best use of the advantages 
thus given him by his honored father, and to 
give further assurance of his independence and 
self-reliance, he assumed connubial responsi- 
bilities and the dignity of a man of family, 
since, on the nth of December, 1861, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary C. Huett, 
who was bom in Washington township, Car- 
roll county, being a daughter of the late Sam- 
uel Huett, who was one of the honored and 
influential pioneer farmers of that locality. 
After his marriage Mr. Cunningham removed 
to his present homestead farm, and one year 
later ho purchased the property from his fa- 
ther, while the finally improved farmstead has 
ever since continued to be his home, the same 
having greatly appreciated in value through 
the efforts which have been brought to bear 
in bringing it into the highest possible state 
of productivity and through the excellent im- 
provements of a permanent nature which he 
has made on the place during the long years 
since he here took up his abode. He has car- 



ried on general farming but has devoted his at- 
tention more particularly to the raising of 
sheep and cattle, and thus finds use for the 
greater portion of the products of the farm. 
He has shown marked discrimination in the 
breeding up of his live stock to the standard 
grade and has thus done much to improve and 
facilitate the live-stock industry in this sec- 
tion of the state, while his judgment in the 
line is considered authoritative. He has not 
been denied the full measure of prosperity, 
and as time has passed he has added to his 
landed possessions, owning, besides the home- 
stead place of two hundred acres, a farm of 
eighty acres in East township, Carroll county, 
two, of one hundred acres and eighty-three 
acres respectively, in Augusta township ; one 
of one hundred and thirteen acres in Brown 
township, that county; and ninety-five acres 
in Columbiana county, so that the aggregate 
area of his landed estate is now six hundred 
and sixty-eight acres. While Mr. Cunning- 
ham has thus devoted scrupulous attention to 
his industrial enterprises and has so directed 
his efforts as to attain the maximum of suc- 
cess in the connection, he has at no period been 
unmindful of the duties of citizenship nor those 
involved in his association with his fellow men. 
He has thus maintained a public-spirited atti- 
tude and has ever stood ready to co-operate in 
every legitimate movement looking to the ad- 
vancement of the general welfare and material 
prosperity, while he has given an uncompro- 
mising allegiance to the Democratic party, 
though never an aspirant for the honors of 
public office. Though not formally identified 
with any religious organization, he gives his 
tangible and liberal support to church work, 
and his wife is a de\-oted member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. They became the 
parents of two children, of whom one is liv- 
ing, Alameda, who is the wife of Edward S. 
DeFord, engaged in the banking business in 
Minerva. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1407 



SMITH KEITH.— The Keith family is 
of English ancestry, but the present generation 
in Stark county unfortunately have but little 
definite data relative to the ancestral history. 
It is known, however, that Thomas Keith, 
grandfather of the subject, emigrated from 
England to the United States when a young 
man, and it is probable that he took up his resi- 
dence in the Old Dominion state of Virginia, 
where it is supposed his children were born, 
and where the closing' years of his life were 
passed. 

Smith Keith, whose name introduces this 
sketch, was born in Paris township, SIfark 
county, Ohio, on the 12th of April, 1843, ^^' 
ing a son of James and Sarah (Huett) Keith, 
whose three living children are as follows : 
Eliza, who is the widow of Nicholas Stonehill 
and who resides near Robertsville ; Smith, 
who is the subject of this resume; and Sarah, 
who is the wife of Irvin Cross, of East Roches- 
ter, Columbiana county. The father of the 
subject was reared in Virginia, but the place 
of his birth is not definitely known by his chil- 
dren. He became a slave-driver in the Old 
Dominion, and in this way he became aware 
of the malfaction of his employer in the mat- 
ter of stealing slaves, and was paid to leave 
the state so that his testimony might not cause 
the apprehension of his employer. He thus 
amie to Stark county as a young man and 
without financial resources to maintain him- 
self save for a short interval. For a number 
of years he worked on a farm and at such, other 
occupations as he could secure, and finally be- 
came identified with the construction of the 
Ohio and Beaver canal, in which he took a 
number of shares of stock. The venture proved 
ultimately a failure, and thus his savings of 
several years were swept away, but he bravely 
faced the outlook and set to work to retrieve 
his losses. He was variously employed until 
about 1837, when he found himself in a po- 
sition to justify him in purchasing a small 



farm of sixty acres, in Paris township, and he 
forthwith located on the place and turned his 
attention energetically to the improvement of 
the place and to putting the land under ef- 
fective cultivation, his original dwelling being 
a small log house which had previously been 
erected on the farm. As prosperity attended 
his efforts he made purchases of small tracts 
adjoining his home place until the same had 
an area of one hundred and twenty-nine acres, 
while he made excellent improvements of a 
permanent nature as his circumstances justi- 
fied. He died on this homestead in 1857, at 
the age of fifty-two years, and here it was that 
the subject was ushered into the world. In 
politics he accorded a stanch allegiance to the 
Democratic party and his religious faith was 
that of the Disciples of Christ, of which church 
his wife likewise was a devoted member. 
Sarah (Huett) Keith, the mother of the sub- 
ject, was born in Westmoreland county, 
Pennsylvania, in the year 1810, being a daugh- 
ter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Johnson) Huett, 
both of whom were born in the Emerald Isle, 
where they were reared and where their mar- 
riage was solemnized. They emigrated from 
Ireland to America and first took up their 
abode in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, 
where they maintained their home until 1807, 
when they came to Ohio and numbered them- 
selves among the early settlers of Stark county, 
though they did not settle here until 1812. Mr. 
Huett took up a tract of heavily timbered 
government land in Paris township, this sec- 
tion being at the time a veritable wilderness. 
They would pass a few months each year on 
their pioneer farm, gradually working its rec- 
lamation, and would then return to Pennsyl- 
vania to earn more money in order to pro- 
vide themselves with the necessaries of life 
and the means to continue the improvement of 
the farm. The grandfather died while in Penn- 
sylvania, and and his widow then took up her 
permanent residence on the Stark county 



1408 



OLD LANDMARKS 



homestead, where she passed the remainder of 
her life, the place being now owned by the 
Haynam family. The devoted mother of the 
subject survived her husband many years, 
entering into eternal rest in 1893, at the vener- 
able age of eighty-three years, and loved and 
venerated by all who knew her, while her re- 
miniscences of the early pioneer days were in- 
teresting in the extreme, for her memory was 
very excq:)tional and she loved to recall the 
scenes and incidents of the "dear dead days 
beyond recall." 

Smith Keith was reared to maturity on tlie 
old homestead where he was born and his 
early educational advantages where such as the 
public schools of the place and period afforded. 
He well recalls the primitive log school house 
in which he secured his first scholastic disci- 
pline, but after he had attended the same for 
two terms it was replaced by a more preten- 
tious structure. After his marriage he became 
associated with his brother Thomas in the op- 
eration of the home farm, and this partner- 
ship continued until 1890, when Thomas with- 
drew to engage independently in the same line 
of enterprise and our subject thereafter re- 
mained in charge of the farm until the death 
of his mother, in 1893, when he purchased the 
interests of the other heirs and thereafter con- 
tinued his farming operations there until the 
spring of 1902, when he disposed of the home- 
stead and removed to the village of Minerva, 
where he is now Jiving practically retired, hav- 
ing accumulated a competence and enjoying 
the rewards of his years of earnest toil and 
endeavor. In pohtics he is a stanch adherent 
of the Democratic party, and the confidence 
and esteem in which he is held in Paris towTi- 
ship h.ad signal manifestation in the circum- 
stance of his being for nine years retained as 
incumbent of the office of township trustee. 
From his youth he has been identified with the 
Disciples of Christ, and of this church his wife 
also is a devoted member. 



On the 3d of March, 1868, Mr. Keith was- 
united in marriage to Miss Mary J. Clemens, 
who was born in Paris township, this county, 
being a daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth 
(Rhodes) Clemens, who came to this county 
from Pennsylvania in an early day, being of 
stanch German lineage, and here tlie father en- 
gaged in farming, to which he devoted his at- 
tention for many years, finally taking up his 
residence in the vilage of Minerva, where both 
he and his wife died. Mr. and Mrs. Keith 
have five children, concerning whom we enter 
the following brief record : Harry is engaged 
in farming in Paris township; Nora is the wife 
of Charles Stockman, of Minerva; Maud is 
the wife of William Archibald, of Paris town- 
ship; Grace is the wife of Frank Mitchell, of 
Minerva ; and James A. remains at the parental 
home. 



ANDREW REESE was born in Wash- 
ington township, this county, on the 13th of 
April, 1843, being a son of Andrew and Man,' 
(Eisenman) Reese, of whose six children four 
are living at the present time, namely : An- 
drew, who is the subject of this review ; Eman- 
uel, who is a prominent farmer of Plain town- 
ship, this county; Catherine, who is the wife ot 
Alfred Unkefer, of Washington township ; and 
Mary C, who is the wife of George Schwalen, 
of Homeworth, Columbiana county. The fa- 
ther of the subject was bom in Westminster, 
Carroll county, Maryland, in the year 1802, 
being a son of John Reese, who was undoubt- 
edly born and reared in that state, where he be- 
came the owner of valuable property. Shortly 
after the British shelled the city of Baltimore, 
in the war of 1812, he left Maryland and went 
into Pennsylvania, where he remained a few 
months in Franklin county, whence he came- 
with his family to Stark county, Ohio, where 
he arrived in the latter part of the year 18 12, 
and he settled in Canton township, near the- 




MR. AND MRS. ANDREW REESE. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1409 



present city of Canton, having here entered 
claim to a quarter section of government land, 
while he also took up three tracts of land in 
the adjoining county of Tuscarawas. He held 
a large amount of real estate in the state of 
Maryland, and when he left there he still re- 
tained possession of a considerable portion of 
the same, though he never thereafter received 
any revenue from the property, which he prac- 
tically neglected, though still retaining his title 
to the same. This property, as a matter of 
course, has greatly appreciated in value with 
the lapse of years, and is now worth many 
thousands of dollars, and his heirs are making 
an effort to either regain possession of a por- 
tion of the estate there or else secure equitable 
returns from its holders. Grandfather Reese 
continued to reside on his farm in Canton town- 
ship until his death, and was known as one of 
the sterling pioneers and influential citizens of 
the county, being a man of fine mentality and 
impregnable integrity of character. 

Andrew Reese, Sr., father of the subject, 
was a lad of about ten years at the time when 
the family came to Stark county, and he was 
reared to maturity on the old homestead farnij 
in Canton township, while he attended the 
primitive schools of the locality and period as 
opportunity afiforded. As a young man he 
was employed for a number of years by Peter 
Trump, who established one of the first dis- 
tilleries in this section of the state, and after 
his marriage he removed to one of the farms 
owned by his father in Tuscarawas county, 
where he continued to reside for two years, and 
there his eldest child, Catherine, was bom. At 
the expiration of the period noted he came to 
Washington township, Stark county, where he 
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, 
all of which was covered with the heavy growth 
of native timber, and which is now the prop- 
erty of his second namesake, with whom this 
sketch has specifically to do. He made his 

home with his brother, George, who had locat- 
es 



ed in the township about live years previously, 
until he had made a clearing on his own land, 
and there erected a log cabin of the usual 
pioneer type, when he established himself in 
this primitive dwelling and set himself vali- 
antly to the work of reclaiming his land to the 
uses of cultivation, in which work his inde- 
fatigable and well directed efforts were even- 
tually attended with a high degree of success, 
and it was his privilege to live to see the won- 
derful transformation of this section of the 
state from its status as practically a virgin for- 
est to one of the most prosperous and attractive 
divisions of the great Buckeye commonwealth. 
He was eighty-four years of age at the time of 
his demise, and had survived all of his brothers, 
being thus the last of the immediate family to 
pass away. In politics he was a stanch ad- 
vocate of the principles and policies of the 
Democratic party, but he never sought otticial 
preferment of any order. A few years prior 
to his death, after deep reflection and study, he 
became a communicant of the Catholic church, 
in which faith he died. His wife was born in 
France, being, it is thought, a daughter of 
Joseph Eiseman, who was one of the sterling 
pioneers of Stark county, but died in Missouri. 
She lived to attain the age of seventy-one years, 
her death occurring in 1886. She was a de- 
voted wife and mother and a consistent mem- 
ber of the Catholic church. 

Andrew Reese, Jr., was reared to maturity 
on the old homestead farm, where he was born 
and which he now owns, and he early became 
familiar with the manifold and arduous duties 
pertaining to its reclamation and cultivation, 
while he is indebted to the public schools of the 
period for that basic knowledge upon which he 
has reared a fine superstructure indicative of 
broad intellectuality and valuable information. 
On the 3d of May, 1866, Mr. Reese assumed 
connubial responsibilities, since he was then 
united in marriage to Miss Mary Hildenbidtle, 
who had been for fourteen years a successful 



I4IO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and popular teacher in the district schools of 
Washington township arid who was a young 
lady of distinctive refinement. She was born 
in Nimishillen township, this county, where 
her father, John Hildenbidtle, was an early set- 
tler, and whence he removed to Washington 
township when she was seven years of age. 
He was a native of Pennsylvania and of stanch 
German ancestry, and he came to Stark county 
when a young man, from Lancaster county, 
that state. 

After his marriage the subject settled on the 
old homestead farm, and the following year he 
removed to the village of Freeburg, where he 
has since maintained his home, though he still 
retains possession of the old farm, as has pre- 
viously been intimated in this context. For 
a period of six years after his removal to the 
village Mr. Reese was incumbent of the office 
of postmaster, and in connection with his of- 
ficial duties he also conducted a grocery for 
two years, while his wife assumed the practical 
charge of the postoflice after he had disposed 
of his grocery business. He then purchased 
an interest in a sawmill, and has since contin- 
ued to be associated in the operation of the 
same, also conducting a prosperous lumber 
business and being known as one of the pro- 
gressive and representative business men of the 
town. In 1888 he purchased the old home- 
stead, which he has since rented, and from 
which he receives a good income. For nearly 
a quarter of a century Mr. Reese also carried 
on a successful threshing business, keeping the 
best sort of outfit for the purpose at all times 
and having the patronage of the farmers 
througliout a wide radius of country. He dis- 
posed of his interests in this line in 1901. 

Although he was reared in the Democratic 
faith, Mr. Reese early became convinced that 
the principles of the Republican party were best 
intended to conserve the prosperity and well- 
being of the nation, and he showed the courage 
of his convictions by casting his first vote in 



support of the "grand old party," of which he 
has ever since been a stanch adherent, while he 
has been a leader in its local ranks. He served 
for three years as assessor of Washington 
township, and in 1877 he was elected to the 
office of justice of the peace, in which he has 
served consecutively to the present time, with 
the exception of an interim of six months, hav- 
ing thus been incumbent for a full quarter of a 
centur}', while his administration has been such 
as to conserve peace and good will instead of 
promoting litigation and personal animosities. 
In the autumn of 1899 he was nominated and 
elected to the office of director of the county 
infirmary, and his interposition has proved of 
marked benefit in the handling of this worthy 
eleemosynary institution, where the unfortu- 
nate wards of the county are cared for in an 
effective manner, and he has been clerk of the 
toard of directors from the time of being in- 
ducted into office, having been re-elected to the 
office of director in the autumn of 1902. Mr. 
Reese is not formally identified \\\i\\ any re- 
ligious organization, but he has ever given a 
ready support to church work. Of their nine 
children we enter the following brief record : 
John A. is engaged in the mason business in 
Louisville, this count}'; ;\manda M. is the 
wife of Byron O. Meese, of Washington town- 
ship ; Harry is engaged in the Lake Erie, Alli- 
ance & Southern shops in the city of Alli- 
ance, this county; Joseph H. resides in the 
village of Minerva, where he is devoting his 
attention to carpenter v.ork ; Jeanet E. died at 
the age of eleven da}'s; Arden O. remains at 
the parental home, as do also Robert F., Maud 
and Alfred B. 



CHRISTOPHER T. SWALLEN is a 
native son of tlie Buckeye state, having been 
born on a farm in Brown township, Carroll' 
county, Ohio, on the 7th of June, 1847, and 
being a son of Christian and Elizabeth 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1411 



(Schory) Swallen, to whom were bona nine 
children, of whom five are yet jiving, namely: 
Sophia, who resides in the city of Alliance; 
Henry R., of Paris township, of whom indi- 
vidual mention is made elsewhere in this vol- 
ume; Christopher T., who is the subject of this 
review ; Albert, who is a resident of the city of 
Alliance; and William L., who resides in 
Corea, where he has been for the past nine 
3-ears engaged in missionary work as an emis- 
sary of the Presbyterian church. Christian 
Swallen was born in Switzerland, where he 
was reared to the age of twelve years, when he 
accompanied his parents on their emigration 
to America. They came to Canton, this coun- 
ty, which was then a mere village, and shortly 
afterward they removed over into Carroll 
county, where Grandfather Swallen took up 
a tract of wild land, in Brown township, where 
he reclaimed a good farm and where he passed 
the remainder of his life. On this old liome- 
stead Christian Swallen was reared to man- 
hood, and for a number of years after attain- 
ing maturity he had charge of the fai'm. 
In 1859 he removed with his family to Stark 
county and purchased a farm in Paris town- 
ship, the same having been partially im- 
proved, and here, as the years fell into the 
abyss of time, he made the best of improve- 
ments and developed one of the valuable farms 
of the county, the property being now owned 
by his daughter Sophia. Here he remained 
until his death, at the age of sixty-seven years. 
He was a man of energy and sterling charac- 
ter, and while he was industrious and pro- 
gressive he was unassuming and kindly in all 
the relations of life and held as his own the 
unmitigated confidence and regard of the com ■ 
munity in which he lived and labored to so 
goodly ends, while he is to be remembered as 
one of the honored pioneers of this portion of 
the county. He was a stanch Democrat in his 
political proclivities, and both he and his wife 
Avere consistent and valued members of the 



Reformed church. His wife was born in Ber- 
lin, Switzerland. 

Christopher T. Swallen was about twelve 
years of age at the time when his parents re- 
moved to Stark county, and he was reared 
under the sturdy discipline of the farm and 
gained that practical knowledge of means and 
methods which has proved of so inestimable 
value to him in his independent operations 
along this important and beneficent line of in- 
dustry. As a boy the major portion of his 
time was demanded in connection with the 
work of the farm, and thus, like the average 
youth of the locality and period, he received 
but limited educational advantages, attending 
the district school at irregular intervals and in 
a desultory and perfunctory manner. How- 
ever, he thus laid an adequate basis for that 
excellent practical education which he has since 
gained in the broad school of experience. On 
the 24th of .September, 1870, Air. Swallen was 
united in marriage to Aliss Amanda Stuckey, 
of Washington township, she having been born 
on the farmstead now owned by our subject 
and being a daughter of Samuel Stuckey. who 
came to Stark county from Pennsylvania and 
took up his residence in Washington township, 
where he cast in his lot with its early settlers 
and here passed the residue of his life. After 
his marriage Mr. Swallen located on the farm 
of his father-in-law, and conducted the same 
"on shares" for a -number of years. After the 
death of his wife's parents he purchased the 
interests of the other heirs and has since re- 
tained the ownership of the place, which com- 
prises ninet}'-nine acres and which is one of the 
most valuable places in this section. He de- 
A'otes his attention to diversified agriculture 
and has used such discrimination as to gain the 
maximum returns from his efforts, while he 
has erected the present substantial and at- 
tractive buildings which add to the appearance 
of unmistakable thrift and prosperity and indi- 
cate the progressive spirit and excellent busi- 



I4I2 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ness methods of the owner. Air. Swallen is 
recognized as one of the influential men of the 
township and is held in the highest regard in 
the community where so many years of his 
earnest and useful life have been passed. In 
politics he is an uncompromising advocate of 
the principles of the Prohibition party, be- 
lieving that the liquor trafiic is one of the most 
menacing agencies with which our republic has 
to contend, and his religious faith is that of 
the German Baptist church, in which he holds 
the office of deacon, while his wife likewise is 
a devoted member of the church, both taking 
an earnest interest in the forwarding of its 
spiritual and temporal welfare. They have no 
children, but in their home they have reared 
with true parental kindliness and affection two 
orphaned brothers, David and TYederick 
Eshler, the former of whom is associated with 
our subject in the work of the farm, while the 
latter is married and retains his residence in 
the city of Canton, where he is engaged in the 
Canton Rubber Works. 

The Stuckey family, of Swiss ancestry, 
came to \'irginia prior to the Revolutionary 
war and later went to Pennsylvania, and in 
1811 settled in Washington township. Stark 
county, where he and his wife (Samuel and 
Catherine (Studebaker) Stuckey) passed the 
remainder of their lives. They had ten chil- 
dren : Jacob, San.uel. Simon, Abram, Daniel, 
Elizabeth, Barbara, Catherine, Susan and Han- 
nah. Samuel, Jr., was born in Pennsyl- 
vania in 1804 and was eight years old when 
he came to Stark county. He married Cath- 
arine Burgert, daughter of David and Cath- 
arine (Heffner) Burgert, she a native of 
Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of 
eleven children, Simon, Herbert, Eliza (de- 
ceased), Mary, Adaline, Sarah, I-ydia Ann, 
Harriet (deceased), Amanda, Lucinda, and 
Catharine, Airs. Swallen being tlie tenth in 
order of birth. 



WALTER S. TAYLOR, AI. D., is a native 
son of the old Buckeye state, having been born 
in North Benton, Mahoning county, Ohio, on 
the i6th of August, 1875, ^i""^ being a son of 
Hugh S. and Catherine (Shaffer) Taylor, of 
whose nine children eight are still living, 
namely : Robert, Enlow, iNlartin and Emlon, 
all of whom are engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits in Alahoning county; Marion, who has- 
charge of the old homestead farm in that coun- 
ty; Margaret, at home; Waller S., who is the 
immediate subject of this sketch, and Frank, 
who is a representative young member of the 
bar of Portage county, maintaining his resi- 
dence in Fremont, Ohio. The Taylor family 
has been identihed with the annals of Mahon- 
ing county from the early pioneer epoch, as is 
evident from the fact that the father of the 
Doctor is likewise a native of that county, hav- 
ing been born on the farm where he now re- 
sides, in the year 1826, his parents having 
been numbered among the first settlers in that 
county. He was reared under the conditions 
and influences of pioneer life, and after his 
marriage he assumed charge of the home farm, 
which he purchased after the death of his- 
father, and there he has made his home from, 
the time of his birth to the present, a period of 
more than three-quarters of a century. The- 
homestead comprises one liundred acres, but 
Mr. Taylor was signally prospered in his ef- 
forts and acquired a landed estate of about 
five hundred acres, which in recent years he 
has divided among his children. In politics 
he maintains an independent attitude, exer- 
cising his franchise in support of men and 
measures rather than being guided by strict 
partisan dictates. He and his wife are con- 
sistent and valued members of the Presbyterian, 
church. 

Dr. Taylor grew up under the invigorating . 
influences of the home farm, waxing strong in 
mental and physical vigor and securing his- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1413 



preliminary educational discipline in the dis- 
trict schools, after which he entered the high 
school at Alliance, Stark county, where he was 
graduated as a member of the class of 1895. 
In the autumn of the succeeding year he was 
matriculated in the medical department of the 
University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where 
he continued his technical studies for one year, 
at the expiration of which, in the autumn of 
1897, he entered the Ohio Medical University, 
in the city of Columbus, where he completed 
the prescribed course and was graduated in the 
spring of 1900, receiving his degree of Doctor 
of Medicine and being amply fortified for the 
practical work of his profession. Shortly after 
his graduation Dr. Taylor located in the city 
of Canton, this county, where he served his 
practical novitiate, being there established in 
practice about seven months, within which 
period, on the loth of October, 1900, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Margaret M. Fort- 
ney, of Sterling, Wayne county, Ohio, a daugh- 
ter of Thomas Fortney, who is now a resi- 
dent of New Pittsburg, that county. In Feb- 
ruary, 1 90 1, Dr. Taylor came to the village 
of Maximo, and here, within the comparatively 
short period of his residence in the village, 
he has built up a gratifying practice and one 
that shows an unmistakable accumulative 
tendency, for his professional ability and 
pleasing personality have brought him into 
marked favor and given him precedence in his 
chosen field of endeavor. The Doctor also 
holds a diploma granted him by the Protestant 
Hospital, in Columbus, where he served as 
interne from April, 1899, until the time of his 
graduation in the university, his clinical ex- 
perience in this connection being of varied 
character and of inestimable value to him in a 
practical way. In politics the Doctor gives an 
unequivocal allegiance to the Republican party, 
in whose cause he takes a deep interest. In 
the spring of 1902 he was the nominee of the 
party for the office of justice of the peace, and 



was elected by a gratifying majority. He and 
his wife are zealous members of the Presbyte- 
rian church, in whose work they take an active 
part, while they enjoy distinctive popularity in 
the social circles of the community in which 
thev have their home. 



ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH.— Not to a 
work of this nature is the privilege of entering 
more than incidental record concerning the 
great and all pervading influence which the 
holy Catholic church has exerted in connection 
with the history of Stark county, and yet from 
no compilation which touches the generic iiis- 
tory of this section of the Union can there be 
eliminated frequent and appreciative references 
to those noble emissaries of the gracious mother 
church who have here lived and labored for the 
salvation of souls and the furtherance of the 
Master's cause. From the earliest period un- 
til the present time, when the majestic twentieth 
century swings into the cycle of the ages, there 
have been found within the borders of the state 
of Ohio priests of the church who have lived 
lives of high consecration and utmost useful- 
ness, "rejoicing in hope, patience in tribulation, 
continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the 
necessity of saints, given to hospitality," and 
with the utmost self-abnegation giving them- 
selves and their li\-es to the work which stands 
for the only ultimate good in human life and 
human accomplishment. The work of the early 
missionaries was such as to merit a volume in 
record, for theirs it was to condescend to men 
of low estate," "in weariness and painfulness, in 
watching often, in hunger and thirst, in cold 
and nakedness," ever holding to the mark of 
their high calling as servants in the vineyard 
of the Divine Master. Thus in this work will 
be found many incidental references to the 
holy Catholic church and its zealous workers 
in Stark county, and among the members of 
the priesthood in the diocese at the present 



I4I4 



OLD LANDMARKS 



times is Father Charles H. Gardner, who is in- 
stalled in charge of St. Joseph's church in the 
village of Maximo, and who has kindly sup- 
plied us with data concerning the history of 
his parish. 

The parish of St. Joseph in the village of 
Maximo was organized, under missionary 
auspices, in the year 1874, and the present 
church edifice was erected in 1874. The first 
priest to minister to the people of the parish, 
which was then attached as a mission of the 
church in the city of Alliance, was Father 
James O'Leary, who continued to look to the 
spiritual welfare of the parish until April, 
1882, when the church was transferred to the 
missionary supervision of the parish of Harris- 
burg, while it was then placed in pastoral 
charge of Rev. Father F. Senner, whose minis- 
trations continued until 1884, when Father A. 
Sauvedet was appointed to the station, where 
he remained until succeeded by Father J. P. 
Kunnert, in 1S86, and the latter was pastor 
until 1888, when Father J. J. Hetet was in- 
stalled and continued incumbent until the recall 
of his predecessor, in 1890. Father Kunnert 
then continued to serve the parish until Sep- 
tember 26, 1899, and after his regime, which 
was blessed with excellent results, Father 
Thomas Kolb filled in the interregnum until 
the appointment of the present pastor, on June 
15, 1900, as the first resident priest of the 
parish. Father Gardner has thn^wn the full 
force of his enthusiasm and energy into the 
work of the parish, and its spiritual and tem- 
poral affairs ha\-e been materially prospered 
under his able and devoted administration. Ex- 
tensive repairs have been made on the church 
buildings and a term of parochial school is now 
had each year, while, as before intimated, the 
church has, for the first time in its long his- 
tory, a resident priest. The parish has about 
forty families, of French and German descent, 
and Father Gardner is favored in having the 
earnest co-operaton, sympathy and affection of 



his people, so that he finds that his lines are 
cast in pleasant places and that he has abundant 
field for his consecrated and earnest labors. 



JOSEPH L. VESSERIAT is a native of 
Washington township, where he was born on 
the 2 1 St of November, 1866, and here he has 
passed essentially his entire life. He is a son 
of John C. and Margaret (Moinet) Vesseriat, 
of whose nine children seven are yet living, 
namely : Mary, who is the widow of August 
Jordon and resides in Chillicothe, Missouri ; 
Louis, who is a resident of Kent, this state; 
Louisa, who resides in the city of Canton, this 
county, being the widow of the late Joseph 
INIaudru, who was formerly treasurer of Stark 
county ; Charles, who is a resident of Ma.ximo ; 
Celesta, who remains at the parental home; 
Frank L., who is a resident of the city of In- 
dianapolis, Indiana; and Joseph L., the imme- 
diate subject of this sketch. The father was 
born in Barraux, France, in the year 1816,. 
where he was reared to the age of seventeen 
years, when he came with his parents to the 
United States, his father, Benoit Vesseriat, 
coming to Stark county and purchasing two- 
hundred and forty acres of land in \\'ashington 
township. This estate eventually came into the 
possession of his sons, John C. and Celestine.. 
As a young- man the former of these two broth- 
ers went to Randolph, Portage county, where 
he .served an apprenticeship at the trade of 
shoemaking, and lie then went to the city of 
Louisville, Kentucky, where he was employed 
as a journeyman at his trade about three years. 
In 1845 he returned to the old homestead in 
Washington township, and shortly afterwards 
was married, and thereafter he continued to 
work at his trade in the village of Maximo 
until 1 85 1, when he returned to the farm, 
which he and his brother Celestine purchased 
at this time, and here he continued to be en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits until his death. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY. OHIO. 



1415 



in 1 89 1, his demise occurring six days subse- 
quently to liis seventy-filth birthday anniver- 
sary. He had developed and admirably im- 
proved the one hundred and sixty asres of the 
old homestead, which represented his portion of 
the purchase and the same is still held intact 
by his estate. Since his death his widow has 
resided with her son Joseph, subject of this 
review. She was born near Bedford, France, 
being a daughter of Frank and Magdelene 
(Juif) Moinet, both of whom were born in 
France, whence they came to Stark county in the 
pioneer days. She is a devoted communicant of 
the Catholic church, as was also her honored 
husband, and he was a stanch Democrat in his 
political proclivities, and though never a seeker 
for public office he was called upon to serve 
as township supervisor and also as school di- 
rector, while his integrity was beyond cavil 
and he held the esteem and confidence of all 
who knew him. 

Joseph L. Vesseriat, whose name introduces 
this sketch, was reared to maturity under the 
gracious influences of a good home, in all the 
name implies, and as he was born after his fa- 
ther's removal to the farm he early began to lend 
his aid in this work, while he received such educa- 
tional advantages as were afforded in the pub- 
lic schools of the locality, later supplementing 
this by a course of study in Duff's Commercial 
College, in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 
where he well fortified himself for the active 
responsibilities of an active business career. 
In 1892 he located in the city of Alliance, 
where he worked at the plumber's trade alx)ut 
two years, and his college business course was 
taken subsequently to this time. After his re- 
turn from Pittsburg he accepted a clerical po- 
sition in the mercantile establishment of J. A. 
Shaffer, in Maximo, and incidentally served as 
assistant postmaster, thus continuing from 
1895 until 1898. In February, 1900, he re- 
ceived from Governor Xash his appointment as 
notary public, in which office he has since con- 



tinued to serve, while in the spring of 1902 he 
was elected to the ofi'ice of township clerk, of 
which he is still incumbent and in which he has 
handled the records and duties committed to 
his charge with admirable ability, gaining un- 
qualified commendation from the public, irre- 
spective of political allegiance. He is himself 
an unwavering supporter of the principles and 
policies of the Democratic party and maintains 
a lively and intelligent interest in the questions 
and issues of the day. In 1894 he was elected 
township assessor and continued in tenure of 
this office three years, while he has been called 
upon to serve as administrator of various es- 
tates, whose affairs he has handled with con- 
summate judgment and ability, thus adding ma- 
terially to his just hold on popular confidence 
and esteem. He is a communicant of the 
Catholic church, in whose faith he was reared, 
and for a number of years he served as treas- 
urer of St. Joseph's parish, in Maximo. Mr. 
Vesseriat has not yet been cajoled into entering 
the ranks of benedicts, and his mother presides 
over the domestic economies of his bachelor 
home, which is a favorite rendezvous for his 
many friends. In 1895 he served as deputy 
treasurer of Stark county, holding this office 
about eighteen months. 



JOSEPH SHAFFER.— Although of Ger- 
man lineage, the Shaffers originally lived in 
Alsace, France (now a province of the German 
empire), and in an early day representatives of 
the family came to the United States and set- 
tled in Pennsylvania. William Shaffer, the 
subject's grandfather, was bom and reared in 

that state and there married Sophia , a 

native of Wurtemburg, Germany. As early 
as 1816 this couple left their Pennsylvania 
home and moved to the newly settled country 
of eastern Ohio, locating in what is now Wash- 
ington township, Stark county. About one 
year later ]\[r. Shaft'er acquired a tract of land 



I4I6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



in section 10, one mile novtlieast of the sub- 
ject's present place of residence, and in due 
time developed a fine farm, on which he and his 
good wife spent the remainder of their days. 
He appears to ha\-e been a man of great energy 
and from time to time added to his original 
purchase until he became the possessor of about 
six hundred and forty acres of land, much of 
which he cleared and reduced to cultivation. 
He was not only a highly successful farmer 
and enterprising business man, but also took the 
lead in his community in all matters making 
for the public welfare and his influence was al- 
ways exeixised for the good of his fellow men. 
\\'illiam and Sophia Shaffer reared a large 
family of six sons and seven daughters, all of 
whom grew to mature years and became the 
heads of families, and it is a remarkable fact 
that but one of these children died under the 
age of forty-eight. The father and mother 
of the family lived to be four score, one of the 
sons dying in his ninety-fifth year. 

Among the children of this excellent old 
couple was a son by the name of John, avIio 
was born in W^ashington township. Stark 
county, in 1S19. He was reared on the home 
farm, experienced the vicissitudes incident to 
life in a new country and grew up a strong, 
well developed man with a definite purpose to 
make the most of his opportunities. He re- 
mained with his parents until his marriage 
with Miss Margaret Cairns, when he settled on 
a small farm in section 10, wliere he lived tor 
a short time, subsequently, in partnership with 
his brother, purchasing the quarter section on 
which his son, the subject of this sketch, now 
resides. In the division of the estate, one 
hundred acres fell to John Shaffer and on this 
farm he spent the remainder of his life, dying 
in 1866 at the age of forty-seven vears, being 
the youngest member of the family to pass 
away. In politics he was a stanch Democrat 
and at one time filled the office of township 
trustee, besides being an active and influential 



worker for the success of his party under all 
circumstances. Religiously he was a Presby- 
terian and his life was in harmony with the 
rather strict training for which that church 
was formerly noted. Margaret Cairns, wife 
of John Shaffer, was born in 1814 in Dumfree- 
shire, Scotland, and at the age of twenty-four 
came to the United States with her parents, An- 
drew and Margaret Cairns, who settled in 
Washington township, Stark county, on a part 
of the farm now in possession of the subject of 
this review. Mrs. Shaffer bore her husband 
five children and survived him a number of 
years, dying in 1890. She was a woman of 
excellent judgment and strong powers of mind, 
a faithful wife and devoted mother, and her 
death was deeply lamented not only by her 
family but by a large circle of friends and ac- 
quaintances who learned to love her beautiful 
character and exemplary Christian life. Of 
the five children constituting the family of 
John and Margaret Shaffer all but one are liv- 
ing, their names being as follows : Andrew J., 
a farmer of Washington township; James A., 
of Maximo, Ohio; Jennie, wife of Charles F. 
Reickert, of Lexington township, and Joseph, 
whose name introduces this interview. 

Joseph Shaffer \\as born November 2j, 
1846, in Washington township. Stark county, 
Ohio, and spent his childhood and youthful 
years in close touch with nature on the home 
farm. He was taught the true nobility of labor 
and while still a lad assumed his share of the 
work and responsibility of running the place, 
the meanwhile looking carefully after his 
mother's interests, to whose welfare he contin- 
ued to devote his attention until her death, 
four years later. 

Mr. Shaft'er carries on general farming 
quite extensively and in addition thereto has 
achieved wide reputation as a successful 
raiser of fine live stock, his income from these 
sources resulting in a fortune of no small mag- 
nitude. Since his twentv-first vear, he has 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1417 



voted the Democratic ticket and at the present 
time is regarded as one of the inflnential mem- 
bers of his party in the township of \Vashing- 
ton. While not connected with any church or 
rehgious organization, he beheves in and has 
profound reverence for Christianity and in 
many ways has aided the good work in his 
neighborhood and elsewhere. He is a liberal 
contributor to different churches and all moral 
enterprises have his sanction and hearty sup- 
port. Standing for social reform and public 
order, he advocates a strict enforcement of the 
law and few have been more active and ener- 
getic in upholding the dignity of manly con- 
duct and good government. Mr. Shaffer is a 
single man, with no family ties of his own, 
notwithstanding which he has strong domestic 
tastes and is as great lover of home as those 
whose households resound to the laughter and 
music of childhood. 



HENRY ALDINGER is a native son of 
the Keystone state, having been born on the 
13th of May, 1846, and being the eldest of the 
three surviving of the four children born to 
Andrew and Catherine (Knoll) Aldinger. his 
brothers, Joseph and John, being residents of 
the village of Maximo, Stark county. The 
father of the subject was torn in the province 
■of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and when he 
was a child of three years his parents bade 
atlieu to the Fatherland and set sail for Ameri- 
ca, for the purpose of establishing a new home 
in a country where they felt that superior op- 
portunities were afforded for attaining a posi- 
tion of independence. They settled in the state 
of Pennsylvania, which had become the home 
of so many of their worthy countrymen, and 
there Andrew Aldinger was reared to maturity 
and securetl his educational training in the 
•common schools. He grew up on a farm and 
toil was his daily portion from his youth up. 
As a young man he was for some time engaged 



in rafting on the Ohio river, transporting prod- 
uce and other commodities by the primitive 
means then in vogue, and through the exposure 
thus entailed his health became impaired, the 
effects being particularly appreciative during 
the later years of his life, when he w-as much 
enfeebled. In 1853 he removed with his fam- 
ily to Stark county and took up his residence 
on the farm now owned and occupied by the 
subject of this sketch, in sections 9 and 16, 
Washington township, and here he continued 
to be engaged in agricultural pursuits until 
his death, which occurred in i860, at which 
time he was about fortj'-five years of age. He 
was a man of inflexible integrity, industrious 
and progressive and very active until the time 
came Avhen his health rendered it impossible 
for him to assume the more arduous work of 
his farm. He was, it is thought, a Democrat 
in his political proclivities and both he and his 
wife were devoted members of the United 
Brethren church. The mother of the subject 
was born in Pennsylvania, of stanch German 
ancestry, and she survived her husband by sev- 
eral years, being summoned into eternal rest in 
1900, at the age of eighty years. 

Henry Aldinger was about seven years of 
age at the time when his parents came to Stark 
county, and he was reared to manhood on the 
farm which is now" his home, his educational 
privileges being such as were afforded in the 
district schools of about a half-century ago, 
while his attendance in the same was desultory, 
since much of his time was demanded in con- 
nection with the work on the farm. He was 
but fourteen 3-ears of age at the time of his 
father's death, and as he was the eldest of the 
boys the major portion of the responsibility of 
the farm fell upon his youthful shoulders. 

He continued in cliarge of the homestead, 
comprising sixty-seven acres, up to the time 
when he purchased the property, in 1878, since 
which time he has devoted his attention to its 
improvement and cultivation, having erected ex- 



I4i8 



OLD LANDMARKS 



cellent buildings and brought the land to the 
highest state of productivity. He is stanchly 
arrayed in support of the Democratic party, 
but is not insistently partisan in local affairs, 
preferring to cast his vote in support of men 
and measures m.eeting the approval of his 
judgment. He has been called upon to serve 
in offices of trust and responsibility, this fact 
not only indicating his eligibility but also the 
confidence and esteem reposed in him by the 
people of the community in which he has lived 
from his childhood to the present time. He 
served two terms as trustee of Washington 
township, and, with interregnums of varying 
length, has been incumbent of the office of 
township treasurer for a total of about twelve 
years. He is in tenure of this position at the 
present time, and the fiscal affairs of the town- 
ship are administered with economy and 
marked business judgment as placed in his 
keeping, and that popular appreciation of this 
fact is not lacking is evident from his having 
been again and again called to the office. He 
has served as a member of the Democratic 
county central committee on several different 
occasions and has been a valued factor in the 
promotion of the party cause in this section. 

In October, 1873, ^I'"- Aldinger was united 
in marriage to Miss Mary Fox, who was born 
in Stark county, being a daughter of John Fox, 
an honored pioneer farmer of Washington 
township, and she has proved to him a true 
helpmeet and devoted companion. Of their 
four children two are deceased, Ida, who died 
at the age of twenty-eight years, and an infant. 
The two surviving are Orpha and Charles, 
both of whom remain at the parental home. 



JOHNSON GRANT is a native of Stark 
county, Ohio, and was born in Mount Union, 
December 13, 1839, a son of Josiah and Tabi- 
tha (Johnson) Grant, who were the parents 



of three children, of whom two are still living, 
viz : Johnson of this record, and Jennie, wife 
of William Reck, of Bradford, Pennsylvania. 
The deceased brother, whose name was like- 
wise William, died at home from disease con- 
tracted in the army while in the pursuit of the 
rebel general, John Morgan. 

Josiah Grant, father of Johnson Grant, was 
a native of New Jersey and was born about 
1816. Stacey Grant, father of Josiah, and his 
brother John were among the earliest settlers 
of this section of Stark county, but from a 
fear of the Indians left their families in New 
Jersey. Stacey Grant entered a farm in Al- 
liance and his brother John entered just back 
of. him, on what is now known as West Main 
street, in Alliance, where the Indians were still 
troublesome, so that the brothers were fre- 
quently compelled to flee to Salem for safety. 
These brothers, it is said, were first cousins of 
Jesse Grant, father of General U. S. Grant. 
Shortly after settling here the brothers sent 
for their families, and here they passed the 
remainder of life, the grandfather of Johnson 
being eighty-two years old at the time of his 
death. Josiah Grant was reared a farmer, but 
later learned the wagonmaker's trade and after 
marriage lived a short time in Mount Union, 
where he worked at his trade until his removal 
to his farm of forty acres, a mile and a quarter 
south of Mount Union, upon which farm he 
died eventually, his wife dying about eleven 
years later. 

Josiah. when twenty-one years of age,, 
located in Alliance, where he worked at his 
trade until his death, at the age of seventy-si.K 
years. His wife was a daughter of Simon 
Johnson, who came from Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, to Stark county, Ohio, in a very 
earlv day and entered a section of land in 
Washington township, one-quarter of which is 
that now occupied by the Children's Home. He 
gave each of his children a farm, but not one of 
them is at present practicing" his profession. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1419 



Grandfather Johnson, on setthng in Stark 
county, occupied a log hut in the wilder- 
ness, a blanket serving for a door, through 
which the bears and wolves chased the house- 
dog with impunity, and here the grandfather 
lived to be seventy-seven years of age. John- 
son Grant, after the death of his mother, went 
to live with this grandfather, remained until 
eighteen years old, then went to Wood county, 
Ohio, and there passed a year at work for his 
uncle. Col. B. W. Johnson, and then returned to 
Stark county and took charge of the home farm, 
which had by that time come into his posses- 
sion. In 1 86 1 Mr. Grant rented out his farm, 
and' in October enlisted in Gen. Jolm C. Fre- 
mont's tody buards at Benton Barracks, St. 
Louis, Missouri, and served about three months, 
when they were disbanded for the reason that 
Fremont was superseded by Gen. Halleck. 
Mr. Grant then returned home and at once en- 
listed in Company K, Seventy-sixth Ohio Vol- 
unteer Infantry, with which he took part in the 
siege of Fort Donelson and the battle of Shiloh : 
next he fought at Corinth; then went with 
General Grant to Vicksburg and Jackson. Mis- 
sissippi, and later, retaking' the latter city, went 
to Chattanooga to relieve General Rosecrans ; 
then went to Lookout Mountain, and thence to 
Missionary Ridge, Ringgold and Resaca, and 
later joined General Sherman in his famous 
march to the sea, and with him forward on to 
Washington, D. C, where he participated in 
the grand review. 

From this city Mr. Grant was sent to Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, where he was soon afterward 
honorably discharged from the service. The 
only mishap that befel ]Mr. Grant while in the 
army was a wound sustained at Dallas, 
Georgia, from the effects of which he so suf- 
fered that it was necessary to confine him in the 
corps hospital for two months. On recuperat- 
ing ]\Ir. Grant returned to his home and resided 
on his farm for ten years, and during that per- 
iod added fourteen acres to his estate. In 1876 



he traded off his old homestead for his present 
home of eighty-seven acres. 

Mr. Grant, who is acknowledged by all his 
neighbors to be one of the leading and most ex- 
perienced farmers of the county, has made a 
specialty of Jersey cattle, and is one of the most 
successful dairymen in the county, his output 
being that which is known as the "Fairmount 
Jersey Farm" milk, cream and butter, being 
largely sought after at the best market prices. 

In 1866 Johnson Grant was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Jennie Hilles, of this township, 
and a daughter of Enos Hilles, a prominent 
early settler from Pennsylvania. The union here 
alluded to has been graced with two children, 
namely : Willis, a graduate of Mount Union 
College and of Harvard College, and at present 
a professor in a high school in Pittsburg, and 
Lawrence, at home. 

In politics Mr. Grant is a sturdy Repub- 
lican, and has been satisfied with serving his 
party and fellow citizens as township trustee. 

Fraternally Mr. Grant is a member of John 
C. Fremont Post No. 729, Grand Army of the 
Republic, of Alliance, and is Master of Fair- 
mount Grange No. 1458, Patrons of Husband- 
ry, his eminent abilities as an agriculturist read- 
ily pointing him out as the proper person to 
fill the important position. Socially he and fam- 
ily mingle with the best people of Washington 
township, by whom they are greatly honored. 



JOSIAH A. LUTZ comes of stanch Ger- 
man ancestry in the agnatic line, and the fam- 
ily was early founded in the old Keystone state 
of Pennsylvania, from which its representatives 
have been dissem.inated throughout the most 
diverse sections of the Union. He was born on 
his present farm, in section 31, Washington 
township, on the 2d of November, 1849, being 
the only child of Abraham and Elizabeth 
(Folk) Lutz. His father was reared to matur- 
ity in the state of Pennsylvania, whence he came 



I420 



OLD LANDMARKS 



to Stark county, Ohio, in the 'twenties and be- 
came one of the pioneers of \\'ashington town- 
ship, where he continued to reside for several 
years. Early in tlie 'thirties he purchased and 
removed to the farm now owned by his son, 
and here he continued to be engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits until his death, while he also 
devoted much attention to the Avork of his trade, 
being a skilled carpenter and having erected a 
number of the first frame barns built in this 
section of the county. He was twice married, 
and of the six children of his first union five are 
yet living, namely : Sarah, Catherine, Eliza- 
beth, Rlargaretta and Daniel. The mother of 
■our subject was born in Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania, and she likewise was twice mar- 
ried, her first husband having been Frederick 
Herbster, to whom she bore eight children, of 
whom the six surviving are as follows : John, 
Jacob, Peter, Mary, Elizabeth and Catherine. 
The honored father of the subject died in the 
year 1854, and his widow survived him by 
nearly a score of years, entering into eternal 
Test in 1 87 1. 

Josiah A. Lutz, the immediate subject of 
this review, was reared under the invigorating 
influence of the homestead farm, and his edu- 
cational advantages were such as were afforded 
in the public schools of the locality and period. 
After his father's death the farm was sold with 
the exception of his mother's dower rights, 
which she retained in her possession until her 
death. In 1870 our subject and his half-broth- 
er, Peter Herbster, repvnxhased the old home- 
stead in its entirety, and continued to be asso- 
ciated in its operation until 1883, when Mr. 
Lutz purchased his brother's interest, and thus 
became the sole owner of the farm upon which 
he was born, while he has added to its original 
area by the purchase of a contiguous tract and 
now has one hundred and one and a half acres. 
The farm is maintained under a high state of 
cultivation, giving evidence of thrift and pros- 
perity and also of the scrupulous care bestowed 



by a progressive and energetic owner, while the 
improvements on the place are of substantial 
and attractive order. He commands the uni- 
forni esteem of the people of the community in 
which he has passed his entire life, and takes a 
public-spirited interest in all that touches the 
general welfare. In politics he is a stanch ad- 
herent of the Republican party, but he has never 
sought the honor or emoluments of public 
ooffice. He and his wife are valued members of 
the Lutheran church. 

On the 27th of April, 1873, Mr. Lutz was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary Horn, who 
was born in Nimishillen township, this county, 
on the 22d of January, 1849, being a daughter 
of Christian and Magdalena Horn, honored 
pioneers of that section, where Mr. Horn died 
a number of years ago. His widow is still liv- 
ing and has attained the extremely venerable 
age of ninety-one years, while she retains re- 
markable vigor for one of her many years. To 
'Sir. and I\Irs. Lutz were born nine children, 
and the six survi\ing remain on the old home- 
stead where they were Ijorn, their names being 
as follows: Har\ey, Edward, Ida I\I., Emma 
F., Xorman and Charles. The devoted wife 
and mother was called upon to answer the in- 
exorable summons of death in January, 1889, 
having held the afi'ectionate regard of all who 
knew her. On the 25th of December, 1892, 
Mr. Lutz consummated a second marriage, be- 
ing then united to Miss Mary J. Sells, who was 
born in Washington township, being a daughter 
of John Sells, who is now a resident of the state 
of Michigan. No children have been born of 
this marriage. 



BERNOUILl J. G. WILLIARD is a na- 
tive son of the Buckeye state, having been born 
in New Lisbon, Columbiana county, Ohio, on 
Christmas day of the year 1831, and being ai 
son of Jacob G. and Christina A. (Getzen- 
daner) Williard. of whose eight children only 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



I42» 



three are now living, our subject being the eld- 
est of these, while the other two are Catherine, 
who is a maiden lady and resides in Home- 
worth, Columbiana county, and Andrew Jack- 
son, who is a representative attorney of that 
place. The father of the subject was born near 
Middletown, Frederick county, Maryland, on 
the 17th of April, 1801, coming of fine old 
French Huguenot stock. His parents were 
likewise natives of Marjdand, but his great- 
grandparents in the agnatic line were natives of 
France, whence, as did many other of the un- 
fortunate Huguenots, they lied to Holland to 
escape the atrocious persecutions incidental to 
the revocation of the edict of Nantes. From 
Holland they emigrated to America in the year 
1 64 1 and located in ^^laryland, where they ac- 
quired about two thousand acres of land, while 
a brother of this emigrant ancestor went from 
Holland to England and thence came, in 1635, 
to America and settled in Massachusetts. One 
of his descendants, Francis Williard, became 
governor of the state of Indiana, and many 
members of both the ^Maryland and Massachu- 
setts branches became eminent at the bar and 
in the ministry, Rev. George W. Williard, D. 
D., LL. D., having been for many years presi- 
dent of Heidelberg College, at Tiffin, Seneca 
county, Ohio, one of the leading educational 
institutions conducted under the auspices of the 
Reformed church, while he became widely 
known as a minister of the gospel and as an 
educator and editor, his son George P. being at 
the present time one of the leading physicians 
and surgeons in Tiffin. The paternal grand- 
mother of our subject was a native of Holland, 
her maiden name having been Grove, and was 
a member of an old and distinguished family of 
that country, and in recent years her descent in 
the United States have been making efforts to 
secure their just share of her heritage from an 
estate of twenty million dollars in Holland. 

Jacob G. Williard, father of the subject, was 
reared in his native state and there received a 



thorough collegiate education, while as a young 
man he adopted civil engineering as a pro- 
fession, having been thoroughly trained in the 
same. In 1822 he came to Ohio and located in 
Dayton, where one of his uncles had previously 
taken up his abode, and there he was tendered 
and accepted a professorship in a local college, 
but he retained the incumbency but a short time 
and then went to Sandusky, where he was en- 
gaged in teaching for a brief interval. He was 
then induced to take up his residence in Colum- 
biana county and to assume pedagogic work 
there. After teaching for a time in the district 
schools of the pioneer epoch he located in the 
village of New Lisbon, that county, where both 
he and his wife taught school for several years. 
He then gave up this line of endeavor and 
turned his attention to surveying, being later 
elected county surveyor and retaining the office 
a number of years, within which he did much 
important work. He surveyed the Sandy & 
Beaver canal, and incidentally it may be stated 
that his son, the subject of this review, stood. 
by the side of Benjamin Hanna, father of Sena- 
tor Marcus Hanna, when he turned the first 
shovelful of earth at the initiating of the con- 
struction of the canal, he having been at the 
time president of the canal company. Jacob G. 
Williard was later elected to the office of treas- 
urer of Columbiana county and was recognized 
as a man of distinctive influence and ability. In 
1848 he came to Washington township. Stark 
county, where he had purchased a half section 
of land about a decade previously, and here he 
built what was at the time considered the best 
farm house in the county. He continued to de- 
vote his attention to the improvement and cul- 
tivation of his farm until 1858, when he was 
elected county surveyor and removed to the city 
of Canton, and he later was incumbent of the 
office at different times, his entire period of ser- 
vice in this capacity covering twelve years, 
while there remain on the county records many 
evidences of his efficient work in this line. He 



1422 



OLD LANDMARKS 



also served for a number of years as city engi- 
neer of Canton and was in tenure of his posi- 
tion at the time of his death, which occurred on 
the 17th of April. 1878. His political alle- 
giance was given to the Democratic party and 
his religious faith was that of the Reformed 
church, while he was numbered among the early 
members of the Masonic fraternity in the state. 
He was one of the best known and most influ- 
ential citizens of this section, a man of fine in- 
tellectuality and high character, and he held the 
uniform esteem of all with whom he came in 
contact. His wife, Christina A. (Getzendaner) 
Williard, was born near Frederick City, Mary- 
land, on the 1 6th of April, 1S04, being a daugh- 
ter of Jacob Getzendaner, who was a wealthy 
and influential manufacturer, owning and 
operating extensive woolen mills at George- 
town, Maryland, while he resided on his line 
estate, of about three hundred acres, lying con- 
tiguous to the corporate limits of Frederick 
City. Mrs. Williard was afforded the best of 
educational advantages, having completed a 
collegiate course and having been an accom- 
plished musician. The first piano ever brought 
to New Lisbon, Ohio, was hers, and while she 
was engaged in teaching in Stark county one 
of her pupils was the mother of the late la- 
mented President McKinley. Mrs. Williard, a 
woman of noble and gracious character, pre- 
ceded her husband into eternal rest by two 
years, her death having occurred in the city of 
Canton, on the i8th of April, 1876, while she, 
like her husband, had been a devoted member 
of the Reformed church. The father of the 
subject acquired extensive landed interests in 
Ohio, owning two entire sections in Williams 
county, one section in what is now Beaver 
township, Mahoning county, two hundred and 
twenty acres near New Lisbon, Columbiana 
county, and eighty acres on which the village 
of Guildford, that county, was platted, while 
he also owned town property in Canton and 
New Lisbon. 



Bernoulli J. G. Williard, the immediate 
subject of this sketch, passed his early youth 
in his native town of New Lisbon, Columbiana 
county, where he attended the public schools 
and also received most excellent instruction 
under the guidance of his honored father, who 
had been an advanced and able educator, as has 
been previously noted, while he also had the 
superior advantages implied in a cultured and 
refined home. During his school vacations he 
assisted in his father's office, and at the age oi 
fifteen years he was appointed his father's 
deputy in the oftice of county treasurer. At 
the age of seventeen years he assumed the man- 
agement of his father's farm in Stark county, 
whither the family had removed within the 
year he attained the age noted, and he continued 
to superintend the management of the farming 
and stock interests of this homestead until the 
time of his marriage. At the age of eighteen 
he began teaching in the district schools of 
Washington township during the winter terms 
and thus continued for a number of years, prov- 
ing one of the popular and successful teachers 
of the county, while during the intervening 
summer seasons he gave his attention to the 
farm. In 1858 he was married and shortly 
afterward he settled on his present homestead 
farm of sixty acres, in section 25, Washington 
township, having purchased the property two 
years previously. Later he acquired ninety 
acres adjoining this on the east, and he utilized 
the entire farm until 189S, when he sold the 
ninety acres. He has for many years devoted 
his attention largely to the raising of high-grade 
live stock, feeding a large number of cattle 
during the winter months and then placing the 
stock on the market. His farm is one of the 
model places of the county, and its permanent 
improvements are of most substantial and at- 
tractive order, including a commodious and 
pleasant residence, which is a center of cordial 
and refined hospitality. In politics Mr. Wil- 
liard is a stanch advocate of the basic principles 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1423 



of the Democratic party, but in local affairs, 
where no issue is involved, he is liberal, giving 
his support to the men and measures approved 
by his judgment. He served one term as town- 
ship clerk and has been for many years a val- 
ued member of the school board of his district. 
He early devoted his attention to the reading 
of the law, and has gained a concise and dis- 
criminating knowledge of the science of juris- 
prudence and its practical application, while he 
has practiced in the minor courts for the past 
forty years, though never foi^mally admitted to 
the bar. He is a zealous and devoted member 
of the Presbyterian church, as are also his wife 
and children, and when about five more years 
shall have elapsed he will have served a full 
half century as an elder in the church. Fra- 
ternally he is identified with the time-honored 
order of Free and Accepted Masons. 

On the 15th of September, 185S, Mr. Wil- 
liard was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
Beer, who was born in Columbiana county, 
Ohio, being a daughter of James and Elizabetli 
(McClellen) Beer, honored pioneers of that 
county, and of this union have been born seven 
children, namely: Lillie A., who is the wife 
of Martin Bechtel, of Washington township : 
Grace E., who is tlie wife of John C. Unger, of 
Marlboro township; Mary E., who is a grad- 
uated physician and is now following the pro- 
fession of a trained nurse in Elgin, Illinois ; 
James B., wdio is a successful farmer and stock- 
grower of Washington township, as is also 
Walter G. ; Margaret A., who remains at the 
parental home; and Susan B., who is the wife 
of William McOuilkin, of Homeworth, Colum- 
biana countv. 



GEORGE G. TAYLOR was born on the 
30th of September, 1869, on the old homestead, 
on section 27, Canton township, being a son 
of Samuel and Mary C. (Wigginton) Taylor, 
the former of wdiom was born in Jefferson coun- 



ty, Ohio, being a representative of one of the 
honored pioneer families of the Buckeye state, 
and the date of his nativity having been Janu- 
ary 9, 1815. He was reared in his native 
county, receiving a common-school education, 
and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits 
up to the time of coming to Canton township, 
Stark county, where he purchased the farm now 
occupied by his widow and their only son, and 
here he became known as one of the representa- 
tive citizens of the township, making the best 
of improvements on his place and through his 
well directed efforts gaining a high degree of 
success. Here he continued to reside until 
his death, on the 19th of February, 1887, at 
the age of seventy-two years. He was a man 
of marked business ability and his reputation 
throughout life was untarnished by shadow of 
wrong or suspicion of evil. On the ist of 
October, 1868, in Canton township. Stark 
county, he was united in marriage to Mrs. 
Mary C. (Wigginton), Oyer, the widow of 
Christian Oyer. She was born in Virginia, 
on the 17th of June. 1833, and was there reared 
to the age of thirty-three years, when she ac- 
companied her parents on their removal to 
Ohio, the family locating in Stark county, 
where was solemnized her first marriage, no 
children being born of tliis union. Mrs. Tay- 
lor survives her honored husband and with her 
son remains on the old homestead, so hallowed 
to her by the memories and associations of the 
past. 

William G. Taylor, the immediate subject 
of this review, grew to manhood under the 
sturdy and invigorating discipline of the home 
farm,- and his educational advantages were such 
as were afforded in the public schools. He has 
had the wisdom to consider the industry of 
agriculture worthy of his best study and ef- 
forts, and thus has been eminently successful 
in carrying forward the work inaugurated so 
many years ago by his honored father. The 
farm comprises two hundred and fifty-five 



1424 



OLD LANDMARKS 



acres, and is one of the finest rural estates in 
the county, the buildings being of substantial 
order and well adapted to their respective uses, 
while the residence is spacious and attractive 
and provided with many modern improvements 
conducive to comfort and convenience. In his 
political proclivities, though never ambitious 
for office, Mr. Taylor is a stanch Republican, 
and his religious faith is indicated in liis mem- 
bership in Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal 
church in Canton township, in which he has 
been a prominent and active worker, doing all 
in his power to advance its spiritual and tem- 
poral welfare, while for several years he has 
held the office of steward of this church. His 
mother and wife are also members, as was his 
father, whose interest in religious work vras 
ever a vital and helpful one. 

In Rose township, Carroll county, Ohio, on 
the 6th of October, 1892, Mr. Taylor was 
united in marriage to Miss Margaret E. Weav- 
er, who was torn in that county, a daughter of 
David and Sarah H. Weaver. This happy 
union has been blessed with three children, — 
Howard S., Grace M. and Ray C. 



CORNELIUS AULTM AN.— Strong, true 
men are always benefactors. Their usefulness 
in the immediate and specific labors they per- 
form can be in a certain degree defined. I'he 
good they do through the forces they put in 
motion, and through the inspiration of their 
presence and example, is immeasurable by any 
finite gauge or standard of value. The death 
of such a man is a public calamity, because by 
it the country loses not only his active energy, 
but the stimulus of his personal presence and 
influence. There is, however, some compensa- 
tion for this loss in the memory of his services, 
the effect of his example and the continued 
fruitfulness of the activities he quickened into 
life. The late Cornelius Aultman was such 
a man. To epitomize his life and character 



within the limits which this work allows is im- 
possible. The force and power of his living 
presence are realized by the void his death has 
made. The clearness of his purpose, the sound- 
ness of his judgment, his tireless activity, his 
indomitable will, his achievements, have left 
their impress upon all who were in any way 
in touch with him or his life work. 

Cornelius Aultman was a native son of the 
old Buckeye state, having been born on a farm a 
few miles east of Canton, on the loth of March, 
1827, while his death occurred in Canton on 
the 26th of December, 1884. Hs father dying 
when he was but two years old, he was thrown 
largely upon his ov n resources. While still 
a youth he determined to strike out for himself 
and, leaving the farm, he went to Greentown 
where he entered the shop of Michael Wise 
for the purpose of learning the trade of wheel- 
wright, wheels for transport, mill construction 
and spinning comprising the main output. Sub- 
sequently Mr. Aultman, with his wife and 
child, in company with a party of friends, re- 
moved to Plainfield, Illinois, making the jour- 
ney by wagon, camping out of nights whi' " 
on the way. They remained for about one 
year in the locality, at the end of which time 
they returned to Greentown, where the sub- 
ject, in company with others, formed a busi- 
ness partnership that was more fruitful of far- 
reaching results than any that was ever known 
in this part of the country. 

One of the earliest men to perceive and en- 
deavor to meet the demands of agriculturists 
for improved farming machinery was Ephraim 
Ball, who, back in the 'forties, conducted a small 
plow shop in Greentown. Upon his return from 
Illinois Mr. Aultman secured employment in 
Mr. Ball's shop and in a remarkable short time 
had mastered all there was to be known of the 
trade. It is said that he was able to turn out 
more and l^etter work than any of his fellow 
workmen. He was endowed by nature with a 
splendid physiqiie, which was accompanied by 





fi^^'K/ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1441 



when he was united to Miss EHzabeth Young, 
who was born in that township in 1844, a daugh- 
ter of Jacob and EHzabeth (Sheffer) Young, 
the former of whom was born in the eastern 
part of the state, whither his parents emigrated 
from Ireland. After his marriage Josiah E. 
Schuffell continued his residence in Osnaburg 
until 1886, having fohowed various occupa- 
tions. In that year he established a general 
store in the town, and in this line of enterprise 
he has ever since continued, being one of the 
representative and influential citizens of the 
town and having attained si,iccess through in- 
defatigable and well-directed effort. He has 
been unfaltering in his allegiance to the Demo- 
cratic party, and has taken an active part in 
public affairs of a local nature, while his in- 
flexible integrity, his marked business ability 
and his personal popularity have led to his 
being chosen incumbent of various offices of 
trust. He served for many years as corpora- 
tion clerk and has held other local offices, ever 
commanding the unequivocal confidence and 
esteem of the community. Fraternally he is 
identified with the Knights of Pythias and the 
Junior Order of United American Mechanics. 
Both he and his wife are members of St. 
Paul's Reformed church, in whose work they 
have taken an active part for many years. To 
them two children were born, Harry M., the 
immediate subject of this sketch, and Minnie, 
who died at the age of two years. 

Dr. Harry M. Schuffell was born in Osna- 
burg, Stark county, on t!ie 13th of July, 1866, 
and he attended the village schools until he 
had attained the age of twelve years, when he 
assumed the practical responsibilities of life, 
his first efforts being as an employe in the coal 
mines of the county, where he worked during 
one summer. In the following autumn he en- 
tered upon an apprenticeship at the tinner's 
trade in Osnaburg, under the direction of 
Henry Sell, with whom he remained for a 
period of four years. In the autumn of 1882, 

90 



when in his sixteenth year, he again entered 
the public schools of his native village, and 
that he made good use of his time is evident 
when we revert to the fact that in the follow- 
ing spring he passed the reqrared examination 
and was given a teacher's certificate for the 
county. After his examination, and while he 
was still a student in the public schools of 
Osnaburg, his instructor informed him that 
he had secured him a position to teach an un- 
expired term in district No. 7, Osnaburg town- 
ship, said district being locally designated as 
"Dutch Kingdom." He was successful in his 
pedagogic efforts in the "kingdom," and just 
before the close of his term he secured a simi- 
lar position for the folloAving term, in a neigh- 
boring district. When he finished his labors 
in said district, with two months' salary in his 
pocket, he proceeded to Ada, this state, where 
he was duly matriculated in the Northwestern 
Ohio Normal University, where he continued 
his studies from the spring of 1884 until the 
following autumn^ when his funds became ex- 
hausted, and he found it necessary to give im- 
mediate attention to his depleted exchequer. 
He accordingly returned home, and tavtght in 
a school in his native township, during the 
ensuing winter term, while in the spring he 
resumed work at his trade, in which he con- 
tinued until August, having during this en- 
tire interval the one aim in view, — to secure 
the funds with which to continue his educa- 
tional work. In August he returned to the 
normal university, where he continued his 
studies until October, when his finances, 
though he practiced the utmost economy, 
again reached so low an ebb that he returned 
to his home once more, and he again entered 
the public schools of Osnaburg. A few weeks 
later, however, he accepted the position of 
weighmaster for the Doll Coal Company, of 
Osnaburg, retaining this incumbency until the 
following spring, that of 1886, when he taught 
a two-months term in one of the district 



1442 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



schools of jSUmishillen township, and thereafter 
followed his trade, in Canton and Louisville, 
this county, until the following autumn, when 
he engaged to teach the \\inter term in the 
school of district No. lo, Osnaburg township. 
,In the spring of 1887 the Doctor again became 
a student in the normal university, where he 
remained until November, when he taught 
again through the ensuing winter, in the mean- 
while devoting his attention to the reading 
of medicine^ his self-reliant and ambitious 
nature leading him to form definite plans for 
his future vocation. From the spring until 
the autumn of 1889 he was again a student 
in the normal school at Ada, teaching in Osna- 
burg township during the ensuing winter, and 
then resuining his studies at the normal, where, 
in the following autumn, he completed the 
course in science and pharmacy, wiiile shortly 
afterward he passed the required examinatiori 
before the state board of pharmacy, at Cleve- 
land, and was duly granted a certificate as 
registered pharmacist. He then taught another 
term of school, at the close 01 which he came 
to Canton and assumed a position in the estab- 
lishment of the Canton Pharmacy Company, 
as pharmacist, where he remained imtil the fol- 
lowing spring, in the mean\vhile having con- 
tinued his medical studies under the direction 
of Dr. Alonzo B. Walker, of Canton. In 
July, 1 89 1, he returned to the Ohio Normal 
University, where he was duly graduated with 
his class, in the scientific and pharmaceutical 
courses, i^eceiving the degree of Bachelor of 
Science and Graduate in Pharmac}'. In Sep- 
tember, 1891, he matriculated in the medical 
department of the Western Reserve University, 
at Cleveland, where he received credit for his 
degrees and was entered as a member of the 
junior class. He completed the prescribed 
course and was graduated in March, 1S93, ''^" 
ceiving his coveted degree of Doctor of Medi- 
cine, for which he had worked with sucli 
marked zeal and devotion. During the inter- 



vening summer vacations he was in the employ 
of the Canton Pharmacy Company. Two 
weeks after his graduation Dr. Schuffell, for 
the purpose of still farther fortifying himself 
for his chosen profession, went to the national 
metropolis, where he completed a post-graduate 
course in the New York Polyclinic. 

On the iQth of June, 1893, the Doctor 
opened his offices m Canton, at the corner of 
Cleveland avenue and Tuscarawas street, where 
he remained until 1898, when he remo\ed to 
his present convenient and attractive quarters, 
at 314-16 South Clevelarid avenue. It is pleas- 
ing to note that the Doctor has secured a large 
and distinctively representative support, while 
he is known as a thoroughly skilled physician 
and surgeon, a close and constant student and 
as one who ever observes the unwritten code 
of ethics which is prescribed for his profession. 
In 1898 he was elected coroner of Stark coun- 
ty, on the Republican ticket, in which capacity 
he continued to ser\'e for two terms, while since 
1900 he has been visiting surgeon to the Ault- 
man hospital. He is an active member of the 
Canton Medical Society, the Union Medical 
Society of Northeastern Ohio and the Cleve- 
land z-\cademy of Medicine and Ohio State 
Medical Society, while fraternally he is identi- 
fied with the Masonic order, the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, the Foresters, the 
Knights of Pythias, the Junior Order of 
United American Mechanics and the Protected 
Home Circle. He and his wife are prominent 
members of Trinity Reformed church, in 
which he holds the ofifice of elder. 

In Canton, on the 29th of May. 1895, Dr. 
Schuffell was united in marriage to Miss Cora 
M. Stone, daughter of Isaac and Eliza ( Lyons 1 
Stone, the former of whom is deceased, while 
the latter still maintains her residence in 
Canton. Dr. and Mrs. .SchufTell are promi- 
nent in the best social life of the city, 
where tl'cir friends are in number as their ac- 
' qiiaintances. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1443 



ANTHONY A. RUFLIN is a native of 
Switzerland, where he was born on the i8th of 
January, 1828, and he is now the only sur- 
vivor of the six children born to Anthony and 
Catherine (Keese) Ruflin, both of whom were 
likewise born in the fair little republic of 
Switzerland. Anthony Ruflin, Sr., was a 
natural mechanic and was a skilled workman 
at both the carpenter and blacksmith trades, 
while his genius enabled him to do all sorts of 
mechanical work with exceptional facility and 
effectiveness. In 1831 he and his family bade 
adieu to their native land and set forth to es- 
tablish a home in America. They reached the 
hospitable shores of the new world in due 
course of time and forthwith came westward to 
Ohio, settling in Columbiana county, where the 
father of the subject purchased fifty acres of 
land. About eighteen months later he disposed 
of this property and came into Stark county. 
In Washington township he secured eighty 
acres of heavily timbered land, the property 
now being owned by Samuel Hoiles, and here 
he took up his residence in a log' cabin which 
had been erected by a former owner, a small 
portion of the place having been cleared at the 
time when Mr. Ruflin came into possession of 
the same. He devoted his attention to reclaim- 
ing and cultivating this farm until 1856, when 
he sold the property, and in the spring of the 
ensuing 3'ear he effected the purchase of the 
farm where the subject now resides, in section 
9. Here he continued his efforts as an agricul- 
turist and did much toward the proper im- 
provement of the farm which is now one of the 
valuable places of the township. Here he con- 
tinued to make his home until he was called 
from the scene of life's activities, on the 20th 
of May, 1863. at which time he was over 
seventy- two years of age, his devoted wife sur- 
viving him only about eighteen months and be- 
ing sixty-eight years of age at the time of her 
death. They were folk of sterling character 
and held the unqualified respect of the com- 



munity, while their religious faith was that of 
the Catholic church. Mr. Ruflin was a Demo- 
crat in his political proclivities. 

Anthony A. Ruflin, to whom this sketch is 
dedicated, was reared on the old homestead 
farm and early began to lend his aid in the 
work of reclaiming the land and rendering it 
available for cultivation, so that he has ever 
appreciated the dignity of honest toil. The 
scholastic institution which it was his privilege 
to attend was the primitive log school house, 
with its rude equipment of puncheon floor, 
slab benches, etc., and yet the advantages here 
afforded were suflicient to enable him to lay, 
an adequate foundation for the broad fund of 
practical information which has come to him 
through his active association with men and 
affairs during the years of a long and useful 
life. He continued to assist in the work of 
the home farm until the time of his marriage, 
in 1864, and he tlien purchased the homestead, 
his father having died in the preceding year, 
being associated in this purchase with his 
brother August, while they also bought all 
stock, implements, etc. For nine years the two 
brothers continued to be associated in the 
ownership and management of the farm, and at 
the expiration of this time our subject pur- 
chased iiis brother's interest and has since re- 
mained the sole owner of the fine property. 
The ;irea of the estate has been increased to 
two hundred and twelve acres, and the same is 
maintained under a high state of cultivation, 
while the permanent improvements are of the 
most substantial, attractive and consistent or- 
der, so that the farm is recognized as one of 
the most valual_)le in this section of the county. 
Mr. Ruflin inherited much of the mechanical 
skill of his honored father, and for a number 
of years he devoted no little attention to work at 
the carpenter's trade, having erected numerous 
buildings in this locality. For several years he 
also operated a threshing outfit, securing a rep- 
resentative patronage in this section, \\here he is 



1444 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



Avell know n and where he has ever commanded 
the maximum confidence and good will of the 
people of the community. In politics Mr. 
Ruflin has ever accorded a stanch allegiance 
to the Democratic party, and he and his family 
are prominent and valued members and com- 
municants of the Catholic church. 

On the 2d of February, 1S64, Mr. Ruflin 
was united in marriage to Miss Teresa Warner, 
who was born in Washington township, being 
a daughter of Anthony Warner, who was bom 
and reared in Germany, whence he emigrated 
to America in 1857 and took up liis residence 
in Washington township, this county, where 
he became a successful farmer and where he 
passed the remainder of his life, as did also 
his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Ann 
New. Mr. and Mrs. Ruflin became the parents 
of six children, of whom four are Hving, 
namely : Joseph, who farms a portion of the 
old homestead; Frank A., who' remains at the 
parental home, as does also Emma T. : and 
Charles A., who is a student in the medical 
department of the Ohio State University, at 
Columbus, being a member of the class of 
1902. 



EDWARD G. McCORMICK, M. D., is 
a native son of the Buckeye state, having been 
born in the city of Zanesville, Ohio, on the 27th 
of May, 1856, and being a son of Edward and 
Elizabeth (Fisher) McCormick. The for- 
mer was a native of the Emerald Isle, and 
there he was reared and educated and there 
learned the trade of tailor. Upon his emigra- 
tion to the United States he first settled in 
Miami county, Ohio, and thence removed to 
Zanesville, where he was established in busi- 
ness as a merchant tailor for more than a half 
century, being one of the honored citizens of 
the place and a man of high intellectual powers 
and utmost probity of character, so that esteem 
and confidence came to his portion as a natural 



sequel. He now resides in the home of his 
daughter, Mrs. T. J. Saup, in the city of To- 
ledo, Ohio, having attained the advanced age 
of seventy-seven years. The mother of the 
Doctor was born in Dauphin county, Pennsyl- 
vania, near the city of Harrisburg, whence she 
accompanied her parents on their removal to 
Miami county, Ohio, where they passed the 
residue of their lives, while she died in the city 
of Zanesville, on the 20th of May, 1892, at the 
age of sixty years. She became the mother 
of nine children, of whom five are yet living. 

Edward G. McCormick received his pre- 
liminary education in the district schools, and 
thereafter passed two years with his uncle, 
Peter McCormick, in the city of Lafayette, In- 
diana, where he continued his studies in the 
public schools. He began his technical study 
of medicine under the effective preceptorship 
of Dr. Alfred Ball, of Zanesville, and in 1877 
he was matriculated in the Ohio Medical Uni- 
versity, in the city of Columbus, remaining 
there during one course of lectures, after which 
he entered the Columbus Medical College, 
where he was graduated as a member of the 
class of 1879, having shown himself to be a 
close and discriminating student and coming 
forth well equipped for the practical work of 
his profession, while he received his coveted de- 
gree of Doctor of Medicine at the time of his 
graduation. In May of the same year Dr. 
McCormick established himself in practice at 
Zanesville, where he remained for a short time 
and then removed to Coshocton county, Ohio, 
where he was associated in practice with Dr. 
A. E. Walker for a short interval. In 1S84 
he was there married and in the following year 
removed to Kimbolton, Guernsey county, 
where he was actively engaged in practice 
until the autumn of 1889, where he has 
since maintained his home and where he 
has significantly gained precedence as a 
skillful physician and surgeon, controlling a 
gratifying and representative practice. He 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



M45 



was a member of the United States board of 
examiners for pensions in Stark county for 
iour and one-half years and is a valued mem- 
"ber of the Stark County Medical Society. In 
'politics the Doctor exercises his franchise in 
support of the principles and policies of the 
Deinocratic party, and his religious faith 
is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
of which his wife is likewise a devoted 
member. Fraternally he is identified with 
the Knights of the Maccabees. Dr. Mc- 
Cormick is essentially a self-made man, hav- 
ing defrayed the expenses of his college course 
through his own efforts, and thus being the 
more appreciative of the advantages which he 
secured and which he was careful to neglect 
in no manner. While in college he clerked in a 
drug store to secure the means to continue his 
studies, and when he left the medical college 
with his dignified diploma as a physician and 
surgeon, his financial resources were repre- 
sented in the sum of fifty cents. Men of such 
courage and self-denial deserve success and it 
is seldom denied, for such labors indicate the 
virile power and the strength of character 
through which success is gained in any field of 
endeavor. 

In Coshocton county, Ohio, on the 29th of 
April, 1884, Dr. McCormick was united in 
marriage to Miss Lucy Conley, a daughter of 
Charles Conley, of that county, and of this 
union two children have been born, Charles 
E., who was born November 18, 1887, and 
Helen M., who was born on the 29th of May, 
1893. 



HON. JOHN P. JONES is a native son 
of the Buckeye state, having been born at 
Mineral Ridge, Trumbull county, Ohio, on the 
19th of August. 1868, and having been the 
third in order of birth of the eight children 
■of William and Rachel (Owens) Jones, the 
former of whom was born in Gloucestershire, 



England, and the latter in Wales, whence both 
came to the United States when young, the 
father of our subject having been actively 
identified with mining interests from his youth 
until the time of his death, which occurred as 
the result of an accident in the mines at North 
Lawrence, on the 24th of May, 1 894, at which 
time he was fifty years of age. He was a man 
of unassuming nature and his life was filled 
with consecutive toil and endeavor, while it was 
so ordered that he merited and received the 
respect of his fellow men. In politics he was a 
Republican and his religious faith was that of 
the United Brethren church, of which his 
widow is a devoted member. 

When the subject of this sketch was but 
two months of age his parents removed from 
Trumbull county to Stark county and settled in 
North Lawrence, and this village has ever since 
been his home. Here he was reared to man- 
hood and here he received his early educational 
discipline in the public schools, while, inci- 
dentally, it may be said that he is largely self- 
educated, having gained a wide fund of prac- 
tical knowledge through personal application 
and through active and intimate association 
with men and affairs. When he was but eleven 
years of age he began working in the mines of 
this locality, where his father -was also em- 
ployed, and here he gained that appreciation 
of the dignity of honest toil which has made 
him so significantly appreciative of the aspira- 
tions and difficulties of laboring men. He con- 
tinued to be employed in the mines for a period 
of eleven years, at the expiration of which, 
being then twenty-two 3'^ears of age, he was 
elected to the office of justice of the peace in 
Lawrence township, retaining this incumbency 
for three years, within which he devoted much 
attention to reading and study, particularly as 
touching political issues, and he early became 
an active and ardent worker in the local ranks 
of the Republican party, of whose principles 
he has continued to be an uncomprosising ad- 



1446 



OLD LANDMARKS 



vocate. In 1S90 Mr. Jones was elected presi- 
dent of the Ohio State Miners' Association, in 
which position he rendered timely and effective 
service for a term of three years, having thus 
been twice chosen as his own successor. In 
January, 1892, he was elected a member of the 
executive board of the national organization 
of miners, and in the summer of that year 
President McKinley appointed him inspector 
of mines for the state of Ohio, which im- 
portant position he continued to most accepta- 
blv fill until January, 1898, when he resigned 
the same to enter upon his duties as a member 
of the lower house of the state legislature, to 
which he had been elected as a representative 
from Stark county in November of the pre- 
ceding year. He served in the legislative body 
only until May. 1898. when he resigned his 
oftke to accept that of labor commissioner, to 
which he had been appointed by Governor Asa 
S. Bushnell, who recognized his peculiar eligi- 
bility and urged him to make the change. In 
this important office he continued for two years, 
and since that time he has devoted his attention 
to operating coal mines of his own, still retain- 
ing his residence in North Lawrence, where it 
may well be said that he has hosts of friends, 
and this is but a natural sequel, for he is known 
as the true friend of every worthy laboring 
man, while he also commands the unqualified 
regard of those who are able to offer employ- 
ment to others, as well as of many personal 
acquaintances who stand high in the councils 
of state and nation. He takes a lively interest 
in all that concerns the local welfare and no 
worthy cause fails to secure his aid and in- 
fluence. For the past two years he has been 
a member of the board of education of Law- 
rence township and is at the present time sec- 
retary of the same. Fraternally he is identified 
with the Masonic order, in which he has ad- 
vanced to the Knight Templar degree, being 
member of the Mount Xfnion Commandery No. 
I, at Columbus, while he also holds membership 



in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the 
Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order 
of Forresters, and still maintains his associa- 
tion with the miners' organization. 

On Christmas day of tlie year 1889 was 
solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jones to Miss 
Lillie Rowe, who was born in Stark county, 
being a daughter of Cyrus Rowe, who is en- 
gaged in mining in Lawrence township. Mr. 
and !Mrs. Jones have two children, William 
and Mary Arden. 



ROBERT A. POLLOCK was born in 
North Lawrence, Lawrence township. Stark 
county, Ohio, on the 24th of August, 1870,^ 
being a son of John and Catherine (Mains) 
Pollock, the former of whom had his nativ- 
ity in northern Ireland, and the latter in 
Scotland, while both are of stanch Scottish 
lineage. They were married in the fair lands 
of hills and heather, "bonnie auld Scotland," 
and thence emigrated to America in the early 
'sixties, forthwith coming to Stark county and 
locating in the village of North Lawrence, 
which has ever since been their home. Here 
the father of our subject was originally identi- 
fied with the mining industry, in which he con- 
tinued for a number of years, while in 1880 
he established himself in the mercantile busi- 
ness in this town, where he has built up a most 
successful entei"prise in the line, receiving a rep- 
resentative patronage and being known as a 
business man of absolute integrity and marked 
acumen, ordering his affairs with mature judg- 
ment and ever aiming to meet the demands of 
his customers, while his fair dealing and un- 
varying courtesy have gained him the esteem 
and confidence of the entire community. He 
served for a term of four years as mail clerk 
on the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Rail- 
road, and for two terms he was incumbent of 
the office of postmaster of North Lawrence, 
giving' a most acceptable and capable adminis- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1447 



tration and doing much to improve the local 
service. In politics he gives an unfaltering al- 
legiance to the Republican party, and both he 
and his wife are valued members of the United 
Brethren church. Of their four sons and four 
daughters the subject of this sketch was the 
fifth in order of birth. 

Robert A. Pollock received his early educa- 
tional discipline in the public schools of North 
Lawrence, and at the age of thirteen years he 
secured employment in the coal mines near the 
town. He continued to be thus engaged until 
he was nearly twenty-one years of age. Dur- 
ing the summer term of 1892 he was a student 
in Mount Union College, near the city of Al- 
liance, ihis county, while during the following 
fall and spring he again attended the public 
schools of North Lawrence, and in tlie summer 
of 1893 h^ completed a commercial course in 
the Northern Lidiana Normal School and Busi- 
ness College, in Valparaiso, where he remained 
four months, making the best use of the ad- 
vantages thus afforded. He then returned to 
North Lawrence, where he has since continued 
to assist his father in the conduct of his mer- 
cantile business. At the November election of 
1899 ^^''- Pollock was elected, on the Republi- 
can ticket, as representative in the seventy- 
fourth general assembly of the Ohio legislature, 
and in November, 1901, he was chosen as his 
own .successor in this office, in which he has 
given efficient service, being assigned to several 
important committees and taking an active part 
in the deliberations of the house, on whose floor 
he has given a number of strong speeches in 
advocacy of measures which his judgment ap- 
proved. For the past five years he has served' 
as justice of the peace in Lawrence township 
and he is known as one of the radical and en- 
thusiastic young Republicans of the state, hav- 
ing attended various party conventions and ever 
showing a zealous interest in the cause. For 
two terms he has been a member of the board 
of education in his native town, and in 1896 



he was a member of the state executive board 
of the Ohio Aiiners' Association, being known 
as a stanch friend of the laboring man under 
all conditions. Fraternally he is identified with 
Newman Lodge No. 787, of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, in North Lawrence; 
with Nathan Hale Council No. 172, of the 
Junior Order of United American Mechanics; 
and with Massillon Lodge No. 441, of the Be- 
nevolent and Protective Order of Elks. 

On the 18th of December, 1901, Mr. Pollock 
led to the marriage altar Miss Gloria C. Blakely, 
tlie only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George E. 
Blakely, of Doylestown, Wayne county, Ohio, 
where she \\'as born and reared, her father 
being one of the prominent and influential citi- 
zens of that place. Mrs. Pollock is a lady of 
gracious presence and marked accomplishments 
and she and her husband take a prominent 
place in the social life of their home town, 
where thev \\a\e. a wide circle of friends. 



JOHN M. BARNETT claims the old 
Keystone state of the Union as the place of 
his nativity, having been born in Bedford 
county, Pennsylvania, on the 17th of Decem- 
ber, 1841, a son of Jacob F. and Hannah (My- 
ers) Barnett, both of whom were likewise na- 
tives of that state and representatives of prom- 
inent pioneer families. In 1849 thev re- 
moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio and took 
up their abode on a farm in Nimishillen town- 
ship. Stark county, where they maintained 
their home for a number of years. In 1867 
they came to Canton township, and here the 
mother died when sixty years of age. Her 
Inisband continued to conduct his farm until 
the infirmities of advancing age compelled his 
retirement, and he also died on the homestead 
farm, having attained the venerable age of 
eightv-lwo years. They were folk of ster- 
ling character, true and loyal in all the rela- 
tions of life, and they did not live in vain, 



1448 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



for tlieir memories are enshrined in the hearts 
of those who knew Ihem and their strength 
for good works was as the numher of their 
days. They became the parents of nine chil- 
dren, of whom onr snbject was the second 
in order of birth, and of the number four are 
living at the present time. 

John M. Barnett was about eight years 
of age when his parents took up their abode 
on the farm in Nimishillen township, and on 
that homestead he was reared to maturity-, be- 
ing indebted to the district schools of this 
county for the early educational privileges. 
He remained lieneath the parental rooftree un- 
til he attained the age of twenty-six years, 
and after his marriage he located on a farm in 
Nimishillen township, where he resided for 
the ensuing twelve years, at the expiration of 
which he returned to Canton township, where 
he has since been successfully engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits. He is now the owner of 
a finely, improved farm of sixty-eight acres, 
and so thoroughly has he studied the science 
of agriculture and the best methods to be em- 
ployed in the rotation of crops, proper fertil- 
izing", etc., that he has been most successful 
in the returns which he has secured from his 
assiduous labors. Upon his farm he has 
erected an attractive and commodious house, 
while the other buildings are of substantial 
and appropriate order, neatness and careful 
attention being indicated in every portion of the 
place. 

The military service of Mr. Barnett is one 
which will ever redound to his credit and honor 
as a leal and loyal son of the Republic. In 
August. 1862, he tendered his services in de- 
fence of the Union by enlisting as a private 
in Company B, One Hundred and Fourth 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he re- 
mained in active service for nearly three 
years, or practically until victory was assured 
to the I'nion arms. His regiment was as- 



signed to the Army of the Tennessee, and he 
participated in a dozen or more important en- 
gagements, besides many skirmishes, while he 
bore himself with true soldierly dignit}' and 
fidelity, ever being found at the post of duty 
and ready for any service that might be de- 
manded of him. Among the more important 
battles in which he took part may be mentioned 
the following: Chattanooga, Franklin, .-At- 
lanta, Georgia, and Fort Fisher. Mr. Barnett 
was mustered out of the service at Cleveland, 
Ohio, m July, 1865. He retains a lively inter- 
est in his old comrades in arms, and signifies 
the same by his membership in McKinley Post 
No. 25, Grand Army of the Republic, of 
Canton. 

In Canton township, on the 26th of Sep- 
tember, 1867, Mr. Barnett was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Lovina Trump, who was born in 
tliis county, being a daughter of George J. 
Trump, who was one of the sterling pioneers 
of Canton township, where he was engaged in 
agricultural pursuits until his death, at the age 
of seventy-two years. His wife, whose maiden 
name was R. Weaner, died at the age of eighty- 
six years. Both were natives of the state of 
Pennsylvania, whence they came to Ohio about 
1820. Mrs. Barnett has proven not only a 
companion and helpmeet to her husband, but 
has also been his counselor and able coadjutor, 
and to her influence he attributes in a large 
degree his success in life. To them have been 
born six children, one of whom died in infan- 
cy, while their daughter Jennie died at the 
age of twelve years. Those living are : Nel- 
lie, who is the viie of Isaac C. Greenawalt, of 
Canton ; and Clinton and Lloyd, who remain at 
the parental home. In politics Mr. Barnett 
is a stanch advocate of the principles of the 
Republican party, and both he and his wife 
are consistent members of the First United 
Evangelical church of Canton, taking a deep 
interest in its work. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1449 



ANDREW YODER was born in Milton 
township, Wayne county, Ohio, on the 2d of 
October, 1855, his father having been there 
engaged in farming at the time. The subject 
was the eighth in order of birth of the ten 
ciiildren born to Eli D. and Nancy (Kapp) 
Yoder, the former of whom, it is interesting to 
recall, was born in Canton township. Stark 
county, while his wife was a native of Lan- 
caster coiuity, where she passed her girlhood 
days on a farm owned by the late President 
James Buchanan. She died in Canton, at the 
age of seventy-two years, and her husband 
still survives, having attained the venerable 
age of eighty-four years and having his home 
in that city. They became the parents of 
three sons and six daughters, and of the num- 
ber five are living at the present time. 

When the subject was but six years of age 
his parents removed from Wayne county to 
Canton township, .Stark county, where they 
settled on the farm now owned and conducted 
by him, so that practically his entire hfe has been 
passed in this township. On this homestead he 
Avas reared to years of maturity, being indebt- 
ed to the public schools of the locality for his 
educational discipline. He consecutively main- 
tained his home on this farm, with the excep- 
tion of eighteen months, which he passed on an 
adjoining farm known as the Henry Bans place. 
He never faltered in his liking for an allegi- 
ance to the great basic industry of agriculture, 
and through its benefices he attained a success 
wortliy the name, while he fully appreciated the 
free and independent life of the farmer, being 
well content to remain "far from the madding 
crowd's ignoble strife," and finding enjoyment 
and indubitable profit in his chosen vocation, 
Avhile since 1890 he gave special attention to 
dairying, in which department of his enterprise 
his success was very pronounced, the same re- 
sulting from the discrimination and scrupu- 
lous care which he accorded to every detail, 
from the selecting of his stock to placing his 



product on the market. The farm comprises 
one hundred and twenty-five acres and its well 
tilled fields render fruitful harvests in season, 
while the attractiveness of the homestead is 
heightened by the evidences of care bestowed 
upon the place. 

In politics Mr. Yoder accorded an unquali- 
fied allegiance to the Democratic party, and 
while he never sought the honors or emolu- 
ments of public office, he showed a deep and con- 
stant interest in all that conserved the welfare 
and progress of the community, and was for 
many years a member of the board of school 
directors of his district, his policy in regard 
to the cause of education being a liberal and 
progressive one. He was a zealous member 
of the United Brethren church, taking an active 
part in the various departments of its work, 
particularly the Sunday school. His death oc- 
curred October i, 1902. 

At the home of the bride, in Bethlehem 
township, this county, on the 9th of December, 
1880, Mr. Yoder was united in marriage to 
Miss Sarah Van Dorsten, who was born and 
reared in that township, being a daughter of 
Harmon and Julia (Shepler) Van Dorsten, the 
former of whom was a representative farmer 
of that section. She was born on the 2d of 
June, 1858, and her educational discipline was 
received in the district schools. She is a woman 
of gracious presence and unvarying kindliness, 
and proved a true helpmeet to her husband, 
while their union was blessed with seven chil- 
dren, name!}': Walter R., Bertha A., How- 
ard C, Neil H., Ruth C, Roy R. and Ralph E. 



DAVID SPONSELLER was born on his 
present farmstead, in Canton township, the 
date of his nativity having been April 4, 1837. 
He is a son of John and Catherine (Herbster) 
Sponseller, the former a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, and of stanch German lineage, while the 
latter was born in the state of Maryland. Their 



I450 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



marriage was solemnized in the old Keystone 
state, and it is altogether probable that shortly 
afterward they emigrated to the wilds of Stark 
county to establish a home and work out the 
problems of life with self-reliance, courage and 
faith. They came here and settled on a tract 
of heavily timbered land in Canton township, 
the property having been purchased from the 
government and the deed to the same bearing 
the signature of James Madison, who was then 
President of the United States. In the midst 
of the forest a clearing was made and there 
was erected the diminutive house of round logs 
Avhich was to figure as the family home for a 
number of years, until the returns from the 
herculean labors put forth should justify the 
erection of a more pretentious dv\elling, — per- 
haps a stately building of hewn logs, which 
was considered the practical acme of elegance 
and luxury. The parents gave themselves 
faithfully to the task set before them, and as 
the years passed by the forest was found to be 
gradually displaced by cultivated fields, and 
prosperity began to smile on the brave and 
noble toilers. They lived to see the march of 
improvement well inaugurated, and on this old 
homestead the honored parents lived and la- 
bored until they were called forward to that 
"undiscovered country from whose bourne no 
traveler returns," resting from their labors, 
while it may well be said that "their works 
do follow them."' The father of the subject 
lived to the age of eighty-five years, sustained 
and comforted until the last by the companion- 
ship and affection of her who has been his true 
h.elpmeet during all the long years of their 
wedded life. His wife continued the journey 
until she had attained the venerable age of 
ninety years, when she too was summoned to 
the "land of the leal," a noble Christian woman, 
whose children may well "rise up and call her 
blessed." They became the parents of eight 
children, namely: Frederick, Mary, Abra- 
ham, Julia, John, Kate. Henry and David, and 



of these all have passed away except the sub- 
ject of this sketch. 

David Sponseller, who was the youngest of 
the children, was reared on the old pioneer 
homestead, and in his toyhood days he became 
inured to the sturdy and invigorating work in- 
volved in the clearing and cultivating of the 
farm upon which he now lives, while his edu- 
cational privileges, owing to the normal exi- 
gencies and conditions, were meager in char- 
acter. As a boy he plodded his way, during the 
winter months, lo the little log school house, 
which was equipped with slab benches, punch- 
eon floors and wide fire-place, and there conned 
his rudimentary lessons under such instructors 
as the primitive settlement could offer. He 
is the owner of one hundred and twenty-five 
acres, and the farm is under most effective cul- 
tivation, while he also devotes attention, in a 
culjordinate way, to the raising of high-grade 
live stock. He has made excellent improve- 
ments on the homestead, having erected a com- 
modious and substantial dwelling and other 
buildings well adapted to the uses to which they 
are applied. Mr. Sponseller has not allowed 
his interests to be confined to his personal af- 
fairs, but has taken a deep concern in all that 
has contr'buted to the wellbeing of the com- 
munity in which his life has been passed. In 
politics he is a stanch supporter of the Repub- 
lican party, and his religious faith is that of 
the Lutheran church, of which he has long 
been a valued member, being one of the elders 
of the church. His parents were also devoted 
members of this church, as is also his wife. 

On the 14th of February, i860, in the city 
of Canton, Mr. Sponseller was united in mar- 
riage to Miss F.lizabeth Croft, who was born in 
Canton township, on the 21st of October, 1836, 
being one of the three children of Michael and 
!Mary (Lichtenwalter) Croft, the former a na- 
ti\e of Indiana and the latter of Pennsylvania, ' 
while thev were numbered among the honored' 
pioneers of Stark county, where both died. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



MSI 



The father died in the city of Canton, at the 
age of eighty-eight years, his wife having 
passed away in Osnaburg township, at the age 
of seventy-eiglit years. Their three children 
were: William; Elizabeth, who is the wife of 
the subject; and Susanna. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Sponseller have been born nine children, name- 
ly: Mary Ellen, who is the wife of Christian 
Marks ; Alice, who became the wife of John 
Rindchen. and who died in Canton township 
on the 29th of October, 1901 ; Laura Ann, who 
is the wife of Samuel Snortz; the next child 
died in infancy; William; Ada is the wife of 
William Kitzmiller; Cora remains at the 
parental home; Kate is the wife of Charles 
Miller; and Senora is still living beneath the 
home rooftree. 



DAVID W. SPONSELLER.— When it 
is stated that the subject of this review is of 
the third generation of the family in Stark 
county it becomes evident that the name has 
been identified with the annals of this section 
of the state from the early pioneer days. His 
paternal grandfather, John Sponseller, of 
stanch German ancestry, was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, whence he came to Stark county, tak- 
ing up a tract of wild land in Canton town- 
ship, v>here he instituted the work of reclama- 
tion and improvement, and where he passed the 
remainder of his life, as did also his wife, 
whose maiden name was C. Herbster. They 
were folk of sterling character, industrious and 
unassuming, and they reared their children to 
lives of usefulness and honor, so that the name 
has ever been one unblemished by shadow of 
wrong or suspicion of injustice to others. 
Their son, Abraham, the father of the subject, 
was born on the old pioneer homestead, in Can- 
ton township, in the year 1820, so that it was 
his privilege to be a witness of the transition 
stages through which this locality developed 
from the primitive conditions of a practically 



frontier wilderness to that of an opulent and 
prosperous section of one of the most advanced 
commonwealths in the Union. Abraham 
Sponseller was reared to manhood under the 
sturdy discipline of the farm, aiding in the 
work of clearing" off the native forest and plac- 
ing the land under cultivation, while his edu- 
cational advantages were of course limited by 
the exigencies of time and place, though a 
naturally alert mentality led him to individual 
application through which he became a man of 
broad information and mature judgment, as 
may be seen from the records which bear the 
evidence of his wise and impartial decisions 
while incumbent of the office of justice of the 
peace, in which he served for a number of 
years. His political support was given to the 
Democratic party, and in addition to the office 
already mentioned he was also called upon to 
serve as township trustee, ever commanding 
the unequivocal confidence and esteem of the 
community and being known as one of the 
representative citizens and farmers of Canton 
township. While he was not formally identi- 
fied with any religious organization, he had the 
deepest reverence for spiritual verities, and his 
life was guided and dominated by a deep faith 
in Christian truth. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Elizabeth Stoner, was born in Penn- 
sylvania in 1824, her sister removing thence 
to Stark county, Ohio, when she was thirteen 
years of age, settling in Canton township, 
where she grew to maturity and where her mar- 
riage to Mr. Sponseller was solemnized. She 
was a woman of noble and gracious character, 
and was loved by all who came within the im- 
mediate sphere of her influence. She was 
summoned into eternal rest on the 2d of June, 
T897. and her life companion, with whom she 
had walked side by side during the long years 
of a singularly ideal married life, did not long 
survive, his death occurring on the 28th of 
August, 1899. Of this union were born eight 
children, namely: John H., George W., Sam- 



1452 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



uel, William, Mary (the wife of Charles 
Lehr), David W., Lucy (the wife of Douglas 
W. Stahl) and August, all of the children sur- 
viving their loved and honored parents. 

On the parental homestead, in Canton 
township, wliere the father located immediately 
after his marriage, David W. Sponseller was 
born on the 6th of April, 1861, and there he 
was reared to man's estate. On the 20th of 
December, 1884, in Canton township. Mr. 
Sponseller was united in marriage to Miss 
Emma Yoder, who was born in this township 
on the iSth of September, 1865, being a daugh- 
ter of Samuel S. Yoder, one of the influential 
farmers of the township. Her mother, whose 
maiden name was Delilah Deckard, is a daugh- 
ter of tlie late Daniel Deckard, an honored 
pioneer of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Spon- 
seller are the parents of five children, namely : 
Grover, Hazel, Freda, Russell and Mary. 



SAMUEL YODER is a native son of the 
old Buckeye state, having been born on a farm 
in Milton township, Wayne county, Ohio, on 
the 17th of September, 1843, being the third 
in order of birth of the ten children of Eli D. 
and Nancy (Kapp) Yoder, the former of 
whom was born in Canton township, this coun- 
ty, while the latter was a native of Lancaster 
■county, Pennsylvania, having passed her girl- 
hood days on a farm owned by the late Presi- 
dent James Buchanan, at Wheatland, in the 
Keystone state. She died in Canton, at the 
age of seventy-two years, and her husband is 
still living in that city, having now attained the 
venerable age of eighty-four years. Of their 
ten children five are living at the present time. 

The subject of this review was reared on 
the parental homestead in Wayne county, where 
he remained until he was eighteen years of age, 
having been indebted to the public schools for 
the educational privileges which he enjoyed in 
his youth. At the age of eighteen he accom- 



panied his parents on their removal to Stark 
county, and here he has ever since maintained 
his residence, with the exception of one year, 
which he passed in Wayne county, and he has 
been consecutively identiiied with agricultural 
pursuits from his youth up. In his home farm, 
which is located on section 34, Canton town- 
ship, are comprised one hundred and thirty- 
three acres of as arable and prolific land as 
can be found in this signally favored agri- 
cultural district, and the place is maintained 
under a high state of cultivation, while Mr. 
Yoder has made excellent improvements of a 
pernjanent nature, including a commodious and 
attractive residence and other buildings admir- 
ablv adapted to the uses for which they were 
erected, the entire place having an air of dis- 
tinctive thrift and prosperity and "being unmis- 
takably one of the desirable rural estates of the 
county. Mr. Yoder is progressive and public- 
spirited, straightforward and sincere in all the 
relations of life, and has the high regard of 
the community in which he lives. In politics 
he accords an unequivocal allegiance to the Re- 
publican party, but has never desired official 
preferment. He and his wife are prominent 
and valued members of the Evangelical Luther- 
an church at North Industry, in which he has 
served as deacon since 1885, and both are active 
in the promotion of the spiritual and temporal 
welfare of the church. 

In Bethlehem township, this county, on the 
22d of January, 1874, Mr. Yoder was united in 
marriage to Miss Mollie Shafifer, who was born 
in Pike townsliip. Stark county, on the 31st 
of January, 1848, being a daughter of Adam 
and Mary (Rosenfelter) Shaffer, both of 
whom were born in Germany, while both were 
representatives of sterling pioneer families of 
Stark county, where their marriage was sol- 
emnized, after which they located on a farm 
in Pike township. Mr. Shaffer was killed by 
lightning while at work in a grist mill, in Can- 
ton township, being about thirty-five years of 



CANTON 'AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1453 



age at the time. His widow survives, having 
attained the venerable age of ninety years and 
being a resident of North Industry. Of her 
three children Mrs. Yoder was the youngest, 
and the only one living. To the subject and 
his estimable wife, a woman of refinement and 
gracious personality, have been born five chil- 
dren, namely : Ida O., who is the wife of 
John Shertzer, of Canton ; Harvey E. and 
Stella E., who remain at the parental home; 
Lawrence, who died in infancy ; and Nelson D., 
who is likewise beneath the home roof. 



GEORGE STEINMETZ comes of stanch 
German lineage, as do many others of the sterl- 
ing citizens of Stark county, whither emigrat- 
ed from the fatherland many of the sturdy 
sons of the German empire during the early 
pioneer epoch, while many others came here 
from Pennsylvania, where they had been es- 
tablished for one or more generations. From 
this source the county has gained much and 
lost nothing. He was born on his present 
farm on the 14th of October, 1832, being a 
son of John Steinmetz, who was born in the 
province of Morburg, Germany, May 11, 1783, 
and who was but one year of age at the time 
when his parents bade adieu to the fatherland 
and emigrated to America. They settled in 
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, whence he 
later removed to Licking county, Ohio, short- 
ly after the admission of the Buckeye state 
to the federal Union, and in 181 8 he came to 
Stark county and settled on the farm now 
owned by our subject, the same having been 
at the time marked by a veritable wilderness, 
the native timber still standing intact, while 
the settlers were few and far removed from 
each other in the average cases. He later 
took up his residence on the farm now owned 
by his son Hiram, in the same township, and 
there passed the remainder of his life, passing 



to his reward on the 24th of June, 1869, as 
one of the honored pioneers who had contrib- 
uted his full quota toward the development of 
this favored section, w'hile his devoted and 
cherished wife entered into eternal rest on the 
14th of April, 1882. The father belonged to 
the German Baptist church and the mother to 
the Disciples, while in politics the father gave 
his support to the Republican party. ■ The 
maiden name of the subject's mother was Mary 
Painter, and she was customarily and aft'ection- 
ately known by the name of Polly in her fam- 
ily, which was established in Pennsylvania in 
an early day, probably prior to the war of the 
Revolution, her birth having occurred in West- 
moreland county, that state, on the 14th of 
October, 1796. Of her marriage with John 
Steinmetz were born twelve children, of whomi 
the following eight lived to attain years of 
maturity: Joseph, Catherine, Louisa, John, 
Harrison, George, Hiram and Harriet, and of 
these three are living at the present time. 

George Steinmetz was reared under the 
conditions and influences of pioneer life, and has 
made his home consecutively on the farm which' 
he now owns and which he has seen developed 
from the virgin forest to its present condition 
as one of the most productive, attractive and 
valuable rural estates in Pike township. He 
received such educational advantages as were 
afforded the average farmer boy of the locality 
and period, and early began to lend his aid in 
the improvement and cultivation of tlie old 
homestead, which is now endeared to him by 
tlie memories and varied associations of the 
past. He has given his attention to diversified 
farming and stock-raising and has carried for- 
ward his efforts with that rare discrimination 
and progressiveness which render the life of 
the hu.sbandman anything other than monot- 
onous and unprolific in definite success. His 
farm comprises two hundred and fifty-two 
acres, and upon the same he has erected sub- 
stantial and attractive, farm buildings, includ- 



1454 



OLD LANDMARKS 



ing a residence which figures as one of the 
beautiful rural homes of the township. 

In politics the subject gives a stanch sup- 
port to the principles and policies of the Re- 
publican party, and is known as a progressive 
and public-spirited citizen. While he has 
never sought the honors or emoluments of pub- 
lic office, he has been called upon to serve in 
various local positions of trust and responsi- 
bility and has ever been found signally true 
to duty in these connections, as has he been in 
all the relations of life, ever commanding un- 
measured esteem in the community in which his 
entire life has been passed. For seventeen 
years he was connected with the Pike Town- 
ship Fire Insurance Company. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Steinmetz are devoted and valued mem- 
bers of the Christian church, in which he was 
baptized at the age of seventeen years, while a 
similar consecration was received by his wife 
in 1877. Shortly after becommg a member of 
the church he was elected a deacon in the church 
in the village of Sparta, and served acceptably 
for a term of two years. lie now holds mem- 
bership in the church of this denomination at 
Greenridge school house. 

In Pike township, this county, on the 2d 
of July, 1S54, Mr. Steinmetz was united in 
marriage to Miss Mary Ann Apley, who was 
born on ihe parental homestead in this town- 
ship, on the 26th of January, 1836, being a 
daughter of Michael and Sarah (Slabaugh) 
Apley, the former of whom was born in Adams 
county, Pennsylvania. They came to Stark 
county in an early day and first settled in Can- 
ton township, whence they came to Pike town- 
ship, where the father developed a farm, upon 
which both he and his wife passed the re- 
mainder of their lives. He died in October, 
1840, when about fifty-one years of age, while 
his widow survived until 1875, when she was 
summoned into eternal rest, at the age of 
eighty-two years. Of their eight children all 
but one attained maturity, namely : Elizabeth, 



Maria, John, Lucinda, Catherine, Melinda and 
Mary Ann, and of the number three are still 
living. Mrs. Steinmetz was reared and edu- 
cated in Pike township and has here passed her 
entire life, while through her gentle and 
gracious womanhood she has won the affection 
of a wide circle of friends in the community, 
and her home is a favorite resort for them. 



JOHN A. DONAT is a son of Peter 
Donat, who was born in Franklin county, 
Pennsylvania, on the 7th of October, 1805, 
and there he was reared to the age of fifteen 
years, having attended the common schools 
of that locality, and he then accompanied his 
parents, Jacob and Elizabeth Donat, on their 
removal to Tuscarawas township. Stark coun- 
ty, Ohio, where they made their advent in the 
autumn of 1819, settling in Perry township 
in the following spring, in the midst of the 
forest, where his father instituted the herculean 
task of reclaiming his land to cultivation, hav- 
ing taken up a tract of one hundred and sixty 
acres. On this old homestead Peter Donat was 
reared to maturity, and in this township he 
continued to be engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits until his death, becoming the owner of 
a valuable farm which he had improved through 
his own efforts, and ever commanding the re- 
spect and high regard of the community. On 
the 9tli of March, 1843, '^^ ^'^'^s united in mar- 
riage to Miss Mary Ann Crossland, who was 
born in Akron (then known as Middleburg),* 
Ohio, on the 4th of May, 1826. For nearly a 
half century this worthy couple walked side 
by side down the pathway of life, mutually 
encouraged and aided by the appreciative aiTec- 
tion and sympathy, and sharing alike the joys 
and sorrows which no man escapes in this un- 
intelligible world. Tlie loving and cherished 
wife and mother entered eternal rest on the 
30th of August, 1890, and her venerable com- 
panion did not long survive her loss, his death 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1455 



occurring 011 the 3d of January, 1892. They 
became the parents of eleven children, namely : 
Amanda, Lydia S., Hannah, i\nn Eliza, Olivia, 
Mary Alice, Azariah C, Emma R., Eva C, 
John A. and Loretta. Of these all are living 
except four. 

John A. Donat, the immediate subject of 
this sketch, was the tenth in order of birth in 
the above mentioned family of children, and 
was ushered into the world on the old home- 
stead in Tuscarawas township, the date of his 
nativity having been November 11, 1861. He 
was reared to the sturdy and invigorating dis- 
cipline of the farm, receiving his educational 
discipline in the public schools of the town- 
ship, and he remained at the old homestead 
until after the death of his parents, when, in 
the spring of 1892, he located upon his present 
farm, wdiich is most eligibly situated, in Lake 
township and wiiich comprises eighty acres 
of most productive land, the place being well 
improved and maintained under efifective cul- 
tivation. Mr. Donat has a thorough knowl- 
edge of the best methods to be employed in the 
various departments of the farming enterprise, 
and his policy is that of a discrnninating and 
progressive business m£jn. In politics Mr. 
Donat gives a stanch allegiance to the Denio- 
cratic party, and he manifests a commenda- 
ble interest in public affairs of a local nature, 
contributing to the advancement of legitimate 
enterprises and measures for the general good. 
Fraternally he is a valued member of New Ber- 
lin Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, w'hile his 
religious faith is that of the Methodist Episco- 
])'il church, his affiliation being with the church 
at Greentown. 

At Greentown, this county, on the 14th of 
December, 1892, Mr. Donat was united in 
marriage to Miss Nettie Grace Shanafelt, who 
was born in that village on the 22d of July, 
1866, a daughter of Henry and Rose Shanafelt. 
Of tliis happy union were born five children, 
namely: Peter S., J. Donald, Virgil W. and 



Mabel R. and Mary E. (twins). The sacred 
precincts of this home circle, whose conditions 
were ideal in nature, were invaded by death, 
on the nth of November, 1901, when the de- 
voted wife and motlier was summoned to that 
"undiscovered country from whose bourne no 
traveler returns." Mrs. Donat was a con- 
sistent and active member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, earnest and devoted in its 
work and showing her deep Christian faith 
in thought, word and deed. 



JOHN BANKER was born in the canton 
of Berne, Switzerland, on the 8th of August, 
1840, being the only son of John and Eliza- 
beth (Fellman) Banker, both natives of that 
fair land, where the former died at the age of 
fort3--five years. In 185 1, husbanding the 
limited resources at her command, the brave 
and loyal mother of the subject proceeded to 
Havre, France, where she embarked for the 
new world, in company with her seven chil- 
dren, the eldest of whom was but eleven years 
of age. After a voyage of forty-two days 
they disembarked in the city of New York, 
whence they forthwith came to Ohio, settling 
at Zoar, Tuscarawas county, where Mrs. 
Banker was later married to Daniel Schnab, 
with whom she came to Canton township, 
Stark county, in 1858, and here passed the 
residue of her life on a farm, being summoned 
into eternal rest in the seventy-fifth year of 
her age. She was a noble Christian woman, 
brave in the face of trial and adversity and 
ever devoted to her children, who may well 
"rise up and call her blessed."' Of the seven 
children who accompanied her to America we 
enter the following brief record : Elizabeth 
became the wife of Jacob Kanzig; Barbara is 
the wife of Adam Karret, of Perry township, 
this county; Mary, who was the wife of the 
late Robert Breil, died at Zoar, Tuscarawas 
county: Fanny, who became the wife of Chris- 



1456 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



tian Tseli, died in Wisconsin; John is the im- 
mediate subject of this review ; and Rosa is 
dead. 

John Banker had attended school as a boy 
in his native land, and he continued his studies 
in a desultory way after the family located in 
Tuscarawas county, this state, where he was 
reared to manhood. He became dependent 
upon his own resources at an early age, and 
from his youth up has been identified with the 
agricultural industry, having come to Stark 
county when seventeen years of age, when his 
mother and step-father removed to this section. 
Here he continued to be employed at farm 
work for a number of years, and finally, in 
1873, he effected the purchase of his present 
fine homestead, which is eligibly located in 
Canton township, and which comprises one 
hundred and six acres of excellent land, the 
place being located three and one-half miles 
from the city of Canton. Mr. Banker has 
shown a great capacity for "toiling terribly," 
as was said of an eminent English statesman, 
and through his earnest and indefatigable 
efforts he brought about the development of 
his farm, which is under most effective culti- 
vation and which has the best of permanent 
improvements, in the way of a commodious 
and modern residence and other excellent build- 
ings, the entire farm giving unmistakable evi- 
dence of thrift and prosperity. In the midst 
of the arduous labor and cares of a workaday 
life, Mr. Banker has never been unmindful of 
the duties of citizenship, and has shown a deep 
interest in all that concerns the welfare and 
progress of his home county, while his support 
has never been withheld from any enterprise 
advanced for the public good, though he has 
never been an aspirant for official preferment. 
In politics he is stanchly arrayed in support of 
the principles and policies of the Democratic 
party, with which he has been identified from 
the time of attaining his majority. At the 
outbreak of the war of the Rebellion Mr. 



Banker manifested his loyalty to the land c 
his adoption by tendering his services in suj 
port of the Union. Scarcely had the smok 
of the rebel guns risen from the battlement 
of old Fort Sumter when, on the 4th of Sej 
tember, 1861, he enlisted as a member of Con 
pany A, Nmeteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantn 
which was recruited in this county, S. Beatt 
being the colonel of the regiment. Mr. Banke: 
in the capacity of '"high private" proceeded t 
the front with his regiment, which had bee 
assigned to the Army of the Cumberland, an 
lie continued in active service for a period of fi: 
teen months, within which time he participate 
in the battle of Shiloh and various minor er 
gageinents, and at the expiration of which, b 
reason of physical disabilities, he received a 
honorable discharge. 

In Canton township, on the 20th of Fet 
ruar}', 1868, Mr. Banker was united in mai 
riage to Mrs. Anna Wenger, widow of Josep 
Wenger. She was a daughter of the late Wil 
iam Gerber, an honored pioneer of Canto 
tov.'nship, and here she was reared and edr 
cated. By her first marriage she became th 
mother of two children, William H. an 
Lydia. To Mr. and Mrs. Banker were bor: 
five children, one of whom died in infanc\ 
The four who attained years of maturity, an^ 
who are still living, are as follows : David F 
who is a representative physician of Canton 
and Emma L., Newton S. and John C, wh^ 
remain at tire paternal home. This ideal hom 
circle was broken by the hand of deat! 
on the 2 1 St of March, 1902, when the lovei 
and devoted wife and mother passed for 
ward to the life eternal, the veil beinj 
lifted to disclose a new beauty when deatl 
set its seal upon the mortal lips of this nobl 
and gentle woman, who held the love o 
all who knew her. She was sixty-three year 
of age at the time of her demise, and had loni 
been a consistent and zealous member of th 
German Baptist church. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1457 



BENJAAIIN FETTERS was born on the 
old homestead farm, in Pike township, Stark 
county, on the 7th of August, 1826, being a 
son of George and Ehzabeth (Wilt) Fetters, 
both of whom were born in Huntingdon coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, of stanch German lineage, 
both families having been established in the 
old Kej'stone state in an early period of its 
history. The paternal grandfather of the sub- 
ject likewise bore the name of George Fetters, 
and he was born and reared in Pennsylvana, 
when, in 181 1, lie emigrated with his family 
to Ohio and took up his residence on a tract of 
heavily timbered land in Pike township, Stark 
county, bending" his energies to the reclamation 
of his farm and being ably aided in this work 
by his son and namesake, the father of our 
subject. The grandfather lived to advanced 
age and commanded the high regard of all 
who knew him. In his native county in Penn- 
sylvania George Fetters, Jr., \\as reared to ma- 
turity, and there was solemnized his marriage 
to Elizabeth Wilt. They remained in Ptenn- 
sylvania until about four years after the re- 
moval of George P'etters. Sr., to Stark county, 
their arrival here dating back to about the 
year 181 5, while they were accompanied by 
their two children, six others being added to 
the family circle after the establishing of the 
home in Pike township. The father took up 
a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land, 
a considerable portion of which he had placed 
under effective cultivation prior to his death, 
in 18.45, 'when fifty-eight years of age, while 
in the meanwhile he had spared neither his 
strength nor his mental energies in his en- 
deavors to make the best possible provision 
for his family, being a man of excellent intel- 
lect and one of flawless reputation for integrity 
and sincerity. His widow survived him by 
many years, and she, too, died in Pike town- 
ship, at the venerable age of eighty- four, loved 
for her gentle womanhood and for faithful- 
ness in all things. Of this union were born 

91 



five sons and three daughters, Benjamin, sub- 
ject of this review, having- been the ninth in 
order of birth and being now the only survivor. 
His father was a Republican in his political 
proclivities and his religious faitli was that 
of the Lutheran churcli, of which his wife also 
was a devoted member. 

Benjamin Fetters, whose name initiates this 
article, was born on the old homestead farm 
and early became inured to the manifold de- 
tails involved in reclaiming the land from the 
forest and making it ready for the plow. He 
continued to assist his father in the work of 
the farm until he had attained the age of nine- 
teen years, having in the meanwhile been ac- 
corded such educational advantages as ^^ere 
to be had through a somewhat irregular at- 
tendance in the primitive district school of 
the pioneer epoch. How often have we read 
and heard tlie description of these little log; 
houses, with their rude equipment of punch- 
eon floors, slab benches, wide fire-place and 
windows supplied with oiled paper in lieu of 
glass, and yet there is ever pleasure in revert- 
ing to these modest institutions, for from them 
have come forth some of the grandest charac- 
ters our republic has produced,- — men of per- 
haps not recondite knowledge but men whose 
nobility and strength of character have been 
adequate to leave a perpetual impress on our 
nation's history in various avenues of useful- 
ness. Their diplomas were signed by the 
great and wise headmaster. Experience, and 
their accomplishment has often put the blush 
to the face of presumptions scholasticism. ]\Ir. 
Fetters ha? been continuously identified with tl:e 
great basic art of agriculture from his boy- 
hood to the present, and his entire experience 
in the line has been practically one of con- 
secutive identification with Pike township. 
Here is the owner of a w ell improved and fer- 
tile farm of one bundled and thirty-five acres, 
and the same is devoted to diversified agricul- 
ture and the raising of live stock, though the 



1458 



OLD LANDMARKS 



latter is made a subordinate feature of the 
farming enterprise. He has been a man of 
marked enterprise and energy and lias achieved 
a gratifying success through his well directed 
efforts, being recognized as one of the prosper- 
ous farmers and thoroughly representative 
citizens of his native township, in whose ad- 
vancement and material well being lie has ever 
manifested a most lively interest. During the 
war of the Rebellion he was an earnest sup- 
porter of the Union cause, and for a time was 
a member of the home guard and prepared for 
active service when demanded. In politics 
Mr. Fetters is a stalwart advocate of the prin- 
ciples of the Republican party, and he has been 
called upon to serve in many of the minor 
township offices, while for the long term of 
twelve years he was continued in tenure of the 
office of township trustee, which fact indicates 
better than can mere words that his interposition 
must have been most satisfactory to hi? con- 
stituents. For about a score of years he also 
served as constable, and lie has also labored 
effectively in the past as a member of the 
board of school directors. He and his wife 
have been for many years zealous and devoted 
members of the German Baptist church, ex- 
emplifying their faith in their daily life. 

In Marshall county, Indiana, on the 29th 
of February, 1859, ^I''- Fetters was united in 
marriage to Miss Elizabeth Inzel, who was 
born in that state, being a daughter of IM. and 
Elizabeth Inzel^ who died in Indiana. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Fetters have been born ten children, 
namely : George, who is a merchant ; Amanda, 
who is the wife of a !Mr. Buchtel, a farmer ; 
David, who is in the railroad business ; Will- 
iam: Ella, who is at home; Mary, who is the 
wife of Homer Brothers, of Pike township; 
Phoebe, who is the wife of Ira Peters, of Pike 
township; Benjamin H., who is at home; 
James Garfield, who is slate roofing at Canton ; 
and Amos, who died in infancy. 



BENEDICT DANNEMILLER.— For 
many years the subject of this sketch 
was actively identified with the industrial and 
commercial interests of Canton and, as a far- 
sighted, public spirited man, stood foremost 
among his contemporaries in eastern Ohio. He 
bore a leading part in the material develop- 
ment of this part of the state and during his 
lifetime exercised as great if not greater in- 
fluence than any other man in directing at- 
tention to Canton as a safe place for the invest- 
ment of capital. He was also instrumental in 
locating here a solid and substantial class of 
people, and in introducing the general sys- 
tem of public improvements which, during the 
last half century, have done so much to make 
Canton one of the most important industrial 
and commercial centers in the commonwealth. 

Mr. Dannemiller was a native of France, 
born on the 22d day of December, 1813, in 
the province of Alsace, now a part of the Ger- 
man empire. He was the second child and 
oldest son of Benedict and Magdaline (Bechel) 
Dannemiller, both parents born and reared in 
Alsace, where the ancestors of their respective 
families had lived for years beyond the memory 
of man. Besides Benedict there were seven 
other children, three sons and four daughters, 
all of whom, together with their parents, emi- 
grated to America. 

While yet a mere boy the subject became ac- 
quainted with a gentleman by the name of 
Sharios, who owned and operated a cotton-mill 
in Alsace, which both young Benedict and his 
father frequently visited. This Mr. Sharios 
had ser\-ed under General Lafayette in the 
American Revolution, and in his old age never 
tired of relating his interesting experiences and 
thrilling adventures in that far away, but what 
he considered one of the most highly favored 
countries upon which the sun ever shown. He 
entered the arniey as a private, but for 
meritorious conduct rose to the rank of 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1459 



lieutenant, in which capacity he did val- 
iant service in the cause of hberty for 
a people whom he afterwards held in 
profound esteem. Not infrequently would 
young Dannemiller and his father dine with the 
■old soldier and whenever such was the case the 
lad was sure to turn the conversation to 
America, of which country and its wonderful 
resources he was very anxious to lear.n more 
than he then knew. These talks with Mr. 
Sharios, together with the knowledge derived 
from a couple of books relating to the marvel- 
ous discoveries of Columbus in the new world, 
filled the lad's mind with a burning desire not 
only to learn of the great free land beyond the 
sea, but to go there as soon as he could arrange 
his affairs to that end. Quite a number of 
parties had already left Alsace and settled in 
various portions of the United States and from 
certain of these, who had located at a place 
called Canton, came letters describing at con- 
siderable length the advantages which awaited 
the young man with any ambition whatever to 
succeed in life. 

Finally, when about seventeen years of age, 
young Benedict obtained his father's consent to 
seek his fortune in the new world, and on the 
9th day of September, 1830, there was put. 
into his hands sufficient money to pay his pas- 
sage to his destination, with a small surplus 
to meet expenses until he could find employ- 
ment. Before starting, the father admonished 
his son to write for money with which to return 
if the new country failed to meet his expec- 
tations or if he should at any time become dis- 
satisfied with his venture so far from kindred 
and home. On the above date, in company 
with his uncle, Philip Bechel, Benedict Danne- 
miller bade adieu to the familiar scenes of his 
childhood and started upon what proved a long 
and far-reaching destiny. Embarking at Havre 
on the American ship "Eric," the two reached 
their destination on the 4th of November fol- 
lowing, landing on that day in the city of New 



York. Shortly after landing young Benedict 
found, to his no little embarrassment, that he . 
would not have sufficient money to pay his way 
further, accordingly he was obliged to borrow a 
small sum of his uncle to enable him to reach 
the town of Canton, situated he knew not how 
far from the sea coast. Leaving New York, 
they went by way of Albany, Buffalo and Cleve- 
land and arrived at Canton on the 28th of No- 
vember, spending nearly twenty-four days on 
the inland part of the journey. It was while 
waiting for a canal boat at Cleveland that Mr. 
Dannemiller earned his first money in this coun- 
try. A small schooner was being loaded with 
grain from a warehouse by the wharf and, 
as help was needed, a man called to young 
Benedict and putting a shovel into his hands 
made him understand that his services were re- 
quired. The lad cheerfully responded and after 
the boat was loaded the gentleman threw him 
a small Spanish coin of the value of about 
eighteen and a half cents. This proved the 
beginning of his long and eminently success- 
ful financial career upon American soil. 

His uncle, Mr. Bechel, was a blacksmith by 
trade and Mr. Dannemiller had worked in his 
shop about one year before leaving for the 
United States. Shortly after reaching Canton 
the two opened a shop, at the corner of South 
^Valnut and Tenth streets, where they worked 
about one year, changing their location at the 
expiration of that time to the corner of Fifth 
and Plum streets. After remaining with his 
uncle until July, 1834, Mr. Dannemiller, on the 
14th day of that month, started a shop of his 
own and during the ensuing twenty-four years 
carried on a very successful business, spend- 
ing twenty-nine years in all as an iron worker 
in Canton. Mr. Dannemiller and his brother- 
in-law, Jacob Scheiber, invented and manu- 
factured a bar-share plow, which had an exten- 
sive sale throughout northern Ohio and I*^di- 
ana, and they were also engaged in the manu- 
facture of farm wagons. 



1460 



OLD LANDMARKS 



On the I3tli of August, 1835, Mr. Danne- 
miller made application in the common pleas 
court of Stark county, declaring his intention 
to become a citizen of the United States, and 
three years later received his final papers enti- 
tling him to all the rights and privileges for 
which the term stands. To him the year 1838 
was peculiarly eventful in that it not only saw 
him made a citizen of the Republic, but wit- 
nessed his marriage, on the 21st day of De- 
cember, to Miss Barbara Scheiber, who proved 
his loving companion and faithful helpmeet 
during the most successful part of his life. Mrs. 
Dannemiller bore her husband ten children, the 
oldest and youngest of whom died in infancy, 
the others were named : Mrs. Clara Deville, 
William, Mrs. Helena Neuhausel, Augustus, 
Rosa, Edward, Julius and Mrs. ^lary Mc- 
Crea. all of whom are living and well settled 
in life. 

Mr. Dannemiller cast his first presidential 
ballot for General Harrison in the famous "log 
cabin and hard cider" campaign of 1840 and 
continued to support the old Whig- party until 
it ceased to exist, when he became a Democrat, 
and in 1861 became a Lincoln Republican. 

The beginning of Mr. Dannemiller's re- 
markable business- career was in the year 
1852, when the Pennsylvania railroad was 
being constructed through Stark county. The 
first train into Canton created great excitement 
and its thunderous noise hailed the advent of a 
new and better era, an era attended with mo- 
mentous consequences in that it has witnessed 
a material growth and prosperity of which the 
wisest and most sanguine of the fathers never 
imagined. Prior to the advent of the road all 
the grain raised in this part of the county was 
hauled to Massillon, or Navarre, these towns 
being the two most important shipping points 
on the old Ohio canal. The coming of the 
road changed this by bringing a fine market 
nearer home and such far-seeing business men 
as Mr. Dannemiller were not slow in taking- 



advantage of the situation. Closing his shop- 
in 1858 the subject turned, his attention to the- 
buying and shipping of grain, erecting a ware- 
house on the lot now occupied by the McLain 
Manufacturing Company. Disposing of this 
property subsequently to Mr. Ball, he pur- 
chased the southeast corner where the Ft. 
Wayne railroad intersects Eighth street, and 
erected thereon a much larger warehouse, 
which is still standing. In this building he- 
continued the grain business quite extensively 
for many years and became one of the largest 
and most successful shippers in this part of the- 
state. In addition to his operations in grain 
Mr. Dannemiller soon embarked in other com- 
mercial enterprises, buying, in June, 1869, the- 
wholesale grocery house of Thomas Kimball 
& Bros., whose place of business was the room 
now used by the United States Express 
Company. The Kimballs also owned a ware- 
house on Piedmont street, which passed into 
the possession of the subject when he made the 
purchase referred tO' above. When Mr. Danne- 
miller succeeded the above firm he took in as 
partners his two sons, William and Augustus, 
the three founding the well-known and popular 
wholesale grocery firm of B. Dannemiller &• 
Sons, the leading establishment of its kind in 
the city at that time and ever since. After 
occupying the original quarters three years, 
the constantly increasing patronage of the firm- 
necessitated a building of enlarged pro- 
portions, accordingly the business was moved' 
to the building on the corner of North Market 
and East Tuscarawas streets, now occupied 
by W. E. Homer and the Farmers Bank. As 
originally constituted the firm lasted until 1 876, 
at which time the two younger sons, Edward' 
and Julius, were admitted to partnership, the 
business the meanwhile continuing to grow in 
magnitude and importance until it again became- 
necessary to have a building of sufificient 
capacity to meet the requirements of the trade. 
In due time the large and imposing brick build- 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1 46 1 



ing on the corner of Fifth and Market streets 
was erected and when completed it was thought 
large enough to answer all the purposes of the 
firm for many years to come. The Danne- 
millers began handling coffins as a specialty 
in 1876, and to this line of trade is their success 
from that year largely due. So rapidly did the 
business increase that it soon outgrew the ca- 
pacity of the block on Fifth and Market, thus 
making another move essential in order to keep 
pace with the constant demands for the vari- 
■ ous lines of goods handled. Accordingly in the 
spring of 1891, the firm moved into the massive 
■five-story brick structure on the corner of Sev- 
"Cnth and Cherry streets, which is most admir- 
ably located for wholesale purposes, being in 
such close proximity to the railroad that cars 
'can be loaded and unloaded from one side of 
the building. 

The Dannemillers are not only the largest 
and most important wholesale firms in Canton, 
"but in the volume of business annually trans- 
acted the house is second to no other establish- 
Tnent of the kind in the state, ranking indeed 
with the leading wholesale houses in the larg- 
•est cities of the Union. From the beginning 
the career of the firm has been marked by con- 
tinued and almost unparallelled prosperity and 
■at this time it is not only one of the most suc- 
cessful partnerships in the country but also 
one of the oldest. The different members are 
men of high business qualifications 'and their 
standing in commercial circles lias made them 
Avidely and favorably known throughout the 
United States, especially in Ohio and adjacent 
commonwealths. April i, 1902, the concern 
was turned into a stock company of two hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollars paid-in cash 
capital. 

As a broad-minded, far-seeing man of af- 
fairs, Benedict Dannemiller had few equals 
and no superiors. Ripe judgment, scrupulous 
integrity, with a profound knowledge of busi- 
tiess and a deep regard for the ethics of com- 



mercial life, were among the predominant traits 
which added luster to his name, while his 
energy and well-defined purposes led him to 
embark in large enterprises with the assurance 
of reaping success in the end. His long and il- 
lustrious career won for him a conspicuous 
place among the leading business men of his 
day and the commanding position he occupied 
in the affairs of his adopted city earned for him 
a reputation which is now the common heritage 
of the people with whom he mingled. Feeling 
the infirmities incident to advancing age and 
becoming somewhat weary under the weight of 
the business which he had so long and so ably 
conducted, Mr. Dannemiller, in 1887, divided 
among his children his personal and real es- 
tate and retired to the peace and quiet of pri- 
vate life. He was reared in the Catholic faith 
and as long as he lived his life was made to con- 
form to the sublime teachings and beautiful 
precepts of the Holy Mother church. During 
his long residence in Canton he was one of the 
most active members and liberal supporters of 
the St. Peter's congregation, having donated 
large sums of money for the erection of the 
different church buildings, besides other be- 
quests of a relig'ious and benevolent character. 
Mr. Dannemiller's last bequest to his parish was 
in the form of a large, clear-toned bell, pre- 
sented in memory of his wife, who for many 
years was a faithful and devoted communi- 
cant of the same congregation with which he 
was identified. This bell was placed in the 
beautiful tower of St. Peter's church and its 
sweet tones are like benedictions upon the head 
of the donor, whose upright walk and conver- 
sation were instrumental in winning many to 
the higher life. 

In all that constitutes sterling manhood and 
true citizenship, Mr. Dannemiller was a splen- 
did example. Although of foreigTi birth, he 
was intensely American, his love for his 
adopted country being on a par with his affec- 
tion of family, kindred and friends. While 



■1462 



OLD LANDMARKS 



never swerving in his loyalty to the institutions 
under which he achieved such marked success, 
he ever retained a warm feeling for the land of 
his birth and in 1876 it was his privilege to 
visit the familiar scenes of home and childhood. 
While there he met a number of his former 
playmates and companions, but the majority of 
those whom he had once known were scattered 
over various parts of the earth or sleeping the 
last quiet sleep which knows no waking. But 
few changes, however, had taken place in the 
general appearance of the old home and sur- 
roundings when compared with the remark- 
able changes which he had witnessed after be- 
coming a resident of a new and rapidly grow- 
ing country. 

Mr. Dannemiller was public spirited in all 
the term implies and, as already stated, used 
his wealth to a good purpose in improving and 
beautifying the city of his adoption. The 
various buildings which he erected and other 
improvements made at his instance stand as 
monuments to his enterprising and progressive 
ideas, while the wholesome influence he exerted 
among his fellow men is a more enduring 
epitaph than the most eloquent panegyric 
carved on marble or granite. Mr. Dannemil- 
ler's life was fruitful of beneficent re- 
sults in many ways and when it went out, on 
the 24th day of April, 1897, the city of Canton 
lost one of its most estimable and useful citi- 
zens and the state a broad-minded man of af- 
fairs, to say nothing of the deep bereavement of 
his immediate family and the keen personal 
loss sustained by the many hundreds who called 
him friend. His life was a shining example of 
moral rectitude under all circumstances and 
his career, from the penniless stranger tO' one of 
the proudest positions in the business and social 
world, furnishes man}' lessons which may be 
profitably read by the young and rising genera- 
tion. He went to his rest as a shock fully 
ripened for the garner, and while his body 



quietly sleeps, his influence remains an incentive 
to noble thoughts and better deeds on the part 
of those he left behind. 



HERMAN S. KAUFMAN was born in 
the family homestead, on South Market street, 
in what was then the village of Cantoji, on the 
31st of March, 1844, being a son of Peter and 
Catherine (Wiltz) Kaufman, both of whom 
were born about the year 1800. Peter Kauf- 
man was born in the western portion of Prus- 
sia, where he was reared and educated, re- 
maining in the fatherland until about 1818, 
when he emigrated to America and took up- 
his residence in the city of Philadelphia. His 
father, who passed his entire life in Prussia, 
served in the army of Napoleon. The father 
of the subject became a tobacco manufacturer 
in Philadelphia, and shortly after his mar- 
riage, which occurred in the year 1822, he re- 
moved to Pennsylvania, where he remained 
for the ensuing three yeais, after which he 
passed one year in Economy, that state. He 
then came to Ohio and located in Columbiana 
county, where he resided until 1828, when he 
came to Canton, which continued to be his 
home until his death. He here established and 
was editor and publisher of the Vaterlands 
Freund unfl Geist der Zeit, the first German 
newspaper in the town, and he also published 
an annual almanac which attained high popu- 
larity in this section of the Union, the same 
being kno\vn as Peter Kaufman's Western Al- 
manac. Of his labors in these connections- 
mention is made in the series of articles by 
John Danner appearing in this volume. The- 
names of his paper and almanac are familiar 
to the old settlers throughout the state. At 
a later period Mr. Kaufman published Der 
Deutche in Ohio, a paper with which he con- 
tinued to be identified until within a short time 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



J 463 



prior to Iiis death, \\hich occurred in 1869. 
The paper ceased publication many years ago. 

Catherine (Wiltz) Kaufman, the mother 
of the subject of this sketch, was born in a 
small town on the Rhine, and her parents were 
members of the Society of Friends. The fam- 
ily immigrated to America in 18 16 and settled 
in Philadelphia, where was solenniized her 
marriage to Peter Kaufman. She died in Can- 
ton in 1893, at the venerable age of ninety- 
four years, while both she and her husband 
were well known throughout the country and 
were numbered among the sterling pioneers 
of Canton. They became the parents of nine 
children, concerning whom we enter the fol- 
lowing brief record : Lydia is the widow of 
Professor Henry J. Nothiiagel and resides in 
Columbus, Ohio; Herman (first) died at an 
early age; Walter died at the age of eighteen 
years; Peter R. was a valiant soldier in the 
war of the Rebellion and met his death during 
the siege of Vicksburg; Louisa M. is the widow 
of Charles Rehlen and resides in East Cleve- 
land, this state; Alfred died at the age of 
twenty-seven years; Maria M. is the wife of 
M. M. Herbst, of Canton; Herman (sec- 
ond) died in infancy; and Herman S. is the 
immediate subject of this sketcli. 

Herman S. Kaufman received his pre- 
liminary educational training in a private school 
conducted by Professor Lang, on North Plum 
street, Canton, said thoroughfare being now 
known as McKinley avenue. He later became 
a student in the public schools, and was grad- 
uated in the high school as a member of the 
class of 1862. In the spring of that year he 
tendered his services in defence of the Lfnion, 
whose integrity was in jeopardy through the 
rebellion of the southern states. He enlisted 
as a private in Company I, Eighty-sixth Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, which was organized at 
Camp Chase, in Columbus, and the command 
was thence ordered to West Virginia and as- 
signed to guard duty in the vicinity of Clarks- 



burg and Parkersburg. Pie continued in the 
service until the expiration of his term of en- 
listment, being mustered out, at Delaware, 
Ohio, in September, 1862. Mr. Kaufman then 
returned to Canton, where he was employed in 
his father's office until the early spring of the 
following year, w hen he again entered the mil- 
itary service, in the cjuartermaster's depart- 
ment, and was on duty in the south for the 
greater portion of the ye;ir, returning home in 
December, 1863, after receiving his lionorable 
discharge. In tlie early part of 1864 he entered 
upon an apprenticeship at the machinist's trade 
in the shops of C. Aultman & Company in Can- 
ton, while in the spring of the same year he 
became a member of Company C, Ohio Na- 
tional Guard, which was commanded by Col- 
onel Ephraim Ball. His command passed 
three or four months at Tod barracks, in the 
state capital, being there assigned to guard 
duty. After his return to Canton he decided 
to not continue his apprenticeship, and ac- 
cepted the position of bookkeeper for R. C. 
Kimball, a merchant of Canton, retaining this 
position one year, and thereafter he was in- 
cumbent of various clerical offices for vary- 
ing intervals. 

In March, 1867, Mr. Kaufman entered the 
employ of the Russell Company, one of the 
leading manufacturing concerns of Massillon, 
this county, and was there employed as book- 
keeper for two years, at the expiration of 
which he went to Cleveland, where he was em- 
ployed in the Ohio National Bank for a long 
period of fourteen years, gaining a thorough 
knowleijge of the business in all its details and 
rising to a position of responsibility. He then 
removed to El Paso, Texas, where he remained 
eight years as cashier of the First National 
Bank. In 1890 he returned to Canton and 
became a member of the executive corps of the 
City National Bank, of which he has been 
cashier for the past twelve years, his able and 
discriminating services having proved a potent 



1464 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



factor in insuring the Ijuilding up of this soHd 
and popular financial nistitution, while he is 
highly esteemed in busmess circles and is rec- 
ognized as one of the able financiers and rep- 
resentative citizens of his native place. He has 
been treasurer of the Canton board of trade 
for the past eleven years and ever manifests 
a lively interest hi all that tends to promote the 
progress and general welfare of the city and 
■county. In politics he is an independent Re- 
publican. He is a member of El Paso Lodge 
No. 130, Free and Accepted Masons, at til 
Paso, Texas, and also of El Paso Comma ndery 
No. 18, Knights Templar. 

In the city of Cleveland, on the 5th of Oc- 
tober, 1869, Mr. Kaufman was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Mary A. Williams, a daughter 
of Thomas H. and Anna (Bender) Williams, 
both of whom \\ere born in the state of Vir- 
ginia, while they were for a number of years 
residents of Stark county prior to their re- 
moval to Cleveland, both being now deceased. 
]\Irs. Kaufman was born in Ohio, and her edu- 
cational training was received in the public 
schools of Massillon. Mr. and Mrs. Kaufman 
are the parents of four children, all of whom 
remain beneath the home roof, tiieir names 
being as follows: Mary Josephine, Alfred 
William, Charles Augustus and Walter Her- 
man. 



JOSEPH S. SAXTON.— In its original 
forni the family name of the subject was spelled 
Sexton, but for several generations the name 
has been used in its present form. The an- 
cestors of Joseph S. Saxton were originally 
from England and came to America at a time 
long prior to the war of the Revolution, but 
there is no definite knowledge as to where they 
■first settled. The most reliable information 
obtainable w'ould indicate that it was at West- 
field, Connecticut, as it is of record that George 
Sexton came to that place from England, and 



died in 1690. The family name is met with 
frequently all through the eastern states and 
it is thouglit that members of this family were 
among the early settlers of the New England 
states. 

The subject's great-grandfather, George 
Saxton, who lived in Maryland, was married 
in Frederick county, that state, to Miss Sarah 
Harlan, of near Frederick, where they both 
died. Sarah Harlan's great-grandfather was 
George Harlan and her grandfather was 
James Harlan. About 1736 or 1740 James 
Harlan and wife left Chester county, Pennsyl- 
vania, and settled in Maryland or Virginia. 
They were members of the Friends church and 
appear to ha\-e borne a prominent and honor- 
able part in the settlement of that part of the 
country in which they resided. James Harlan 
died in Frederick county, Maryland, and the 
names of his children were as follows: John, 
George, James, Jacob, Stephen, Moses, Philip, 
Elizabeth and Hannah. Of these children, 
John, the f;ither of IMrs. Sarah Saxton, was 
born in Chester county, Pennsyh-ania, in 1710. 
and married ^lartha Ashby. Sarah was born 
in Frederick county, Maryland, which was aft- 
erward cut off and named Washington count}'. 

The descendants of these Harlan ancestors 
are many and have become scattered through 
all the states and territories of the Union. 
They inherited the spirit of venture, perse- 
verance and enterprise and assisted in the open- 
ing and settlement of Viiginia, Kentucky, 
Arkansas, Texas, Indiana, Illinois, ^Missouri. 
Michigan and many sections of the great west. 
The name is a familiar one in the public mind, 
many members of the family having held ex- 
alted and honorable positions in state and na- 
tional affairs during many years of our country's 
history. Among them may be mentioned Hon. 
John M. Harlan, associate justice of the supreme 
court of the United States, Major Sellis Har- 
lan, who lost his life at Blue Lick, Kentucky, 
in August, T782, and Hon. James Harlan, lor 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1465 



many years a representative in congress from 
Kentucky. It is also a matter of record that 
several members of this family took part in the 
strug'gle of the colonies for independence. 

James Saxton, the grandfather of James S. 
Saxton, was born February i, 1768, at Freder- 
ick, Maryland, and upon attaining mature 
years learned the trade of nail making. In 
April, 17S5, he removed to Huntingdon, Penn- 
sylvania, where his death occurred on the 21st 
of December, 1845 or 1848. He was a man 
of strong character and was reared in the faith 
of the Methodist churcli, of which he was 
long a faithful and consistent member. He 
was married in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, in 
1 791, to Miss Hannah Ashbaugh, the daughter 
of William Ashbaugh. She died at Hunting- 
don July 14, 1822. Their children are briefly 
mentioned as follows : ( i ) John, born Sep- 
tember 28, 1792, at Huntingdon, Pennsyl- 
vania, married, August 3, 181 5, Margaret 
Laird and died at Canton, April 16, 1871. (2) 
George, born November 11, 1793, died Sep- 
tember 22, 1 8 19, at New York city. (3) Re- 
becca, born December 10, 1795, married Oc- 
tober 18, 1 83 1, Qiristian Perghtal, and died 
■October i, 1865. (4) Ruth, born January 
17, 1798, died in March, 1798. (5) Joseph, 
born March 22, 1799, married Mary Abercrom- 
bie, and died at Washington, D. C. He acquir- 
ed great repute as an inventor, scientist and 
maker of clocks, among the latter being the 
clock in the tower of Independence Hall, Phil- 
adelphia, and he was also the maker of United 
States weights and measures. (6) Penniah, 
"born September i, 1801, died March 12, 1872 
On the 26th of September, 1822, she became 
the wife of Mordecai Barry, whose death oc- 
curred July 29, 1823. (7) Wilson Lee, born 
October 24, 1803, died September 25, 18^ — . 
(8) James, Jr., born October 4, 1805, died 
February 7. 1873. He was three times mar- 
ried, his first wife, to whom he was united 
December 15, 1828, being Mary Ann Fochler, 



his second, Catherine Fochler and the third, 
Emily Brotherline. (9) Joshua, born Decem- 
ber II, 1807, married, July 15, 1S34, Margaret 
Hemphill and died February 7, 1890. (10) 
Catherine, born January 30, 1810, died Febru- 
ary 27, 1828. (11) William A., born Jan- 
uary 19, 1817, died July 9, 1895. On the 
28th of April, 1859, he was united in marriage 
with Miss Sarah Abercrombie, whose death oc- 
curred August 13, 1879. 

John Saxton, the father of the subject, was 
reared to manhood in his native place and at- 
tended the subscription schools of the period. 
He was of a studious disposition and by close 
application was enabled to acquire a fair busi- 
ness education. In youth he commenced to 
work at the printing trade and in 181 5, ac- 
companied by his young wife, he came to Can- 
ton, Ohio, she making the trip on horseback 
in front of him. Here he established himself 
in the printing business and issued the first 
paper ever printed in Canton, it being called the 
"Repository." He was long and prominently 
identified with the publishing interests of this 
city and bore an influential part in many move- 
ments contributing to the upbuilding of the city 
and county and the advancement of many of 
its interests. His death occurred at Canton on 
the i6th of April, 1871. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Margaret Laird, was born at 
Huntingdon. Pennsylvania, December 13, 
1792. and passed away March 28, 1858. They 
were the parents of tiie following children, all 
born at Canton: James A., born May i, 1812, 
died March 14, 1887; John L., born November 
6, 1817, died July 6, 7836; William, born No- 
vember 12, 1818, died December 25, same 
year; Hannah J., born May 13, 1820, and died 
February 22, 1895 ; slie married Thomas Good- 
man; George R., born July 3, 1823, died Au- 
gust 25, 1883; he married Kate B. Shorb; 
Joshua A., born October 9, 1826, died Octo- 
ber 10, of the same year; Joseph S., the sub- 
ject; Thomas W., born October 9, 183 1, and 



1466 



OLD LANDMARKS 



died November i, 1884; he married Maria 
Slanker. 

Joseph Simmons Saxton was born in an 
old house on the site where now stands the 
McKinley hotel, the date of his birth being the 
7th of October, 1829. At the age of six years 
he commenced his education by attendance at 
a private school taught by Mary Atwood, for 
which his quarterly tuition was two dollars 
and a half. The first sessions of this school 
were held up stairs in a building situated on 
the east side of the public square. Young Sax- 
ton was fond of sewing and frequently took 
such work to school with him, among his work 
being a patch quilt. He was of a quiet and studi- 
ous disposition and made good progress in his 
studies, so that when he quit the school room 
he had acquired an excellent knowledge of the 
common English branches. In 1844, in com- 
pany with his brother James, he embarked in 
the hardware business, locating in a two-story 
brick building on East Tuscarawas street 
owned by F. A. Snyder. Then for four years 
he was employed as a clerk by his brother. In 
1850 the business was removed to South 
Market street and at that time the subject en- 
tered the printing office of bis father, who at 
that time was the editor and published of the 
Repository. At this time he was but sixteen 
3'ears old and by the terms of the contract en- 
tered into with his father he was to receive a 
portion of the profits of the business. How- 
ever, finding that his father needed all the 
money he could command, young Saxton drew 
only what money was actually required by him 
to cover his living expenses, thus proving his 
filial devotion. There was a book store in con- 
nection with the printing office and in this the 
subject also worked at times. He retained his 
connection with the printing office but one year 
and then resumed his position as clerk in the 
hardware store conducted by his brother. In 
1856 Conard Schwedges and the subject were 



admitted as partners in the business and \.w 
years later the subject and John F. Raynok 
purchased the stock. They possessed in i 
eminent degree those qualities so essential ' 
success and for sixteen years continued tl 
business with profit, selling out at the end ( 
that time to Pontius & Essick. Mr. Saxtc 
next engaged in the fire insurance business, 
which he later added life insurance, and has sin^ 
been successfully engaged in these lines. H 
business transactions have demonstrated fina 
cial ability of a high order, and his care 
throughout has been characterized by sour 
judgment, keen discernment and concentratic 
of purpose which have enabled him to carry 
successful issue the enterprises to which h 
energies have been addressed. 

On the 7th of October, 1851, Joseph : 
Saxton was united in marriage with Miss Ha 
riet A. Banner, sister of John A. Banner, ( 
Canton. She was born July 15, 1830, and to tl 
union with the subject have been born the fc 
lowing children : Anna Laura, born Septen 
ber 25, 1852, died Becember 23, 1853; Jol 
M., born July 25, 1857, is tumiarried and hv^ 
in Pueblo, Colorado ; Charles C, born Januai 
ig, i860, married, January 19, 1887, Kitt 
Van Kruren, and also resides at Pueblo, Cc 
orado; Helen B., born April 8, 1862, was ma 
ried, October 2.S, 1887, to Apperton H. Ba' 
pitt; William G., born June 7, 1867, occupii 
the position of teller in the First Nation 
Bank of Canton. 

Religiously Mr. Saxton is a member of tl 
Presbyterian church and at one time served ; 
treasurer of the congregation to which he b' 
longed. Politically he was formerly a Whii 
but upon the organization of the Republics 
party he allied himself with it and has sin< 
been a stalwart supporter of its principles. F 
has never been an office seeker, but has ev( 
used his influence to induce his party to plac 
upon the ticket tlie names of men morally an 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1467 



mentally qualified for the positions to be filled. 
A man of unswerving integrity, his high stand- 
ing in the community is second to that of no 
other citizen. 



NORMAN C. RAFF, of Canton, was born 
January 29, 1857, in the city of Canton, and is 
the son of the late Judge George W. Raff. He 
attended the Union public school, and the Can- 
ton Academy, graduating from the academy in 
1876. He then entered VVooster University, 
where he was graduated with honors in the 
class of 1880. While at Wooster he was a 
member of the Phi Kappi Psi fraternity and of 
the Irving Literary Society. In his sopho- 
more year he took what was known as the 
"Sophomore Prize" and at the end of his junior 
year he took the second "Junior Prize" for an 
original declamation, while in his senior year 
he received first honors as a debater in the col- 
lege inter-society contest, in addition to taking 
the honors o'f his class. After graduating he 
remained at Wooster for several months, as- 
sisting the grand treasurer of the Ivnights of 
Honor in managing the business of his office, 
and in July, 1881, he went to Albuquerque, 
New Mexico, and took a position as bookkeeper 
in the Central Bank of that place, owned by 
Raynolds Brothers. His advancement was so 
rapid that in less than three years he had risen 
to the position of cashier. Not long afterwards 
the Central and First National Banks of Al- 
buquerque were merged in one, and he was 
made cashier of the joint concei'n, which bore 
the name of The First National Bank. In 
October, 1885, he accompanied his parents and 
brother on a visit to California, returning to 
Albuquerque in January, 1886. In April, 1886, 
he resigned his position as cashier in order to 
give his attention to several mining interests, 
which he owned at Kingston, New Mexico, in- 
tending afterwards to engage in the study of 
the law, but soon after reaching Kingston he 



was induced to take the management of the 
Percha Bank, as cashier. Later, after dispos- 
ing of his banking interests in New Mexico, 
Mr. Raff established the Bank of Indian Terri- 
tory at Guthrie, Oklahoma, at the time that 
territory was opened to the public by the gov- 
ernment. This bank was one of the first estab- 
lishments of the kind in the territory, and of it 
Mr. Raff was president and practical owner. 
In 1 89 1 Mr. Raff returned to Canton, and after 
a short stay in this city went east and became 
associated with Thomas Edison, the inventor, 
in connection with some of that gentleman's 
inventions. This called Mr. Raff to Chicago, 
where general offices were then located, during 
the World's Fair year. One year later the 
offices were removed to New York city. Mr. 
Raff was at the head of the company which 
brought out Mr. Edison's kinetoscope, vitascope 
and other moving picture machines, and which 
also had much to do with the introduction of 
Mr. Edison's phonograph. After these ma- 
chines had been thoroughly introduced and the 
business fully organized throughout the coun- 
try, and he had completed the object of his 
original association with Mr. Edison, Mr. Raff 
turned over the business and entered into a 
general bond and high-grade investments busi- 
ness at No. 63 Wall street, New York city, in 
which he is still engaged. 

On the death of his brother, Edward S., 
Mr. Raff became, under the will, executor of 
the estate, and frequently is called to Canton to 
attend to the business in this connection. 



JAMES H. ELLER is a native of Monroe 
county, Ohio, and was born at Malaga, Ohio, 
on the 3d of July, 1838, his parents having 
devoted the major portion of their lives to ag- 
ricultural pursuits and having been in moderate 
circumstances. The subject received only a 
limited education. He passed his boyhood days 
in Monroe and Belmont counties, assisting his 



1468 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



parents in the farm work and attending the 
country schools as opportunity afforded, while 
lie also served an apprenticeship at the car- 
penter trade. He was preparing to enter edu- 
cational work in a private school, but turned 
from this plan in order to assume the higher 
duties which came with the President's call for 
volunteers to assist in defending the union 
against the rebellious South. In the month of 
August, 1 86 1, in Monroe county, Mr. Eller 
enlisted, for a term of three years, as a private 
in Company E, Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, but was promoted to sergeant soon 
after entering the service, the regiment being 
in command of Colonel George Crook, who was 
later made brigadier general of volunteers and 
who attained distinction through his gallant 
record in this great fratracidal conflict. The 
regiment was assigned to the Army of West 
Virginia, and later on was attached to the 
Fourteenth Corps of the Army of the Cumber- 
land and participated in many of the notable 
and sanguinary engagements of the war. Later 
on the regiment was detached from the Four- 
teenth Corps and served the remainder of time 
in the Eastern Army, the subject having taken 
part in the battles of Corinth, South Mountain, 
Antietam, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and 
many other engagements of minor importance, 
while he served as color sergeant in all of the 
above named engagements, being incumbent 
of this office at the time of receiving his honor- 
al)le discharge, at Harper's Ferry, in Septem- 
ber^ 1864. He was in active service somewhat 
more than three years and was ever found at 
I lie post of duty and ever ready to discharge all 
labors devolving upon him, his record being 
one which will redound to his credit as long 
as the nation is mindful of the brave boys in 
l)]ue through whose efforts its integrity was 
thus perpetuated. 

At the close of his military service Mr. 
Eller returned to Ohio and engaged in con- 
tracting and building, his principal field of 



operations in the line being in the counties of 
Monroe and Belmont, and there he remained 
until 1884, when he came to Canton and ac- 
cepted the position of foreman for the Canton 
Steel Roofing Company, with which concern 
he remained until the spring of 18S7, when he 
started in his present line of enterprise on a 
modest scale, his original place of business 
being the barn on his residence premises, on 
East Tuscarawas street. Later he leased 
ground from the Markling estate and thereon 
erected temporary shops and in 1891 he pur- 
chased the site of his present well equipped 
plant, at the corner of Gibbs and East Fifth 
streets, where he has succeeded in building up 
an excellent business and one which is the result 
of well directed effort on his own part, since his 
capitalistic investment at the inception of the 
enterprise was only three hundred dollars. In 
addition to his business plant Mr. Eller is 
the owner of an excellent residence property at 
1005 West Tuscarawas street, where he has 
maintained his home for the past six years. 
He is a stanch Republican in his political 
proclivities, having been identified with the 
party from the time of attaining his legal 
majority, and his religious faith is that of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, in whose spiritual 
and temporal work he takes a deep and active 
interest, being at the present time a member of 
the board of trustees of the First Methodist 
Episcopal church of Canton, of which his wife 
likewise is a devoted member. Fraternally Mr. 
Eller vitalizes his interest in his old comrades 
of the Civil war by retaining membership in 
the Grand Army of the Republic, being identi- 
fied with McKinley Post No. 25, while he also 
holds memtership in the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows. 

In 1867 Mr. Eller was united in marriage, 
in Monroe county, to Miss Elizabeth Sloan, 
who died eighteen months later, and in 1877 
he was married to Miss Melissa Claudy, a 
daughter of Judge Robert Claudy of Somer- 



CANTON 'AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



14691 



ton, Belmont county. One child was born of 
the first marriage, Martha C, who is now the 
wife of Ellis Deaver, of Canton. 



EDWARD J. MEYER was born in Can- 
ton township, Stark county, on the 9th of 
April, 1858, being a son of Joseph and Cather- 
ine A. (Meyer) Meyer, the former of whom 
died at the age of fifty-eight years, while the 
latter is still living in Canton, venerable in 
years and loved and revered by a wide circle 
of friends. In the memoir of the honored fa- 
ther of the subject, appearing on other pages 
of this work, is incorporated most interesting 
genealogical data, and to this sketch we would 
refer the reader for information patently ger- 
mane to the personal career of our subject. 
Joseph Meyer passed his entire life in Stark 
county, though he completed his educational 
discipline in Emmittsburg College, Maryland, 
in which state his father had been an influential 
citizen prior to his emigration to Ohio. He 
devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits 
in Stark county, owning fifteen hundred acres 
of land and maintaining the active supervision 
of this large estate, which he devoted to diversi- 
fied farming and to the raising of high-grade 
stock, including fine horses, so that the subject 
early became familiar with the line of indus- 
trial enterprise in which he has attained so 
marked precedence. 

Edward J. Meyer secured his preliminary 
educational discipline in the public schools and 
thereafter continued his studies in the college 
at Louisville, this county, while in 1871 he was 
matriculated in his father's alma mater, Em- 
mittsburg College, Maryland, where he re- 
mained three years. That the best of ad- 
vantages were afforded him in the pursuit of 
his education is thus certain, while he supple- 
mented the training secured at Emmittsburg 
by entering Dufif's Commercial College, at 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he completed 



the prescribed course and was duly graduated' 
as a member of the class of 1S76, being thus 
well fortified for the practical duties and re- 
sponsibilities of life. After leaving school Mr. 
Meyer located on a farm on the Fulton road, 
west of Canton, where he made his home for 
a period of three years, at the expiration of 
which he effected the purchase of the Meyer's- 
Lake property, two miles northwest of Canton, 
said property having been a portion of the 
landed estate of his grandfather, in whose^ 
honor the lake was named. When the subject 
assumed control of the property the lake, 
though of ample dimensions, was lacking in 
attractiveness, being surrounded by marshy 
banks and being little more than a stagnant 
pond. He at once set himself to the task of 
improving the shore, removing the tangled and 
decayed vegetation from the bed of the lake, 
and developing it into an attractive sheet of 
water. Here he erected the Lakeview hotel, 
and transformed the property into a most 
idyllic summer resort, and one whose attrac- 
tions have been greatly appreciated by the peo- 
ple of Canton, from which city thousands go- 
each year for a day or season of recreation and 
rest. It was largely due to the efforts of Mr. 
Meyer that the lines of the electric street car 
system of Canton were extended to this popular 
resort, thus rendering it easily accessible, and 
that at a cost within the means of even the 
poorest individuals, so that from a humanitar- 
ian standpoint, aside from personal enterprise, 
his labors proved singularly effective. Mr. 
Meyer conducted the resort most successfully 
for an interval of four years and then disposed 
of the property. In 1883 he purchased his 
present magnificent estate, which comprises 
three hundred acres of most productive land, 
the major portion of V\'hich is available for 
cultivation, though he, as a matter of course, 
utilizes many acres in connection with the 
breeding of his horses, in which line he con- 
ducts business upon a very extensive scale. 



1470 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



This farm was likewise a portion of his grand- 
father's estate, and at the time our subject pur- 
chased it was the property ot his brother Henry. 
In 1889 J\Ir. Meyer erected his large and finely 
equipped training station, the same being one 
hundred and fifty feet in length and eighty 
feet in width, in the extreme measures, while 
it is two stories in height and surmounted in 
the center by a fine tower, which rises to a 
height of sixty feet. The building is semi- 
Gothic in architectural style, and was designed 
throughout by Mr. Meyer, while it is doubtful 
whether there is a finer structure of the sort in 
the Union. The barn proper is encircled by a 
covered track, practically enclosed within the 
building and a tenth of a mile in length, the 
same being for training- purposes during the 
winter months and in inclement weather, while 
a short distance in the rear of the stables is a 
fine half-mile track, which is one of the best 
private tracks known to western turfdom. Mr. 
Meyer is an enthusiastic horseman, and there 
are few, if any, better judges of the good points 
in the noble animal to whose breeding he has 
so sriccessfully given his attention. He was 
the owner of "Black Cloud," the fastest Mam- 
brino stallion in the world, with a record of 
2:17^. Concerning the more notable horses 
on this fine farm a decade ago, a publication 
issued at that time spoke as follows : 

"Black Cloud" was purchased and taken from 
Kentucky to Michigan by General Custer, and after the 
death of the General was the object of prolonged litiga- 
tion. He made his record of 2:1714 in the great cham- 
pion stallion race in Chicago in 1882. Another noted 
horse owned by Mr. Meyer is the famous "Bud Crooke" 
with a pacing record of 2 :isH- He is the fastest pacing 
entire son of "George Wilkes," and the third fastest 
entire son in the world of the mightiest stallion the 
world ever knew. "Bud Crooke's" sire, "George 
Wilkes," held a world record (2 :22) ; "Bud Crooke" 
holds a world record, and "Bud Crooke's" son "Hontas 
Crooke," holds a world record — something never be- 
fore known in the history of horses — three world's 
records held by one breed of horses. Another stallion 
with a running record of 1 :44i4 is "Wanba." He was 
bred by Charles W. Bradley, of Richmond, Kentucky. 



Mr. Meyer also has upon his farm the great-great- 
granddaughter of the horse his grandfather rode to 
Starli county from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1S17, when 
he came west to purchase his land, for which he paid 
eleven dollars per acre. The horses have been kept 
and bred on the farm ever since, and are very high- 
spirited and fine anirrials. The training barn is undoubt- 
edly one of the best, if not the best, in the country. 
There is nothing lacking, and in some departments the 
barn is almost palatial. Under a large oak tree stand- 
ing near the residence of Mr. Meyer, Beaver Cap, the 
famous chief of the Wyandottes, at one time had his 
cabin. A large spring rises out of the earth near the 
tree. 

Prior to going into the trotting and pacing 
horse breeding, he bred and raced runners, 
among which were Emma Abbott, Wanba, 
Seymour, What Not, and many others which 
became noted on the turf. ]\Ir. Meyer, together 
with his brother, George W., and iVis sisters, 
Mrs. John Blake and Celeste, gave twenty 
acres of land in the incorporate limits of Can- 
ton for the site of the present magnificent plant 
of the Deuber-Hampden Watch Manufacturing 
Company, which was indeed a donation of 
magnitude and incalculable advantage to Can- 
ton. Among the other interests and properties 
acquired by Mr. Meyer was the Yohe Hotel, 
one of the old and well-known hotels in Canton, 
situated on the corner of Korth Market and 
Third streets, which he purchased in March, 
1903. He at once began remodeling the prop- 
erty and transformed it into a first-class, up-to- 
date hotel. This hotel he re-named the St. 
Edward. The hotel has sixty rooms, with all 
modern improvements, such as elevator, steam 
heat, and electric lights. The hotel has a fine 
collection of oil paintings, being the only hotel 
in Canton to boast of anything of the kind. 

Mr. Meyer is a man of fine administrative 
ability and business sagacity, as if evident from 
the pronounced success vvhich has attended his 
efiforts, and he is regarded as one of the repre- 
sentative horse-breeders of the Union and as 
one of the most influential and successful busi- 
ness men of Stark coiintv, while his course has 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1471 



ever been ordered along the undeflecting line 
of integrity and honor, so that he has retained 
the confidence and high regard of all who know 
him. In politics he gives a stanch allegiance to 
the Democratic party. He \\as twice nominated 
by his party for the office of county commis- 
sioner and also for county treasurer. He is 
thoroughly public-spirited in his attitude and 
all worthy enterprises projected for the con- 
servation of the best interests of his county and 
state are certain to receive his earnest co-oper- 
ation and support. Fraternally he is identified 
with the Canton I.x)dge No. 68, Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks, in Canton. Upon 
his farm Mr. Meyer has one of the most 
spacious and beautiful residences in this sec- 
tion of tlie state, tiie house being constructed 
of brick and being thoroughly modern in all 
its appointments, though its nucleus is the resi- 
dence erected by his paternal grandfather in 
1822, the place then being one of the finest in 
the state, as is it now under its modernized 
form. 

On the 2ist of December, 1881, Mr. Meyer 
was united in marriage to Miss Helen C. Pat- 
ton, who was born in Canton, being a daughter 
of Thomas Patton, who was likewise born in 
this city when it was a mere pioneer hamlet, 
his parents having been numbered among its 
first settlers. He was for many years prom- 
inently engaged in the mercantile business in 
Canton, where he passed the evening of his life 
in retirement from active labors, his death oc- 
curring in T898. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer have 
one son, Joseph E. 



PRESTON HOPPES was born Septem- 
ber 29, 1847, s"cl is a son of William and 
Sarah (Lee) Hoppes, of whose nine children 
six still survive, namely : Mary, whose home 
is in Alliance, where she still enjoys a life of 
single blessedness; Adeline, also unmarried 



and likewise a resident of Alliance; Rebecca, 
wife of Samuel B. Tea ; Valeria, widow of 
William Fitzpatrick, with her home also in 
Alliance; Preston, whose life career will be 
further detailed in this brief record, and 
Louisa, who is the wife of William Busby, 
of this, Washington, township. Those de- 
ceased are Abigail, who died, aged forty-eight 
years, in 1900, and William H., who was shot 
in the Civil war. 

William Lloppes, the father of the above 
named family, was born in Berks county, 
Pennsylvania, in i8o8i a son of Jacob Hoppes, 
a very prominent farmer of his community and 
also a veteran of the war of 1812. William 
Hoppes was reared to the blacksmith's trade 
in Berks county, Pennsylvania, where he 
worked until 1841, when he came to Stark 
county, Ohio, and located on what is now 
known as the Richard Lee farm, but which 
was then the property of Mr. Hoppes" father- 
in-law, and worked at his trade in connection 
with farming about, one year. In 1842 he pur- 
chased the present Hoppes homestead, which 
is now owned by Preston Hoppes' two maiden 
sisters. Soon after makmg this purchase Mr. 
Hoppes erected a modern dwelling, in which 
he resided until his death, which occurred in 
his ninety-third year, in the faith of the 
Lutheran church and in politics a Republican. 
He was one of the best known horse dealers 
in his section of the cour.try, as he entered 
into the trade in the pioneer days and drove 
his animals through to the Eastern markets 
until the advent of railroads, which he utilized 
until his seventy-fifth year. 

Mrs. Sarah (Lee) Hoppes was born in 
Berks county, Pennsylvania, about 1S14, and 
was a daughter of Jeremiah Lee, who was dis- 
tantly connected with the Lincoln family and 
the ancestors of Gen. Robert E. Lee. With 
the family of Daniel Boone, grandfather Lee 
and Richard and William Hoppes walked all 



1472 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the way from Pennsylvania to Stark county, 
Ohio; they then returned to the Keystone 
state, but came back to Ohio in covered wagons 
with their famihes, in 1841, and made per- 
manent settlement. Here the mother died at 
the age of sixty- four years, in 1878. 

Preston Hoppes was reared to agriculture 
in the home place and acquired his education 
in a structure now used by him as a wagon 
shed. He continued to work during the sum- 
mer seasons on this farm until within four 
years of his marriage, during which period he 
worked on a railroad. In 1874 he was joined 
in matrimou)' with Miss Louisa Maudrue, who 
was born in Maximo, Ohio, a daughter of Jo- 
seph Maudrue, whose life record is given in 
full on another page of this work. After his 
marriage Preston Hoppes settled on his pres- 
ent farm, which was then the property of hi? 
father and which comprises sixty-nine acres, 
besides which he owns a farm of thirty-eight 
acres three miles to the west. ]\Irs. Louisa 
(Maudrue) Hoppes passed away in 1884, the 
mother of two children, Lucius J. and Bertha. 
Lucius J. is married to Zula Hoiles, who has 
borne him two children, William and Leonard, 
while Bertha is still single and resides with 
her father, who remains a widower. The 
father and Lucius J. are now farming the old 
homestead, while the daughter manages the 
household. 

Lucius J. Hoppes was one of the brave boys 
who volunteered for the Spanish-American 
war and served in Cuba with Company K, 
Eighth Ohio Infantry. That the martial spirit 
pervaded is also shown by the fact that William 
H. Hoppes, a brother of Preston Hoppes, 
served in Company K, One Hundred and Tenth 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and lost his life in 
the battle of the Wilderness. Mr. Hoppes and 
his son Lucius are Republicans in politics, but 
neither has ever sought an office. The family 
hold a very high position socially, and the name 
is honored wherever it is known. 



MRS. CAROLINE JANE McCUL- 
LOUGH EVERHARD was born at Massil- 
lon, Ohio, September 14, 1843. Her 
Scotch-Irish ancestors on the paternal 
side settled in the latter part of the 
eighteenth century in that part of eastern Ohio 
which is now Jefferson county. They were 
large landholders, taking a prominent part in 
the development of the commercial interests in 
that section, in municipal affairs and in church 
organization. Her father, Thomas McCul- 
lough, a trusted associate and lifelong friend 
of James Duncan, the founder of Massillon, 
came to the infant place in 1838. In 1840 he 
was married to Nancy Warriner Melendy, of 
English ancestr}-, of the Perry family, from 
near Brattleboro, Vermont. A most cultivated 
woman, she was firm in her faith and adher- 
ence to the principles which have so unfailingly 
and distinctively marked our Puritan ancestors. 
The daughter, who early manifested the de- 
cided and distinctive traits of a strong charac- 
ter, was fortunate in having the careful guid- 
ance of a wise and thoughtful mother, most 
conscientious and conservative, with the high 
ideals, pure and lofty motives which notably 
characterized the New England mothers. 
Hence it may be that, although Ohio born and 
bred, Mrs. Everhard seemed, in her life and 
character, to hold a place side by side with the 
foremost of New England's noble women, yet 
she had that broad charity and liberality of 
thought which is claimed as a development of 
the western life. She inherited in large meas- 
ure the sturdy traits of her parents, which made ■ 
their lives such an influence in the commercial, 
religious and social life of Massillon in its early 
formative period, where they were among the 
pioneers. After completing the course of in- 
struction in the Alassillon high school under 
the foremost educators of the state, she was- 
placed in Brooke Hall, Media, Pennsylvania, 
Miss M. L. Eastman principal, graduating vale- 
dictorian in 1862. November 7, 1865, in St.- 




c^. /k r^^. 



■S^'C^A^ G2-cJ^-^t>4i.j^--y^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1473 



Timothy's Episcopal church of Massillon, she 
was married to Henry Hewit Everhard. To 
them were born tliree children — Ethel Rebecca 
(Mrs. Charles A. Schmettau, of Toledo), Mel- 
ville McCullough (located at Massillon) and 
Marion (Mrs. S. B. Johns, of Brooklyn, New 
York). A devoted mother, her children were 
given her personal care and training. No pains 
or labor were spared, no sacrifice was too great 
to aid in their development. An ardent student, 
to her the companionship of books was very 
real, and the accumulation of her large and val- 
uable library was as the gathering of friends. 
Fond of travel, her published letters were filled 
with vivid description and most entertaining 
incident. She was one of the founders of the 
U. C. D. Club and was always active and in- 
terested in the work of the literary or study 
clubs of the town. By special request she 
served for several years on the examining 
board for teachers. Her withdrawal from the 
board called forth many expressions of regret. 
Her mother died in 1877. The loss of a brother 
in early life left her an only child, and at the 
death of her father, in 1885, she assumed much 
of the care and responsibility of the inherited 
estate and was chosen to fill positions that he 
had occupied. She was the first woman to be 
made a bank director in the state of Ohio. In 
1886 she was appointed by the judge of the 
court of common pleas trustee of the Charity 
Rotch School to fill the vacancy caused by the 
death of her father, the first instance in Ohio' 
of the appointment of a woman to a place of 
trust that required bond. She was made presi- 
dent of the board and served in that capacity 
until her death. She was also appointed by 
the court a member of the visiting board of the 
public institutions of the county, including the 
jail, infirmary and children's home. With her 
keen sense of justice she was an enthusiastic 
worker for equal suft'rage. She organized the 
Equal Rights Society in Massillon and Canton, 



and was an active worker in the state and na- 
tional associations. She served for some years 
as president of the Ohio Woman Suffrage As- 
sociatiem. It was principally due to her efforts,, 
assisted by Mrs. Katherine B. Claypole, as sec- 
retary, that the school suffrage was secured for 
women in Ohio. As an officer of the national 
association she appeared during their conven- 
tions at Washington before the congressional 
committee appointed to consider the question 
of equal suffrage. A fine parliamentarian, a 
woman of commanding presence, she presided 
with grace and dignity. She was prompt and 
accurate in the conduct of business, just and 
considerate in the treatment of her co-laborers 
and always a popular officer. She was vice- 
president of the board of trustees of the McCly- 
monds Public Library from the time of its or- 
ganization. Her trained mind and cultivated 
literary taste made her a valuable member also 
of the book committee. As president of the 
^^'oman's Cemetery Association she gave much 
time to the fm^therance of that work. From 
childhood an ardent friend of dumb animals, 
she promoted the work of the Massillon Hu- 
mane Society, of which she was an efiicient offi- 
cer from its beginning. Her earnestness and 
enthusiasm were an incentive and inspiration 
to others. Naturally a reformer, she was ever 
ready and anxious to right wrongs ; a humani- 
tarian in her efforts to help the oppressed and 
strengthen the weak. Called to public work 
beyond her strength, she entered upon it as a 
duty, labored most conscientiously, striving 
eminently to be just, consistent and firm in her 
con\'iction that in the home, the church and the 
state man and woman should work side by side. 
Her death, April 14, 1902, after a short illness, 
was felt to be a public calamity. She was a 
woman of marked individuality, keen insight, 
ready wit ; a strong personality, with untiring- 
energy, intolerant of deceit or meanness ; an 
earnest seeker for truth and light, accepting no 



92 



H74 



OLD LANDMARKS 



dogmas, inculcating morals founded on prin- 
ciple not superstition, combining with strength 
and force of ch.aracter a touching love of nature 
and tender humanity. 



JACOB M. HOWENSTINE.— The sub- 
ject's parents, George and Christina (Sicka- 
foose) Howenstine, were both natives of Penn- 
sylvania, the former having been born in 
Franklin county and the latter in Westmore- 
land county. Both were of stanch German 
lineage, the respective families having been 
identified with the history of the old Keystone 
state from the early colonial epoch. After 
their marriage the parents removed from 
Pennsylvania to Ohio, and in 1823 they took 
up their abode on the farm now owned by our 
subject, the same being then covered with the 
native timber and bearing slight semblance to 
its present condition, as one of the finely im- 
proved farms of one of the most attractive 
sections of a great state. These worthy folk 
here continued to reside during the remainder 
of their long and useful lives. The mother of 
the subject died when nearly eighty years of 
age, and her husband passed away in his eighty- 
ninth year, both having died on the old home- 
stead. j\Ir. Howenstine was a Republican in 
his political proclivities and both he and his 
wife held the faith of the J\Iethodist Episcopal 
church. They became the parents of nine chil- 
dren, of whom si.x were living at the time of 
the father's death, namely: William S., de- 
ceased ; John S. ; Margaret, who became the 
Avife of Christian Henry, died in Indiana ; 
Catherine is the widow of Jesse Hissim, and re- 
sides in South Whitley, Indiana ; Harriet, who 
became the wife of S. P. W'ilson, died near 
Louisville, this county; Samuel S., Sarah and 
Lyman are deceased; and Jacob M. is the im- 
mediate subject of this review. 

Jacob M. Howenstine, whose name initiates 
this sketch, was born on the farm where he 



now lives, on sections 1 1 and 12, Pike township, 
on the 8th of December, 1851. and here he was 
reared to maturity, being indebted to the dis- 
trict schools for the early educational ad- 
vantages which were his, while he wa.Kcd 
strong in physical vigor in assisting in the 
work of the farm, to which he began to con- 
tribute his quota while a mere boy. At Sparta, 
Pike township, on the 6th of October, 1872, 
Mr. Howenstine was united in marriage to 
Miss Alice Sanford, who was born in Illinois, 
on the 4th of June, 1853, being a daughter of 
James and Jane (Russell) Sanford, 1x)th of 
whom are living. To the union of the subject 
and his estimable wife has been born one son. 
Homer C, who is now at home. 

Mr. Howenstine is essentially public- 
spirited in bis attitude, and has ever shown a 
lively interest in all that has touched the gen- 
eral welfare and in political matters he is 
stanchly arrayed in support of the Republi- 
can party. That he holds the high regard of 
the people of his native township is evident 
when we revert to the fact that for eight con- 
secutive years he was incumbent of the office 
of township trustee, in which capacity he did 
much to further the legitimate improvement of 
public utilities in the township and county. 
In the autumn of 1895 he was elected a mem- 
ber of the directorate of the county infirmary, 
of which position he was incumbent for two 
terms, having been chosen as his own successor 
in the autumn of 1898. His interest in educa- 
tion has been of a hel]jful order, and for fifteen 
years he has been a most progressive and efii- 
cient member of the board of education 
of Pike township, while lie has been chair- 
man of this body since 1899. He is a 
member of tlie Methodist Episcopal church, 
to whose spiritual and temporal work lie con- 
tributes liberally in a financial way and also 
by personal influence and active interposition, 
his wife likewise being a member of the church. 
Fraternally he is identified with the Junior 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1475 



Order of United American Mechanics, of which 
he has been an ofificer in the state council of 
Ohio, and he also holds membership in J. C. 
Luper Tent No. 49, Knights of the Maccabees, 
at Sparta. The fine farm of Mr. Howenstine 
comprises one hundred and nineteen acres, is 
devoted to diversitied farming and stock grow- 
ing, and is equipped with an attractive and sub- 
stantial residence and other excellent buildings, 
everything about the homestead being kept in 
the best of repair and order, and the opera- 
tions being conducted according to those scien- 
tific principles and true business methods which 
have as great potency in this line of industry 
as in any other field of human endeavor and 
-achievement. 



ALFRED P. YOUNG was born on the 
paternal homestead, in Pike township, on the 
^th of October, 1847, being the fifth in order 
■of birth of the ten children — eight sons and two 
daughters — of George J. and Harriet ( Parker) 
^'oung, wdio took up their residence on a farm 
in this township shortly after their marriage, 
and here passed the remainder of their lives, 
retaining the respect and esteem of all who 
knew them. The father attained the age of 
seventy-seven years, his wife ha^-ing preceded 
him into eternal rest, her death occurring at 
the age of sixty-four. George J. Young was a 
man of sterling character, industrious and 
energetic and endowed with excellent adminis- 
trative ability, so that he not only improved 
a good farm and brought the saine under a 
high state of cultivation, but was also able to 
so manage his affairs as to attain a high degree 
of prosperity. He was a Republican in his 
political faith and both he and his wife were 
consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. Of their children nine are living at 
at the present time. 

Alfred P. Young was reared on the old 
liomestead, early becoming inured to the lalxirs 



of field and meadow and gaining that practi- 
cal knowledge of methods and agricultural 
economics which has enabled him to make a 
definite success of the noble and basic voca- 
tion of husbandry. He recei\'ed his early edu- 
cational training in the public schools of the 
locality and period, and made good use of the 
advantages thus afforded him, thus laying a 
secure foundation upon which to rear the su- 
perstructure under the direction of that wise 
headmaster, Experience. He gave evidence of 
the intrinsic loyalty and patriotism of his na- 
ture at the time of th.e war of the Rebellion, 
when at the age of eighteen years, in Febru- 
ary, i860, lie enlisted as a private in Company 
F, One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Ohio Vol- 
unteer Infantry, with which he served until 
the close of the war, the regiment going to the 
front and being assigned to the Army of the 
East, under command of General Thomas. 
After victory had crowned the Union arms and 
the perpetuity of the nation was assured he re- 
ceived his honorable discharge, at Nashville, 
Tennessee, whence he returned to his home in 
Pike township and prepared to win the vic- 
tories which peace ever has in store, — victories 
no less renowned than those of war, if the same 
fidelity to duty be manifest. Mr. Young re- 
tains an active interest in his old comrades in 
arms, whose ranks are so swiftly being deci- 
mated by the one invincible foe, death, and is 
a member of B. T. Steiner Post No. 511, Grand 
Army of the Republic, at Pierce. 

In Pike township, on the 28th of December, 
1869. Mr. Young was united in marriage to 
Miss Jane Buchman, a daughter of Henry and 
Mary (Whitehead) Buchman, honored pio- 
neers of Pike townsliip, where the death of 
each occurred. Mrs. Young was born on the 
parental farmstead, in this township, on the 
26th of September, 1850, and was here reared 
and educated, being a woman of kindl}' and 
gracious presence and one who has proved a 
true helpmeet to her husband. Tliey became 



1476 



OLD LANDMARKS 



the parents of two sons, Edward H., who is 
now at Canton, and Homer, who died in child- 
hood. The home farm of the subject com- 
prises sixty-nine acres of most fertile land, 
and its productivity is maintained at the high- 
est standard, through the discriminating meth- 
ods employed in its cultivation, while the per- 
manent improvements are of the best order, 
bespeaking thrift and progressiveness on the 
part of the owner. 

In politics Mr. Young has ever accorded 
a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, 
and has been an active worker in its ranks, 
while recognition of his peculiar eligibility for 
positions of public trust and responsibility has 
led to his consecutive retention in the oflice of 
township trustee since 1895, a fact whose sig- 
nificance is prima facia, showing the confidence 
and regard in which he is held in his native 
township and the satisfactory character of his 
administration of official duties. Fraternally 
he is identified with J. C. Luper Tent No. 49, 
Knights of the Maccabees, at Pierce, and also 
with the Junior Order of United American 

Mechanics. 

■» « » " 

GEORGE VV. HINES was born on the 23d 
of January. 1S40, his birth taking place in Pike 
township. Stark county, Ohio. His father, 
Washington Hines, was born in York, York 
county, Pennsylvania, July 4, 181 1. His 
mother, whose maiden name was Christina J. 
Hockensmith, was also a native of the Keystone 
state, having been born near the banks of the 
beautiful and far-famed Juniata river, in 181 5. 
Subsequently they remo\ed with their respec- 
tive families to Stark county, Ohio, and there, 
about 1837, they were united in marriage. 
Shortly after this event the young couple set- 
tled in Pike township, this county, and there 
passed the rest of their lives. Washington 
Hines passed away in October, 1883, and his 
wife in September, 1894. They were the par- 



ents of eleven children, of whom the subject 
was the second in the order of birth. 

The subject was reared upon tlie home 
farm and is indebted to the common schools 
for his mental discipline, receiving a fairly 
good education. He was of a studious dis- 
position and attained a sufficient proficiency tO' 
entitle him to a teacher's certificate, after ob- 
taining which he taught one term of school 
in 1869-70. Mr. Hines learned the carpenter's 
trade and followed that occupation for about 
nineteen years. He was a careful and con- 
scientious workman and was constantly kept 
busily employed in the building line. With 
the exception of his carpenter work Mr. Hines 
has all his life followed the pursuit of agricul- 
ture and his entire life thus far has been spent 
in Pike township. That he stands high in the 
estimation of the citizens of his locality is evi- 
denced by the fact that for the long period of 
fifteen years he held the office of justice of 
the peace, administering the affairs in a thor- 
oughly impartial and satisfactory manner. He- 
has ever taken a deep interest in educational 
matters and for nine years served on the board 
of education. He has also held a commission 
as notary public since 1897. 

During the later months of the war of the 
Rebellion, when the result seemed to be hang- 
ing in the balance, ]\Ir. Hines volunteered his 
services to aid in the suppression of the in- 
surrection, enlisting, in 1864, in Company F, 
One Hundred and Sixty-second Regiment, 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The term of his 
service was four nionths, but, though the period 
was comparatively brief, yet in that short time 
Mr. Hines saw some arduous service and nobly 
bore his share of the hardships and privations 
which were a soldier's lot, having at last the 
satisfaction of feeling that his efforts had not 
been altogether in vain, but that once more- 
Old GTory waved over a reunited people and 
liberty, in its- fullest sense, was an established', 
fact. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1477 



Mr. Hines' farm consists of fifty-nine acres 
-of as good and productive land as can be found 
in Pike township. He believes thoroughly in 
the dignity of his calling antl spares neither time 
nor expense in keeping his place in every re- 
spect up to a high standard of excellence. His 
improvements in the way of buildings, fences 
and other accessories of an up-to-date farm 
bespeak the presence of an intelligent and wide- 
awake farmer, whde his induence as a citizen, 
interested in whatever is calculated to promote 
the material interests of the community, 
marked him as public spirited in all the ternt 
implies. 

In Pike township, November 7, 1869, Mr. 
Hines was united in the holy bonds of matri- 
mony with Miss Jane M. Steiner, a daughter 
of the late Jacob and Elizabeth Steiner. Mrs. 
Hines is a native of Pennsylvania, having been 
born in W'estmoreland county. She is a lady 
of wide reading, marked intelligence and force 
of character and has proven to her husband a 
helpmate in the truest sense of the word. 



JOHN SCHRANTZ.— The ancestors of 
the subject have been numbered among the 
sturdy German emigrants \vho gave so great 
impetus to the industrial de\elopment and civic 
progress of the old KcA'stone state. His fa- 
ther, Michael Schrantz, was born in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, where he was reared to 
the age of sixteen years, when he drove a tean> 
to Stark county. He married Miss Sarah Moh- 
ler, in 1840, who was likewise a native of that 
county. Here Michael Schrantz reclaimed and 
improved the farm and continued his residence 
liere until 1880, when he removed to a farm 
in Jackson township, where both he and liis 
wife passed the residue of their lives, honored 
;by all who knew them and distinguished for 
those attributes of character which make for 
strong and noble manhood and womanhood. 
The father died at the age of sixty-eight years 



and his widow lived to attain the age of seven- 
ty, both having been dexoted members of the 
German IBaptist church. They became the 
parents of nine children, of whom the subject 
of this review was the eighth in order of birth, 
and of the number one son and one daughter 
are still living. 

John Schrantz was born on the farm which 
is now his home, the date of his nativity hav- 
ing been September 18, 1854, and it is inter- 
esting to here record the fact that this place 
has continuously been his home during his en- 
tire lifetime. He grew to manhood under the 
sturdy and invigorating discipline of the farm, 
finding the work and experience of value to 
liim in more ways than one, while he has never 
faltered in his allegiance to the noble art of 
husbandry, of whose independence and \'italiz- 
ing powers he has been fully appreciative. His 
fine farm comprises sixty-six acres, is main- 
tained under effective cultivation, is improved 
with excellent buildings, good fences, etc., and 
gives unmistakable evidences of thrift and pros- 
perity. 

Mr. Schrantz has not confined his interest 
to the forwarding of his own success merely, 
but has ever been known as thoroughly public- 
spirited in his attitude. He has been a stanch 
adherent of the Democratic party, in whose 
cause he has taken an active interest. In 1898 
he was elected to the office of township trustee, 
and that his efforts in the connection met with 
popular approval and endorsement was sig- 
nificantly shown in his re-election to the office 
in the spring of 1902, so that he is now in- 
cumbent of the same. He also served one term 
as township assessor, whose somewhat delicate 
functions he exercises with that discrimination 
and fairness which forbade antagonism, while 
he was for many years a member of the school 
board of Lake township, also serving in this 
capacity in Plain township, his interest in edu- 
cational affairs having been insistent and con- 
stant. He is a member of the New Berlin 



1478 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, wliile he and 
his wife are prominent in tlie social life of the 
community, having a host of warm friends, to 
whom the hospitality of their pleasant home is 
ever extended. 

In the city of Canton, on the 6th of August, 

1876, Mr. Schrantz was united in marriage to 
Miss Catherine Good, who was born in Plain 
township, this county, on the loth of May, 
1858, a daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth 
(Witwer) Good, both natives of Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, where their marriage was 
solemnized and whence they came to Ohio 
about the year 1848 and located on a farm in 
Plain township, this county, where the father 
devoted the remainder of his life to agricultural 
pursuits, being one of the honored citizens of 
the community. He died on the i8th of June, 

1877, ^t the age of fifty-six years, his widow 
being now seventy-nine years old. They be- 
came the parents of thirteen children, of whom 
six are yet living, Mrs. Schrantz having been 
the seventh in order of birth. To the subject 
and wife have been Ixjrn six children, namely : 
Olivia, who is the wife of Hiram Wehl, of 
Lake township. Stark county, Ohio ; Ira, w4io 
died at the age of ten years ; and Pearl, Grover, 
Florence and Claude, who remain at the par- 
ental home. 



HON. JOHNSON SHERRICK.— Among 
Canton's prominent citizens, few, if any, have 
had a more active and successful career than lias 
the Hon. Johnson Sherrick, who is a native 
son of old Stark, and who for over thirty 
years has been closely identified with the com- 
mercial, financial and public interests of this 
city. Mr. Sherrick was born on a farm near 
the city of Canton, on August 28, 1841, the 
son of Christian and Mary (Danforth) Sher- 
rick. His grandfather was John, a native of 
Washington county, Maryland, and who was 
one of the pioneers of Stark county. He mar- 



ried, in his native state, Nancy Wyant, and 
with his family came to Ohio in 18 16, settling 
in Stark county, near the present city of Can- 
ton. Christian, father of the subject, was born 
in Washington county, Maryland, on Novem- 
ber 8, 18] 2, and was but four years of age 
when his parents made the long and tedious 
journey from [Maryland through Pennsylvania 
into Stark county. He remained with his fa- 
ther in Stark county until 1839, when he went 
to Dayton, Ohio, and engaged in packet canal 
boating between Dayton and Cincinnati ; he 
also visited New Orleans, spending a winter 
in the .south. In the fall of 1840 he married 
Mary Danforth, of Hamilton, Ohio, and soon 
afterwards returned to Stark county. He then 
located on one of his father's farms, where he 
resided for two years, and then removed to 
the old Sherrick homestead. In 1873 ^^^ retired 
from active life, and removing to Canton, re- 
sided here until his death, in 1892. His wife 
died in 1866. Seven children were born to 
Christian and ]\Iary Sherrick, as follows : 
Johnson, the subject; Louisa married Charles 
Spangler, of Stark county; Joseph died at the 
age of twenty-four years; Elvina, unmarried; 
Jacob D. resides in Seattle, Washington ; Ida 
married W. J. Hartzell. resides at Ballard, 
Washington, and Ahvyn B., who resides in- 
Canton. 

Johnson Sherrick was educated in the com- 
mon schools, attending the Canton high school, 
and taught schixjl during several winters. In 
1863 he engaged in business in St. Louis, Mis- 
souri, but a short time thereafter he enlisted 
in the marine service of the federal govern- 
ment, and was detailed for duty on a govern- 
ment transport. He was discharged from ser- 
vice after a severe spell of sickness for disabil- 
ity, and returning to Stark county he taught 
school in 1S65. During the years 1866 and 
1867, he held a position in the hardware stores 
of C. C. Snyder, at Canton, Miller & Byers, at 
Wooster, Ohio, and Whitnev & Gaines, at: 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1479 



Loudonville, Ohio. In 1870, together with 
Louis Miller, he engaged in the hardware busi- 
ness in Canton. Four years later Mr. Miller 
sold his interest in this business to D. D. Mil- 
ler, of Wooster, Mr. Sherrick's father-in-law, 
but about eight years after he purchased his 
father-in-law's business and conducted the busi- 
ness himself under his own name until 1887, 
when he formed the Canton Hardware Com- 
pany, which was corporated with Mr. Sher- 
rick as president and treasurer. This position 
he held until January, 1903, when he retired 
from the business. This company is one of the 
largest in the hardware line in northern Ohio, 
and will remain as a monument to the industry, 
enterprise and fine business ability of its found- 
ers. For a number of years Mr. Sherrick has 
been prominent in financial and banking cir- 
cles in Canton. He was for several years vice- 
president of the City National Bank, and m 
1890 he was elected president of the First 
National Bank, a position he held until his 
resignation. He is still largely interested and 
a member of the board of directors of this bank, 
which is one of the strongest institutions of 
the city. He was one of the founders of the 
Nye Manufacturing Company, and was presi- 
dent of that company for a length of time. He 
was also one of the founders of the Canton 
Pottery Company. He served as a director of 
the Board of Trade of Canton for many years^. 

In 1873 Mr. Sherrick was elected from 
Stark county as a member of the Ohio legisla- 
ture, being the first Democrat elected from the 
county jn many years. He was re-elected in 
1875 ^"<i i" '^^77 ^\'^s elected to the Ohio 
senate from the district composed of Stark 
and Carroll counties. Fie served as chairman 
of the Democratic county central committee 
and has frequently been a delegate to the Dem- 
ocratic state conventions. He served a term 
as president of the Canton board of education 
and also served a term in the city council. 

On October 14, 1875, Mr. Sherrick mar- 



ried Charlotte, only daughter of the late D. D. 
Miller, of Wooster, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Sher- 
rick are experienced travelers, they having 
traveled over this country and Europe exten- 
sively. In 1889 they spent a portion of the 
winter in the Bermuda Islands; in 1S94 they 
visited England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, 
Denmark, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and 
France; in 1896 they spent the winter in the 
city of Mexico and the surrounding country, 
traveling through Mexico, and returning home 
by way of California; in 1900 they visited 
Egypt, ascended the Nile, traveled through the 
Holy land, Syria, Damascus, Jerusalem, ' 
Turkey, visiting Constantinople, Greece, Italy 
and France; in 1903 they traveled through 
Spain, the northern part of Africa, visiting 
Tangier, Morocco, Algiers, Italy, Austria, 
Hungary, German)-, Holland, Belgiumi and 
Switzerland. From each of these countries and 
places visited Mr. Sherrick sent letters home 
to the local papers which were published and 
read with great interest and pleasure by their 
friends and acquaintances, and by the public 
in general. 



FREDERIC HECKMAN is a native son of 
the old Buckeye state, having been born on the 
parental farmstead, in Green township. Summit 
county, Ohio, on the 25th of October, 1856, 
and being the second in order of birth of the 
six children of Joseph and Elizabeth (Myers) 
Heckman. the former of whom was born in 
Summit county, Ohio, and the latter in Summit 
county, Ohio. The father of the subject was 
a man of sterling character and ever held the 
unequivocal confidence and esteem of all who 
knew him, and while his life was not \\x&\ upon 
an exalted plane, it was one which typified 
the maximum of honor and usefulness. He 
died on the 2d of October, 1S99, at his 
home, in the fullness of years and well earned 
honors. His loved and devoted wife is still 



1480 



OLD LANDMARKS 



living, at tl^e age of sixty-nine years, and she 
maintains iier home in Green township. 

Frederic Hecl<man was reared nnder the 
sturdy discipHne of the homestead farm, and 
liis ])rehminarv eckicational training was re- 
ceived in the district schools of the locality. 
He was appreciative even as a hoy, and his 
nmhition for the attainment of a more liheral 
education was earh- quickened. Thus he con- 
tinued his studies in the high school at Union- 
town, Stark county, under the tutorage of Pro- 
fessors Benjamin F. Carl and John R. Davis, 
and through liis own efforts largelv supplied 
the means which enal)led him to continue his 
educational work. He was for a time a student 
in the Ohio Normal University, at Ada. and 
in 1888 he was matriculated in the normal 
department of Mount Union College, near the 
city of Alliance, this county, where he was 
graduated as a memher of the class of i8yi, 
while in 1895 he was graduated in the com- 
mercial department of the same institution. 
He thereafter completed the scientific cotirse in 
his alma mater, and in 1897 recei\'ed from 
]\Iount Union College the degree of Bachelor 
of Science. In the intervals of his collegiate 
work he continued to Ije actively engaged in 
teaching-, his initial efforts in this line having 
been made when he was twenty-two years of 
age, and his particularly efifective pedagogic 
labors have been in the schools of Portage, 
Summit and Stark counties, where he has held 
positions of high trust and exacting" responsi- 
bility. Professor Heckman was for seven years 
principal and superintendent of the public 
schools at Peninsula, Summit county, and in 
July, 1899, he came to Hartville, Stark count v. 
vhere he was duly installed as principal of the 
Lake townslnp high school and superintendent 
of the public schools of the township, in which 
dual office he gave most ajjle administration, 
doing much to further the efficiency of the 
work and to improve and systemize the system. 
He retained this incumbency until IVIay, 1902, 



since which time he has devoted his attention 
to farming. He is the owner of a well im- 
proved and valuable farm of one hundred and 
eighteen acres, in Lake township, which prop- 
erty he rents, while he still maintains his home 
in the attractive town of Hartville. In politics 
the Professor accords a stanch allegiance to 
the Democratic party, and he takes a lively 
interest in the questions and issues of the hour, 
being a man of strong convictions and one who 
is amply fortified in his opinions, as he has ever 
continued a close student,- \\-hile his reading 
has covered a wide held, his powers of absorp- 
tion and assimilation enabling him to profit to 
the fullest degree from his study and investiga- 
tion in any realm of thought or action. He 
and his wife are both zealous members of the 
Reformed church, in which they are active 
workers and in which he has been a teacher in 
the Sunday school for many years. Fraternal- 
ly he is identified with the Knights of the Mac- 
cabees, being a member of Hartville Tent No. 
382. 

On the 28th of March, 1891, Professor 
Heckman was united in marriage to Miss Ellen 
F. Harley, who was born in Lake township, 
this county, being a daughter of Daniel and 
Anna (Kauffman) Harley, honored citizens 
of the county and representatives of the pioneer 
stock. Mrs. Heckman is a woman of gentle 
refinement and gracious personality and 
has taken a deep interest in the work of 
her husband, in which line she has been most 
helpful to him in many ways. They became 
the parents o-f two sons and two daughters, 
but both of the sons, John W. and Stanley H., 
are deceased. The daughters are Mabel A. 
and Grace E., aged respectively ten and one 
years (1903). 



HENRY HEWIT EVERHARD is de- 
scended paternally from an old Pennsylvania 
familv, and maternallv from ancestors who 





)(ylAXA-^>r^ 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1481 



figured in tiie early history of Maryland. Mis 
father, Henry Everhard, of German lineage, 
Avas born in the former commonwealth, and 
served with distinction in the war of 1812. 
^^''hen a young man he married Rebecca, daugh- 
ter of Daniel Slanker, a nati\e of INIaryland 
and a man of considerable prominence in his 
■day. The family moved to Stark county, 
Ohio, where Mrs. Everhard died on August 
18, 1866. Mr. Everhard operated for a time 
the grist mills north of Canton, formerly owned 
by his father and known as the Everhard Mills. 

Henry Hewit Everhard was Ijorn on a 
farm, about six miles north of Massillon, 
]\Iarch 15, 1837. He received his preliminary 
education in the district school of his neigh- 
borhood, and in the Massillon high school, and 
later he prepared for and entered Kenyon Col- 
lege, of Gambier, Ohio, which course was cut 
short by the breaking out of the Civil war. Feel- 
ing it his duty to go to the defense of his coun- 
tr)', he entered service as a private. Company 
E, One Hundred and Fourth Ohio \ olunteer 
Infantry, July 24, 1862. He was promoted to 
first sergeant July 30,' 1862, commissioned first 
lieutenant October 17, 1863, and captain Sep- 
tember 14, 1864. The regiment organized at 
Camp Massillon, Ohio, and immediately moved 
into the field of active service, the war de- 
])artment noting the regiment as having been 
in o\-er fifty operations, skirmishes, sieges and 
battles, the most prominent engagements being 
the siege of Knoxville, Tennessee, the cam- 
paign against Atlanta, Georgia, the battles of 
Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee, and was 
jiiustered out of service June 12. 1865. 

During Mr. Everhard's military career, 
Avhich included the most important vears of the 
Avar, he saw much active service, but was for- 
tunate in escaping injury or capture, and was 
not absent from duty a single day on account of 
illness or disability. He left his company with 
the good will of his men and the confidence and 
esteem of his superior officers. 



Immediately after the close of the war Air. 
Everhard returned to Massillon and engaged 
with Warthorst & Company in developing the' 
large stone quarries previously opened by the 
firm. \Vith the exception of about four years, 
during which time he opened a quarry south- 
west of Massillon, and conducted a wholesale 
grocery business in the city, he has been identi- 
fied with the Warthorst quarries. The firm has 
been lately dissolved, and the business reor- 
ganized and incorporated as The Everhard 
Company, of which Mr. Everhard is the presi- 
dent and chief stockholder. The company's 
business consists in the manufacture of grind- 
stones, block antl_ dimension stone, furnace 
dried sand, pressed facing brick, and hollowr 
rod drilling and prospecting- machinery, em- 
ploys one hundred and fifty to two hundred 
men daily and its tonnage of annual shipments 
is very large. Mr. Everhard is known in finan- 
cial circles as a stockholder and vice-president 
of the Union National Bank of Massillon. 

November 7, 1865. Mr. Everhard married 
Caroline McCullough, daughter of Thomas 
McCullough, one of the founders of the city 
of ]\[assiIlon. Three ciiildren were born to 
them. Ethel Rebecca, Melville McCullough 
and Marion. Mrs. Everhard died April 14, 
1902. 

Mr. E\-erharcl is represented by his fellow 
citizens as a man in every way worthy of the 
high measure of esteem which he commands, 
and that his character and integrity are above 
reproach is generally conceded in the com- 
munity in the alYairs of which he has borne 
such an active part. Firmness and tenacity of 
purpose are among his most pronounced char- 
acteristics. His standard of conduct has al- 
ways been high, and to the bgst of his ability 
he has endeavored to realize in his own career 
the ideal man and citizen. As soldier, business 
man, or in social circles his life has been an ex- 
ample of the wisest and best in American man- 
hood. 



1482 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



AZARIAH C. DONAT, who is a suc- 
cessful farmer and representative citizen of 
Lake township, Stark county, was born on the 
old homestead farm in Tuscarawas township, 
this county, on the 19th of October, 1855, 
being the eldest son of Peter and Mary Ann 
(Crossland) Donat, the former of whom was 
born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, on the 
7th of October, 1805, while the latter was born 
in Akron (then known as Middleburg), Sum- 
mit county, Ohio, on the 4th of May, 1826. 
In the autumn of the year 1819 Peter Donat, 
who was then a lad of fourteen years, accom- 
panied his parents, Jacob and Elizabeth Donat, 
on their remox'al from the old Keystone state 
to Ohio, and in the following spring they set- 
tled on a tract of heavily timbered land in 
Tuscarawas township, this county, where the 
grandparents of our subject passed the re- 
mainder of their lives, and there also did their 
son Peter assume the responsibilities of carry- 
ing forward the improvement of the old home 
farm, developing the same into a valuable prop- 
erty and making the best of improvements, so 
that in the old home, so hallowed with the 
memories and associations of the past, he reared 
his children to lives of usefulness and honoi, 
being ever of good repute among men and true 
to every responsibility which canopied his life. 
Leal and loyal, strong in his convictions, never 
sacrificing conscience on the altar of per- 
sonal expediency, this noble pioneer lived a 
"godly, religious and sober life," and was 
gathered to his father in the fullness of time, 
his death occurring on the homestead where he 
had passed so great a portion of his davs, on 
the 30th of August, 1890. "He rests from his 
labors, and his works do follow him." His 
devoted and cherished wife, who had lieen a 
true helpmeet to him from the time of their 
marriage, on the 9th of March, 1843, until 
the seal of death was placed upon his mortal 
lips, did 111)1 long survive him, since she was 
summoned into eternal rest on the 3(1 of Jan- 



uary, 1892. Standing in the pure light of lives 
and characters like these, we can not be moved 
to a spirit of reverence, nor can we fail to real- 
ize the spiritual consistency of the merging of 
the finite lives into the transcendent glory of 
the infinite, for theirs was the faith which 
makes faithful and greater consecration could 
not be than this. Both were active and zeal- 
ous members of the Reformed church, exempli- 
fying their Christian faith in their daily walks 
and in all the relations of life. This worthy 
couple became the parents of two sons and 
nine daughters, whose naities, in order of birth, 
are as follows : Amanda, Lydia A., Hannah, 
Ann Eliza, Olivia, Azariah C, Emma, Eva, 
John A. and Loretta. Of this number all are 
living save four. 

Azariah C. Donat was reared to maturity 
on the old homestead, in Tuscarawas township, 
and. being the elder tA the two sons, he early 
began to contribute his quota to the work of 
the farm, while his educational discipline was 
received in the public schools of the vicinity. 
He continued at the parental home until the 
time of his marriage, which occurred in Sugar 
Creek township, this county, on th nth of No- 
vember, 1880, when he was united to Miss 
Eleanor S. Kaylor, who was born in that town- 
ship on the 23d of July, 1863, being a daugh- 
ter of Daniel M. and Mary (White) Kaylor, 
honored pioneers of Stark county, where the 
latter died on the 24th of January, 1886, her 
husband surviving until September i, 1896. 
The subject and his wife are the parents of 
three children, Mary L., Claude K. and Helen,. 
all of whom remain at the parental home. 
After his marriage the subject located on a 
farm in Sugar Creek township, and to its 
cultivation he devoted his attention from the 
fall of 1880 until the spring of 1884, when he 
took up his residence on his present fine home- 
stead, in Lake township. The place has a com- 
modious modern residence and other excellent 
liuildings, is under a liigh state of cultivation^ 



CANTON 'AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1483. 



and on every hand shows the care bestowed by 
a progressive and scientific farmer. I'he 
homestead comprises one hundred and sixty 
acres and is one of the model farms of this 
favored section of the sta e. The family oc- 
cupy a place of prominence in the social life 
of the community, where their friends are in 
number as their acquaintances, and the subject 
and his wife are devoted members of the 
Metb.odist Episcopal church, in whose work 
they take an active interest. In politics Mr. 
Donat gives his allegiance to the Democratic 
party, but he has never sought the honors or 
emoluments of public office. 



ELIAS HIMEBAUGH.— As the name im- 
plies, Mr. Himebaugh is of stanch German ex- 
traction in the agnatic line, though the family 
has for several generations been identified with 
American interests, the original representatives 
in this country having settled in Pennsylvania 
in the early pioneer epoch. He is a son of Ab- 
raham and Adeline (Reed) Himebaugh. His 
father is now a resident of Portage. He was 
the eldest of their eight children, and of the 
number six are living at the present time. 
Elias Himebaugh was born in Portage county, 
Ohio, November 23, 1861, and was reared to 
the age of thirteen years in his native county, 
where his father was engaged in farming, and 
there he secured his rudimentary education in 
the district schools. The family then removed 
to the vicinity of Cuyahoga Falls, Summit coun- 
ty, and there our subject remained until he 
was nineteen years of age, assisting in the farm 
work and attending the public schools as op- 
portunity ofifered. Thereafter he resided in 
Portage county about four years, and on the 
i6th of October, 1S83, when twenty-two years 
of age, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Amanda C. Schreiner, who was born in Green 
township, Sunim.it county, being a daughter 
of Michael and Almira (Smith) Schreiner, 



both of whom are now deceased. After his 
marriage Mr. Himebaugh resided in Summit 
county, being there engaged in the dairy busi- 
ness, and in the spring of 1896 he came to Stark 
county and took up his residence in Uniontown, 
where he associated himself with his brother- 
in-law, M. Schreiner, in his present line of en- 
terprise, in which his efforts have been attended 
with excellent success, for he has brought ta 
bear marked energy and discrimination and has 
maintained the highest policy of business in- 
tegrity in all his transactions, so that he has 
gained the unqualified confidence and esteem 
of all who know him, while he is ably seconded 
by his partner, who is likewise a capable and 
straightforward business man. In the manu- 
facturing of apple-butter and jellies he utilizes 
a device of his own invention and secures a 
product of such superiority that he can not 
supply the demand placed upon him in this 
department, while he has secured a patent on 
the invention mentioned and the same is de- 
stined to come into very general use, as it sim- 
plifies the process of manufacture and insures 
better results than can be secured by any other 
method as yet employed. In politics Mr. 
Himebaugh is a stalwart supporter of the Dem- 
ocratic party, though he has never sought 
official preferment of any order, and both he 
and his wife are zealous members of the Re- 
formed church, in whose \\ork they take an 
active part. They have no children. 



LEWIS E. DOUGHERTY, M. D., is a 
nati\-e son of the Buckeye state, having been 
born in the town where he now makes his 
home, on the 28th of August, 1853, and being 
a son of the late Dr. James E. Dougherty, who 
was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, 
whence he came to Stark county in 1849, locat- 
ing in Grcentown, where he attained distinc- 
tion in his profession and won the affectionate 
resfard of the manv in whose homes his kindly 



1484 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



and helpful ministrations were accorded. He 
was consecutively engaged in practice in Green- 
town from 1849 until 1885, in which latter 
year, as candidate on the Republican ticket, 
he was elected to the office of recorder of Stark 
county, an incumbency \\hich he retained for 
a period of six years, during which he. as a 
matter of course, was a resident of the city 
of Canton, the county seat. He died in that 
city, on the 24th of March, 1894, having had 
a wide acquaintanceship throughout this sec- 
tion of the state and having ever held the un- 
cjualified confidence and esteem of all who knew 
him. while his record as an official was one of 
the same ability and fidelity that characterized 
his work in his profession. He was a stalwart 
supporter of the Republican party and its prin- 
ciples, while he was a devoted and consistent 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church 
from his boyhood until the hour came when the 
veil of the life eternal was lifted for him, as 
death set its seal upon his mortal lips. He was 
superintendent of the Sunday school when but 
sixteen years of age, and in later years was in- 
cumbent of various other offices in the church. 
His wife, Vi'hose maiden name was Angeline 
Gorgas, is likewise a native of Pennsyh'ania, 
having been born in Lebanon county, and she 
still resides in Canton, where she has a wide cir- 
cle of devoted friends and where she is a valuetl 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
Of her seven children, of whom our subject 
was the second in order of birth, four are living. 
Dr. Lewis E. Dougherty was reared in his 
native town and here he has ever maintained 
his home, while the prestige he has secured in 
his profession is the more noteworthy from the 
fact that it has been gained in the community 
Avhere every step of his career has been watched 
;\nd known by the people who have been 
familiar with his life history from his youth up. 
After attending the public schools of Green- 
town, he entered ihe seminary at Greensburg, 



Summit county, this state, where he continued 
his studies for a time, as did he later at Mount 
Union College, near Alliance, Stark county. Aft- 
er completing his more purely literary education 
he began the work of technical preparation for 
liis chosen profession by taking up the reading 
of medicine under the effective preceptorship 
of his honored father, and eventually he was 
matriculated in the Columbus Medical College, 
in the capital city of the state, where he was 
graduated as a member of the class of 1879, 
receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine 
and coming forth specially well equipped for 
the work of the profession, since his instruc- 
tion from the start had been of the most 
scrupulously careful and painstaking order, his 
father constantly advising him as to his work, 
and encouraging him in his efforts, so that his 
ambition was -quickened to the utmost. After 
his graduation he was favored in becomihg as- 
sociated with his father in practice, and he thus 
continued until the latter's removal to the city 
of Canton, when he practically succeeded to the 
large and representative practice which had 
been built up by his father during the long 
years of his active and eft'ective work in this 
place. It is to the credit of our subject that 
he was able to maintain the prestige of the 
name, notwithstanding his youth, and he has 
ever held the confidence and high esteem of 
those to whom he has ministered, and his suc- 
cess is based upon the sure foundation of broad 
and exact knowledge and the power of making 
decisive and practical application of the .same. 
He is a close and appreciative student and keeps 
in close touch with the advances made in the 
sciences of medicine and surgery, having always 
at hand the best standard and periodical litera- 
ture pertaining to his profession, and also find- 
ing much of inspiration and aid through his 
membership in the Northeastern Ohio ]\IedicaI 
Association. In politics the Doctor is a stanch 
adherent of the Republican party and fraternally 



CANTON 'AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1485; 



he is identified with the Indepaident Order of 
Odd Fellows and the Knights of the Macca- 
bees. 

On the 3d of July, 1879, in Summit county, 
Ohio, Dr. Dougherty was united in marriage 
to Miss Clara Hart, who was born in that 
county, being a daughter of Benjamin and 
I^Iary Hart., and of this union two children 
were born, — James B., who is preparing for 
the medical profession, and Ervin G., who is 
to study dentistry. Mrs. Dougherty was sum- 
moned into eternal rest on the 12th of December, 
1886, ha\ing been a woman of gracious and 
noble character, and a dexoted member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. In the city of 
Canton, on the 14th of June, 1892, the Doctor 
was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
Gritilith, who was born in Durham, England, 
whence she came to America with her parents 
in her girlhood. Dr. and Mrs. Dougherty 
have one son, Lewis E., Jr. The family home 
is one of the most attractive in the village and 
is a center of refined hospitality. 



!\nLTON M. BAUER, M. D., was born 
in the village of Loyal Oak, Summit county, 
Ohio, on the 4th of June, 1853, being a son of 
John J. and Catherine (Everhard) Bauer, who 
are natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respec- 
tivel}-. and both of whom are living, the father 
having devoted his life principally to tanning 
and farming, and having been one of the hon- 
ored and intluential citizens of Summit county, 
where both he and his wife have resided forty 
years. They became the parents of seven chil- 
dren, of whom the Doctor was the second in 
order of birth, and of the number four sons 
and one daughter are living at the present time, 
all being well established in life. John J. 
Bauer is of stanch German lineage, as the name 
implies, and the family was founded in Penn- 
sylvania many years ago, while from the old 
Keystone state it has sent representatives into 



the most diverse sections of the Union. Dr. 
Bauer passed his youth in his native town, 
where he received his early educational train- 
ing in the public schools, and he was for a 
number of years identified with the tanning 
business there, while later he was successfully 
engaged in teaching school for a portion of the 
time during an interval of seven years, show- 
ing that he had duly profited by the scholastic 
privileges which had been accorded him, for 
in the meanwhile he had continued his studies 
in the National Normal University, at Lebanon, 
this state, where he thus became specially eligi- 
ble for pedagogic work. He was there grad- 
uated as a member of the class of 1876, having 
to a large extent depended upon his own exer- 
tions in defraying the expenses of his college 
course, as did he later in the prosecution of 
his technical studies in preparing for the work 
of his chosen profession. Soon after being 
graduated in the normal school he began read- 
ing medicine under effective preceptorage, and 
was finally matriculated in the Long Island 
Hospital College, in Brooklyn, New York, 
where he completed a thorough and exacting 
course of study, having the best of incidental 
advantages in the matter of clinical work and 
experience, and he was duly graduated as a 
member of the class of 1880, receiving his 
diploma in June of that year and also the- 
coveted title of Doctor of Medicine. Soon 
after his graduation Dr. Bauer came to L'nion- 
town. Stark county, and here established him- 
self in practice, duly displaying his "shingle" 
and preparing to serve his novitiate. This, 
however, proved of very brief order, since 
popular recognition of his abilities and his 
gracious personality were not long denied, and 
here he has remained in continuous practice to 
the present time, and he now controls an essen- 
tially representative business, being the family 
physician in many of the leading homes of this 
locality and enjoying the highest measure of 
esteem and good will in the community where- 



I486 



OLD LANDMARKS 



he has Hved and labored to so goodly ends. 
He is always ready to respond to calls upon 
his time and professional attention, even at dis- 
tinct personal sacrifice and discomfort, for he 
holds that his profession involves a duty from 
which no worthy devotee of the same can con- 
sistently shrink. Dr. Bauer is a valued member 
of the Ohio State JMedical Society and the 
Cleveland Medical Society, while, as previously 
noted, he has been president of the North- 
eastern Ohio Medical Association. He takes 
a deep interest in the work and the delibera- 
tions of each of these bodies, realizing the 
practical value of interchanging ideas and 
profiting by the experiences of others. Fra- 
ternally he is identified with the Knights of the 
Maccabees, being a member of Union Tent 
No. 158, in his home village. In politics the 
Doctor accords a stanch allegiance to the Dem- 
ocratic party, and he and his wife hold mem- 
bership in the Evangelical Lutheran church, 
in whose work they take an active interest. 

In Uniontown, on the 19th of September, 
1888, Dr. Bauer was united in marriage to 
Miss Caroline Schoner, who was born in Lake 
township, this county, being a daughter of the 
late Henry and Saloma Schoner, who were hon- 
ored pioneers of this section of the county, 
where her father devoted the active years of his 
life to agricultural pursuits. Dr. and Mrs. 
Bauer have one son, Paul Emerson, who was 
born on the 8th of December, 1892. 



REV. FREDERICK KELLER comes of 
stanch German lineage in the agnatic line, and 
also on the maternal side, both families having 
long been identified with the annals of Ameri- 
can history. He was born in the village of 
Bellevue, Huron count)\ Ohio, on the 27th of 
January, 1863, bing a son of Rev. Eli Keller, 
D. D., who has been a clergyman of the Re- 
formed church since the year T855 and who is 
prominent in its councils, as has he been in the 



active and fruitful work of the ministry. He 
is now a resident of Allentown, Pennsylvania, 
and his is the good fortune to still have the 
companionship of his loved and devoted wife, 
whose maiden name was Emma J. Hoffeditz. 
To them were born eight children, of whom six 
are living at the present time, while the subject 
of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth. 
While he was a mere child his parents removed 
to Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, where he 
passed his youthful days and Avhere he secured 
his preliminary educational discipline in the 
public schools, later supplementing this by a 
course of study in Ursinus College, a church in- 
stitution at Collegeville, near the city of Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania. He was there gradu- 
ated as a member of the class of 1883, receiving 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the mean- 
while Mr. Keller had decided to follow in the 
footsteps of his honored father and prepare 
himself for the ministry of the Reformed 
church, in whose faith he had been carefully 
reared and of which he had been deeply appre- 
ciative from his youth up. He accordingly 
began his technical study by being matriculated 
in the theological seininary of Heidelberg Col- 
lege, at Tiflin, Ohio, one of the leading insti- 
tutions maintained under the direct auspices 
of the Reformed church in America, and he 
was there graduated as a member of the class 
of 1886 and being ordained to the ministry in 
May, 1886. He was engaged in home mission 
work for four years, the field of his labors 
during this time being principally in the state 
of Kansas, and he then returned to Ohio, where 
he filled various pastoral charges prior to 1898. 
when he came to Hartville as pastor of the 
church here. He has done much to vitalize 
the work of the church here, both along 
spiritual and temporal lines, being a forceful 
and convincing speaker, his every utterance 
bearing the impress of sincerity and convic- 
tion, while he is known as a man of ripe scholar- 
ship and as one endowed with marked executive 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1487 



and administrative ability, so that he is well 
equipped for exercising all the functions of his 
high calling. The church has a membership 
of about two hundred individuals, and its affairs 
are in a prosperous condition, while the pastor 
has the zealous co-operation of his flock and 
can not but feel that his lines are cast in pleas- 
ant places. He is an earnest and indefatigable 
worker, is of gracious and genial presence and 
hold the respect and good will of all sorts and 
conditions of men. In politics he gives his 
allegiance to the Republican party. 

On the iQth of October, 1886, at Tiffin, this 
state, was solemnized Ihe marriage of Mr. 
Keller to Miss Anna Lecrone, who was born 
in that county (Seneca) being a daughter of 
Benjamin Lecrone, an honored and influential 
citizen of that section, and of this union three 
children have been l)orn, namely : Bertha, 
Howard and Ralph. 



LORENZO CROCKER is a native of 
Summit county, Ohio, having laeen born on a 
farm in .Springfield township, on the 3d of 
l\Iarch, 1849, and being- a son of Myron and 
Lydia Crocker, both of whom died in that 
■county, where the father devoted his active life 
to farming, being one of the lionored citizens 
and pioneers of the locality. Lorenzo Crocker 
was reared to maturity in his native county, 
early becoming inured to the sturdy work of 
the farm and securing his educational training 
in tlie district schools. As a young man he 
served an apprenticeship at the carpenter trade, 
and when twenty years of age he came to Stark 
county, where he was engaged in the work of 
his trade for a period of thirteen years, at the 
expiration of whicli he established himself in 
the sawmill business in the village of New 
Baltimore, also operating a cider-mill in season, 
and there he continued to reside for nearly a 
score of years, being one of the prominent and 
honored business men of the place. In 1899 



Mr. Crocker came to Hartville, and here he has 
established himself in a profitable business, 
operating a feed mill, saw mill and cider mill, 
and also dealing in grain, and through good 
management and honorable dealing each de- 
partment of his enterprise has been placed on a 
paying basis, while he has been given distinctive 
marks of public confidence and esteem, as is 
evident when we advert to tlie fact that for 
two years he served as clerk of Marlboro town- 
ship, within the time of his residence in New 
Baltimore, while in the spring of 1902 he -yvas 
elected to the oflice of justice of the peace in 
Hartville. He takes an active interest in pub- 
lic affairs of a local nature and is one of the 
stanch advocates of the principles and policies 
of the Democratic party, in whose support he 
has been arrayed from the time of attaining 
his legal majority. 

On the loth of December, 1874, in Portage 
county, this state, Mr. Crocker was united in 
marriage to Miss Louisa Ba^ighman, who was 
born in Summit county, being the daughter of 
James Baughman, one of the sterling pioneers 
of that county. The subject and his wife have 
no children. 



IRVIN O. GOETZ, as the name implies,, 
comes of stanch German ancestry, though the 
family i:ame is one which has been for several 
generations identified with the annals of the 
American republic. He was born in the village 
of Hartville, Stark county, on the 9th of Jan- 
uary, 1868, being a son of Henry and Mary 
(Agnex) Goetz, both of whom still maintain 
their home in this village, being held in the 
highest esteem by all who know them and being 
entitled to consideration as pioneer residents of 
the place. Of their five children three are liv- 
ing at the present time, and he to whom this 
sketch is dedicated was the fourth in order of 
birth. He received his preliminary educational 
discipline in the public schools of his native vil- 



1488 



OLD LANDMARKS 



lage, and supplemented the same by a course 
of study in the Ohio Business University, in 
the city of Cleveland, where he gained that 
technical training which has proved of so great 
value to him in his active business career. 
After leaving the institution mentioned he was 
for seven years employed as bookkeeper for his 
uncle, John Goetz, who is engaged in the mill- 
ing business in the city mentioned, and later 
he was himself engaged in the grocery busi- 
ness in Cleveland for a period of about three 
years. In the spring of 1900 he returned to 
Hartville, where he associated himself with 
Dallas Keller in the establishing of their pres- 
ent enterprise, and its growth has been most 
gratifying, while through fair and honorable 
dealing and scrupulous care in the handling 
of all details of the business, the firm have 
gained the implicit confidence and esteem of 
the community. The store is well equijiped and 
is supplied with a select and compreliensive line 
of general merchandise, while no effort is 
spared to cater to the most exacting demands 
of the many and appreciative patrons of the es- 
tablishment. Mr. Goetz is thoroughly public- 
spirited in his attitude, and whate\er is pro- 
jected for the best interests of the village or 
the community at large is certain to receive 
his cordial support. In politics he has been 
a stanch adherent of the Democratic party from 
the time of attaining his legal majority, and his 
religious faith is that of the Reformed church, 
of which Mrs. Goetz is likewise a devoted mem- 
ber, while Ijoth .ire [irominent in the social 
life of the community. 

On the 1 2th of September, 1893, Mr. Goetz 
was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Shana- 
felt. who was born in Portage county, Ohio, l)e- 
ing- a daughter of Levi Shanafelt. an influential 
citizen of that county. The subject and his 
wife have a pleasant home in Hartville, and the 
same is a center of cordial and gracious hos- 
pitality. 



DR. PERKINS WALLACE, son of 
George and Harriet Menough Wallace, was 
born at Burton, near the site of the present city 
of Cle\eland, July 18, 1808. His father went 
from Acworth, New Hampshire, in 1795, to 
Youngstown, Ohio. Perkins Wallace was the 
youngest of four children. He moved with his 
parents to Cle\eland in 18 10, and from there to 
Brandywine Mills, Ohio, in 1814. Dr. \\'allace 
attended the Cincinnati Medical College, study- 
ing under Dr. Gross, then Professor Gross, who 
became deeply interested in him then and 
remained a warm personal friend until his 
death, coming to Ohio twice to urge Dr. 
Wallace to enter into partnership with him in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Wallace was 
graduated from Cincinnati in the spring of 
1S34. On July 21 of this same year, at Canton, 
Ohio, he married Rebekah, daughter of William 
and Elizabeth Seabury Fisk Raynolds, in the 
Raynolds homestead, on South Market street. 
They resided for a time at Massillon, then 
Akron, but finally returned to Canton in Octo- 
ber, 1847, and there Dr. Wallace passed away 
Julv 18, 1868, in the home where they were 
married. 

In his medical practice in Canton Dr. Wal- 
lace was associated with Dr. Bonfield and later 
Dr. Matthews. He was thorough, exact, pains- 
taking, careful, just and sympathetic, all of 
which are distinctive traits of the Wallace char- 
acter. He excelled in diagnosis, and was quick 
to see and prompt to act. He was devotedly 
attached to his profession, was an enthusiast in 
it, and was readily acknowledged as one of the 
leading physicians of the state. 

Dr. Wallace was eminently public spirited; 
he was active in the organization of the public 
schools and for years was a member of the 
board of directors. He was largely instru- 
mental in securing thorough, college-bred 
teachers who gave to the school labor and 
abilitv which made for them a reputation they 





fe^ 



CANTON "AND STARK COUNTY/ OHIO. 



1489 



have since sustained. In every public effort 
both Dr. and Mrs. Wallace were active, earnest 
workers. As an old-Hne Whig and ardent Re- 
publican Dr. Wallace was an interested student 
of political history. With the intuitions of a 
statesman and the wisdom of a .seer, he fol- 
lowed the events of the Civil war. He was a 
loyal citizen, an eminent physician, a man of 
learning and rare culture. 



JOHN B. KAGEY is the second of four 
children born to Jacob and Sarah (Berlin) 
Kagey, natives of Ohio, the former born in 
Columbiana county and the latter in Stark 
county. Three of the four children are living, 
namely : William H., who is engaged in the 
grocery business at Louisville; John B., of this 
review, and Ira E., who is a farmer of Nim- 
ishillen township. John B. Kagey was born in 
Nimishillen township, Stark county, Ohio, July 
14, 1 87 1, and until seventeen years old lived 
with the parents, meanwhile acquiring a good 
education in the district schools. As a student 
he was studious and diligent and by close ap- 
plication made such advancement in his studies 
that at the above age he was able to pass suc- 
cessfully the required examination and secure 
a teacher's license. Young Kagey began his 
career as an educator in 1888, and during the 
ensuing five years taught in the schools of his 
native county, devoting the summer seasons 
to manual labor on the home farm. He 
achieved signal success as an instructor and 
had he seen fit to continue in the profession 
there is no doubt that in due time he would 
have become one of the distinguished educators 
of this part of the state. His ambition, how- 
ever, to become an active factor in the world 
of affairs, led him to choose another than tho 
educational field in which to rise, consequently 
in 1893 he abandoned the school room and, in 
partnership with his brother William H., 
bought the grocery store in Louisville owned 
94 



by Joseph Lesh, going in debt for his share of 
the purchase price., It is needless to state that 
this enterprise proved successful, as the fact is 
l^atent to every inhabitant of the town and it 
is also mere repetition to say that it was the 
real beginning of the subject's remarkable 
career as an energetic, far-sighted business 
man. In 1897 Mr. Kagey was appointed post- 
master of Louisville and is still the incumbent 
of that office. Shortly after entering upon the 
discharge of his official duties he sold his in- 
terest in the grocery business to his brother 
and a few months later opened a clothing store 
which in due time became one of the most thriv- 
ing mercantile establishments in the county 
outside the cities of Canton and Massillon. By 
carefully studying the demands of the trade 
and catering to the popular taste in the mat- 
ter of raiment he built up an extensive patron- 
age and his familiarity with every detail of the 
business enabled him to buy and sell so as to 
realize profits which soon placed him on the 
high road to fortune. In 1900 he turned his 
attention to another field of endeavor by pur- 
chasing of John L. Warstler the Champion 
Tile Works at Louisville. A few months later 
he bought at public sale the plant of the Empire 
Clay Company and combining the two estab- 
lishments found himself at the head of an in- 
dustrial enterprise which in point of continued 
growth and rapid gain in public favor has few 
if any parallels in the history of the country's 
manufacturing interests. In fact, the series of 
successes which have marked the career of the 
business since Mr. Kagey took possession and 
assumed practical management has been little 
less than phenomenal, as it has risen from a 
comparatively modest beginning to a leading 
place among similar enterprises throughout the 
state. The high reputation achieved by the 
products of the establishment has caused it to 
become widely known in industrial circles, not 
only in Ohio but in a number of other states 
and to supply the constantly growing demand 



I490 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



a large force of workmen is required. Mr. 
Kagey gives especial attention to the mann- 
facture of hollow building block and other arti- 
cles of similar character, their high order of 
excellence being the plant's most successful ad- 
vertisement. For the making of these various 
products Mr. Kagey has not only one of the 
largest but in every respect one of the best 
equipped establishments of the kind in the 
United States, the different departments being 
as complete as the most advanced mechanical 
research can make them, while none but effi- 
cient and thoroughly reliable workmen are em- 
ployed, the present force averaging thirty to 
forty for every working day in the year. In 
the management of the large business the 
proprietor exhibits a high order of executive 
talent, clear insight, mastery of detail and a 
ripeness of judgment on all matters connected 
with the plant locally and in relating to the 
public with which he. deals. Contributing by. 
his enterprise and progressive methods to the 
material and industrial growth of his town and 
county and occupying a prominent station 
among the successful manufacturers of the 
state, he is regarded as a representative citizen 
in e\'ery sense of the term and as a man whose 
influence has done more tlian that of any other 
individual of his age to give stability and tone 
to the thriving community with the history of 
which he has been so actively identified. 

Mr. Kagey was married February 18, 1893, 
to Miss Leora Warstler, of Louisville, daugli- 
ter of John L. and Harriet Warstler, the union 
being blessed with two children, Marion C. and 
Zola C. In politics Mr. Kagey is a Republi- 
can but the claims of his business has been such 
as to preclude a very active participation in 
political or public affairs. As a good citizen, 
however, he keeps in touch with the leading- 
questions before the people, votes his principles 
intelligently -and expresses his opinions as one 
who arrives at conclusions only after mature 
deliberation. Mr. Kagey's fraternal relations 



are represented by the Masonic order, Junior 
Order of United American Mechanics and 
Knights of the Maccabees, belonging to Juilliard 
Lodge No. 460, Louisville, Council No. 152 
and Louisville Tent No. 1S2, of the three or- 
ganizations, respectively. 



FRANK E. SCHUMACHER was born on 
a farm in Marlboro township. Stark county, 
Ohio, on the nth of March, 1857, being a son 
of Henry and Susan (Harvey) Schumacher, 
the former of whom is now deceased, passing 
away, in Portage county, in his forty-ninth 
year, while his widow, who is sixty-three years 
old, lives at Suffield, Portage county, Ohio, 
The father was born in Pennsylvania, of stanch 
German ancestry, and was a man of sterling 
character, devoting his life principally to agri- 
cultural pursuits, while both he and his wife 
were zealous members of the German Reform 
church. Of their si.x children the subject of 
this review is the eldest and of the number 
four are living at the present time. When 
Frank E. Schumacher was two years of age his 
parents removed from Marlboro township to 
Hartville, where they maintained their home 
until he was twelve years old, his preliminary 
educational discipline having been received in 
the schools of tiiis village, and they then re- 
moved to Molluny township, Portage county, 
where our subject was reared to maturity on 
the farm and where he continued his studies, 
in a somewhat irregular way, in tiie district 
schools. There he continued to be identified 
with farming until he had attained the age of 
about twenty-seven years, when he came again 
to Hartville, Stark county, where lie was en- 
gaged for several years in the lumber bushiess, 
to which he devoted his attention until 188S, 
when he engaged in his present line of enter- 
prise, in which he has met with excellent suc- 
cess, having excellent facilities for the prosecu- 
tion of his manufacturing and turning out the 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1491 



highest class of work in the hne of window and 
door screens, while he turns out many original 
and attractive designs, all work being done on 
honor, so that his patronage has shown a con- 
secutive increase hi scope. Mr. Schumacher 
is progressive in his methods, looking carefully 
after all details of his enterprise and being 
known as a capable and upright business man. 
In politics he exercises his franchise in support 
of the principles and policies of the Democratic 
party, and both he and his wife are worthy 
and consistent members of the Reformed 
church. 

In Portage county, this state, on the 24th 
of November, 1887, Mr. Schumacher was 
united in marriage to Miss Susan Warner, 
who was born and reared in that county, being 
a member of one of its honored pioneer fami- 
lies, and she was summoned into eternal rest, 
in Hartville, on the ist of July, 1896. She 
is survived by her one son, George, who is 
bookkeeper in his father's establishment and 
who is known as not only a fine accountant but 
also as a young man of excellent business 
acumen, while he is one of the popular young 
men of the village, his friends being in number 
as his acquaintances. He received excellent 
■educational advantages and through the proper 
use of the same has become well equipped for 
the active duties of a successful business career. 
He proves an able coadjutor to his father and 
through his efforts much has been done to in- 
sure the success of the enterprise of which 
mention has been made. On the i6th of July, 
1892. the subject of this sketch consummated 
a second marriage, being then united to Miss 
Minnie Gilmore, who was born in this county,- 
and of this union three children have been born, 
namely : Howard, Carl and Leonia. 



FRANKLIN D. SMITH, M. D., is a na- 
tive son of the Buckeye state, having been born 
in Brimfield, Portage county, Ohio, on the i6tli 



of December, 1853. ^'^^ ^'^''^^ reared on a farm 
and duly profited by the sturdy discipline in- 
volved, while he secured his early educational 
training in the public schools. He then entered 
the commercial department of Mount Union 
College, near Alliance, this county, where he 
was graduated as a member of the class of 
1872, after which he was matriculated in 
Buchtel College, at Akron, this state, where he 
continued his studies about four years. He 
then entered upon the technical work of pre- 
paring himself for his chosen profession, be- 
ginning the reading of medicine at Uniontown, 
Stark county, where he had as a preceptor Dr. 
G. F. Waldron, an able representati\'e of his 
profession, and under these conditions he con- 
tinued his studies for one year, and he was then 
matriculated in the medical department of the 
University of ?>Iichigan, at Ann Arbor, where 
he remained one year, after which he entered 
the Missouri Medical College, in the city of 
St, Louis, where he was graduated in the spring 
of 1880, receiving the degree of Doctor of 
Medicine and being well fortified for the work 
of his profession. He began the active practice 
of his profession in Conimanche, Iowa, where 
he remained somewhat more than a year, after 
which he came to Hartville, Stark county, 
where he has built np a lucrative and representa- 
tive practice, his professional novitiate here 
having been of brief duration, since he forth- 
with gained recognition as an able and dis- 
criminating physician and surgeon, one devoted 
to his work and ever ready to respond to the 
call of suffering and distress, regardless of per- 
sonal comfort. Not only is he particularly 
sure in diagnosis and in anticipating" the com- 
plications of disease, but he also is endowed 
with that deep human sympathy and grateful 
personality which have so important an influ- 
ence in the clinical work of the profession. 
The Doctor is a constant and appreciative 
reader of the best standard and periodical 
literature pertaining to the two branches of his 



1492 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



profession, and also finds a source of valuable 
information and inspiration through his mem- 
bership in the Northeastern Ohio Medical As- 
sociation, of which he is a popular and valued 
member. Politically the Doctor gives his al- 
legiance to the Democratic party, and he has 
ever shown a lively interest in all that concerns 
the well-being of the community, though never 
an aspirant for oflicial preferment of any sort. 
He has an attractive modern residence in the 
village, and the same is a center of gracious 
and unreserved hospitality, the family taking 
an active part in the social life of the town. 
Fraternally Dr. Smith is identified with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, holding 
membership in Stark Lodge No. 513, in the 
city of Canton; and with the Knights of the 
Maccabees, in which he is affiliated with Hart- 
ville Tent No. 282. 

In his native town of Brimfield, Portage 
county, on the 26th of October, 1881, Dr. 
Smith was united in marriage to Miss Emma 
J. Wise, who was born in that county, being a 
daughter of John Wise, an honored citizen of 
that place, and of this union three children 
have been born, namely : Winifred, who died 
at the age of three and one-half years; and 
Howard J. and Roger C, who are attend- 
ing the public schools. The Doctor and his 
wife are zealous and valued members of the 
Reformed church, in whose work they take 
an active part. 

In conclusion we will advert briefly to the 
genealogy of Dr. Smith. He is a son of 
Charles E. and Abigail (Hawley) Smith, both 
of whom came of stanch New England an- 
cestry, the respective families having been 
founded in that section of the Union in the 
colonial epoch of our national history. Charles 
E. Smith was born in Portage county, Ohio, 
in 1820, being a son of William Smith, who 
came to this state from Massachusetts in the 
early pioneer days and located in Portage 
county, where he passed the residue of his life. 



having reclaimed and improved a farm and be- 
come one of the influential citizens of the 
locality, in which he was one of the first set- 
tlers. There the father of our subject was 
reared and educated and there he also continued 
to be identified with the great basic art of 
agriculture during a long and useful career, 
and while success attended his efforts and he 
became recognized as one of the substantial 
farmers of the county, he left to posterity that 
greatest of all bequeathments, an honored 
name. He was summoned into eternal rest 
in August, 190 1, at the venerable age of eighty- 
one years and secure in the esteem of all who 
knew him. His devoted wife preceded him 
into the life eternal, her death occurring in 
January, 1896, at which time she was in her 
seventy-second year. The father was a Demo- 
crat in his political proclivities, and both he 
and his wife consistent and earnest church 
members, their faith being ever exemplified in 
their daily walk and conversation. Of their 
five children our subject was the third in order 
of birth, and of the number foiu' are living at 
the present time. 



JACOB L. OBERLIN was a native son 
of the old Buckeye state, having been born in 
Plain township. Stark county, Ohio, on the 
loth day of March, 1830. His father, Adam 
Oberlin, was born in Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, in 1802, emigrated to Ohio in later 
years and died in Plain township in i88r, 
when upwards of seventy-nine years of age. 
Jacob L. Oberlin was reared under the parental 
roof in Plain township — in fact, he had never 
known any other home. He was born in the 
same yard that he died in, having seen three 
different houses in the same yard. He received 
a fair education in the common schools of the 
neighborhood and upon attaining a sufficient 
age decided to make farming his life vocation. 
He was a man of keen intellect and tireless 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1493 



energy and proved a marked success in his 
chosen calHng. Few men in his township at- 
tained to a more enviable standing than did he 
and he was frequently consulted by his neigh- 
bors and acquaintances on matters of im- 
portance, his wise discrimination and sound 
judgment being generally recognized by all 
who knew him. 

Mr. Oberlin was twice married. His iirst 
wife was in her maidenhood Miss Sarah 
Spangler, and by her he became the father of 
three children, namely : Josiah M'. is a resi- 
dent of Portage county, Ohio ; Clara is the wife 
of John Rasor, of Trumbull county, this state; 
Laura is the wife of Rev. L. H. Burry, pastor 
of St. Paul's church of Massillon. Mrs. Sarah 
Oberlin died in 1862 and on the 22d day of 
May, 1864, Mr. Oberlin was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Sarah E. Poyser, a daughter 
of Joseph Poyser. She was born in Perry 
township, this county. May 17, 1839, and re- 
ceived a fair education in common schools of 
her township. This union of the subject has 
been blessed by the birth of eight children, 
viz: Otto W., Norman, Charles A., John H., 
Walter J., who died at the age of eighteen 
years, Edward, wdio died in childhood, Emma, 
who died in infancy, and Martha J. In poli- 
tics Mr. Oberlin was a Republican and took 
a keen interest in the public affairs of his com- 
Tnunity. He was honored by election as a 
member of the school board and so efficient 
were his services on that board that he was 
retained in the position for seventeen consecu- 
tive years. Religiously he was long a faithful 
and consistent member of Trinity Lutheran 
church. Pie possessed excellent business quali- 
fications and at the time of his death was the 
owner of one hundred and twenty acres of as 
fine land as could be found in Plain township. 
He was a devoted husband and a loving- and 
indulgent father, but never spoiled his offspring 
by substituting fondness for what his common 
sense pointed out to him as being the necessary 



discipline to render them self-reliant and to 
prepare them for the stern realities of life and 
the struggles that life inevitably entails. But 
this discipline was mild as well as effective, 
and his memory will be cherished with love 
and affection by his widow and children as long 
as life with them is vouchsafed with the faculty 
of remembrance. The home farm is now 
under the care and management of his son, 
John PL, who is carefully looking after the liest 
interests of the property. 



REV. G. H. SOUDER.— The Souder fam- 
ily in this country appears to have originated 
in Pennsylvania, of which state the subject's 
father, George Souder, was a native. George 
Souder was born in the year 181 7, grew up a 
farmer and followed that calling in Pennsyl- 
vania until 1854 when he moved to Richland 
county, Ohio, purchasing a farm near the town 
of Shelby, upon which he spent the remainder 
of his days, dying there at the advanced age 
of eighty-one years. He was a man of excel- 
lent parts, pronounced in his allegiance to what 
he considered right and few men in his com- 
munity enjoyed to as great degree the confi- 
dence and esteem of their fellow citizens. He 
was a God fearing man who carried religion 
into his every day concerns, and for over fifty- 
five years held the office of elder in the Re- 
formed church, with which body he became 
identified in early youth. For many years he 
was an unswerving supporter of the Demo- 
cratic party, but later in life became a staunch 
Prohibitionist and as such exerted a potent in- 
fluence for the cause of temperance to the end 
of his days. His wife, who bore the maiden 
name of Mary Wentz, was also a native of 
Pennsylvania, born in the year 1818. She 
came of an old and respected family of that 
commonwealth, and was a woman of many ex- 
cellent c[ualities of head and heart, deeply re- 
ligious and a most excellent wife and loving 



1494 



OLD LANDMARKS 



and devoted mother. She bore her husband 
six children, and entered into her eternal rest 
in 1886, aged sixty-eight years. Of these chil- 
dren four are hving at the present time : Dan- 
iel W., of Ft. Wayne, Indiana; C. H. L., a 
physician and surgeon' of Chicago, Illinois; 
Carrie, wife of Oliver Lybarger, of Richland 
county, Ohio, and George H., the subject of 
this sketch. 

Rev. G. H. Souder was born in Richland 
county on the 2d day of April, 1857, and ac- 
quired his preliminary education in the district 
schools near the paternal homestead. The 
training thus received served merely as a foun- 
dation for a more thorough intellectual disci- 
pline, as he subsequently entered Oberlin Col- 
lege where he pursued his studies until the 
fall of 1875, when he became a student of 
Heidelberg College at Tiffin. Mr. Souder en- 
tered the latter institution for the purpose of 
preparing for the ministry of the Reformed 
church and after completing the prescribed 
course in 1880 began his theological studies 
in the seminary at the same place, graduating 
from the latter in 1882. Immediately there- 
after he was ordained to the work of his holy 
office and given charge of the church at Green- 
ville, Ohio, where he labored with much ac- 
ceptance during the ensuing two years, at the 
expiration of which time he was transferred 
to the church at Swander's Crossing in Shelby 
county. He served as pastor of the latter con- 
gregation three years and four months, during 
which time the church was greatly strength- 
ened materially and spiritually and his 
parishioners parted with his services very re- 
hictantly when he left there to accept the pas- 
torate of the large and more influential charge 
of Bellevue, Ohio, to which he ministered for 
a period of five years. During his labors at 
Bellevue Rev. Souder- was instrumental in 
building up the church along all lines of ac- 
tivity, renovating and thoroughly refitting the 



house of worship, and inspiring the members 
to renewed zeal in the Master's service. Nu- 
merically the congregation was increased over 
fifty per cent and the deep spirit of devotion 
around bore eloquent testimony to his earnest- 
ness and success as a consecrated minister as 
well as to his leadership in planning and carry- 
ing to completion material improvements. 

Severing his connection with the congre- 
gation at Bellevue, Rev. Souder went to Bluff- 
ton, Indiana, where his pastorate of four and 
a half years' duration was fruitful of large and 
far reaching results. He engineered the rais- 
ing of funds for a general repairing of the tem- 
ple of worship, costing several hundred dol- 
lars, and he was also instrumental in increasing 
the membership fully one-half, in addition to 
which his influence was felt as a potent spiritual 
force among other churches of the city and by 
the public in general. Leaving Bluffton, Rev. 
Souder became pastor of the church at Car- 
roUton, Ohio, whither his reputation as an able 
pastor and wise leader had preceded him. 
There, as in his former fields of labor, his 
efforts were blessed with abundant success, not 
only in numerous accessions to the congrega- 
tion but also in the matter of church improve- 
ments, as he renovated, repainted and recar- 
peted the building, thus adding very materially 
to its appearance and general comfort as a fit 
temple in which to worship the most high. 
.■\fter remaining three and a half years with 
the good people of that field and proving a 
blessing to them in many ways, he gave up the 
charge and in December, 1900, entered upon 
his duties as pastor of the cliurch at Louisville, 
where he has since ministered to the spiritual 
wants of a congregation which has not been 
slow to recogiiize and appreciate his ability, 
zeal and consecrated service. During his short 
pastorate here the church has taken on new 
life and a general advance has been made along 
all lines of duty, the preacher's strong personal 



CANTON 'AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1495 



influence, as well as his power in the pulpit, 
contributing much to the spiritual life of the 
congregation. 

Rev. Souder's sermons are clear, concise, 
logical and practical and when discussing some 
of the grand themes of revelation, or when 
persuading sinners to abandon the error of 
their ways and accept the proil'ered mercies of 
the crucified Redeemer, he frequently rises to 
the heights of eloquence, which not only capti- 
vates his hearers but so impresses their minds 
and hearts as to strengthen their faith or move 
them to repentance. 

Rev. Souder, on the 30th day of May, 1888, 
was united in marriage with Miss Lulu M. 
Miller, of Shelbyville, Illinois, daughter of 
William and Sarah Miller, the father for many 
years a prosperous business man of that city, 
but now retired. Three children brighten the 
home of the subject, namely : Loye M., Ola 
S. and William H., a daughter by the name of 
Ruth dying a few years ago. 

While devoting his time and talents pri- 
marily to the noble work in which he is en- 
gaged. Rev. Souder is by no means indifferent 
to the duties which every community expects 
of its citizens. He maintains an interest in the 
material as well as the moral and spiritual 
welfare of the town of his residence and to the 
extent of his ability encourages every means 
to this end. Fraternally Rev. Souder is a mem- 
ber of the National Union and the Modern 
Woodmen of America, and politically gives a 
hearty support to the party of Prohibition. He 
is and long has been a firm and unyielding foe 
of the liquor traffic, and believes the only 
effectual means of ridding the country of the 
curse to be in the direction of stern legislative 
coercions. 



FREDERICK H. SNYDER. — Among 
Massillon's prominent citizens, few, if any. 
have had a more active and successful career 



than has Frederick H. Snyder, who is a native 
of the cit}', and who for thirty years has been 
closely identified with its manufacturing and 
financial interests. Mr. Snyder was born No- 
vember 17, 1839, the son of Frederick and 
Anna (Schreiber) Snyder, both of whom were 
natives of Germany. Frederick, the father, 
was born in 1816, and came with his parents 
to the United States when a boy. He was a 
pioneer of Massillon, coming to this city in 
1828. The mother was born in 1820, and was 
brought by her parents to America in about 
1830. The family landed at Baltimore, Mary- 
land, and after remaining a short time in tiiat 
city started west overland. They made the 
entire trip from Baltimore, Maryland, to Mas- 
sillon by wagon, — a large caravan, — drawn by 
six horses. The trip consumed three weeks 
and at the end the man who moved them had 
only three of his six horses left, the others 
having died on the way. It was a tedious and 
tiresome journey, especially over the moun- 
tains, but the family endured it with fortitude. 
The parents of the subject were married in 
Massillon and made their home here ever after- 
wards. Frederick, the father, was a contractor 
and operated a large planing mill. He planned 
and erected many of the principal buildings 
of Massillon, including the Conrad Hotel, of 
the present time. He was an enterprising and 
energetic man, a fine mechanic and possessed 
of business and executive ability in more than 
ordinary degree. Fie and his wife were mem- 
bers of the German Lutheran church. He 
died in 1858, his widow surviving until May, 
1903, when she died at the age of eighty-three 
years. To them the following children were 
born : Frederick H,; Maria, deceased, was the 
wife of Jacob Wagoner; George M., of Mas- 
sillon; Jacob F., of Massillon, member of 
Hess-Snyder Company; Henry died in 1901 ; 
Charles F., of Massillon, also a member of 
Hess-Snyder Company; John B., of Massillon; 
Benjamin, of Massillon. 



1496 



OLD LANDMARKS 



Frederick H. Snyder attended the public 
schools of Massillon until he reached his seven- 
teenth year, and then began an apprenticeship 
at the machinist's trade, first in Rochester, 
Ohio, and then at Wooster, Ohio. After finish- 
ing his apprenticeship he worked as a journey- 
man until July, 1874, mostly in ^Massillon, 
at which time he and his brothers, Jacob F. and 
Charles F., engaged as partners in a general 
line of job1:)ing as machinists. This they con- 
tinued until the spring of 1882, when they con- 
solidated with J. F. Hess & Bros, under the 
firm name of Hess, Snyder & Company, \\ith. 
the subject as the head of the concern. In 
February, 1901, the company was incorporated 
as The Hess-Snyder Company, with the sub- 
ject as president, J. F. Hess as vice-president, 
and F. H. Snyder, Jr.. as secretary and treas- 
urer. Besides Mr. Snyder's interest in the 
Hess-Snyder Company, which is one of the 
leading manufacturing plants of Stark countv, 
he is interested in a number of other concerns 
of importance, among which are the following: 
The Dime Savings Bank of Massillon, of 
which he is president; the Merchants' National 
Bank, of which he is a director ; the Independ- 
ent Printing Company, of which he is presi- 
dent; the BrowTi Lumber Company, of which 
he is a director; the Massillon Iron and Steel 
Company; the Southern States Portland Ce- 
ment Company, of Atlanta, Georgia. He is 
a trustee of the Massillon Free Library, an 
elder in St. Paul's Lutheran church, and a 
member of the publication board of the Luther- 
an Book Concern of Columbus, Ohio. Mr. 
Snyder has been identified with the Massillon 
Board of Trade since its organization; he has 
also been a memlDer of the executive board of 
the same since its organization. 

In 1863 Mr. Snyder was married to Bar- 
bara Moure, who was born in Germany. Her 
parents died when she was quite young. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Snyder the following children 
have been born: Frank H., secretarv and 



treasurer of the Hess-Snyder Company; Al- 
bert L. and Edward H., both connected with 
the Hess-Snyder Company ; Hattie E. married 
Edward Janson, who is engaged in the drug 
business in Canton, Ohio. 

Mr. Snyder is considered as one of Massil- 
lon's leading citizens and men of affairs. His 
long business career has been uniformly suc- 
cessful, and besides building up one of the im- 
portant manufacturing enterprises of Stark 
county, he has assisted in the promotion and 
success of half a dozen others, each one of 
which has contributed to the building up of 
Massillon. He is recognized as a man of more 
than ordinary business and financial ability, 
and one of unimpeachable integrity. He is 
progressive, enterprising and public-spirited, 
and always is to be found on the side of any 
movement looking to the improvement of the 
communitv and its institutions. 



JOHN E. MONNOT, secretary of the 
Canton Board of Trade, and a well-known 
member of the Stark county bar, was born No- 
vember 30, 1865, at Louisville, Stark county, 
Ohio, the son of Peter J. and IVIary (Mofifatt) 
Monnot. Peter J. was born in France and in 
the early 'forties, when in his thirteenth year, 
emigrated with his parents to America. The 
great-grandfather of the subject began the \'oy- 
age with the family, but died on the way and 
was buried at sea. The paternal grandfather 
of the subject, Peter M., after reaching this 
country, settled with his family in Nimishillen 
township. Stark county, where he f(illowed 
farming. He died at Louisville in 1882. Peter 
J. was a blacksmith by trade, and conducted a 
shop in Louisville for many years. He is still 
living. The mother of the subject died when 
he was about two years of age. ITe was reared 
in Louisville and received his education in the 
public and parochial scliools. At the age of four- 
teen years he began to learn the carpaiter's trade. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1497 



at whicli lie worked several years. He then en- 
tered the furniture store of J. B. McCrea, ni 
Canton, witli whom he worked for two years. 
He then became traveHng salesman for the 
Berger Manufacturing Company of Canton, 
being the first man sent out on the road by 
that concern. He continued to travel for the 
Berger people for several years, taking up the 
study of law during that time. In March, 
1887, he was admitted to the bar, and that 
same fall was elected to the Ohio legislature 
on the Democratic ticket and in 1889 he was 
re-elected. In 1894 he was appointed post- 
master at Canton, holding that office for four 
years. Since 1891 he has been secretary of 
the Board of Trade and for seven years he was 
chairman of the committee on statistics of that 
organization. 

In 1893 Mr. Monnot married Laura M. 
Barlet, daughter of the late Peter Barlet, who 
for many years was one of Canton's most 
prominent merchants. 



JOHN SHEARER was ushered into the 
world in Osnaburg township, Stark county, 
Ohio, the date of his nativity having been Octo- 
ber 29, 1824, while he is the sole survivor of the 
three children born to Henry and Dorothy 
(Grimm) Shearer. The father of the subject 
was born in York county, Pennsylvania, on the 
1 6th of November, 1791, being a son of Jacob 
Sh.earer, who was likewise born in the old Key- 
stone state, where he was reared to maturity and 
where his marriage was solemnized. In the 
year 181 3 Jacob Shearer came to Stark county, 
Ohio, reaching his destination in May of that 
year, and he forthwith located on the farm in 
section 27, Osnaburg township, and being one 
of the first settlers in this section of the coun- 
ty, where he accjuired three-fourths of a sec- 
tion of wild land, for which he had exchanged 
his farm in Washington county, Pennsylvania. 
He was accompanied by his wife and two of 



his children, — Henry, father of the subject, 
and Catherine, neither of whom were married 
at the time, and later his three other sons, John, 
Jacob and Adam, joined him in this county and 
settled on the land adjoining the home farm 
of their father. The entire tract was covered 
with the native timber, and the father and sons 
set to themselves tlie arduous task of reclaim- 
ing the same to cultivation, thus aiding ma- 
terially in the development of this now opulent 
and signally favored section of the Buckeye 
state. Here the honored grandfather of the 
subject passed the remainder of his life, his 
death occurring in the year 1823, at which time 
he was seventy-nine years of age, while his 
faithful wife followed him into eternal rest 
two years later, at the age of seventy-four 
years. In 1815 the father of the subject re- 
turned to Pennsylvania, where was solemnized 
his marriage to Miss Dorothy Grimm, and 
with his bride he forthwith came to the Stark 
county home, having acquired the eighty acres 
of land upon which his father had located upon 
coming to the county and which is now the 
home of the subject of this review. Here he 
developed a good farm, making excellent 
improvements on the place, and applying 
himself with that energy and good judg- 
ment through which a due measure of pros- 
perity in temporal affairs is certain to come. 
He here made his home until he was called 
from the scene of life's labors, the golden 
evening of his day having passed in the home 
of his son John, of this sketch, who had pur- 
chased the old homestead. Henry Shearer was 
a man of mature judgment and strong mental- 
ity, though he had liut meager educational ad- 
vantages in his youth, having received but six- 
teen days of definite schooling in his youth. 
He took an active interest in public afifairs of 
a local nature and was well informed on the 
questions and issues of the day. In politics 
he originally was arrayed in the ranks of the 
Whig party, but upon the organization of the 



1498 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



Republican party he transferred his allegiance 
to the same and ever afterward continued a 
stanch advocate of its principles. He and his 
devoted wife were consistent and valued mem- 
bers of the Lutheran church, and he aided ma- 
terially in the erection of the first church build- 
ing of this denomination in this portion of the 
county. He was steadfast and true in all the 
relations of life, and he died in 1878. in the full- 
ness of years and honors, having attained the 
venerable age of eighty-seven years. His wife, 
who was likewise a native of Pennsylvania, 
was summoned to the land of the leal February 
3, 1845, ^t the age of forty-nine years. 

John Shearer, whose name introduces this 
sketch, was reared to maturity on the pioneer 
homestead, and he early became inured to the 
strenuous work involved in its reclamation and 
cultivation, while his educational training was 
limited to a somewhat desultory attaidance in 
the primitive log school house, with its rude 
equipment of puncheon floor and slab benches, 
— an institution of the type from' which have 
gone forth some of the strongest characters 
in the history of our nation. On the 13th of 
March, 1845, ^i'- Shearer was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Susanna Schaeffer, who was 
born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, whence 
her parents removed to Carroll county, Ohio, 
when she was a child of two years, while later 
they came thence into Stark county, where they 
passed the balance of their lives, being num- 
bered among the sterling pioneers of this sec- 
tion of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Shearer be- 
came the parents of nine children, and it has 
been the pitiable lot of our honored subject 
to see one after another of his sons and dautrh- 
ters pass across the "great divide" into the 
eternal life, imtil none are left to comfort and 
sustain him in his declining years, while his 
loved and devoted wife also has passed forward 
to that "undiscovered countr}^ from whose 
bourne no traveller returns." 

About the year 1850 Mr. Shearer purchased 



the homestead farm from his father, and here 
he continued to be successfully engaged in gen- 
eral farming, though he relegates the active 
labors to others, while maintaining a general 
supervision of the place and bringing to bear 
his thorough and practical knowledge of the 
best methods to be followed in the con- 
nection. He is well preserved and gives 
slight evidence of the more than three score 
and ten years which have passed over his 
head. In politics he has ever accorded an 
unqualified support to the Republican party, 
with which he identified himself at the time of 
its organization, but he has invariably refused 
to permit the consideration of his name in 
connection with any public office. He is a 
worthy and devoted member of the Lutheran 
church, in which he was an officer, in various 
capacities, for more than forty-five years, and 
in whose work he has taken an active and 
zealous part, as did also his wife, who entered 
into eternal rest on the 7th of Januarj^, 1892, 
at the age of sixty-nine years. She was a 
woman of noble attributes of character, and 
won the affectionate regard of all who came 
within the sphere of her kindly and gracious 
influence, while the life immortal gained a new 
glory when death set its seal upon her mortal 
lips. 



LOUIS A. LOICHOT. — Among the 
younger class of prominent citizens of Canton, 
few. if any, hold a more commanding positioir 
in financial circles or are better or more favor- 
ably known throughout Stark county than 
Louis A. Loichot, ex-auditor of Stark county,- 
and vice-president and manager of the First 
National Bank. Mr. Loichot is a native of 
Stark county, having been born in the village 
of Harrisburg, ]\Iarch 12, 1861, and is the son 
of Louis and Catharine (Simon) Loichot), 
the former a native of France, the latter 
of Switzerland. Thev both came to Amer- 



CANTON 'AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1499 



ica when yoting, and in 1857 were mar- 
ried in this county. After their marriage the 
parents removed to Minnesota, in which state 
they resided for several years. Returning to 
Stark county, they took up their residence in 
Harrisburg, where the father became post- 
master. He also served as assessor of Canton 
for some time. 

Louis A. Loichot received his education in 
the common schools of Toledo and Canton. 
He also took a commercial course at Saunders' 
Business College. Leaving school, he took a 
clerkship in a dry goods store in Canton, which 
position he held for one year, and then entered 
the employ of Isaac Harter & Sons Banking 
House as collector and teller. He remained 
with this house for thirteen years continuously, 
leaving it to enter upon the duties of county 
auditor. In 18S5 Mr. Loichot was elected to 
the Canton city council, in which body he 
served for a period of four years, three years 
of which he was president of the council. In 
1889 he was nominated by the Democratic 
party for the office of auditor of Stark county, 
and was successful at the ensuing election, 
taking charge of the office in September, 1890. 
So satisfactory to the people of the entire 
county was his administration of the offige that 
at the expiration of his first term he was re- 
elected, thus serving as county auditor two 
full terms. LIpon leaving the auditor's office, 
Mr. Loichot entered the First National Bank 
as cashier, and five years later he was elected 
vice-president and manager. He is also a 
director in the Dime Savings Bank of Canton. 

In 1889 Mr. Loichot married Miss Minnie 
R., daughter of F. I. Piero, one of Canton's 
oldest and most respected pioneer citizens, 
who is still living. To this marriage two sons 
have been born : Louis P., who died at the age 
of ten years, and Raymond. Mr. Loichot is 
a member of the Knights of Columbus, Cath- 
olic Mutual Benefit Association, the Elks and 
St. John's Catholic church. 



LOUIS J. MIDAY.— Felix Miday, father 
of the subject, was born in the vicinity of the 
city of Paris, France, where he was reared to 
maturity. He had the distinction of being a 
soldier under Napoleon, being attached to the 
cavalry arm of the service and taking part in 
several campaigns. As a young man, he came 
to America, landing at Baltimore, whence he 
soon afterward came to Stark county, locating 
in the village of Louisville. He had learned 
the trade of carpenter in his native land and 
was a skilled workman when he came to Amer- 
ica. In Louisville he established himself in 
business as a contractor and builder, and in the 
early days his services were in demand in all 
sections of the country, many substantial build- 
ings which are still standing having been 
erected by him. In 1844 Mr. Miday was united 
in marriage to Miss Cesarea Dodane, who was 
likewise born in France, whence she accom- 
panied her parents on their removal to the 
United States, the family being numbered 
among the early settlers in the town of Louis- 
ville, this county. Felix Miday continued to 
be actively engaged in business for a long term 
of years, and finally retired to his farm, in the 
immediate vicinity of Louisville, where he 
made his home until his death, in 1880, at the 
venerable age of eighty-four years, his widow 
there residing until she, too, was summoned 
into eternal rest, in 1896, at the age of seventy- 
eight years. Both were communicants of the 
Catholic church, and were prominent and active 
members of St. Louis' parish, in Louisville. 
They became the parents of four children, 
namely : Frank, who is a successful farmer 
near Louisville, this county; Louis J., the im- 
mediate subject of this memoir; Joseph and 
John, who are likewise engaged in farming 
near Louisville. 

Louis J. Miday was born on the parental 
homestead near Louisville, Stark county, Ohio, 
on the 24th of July, 1848, and after securing 
his preliminarv educational training in the 



T500 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



parochial school of that village he continued 
his studies in Louisville College, while later 
he was afforded the advantages of a course in 
Notre Dame University, at South Bend, In- 
diana. Upon leaving the university he came 
to Canton, and for the ensuing two years he 
was employed in the wholesale grocery house 
of Carl Bechele, in this city. At the expira- 
tion of this interval, he entered the commer- 
cial department of Mount Union College, 
where he continued his studies until he had 
completed a thorough course. He then re-en- 
tered the employ of Mr. Biechele, with whom 
he remained for five years, and upon his with- 
drawal from this concern he purchased the 
grocery of George Fessler, on North Market 
street, where he managed a successful retail 
business for two years, when he sold out and 
established himself in the wholesale wine and 
liquor business, on North Market street, and 
disposing of the same at the end of twelve 
years. He then became associated with John 
Melbourne in the manufacture of paving brick 
at Malvern. Mr. Miday withdrew from the firm 
after about five years and then turned his atten- 
tion to the street paving business, in which he 
did contracting upon a very extensive scale. 
He was interested in this line of enterprise 
until the time of his death, which occurred at 
his home in Canton, on the 4th of February, 
1898. He acquired a large amount of valu- 
able real estate. He purchased the American 
hotel and remodeled the building for business 
purposes, and was the owner of other property 
on Market street, in the business center of 
the city. Fraternally he was identified with the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and 
his religious faith was that of the Catholic 
church, in which he was reared. He was a 
communicant of St. John's church, as is also 
his widow. 

On the 7th of May, 1874, at St. Peter's 
■church, in Canton, was solemnized the marriage 



of Mr. Miday to Miss Tillie T. Wernet, who 
was born in this city, being a daughter of John 
B. Wernet, an honored pioneer of the city, hav- 
ing been a native of Germany, where he was 
born on the 12th of December, 1820, his par- 
ents passing their lives in the fatherland, where 
they died after he had come to the United 
States. Mr. Wernet emigrated to America in 
1839, when nineteen years of age, being ac- 
companied by his brother, Dr. Joseph Wernet, 
and landing in the city of Baltimore they 
thence came at once to Canton. Dr. Wernet 
died in 1859, having been an able physician 
and surgeon. John B. Wernet had learned the 
hatter's trade in his native land, and he fol- 
lowed the same for several years after his 
arrival in Canton, and then engaged in the 
grocery business on the site of the present Hotel 
Yohe, where he remained twelve years, after 
which he purchased lots on South Market 
street and there erected a store and dwelling. 
There he continued in business until 1877, 
when he sold out and soon atferward took up 
his residence on his farm, in Plain township, 
where he lived five years, after which he re- 
turned to Canton and passed the remainder of 
his life in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Miday, 
his death occurring on the 14th of October, 
1896. In 1849, in Canton, Mr. Wernet was 
united in marriage to Miss Theresa Tyler, a 
daughter of Joseph Tyler, concerning whom 
specific mention is made elsewhere in this vol- 
ume, and she died at the home on South Market 
street, on the 27th of April, 1865. They be- 
came the parents of seven children, namely : 
Tillie T., widow of the subject; Emma, who is 
a sister in the Ursuline convent in Youngs- 
town, this state; Louis J., who married Miss 
Laura Biechele and who resides in Canton; 
Otto, who married Miss Cecilia Wackerly and 
who is living on the old homestead farm in 
Plain township; William, who married Miss 
Olivia Biechele and who is now a resident of 



CANTON 'AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



I 50 1: 



the state of Colorado; Minnie, who is the wife 
of Joseph Berg, of Canton; and Mary, who 
died at the age of twenty-five yeafs. 

Mrs. Miday was born in the family home, 
on the site of the present Yohe Hotel, in Can- 
ton, and after pursuing her rudimentary studies 
in the parochial schools of this city, she en- 
tered the Ursuline convent in Cleveland, where 
she received the best advantages. She has 
three daughters, namely : Emma T. and Ma- 
tilde, who remain at the home with their moth- 
er, both having completed their education in 
the Villa Angela convent, in the city of Cleve- 
land; and Cesarea, who is a graduate of the 
Canton high school, and is now the wife of 
George W. Belden, of New York city. 



GEORGE LOUIS ALBRECHT, one of 
Massillon's prominent citizens and leading 
business men, was born in that city on Decem- 
ber 24, 1848, and is the son of Frederick and 
Elizabeth (Daum) Albrecht. Frederick, the 
father, was a native of Oberhauser, Rhine 
Falls, Bavaria, where he was born September 
18, 1818, and was the son of Nicholos and 
Elizabeth (Engle) Albrecht, both natives of 
Bavaria. The children of Nicholos Albrecht 
and wife were as follows, all born in Bavaria: 
Adam, George, Nicholos, Charles, Frederick, 
John and Catherine. Frederick, father of our 
subject, learned the trade of a shoemaker in 
his native town. He emigrated to America in 
1,838, landing at New Orleans. The following 
spring, 1839, he came to Massillon, and there 
worked for two years at his trade as a journej'- 
man. In 1843 ^^ engaged in business upon his 
own responsibility, having accumulated sufifi- 
cient capital to establish a shop and to this he 
soon afterward added a retail grocery store. 
With him as a partner for six years in the gro- 
cery store was his brother Michael. Purchas- 
ing his brother's interest at the expiration of 
that time, Frederick conducted the business 



until 1875, when he retired from active life, 
being succeeded in business by his son, G. 
Louis, who had been associated with him for 
some years previously. In 1847 he was united 
in marriage to Elizabeth Daum, who was born 
in 1828 in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and is 
the daughter of John Daum, who also emi- 
grated from Germany to America in 1841. To 
this union children were born as follows : G. 
Louis, the immediate subject; Mary married 
H. C. Dielhenn, of Massillon; Sophia died 
aged nineteen years; Mina; Frederick, a mer- 
chant of Akron, Ohio, operates five retail gro- 
cery houses, a drug store and a wholesale bar- 
ber supply house; Emma; Edward, of L. L. 
McLain & Company, of Massillon; John died 
in infancy. Frederick Albrecht died June 29, 
1887, aged sixty-eight years and nine months. 
His was a useful and most successful life. 
From a small and insignificant beginning he 
became one of the substantial men of Massillon, 
and at his death left his family a handsome for- 
tune. He was a Republican in politics, and a 
member of the Lutheran church. His widow 
and six children survive him. 

G. Louis Albrecht was educated in the pub- 
lic schools of Massillon. Upon leaving school 
he entered the grocery store of his father and 
there learned the business of which he has 
since made so great a success. In 1869 his 
father made him his partner in the business, 
and in 1875, upon the retirement of the old 
gentleman, the subject became his successor. 
After conducting this business for a period of 
ten years he sold it to his brother Frederick, 
and became one of the organizers of the 
firm of C. L. McLain, & Company, whole- 
sale grocers, which firm was established at 
that time by Mr. McLain and Mr. Albrecht 
as equal partners. Subsequently other gen- 
tlemen entered the company, and today it 
is one of the largest commercial houses in 
northern Ohio. Mr. Albrecht is president of 
the South Massillon Coal Company, is a 



& 



1502 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



director in the Merchants' National Bank, and 
has other large and important interests. 

Mr. Albrecht married Amelia Dielhenn, a 
daughter of Peter Dielhenn, one of the prom- 
inent pioneer business men of Massillon. To 
this union one daughter has been born, Evelyn, 
who married Dr. R. B. Diamond, of Hot 
Springs, Arkansas. Mr. Albrecht is a member 
of the Episcopal church. 



JOHN B. DeWEES, D. D. S.— The De- 
Wees family, as the name indicates, is unmis- 
takably of pure French extraction, and it is 
established beyond peradventure that tlie or- 
iginal progenitor in the United States was one 
of that noble band of Huguenots who fled from 
France to escape the persecutions incidental to 
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. This 
was the great-great-grandfather of Dr. De- 
Wees and he emigrated first to Holland, as 
did so many others of his countrymen of the 
Protestant faith, and thence came to America, 
where he arrived about the year 1730. He 
married Miss Margaret Richard, a native of 
England, and they became numbered among the 
first settlers in either Montgomery, Berks or 
Bucks county, Pennsylvania. They became the 
parents of five sons and one daughter, and from 
the eldest son, Wilham, the line is traced di- 
rectly to the subject of this review, of whom 
he was the great-grandfather. William De- 
Wees was born in Pennsylvania, prior to the 
middle of the eighteenth century, as is evident 
from the fact that about 1770 he was united 
in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Dehart. They 
became the parents of one son, William, Jr., 
grandfather of Dr. DeWees of this sketch. 
The senior William DeWees died at the early 
age of thirty-five years, having started for an 
ocean voyage, for the benefit of his health, but 
having passed away before embarking, his re- 
mains being interred in New Jersey. His son 
William was but nine years of age at the time. 



and the mother subsequently became the wife 
of John Wilson, and they resided in Amity 
township, Berks county, Pennsylvania, two 
children being born of the second marriage. 

William DeWees, Jr., grandfather of the 
subject, was born in Amity township, Berks 
county, Pennsylvania, on the 9th of December, 
1779, and his death occurred in Osnaburg, 
Stark county, Ohio, on the Sth of March, 1862, 
at the venerable age of eighty-two years. As 
a young man he was united in marriage to Miss 
Elizabeth Martin, who was born in Cocaiico 
township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on 
the nth of May, 1779, and who died in 
Womelsdorf, Berks county, Pennsylvania, on 
the 13th of July, 1849. Of this marriage 
three sons were born, Jacob, John and George 
M. William DeWees served an apprenticeship 
at the carpenter trade, becoming an excellent 
artisan, and about seven years after his mar- 
riage he located in Reamstown, Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, and five years later he 
purchased a farm in the adjoining county of 
Berks, where he lived five years, eventually 
losing the property through a long litigation 
regarding the title to the same. His attorneys 
were James Buchanan and Judge Hopkins, of 
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He later accumulat- 
ed other property, becoming the owner of a 
hotel or tavern at Newmanstown, Lebanon 
county. He remained in the old Keystone state 
until after the removal of his son George M. 
to Stark county, Ohio, eventually joining him 
here and here passing the residue of his honor- 
able and useful life. 

George Martin DeWees, father of the 
Doctor, was born in Cocaiico township, Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, on the 23d of 
March, 1809, and was reared in' the old Key- 
stone state, assisting his father in his various 
operations as a carpenter and securing such 
advantages in an educational way as were af- 
forded in the common schools of the locality 
and period. On the ist of January, 1832, at 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1503 



Reading, Pennsylvania, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Susan Brown, who was born in 
Exeter township, Berks county, Pennsylvania, 
on the 7th of March, 1808, and who died on the 
17th of October, 1863, her remains being laid 
to rest in the cemetery at Osnaburg, Stark coun- 
ty, Ohio. Subsequently Mr. DeWees married 
Miss Susan Delap, who died on the 2 2d of 
January, 1875, only a few months prior to the 
demise of her husband. Of the children of 
George M. and Susan (Brown) DeWees we 
enter the following brief record : Archibald, 
who was born at Sinking Spring, Berks county, 
Pennsylvania, on the 7th of July, 1832, died 
there on the 22d of November, 1834; Ambrose, 
born April i, 1833, in Cumru township, that 
county, died in Washington, D. C, on the nth 
of February, 1902, having been twice mar- 
ried ; he served in the United States army in 
1856, and was in the three months' service dur- 
ing the Civil war, as a member of the Eleventh 
Pennsylvania \^olunteer Infantry ; also served 
in the three years service and was mustered out 
at the end of the war ; Elizabeth, who was born 
in Cumru township, Berks county, on the 27th 
of March, 1835, is the wife of Hiram Wepner 
and resides at Osnaburg, Stark county, Ohio; 
Cordelia, who was born in the same place in 
Pennsylvania, on the 7th of March, 1837, died 
on August nth of the following year; William 
B., who was born in the same township, on 
the 6th of October. 1839, married Miss Lizzie 
Lape, and they reside in Canton, Ohio, he be- 
ing a retired merchant; John B., the youngest 
son, is the immediate subject of this review; 
Mary, who was born in Womelsdorf, Berks 
county, Pennsylvania, May i, 1844, died in 
Osnaburg, Stark county, Ohio, on the 4th of 
March, 1864. Of the marriage of George M. 
and Susan (Delap) DeWees two children were 
born, namely: George D., who was born in 
Osnaburg. Stark county. Ohio, on the i6th of 
July, 1866, is now a resident of Chicago, Illi- 
nois, and Emma, who was born in Osnaburg, 



township, on the 15th of July, 1868, who is 
now deceased and is buried at Osnaburg, 

George Martin DeWees, the father of the 
subject, was a man of many and varied attain- 
ments and fine intellectuality. He was pro- 
ficient in the carving of wood, in engraving 
on metals and in painting in both oils and water 
colors and various other pigments. His spe- 
cific scholastic discipline was received in the 
country schools of Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
vania, as before noted, but the education of 
such a man is not time-limited by curriculum 
of school or college but extends throughout 
life, — so long as there remains the possibility 
of leading out the alert mind into new fields of 
thought and endeavor, thus justifying the 
generic use of the term education, which means 
a leading out or drawing forth. In initiating 
his active business career Mr. DeWees became 
a clerk in a dry-goods establishment at Sink- 
ing Springs, Pennsylvania, and there his first 
marriage was solemnized. Through the 
sedentary occupation he was following, his 
health became impaired, and he found it neces- 
sary to seek employment less confining. He 
accordingly engaged in the huckstering busi- 
ness in the village mentioned. He had visited 
Stark county and other portions of Ohio prior 
to his marriage, having done a profitable busi- 
ness in the cutting of profiles or silhouettes, a 
form of art protraiture which was then in high 
favor. He finally withdrew from busineps in 
Sinking Spring and removed to Womelsdorf, 
Berks county, Pennsylvania, where he turned 
his attention to work at the gunsmith trade an-* 
to the manufacturing of shoe lasts, while 
also kept a stock of shoe findings. This 
resented but one phase of his endeavors, 
was a man of marked versatility, as has r 
been stated. Thus he devoted the m: 
tion of his time in that place to sign ' / 

and specimens of his art in this line 
the highways and byways throughou 
tion. From Womelsdorf he ren- 



/ 



I504 



OLD LANDMARKS 



point near Newnianstown, Lebanon county, 
where he erected a shop and became associated 
with his father in chair-making, last-making 
and general wood-turning, in tlie meanwhile 
continuing to devote much attention to his 
sign-painting, in which line his services were in 
almost constant requisition. At the time of the 
building of the Lebanon Valley Railroad he 
moved into the town last mentioned, his father 
having there purchased a hotel property. For 
several years following he was engaged in con- 
ducting this hotel, or tavern, as such caravan- 
series were commonly known in those days. 

In the year .i860, accompanied by his wife 
and children, Cieorge M. DeWees came from 
Pennsylvania to Stark county, Ohio, locating 
in the hamlet of Osnaburg, where he pur- 
chased property and engaged in the hotel busi- 
ness, conducting what was known as the L'nion 
Hotel. Later he opened a general merchandise 
store, and in this line of enterprise he continued 
until his death, which occurred very suddenly, 
on the 27th of September, 1875. He served as 
postmaster of Osnaburg for several years and 
also as towr.ship clerk, and no man in the com- 
munity has ever enjoyed a higher degree of 
popularity, confidence and esteem. He was the 
soul of iionor, was ever animated by the deep- 
est sympathy and charity, tolerant in his judg- 
ment but hating equivocation and dissimula- 
tion witli all the strength of his frank, sincere 
and upright nature. He was a man who stood 
"Four square to every wind that blows," and 
\ in his deatln the community suffered the loss of 
■ valuefl citizen and manifested an unmistaka- 

Nense of personal bereavement. He was de- 

v! to his home and family and in the sacred 

rts of that home the true nobility of his 

-er showp forth most luminously. He 

•urally of a somewhat tempestuous tem- 

♦, but he made every effort to control 

llition. though he would brook no in- 

\ scorned all contumacv, no sign of 



V. 



ever manifested in his own per- 



sonality. He demanded the approval of con- 
science for every thought, word and deed, and 
lived a life which served both as lesson and 
inspiration. As another has written of him, 
"He loved his country and he was a ciUzen 
of sterling character and wortli ; and his death 
was lamented by all who knew him." Ih poli- 
tics he gave his allegiance to the Republican 
party, and his religious faith was that of the 
Universalist church, but he was not a memljer 
of any church. 

John Brown DeWees, the immediate sub- 
ject of this review, was born at Womelsdorf, 
Berks county, Pennsylvania, on the 9th of No- 
vember, 1841, and his early educational ad- 
vantages were such as were afforded by a some- 
what desultory attendance in the district 
schools of the old Keystone state, where he was 
reared to maturity, having been nineteen years 
of age at the time of the family removal to- 
Stark county, Ohio. He was a valiant soldier 
in the war of the Rebellion, and while in camp, 
under difficulties which may well be imagined, 
he devoted himself assiduously to study when 
his military duties permitted. In i860 he 
came with his parents to Ohio, and in the fol- 
lowing year he returned to Newmanstown, 
Pennsylvania, where he had been promised a 
clerkship in a store. While there, however, his 
patriotism and loyalty led him to join a number 
of his chums and playmates of former days in 
tendering his services in defense of the Union, 
whose integrity was in jeopardy through armed 
rebellion. On the 12th of October, 1861. he 
was mustered in as a private in Company F, 
Ninety-third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, 
and of his military career we make a summary 
as follows: On the 22d of October, 1864, he 
was promoted to the office of sergeant major; 
was commissioned adjutant, with the rank of 
first lieutenant, on the 4th of March, 1865 : and 
he was mustered out with his regiment, on the 
27th of Tune, 1865, having thus served during 
practically the entire period of the war. The 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1505 



regiment proceeded to the front shortly after 
its organization was completed, being assigned 
to the Army of the Potomac. On the 19th of 
December, 1864, iii the battle of Winchester, 
Mr. DeWees received a flesh wound in the right 
leg, but save for this he escaped more than 
nominal injuries during his term of service, 
having been in General Sheridan's command at 
the battle mentioned. He took part in many of 
the notable engagements of the great inter- 
necine conflict, and among the most important 
may be mentioned the following: Williams- 
burg, Virginia; Fair Oaks, or Seven Pines; 
the seven-days flght from Richmond to Harri- 
son's Landing, on the James river ; Antietam ; 
the battle of the Wilderness, Gettysburg and 
the fights up to Pittsburg; and Sailor's creek. 
His regiment was ordered forward to rein- 
force the troops in the second battle of Bull 
Rim, but arrived too late to participate in the 
action at that point. He was always found at 
the post of duty and did all that was required 
of him without complaint, while he endured a 
full share of the hardships which made the 
great Civil war one of the most memorable in 
the annals of history. 

At the close of the war Dr. DeWees re- 
joined his parents in Osnaburg, this county, 
and soon afterward removed to the city of Chi- 
cago, Illinois, where he entered into partner- 
ship with M. Rice and engaged in the restau- 
rant business at the corner of State and Jack- 
son streets, in what is now the very center of 
the finest retail district of the great western 
metropolis. The partnership was dissolved 
after an interval of six months, and the subject 
tlien came again to Stark county, and entered 
the office of Dr. J. S. Keagle, in the Commer- 
cial block. Canton, where he devoted his atten- 
tion to the study and practical work of den- 
tistry for the ensuing year, becoming specially 
proficient in his profession, which is lx)th a 
science and a mechanical art. He then estab- 
lished himself in practice in Osnaburg, where 
95 



he continued business for several years. In the 
meanwhile he had been tendered a position in 
the men's furnishing store conducted by his 
brother William B., in Canton, and in 1868 he 
became identified with this enterprise, and when 
his brother sold the business, in 1870, to Henry 
Meyers, the Doctor remained with the new 
proprietor, and was thus engaged for several 
years. 

In 1879, with a view to re-entering the 
practice of his profession and imbued with a 
desire to attain a technical knowledge which 
would place him on a parity with the leading 
representatives of the profession, in which 
notable advances had been made in methods 
and systems, the Doctor entered the Pennsyl- 
vania College of Dental Surgery, at Philadel- 
phia, where he completed a thorough course 
of study and practical work and was duly 
graduated as a member of the class of 1880. 
He then returned to Canton, opening an office 
and here he has ever since been actively en- 
gaged in the practice of his profession, in which 
he has attained marked prestige, receiving a 
representative support. His finely equipped 
offices are located in the Gibbs block, and here 
he has the best provisions for the handling of 
all classes of dental work, both operative and 
laboratory, while he is known as one of the 
most skillful and discriminating of workmen 
and as one fully informed as to the best meth- 
ods of procedure in the surgical branch of the 
profession. He is secretary and treasurer of 
the Canton Dental Association, and is held in 
the highest esteem by his professional confreres, 
as well as by all others with whom he is throw* 
in contact in business or social circles. Fr- 
ternally the Doctor is a member of McKin 
Post No. 25, Grand Army of the Repul 
and of the Independent Order of Odd Fell 
In politics he gives an uncompromisir 
legiance to the Republican party, with 
he has been identified from the time o^ 
ing his legal majority, his first pr' 



I5c6 



OLD LANDMARKS 



vote having been east in support of Lincoln. 
In his religious views, while having a reverence 
for the spiritual verities, he is liberal. 

In Paris township, this county, in 1871, Dr. 
DeWees was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie 
Enirich, who was born in Allegheny, Pennsyl- 
vania, being a daughter of John Emrich, a na- 
tive of Germany. Of the children of Dr. and 
Mrs. DeWees v/e incorporate the following data : 
Howard E., w'ho is engaged in the practice of 
dentistry at Malvern, Carroll county, Ohio, 
married Miss Ora McGregor, a daughter of 
Judge Malcolm McGregor, of Carthage, Mis- 
souri; Gertrude E., who is the wife of George 
W. Howenstine, of Canton ; and Harry E. and 
Herbert E., who are twins, the former being 
entry clerk in the o'ffice of the Bucher-Gibbs 
Company, of Canton, while the latter is a 
traveling salesman for the Canton Hardware 
Company. 



MICHAEL J. HOLTZ.— Of the neighbor- 
ing states, Pennsylvania contributed most to 
the population of Ohio, and in its early settle- 
ment Stark county was especially fortunate 
in securing from the sturdy farming commu- 
nity of the Keystone state the progenitors of 
some of the best and most progressive families 
in the county today. Among these the Holtz 
family is entitled to special mention. The late 
Michael J. Holtz, of Plain township, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was a representative off- 
spring of the family. 

Michael J. Holtz was born on his father's 

nn in Plain township, Stark county, January 

1826, the son of John Holtz, a native of 

isylvania, born December 9, 1790. The 

' r of John was Michael Holtz, a native of 

my; who came to America about the 

f the Revolutionary war and settled in 

-ania. The mother of Michael J. 

'le subject of this sketch, was Mary 

*" a native of Maryland, but who had 

'tark county with her parents al^or*- 



1 818. liere she met her future husband, John 
Holtz, and later they were married. They 
located on a farm, built a home and reared a 
family. Mary Holtz died when about sixty- 
nine years of age, while her husband, John 
Holtz, lived to the age of eighty-four years, 
his death occurring in 1874. 

Mr. Holtz's father was a soldier in the 
war of i8i2, serving about six months. Mrs. 
Holtz's father was under Colonel Raine in the 
same regiment as was Mr. Holtz, but they 
never met until after their children had married 
and it was then learned that th-.y were both in 
the same war and same regiment together, both 
getting iheir discharge from tlie same colonel. 
Shortly after the settlement of Mrs. Holtz's 
parents here her father would yoke his oxen 
and make trips to Cleveland and get salt in 
sacks that were carried over the yoke, and his 
route was designated by blazed trees. The 
salt was distributed among his neighbors. Gill- 
man Folsom, brother of Mrs. Holtz, was the 
first to build a three-story building in the city 
of Cleveland, this being only a frame structure, 
and he was also the first man in Cleveland to 
buy wool. Her maternal grandfather Thorn- 
ton was drowned in the Connecticut river 
when he was engaged in ferrying stone across 
for building purposes. The river was a mile 
across and when about half way over the boat 
capsized and he was drowned. 

Upon his father's farm in Plain township, 
M. J. Holtz was reared, and while the oppor- 
tunity of securing a good education was not 
afforded him, "he was, nevertheless, neither 
ignorant nor illiterate. He acquired a fair 
knowledge of all of the elementary branches 
of education and was well informed, having 
also studied, the French language. He was a 
thorough farmer, having devoted the greater 
part of his life to agricultural pursuits. 

September 7, 1851, Michael J. Holtz was 
united in marriage to Miss Emily H. Folsom, 
who was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, October 23, 
1829, and who was possessed of all the f^'"", 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTY, OHIO. 



1507 



accomplishments, attainments and virtues of 
her sex. Her father was David Folsom, born 
in 1784, in Essex county, Vermont, where he 
was educated, coming to Ohio when a young 
man and several years later married, settling 
in the woods, where by his industry he cleared 
a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, with his 
father, Avho had come to Ohio with him. They 
\\'ere surrounded by Indians, who were savage, 
doing a great deal of damage at times. In the 
later years of his life her father retired from 
farming, taking up the hotel business, which 
he conducted for some years, later retiring 
from active business except when he would 
help his sons, who were contracting in Canton. 
He died in Corunna, Indiana, in 1862. His 
wife Avas Phoebe Thornton, who was a native 
of Hartford, Connecticut, born ia 1794. Her 
parents were married in Ashtabula county, 
Ohio, in 1813, where they stayed for many 
years, she dying July 5, 1844, in Loudon- 
ville, Richland county. Mrs. Phoebe (Thorn- 
ton) Folsom died in the fiftieth year 
of her age, ha\ing been born about 1794. Ten 
children were born to them, of whom Mrs. 
Michael J. Holtz was the eighth. The Folsoms 
and the Thorntons were evidently originally 
of English extraction. 

At the time of their marriage Mrs. and Mr. 
Alichael J- Holtz were possessed of very little 
property, though in that respect they were 
neither better nor worse off than their neigh- 
bors, a condition which is very conducive to 
contentment. They settled on the farm in 
Stark county, and devoted themselves to the 
usual farin work. They prospered and became 
the parents of four daughters, of whom they 
reared three and educated them and in time 
they became useful women. The children are 
Elista .'\.. Frances M., Ermina E., who died 
at the age of twenty-one months, and Almina 
P. Elista is the wife of J. Murray Spangler, 
of Canton, and Almina P. is the wife of Will- 
iam H. Martin. In June, 1901, when seventy- 



five years old, Michael J. Holtz -passed to his 
eternal life. Few more conscientious nien ever 
surrendered life. To say that he was a good 
man only mildly expresses it. A faithful, 
afifectionate hu,sband to his wife and a kind fa- 
ther to his children, he was kind and indulgent 
and his neighbors and friends had many rea- 
sons for respecting him in life and revering 
his memory in death. As one of them has 
very graphically expressed it, "During his en- 
tire life, he lived at peace with all the world." 
Since the death of Michael J. Holtz his af- 
fairs have been taken in charge by his good 
and faithful wife, who has managed them with 
prudence and good judgment. The farm, con- 
sisting f)f one hundred and thirty acres, is con- 
ducted under her direct supervision and there 
are few better managed farms in Stark county. 
Mrs. Holtz is a lady of much energy, possessed 
of great force of character and a will and de- 
termination in what she believes to be right 
which makes it impossible to sway or divert her 
from executing her purposes. Despite this, 
she has been a most patient and gentle mother 
to her daughters and a model wife to her la- 
mented husband. She is a modest, devout 
member of the Lutheran church, to which 
church her husband also belonged and in which 
faith he died. Her life and his are most credit- 
able to their worthy ancestry and their pos- 
terity will loolx back with pleasure upon the 
careers of such worthy parents. The children 
are also members of the same church and are 
constant attendants. 



HON. JAMES WEEKS UJ^DERHILL. 
— Few of the citizens of Stark county entitled 
to be ranked among its public men have been in 
the public eye for so long a period, or have 
t)een as favorably known, or more generally 
esteemed, than the subject of this sketch. The 
branch of the Underbill family to which he be- 
longs traces its ancestry to Captain John 



ijoS 



OLD LANDMARKS. 



Underhill, who came from England and set- 
tled in Massachusetts about ten years after the 
landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Being 
a man of strong character, he took a conspicu- 
ous part in the religious and political interests 
of the colony, and historj' mentions him as one 
of the supporters of Ann Hutchinson in her 
controversy with the governor. By 1637, 
however, he seems to have become reconciled 
with the ruling powers, for he accepted a com- 
mission under the colony and was placed in 
command of the forces contributed by Massa- 
chusetts for the Pequod war, and, with one 
Captain Mason, in joint command of a small' 
band of seventy Englishmen, carried an Indian 
fortress by storm near what is now Stonington, 
Connecticut, wreaking a terrible vengeance 
upon the savages, for it is recorded that out of 
seven hundred but five escaped. 

Tradition says that the family in England 
were of Quaker stock, and it is well known 
that many of Captain John Underbill's de- 
scendants were members of the Society of 
Friends. Certainly the Captain himself, if a 
Friend, was a "fighting Quaker." A branch 
of the family settled in eastern New York, and 
from this the Ohio family had its origin. 

Nathaniel Underhill and his wife, Anna 
(Weber), lived near the banks of the Hudson 
river in Greene county and there James W. 
was born, Octolier 6, 1818. The family re- 
moved to Ohio in 1827, completing their long 
trip by the Erie canal and lake and Ohio canal 
as far as Akron, by team to the little settlement 
of Kendall, then an independent village but 
afterwards absorbed by the more ambitious 
and growing town of Massillon. 

Losing his father at an early age, Mr. 
Underhill was sent back to New York where 
he remained with an uncle. Dr. Abraham K. 
Underhill, at Charlton, Saratoga county, at- 
tending school until 1837; then returning to 
Ohio, he completed his education so fan as he 
derived it from schools, meanwhile supporting 



himself by teaching, and at the same time read- 
ing law, under Samuel Pease, then a prom- 
inent member of the Stark county bar and 
uncle of the late Judge Anson Pease. He was 
admitted to the bar in 1S42, and manifested 
his confidence in his prospects by marrying, in 
the same year, Henrietta Widgeon, the daugh- 
ter of one of the prominent pioneer families of 
Massillon and vicinity. Having been a dili- 
gent student, possessing an intuitive knowledge 
of human nature and marked by earnestness 
of manner and force of character, he became a 
strong advocate before the juries of the county, 
and commanded a fine position in the practice. 
In 1855 he was elected to the state legislature 
as a member of the house of representatives, 
and served for one term of two years. He 
was elected to the office of probate judge in 
i860, and upon taking office, in February, 
1 861, he moved with his family to Canton, die 
county seat, where he has since lived. In the 
discharge of his duties in this office his course 
was so satisfactory to the people that he held 
office for four successive terms, making twelve 
years in all, during that period no one caring 
to contest with him the honor of the position, 
and at the end he declined a re-nomination. 
As a probate judge he stands without a su- 
perior in the county. Well grounded in gen- 
eral legal principles, with a strong natural 
sense of equity, he was guided in his judicial 
duties less by technical rules than a strong 
sense of even-handed justice. Having super- 
vision over the administration of the estates of 
deceased persons, he was pre-eminently the 
judge of the widow and the orphan, and 
among the varied interests that fell within the 
jurisdiction of his court, the rights of the weak 
and desolate ones were always safely guanled 
and protected. After the termination of his 
judicial career he returned to the practice of 
law for a time, and for a number of years was 
associated with the late John Lahm as a part- 
ner in practice. 



CANTON AND STARK COUNTS JHIO. 



1509 



Meanwhile Judge Underhill acquired 
some interests in business matters outside of 
the strict Hnes of professional work, and be- 
came interested, with the late H. B. Dennis, of 
Cleveland, in the construction of a railroad 
from Cleveland to Coshocton by way of Can- 
ton, and they had the work between Canton 
and Coshocton well advanced when they dis- 
posed of it. It is now an important branch of 
the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad. He also 
took some interests in manufacturing enter- 
prises, making an investment in the Diebold 
Safe & Lock Company. He became a stock- 
holder and officer of the Canton Car Company, 
and, parting with that interest, acquired one 
in the Canton Electric Lighting Company, 
taking a very active part in the extension of its 
system, and when he sold his holdings in 1901 
it was the sole electric lighting company in the 
city and supplied light and power throughout 
the corporation. Li 1890 he acquired a large 
interest in the Canton Street Railway, includ- 
ing the line to Meyer's Lake, and in 1892 he 
and his associates laid out and built the inter- 
urban line to Massillon and the system in the 
city of Massillon, which was afterwards ex- 
tended to Navarre. These interests he re- 
tained, and took an active part in managing, 
until he disposed of them in iQOi, when he 
wound up his active part in business affairs, 
feeling that the time had come lor him to lay 
down the duties and responsibi ities of such in- 
vestments. 

Judge Underhill has aKvays beer, a man 
ol '.public spirit and wil'ing to d vote his 
tl itights and ene''^'^<- * welfare. 

E *- mem- 

and 

the 

tive 

the 

1 the 

il and 

Board 



of Trade and ii many ways devoted his active 
services to the tivic and business interests of 
the community. 

Having been separa+.-d at an early day 
from the immeJiate influences of his Quaker 
family, and having married "out of meeting," 
Judge Underhill never, was a member of the 
Society of Friends, but always maintained a 
high regard for the Quakers and their pecu- 
liarly spiritual views of religion. These im- 
pressions, formed early in life, probably served 
to turn his attention, in his advancing years to 
the claims of modern spiritualism, and he be- 
came a firm believer in the possibility of com- 
munication between the spirits of the departed 
and those still on earth. Recently he has de- 
voted a considerable sum to the benefit of an 
association for the study of this and kindred 
questions. 

Judge Underbill's family were Whigs, and 
he became identified with that party at an early 
age, continuing in strict relation to it until 
the formation of the Republican party, except- 
ing that in 1848 he voted the Free Soil ticket 
because of his advanced views upon the subject 
of African slavery. Upon the formation of 
the Republican party he joined it, supporting 
it in all its great contests, upon the stump, 
with power and effect until his advancing years 
compelled him to turn over that work to 
younger men. At an early age he conceived a 
warm interest in Masonry, attracted in part by 
the poetical beauty of its teachings and ritual, 
and doubtless in part by the social aspects of 
the institution. He became grand high priest 
of the grand chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of 
the state, and for many years was eminent 
commander of Massillon Commandery No. s. 
Knights Templar, and he is now the oldest 
Mason in Canton. Within a few years he be- 
came a member of the Benevolent and Protec- 
tive Order of Elks. 

Judge Underhill possesses a wann social 
nature, is ever ready to listen to the story of 



I5IO 



OLD LANDMARKS 



those in distress or needing- issistance and 
advice, either of whicia lie has been free to give 
as occasion required. He Bossesses a wide 
circle of acquaintanv'i.and mingles with men in 
all \val^ ■ of life with cordiality and friendship. 
His mother long survived the father and one 
of the sweetest consolations of his life was to 
be able to make a home for her for many years, 
she dying at an advanced age, after many years 
(if tender and solicitous care on the part of 
her son. The Judge's cherished and devoted 
wife, after many years of ideal companionship, 
departed this life February 28, 1895. They 
had born to them Arthur J. Underbill, Mrs. 
William A. Lynch and Mrs. Henry C. Foglc, 
all residents of Canton. 

William A. Lynch. 



ALMN W. HART is a native son of the 
old Buckeye state, having been born on the 
parental farmstead in Augusta township, Car- 
roll county, Ohio, on the 27th of December, 
i860. The ancestry in the agnatic line is 
traced back to fine old Scottish derivation, and 
the first representative of the family in Amer- 
ica was John Hart, grandfather of the subject, 
who emigrated from Scotland to the Lmitel 
States, taking up his residence in Fayette 
county. Pennsylvania, whence he later removed 
to Ohio, becoming one of the pioneers of 
Augusta township. Carroll county, where he 
secured a tract of land and developed a goorl 
farm, having also devoted his attention to his 
trade of shoemaking in a greater or less degree. 
He i)assed the remainder of his life on the old 
homestead, where he died, and there also oc- 
curred the death of his wife, whose maiden 
name was Elizabeth Wheaton. They became 
the parents of fifteen children, of whom three 
are lixin^t at the present time. John Hart, Jr., 
the father of the subject, was born in Fayette 
county, Pennsylvania, on the 7th of August, 
1832, and was nine years of age at the time of 



his parents' removal to Carroll county, Ohio, 
where he was reared to maturity, aiding in the 
reclamation of the homestead farm and in its 
subsequent cultivation, while his educational 
opportunities were necessarily limited in scope, 
owing to the exigencies of time and place. As 
a young man he was united in marriage to Miss 
Susan Mathias, who was born in Louisville, 
Stark county, Ohio, in 1837, being a daughter 
of Lewis Mathias, one of the honored pioneers 
of this section of the ^tate. He is now living 
retired in the village of Minerva, this county, 
and his wife still survives also, Ixsth being well 
known and highly esteemed in the community, 
and Mr. Hart has attained prosperity through 
his earnest and indefatigable efiforts in-the past, 
and is now able to enjoy the just reward of his 
labors. John and Susan Hart became the par- 
ents of five children, namely : Amanda, who is 
tl'e wife of Le\i Iddings. of Minerva, ihis 
covnty; Alvin \\^, the immediate subject of 
this review ; Emor\', who is a farmer and stock 
dealer, residing in the vicinity of Miner /a; 
Frank, who is a teacher in the ])uolic schools 
of LaSalle, Illinois, and Louis C. is employed 
in the ofi.ce of the paymaster of the American 
Ihidge Company, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
Ah'in \V. Hart was born on the old home- 
stead farm, vhich is located about four ni les 
distant from Minerva, in the adjoining couity 
of Carroll, and his boyhood was passed under 
the conditions and environments which com- 
passed ihe average farmer boy of the place and 
period, liis early educational training bcii.g 
such a~ - 'iiordtl in the district schools, 
while he -^-i to +he work of 

the far '' ' " ' ' -^e 

until 
years 
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